The True Self: A Psychological Concept Distinct From the Self

Summary & key facts

This paper introduces the idea of the "true self" — the part of a person people see as who they really are deep down — and shows that people treat this true self as different from the rest of the self. The authors review studies that find people usually picture the true self as positive and moral. That pattern shows up both when people judge themselves and when they judge others, and it appears in different cultures. The paper also looks at why this happens and what it might mean for how we understand people and personality, while noting these are perceptions rather than proof of an actual inner essence.

Key facts:

• Researchers define the "true self" as the subset of a person's internal traits that people say make someone who they really are, deep down.
• Across recent studies, people tend to describe the true self as positive and moral — in other words, they usually think the true self is good.
• This positive view of the true self shows up both when people judge themselves and when they judge other people. In plain terms: we and others tend to picture the true self as good.
• The pattern of seeing the true self as moral appears in different cultures, which suggests this way of thinking is fairly widespread.
• The paper does not claim the true self is an objectively real thing. Instead, it reports how people perceive and talk about the idea of a true self.
• The authors discuss possible reasons for these findings and what they mean for psychology, but they also point out limits and open questions about why people view the true self this way.

Abstract

A long tradition of psychological research has explored the distinction between characteristics that are part of the self and those that lie outside of it. Recently, a surge of research has begun examining a further distinction. Even among characteristics that are internal to the self, people pick out a subset as belonging to the true self. These factors are judged as making people who they really are, deep down. In this paper, we introduce the concept of the true self and identify features that distinguish people's understanding of the true self from their understanding of the self more generally. In particular, we consider recent findings that the true self is perceived as positive and moral and that this tendency is actor-observer invariant and cross-culturally stable. We then explore possible explanations for these findings and discuss their implications for a variety of issues in psychology.

Topics

Emotions and Moral Behavior Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment Social and Intergroup Psychology

Categories

Social Sciences Sociology and Political Science

Tags

Artificial intelligence Cognitive psychology Computer science Epistemology Philosophy Psychology Self Self psychology Self-concept Social psychology Variety (cybernetics)