Reflection, what it is and how it is used in psychology

January 20, 2022 Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. It is noteworthy that it is reflection that distinguishes people from other living organisms. This phenomenon lies in a person’s ability to know about himself, his feelings and experiences.

It is based on the understanding “I am.” The development of your personality depends on how familiar you are with your inner world. Self-knowledge occurs through introspection. Well, read below about what reflection is and how to develop it.

What it is

This term comes from the Latin word reflecto, which means turning back. The correct way to say “reflection” is to emphasize the letter E.

Reflection is the skill of concentrating attention and one’s own thoughts inward: evaluating one’s actions, making decisions, being aware of one’s feelings, emotions and sensations.

This is an understanding of one’s own “I”, constructive criticism of one’s actions, comparing oneself with others for compliance with established norms and rules. A reflective person becomes an outside observer of himself.

The ancestor of this term is considered to be the science of philosophy. She interprets reflection as a tool for thinking about human existence. Socrates wrote that this phenomenon is the only way for internal improvement and spiritual progress through liberation from obsessive thoughts, stereotypes and prejudices.

Pierre de Chardin wrote in his scientific works that reflection is not only knowledge, but also the ability to be aware of this knowledge. He also noted that this property is available only to humans (like consciousness), which is considered the most developed form of life of all existing on the planet.

Reflection has been studied by many philosophers: their views are similar, so there is no point in writing about them separately.

Development of reflection

Reflection is accessible to anyone, but since it is an intellectual activity, it requires the development of appropriate skills. These include the following:

• self-identification or awareness of one’s own “I” and separating oneself from the social environment;
• skills of social reflection, that is, the ability to look at oneself from the outside, through the eyes of other people;
• self-analysis as an understanding of one’s individual personal qualities, character traits, abilities, and emotional sphere;
• self-esteem and comparison of one’s qualities with the requirements of society, ideals, norms, etc.;
• self-criticism is the ability not only to evaluate one’s actions, but also to admit to oneself one’s mistakes, dishonesty, incompetence, rudeness, etc.

Age stages of reflection development

The development of the ability for reflexive activity begins in early childhood, and its first stage occurs at 3 years. It is then that the child first realizes himself as a subject of activity and strives to prove this to everyone around him, often showing stubbornness and disobedience. At the same time, the baby begins to assimilate social norms and learn to adjust his behavior to the requirements of adults. But neither self-analysis, nor self-esteem, much less self-criticism, are yet available to the child.

The second stage begins in the lower grades of school and is closely related to the development of reflection in the field of educational activities. At the age of 6-10 years, a child masters the skills of social reflection and elements of self-analysis.

The third stage – adolescence (11-15 years) – is an important period of personality formation, when the foundations of self-esteem skills are laid. The development of self-analysis at this age often leads to excessive reflection and causes strong negative emotions in children who acutely feel dissatisfaction with their appearance, success, popularity with peers, etc. This is complicated by the emotionality and instability of the nervous system of adolescents. The correct development of reflexive activity at this age largely depends on the support of adults.

The fourth stage is early adolescence (16-20 years old). With the correct formation of personality, the ability to reflect and control it is already fully manifested at this age. Therefore, developing self-criticism skills do not interfere with rationally and sensibly assessing your capabilities.

But even at an older age, the experience of reflexive activity continues to be enriched through the development of new types of activities, the establishment of new relationships and social connections.

How to develop reflection in adults

If you feel a lack of this quality and understand the need for deeper self-knowledge and self-esteem, then these abilities can be developed at any age. It’s better to start developing reflection… with reflection. That is, by answering the following questions:

1. Why do you need reflection, what do you want to achieve with it?
2. Why does your lack of knowledge about your inner world bother you?
3. What aspects or aspects of yourself would you like to know better?
4. Why, from your point of view, do you not engage in reflection and include it in your activities?

The last point is especially important, because self-knowledge is often hampered by a special psychological barrier. A person can be afraid to look into his soul, and he unconsciously resists the need to analyze his actions, their motives, and their impact on others. It’s calmer this way and you don’t have to experience shame and pangs of conscience. In this case, we can recommend this small exercise.

Stand in front of the mirror, look at your reflection and smile. The smile should be sincere, because you see the person closest to you, before whom you should not have any secrets or secrets. Tell yourself: “Hi! You are me. Everything you have belongs to me. Both good and bad, and the joy of victories and the bitterness of defeats. All this is valuable and much needed experience. I want to know it, I want to use it. It's not a shame to make mistakes, it's a shame to not know anything about them. Having realized them, I can fix everything and become better.” This exercise will help you get rid of your fear of self-examination.

