Self-knowledge is a component of the
self, or more accurately, the
self-concept. It is the knowledge of one's self and one's properties and the
desire
to seek such knowledge that guide the development of the self-concept.
Self-knowledge informs us of our mental representations of ourselves,
which contain attributes that we uniquely pair with ourselves, and
theories on whether these attributes are stable, or dynamic.
The self-concept is thought to have three primary aspects:
- The cognitive self
- The affective self
- The executive self
The affective and executive selves are also known as the
felt and
active
selves respectively, as they refer to the emotional and behavioral
components of the self-concept. Self-knowledge is linked to the
cognitive self in that its motives guide our search to gain greater
clarity and assurance that our own self-concept is an accurate
representation of our
true self;
[citation needed] for this reason the cognitive self is also referred to as the
known self. The cognitive self is made up of everything we know (or
think we know
about ourselves). This implies physiological properties such as hair
color, race, and height etc.;
and psychological properties like beliefs,
values, and dislikes to name but a few.