SELF AND INTRAPERSONAL
COMMUNICATION
OBJECTIVES
• Reflect upon the values or significance of selfintrospection;
• Establish the connection between self-concept
and intrapersonal communication; and
• Arrive at a keener understanding of one’s selfcommunication prior to acquiring
interpersonal communication skills
“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)
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.
• 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.
A few basic questions that can
guide us are:
1. “How do I see myself?”
2. “Do I like or not what I see?”
3. “How do I wish to see myself?” “How do I
present myself to others?”
4. “Who do others say I am?” “What do I
imagine others say about me?”
5. “How does this affect me?”
SELF-CONCEPT FORMATION
1. Reflected Appraisals
a. Direct Reflections
b. Perceived Self
c. Generalized other
2. Social comparisons
3. Self-attribution
4. Self-values
Direct Reflections
Thorstein 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.
Direct Reflections
Thorstein Veblen, 1934
 According to Veblen, the usual basis of selfrespect 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.
Direct Reflections
Thorstein Veblen, 1934
 “Because it is difficult to arrive at selfknowledge, how others view us is of
tremendous importance. We need a consensus
from others in order to validate our own selfconcepts.”
Our own self-evaluation is
affected by others’ evaluation of us.
Perceived Self
Cooley, 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?”
Generalized Other
Mead
 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.
SOCIAL COMPARISONS
 Pettigrew (1967): “Human beings learn about
themselves by comparing themselves to others.”
 The process of self-evaluation leads to selfratings that may be positive, neutral, or negative
in relation to the standards set by the individuals
employed for comparison.
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.
WISEMAN and BARKER MODEL
• Intrapersonal communication is the “creating,
functioning, and evaluation of symbolic
processes which operate within the
originating or responding communicator.”
(1974)
WISEMAN and BARKER MODEL
Internal Stimuli
External
Stimuli
R
e
c
e
p
t
i
o
n
Ideation
Discrimination
Life
Regrouping
Orientation
Incubation
Symbol
Encoding
Symbol
Decoding
Internal Self-Feedback
External Self-Feedback
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Known
to
Others
Not
Known
to
Others
Not Known to Self
OPEN
BLIND
HIDDEN
UNKNOWN
Johari Window
Known to Self
Known
to
Others
Not
Known
to
Others
OPEN
(name, student # & course,
sex, age, height,
weight, & social affiliations)
HIDDEN
(personal secrets)
*over and selective
disclosers
Not Known to Self
BLIND
(mannerisms, matters
like bad breath or body
odor)
UNKNOWN
(hidden talents,
untapped abilities, and
giftedness)
Johari Window
Known to Self
Not
Known
to
Others
OPEN
HIDDEN
BLIND
Known
to
Others
Not Known to Self
UNKNOWN
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.
•
Summary
• Self-communication is not an uncomplicated
process.
• Self-concept formation is a dynamic, ongoing
thing operating in a process of “becoming.”
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.