The Spiritual Self Schema (3-S) Development Program

The self-schema that is activated is the one that is most accessible and
easily triggered. The most accessible self-schema is the one that is most
detailed and well-rehearsed in that particular context. Using our earlier
example, if Pat has had many prior experiences in different situations
that supported his belief that (a) he is attractive and popular (or
unattractive and unpopular) and (b) that a stranger's stare is to be
perceived as confirmation of his belief about himself, then over time his
accompanying thoughts, feelings, and behavioral responses to a
stranger's stare will have become quite detailed, finely tuned, and wellrehearsed,
such that a stranger's stare now, seemingly automatically,
triggers Pat's response. However, a stare from his own child or from his
own parents or his boss or wife or girlfriend might activate quite
different self-schemas, and might result in quite different thoughts,
feelings, and behavioral responses. Clearly some self-schemas readily
co-exist while others may temporarily dominate at the expense of
another.
Q: Does this mean that each of us has multiple personalities?
No, not in the pathological sense. Indeed, for the most part, multiple
self-schemas are extremely useful to us in our daily lives. Without our
conscious awareness, they help us make rapid decisions and to behave
efficiently and appropriately in different situations and with different
people. They guide what we attend to, and how we interpret and use
incoming information and they activate specific cognitive, verbal, and
behavioral action sequences --which in cognitive psychology are called
scripts and action plans -- that help us meet our goals more efficiently.
Q: If schemas are so useful, what's the problem?
There are several ways that schemas can become problematic. We are all
familiar with the harm caused by using schemas to process information
about other people (e.g., stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination);
however, we usually don't see them as harmful to ourselves. Yet the
schemas we have about ourselves can cause us suffering when we lose
sight of the fact that they are no more and no less than cognitive
constructs. In 3-S, we liken self-schemas to a high speed transportation
system that can be very useful for transporting us rapidly towards our
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