Five Perspectives to Enhance Self-Understanding

Five Perspectives to Enhance Self-Understanding Michael Walton* The paper emphasizes the importance of self-understanding, which focuses on a person’s internal, inherent and intuitive drives and preoccupations, in contrast to self-awareness, which is concerned with a person’s external behavior. Five perspectives are introduced, which can be bolted together to provide an outline personalized ‘self-understanding’ framework. This would enable a person to have more insights on how and why they may make the decisions they do and exhibit the behavior they show to the external world. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to consider how people seek to make more sense of the world around them. Enhancing self-understanding is the focus of the paper—rather than self-awareness—although the two overlap and so are useful bedfellows. But the emphasis will be on the internal dynamics shaping a person’s decisions as opposed to how people manage their external interactions and relationships. Enhanced ‘self-understanding’ will enable a person to become more aware and alert to social and external stimuli that (i) presage problematic situations and experiences; and (ii) lead to positive situations and outcomes. Self-understanding will also enhance a person’s capacity to discriminate between social and workplace settings and contexts which are enabling and confirming from those found to be threatening and disabling, and to generally be more alert to the impact of external stimuli during their everyday interactions. The material offered is not intended to be exhaustive but to provide a baseline for the interested reader to build on and further advance their self-understanding. * Past Director of ‘People in Organisations Ltd’, UK and an Invited Visiting Professor in the Department of Managerial Psychology and Sociology at the Prague University of Business and Economics. He is also a Visiting Senior Lecturer on the MBA Programme in Global Business at the Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University in Bangkok and a Visiting Research Fellow, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool, John Moores University, UK. E-mail: [email protected] © 2024 IUP. All Rights Reserved. Five Perspectives to Enhance Self-Understanding 5 So, off we go. Much of what people do is shaped by • Who they think they are; • Their internalized (conscious and semi-conscious) intentions and aspirations; • Their assessment of the ‘people competition’ around them; • Their reactions to contexts and settings in which they find themselves; and • Their assessment of the risks of behaving true to their beliefs during their interactions with others. Much is made in contemporary thinking about a person being ‘authentic’, yet this represents a very real challenge in a social world, where behaving unreservedly and openly consistent with one’s beliefs can be dangerous and invite adverse reactions; and where openly following one’s personal behavioral and attitudinal agenda may not be congruent with the predominant social order, the local culture, or consistent with their ‘given place, position or status’. Each person will be sensitive to the social cues, responses, behavioral nuances, unspoken messages etc. that are present in their social environment or are specifically directed towards them (Goffman, 1990; Goleman, 1996; Spinelli, 2005; and Strenger, 2011). Each person ‘Hoovers-in’ a wide array of social, behavioral, and contextual data and will process, digest, and interpret it all the time. The results of all this personalized processing and interpretation of data will then shape a person’s subsequent, exhibited behavior. What a person may be thinking inside their head—and choosing not to expose and exhibit—may of course at times be very different. Enhanced self-understanding will enable a person to become more self-aware, especially of the origins of their core values and beliefs, of their vulnerabilities as well as their strengths (Culbert and McDonough, 1980; Fromm, 1966; Knights and Willmott, 1999; Lawrence and Nohria, 2002; Mulgan, 2006; and Walton, 2011a and 2011b). Such enhanced self-understandings—one would surmise—provide the potential to become more influential in the external social world, of which they are a part and within which they must survive. The Five Perspectives So, how might a person become more aware of their own deeply-embedded and intuitive values, priorities, thoughts and sensitivities? Figure 1 introduces five ways through which a person can become more aware of what makes them tick and facilitate more self-understanding. Beneficially, this may enable a person to be more in charge of their emotions, their overt behavior, and generally become more self-assured even under stress, strain and pressure. Each of the five perspectives presented offers a different way of thinking about— and perhaps accessing—a person’s underlying motivations, preoccupations, doubts and 6 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2024 Figure 1: Five Perspectives for Consideration 1-Neuroscience Factors 5-Existential Considerations Towards Enhanced SelfUnderstanding 4-‘PRISM’atic Priorities 2-Four Innate Drives 3-Three-Factor Motivations a more complete sense of (i) who they are internally ‘within their self’; and (ii) externally within their social environment and the wider social world. The first perspective—‘SCARF’—is based on insights drawn from neuroscience and suggests that each person’s thinking and behavior is shaped and prioritized by survival threats which are intuitively interpreted and deeply embedded within each person’s neurological structures (Gordon, 2000; Lieberman, 2007; Lieberman and Eisenberger, 2008; and Rock, 2008). Concerns about survival in the external world are also the main focus for the next two perspectives—those from McClelland (1967); and McClelland and Burnham (2003) and from Lawrence and Nohria (2002)—who emphasize varying types of relationships and engagements which enable, in different ways, a person to survive and thrive in a competitive world. The fourth perspective—‘PRISM’ (Walton, 2013a and 2013b) builds from the motivational perspectives already outlined to consider five driving forces which, to varying degrees, are high on the priority of a person seeking to survive and prosper in a competitive social environment. The final perspective—existential considerations—moves the focus of attention to address the existential underbelly of each person’s existence (Yalom, 1980; Russell, 2004; Thomas and Hersen, 2004; and Spinelli, 2005). It touches on the concerns which everyone has—although variously acknowledged or denied—about the purpose and meaning of one’s existence, and the concerns about one’s legacy and about the quality Five Perspectives to Enhance Self-Understanding 7 of one’s relatedness with significant others (Mulgan, 2006; Owen, 2007; DuBrin, 2012; and Walton, 2023). 1. Neuro-Science Factors Social neuroscience explores the biological foundations of human behavior and posits that much of the motivation driving social behavior is governed by an intuitive —and hard-wired—orientation towards (i) minimizing danger and threat; and (ii) maximizing reward and satisfaction. Such innate impulses triggering a person’s defensive cognitive and behavioral responses to stimuli depend on whether such data is perceived to be socially rewarding or threatening (Gordon, 2000; Nicholson, 2000; Lieberman, 2007; and Lieberman and Eisenberger, 2008). The acronym ‘SCARF’ is one way of capturing and describing five—research-based— neuro-science dimensions of significance. Rock’s (2008) and Walton’s (2011b) hypothesis is that there are five ‘domains of social experience’ which trigger the brain’s ‘primary reward’ or ‘primary threat’ circuitry, and these will then initiate our responses to social stimuli depending on whether those stimuli are perceived to be rewarding or threatening. In other words, we are biologically programmed to assess situations for perceived reward or perceived threat and then respond accordingly (Gordon, 2000; Nicholson, 2000; Lieberman, 2007; Lieberman and Eisenberger, 2008; and Rock, 2008). Status: It is about a person’s relative social importance, seniority, and position in the hierarchical ‘social pecking order’. Certainty: This reflects the extent to which a person feels he/she is able to predict what the future will hold for them. Autonomy: It is about exerting personal influence and being able to shape and control future events. Relatedness: This is about collegiality, inclusion and mutuality; it is about a person’s perceived level of psychological safety. Fairness: This is about being treated fairly, appropriately, respectfully and ethically. So these important and deeply-embedded dimensions serve (i) to keep the person psychologically safe; (ii) to facilitate decision-making which will move them away from potential dangers; and (iii) to structure interactions with the external world in ways that are beneficial, confirming and satisfying. The next perspective continues to consider behavioral drives which have the objective of securing a person’s psychological safety, internal integrity and external wellbeing. 2. Four Innate Survival Drives Lawrence and Nohria (2002) concluded that there are four underlying, innate drives, each of which reflects an enduring, underlying, and fundamental human need. Their 8 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2024 framework is based on a synthesis of insights from biological and social sciences and reflects core and enduring human needs. They suggest that all humans have a persistent and continuing drive to acquire, bond, learn and defend. Their work draws on perspectives from evolutionary psychology and neuroscience, and at its heart, this combination of drives is about strengthening personal survival. These drives are considered to shape human behavior in terms of (i) how a person thinks and consequently behaves; and (ii) what a person wants and why such acquisitions are significant to them. A Drive to Acquire: A continuing and important drive to acquire and secure resources in order to enhance and maintain their status, relationships, social standing and influence. A Drive to Bond: A need to establish long-term caring, engaged and committed relationships; it is about maintaining social networks of cooperation and mutuality. A Drive to Learn: The need to learn about matters and broaden interests and mastery to intellectually grow; to make sense of the external world and engage with it constructively and purposefully. A Drive to Defend: That is, to defend oneself, one’s values and the already acquired resources and capabilities from harm, loss and degradation. The next perspective shifts the focus from underlying, innate, neuroscience and evolutionary-psychologically based considerations to issues and dynamics derived more from the impact of socialization, life’s experiences and external forces than from internalized in-built, intuitive factors. There is a measure of continuity and consistency between the psychological and behavioral dynamics noted in the first two perspectives and McClelland’s Three-factor theory outlined below. Each of the three perspectives offers significant differences and adds value to the material already outlined. 