What Is Self-Awareness?

Self-awareness is your ability to perceive and understand the things that make you who you are
as an individual, including your personality, actions, values, beliefs, emotions, and thoughts.
Essentially, it is a psychological state in which the self becomes the focus of attention.

Why Does Self-Awareness Matter?

High self-awareness is a solid predictor of good success in life, perhaps because a self-aware
person knows when an opportunity is a good fit for them and how to make an appropriate
enterprise work well. Quite frankly, most of us are running on “autopilot,” hardly aware of why
we succeed or fail, or why we behave as we do. Our minds are so busy with daily chatter that we
usually only self-reflect when something goes awfully wrong.

Our response in challenging situations is often to get defensive, make excuses, or blame another
person, because we don’t want to see our own part in the disaster. If we can observe ourselves
during such incidents, it will be a good start to self-awareness.

Self-Awareness Development
Studies have demonstrated that a more complex sense of self-awareness emerges around one
year of age and becomes much more developed by approximately 18 months of age. Researchers
Lewis and Brooks-Gunn performed studies looking at how self-awareness develops.

The researchers applied a red dot to an infant's nose and then held the child up to a mirror.
Children who recognized themselves in the mirror would reach for their own noses rather than
the reflection in the mirror, which indicated that they had at least some level of self-awareness.

Lewis and Brooks-Gunn found that almost no children under one year of age would reach for
their own nose rather than the reflection in the mirror.

About 25% of the infants between 15 and 18 months reached for their own noses while about
70% of those between 21 and 24 months did so.
It is important to note that the Lewis and Brooks-Gunn study only indicates an infant's visual
self-awareness; children might actually possess other forms of self-awareness even at this early
point in life. For example, researchers Lewis, Sullivan, Stanger, and Weiss suggested
that expressing emotions involves self-awareness as well as an ability to think about oneself in
relation to other people.
Researchers have proposed that an area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate
cortex located in the frontal lobe region plays an important role in developing self-awareness.
Studies have also used brain imaging to show that this region becomes activated in adults who
are self-aware.

The Lewis and Brooks-Gunn experiment suggests that self-awareness begins to emerge in
children around the age of 18 months, an age that coincides with the rapid growth of spindle cells
in the anterior cingulate cortex.
However, one study found that a patient retained self-awareness even with extensive damage to
areas of the brain including the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex.
This suggests that these areas of the brain are not required for most aspects of self-awareness and
that awareness may instead arise from interactions distributed among brain networks.

Levels of Self-Awareness
So how exactly do children become aware of themselves as separate beings? One major theory
of self-awareness, developed by Philippe Rochat, PhD, suggests that there are five levels of self-
awareness. Children progress through these stages between birth and approximately age 4 or 5:1
 Differentiation: A baby begins to acknowledge their own reflection. They may detect
there is something different or special about looking at their reflection.
 Situation: A baby begins to recognize their own reflection, being, and movements as
separate from those around them.
 Identification: This is the stage during which a child fully knows that it is their own
reflection in a mirror. They know, "This is me."
 Permanence: They have a complete sense of themselves and can identify themselves in
pictures or videos, even as their appearance changes.
 Self-consciousness: A child adapts a third-person point of view of themselves; they
become aware of the idea that others perceive them in certain ways. This may result in
feelings such as pride or shame.

Types of Self-Awareness

Psychologists often break self-awareness down into two different types, either public or private.

Public Self-Awareness

This type emerges when people are aware of how they appear to others. Public self-awareness
often emerges in situations when people are at the center of attention.

This type of self-awareness often compels people to adhere to social norms. When we are aware
that we are being watched and evaluated, we often try to behave in ways that are socially
acceptable and desirable.
Public self-awareness can also lead to evaluation anxiety in which people become
distressed, anxious, or worried about how they are perceived by others.
Public Self-Awareness Examples

You may experience public self-awareness in the workplace, when you're giving a big
presentation. Or, you may experience it when telling a story to a group of friends.

