Consciousness about Other Mental Processes
People’s brain creates models of various experiences. This process is known as consciousness. Psychologists have different views regarding its origin, as it is rather subjective. As a result, it is considered that it can take a lot of forms and coexist with other mental processes that occur so that people are not aware of them. Consciousness is associated with an individual’s self-awareness. It determines the way people perceive the world and things that exist in it.
Both conscious and non-conscious mental processes are discussed by psychologists. While consciousness provides people with an opportunity to act in a wide variety of roles, other processes ensure that they can do several tasks at the same time, which is rather beneficial in this framework. Non-consciousness allows people to process a lot of different information in a parallel way so that nothing is missed or confused. Consciousness, on the other hand, supports this process and makes people focus on each stream sequentially. However, this feature can be not advantageous for multi-tasking. In this way, people receive information through non-conscious mental processes in a chaotic way. Consciousness provides them with an opportunity to organize it.
“Theories” People Use to Understand Themselves and Others
People need to be aware of who they are and what they can do in this world. In this way, they receive an opportunity to realize how to live and determine their abilities. Similarly, they understand the individuals around them.
Implicit personality theories can be used to describe the way people understand themselves and others. They gather assumptions related to personality and its peculiarities. With the help of these theories, it is easier for people to deal with the task of understanding others. In particular, it is stated that people’s activities and talents are determined by nature and are not controlled by individuals themselves. Nevertheless, they have an opportunity to implement changes and grow with time through practice.
The theory of self-narratives also matters. It presupposes the existence of stories that describe people’s lives. They help individuals to understand their personalities over time. In particular, they provide an opportunity to realize a thread of consistency (Christiansen & Tett, 2013). For example, the redemptive self can be observed in particular populations. It makes people sense the necessity to overcome various issues to assist others.
Consequences of Labeling People
People tend to label one another based on those characteristics that represent them in the majority of cases. Unfortunately, such distinctions may hurt individuals. Because of negative labeling, a lot of people may lose motivation, which will affect their success in life in the future. Moreover, their self-esteem can be negatively influenced. As a result, they may refuse to continue doing the things they like and to show their emotions. Being labeled as a bully or criminal, a person may start acting in this way even if initially such behavior was unintentional (Markman, 2014). Labeling can lead to the isolation of particular individuals, as they may become afraid to be treated negatively by others.
Labeling has mainly negative influences on the way people perceive themselves and others. It makes them treat in a way determined by the rest of the community. It also makes society treat these people with prejudice. For instance, if a person is labeled as a criminal, one is not likely to find a job because employers and clients are usually not willing to get in touch with them.
References
Christiansen, N., & Tett, R. (2013). Handbook of personality at work. New York, NY: Routledge.
Markman, A. (2014). The danger of labeling others (or yourself). Web.