Professor Tatiana Bachkirova Congress of Coaching Psychology University of Aalborg 14 September 2018

Transcription

1 Multiplicity of the self: problem or opportunity for coaching? Professor Tatiana Bachkirova Congress of Coaching Psychology University of Aalborg 14 September 2018

2 How well do you think you know yourself? Who can better predict your behaviour: you or people who are able to observe you in many different situations? a) Of course I know myself better b) I am not sure, but maybe equally c) Of course they know me better d) Nobody can predict my behaviour

3 Strangers to ourselves Ninety per cent of the world s woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as Complete strangers to ourselves (Sidney J. Harris) We have no privileged access to our selves. Supervisors, teachers, trainers know their students better then they know themselves. People are misguided about what they want. We are built to predict other people behaviour from the minute signs but find it difficult to predict our own behaviour (G. Claxton)

4 Strangers to ourselves The evidence suggests that self-insight is a precious commodity that people believe they possess to a far greater degree than they really do. David Dunning (2006, p. 603), Strangers to ourselves Self-assessment tend to be flowed in one particular dimension: overestimate People may be willing to deceive themselves willingly, but they are not accurate even when they try to get it right. in many social and intellectual domains poor performers tend not to know just how badly they perform.

5 What do we mean by self? The notion of one self can be challenged.possibly because the self is multiple

6 The intention for this talk: v v v Discuss recent developments in the understanding the concept of self Consider the idea of multiplicity of self with implications for coaching Experiment with an approach to coaching that takes into account multiplicity of self

7 Different ways to conceptualise the self How we experience things: Centre of awareness: basic prereflective sense of I - phenomenology How we act: Executive centre: self as an agent biology/neuroscience How we describe ourselves: Centre of identity: stories about me psychology/social science

8 How we experience things: Centre of awareness sense of I I a basic pre-reflective sense of self without which the person would not be able to function (animals also have that). It provide a sense of experiences being mine. I a vantage point with respect to the external world, a kind of address, a reference point in space and time, which the brain-mind has to take account of when acting (Claxton, 1994).

9 How we act: Executive Centre (ego) How does brain operate? Not like this: More like this:

10 Or perhaps like this A mini-self is a cycle from the sensation of the internal need or external stimulus to the activation of certain area of brain then to performed action with the adjustment through feedback. It is comparable to what we mean describing our self, but applicable to one kind of action.

11 Introducing multiplicity The mind is extended and multiple. Mini-selves are dynamic, functional and not limited by the skin of the organism. Rather then one unified self there are many modules (independent functioning units or mini-selves). Each of them allows the organism s interactive engagement with certain tasks. Each mini-self is supported by a particular pattern of links between different areas of the brain that become activated or inhibited when the organism is involved in an act.

12 More about mini-selves Different modules come online and go offline at different times, having more or less influence depending on the situation (Kurzban, 2010, p. 65). Every new situation gives a shake to the kaleidoscope of my personality (Claxton, 1994, p. 124). There is no one unified authentic self only these different mini-selves that are involved in a constant interplay.

13 Mini-selves in action Are people fundamentally selfish? The answer is that the question is bad. Some modules are designed to gather benefits, others are designed to deliver benefits, and they exist in the same head, sometimes in conflict. Kurzban, 2010, p. 183

14 Why the self seems be like one "When a machine is revolving very fast, as a fan with several blades, the separate parts are not visible but appear as one. So the self, the 'me', seems to be a unified entity, but if its activities can be slowed down, then we shall perceive that it is not a unified entity, but made up of many separate and contending desires and pursuits. These separate wants and hopes, fears and joys make up the self. The self is a term to cover craving in its different forms". Krishnamurti, J. The Collected Works, Vol IV ( ), Ojai, 4th Public Talk, 28 April 1946, p.69.

15 Why is the idea of multiplicity of self relevant for coaching? Dynamics of short-term and long-term oriented miniselves (context sensitive; history dependent; effort/reward balance all need attention! And getting rid of some mini-selves is not a good strategy!) The myth of preferences The self-control issue Consistency

16 Why everyone (else) is a hypocrite Consistency is not a default. It takes careful engineering to keep systems consistent. In some cases, the human mind is engineered that way. But in many cases, it is not. If consistency doesn t improve the functioning of the system overall, there is no particular reason to expect it. the modular design of the human mind guarantees hypocrisy. Kurzban, 2010 Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. Walt Whitman

17 How we describe ourselves: Another angle on multiplicity As we have a gift of speech and ability to make meaning of our actions in the world we create different stories about who we are. Are these stories mine? The beginning of my own story has always already been made for me by others and the way the story unfolds is only a part determined by my own choices and decisions (Gallaher and Zahavi, 2008: 201)

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19 How true the story is? This is not a work of a historian our conscious mind does not have access to the real causes of behaviour; it is more like a work of a historical fiction that makes plenty of reference to real events and connects them by dramatization and interpretations that might or might not be true to the spirit of what happened (Haidt, 2006). You are a Machiavellian spin doctor and, as such, only a small part of the sum total of what is going on in your head (Kurzban, 2010, p. 1) But the main challenge for us as coaches is that we are communicating with the client s Narrator a mini-self that has a particular agenda.

20 A summary so far The self that engages with the world is multiple A stories we create about the self can also be multiple To change the story is easier than to change a mini-self Knowing about multiplicity of the self is useful. It allows better adjustment to different roles, circumstances and changes in values and culture and might minimize internal conflicts.

21 Activity 1 Try to speculate which of your potentially useful miniself would you avoid integrating in your image of yourself? Who would be the best person to help you to identify this mini-self?

22 Activity 2: Recognizing mini-selves Write several sentences completing the sentence I am not.

23 Dealing with multiplicity of self Accepting the fact of multiplicity - yes Matching a self-story with a real mini-self - yes Working on the synthesis of self-stories may not be necessary

24 Dealing with multiplicity of self in coaching Learning something even from the fake experience Caution about transformation Caution about psychometrics Which self-stories of the client speak to me through this data? Why is this story chosen by the client s narrator and important now? What self-stories are in the shadow of this data? How des this client avoid experimenting with a different story?

25 Activity 3: Experimenting with multiplicity of self in coaching Work in pairs to have a mini-coaching session (just 5 min each): Questions to ask: What part of you is concerned most with this problem/challenge? What is the purpose of this part? What does this part need to happen? What part of you resists it? What is the purpose of that part? What does this part need to happen?

26 Discussion Does seeing self as multiple clarify/help in the process of coaching or make it even more confusing? or

27 References Bachkirova, T. (2011). Developmental Coaching: Working with the Self, Maidenhead: Open University Press. Claxton, G. (1994) Noises from the Darkroom, London: Aquarian. Dunning, D. (2006), Strangers to ourselves, The Psychologist, Vol 19, No 10, p. 603 Haidt, J. (2006) The Happiness Hypothesis, London: Arrow Books. Gallagher, S. and Zahavi, D. (2008). The phenomenological mind: ans introduction to philosophy of mind and cognitive science, London: Routledge. Kurzban, R. (2010). Why everyone (else) is a hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.