Self-awareness: definition, structure, levels, development

Self-awareness is a person's ability to recognize and understand themselves as individuals, to have an understanding of their personality, their thoughts, feelings, desires, motivations, values and their role in the world. This inner sense of self and self-awareness play an important role in human psychology and behavior.

Self-awareness may include the following aspects:

1. Identity: This is the understanding of one's own unique personality and individuality. A person recognizes that they are different from others in their characteristics, experiences and qualities.
2. Awareness of one's thoughts and feelings: Self-awareness includes the ability to be aware of and analyze one's thoughts, feelings, and emotions. A person can reflect on his or her beliefs, motivations, and reactions to events.
3. Self-assessment ability: A person has the ability to evaluate themselves and their achievements. This may include evaluating one's strengths, weaknesses, and self-esteem.
4. Awareness of one's history and experiences: Self-awareness includes the ability to perceive and analyze one's past experiences, memories, and events that have shaped one's identity.
5. Self-understanding: A person tries to understand his goals, wants and needs. This helps him/her make more informed decisions in life.

Self-awareness has several important aspects and components:

1. Self and Personal Identity Consciousness: This aspect of self-awareness is concerned with understanding one's own individuality and what makes a person unique. Personal identity includes factors such as gender, age, cultural background, beliefs and experiences.
2. Self-awareness and self-perception: This aspect relates to how one perceives oneself and one's characteristics. Self-perception may include awareness of one's qualities, abilities, shortcomings and characteristics.
3. Awareness of one's thoughts and feelings: A person is aware of his internal processes such as thoughts, feelings and emotions. He is able to analyze his reactions to events and understand how they affect his behavior.
4. Self-esteem and self-worth: This aspect of self-awareness relates to how a person views themselves. Self-esteem can be positive or negative, and it can affect one's sense of self worth and confidence.
5. Awareness of one's goals and motivations: A person is aware of his desires, motivations and goals in life. This helps him to navigate the space of goals and aspirations.
6. Self-reflection and introspection: This aspect of self-awareness includes the ability to reflect on one's own actions, decisions, and behaviors. A person can analyze his or her experiences and learn from past events.

Peculiarities of self-consciousness

Self-awareness is a complex concept and its characteristics may vary from person to person. However, there are some general features of self-awareness that characterize it as a psychological process and aspect of personality:

1. Individuality: Each person has a unique self-image that reflects their individuality and unique experiences. No two self-concepts are exactly alike.
2. Dynamic: Self-awareness is not static and can change over time, depending on life experiences, events and circumstances. People may revisit their self-image and reevaluate themselves.
3. Multilevel: Self-awareness consists of different levels, including physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual self-awareness. These levels are interrelated and influence each other.
4. Reflection: One of the key features of self-awareness is the capacity for self-reflection, that is, the ability to reflect on oneself, one's thoughts, feelings and actions.
5. Self-awareness: Self-awareness usually involves being aware of one's own thoughts, emotions, and actions. It allows a person to be more aware of his or her own life.
6. Evaluation and Self-Evaluation: A person can evaluate themselves and their characteristics, both positive and negative. Self-evaluation and self-criticism can influence self-concept.
7. Contextuality: Self-awareness is often context and situation dependent. A person may perceive themselves differently in different social, professional and personal situations.
8. Interaction with the world around us: Self-awareness is shaped by interaction with the world around us and other people. Self-perception may depend on how one is perceived by others.
9. Ability to change: The individual has the potential to change their self-image by consciously working on it and developing it in a positive direction.
10. Integrity: Although multi-leveled, self-awareness strives for integrity and coherence. This means that a person strives to have a coherent view of him or herself at different levels and in different areas of life.

Levels of self-awareness

Self-awareness can be divided into several levels or aspects that represent varying degrees of awareness and depth of self-understanding. Here are the main levels of self-awareness:

1. Elemental self-awareness: At this level, a person is aware of their physical needs and reactions, such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, and discomfort. This is a basic self-awareness that is inherent even in infants.
2. Physical Identity Awareness: This level includes awareness of one's own body and physical identity. The person realizes that he or she has a certain appearance, gender, and age.
3. Social self-awareness: At this level, a person becomes aware of his or her role and position in social relationships. He or she understands how his or her actions affect others and how he or she is perceived by others.
4. Self-esteem and self-respect: This level is related to assessing one's worth and respecting oneself as a person. A person can evaluate his or her achievements, qualities and shortcomings.
5. Awareness of one's thoughts and emotions: At this level, one becomes aware of one's thoughts, feelings and emotions. He is able to analyze his reactions to events and understand how his thoughts affect his emotional state.
6. Awareness of personal values and beliefs: This level includes awareness of one's own values, beliefs and principles. A person can determine what is important to him or her and what values guide his or her behavior.
7. Self-reflection and introspection: At this level, the individual is able to reflect on his or her own actions, decisions and behavior. He or she analyzes his or her experiences and seeks personal development.
8. Metaconsciousness: This highest level of self-awareness involves the ability to view oneself from a higher perspective and to analyze one's self-image as an object. A person can ask questions about the meaning of life, their role in the world, and their goals.

Levels of self-awareness can vary from person to person and change over time depending on personal experience and development. A person can be at different levels at the same time in different areas of their life. Developing self-awareness promotes more informed decisions and personal growth.