You need to develop reflection every day, for example, in the evening, analyzing everything that happened during the day, and your thoughts, feelings, decisions made, actions committed. In this case, keeping a diary helps a lot. This not only disciplines and streamlines the reflexive process, but also helps get rid of negativity. After all, you transfer all heavy thoughts, doubts, fears, and insecurities from your consciousness onto paper and thereby free yourself from them.

But you shouldn’t get too carried away with soul-searching, looking for the negative. Tune yourself to the fact that there is always more positive, positive, look for this positive, analyzing the past day, relive it again. Having scolded yourself for a mistake or negligence, be sure to admire your good deed, any success you have, even if at first glance it does not seem too significant. And don't forget to praise yourself.

Reflection in psychology is the basis of self-analysis

In psychology, this is one of the basic concepts on which self-analysis is built, leading to expanded awareness. A simple example: if I am not able to understand that my mood is always bad for the reason that I always think about bad things, then it is unlikely that anyone or anything will help me get out of my own suffering.

Reflexive action consists of a volitional decision to stop the endless flow of automatic thoughts and begin to become aware of oneself in the moment here and now.

To reflect means to think, analyze, and engage in self-knowledge. Correct self-analysis will help you avoid making mistakes in the future and provides answers to many important questions, both psychological and everyday.

As a result, the individual (who is this?) learns to think rationally (reflect correctly), not being guided by fantasies and guesses, and also:

1. control and analyze mental flow;
2. evaluate your own thinking;
3. frees oneself from unnecessary, destructive thought forms;
4. gains the ability to make informed choices;
5. reveals his hidden abilities and resources.

A person with a low level of reflection commits the same erroneous actions every day and suffers from this.

On the other hand, the term “reflect” is often applied to people who are acutely experiencing something, begin to engage in soul-searching, worry, and get nervous (breaking their fingers).

Let's say he was told that everyone around him is an idiot and he begins to try it on, not himself, gets offended, becomes constrained, reflects, i.e. looking for the bad in himself. This is an extreme that should be avoided. In everything (and especially in self-examination) moderation is needed.

If you want to change yourself and your life, but at the same time you live “automatically,” then this is the path to disappointment and suffering. You need to learn to reflect correctly (without fanaticism and humiliation, soberly, objectively).

Constructive reflection is useful. This is when you draw the right conclusions from your self-analysis and use this knowledge in the future so as not to step on the same rake.

Destructive reflection is extremely harmful. Focusing on the problem, on your wrong (from your point of view) behavior does not help you, but on the contrary, exhausts you. You begin to feel guilty and cannot get rid of this feeling. Sometimes only Gestalt therapy helps to get out of this state.

By the way, it is the bourgeoisie who want to force us to reflect, plunging our faces into the dark spots of our history (Stalinism, repressions). It is precisely the formation of feelings of guilt that they want to achieve. Everyone has dark spots, but it is beneficial that only we, and not the residents of their countries, focus on this.

Definition

The word "Reflection" is of Latin origin.
Literally speaking, it means “to look back.” In psychology, reflection is called introspection or introspection. They can be called synonyms. The definition of reflection is the totality of a person’s thoughts about his life and actions, as well as subsequent assessment of himself. A person is able to evaluate himself using communication mechanisms. For this reason, the existence of such a concept as reflection is impossible without communication.

Self-observation can be different:

• Ordinary reflection
  - a person thinks about his actions, notices the mistakes he has made, but does not get hung up on it.
• Deep reflection
  - a person engages in soul-searching, analyzes his actions and the response of society. This includes reflections on the universe and moral standards.

Any human action can become reflexive.
For example, feelings, actions, words, impulses, emotions. They become reflexive if a person turns to his consciousness and tries to carry out introspection. Thanks to reflection, a person thinks and fantasizes, goes into the world of dreams and begins to feel like a part of reality. By creating a picture of an ideal world in his head, he begins to feel like a certain person and acts in society according to his attitudes.

Empathy - what is it, or is it easy to be an empath?

