Self-reflection

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This next to last scene of the Admonitions Scroll shows a palace lady sitting in quiet contemplation, presumably following the admonitions in the accompanying lines: "Therefore I say: Be cautious and circumspect in all you do, and from this, good fortune will arise. Calmly and respectfully think about your actions, and honor and fame will await you." Admonitions Scroll Scene 11.jpg
This next to last scene of the Admonitions Scroll shows a palace lady sitting in quiet contemplation, presumably following the admonitions in the accompanying lines: "Therefore I say: Be cautious and circumspect in all you do, and from this, good fortune will arise. Calmly and respectfully think about your actions, and honor and fame will await you."

Self-reflection is the ability to witness and evaluate one's own cognitive, emotional, and behavioural processes. In psychology, other terms used for this self-observation include "reflective awareness" and "reflective consciousness", which originate from the work of William James. [2] [3]

Contents

Self-reflection depends upon a range of functions, including introspection and metacognition, which develop from infancy through adolescence, affecting how individuals interact with others, and make decisions. [4]

Self-reflection is related to the philosophy of consciousness, the topic of awareness, and the philosophy of mind. [5]

The concept of self-reflection is ancient. More than 3,000 years ago, "Know thyself" was the first of three Delphic maxims inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. [6] It is also considered a form of thought that generates new meaning [7] and an opportunity to engage with what seemingly appears incongruous. [8]

History

Early writings

Notions about the status of humanity may be revealed by the etymology of ancient words for humans. Latin homo (PIE *dʰǵʰm̥mō) means "of the earth, earthling", probably in opposition to "celestial" beings. Greek ἂνθρωπος (mycenaean *Anthropos) means "low-eyed", again probably contrasting with a divine perspective. [9]

From the third-millennium Old Kingdom of Egypt, belief in an eternal afterlife of the human ka is documented along with the notion that the actions of a person would be assessed to determine the quality of that existence. A claim of dominance of humanity alongside radical pessimism because of the frailty and brevity of human life is asserted in the Hebrew Bible Genesis 1:28, where dominion of humans is promised, but contrarily, King Solomon who is the alleged author of Ecclesiastes according to rabbinic tradition, bewails the vanity of all human effort. [10]

Classical antiquity

Protagoras made the famous claim that humans are "the measure of all things; of what is, that it is; of what is not, that it is not". Socrates advocated the ancient adage for all humans to "Know thyself", and gave the (doubtlessly tongue-in-cheek) definition of humans as, "featherless bipeds" (Plato, Politicus). Aristotle described humans as the "communal animal" (ζῶον πολιτικόν), i.e., emphasizing society-building as a central trait of human nature, and being a "thought bearer animal" (ζῶον λόγον ἔχον, animal rationale) [11] a term that also may have inspired the species taxonomy, Homo sapiens.[ citation needed ]

Middle Ages

The dominant world-view of medieval Europe, as directed by the Catholic Church, was that human existence is essentially good and created in "original grace", but because of concupiscence, is marred by sin, and that its aim should be to focus on a beatific vision after death. The term "original grace" is not a phrase directly derived by the Bible, but is used because it reflects the Catholic Church's interpretation of humanity’s initial state before the Fall. According to St. Augustine, the Fall corrupted this "original grace" and therefore the nature of man. [12]

The thirteenth century pope Innocent III wrote about the essential misery of earthly existence in his "On the misery of the human condition"—a view that was disputed by, for example, Giannozzo Manetti in his treatise "On human dignity".[ citation needed ]

Renaissance

A famous quote of Shakespeare's Hamlet (II, ii, 115–117), expresses the contrast of human physical beauty, intellectual faculty, and ephemeral nature:

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

Alfred Kubin - Self-Reflection, c. 1901-1902 - Google Art Project.jpg
Selbstbetrachtung (self-reflection)
pen and ink drawing by Alfred Kubin (c. 1901)

René Descartes famously and succinctly proposed: Cogito ergo sum [13] (French: "Je pense donc je suis"; English: "I think, therefore I am"), not an assessment of humanity, but certainly reflecting a capacity for reasoning as a characteristic of humans, that potentially, could include individual self-reflection.