Private Self-Awareness

This type happens when people become aware of some aspects of themselves, but only in a
private way. For example, seeing your face in the mirror is a type of private self-awareness.
Private Self-Awareness Examples

Feeling your stomach lurch when you realize you forgot to study for an important test or feeling
your heart flutter when you see someone you are attracted to are also examples of private self-
awareness.

How to Improve Your Self-Awareness

So how do you grow self-awareness? There are many ways you can practice being present with
yourself and your emotions, which, in turn, can help improve your self-awareness.
Meditation
Meditation can be an especially useful practice because you don't have to worry
about changing anything—simply noticing what happens during a meditation can bring greater
awareness of your thoughts and feelings.
Maybe you notice that you hold tension in your body by clenching your jaw, for instance, or that
you tend to worry so much about the future that it's hard to be in the present moment. This is all
valuable information that can help you get to know yourself and your tendencies.
Journaling
Journaling is a practice in self-reflection that can help you notice the ways in which you tend to
think and behave, and even which areas in your life you may wish to improve. It can be a
therapeutic way to gain insight into your life events and relationships.
Talk Therapy
During therapy—such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—a therapist works with you to
address negative thought patterns or behaviors.
By understanding the underlying cause of your negative thoughts, for instance, you're in a more
advantageous position to change them and use healthy coping mechanisms instead.
Develop Your Emotional Intelligence
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence (EQ) go hand in hand. EQ refers to a person's ability
to perceive their own emotions as well as the emotions of other people. Someone with a high EQ
is able to effectively respond to emotions with empathy and compassion.

Of course, no one is perfect, and EQ is a skill like any other. But by learning to express your own
emotions in a healthy way, and practicing active listening in your relationships, you're
contributing to the expansion of your own self-awareness as well.

Self-Consciousness
Sometimes, people can become overly self-aware and veer into what is known as self-
consciousness. Have you ever felt like everyone was watching you, judging your actions, and
waiting to see what you will do next? This heightened state of self-awareness can leave you

feeling awkward and nervous in some instances.

In a lot of cases, these feelings of self-consciousness are only temporary and arise in situations
when we are "in the spotlight." For some people, however, excessive self-consciousness can
reflect a chronic condition such as social anxiety disorder.
While self-awareness plays a critical role in how we understand ourselves and how we relate to
others and the world, excessive self-consciousness can result in challenges such as anxiety
and stress.

How Do We Increase Self-Awareness?

Self-awareness requires self-examination. Be aware, though, that an honest, non-judgmental self-

analysis isn’t easy. We tend to berate ourselves for our failings or fantasize about how great we
are, when neither is actually the case. We all have a unique mix of “good” and “bad” traits, but
we are largely unaware of them. In order to self-reflect objectively, we need to quiet our minds
and open our hearts, forgiving ourselves for our imperfections and offering ourselves kudos, but
only where we deserve them.

Increasing self-awareness of false attitudes or inappropriate behaviors requires peace of mind,

time, attention, and focus. Knowing ahead of time that we can indeed change in positive ways
through deeper self-awareness makes it worth working on those personal qualities we most
value. But first, we must look within ourselves through self-examination to see what’s there,
which is often less obvious than we think.

Walking, especially in the quiet of nature, can be useful in building self-awareness.

Becoming a good listener can increase self-awareness.
Self-awareness can open your mind to new perspectives.
Self-awareness is connected to self-esteem.
Self-awareness can help you look at yourself objectively.
Feedback from others can help you be more self-aware.
Self-awareness can help you know your strengths and weaknesses.
Self-awareness can help you set intentions.

In any case, self-awareness is an important practice to develop.

“In the past, [lack of self-awareness] might have been written off as a benign human quirk, but as
our world becomes increasingly complex, the need for self-awareness is growing to paramount
importance,” says Well. “Self-awareness may be the most vital skill we have to navigate our
future challenges.”

Duffy adds that “if you can manage your own emotions, you are more than likely able to exert an
impact on the emotional vibe of a family, a work situation, or a social encounter. All of that is to
say, self-awareness can be incredibly useful in driving a more aware, fulfilled life.”