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"Know Thyself": A Review of True Self

Received: 6 May 2020     Accepted: 25 May 2020     Published: 4 June 2020
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Abstract

Throughout the years "Know Thyself", as an old aphorism, has been discussed by laypeople and researchers alike. It continues to hold a vital position in contemporary psychology. According to the traditional psychoanalytic and humanistic theories, being aware of and behaving in accordance with one's true self, improves an individual's psychological health. However, what the "true self" is, and how it affects people's daily lives, continues to be explored. In the present study, we reviewed the history and definition of the true self. Based on the characteristics found in previous research, we tentatively defined the true self as "a set of mental representations of the inherent, private, and stable attributions of oneself; reflective of whom an individual thinks he/she really is." Following that, we reviewed several ways of measuring or assessing the true self, and compared advantages and disadvantages of them. We also reviewed the effects the true self has on people's meaning in life, decision satisfaction, and moral judgment, as well as psychological health. Finally, we suggested that it is crucial to define the true self more clearly, to develop methods to measure or assess it more accurately, and to investigate the fundamental mechanisms by which it benefits to people.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11
Page(s) 24-30
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

True Self, Definition, Measurement, Psychological Functioning

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Jian Du. (2020). "Know Thyself": A Review of True Self. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 9(3), 24-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11

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    Jian Du. "Know Thyself": A Review of True Self. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2020, 9(3), 24-30. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11

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    Jian Du. "Know Thyself": A Review of True Self. Psychol Behav Sci. 2020;9(3):24-30. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11,
      author = {Jian Du},
      title = {"Know Thyself": A Review of True Self},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {9},
      number = {3},
      pages = {24-30},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20200903.11},
      abstract = {Throughout the years "Know Thyself", as an old aphorism, has been discussed by laypeople and researchers alike. It continues to hold a vital position in contemporary psychology. According to the traditional psychoanalytic and humanistic theories, being aware of and behaving in accordance with one's true self, improves an individual's psychological health. However, what the "true self" is, and how it affects people's daily lives, continues to be explored. In the present study, we reviewed the history and definition of the true self. Based on the characteristics found in previous research, we tentatively defined the true self as "a set of mental representations of the inherent, private, and stable attributions of oneself; reflective of whom an individual thinks he/she really is." Following that, we reviewed several ways of measuring or assessing the true self, and compared advantages and disadvantages of them. We also reviewed the effects the true self has on people's meaning in life, decision satisfaction, and moral judgment, as well as psychological health. Finally, we suggested that it is crucial to define the true self more clearly, to develop methods to measure or assess it more accurately, and to investigate the fundamental mechanisms by which it benefits to people.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AU  - Jian Du
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    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11
    T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7845
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20200903.11
    AB  - Throughout the years "Know Thyself", as an old aphorism, has been discussed by laypeople and researchers alike. It continues to hold a vital position in contemporary psychology. According to the traditional psychoanalytic and humanistic theories, being aware of and behaving in accordance with one's true self, improves an individual's psychological health. However, what the "true self" is, and how it affects people's daily lives, continues to be explored. In the present study, we reviewed the history and definition of the true self. Based on the characteristics found in previous research, we tentatively defined the true self as "a set of mental representations of the inherent, private, and stable attributions of oneself; reflective of whom an individual thinks he/she really is." Following that, we reviewed several ways of measuring or assessing the true self, and compared advantages and disadvantages of them. We also reviewed the effects the true self has on people's meaning in life, decision satisfaction, and moral judgment, as well as psychological health. Finally, we suggested that it is crucial to define the true self more clearly, to develop methods to measure or assess it more accurately, and to investigate the fundamental mechanisms by which it benefits to people.
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Author Information
  • Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

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