Modern era

The Enlightenment was driven by a renewed conviction, that, in the words of Immanuel Kant, "Man is distinguished above all animals by his self-consciousness, by which he is a 'rational animal'." In conscious opposition to this tradition during the nineteenth century, Karl Marx defined humans as a "labouring animal" (animal laborans). In the early twentieth century, Sigmund Freud dealt a serious blow to positivism by postulating that, to a large part, human behaviour is controlled by the unconscious mind. Freud describes the unconscious mind as the part of the mind containing any repressed images or thoughts too taboo for societal norms. He viewed this part of the mind as essential to the individual as they are restrained primitive impulses and desires. [14] Joseph Conrad uses the analogy of chemistry to describe how the tiniest idea can stimulate a person during reflection like a "little drop precipitating the process of crystallization in a test tube containing a colourless solution". [15]

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich is a romantic painting expressing self reflection among other uniquely human experiences Caspar David Friedrich - Wanderer above the sea of fog.jpg
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich is a romantic painting expressing self reflection among other uniquely human experiences

Mandatory or advisory periods for reflection are built into some regulatory requirements, for example changes to divorce law in England and Wales adopted in 2022 prescribe a 20-week period of reflection before certain proceedings are concluded, [16] and the European Union's Mortgage Credit Directive allows for a seven-day period of reflection before a mortgage offer needs to be accepted. [17]

Impact

Self-reflection is a process of communicating internally with oneself. When one takes time to think about their character or behavior, they analyze the reasons that caused the behavior, where this comes from, what the outcome of the behavior means to them, is it effective for them and what they can do about it. Individuals process this information about themselves to help them find methods to deal with the information gained during the self-reflection process and applying this information to future behavior has been shown to elicit strength and joy. [18]

Self-reflection helps people in multiple ways:

First, self-reflection fortifies an individual's emotional stability. When setting aside some effort to self-reflect they are looking inwards. This assists with building two parts to their emotional intelligence: [19] self-awareness and self-concept. Self-awareness enables a person to comprehend their feelings, qualities, shortcomings, drives, and objectives, and recognize their effect on others. Self-concept includes the capacity to control or divert their troublesome feelings and motivations and adjust to changing circumstances. Building these skills will improve both their personal and professional life and language learning. [20]

Second, self-reflection enhances a person's self-esteem and gives transparency for decision-making. Self-esteem is significant for dealing with a filled, complex life that incorporates meetings, vocation, family, network, and self-necessities. It helps in decision-making, effective communication, and building influence. The more they think about their qualities and how they can grow them the more confident they will be later on. A person may become happy with their good qualities and identify the ones that require growth.

Third, the self-reflection process requires honesty from the individual in order to be effective. When a person is honest with themselves when self-reflecting, they are able to understand their experiences; this person can grow and make changes based on what they have learned, leading them to better choices.

Fourth, self-reflection adapts a person's actions in future situations. Making time to step back and consider their behaviors, the consequences of those behaviors, and the expectations of those behaviors can give them a source of a clear insight and learning. [21] A person engaging in self-reflection may ask themselves: What appeared to have a more remarkable impact? How can we accomplish a more significant amount of that and enhance it? This cycle of reflection and variation—before, during, and after actions—is a recognized part of the process.

Failure often comes from our actions, showing up as mistakes. The positive side is that everyone makes mistakes. These mistakes teach us what to avoid in the future. They allow us to learn through "negative examples" or "errorful learning." Many have noted that failures are valuable learning moments because they are temporary. However, we must pause and reflect deliberately to learn from these mistakes truly. This self-reflection is crucial for growth. [22]

Organizational development

Self-reflection is considered to have a significant impact on how organizations achieve their goals. [23] Incivility has been found to be the most pernicious outcome when members of a group exhibit a lack of self-reflection, decreasing productivity on average by 30%. [24] According to recent self-awareness research, most people believe that they practice self-reflection, when in fact only 10–15% of people studied actually fit the criteria of consistent self-reflection. [25]