There are different ways to reflect

To date, 7 types of reflection have been identified:

1. Communicative – allows you to solve problems that arise when interacting with society.
2. Personal – used when there is a need for one’s own cognition and correction of consciousness.
3. Intellectual – necessary for finding different solutions to the same problem. This is the ability to think variably.
4. Philosophical reflection is a tool for thinking about the meaning of life.
5. Social – reflections on the topic “what other people think of me.” The ability to see yourself through someone else's eyes.
6. Scientific – aimed at researching scientific methods, methods, theoretical justifications.
7. In the psychology of communication, reflection is the knowledge and analysis of the interaction of individuals in society.

Forms of reflection

There are also three forms of reflection, which depend on their focus:

1. situational - analysis of what is happening in the present time (right now I am sitting on the couch and writing this text);
2. retrospective – assessment of past experience. This form is useful in that we can draw useful conclusions for ourselves based on inferences about past events (yesterday I was writing a text on the same couch and the TV was on, disturbing me. That’s why today I’m working in silence);
3. perspective – thinking, planning for the future. Preparing myself for future events (perhaps tomorrow I’ll give myself a day off and just lie on this couch).

Reflection functions

Reflection is an effective way to understand yourself, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and use your abilities to the maximum benefit in your activities. For example, if I know that I have a stronger visual memory, then when remembering information, I will not rely on hearing, but will write down the data to connect visual perception. A person who knows about his temper and increased conflict will try to find a way to reduce their level, for example, through training or by contacting a psychotherapist.

However, reflection not only gives us the necessary knowledge about ourselves in life, but also performs a number of important functions:

• The cognitive function consists of self-knowledge and introspection; without it, a person cannot create an image of “I” or “I-concept” in his mind. This self-belief system is an important part of our personality.
• The development function is manifested in the creation of goals and attitudes aimed at transforming the individual, accumulating knowledge, and developing skills and abilities. This function of reflection ensures personal growth of a person at any age.
• Regulatory function. Assessing your needs, motives and consequences of actions creates the conditions for regulating behavior. The negative emotions that a person experiences when he realizes that he did something wrong force him to avoid such actions in the future. And at the same time, satisfaction from one’s activities and success creates a very positive emotional environment.
• Meaning-creating function. Human behavior, unlike the impulsive behavior of animals, is meaningful. That is, when performing an action, a person can answer the question: why did he do this, although sometimes it is not possible to understand his true motives right away. This meaningfulness is impossible without reflective activity.
• Design and simulation function. Analysis of past experience and your abilities allows you to design activities. Creating a model of a successful future, as a necessary condition for self-development, involves the active use of reflection.

It should also be noted that reflection plays a very important role in learning, so it is significant in the educational process. The main function it performs in education is to control the content of one’s own knowledge and regulate the process of their assimilation.

How to teach proper reflection

If you want to increase your level of reflection, then use the tips below. To get real results, two important conditions are necessary - the exercises themselves and their regular implementation.

So what should you do? Let's go in order.

Analyze your actions and decisions.

It is important to do this adequately: try to look at yourself from the outside, without assessing yourself and your actions as terrible or, conversely, ideal. The first creates fear of trying something new, the second makes it impossible to see real mistakes.

I’ll give you a personal example of how I reflect. So, to begin with, I visualize my own image, but imagine that it is someone else (this makes it easier to avoid the feelings that I might experience towards myself).

I look through the eyes of an outside observer and ask myself the following questions:

1. what else could he (the image) do (come up with 3-4 options);
2. what mistakes could have been avoided;
3. what could not have been done at all;
4. what can be added, etc.

Your task is to consider what happened in all possible ways, thereby expanding the boundaries of future experience and increasing the effectiveness of your actions in the future.

Communicate with people as much as possible: you will improve your communication skills, understand others better, and achieve more in conversation.

Ask more questions, test your fantasies. For example, it seemed to you that the silent person was sad. Ask him if this is true? Perhaps he was just wondering how he would celebrate his upcoming anniversary.

It is advisable to meet new people who have a worldview (what is it?) that is different from yours. By perceiving something new, we become more flexible and expand our perception of the world, which makes it easier to cope with life's difficulties.

Every evening, “scroll through” your day.

What events was it filled with? What went well and what didn't work out so well. Remember everything down to the smallest detail. This habit will teach you to see cause-and-effect relationships between your actions and results. People who use this advice rarely ask questions like “How did this happen?”, “Why do I need this?”, “Who is to blame for what happened?”

Well, those who live automatically, once they come to their senses, are horrified by the life situation they find themselves in. This is followed by disappointment, guilt and depression. To prevent this from happening, keep your finger on the pulse (get used to reflecting). May reflection help you!