3. McClelland’s Three-Factor Theory of Motivation This research-based motivational theory emphasizes three core human needs: a need for achievement, a need for power, and a need for affiliation (McClelland, 1967). Need for Achievement: This is primarily about the exercise of personal accomplishment and control; and a desire for ‘performance recognition’. Need for Power: The exercise of influence and of being able to shape and control the external world is at the heart of this need. Need for Affiliation: The primary need here is to be accepted and acceptable; to be involved, valued and liked by others—and not to be excluded. Five Perspectives to Enhance Self-Understanding 9 The blend between these three shapes an individual’s offensive and defensive social behavior. The relative dominance and overall balance between the three factors will reflect a person’s culture as well as their life experiences. An awareness of the relative importance attributed to each of these three drivers can help to determine and capture a person’s overall orientation to the social world—an orientation that is very likely to emphasize just one of these three as the dominant need and which in turn will then suppress, to varying degrees, the remaining two factors. The five factors that follow reflect necessary ‘survival criteria’, which, if duly considered, should enable an individual to maintain, secure and enhance their place within the hierarchical social order in which they exist. 4. PRISMatic Priorities The origins of this ‘PRISM’ (Walton, 2013a) framework can be traced to thinking about executive success and failure, and in particular how able, experienced and accomplished leaders can too readily (i) overplay their attributes and strengths; (ii) misuse their power, influence, and privileges; (iii) become hubristic, arrogant, narcissistic and pre-occupied with status; and (iv) become greedy and indulgent— tendencies and patterns of behavior that will often result in an executive’s career derailment and removal from their positions of high authority and status (Babiak and Hare, 2006; Hogan, 2007; Burke et al., 2013; Fox and Burke, 2013; and Ginneken, 2014). Each of the five dimensions outlined below represents a significant preoccupation, which, unless carefully moderated, can become somewhat of a ‘fatal flaw’ and damage a person’s integrity, standing, social acceptability and psychological survival (Hogan, 2007; Burke et al., 2013; and Fox and Burke, 2013). Power: A drive to accumulate and exert power and control can generate illusion, delusion, confusion, and increasing levels of absolutist thinking and omnipotent selfbelief; the critical danger here is of unconstrained drive for power, etc. (Roberts and Hogan, 2002; Russell, 2004; DuBrin, 2012; Robertson, 2012; Ginneken, 2014; Garrard and Robinson, 2016; and Walton, 2021a). Reputation: This is all about sustaining and protecting a person’s external standing and reflects their psychological confidence and level of self-belief (Fromm, 1976; Culbert and McDonough, 1980; Mulgan, 2006; Strenger, 2011; and Robertson, 2013). Identity: Here, the emphasis is on a person’s view of their self and will reflect both their degree of self-awareness and self-understanding; the dangers here concern aggrandizement, narcissistic excess, false self-belief, etc. (Frankl, 1959; Owen, 2007; and DuBrin, 2012). Sexual (Physical) Attraction: The impact of sexual/physical attraction can be so pervasive that it could be argued that all human activity and much significant decisionmaking is prompted by such matters (Nicholson, 2000; and Kets de Vries, 2009). 10 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2024 Money: Money matters a great deal and (i) influences a person’s outlook and decisionmaking; (ii) impacts their psychological wellbeing; and (iii) is an indicator of their achievements, social standing, status, and a tangible ‘proof’ of a person’s life success and achievement (Nicholson, 2000; Hogan, 2007; Kets de Vries, 2009; Walton, 2013b; and Walton 2021a). These five outward-facing factors will be viewed as indicators of a person’s impact, standing and ‘force’ within the social settings of importance to them. At the same time, how they are activated will be reflected by a person’s inner perplexities such as those briefly considered in the first three perspectives outlined in this paper (Fromm, 1966, 1976; Bettelheim and Rosenfeld, 1993; and de Botton, 2004). No matter how successful and self-aware a person may be in the external world and no matter how self-understanding they may be about their inner drivers and complexities, arguably the existential considerations of the human condition remain perhaps the most fundamental matters a person may need to be aware of, address, understand and come to terms with. So, it is to such matters that this paper now turns its attention (Frankle, 1959; Fromm, 1976; Walton, 2011a; 2011b; 2021b; and 2022). 5. Existential Considerations A fundamental aspect of being human is knowing that one day we will die. It is an unwelcome realization that cannot be avoided and one which can prompt and intensify a person’s search for meaning, purpose, intentionality and connectedness in life. Universal themes—the ones rarely highlighted or explored in open debate—together with additional existential matters such as autonomy, identity, legacy and the desire to be able to exercise personal choice, occupy one’s mind. Four major existential concerns are at the core of Yalom’s (1980) work: Death, Freedom, Isolation and Meaninglessness. He views these as the fundamental ‘givens’ of human existence and thus they are an ‘inescapable’ facet of being human that every person has to grapple with and resolve. Thoughts of death, of meaninglessness, and perhaps the futility of life, or the insignificance of self, can trigger existential/ontological anxiety (see Table 1). Simplifying such momentous concerns, Alderfer (1972) proposed that people are concerned with three core issues: (i) relatedness; (ii) meaning and purpose; and (iii) personal growth. They offer a related but somewhat different view of a person’s core existential concerns. For ease of reference, the five perspectives covered so far are shown in comparison with each other in Table 2, from which it becomes clear that there are a number of common themes across the five perspectives introduced, but also significant interesting