Psychotherapy

A study involving clients in a twelve-step program explored the role of self‑reflection through diary writing, not only as daily therapy, but in a retrospective context. The study concluded that clients who read and reflected on their past diary entries demonstrated increased participation in the treatment program. [26] The twelve-step program is based on self reflection and the accountability of actions past. The article by Mitchell Friedman indicates that success in one's recovery relies on self-reflection. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consciousness</span> Awareness of existence

Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of internal and external existence. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate by philosophers, scientists, and theologians. Opinions differ about what exactly needs to be studied or even considered consciousness. In some explanations, it is synonymous with the mind, and at other times, an aspect of it. In the past, it was one's "inner life", the world of introspection, of private thought, imagination, and volition. Today, it often includes any kind of cognition, experience, feeling, or perception. It may be awareness, awareness of awareness, metacognition, or self-awareness, either continuously changing or not. The disparate range of research, notions, and speculations raises a curiosity about whether the right questions are being asked.

Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which held from the 1920s to 1950s that unobservable mental processes were outside the realm of empirical science. This break came as researchers in linguistics and cybernetics, as well as applied psychology, used models of mental processing to explain human behavior. Work derived from cognitive psychology was integrated into other branches of psychology and various other modern disciplines like cognitive science, linguistics, and economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Developmental psychology</span> Scientific study of psychological changes in humans over the course of their lives

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. Developmental psychologists aim to explain how thinking, feeling, and behaviors change throughout life. This field examines change across three major dimensions, which are physical development, cognitive development, and social emotional development. Within these three dimensions are a broad range of topics including motor skills, executive functions, moral understanding, language acquisition, social change, personality, emotional development, self-concept, and identity formation.

In psychoanalysis and other psychological theories, the unconscious mind is the part of the psyche that is not available to introspection. Although these processes exist beneath the surface of conscious awareness, they are thought to exert an effect on conscious thought processes and behavior. Empirical evidence suggests that unconscious phenomena include repressed feelings and desires, memories, automatic skills, subliminal perceptions, and automatic reactions. The term was coined by the 18th-century German Romantic philosopher Friedrich Schelling and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Artificial consciousness, also known as machine consciousness, synthetic consciousness, or digital consciousness, is the consciousness hypothesized to be possible in artificial intelligence. It is also the corresponding field of study, which draws insights from philosophy of mind, philosophy of artificial intelligence, cognitive science and neuroscience.

Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's soul. Introspection is closely related to human self-reflection and self-discovery and is contrasted with external observation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-awareness</span> Capacity for introspection and individuation as a subject

In philosophy of self, self-awareness is the experience of one's own personality or individuality. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is being aware of one's body and environment, self-awareness is the recognition of that consciousness. Self-awareness is how an individual experiences and understands their own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daydreaming</span> Aspect of human thought and consciousness

Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirror test</span> Animal self-awareness test

The mirror test—sometimes called the mark test, mirror self-recognition (MSR) test, red spot technique, or rouge test—is a behavioral technique developed in 1970 by American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. as an attempt to determine whether an animal possesses the ability of visual self-recognition. The MSR test is the traditional method for attempting to measure physiological and cognitive self-awareness. However, agreement has been reached that animals can be self-aware in ways not measured by the mirror test, such as distinguishing between their own and others' songs and scents, and being aware of their own bodies, while humans have abnormally good vision, and thus intelligence that is highly visual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metacognition</span> Self-awareness about thinking, higher-order thinking skills

Metacognition is an awareness of one's thought processes and an understanding of the patterns behind them. The term comes from the root word meta, meaning "beyond", or "on top of". Metacognition can take many forms, such as reflecting on one's ways of thinking, and knowing when and how oneself and others use particular strategies for problem-solving. There are generally two components of metacognition: (1) cognitive conceptions and (2) cognitive regulation system. Research has shown that both components of metacognition play key roles in metaconceptual knowledge and learning. Metamemory, defined as knowing about memory and mnemonic strategies, is an important aspect of metacognition.

Hidden personality is the part of the personality that is determined by unconscious processes.

Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to take a critical stance or attitude towards one's own practice and that of one's peers, engaging in a process of continuous adaptation and learning. According to one definition it involves "paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight". A key rationale for reflective practice is that experience alone does not necessarily lead to learning; deliberate reflection on experience is essential.