Author of the article: Liliya Sergeevna Kovalenko (psychologist)

Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages KtoNaNovenkogo.ru

Comments and reviews (8)

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Reflection is a very fashionable word now. Many people don’t know how to put the accent correctly; most put it on “and”. Not long ago I learned that the emphasis is on the “e,” but the habit remains.

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Reflection is certainly a useful skill, but only within reasonable limits. Concentrating on your own thoughts and inner world must be based on necessity and have a reason, otherwise it can be called having your head in the clouds.

You need to have a clear connection with reality, otherwise you can get lost in the jungle of your own feelings, sensations and emotions.

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I remembered the already famous classic: “You don’t reflect, you disseminate.”

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Apparently, the word “Reflection” means what Vadim Zeland in his writings calls “Hear the rustle of the morning stars.” That is, in other words, learn to listen to your subconscious, which has answers to all questions, but usually the continuous work of consciousness clogs it.

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Yes, it is very useful to engage in self-analysis, that is, to reflect, but without going too far.

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Only neurotics regularly reflect, but normal people do not have time for this...

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Constantly rethinking your life is the only way to development and the opportunity not to repeat old mistakes.

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It would seem that what the bourgeoisie and Stalinism have to do with it, but no, and here they sneaked in, the damned ones.

Personality psychology Author of the article: Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov Ivanov I. I. —>
Contents of the article:
Reflection is a special quality inherent only to man. Unlike other representatives of the animal world, we have the ability to evaluate our actions and the processes occurring around us, monitor our psychological state and draw conclusions. We will talk about how to reflect correctly, without damaging the psyche, in this article.

Reflection as a mental process

Words with the root “reflex”, which comes from the Latin reflexus (reflected), are often used in psychology. The most common, in fact, reflex is the body’s response to any impact. But unlike an innate, spontaneous reaction, reflection is a conscious process that requires serious intellectual effort. And this concept comes from another Latin word - reflexio, which means “turning around”, “turning back”.

What is reflection

Reflection in psychology is understood as a person’s comprehension and analysis of his inner world: knowledge and emotions, goals and motives, actions and attitudes. As well as understanding and assessing the attitudes of others. Reflection is not just an intellectual activity, but a rather complex spiritual activity associated with both the emotional and evaluative spheres. It has nothing to do with innate reactions and requires a person to possess certain skills of self-knowledge and self-esteem.

Reflection also includes the ability to self-criticize, since understanding the reasons for one’s actions and thoughts can lead to not the most pleasant conclusions. This process can be very painful, but reflection is necessary for normal personality development.

Two sides of reflection

Subjectively, that is, from the point of view of the person himself, reflection is felt as a complex set of experiences in which two levels can be distinguished:

• cognitive or cognitive-evaluative, it manifests itself in awareness of the processes and phenomena of one’s inner world and their correlation with generally accepted norms, standards, and requirements;
• the emotional level is expressed in the experience of a certain attitude towards oneself, the content of one’s consciousness and one’s actions.

The presence of a pronounced emotional side distinguishes reflection from rational introspection.

Undoubtedly, it’s nice to think about your actions and exclaim: “What a great fellow I am!” But often the reflexive process brings us far from positive emotions: disappointment, a feeling of inferiority, shame, remorse, etc. Therefore, a person often consciously avoids reflection, trying not to look into his soul, fearing what he might see there.

But psychologists also recognize that excessive reflection can turn into self-examination and self-flagellation and become a source of neuroses and depression. Therefore, we must ensure that the emotional side of reflection does not suppress the rational.

Forms and types of reflection

Reflection manifests itself in different areas of our activity and at different levels of self-knowledge, therefore it differs in the nature of its manifestation. Firstly, there are 5 forms of reflection depending on the focus of consciousness on a particular area of ​​mental activity:

• Personal reflection is most closely related to emotional-evaluative activity. This form of understanding a person’s inner world is aimed at analyzing significant components of personality: goals and ideals, abilities and capabilities, motives and needs.
• Logical reflection is the most rational form, which is aimed at cognitive processes and is associated with the analysis and assessment of the characteristics of thinking, attention, and memory. This form of reflection plays an important role in educational activities.
• Cognitive reflection is also most often observed in the field of cognition and learning, but unlike logical reflection, it is aimed at analyzing the content and quality of knowledge and its compliance with the requirements of society (teachers, lecturers). This reflection not only helps in educational activities, but also helps to broaden one’s horizons, and also plays an important role in adequately assessing one’s professional abilities and career opportunities.
• Interpersonal reflection is associated with understanding and assessing our relationships with other people, analyzing our social activities, and the causes of conflicts.
• Social reflection is a special form, which is expressed in the fact that a person understands how others treat him. He is not only aware of the nature of their assessments, but is also able to adjust his behavior in accordance with them.

