A Relational Conception of Self and Its Development

Abstract

To what do we refer when we speak of self? How does self differ from related concepts, such as person, agent, individual or organism? I address these questions by situating the concept of self within a broader model of relational personhood. In this conception, persons are relational beings who act on the basis of the meaning that events have for them. The experience of self is implicit in the very structure of action. As such, the experience of self emerges in early infancy as a reflexive aspect of action and develops within intersubjective encounters with caregivers. The capacity to represent self becomes transformed in the second year of life with the emergence of the capacity for symbolism. At this point, in intersubjective exchanges with others, consciousness gains the capacity to take itself as its own object of awareness. The development of higher-order representations of self is mediated through the discursive use cultural tools—most notably language. Over time, children and adults construct valued images of self which come to function as self-defining goals that drive social activity. In this way, the quest for a valued identity becomes a defining aspect of the developing person.