Kristina Musholt

The social self and its development

Kristina Musholt

University of Leipzig, Germany

In this talk I will argue that our sense of self is shaped by social interactions right from the start. I will present a model of gradual self-other-differentiation according to which we can distinguish different levels of understanding self and other in development. Some of these are based on procedural knowledge or “knowledge-how” and involve an implicit representation of self and other, while others involve conceptual abilities. Finally, I will discuss whether and to what extent the “mindshaping” hypothesis alters our understanding of social cognition and will suggest that we need a pluralistic approach to investigating the development of understanding self and others