Secondly, we are able to analyze our past experience and foresee possible developments of events, therefore there are two types of reflection related to the time aspect of evaluative activity:

• Retrospective reflection is an understanding of what has already happened, an assessment of one’s actions, victories and defeats, an analysis of their causes and learning lessons for the future. Such reflection plays an important role in organizing activities, since by learning from one’s mistakes, a person avoids many problems.
• Prospective reflection is the anticipation of possible results of actions and assessment of one’s capabilities under different scenarios. Without this type of reflection, planning activities and choosing the most effective ways to solve problems is impossible.

It is quite obvious that reflection is an important mental process that a person needs in order to achieve success, to become a person of whom he can be proud, and not to experience a loser complex.

What is reflection and reflexivity

“Reflecto” translated from Latin means “return back.” The same term in French sounds like “reflexio” and means “thinking, reflection.”

Initially, the concept of reflection appeared in philosophy as a tool for observing the external world and a way of understanding human existence.
Through the analysis of phenomena occurring in nature and society, a person gets to know himself, seeks ways for survival and self-improvement. Today, the process of reflection is studied and used in other fields, in sociology and psychology. Reflection
is a person’s look inside himself, analysis of his thoughts and actions and rethinking them.

But this process is not thoughtless, but based on acquired knowledge and experience, examined through one’s own mistakes. In addition, in sociology it is the ability to evaluate other people and make comparisons between them and oneself.

Reflexivity is the ability to analyze oneself, identify the motives of one’s own actions, including:

• past actions and events;
• successful or unsuccessful performance results;
• emotional state;
• personality traits and character that change over time.

The degree of reflection is different for each person and depends on the level of knowledge, intelligence, and upbringing. Some people constantly think about their actions and their motives, while others don’t think about them at all. An important role in this is played by a person’s desire to realize his misconceptions and mistakes, the ability to self-criticize and the need to compare himself with the people around him.

Examples of reflection from life

Reflection in life, how does it manifest itself?

The modern rhythm of life does not allow us to think about important and serious issues. In fact, in the world around us there are many opportunities to develop reflection and look at life differently.

Try to think

Social networks on the Internet provide a person with so much information that there is not even time left to think about it.
People no longer have to put in effort or introspection, because all they have to do is type a query online to get an answer. For this reason, reflection is not developed in most of the population. Experts say that a large amount of various information harms a person. A large flow is not absorbed by the brain, as a result only fragmentary pictures and phrases remain, which will not be useful. The brain is designed to think about a specific topic.

Without getting out of the rhythm of life, you can develop reflection in yourself. An example from life could be a common action. It’s enough to choose one case, for example, a book you read, a movie you saw, or a trip to a museum, and then answer the following questions for yourself:

:

• Was there any benefit from this?
• Have I received new information?
• How can I use this experience?
• Did I like the character (place)?
• What did I learn from this?

This will allow you to relax and concentrate at the same time. While a person answers the questions that interest him, the brain will actively act and develop reflection.

Keep a special notebook

The tendency to introspection is developed by a special attitude towards life.
It is important to pay attention to all the details and try to even think about what could cause negative emotions. This is the only way a person can realize his mistakes. Reflection develops from an early age, but once you start thinking about all your actions, you can do this even in adulthood. A person must think about the most important and pressing issues in his life, even if they may cause him pain. There should be a lot of questions, because they cover the whole life.

After this, all this should be written down in a special notebook.

, dividing the questions into the following categories:

• Questions about life and death.
  Philosophical reasoning, the meaning of life and purpose.
• The main goal in life.
  Did you manage to achieve it? If not, then for what reasons?
• Relationships with others.
  Not only well-wishers should be included, but also those with whom relations have been damaged. Answer the question “why did this happen and how could it have been avoided?”
• About the spiritual world, religion and God.
• About past mistakes and actions.
  Answer the question “what did I do wrong and how could I fix it?”
• About plans and cherished dreams.
  Answer the question “how can I achieve this”.
• About material values.
  Answer the question “what is most important to me in my life.”

Important:

Most of these questions can cause serious difficulties for a person, because they must answer honestly. Reflection involves introspection. A person must be able to recognize not only his positive sides, but also his shortcomings. By answering all the questions honestly and analyzing them, a person can learn a lot about himself.

