Definition

The phenomenal self reflects information about oneself that is in a person's awareness at the present time. This salient self-knowledge influences people's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The phenomenal self at any given moment is only a portion of all of the self-relevant information an individual has stored in memory. The reason for this is the amount of knowledge that people have about themselves is so vast that it is impossible and impractical for everything that one knows about himself or herself to be in awareness at one time. Thus, the phenomenal self represents that subset of self-knowledge—including beliefs, values, attitudes, self-ascribed traits, feelings of self-worth, autobiographical memories, interpersonal relationship knowledge, and goals and plans—that is currently in consciousness. The concept also recognizes the possibility that ...