The True Self: A Psychological Concept Distinct From the Self

Abstract

A long tradition of psychological research has explored the distinction between characteristics that are part of the self and those that lie outside of it. Recently, a surge of research has begun examining a further distinction. Even among characteristics that are internal to the self, people pick out a subset as belonging to the true self. These factors are judged as making people who they really are, deep down. In this paper, we introduce the concept of the true self and identify features that distinguish people's understanding of the true self from their understanding of the self more generally. In particular, we consider recent findings that the true self is perceived as positive and moral, and that this tendency is actor-observer invariant and cross-culturally stable. We then explore possible explanations for these findings and discuss their implications for a variety of issues in psychology.

When do circumstances excuse? Moral prejudices and beliefs about the true self drive preferences for agency-minimizing explanations

“…This effect appears to arise from a general tendency to represent agents as possessing true selves that are, to a surprising degree, aligned with our own values (Newman et al, 2013;Strohminger et al, 2017). Because of this bias, actions of which we approve tend to seem more expressive of our own and others' true selves, and this causes us to prefer more agent-focused attributions.…”

“…The concept of the true self plays a central role in folk psychology (Strohminger, Knobe, & Newman, 2017). Beliefs about the true self predict people's intuitions about personal identity (De Freitas, Cikara, Grossmann, & Schlegel, 2018;Prinz & Nichols, 2016, chap.…”

Evaluating the validity of Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator theory: A teaching tool and window into intuitive psychology

“…Conversely, we expect that that many people see the "deep" insights that MBTI delivers as something that is quite divorced from scientific process. This is especially problematic if, as recent research suggests, people believe they are guided by deep, unobservable essences (see Strohminger et al, 2017, andQuillien, 2018, for recent reviews) and that basing decisions on those deep desires is key to decision satisfaction (Schlegel, Hicks, Davis, Hirsch, & Smith, 2013). The desire for this knowledge and the appeal of MBTI-style theory is therefore an unfortunate combination, and attacking MBTI on theoretical or psychometric grounds might have little effect on what some people intuitively expect from MBTI, and/or encourage them to invent new reasons why MBTI is useful (cf.…”

Origins of the Belief in Good True Selves

“…Yet mounting evidence suggests that people exhibit a robust, invariant tendency to believe that inside every individual there is a "good-true-self" calling them to behave in morally virtuous ways [1]. Where does this belief come from?…”