Reflection in psychology

A sign of a mature person is the ability to accept responsibility for her actions and the life she has. If a person constantly blames others and circumstances for what happens to him, he is considered weak. Changing your worldview can be difficult.

Reflection in psychology is used precisely for such purposes. As a separate, independent topic in psychology, reflection was highlighted by A. Busemann. This scientist suggested that this process is nothing more than the transfer of circumstances of the external world to oneself.

In Russian science, the problems of reflection were studied by such scientists as L.S. Vygotsky, S.L. Rubinstein, B.V. Zeigarnik. In their opinion, the basis of the concept is thinking, leading to self-understanding, the ability to find the motivation for one’s actions, and answers to questions about personal characteristics. Scientists first defined reflection as an opportunity to “learn the truth about oneself.”

Today, reflection is one of the main directions in psychology used to expand the client’s consciousness. For example, if a person is stressed due to negative daily thoughts, but does not understand this, then he will not be able to get rid of his bad mood. In this case, it is possible to stop suffering only by understanding the underlying cause of the decadent mood, and by determining steps to eliminate it.

With a conscious decision, you can stop the flow of unnecessary thought forms and accept yourself in the “here and now” state. The specialist encourages you to look at yourself “from the outside,” as if at the hero of a series on a TV screen. The goal of a good psychologist is to teach independent introspection and obtain answers to nagging questions. Within psychology, reflection and introspection are identical concepts.

When analyzing a certain situation or action, it is necessary to realize and work through the following points:

1. A person’s sense of self at the current moment in time. What he experiences: anger, fear, shame, guilt, resentment, etc.
2. A weak point in self-awareness that has been damaged by events that have occurred. For example, inflated expectations regarding the behavior of a spouse or other family members, which led to resentment.
3. The ability to use the situation, as well as the difficulties that arise, to your advantage.

Reflection promotes understanding of how a person is perceived from the outside, and not just for self-analysis. The result of reflectivity is self-analysis, the formation of desired personal characteristics, and an understanding of the connection between actions and results.

Psychological reflection functions in the following directions:

• Consciousness control, which includes awareness of one’s own thoughts and actions. Formation of logical thinking.
• Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is self-criticism. The ability to recognize the relationship between current events, successes, failures and actions taken.
• Finding the keys to solving complex problems and tasks. The ability to plan your steps to achieve goals.
• Getting rid of destructive, destructive attitudes and thought forms.
• Finding opportunities to make thoughtful, correct, useful decisions.
• Accumulation and identification of latent abilities, talents and resources.

There is an opinion in psychology that reflection is not always good. In practice, there are cases when soul-searching and excessive thinking led to negative consequences (“woe from mind”, “many knowledge, many sorrows”). For this reason, it is important to learn to reflect competently, preferably accompanied by an experienced specialist.

Why is reflection needed?

Trying to define what reflection is, scientists came to the conclusion that its most important function is self-knowledge. By contacting the outside world, observing people’s reactions to their own actions and comparing their behavior with his own, a person forms a set of requirements for himself - a kind of set of rules that he strives to adhere to.

Reflection is necessary in order to accumulate life experience and respond to external events not affectively, but in a balanced and deliberate manner. A person constantly monitors his mood and well-being, tracking the emergence of certain emotions in time, dealing with them and consciously selecting the most adequate response option.

In some situations, a person has to turn to a psychotherapist to understand how he developed certain feelings. A developed ability to reflect makes it possible to understand such things independently. It significantly improves understanding of cause-and-effect relationships and time dependencies. For most people, this understanding is determined by emotions, so quite often it turns out to be wrong.

A person with a developed ability to reflect can draw knowledge from all events that occur. He learns to better understand his own inner world, discovers new features of his character, discovers hidden talents, abilities and predispositions.

But sometimes self-analysis can cause sharp negative emotions. If a person perceives his own mistakes too painfully, reflection can provoke the development of complexes and other problems with his mental state. In this case, it is recommended to consult a psychotherapist who will help you take control of reflection and get rid of its negative manifestations.

Concept of self-reflection

Self-reflection is often identified with reflection. This is partly true. The difference between the concepts is that the prefix “self” indicates a reflection of oneself, and not just the external world, events and other people.

Self-reflective people constantly listen to their own feelings and emotions and try to analyze them. Such exercises are very useful for understanding your own self, personal desires and needs. How often do we focus on the expectations of other people, looking for an assessment of our actions from the outside. As a result, one’s own dreams and internal needs remain unfulfilled.

