Self-awareness

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Self-awareness or self-perception is the perception of the self , of one's own person. She's with the introspection of one's own awareness and self-confidence indispensable. The opposite term to self-perception is the perception of others , i.e. the perception of a person by others.

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In psychology , the self-image is formed by the sum of self-perceptions, supplemented by messages from other people's perception. Self-perception occurs through outward-directed perception through the exterior receptors, i.e. the senses of sight, hearing, smell and the like. a., and inward perception through the proprioceptors , i.e. pain and muscle senses, etc., together with information from self -observation and self- assessment.

A fundamental distinction is made between body scheme and body image (after Sandra and Matthew Blakeslee). The body schema is a neurophysiological construct that arises from the integration of tactile, proprioceptive, vestibular, visual and acoustic information. It is related to learning experience and is made up of properties such as body orientation, body extension (size) and body knowledge (structure and function). The body image is a psychological-phenomenological construct that relates primarily to mental attitudes. It consists of properties such as body awareness, body exclusion (limits of one's own body), body attitude (for example attractiveness / appearance, evaluation by others) and beliefs.

Discrepancies between body scheme and body image can lead to disorders of self-perception and body experience . It can lead to distortion, denial, or repression, leading to self-delusion . Examples of this are the disorders classified according to ICD-10 , depersonalization and anorexia . Causes for such disorders are unreached one's own (or someone else's own) ideal images about how one would like to be, the fear of being discovered and the feeling of shame about not being who one would like to be - or the fear of it not or insufficiently to meet the expectations of others. A correspondingly distorted self-image, combined with inappropriate behavior, can lead to social problems.

According to the philosopher René Descartes ("Cogito ergo sum."), Self-assurance is not a matter of self-perception, but the result of a rational act of thought. That means: I do not know that I am because I perceive myself, but it follows without a doubt from my statement that I think.

In sensory physiology, deep sensitivity or proprioception is used to describe one's own body perception.

Illusions of self-awareness

The integration of different, parallel sensory impressions can lead to a false self-perception or a self-perception that does not correspond to reality. An example of an illusion of self awareness is the marble hand illusion. A test person's hand is tapped with a small hammer. She hears a knocking noise on marble through headphones, synchronized with the visible and noticeable knocking. This induces a changed perception of their hand in the test subject. The hand is perceived as stiffer, harder and less sensitive after a short time.

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