Development of self-awareness

It is a dynamic process that occurs throughout a person's life. It depends on many factors, including personal experience, upbringing, training, sociocultural environment and external influences. Here are some aspects of the development of self-awareness:

1. Childhood: In early childhood, children begin to form their basic self-awareness by becoming aware of their physical needs and reactions, such as hunger, thirst, and comfort. They also begin to use the words "I" and "my" to refer to themselves and their things.
2. Preschool age: During this period, children develop self-knowledge and become aware of their physical characteristics and gender. They may ask questions about their origins and show interest in their personal identity.
3. School age: In elementary school, children continue to develop their self-concept as they begin to compare themselves with others and evaluate their skills and abilities. They also develop ideas about their values and interests.
4. Adolescence: Adolescents go through an intense development of self-awareness. They may face questions about their identity, values and place in society. This period may be accompanied by a search for one's place and self-identification.
5. Adulthood: As their personal and professional lives develop, adults continue to develop their self-awareness. They can more consciously identify their goals and values, as well as analyze their experiences and make decisions based on personal beliefs.
6. Olderage: In older age, the development of self-awareness may include reflecting on life experiences and analyzing achievements and failures. Individuals may seek to generalize their knowledge and skills and share them with others.

The development of self-awareness is not always linear and can be influenced by individual characteristics and life circumstances. It is important to support the positive development of self-awareness by encouraging self-reflection, self-evaluation and self-development. This process promotes personal growth and quality of life.

Forms of self-awareness

Self-awareness can manifest in different forms or types that reflect different aspects of awareness of self and identity. Here are some of the forms of self-awareness:

1. Physical self-awareness: This form of self-awareness relates to awareness of one's physical body, its needs and condition. It includes awareness of physical sensations, health, comfort and discomfort.
2. Social self-consciousness: This form of self-consciousness is related to the awareness of one's role and place in social relationships. It includes an understanding of one's status, responsibilities, rules and norms of society.
3. Emotional self-awareness: This form of self-awareness relates to the awareness of one's emotions, feelings and states. It includes the ability to recognize and express one's emotions and to understand how they influence behavior and decisions.
4. Intellectual self-awareness: This form of self-awareness relates to awareness of one's intellectual abilities, knowledge and skills. It includes an understanding of one's cognitive processes, including thinking, memory, and learning ability.
5. Spiritual self-awareness: This form of self-awareness is concerned with awareness of one's spiritual beliefs, values, and convictions. It involves searching for the meaning of life, reflecting on spiritual matters, and striving for spiritual development.
6. Cultural and Identity Self-Consciousness: This form of self-awareness is related to the awareness of one's cultural belonging, ethnicity and national identity. It includes an understanding of one's cultural and historical belonging.
7. Internal self-awareness: This form of self-awareness is related to internal processes and self-understanding. It includes awareness of one's thoughts, beliefs, goals and motives.
8. Self-awareness of others: This form of self-awareness relates to how one perceives oneself in relation to others. It involves comparing oneself to others, evaluating one's competence and achievements.
9. Secret self-awareness: This form of self-awareness is concerned with aspects of the personality that a person may be hiding or not fully aware of. It includes hidden desires, fears, shortcomings, and aspects of self-awareness that are difficult to analyze.
10. Self-awareness at different stages oflife: This form of self-awareness relates to how self-awareness changes and develops at different stages of a person's life. It involves the adaptation of self-awareness to changing circumstances and tasks.

Each of these forms of self-awareness can be important for personal development and well-being, and different aspects may dominate at different times and in different situations. Developing self-awareness promotes better self-understanding, personal decision-making and personal growth.

Self-awareness in children

Self-awareness develops in children as they grow and experience. It begins to form at a very early age and goes through several stages of development. Here is how self-awareness develops in children:

1. Thefirst months of life: In the early years, children have limited self-awareness. They can respond to their own needs, such as hunger or discomfort, but do not have a clear understanding of themselves as individuals.
2. Ages 1-2: During this period, children begin to show signs of self-awareness. They may begin to use the words "I" and "my" when pointing to themselves and their things. They may also respond to their name.
3. Age 2-3 years: Self-awareness becomes more explicit. Children begin to recognize their gender and age, can be proud of their achievements and feel shame for their mistakes. They begin to form their personal identity.
4. Ages4-5: At this age, self-awareness continues to develop. Children begin to recognize their feelings and emotions as well as the feelings of others. They can ask questions about their origins and begin to build ideas about who and what they are.
5. School age: In elementary school, self-awareness deepens. Children begin to compare themselves with others and evaluate their skills and abilities. They develop their interests and ideas about the future.
6. Adolescence: Adolescents go through a period of intense self-awareness. They may face questions about their own identity, values and place in society. At this age, they may also face social pressures and peer influences on self-concept formation.

The development of self-awareness in children is an important part of their psychosocial development. It helps them to understand themselves and the world around them, and to interact with others. It is important to support healthy self-awareness in children by encouraging self-expression, self-esteem and the development of personal identity.

Self-awareness is an important aspect of human psychology and allows us to construct our identity, develop and make decisions that are consistent with our values and goals. Self-awareness can also influence interpersonal relationships and interactions with others because it affects our behavior and our ability to understand and respond to the behavior of others.