Young people enter training in prestigious professions, and their souls are drawn to creative delights. As a result, the profession does not bring satisfaction, but the parents are happy! A person lives an uninteresting life, suppressing existing talents.

There is another side. In hypertrophied cases, a person constantly listens to emotions. He becomes fixated on personal experiences and becomes neurotic, not seeing the outside world, which is beautiful. A person stops enjoying life, constantly analyzing his own condition.

In this case, it is important to get out of yourself in time, take a deep breath, feel material things: table, floor, wall, hands, feet, sounds and smells.

Many people are wary of their own body signals. Often, excessive reflection leads to neurotic diseases, for example, hypochondria (a pathological condition in which we find ourselves with all possible and impossible diseases).

Cases have been recorded when women find all the signs of pregnancy, and only the results of repeated laboratory examinations (for example, ultrasound) can dissuade them from this. Of course, if you suspect a disease, you must undergo a medical examination. But when a person realizes that his fears are far-fetched, he should move away from focusing on personal feelings and ignore them.

Forms and types of reflection

We described reflection as a complex process directed both within oneself and into the external world, leading to benefit for the individual, or, on the contrary, to its destruction. Let's consider what forms and types of introspection exist in psychology.

From the point of view of the impact on the future state of a person:

• Correct constructive self-analysis, which allows you to understand yourself, draw logical conclusions and not step on familiar mistakes again.
• Harmful destructive self-analysis, leading to neurotic disorders and deep fixation on problems, often imaginary. In such situations, feelings of guilt, helplessness and hopelessness are cultivated. A person needs the help of a specialist.

Taking into account time periods, reflection occurs:

• Event-based or situational
  . The individual analyzes a problem that takes place in the present time, “here and now.”
• Retrospection
  , looking to the past. A person evaluates past events and his actions, draws conclusions about their correctness and timeliness.
• Perspective
  , facing future events. The individual plans further actions and events based on self-analysis.

Based on the object of study, the process can be divided into the following forms:

• Self-reflection
  , turning to one’s own inner world, personal experiences and emotions.
• Communicative
  . In this form, reflection is devoted to other people, interaction with friends, relatives, and colleagues. A person tries to analyze relationships and interactions.
• Sanogenic
  is a type of self-analysis in which a substantive study of strong emotions is carried out, a search for means to minimize or eliminate unnecessary suffering and experiences.
• Intelligent
  . The individual’s attention is focused on the application of knowledge, skills, and the possibilities of their use in the material world.

A combination of forms of reflection under given conditions gives the best results; it is always necessary to combine methods of analysis for a specific situation.

Social reflection

In social life, reflection is a kind of awareness of a person of who he is for other individuals.
In other words, social reflection in psychology is not only a person’s awareness of himself, but also an understanding of how other people treat him. This includes a person’s personality traits, reactions to various events, emotional impulses, mood and character. When joint activity arises between members of society, social reflection turns into subject-reflective relationships.

Characteristics of kinesthetics. How to communicate with kinesthetic learners?

What does it mean to reflect?

To reflect
is to think, to think logically, to analyze actions and actions, to know oneself.

Is it worth understanding your personality? Of course yes. If a person has not understood himself, he is led by others and lives someone else’s life. Low self-esteem, complexes, and feelings of guilt sit deep inside and interfere with further development. They need to be found and neutralized.

By reflecting, we learn:

• Think rationally.
• Stop mental “garbage”.

A low level of self-analysis is the path to making the same mistakes and blunders throughout your life. At the everyday level, the concept of a reflective person is often associated with such definitions as: “to be nervous”, “to worry”, “to worry too much”. Therefore, in any action, moderation and reasonableness are important.

It is necessary to approach your inner world soberly and calmly, without allowing emotions to overwhelm the arguments of reason. A person who knows how to reflect is his own psychoanalyst; not everyone is capable of this.

In order to “self-examine” for the benefit of your business, you need to avoid the following mistakes:

1. You should think about the motives behind your actions, not the actions themselves.

   . For example, a husband who cheated on his wife may realize his betrayal and vow not to do it again. But if a man does not understand what pushed him to cheat, no force will stop him from repeating the mistake, since the motives for the need to go “to the left” will remain undeveloped.

2. "Saw sawdust"

   , as D. Carnegie said. This means constantly grinding past sins and failures in your head, coming up with possible other consequences of what has already happened. What was is no longer there, think about the current moment, make plans for the future.