differences. The table highlights the enduring themes about relatedness and engagement with others, about the exercise of power and influence, and about the importance of purpose, intentionality and meaning. Five Perspectives to Enhance Self-Understanding 11 Table 1: Yalom’s ‘Givens’ of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy Primary Existential Concern Descriptive Commentary Death Juggling the challenging issues of human mortality with the inevitability of death; of coming to terms with the impossible and unachievable desire to live forever Freedom The exercise of choice ‘to do, to be or not’ depending on a person’s mission and sense of purpose; of exercising personal power and of being in a position to decide on one’s actions Isolation Of connectedness, of not to be excluded, rejected or isolated; a recognition however that a person’s subjective experiences will remain subjective and thus can never be fully shared; Concerns about who and what a person is and how and where they fit into the external world; of being known—of having an acknowledged ‘existence’ from which a lasting legacy is a possibility Meaninglessness This existential challenge revolves around purpose and meaning, of intentionality and valid purpose; a defence against the insignificance of self; of being rooted and connected firmly to the external world; of responsibilities discharged purposefully and resisting the possibility of futility and irrelevance Table 2: The Five Perspectives as Outlined Rock (‘SCARF’) (2008) Lawrence and Nohria (2002) Status Drive to Acquire Need for Achievement Power Death (Existence) Certainty Drive to Bond Need for Power Reputation Freedom Autonomy Drive to Learn Need for Affiliation Identity Isolation (Relatedness and Identity) Relatedness Drive to Defend Sexual/Physical Attraction Meaninglessness Fairness McClelland (1967) Walton (‘PRISM’) (2013) Yalom (1980) Money Contextual Determinants and Personality Variables How these differing individual and intensely personal considerations, priorities, confusions and concerns will be acknowledged and then acted upon will vary from person to person. Two overarching factors will, though, condition and determine if and how a person’s individual understanding and awareness of the five perspectives introduced may, on indeed may not, be surfaced and expressed externally. 12 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2024 Firstly, the personality variables of an individual will impact on and shape how the various self-understanding dimensions will be interpreted and engaged with; and secondly, a person’s self-understanding will also be conditioned by the social contexts and settings in which that person exists and functions (Deal and Kennedy, 1982; Goffman, 1990; Obholzer and Roberts, 1994; and Roberts and Hogan, 2002). So, just to be clear, a person’s self-understandings will be mediated by their psychological and personality variables in terms of: • How they consider, view, construe, think, and makes sense of—and engage with—the world around them; • How they choose to engage and display themselves externally; • How they decide to promote themselves and seek to be defined; and • The bases on which they choose to investigate and interrogate the world around them. How such personal factors and preferences will be enacted will be moderated and mediated by the cultural contexts in which a person lives and works. These significant environmental factors will also, in differing ways, shape, constrain, filter and reconfigure a person’s self-understandings (Roberts and Hogan, 2002) (see Figure 2): Figure 2: The ‘Mix’ – Contextual Determinants and Personality Variables Mediated by Personality The 5 Perspectives Moderated by Social and Cultural Factors Resultant Attitudinal and Behavioral Outcomes The resultant attitudinal and behavioral outcomes will then reflect what a person considers will be appropriate and practical to exhibit, to enable them to function sufficiently well in the environments in which they are placed. Figure 3 suggests (as Five Perspectives to Enhance Self-Understanding 13 Figure 3: Contextual Determinants and Personality Variables Contextual Determinants Personality Variables indicated by the overlapping Venn diagram) that there will be a certain amount of compatibility between a person’s growing self-understandings with their psychological characteristics and personality as well as the features of the external environment in which they are placed. Figure 3 also illustrates that it is entirely likely that many— if not most people—will need to make some adjustments in how they engage with others and how they behave in certain external environments which are not fully authentic. Where they appreciate and understand that in order to survive and prosper, it is important that they ‘fit in’ socially in order to function optimally and be accepted and acceptable. Conclusion A person’s enhanced self-understanding will enable them to consider more fully how and why they may react as they do in their engagements with others; and in response to the challenges which confront them. Without a sufficient measure of selfunderstanding, it can be expected that a person will be less able to successfully and constructively adjust and adapt their behavior, revise and update their thinking, and make more appropriate and self-confirming decisions in the future, whilst maintaining composure, focus and psychological equilibrium (Yalom, 1980; Roberts and Hogan, 2002; van Deurzen, 2002; and Spinelli, 2005). All things being equal, enhancing self-understanding will enable a person to be clearer about their own susceptibilities and vulnerabilities and lead to enhanced selftrust, an awareness of personal limitations, and enhanced alertness to dangers (both real and imagined). 14 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2024 References 1. 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