Navigating the Self- The Limits and Possibilities of Personal Control
Selfhood is explained as “Partially shared representations of the self and its relation to others created and maintained through interactions and practices within a given cultural context.” (“ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full-text articles and books,” 2022). On the other hand, the self is a set of perceptions of who we are in relation to ourselves, others, and social systems. Over the years, psychologists have come up with answers about how people know and understand their identity. Self may be seen as a social actor, a motivated agent, and an author (Payne, n.d.).
The self is ‘I’ and ‘me’, whereby ‘I’ is how one sees oneself, ‘me’ is how others see you, and ‘generalized others’ is how society sees you. In my effort to research, I believe that we can control the self to many extents since it all depends on temptation and the ability to fight it. For example, when planning to lose weight, people focus on fasting or limiting themselves to vegetables only so they can fight the urge and temptation to overeat without cutting off any type of food.
Moreover, I also believe that some features of selfhood are easier to control than others since some desires and temptations can be longer. The control of self involves focusing on long-term goals while cutting off short-term temptations. For example, some temptations can be harder to fight since they need more energy and enough rest, such as working out two hours a day is more challenging and energy-consuming than denying oneself certain foods.
In conclusion, people should develop techniques to help control their self-features instead of depleting their egos. People should also be mindful of what they say to each other, especially by the generalized others.
References
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full-text articles and books. Sciencedirect.com. (2022). Retrieved 28 March 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/.
Payne, W. (n.d.). Human Behavior and the Social Environment II.
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Question 
To what extent can we control the self? Are some features of selfhood easier to control than others?
Navigating the Self- The Limits and Possibilities of Personal Control
Provide examples to support your statements.
Note: The reading is chapter 1 of the attached textbook. Thank you.