SELF AND INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

1. SELF AND INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

2. OBJECTIVES • Reflect upon the values or significance of self-introspection; • Establish the connection between self-concept and intrapersonal communication; and • Arrive at a keener understanding of one’s self-communication prior to acquiring interpersonal communication skills

3. “Who are you?” said the caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied rather shyly, “I hardly know, sir, just at present – at least I knew who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.” Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)

4. Our self-view is formed and given shape in complex ways, but primarily communicated by you, the communicator, whose message is communicated back to you.

5. Self-concept : the ways in which we think about and describe ourselves • Self-esteem : the degree to which we liken those descriptions of ourselves We are strongly encouraged to introspect, to look into yourselves, and in the process recognize vital clues to your self-identity, self-concept, or self-image.

6. A few basic questions that can guide us are: • “How do I see myself?” • “Do I like or not what I see?” • “How do I wish to see myself?” “How do I present myself to others?” • “Who do others say I am?” “What do I imagine others say about me?” • “How does this affect me?”

7. SELF-CONCEPT FORMATION • Reflected Appraisals a. Direct Reflections b. Perceived Self c. Generalized other 2. Social comparisons 3. Self-attribution 4. Self-values

8. Direct ReflectionsThorstein Veblen, 1934 • The self-concept is largely shaped by the responses of others. • You are deeply influenced by people’s attitudes towards you. • You are a social being who wants and needs to be with people. • You come to view your “self” as you are viewed by others.

9. Direct ReflectionsThorstein Veblen, 1934 • According to Veblen, the usual basis of self-respect is the respect by one’s neighbors or fellows. • Only individuals with dysfunctional temperaments can in the long run retain their self-esteem in the face of disesteem of their neighbors or colleagues.

10. Direct ReflectionsThorstein Veblen, 1934 • “Because it is difficult to arrive at self-knowledge, how others view us is of tremendous importance. We need a consensus from others in order to validate our own self-concepts.” Our own self-evaluation is affected by others’ evaluation of us.

11. Perceived SelfCooley, 1912 • It came from the concept of the “looking-glass” self wherein we imagine our appearance to the other person and imagine his judgment of that appearance, as well as some self-feeling, such as pride or regret. • The crucial question is NOT “What is the other person’s attitude towards me?” but “What do I perceive to be his attitude towards me?”

12. Generalized OtherMead • The self arises out of social experience, particularly social interaction. • The process of communication requires the individual to adopt the attitude of the other toward the self and to see himself from their perspective or standpoint. • All the others’ particular attitudes are crystallized in the “me,” in the process giving rise to a single standpoint or attitude called the “generalized other.” • Your individual self-concept is shaped by applying to your “self” the attitudes of the society as a whole.

13. SOCIAL COMPARISONS • Pettigrew (1967): “Human beings learn about themselves by comparing themselves to others.” • The process of self-evaluation leads to self-ratings that may be positive, neutral, or negative in relation to the standards set by the individuals employed for comparison.

14. SELF-ATTRIBUTION • Simply accepting things as they are is not helpful. SELF-VALUES • What is important to an individual would relate to one’s global self-esteem.

15. WISEMAN and BARKER MODEL • Intrapersonal communication is the “creating, functioning, and evaluation of symbolic processes which operate within the originating or responding communicator.” (1974)

16. WISEMAN and BARKER MODEL Internal Stimuli External Stimuli Transmission Reception Discrimination Ideation Incubation Life Orientation Regrouping Symbol Encoding Symbol Decoding Internal Self-Feedback External Self-Feedback

17. Life Orientation • It plays a vital, underlying function because it affects the various stages as we evaluate and respond to stimuli. • It determines how the messages are sent to and received by ourselves. • The “result of the sum total of social, hereditary, and personal factors which have influenced your development as an individual.”

18. Stimuli • Internal stimuli are nerve impulses that are received by the brain. • External stimuli, on the other hand, comes from outside your body, from your immediate or proximate environment. • There are two types of external stimuli: overt and covert.

19. Reception • Happens when the body first receives stimuli. • Receiving can take place singly or in combination of any of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. • External and internal receptors in the five sensory organs receive stimuli which are transformed into nerve impulses and subsequently transmitted to the brain. • External receptors are found on or near the surface of the body. These receptors react to physical, chemical, and mechanical stimuli. • Internal receptors such as nerve endings provide information about your internal state such as an empty stomach or an itchy throat.

20. Discrimination and Regrouping • Discrimination determines what stimuli are allowed to stimulate thought. • It screens out the less significant or weaker stimuli. • In regrouping, the strongest and most important stimuli previously selected are arranged in a meaningful sequence. • Although screened previously, the diverse stimuli have not been ranked.

21. Ideation • Ideation is the stage where the messages are thought out, planned and organized. • This stage draws mainly on the individual’s storehouse of knowledge and experience which may include previous associations with the topic, readings, observation, and conversation. • The length of time depends on the availability of material.

22. Incubation and Symbol Encoding • Incubation is the process of allowing your ideas to grow and develop further. • Often referred to as the “jelling or hatching period.” • Allows you time to weigh, evaluate, reorganize and reflect on your messages. • In Symbol Encoding, the symbols of thought are transformed into words and gestures or actions.

23. Transmission and Feedback • The destination is the communicator himself. • The origin or point of initiation is likewise himself. • The self-communicator’s message is composed of words and gestures are thus transmitted via air or light waves. • Feedback in intrapersonal communication is called self-feedback. • External is the self-communicator’s response through airwaves. • Internal self-feedback is felt through bone conduction and muscular movement.

24. Johari Window • Concept of self-awareness explained by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham • Intrapersonal or self-communication is a function of our different selves. Known to Self Not Known to Self Known to Others Not Known to Others

25. Johari Window Known to Self Not Known to Self Known to Others Not Known to Others

26. Johari Window Known to Self Not Known to Self Known to Others Not Known to Others

27. Johari Window • Factors that influence our self-presentation: the other, situation or interaction environment, and motivation. • Others determine the way we present ourselves. • “A man has as many different social selves as there are distinct groups of persons about whose opinion he cares.” (William James, 1892) • Different situations or environment bring about shifts in identity primarily because they offer cues for maximization of reward. • Motives of the self in undertaking a relationship determine self-presentation.

28. Summary • Self-communication is not an uncomplicated process. • Self-concept formation is a dynamic, ongoing thing operating in a process of “becoming.”

29. Homework • Make a collage of yourself by clipping pictures of symbols, images, etc. on an A4 sized paper. • At the back, elaborate on the reasons of your selection.