Self-awareness is often defined in terms of an ability to engage in reflective awareness. According to most theorists, this requires certain types of cognitive abilities. Even in its most primitive form (visual self-recognition and the ability to recognize oneself in a mirror), self-awareness appears to be restricted to a small subset of animals including humans
Self-awareness involves expert knowledge of oneself, independent of others. As such, self-awareness is central to one’s personal and social perception and meaning of self. Development Perspectives It has been argued that there are at least two interrelated levels of the self that psychologist William James (1842–1910) labeled the “I” self and the “me” self. The
Self-awareness refers to the ability to make oneself the object of one’s own attention. This self-reflexive quality of consciousness has been the focus of considerable research within the cognitive, social, and sport psychology (SP) domains over the past 50 years. Originating from this research, a theory of self-awareness emerged from the work of Thomas Shelley