The adaptive unconscious, first coined by social psychologist Daniel Wegner in 2002, is described as a set of mental processes that is able to affect judgement and decision-making, but is out of reach of the conscious mind. It is thought to be adaptive as it helps to keep the organism alive. Architecturally, the adaptive unconscious is said to be unreachable because it is buried in an unknown part of the brain. This type of thinking evolved earlier than the conscious mind, enabling the mind to transform information and think in ways that enhance an organism's survival. It can be described as a quick sizing up of the world which interprets information and decides how to act very quickly and outside the conscious view. The adaptive unconscious is active in everyday activities such as learning new material, detecting patterns, and filtering information. It is also characterized by being unconscious, unintentional, uncontrollable, and efficient without requiring cognitive tools. Lacking the need for cognitive tools does not make the adaptive unconscious any less useful than the conscious mind as the adaptive unconscious allows for processes like memory formation, physical balancing, language, learning, and some emotional and personalities processes that includes judgement, decision making, impression formation, evaluations, and goal pursuing. Despite being useful, the series of processes of the adaptive unconscious will not always result in accurate or correct decisions by the organism. The adaptive unconscious is affected by things like emotional reaction, estimations, and experience and is thus inclined to stereotyping and schema which can lead to inaccuracy in decision making. The adaptive conscious does however help decision making to eliminate cognitive biases such as prejudice because of its lack of cognitive tools.

Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest personal aspirational human need in the hierarchy. It represents where one's potential is fully realized after more basic needs, such as for the body and the ego, have been fulfilled. Long received in psychological teaching as the peak of human needs, Maslow later added the category self-transcendence.

In psychology, a dual process theory provides an account of how thought can arise in two different ways, or as a result of two different processes. Often, the two processes consist of an implicit (automatic), unconscious process and an explicit (controlled), conscious process. Verbalized explicit processes or attitudes and actions may change with persuasion or education; though implicit process or attitudes usually take a long amount of time to change with the forming of new habits. Dual process theories can be found in social, personality, cognitive, and clinical psychology. It has also been linked with economics via prospect theory and behavioral economics, and increasingly in sociology through cultural analysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociology of human consciousness</span> Aspect of sociology

The sociology of human consciousness or the sociology of consciousness uses the theories and methodology of sociology to explore and examine consciousness.

Implicit cognition refers to cognitive processes that occur outside conscious awareness or conscious control. This includes domains such as learning, perception, or memory which may influence a person's behavior without their conscious awareness of those influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal consciousness</span> Quality or state of self-awareness within an animal

Animal consciousness, or animal awareness, is the quality or state of self-awareness within an animal, or of being aware of an external object or something within itself. In humans, consciousness has been defined as: sentience, awareness, subjectivity, qualia, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind. Despite the difficulty in definition, many philosophers believe there is a broadly shared underlying intuition about what consciousness is.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reflective writing</span> Analytical practice used in scholarship and education

Reflective writing is an analytical practice in which the writer describes a real or imaginary scene, event, interaction, passing thought, or memory and adds a personal reflection on its meaning. Many reflective writers keep in mind questions such as "What did I notice?", "How has this changed me?" or "What might I have done differently?" when reflecting.

Secondary consciousness is an individual's accessibility to their history and plans. The ability allows its possessors to go beyond the limits of the remembered present of primary consciousness. Primary consciousness can be defined as simple awareness that includes perception and emotion. As such, it is ascribed to most animals. By contrast, secondary consciousness depends on and includes such features as self-reflective awareness, abstract thinking, volition and metacognition. The term was coined by Gerald Edelman.