3. Cultivate a sense of guilt

   . Yes, we made a mistake, but we got our lesson for it. There is no point in berating yourself for something that cannot be fixed. Everything is not without sin.

4. Responsible for the whole world

   . Processes in the world occur against our will. We should not take responsibility for something we cannot influence.

If you follow the rules outlined, then reflection is not only possible, but also useful.

What is the use of reflection?

Reflective activity opens up new possibilities for a person.
Thinking over his actions and deeds, he learns to live correctly:

• It becomes possible to control your thinking. A person tries to think in the right direction.
• Reflection promotes self-criticism, which allows you to see your own shortcomings, analyze them and work on mistakes.
• Self-analysis allows you to get rid of negative and depressing thoughts that poison human existence.
• The analysis of experienced life situations begins, with subsequent conclusions.
• Realizing past mistakes, an individual develops a strong personality and acquires his own position.

In the process of reflection, personal growth is observed.
A person changes and learns from his mistakes without repeating them in the future. But if a person lacks reflection, then he repeats similar mistakes and does not understand the cause of his distress. Philanthropist - helping for profit or a character trait?

How to develop reflection

The best way to learn a skill is to start practicing it. To develop reflection, you need to start practicing it.

How to do it?

• Try to understand what feelings you are experiencing at the current moment. The habit of being attentive to emerging joy, anger, melancholy and connecting them with ongoing events or communications with certain people.
• Monitor stories in which you react too harshly, painfully. If certain events hit you particularly hard, you need to understand what the trigger is.
• If you notice that in the process of thinking about something you experienced melancholy or painful emotions, then it is better to stop soul-searching and return to the roots of the problem a little later. Highly sensitive people cannot do without the help of a specialist.
• Give up total control of reality. Reflection is not a reason to put the material world into pieces. Allow life to flow outside of your participation.
• In the evening, you can “scroll” your day in your head, all its pros and cons, and form plans for tomorrow.
• To develop reflection, make it a rule to think systematically about any phenomenon or object that interests you.

After gaining reflection skills, you can ask yourself a few questions and give honest answers to them:

• Think about whether there is something in the past that would be worth returning to and trying to start over. This could be family, work, hobbies, friends, etc. Sometimes a return to the past means the beginning of a new stage.
• Clearly establish for yourself what brings pleasure and makes you happy. This will be the strategic goal to which you should devote your future life.
• If you are not happy with the point you are in now, determine the actions you need to take to get out of it. Do not slip into self-flagellation or attribute all problems to external circumstances.
• Truthfully answer the question of what you are doing wrong. You should not wring your hands with the question: “Why do I need this?” Take responsibility for failures personally. Where was the mistake, the flaw? The truth can be unpleasant, but without it it’s difficult to fix anything.
• If you fail at a question, analyze whether everything possible has been done or whether you can try something else.
• Analyze actions from the point of view of achieving the goal. This does not mean that you cannot be spontaneous and that you need to think through every step. However, when time is short, prioritization becomes necessary.

There is an opinion that the purpose of life is life itself, getting pleasure from it and those things that correspond to our internal needs. Reflect wisely, achieve what you want and be happy!

How to use reflection to your advantage?

Any skill develops effectively only with regular use. To develop reflection, you need to practice it regularly. There are several exercises that will allow you to do this as consciously as possible:

1. Be aware of current feelings

. This is a useful habit that should be applied whenever there is a change in environment. Did you feel that your emotional state had changed? Listen to your feelings, try to understand what you feel at the moment, what worries you. Quite often, non-obvious things are discovered.

2. Highlight the situations to which you react most painfully

. Understanding which events trigger strong emotional reactions can help you identify problem areas and target them.

3. Learn to intentionally stop self-searching

. In most cases, self-digging does not bring any benefit, but only worsens your mood and reduces productivity. Fortunately, this process can be controlled intentionally. Just tell yourself that you will think about it later, but now you need to get busy.

4. Don't try to control everything

. It is impossible to control everything; some things are truly better left to chance. Allow surprises to happen from time to time, and focus on controlling the most important aspects of life.

5. In the evenings, reflect on your day

. This is a healthy habit that many successful people practice. Just think about what made this day remarkable, what useful things were done and what mistakes were made.

6. Think in detail about everything that interests you

. Choose any subject that interests you and think about its nature. Thanks to interest, this process will be uncomplicated and enjoyable, while you will develop deep analysis skills.