What do i think about who i am? Metacognition and the self-concept

The self-concept plays an important role in how people think about and act in their social worlds (Baumeister, 1998). A person’s self-concept is a repre-sentation of his or her own characteristics, including traits, identities, relationships, and goals (DeMarree, Petty, & Briñol, 2007a; Swann & Bosson, 2010), and is inextricably tied to his or her other mental representations (Greenwald & Pratkanis, 1984). Because of the importance that self-views are thought to play in human cognition, it is crucial for psychologists to understand the nature, origins, and consequences of these self-views.