References

  1. ↑ McCausland, Shane (2003), First Masterpiece of Chinese Painting: The Admonitions Scroll, British Museum Press, p. 78, ISBN   978-0-7141-2417-9 .
  2. ↑ James, W. (1981/1890). The principles of psychology (Vol. 1). New York: Dover.
  3. ↑ Farthing, G. W. (1992). The psychology of consciousness. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  4. ↑ "Self-Reflection" . Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Credo Reference. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  5. ↑ Porter, Roy, ed. (2002-09-09). Rewriting the Self. doi:10.4324/9780203439159. ISBN   9780203439159.
  6. ↑ "Pausanias, Description of Greece, Phocis and Ozolian Locri, chapter 24". www.perseus.tufts.edu.
  7. ↑ Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (15 October 2018). Phenomenology of perception. Creative Media Partners, LLC. ISBN   978-0-343-27541-9. OCLC   1105849980.
  8. ↑ Heidegger, Martin (1966). Discourse on thinking : a translation of Gelassenheit. Harper Perennial. ISBN   978-0-06-131459-9. OCLC   821883241.
  9. ↑ Willi, Andreas (2008-09-01). "Genitive problems: Mycenaean vs. later Greek". Glotta. 84 (1–4): 239–272. doi:10.13109/glot.2008.84.14.239. ISSN   0017-1298.
  10. ↑ "Book Review: Calvin's Doctrine of Man, by <scp>T. F. Torrance</scp>. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1957. 183 pp. $3.00; Calvin's Doctrine of the Word and Sacraments, by <scp>Ronald S. Wallace</scp>. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1958. 258 pp. $3.00". Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology. 12 (4): 501–502. 1958. doi:10.1177/002096435801200465. ISSN   0020-9643.
  11. ↑ Aristotle (1962). The Politics (Sinclair T.A.) (1st ed.). Baltimore: Penguin Books.
  12. ↑ "Augustine's teachings on human nature". A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  13. ↑ Descartes, René; Principia Philosophiae (1644), Part 1, article 7: "Ac proinde hæc cognitio, ego cogito, ergo sum, est omnium prima & certissima, quæ cuilibet ordine philosophanti occurrat."
  14. ↑ "Freud's Theory of the Unconscious Mind: The Iceberg Analogy". 2024-01-25. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  15. ↑ Conrad, Joseph (1995), "The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale", Joseph Conrad: Three Novels, London: Macmillan Education UK, pp. 93–338, doi:10.1007/978-1-349-23831-6_2, ISBN   978-0-333-61096-1 , retrieved 2022-06-01.
  16. ↑ E-Negotiation Ltd, trading as Amicable, amicable’s checklist for the 20-week reflection period, published 30 May 2022, accessed 16 February 2023
  17. ↑ Vaidya, N., How long does a mortgage offer last?, Uswitch Limited, trading as Bankrate, accessed 16 February 2023
  18. ↑ SELF-REFLECTION: The Key to An Amazing Life. N.p., Sandra Christian, 2020
  19. ↑ "Emotional intelligence", Wikipedia, 2020-12-14, retrieved 2020-12-17
  20. ↑ Wind, Attila M. (2021-12-01). "Nonlinearity and inter- and intra-individual variability in the extent of engagement in self-reflection and its role in second language writing: A multiple-case study". System. 103: 102672. doi:10.1016/j.system.2021.102672. hdl: 10831/83077 . ISSN   0346-251X. S2CID   239485728.
  21. ↑ Toros, Karmen; LaSala, Michael C. (2019-03-04). "Child protection workers' understanding of the meaning and value of self-reflection in Estonia". Reflective Practice. 20 (2): 266–278. doi:10.1080/14623943.2019.1588718. ISSN   1462-3943. S2CID   151241092.
  22. ↑ Metcalfe, Janet (2017). "Learning from Errors". Annual Review of Psychology. 68: 465–489. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010416-044022.
  23. ↑ "Don't Underestimate the Power of Self-Reflection". Harvard Business Review. 2022-03-04. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  24. ↑ "Incivility Is On The Rise - WorkforceWise". workforcewise.org. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  25. ↑ Eurich, Tasha (2018-01-04). "What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It)". Harvard Business Review. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  26. ↑ Stephenson, Geoffrey M.; Zygouris, Nikolaos (February 2007). "Effects of self reflection on engagement in a 12-step addiction treatment programme: A linguistic analysis of diary entries". Addictive Behaviors. 32 (2): 416–424. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.05.011. ISSN   0306-4603. PMID   16822620.
  27. ↑ Friedman, Mitchell (2016-12-01). "The 12 Steps of Addiction Recovery Programs as an influence on leadership development: a personal narrative". International Journal for Transformative Research. 3 (2): 15–23. doi: 10.1515/ijtr-2016-0009 . ISSN   2353-5415.
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