What is Social Awareness?
Social-awareness is often mistaken for a linear developmental path. First, children move past a self-focused stage and begin building relationships through play. At this point, psychologists say they develop a “theory of mind,” meaning they stop prioritizing only their own needs. Next, they expand their consciousness. They start to consider other people’s desires, learn social norms, and adapt their behavior in both public and private settings.
This view hides the deeper meaning of self-awareness. To be truly self-aware, we need a clear self-image that lets us recognize our emotions, thoughts, and values in every situation. Additionally, we must understand how our decisions affect us in the long run and weigh their pros and cons. Moreover, renowned psychologist and author Daniel Coleman defines self-awareness in his work, “Emotional Intelligence” as “knowing one’s internal states, preference, resources, and intuitions.” The Collaborative for Academic, Social, & Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a leading resource for developing these skills.
Self Awareness is comprised of the following five key components:
- Identifying emotions
- Accurate self-perception
- Recognizing strength
- Possessing strong self-confidence
- Possessing self-efficacy
Pathway To Self Actualization
While the pathway to self-actualization can be a long and daunting one, it nonetheless can be well cultivated by solid emotional development inasmuch as we are able to learn to recognize our states of well being.
As David Gelernter so eloquently put it, “.. our emotions summary has to bait and hook a particular fish of recollection from out of the thriving ocean of memory. Hence, without emotions, you would have nothing to go on. You cannot recall a memory by processes within the mind with nothing to go on.” Unlike a computer, we have to guide through often turbulent tides of raw emotions in order to recount and resolve harrowing experiences.
In his work, “The Tides of Mind: Uncovering the Spectrum of Consciousness” emotions are not only for self-actualization and learning norms, but also “powerful summation units,” as he puts it. Emotions serve as our recall memory and, unlike computers, it is not a linear circuit process. Instead, as emphasized by the continuing metaphor used in his book, emotions anchor memories by way of continual emotional recall. Often times, it can provide calm seas where your next memory and development is clear on the horizon and can be navigated to easily whereby you avoid storms of inner emotional conflicts.
At other times, the seas become turbulent when you’re unable to recall without raw emotions in order to access a troubling memory that has been repressed. Hence, learning to temper emotions to the betterment of your mental state is imperative in order to maintain a healthy and stable mind. Just as a captain of an old rickety ship might undergo repairs on turbulent seas and has to be able to issue clear commands to the crew in order to keep the vessel afloat, we too should take the helm at all times in order to maintain our best possible mental course.
Self Perception
Accurate self-perception means maintaining an honest account of character you present in the world. It asks you to aim for Aristotle’s “golden mean,” neither believing that you are the most untouchable person nor believing yourself to be the most reviled. Instead, it’s about stepping back and taking a clear look in the mirror whereby assessing your strengths and weaknesses in order to strive daily to improve your overall complexion of character. Dr. Robert C. Roberts, professor at the Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues, emphasizes extensively on this in his: “Self-Perception and Humility: The Importance of An Accurate Self-Image.”
Self-Confidence
Possessing self-confidence is easily one of the most consequential facets of self-awareness. Without it, you cannot progress or improve your emotional state. In simple terms, self-confidence drives you out of bed each morning. Moreover, philosophy teaches us that the purpose-driven life is one of self-examination. The purpose-driven life is also to live an unexamined life is not worth living. Meaning, once we established the aforementioned attribute, we need to build confidence over a lifetime by honestly assessing ourselves which will create solid foundations on which to build the structure of confidence whilst maintaining some humility.
Self-Efficacy
How can we establish and achieve daily goals with precision and prudence? First, recognize the hurdles and strengths that lie between you and the finish line. Second, identify your weaknesses and work to perfect them. In other words, turn failures into lessons that will later ripen into success. After all, the history of science itself is truly nothing more than a long series of trials and errors perfected by sophisticated people of errors; all of whom were able to fasten from the errors of yesterday into working proven solutions of tomorrow.
Methods inside the Classroom:
- Bringing an appreciation to students on the science of Metacognition and how their brains are wired for growth.
- Instill in students the self-efficacy needed to tackle and recognize what they do not grasp.
- Bring to students appreciation for the art of reflection/self-reflection by integrating opportunities to practice it in coursework.
- Bring to students self-reflection via learning journals.
- Create wrapper activities (an activity which concludes a lesson by having students write down three key ideas/takeaways from each lesson, then comparing it to ideas from the teacher). All of which are aimed at bettering their listening and monitoring skills.
- Create essay exams over multiple choice ones. (Not only would you grant students creative insights into their own writing abilities earlier, you would also avoid the pitfalls of instilling into students’ complacency of using lower level thinking skills for all tests when you just have multiple choice as studies indicate).
- Create exercises that require critical thinking that makes students learn to be aware of their biases.
Methods outside the Classroom:
- Self-examination daily
- Maintaining a journal
- Writing down one’s goals, plans and priorities
- Performing around the kitchen table exercises of self-reflection for your family
- Engaging in meditation and other mindfulness habits
- Undergoing personality and psychometric tests
- Asking friends for their unfiltered descriptions of you
- Asking for the same above from co-workers
What are the Benefits of Self-Awareness:
- Develops resilience: The American Academy of Family Physicians states that self-awareness strengthens one’s resilience by allowing one to be aware of external stimuli better and more tact in picking up on internal cues. That is, being insightful on one’s own strengths and weaknesses, in order to see the extent of your insights and recognize your blind spots.
- Improves classroom participation/performance: Understood.org explains how self-awareness benefits students in the classroom, especially those with learning and attention issues.
- Recognize their strengths and weaknesses.
- Immediately identify what they need to do in order to complete the task in front of them.
- Recognize errors in school work and make edits and changes.
- Understand and be able to discuss matters of dissonance and feelings.
- Recognize others’ needs and feelings.
- Be able to recognize how their behavior affects others.
Ways this prepares Individuals for the “Real World”
As explained by, Developgoodhabits.com, individuals who are self-aware are prepared for a variety of careers in the workforce, including :
- Leadership roles
- Social work
- Counseling
- Education
- Nursing