It’s something most of us engage in without giving it much thought.
We reflect on our choices, evaluate our feelings, and give a shot to understand ourselves better.
In everyday life, introspection can be a personal, sometimes even meditative, practice.
Thomas Barwick / Getty Images
It allows us to gain self-awareness, understand our experiences, and build stronger relationships.
But introspection wasn’t always an informal tool forself-reflection.
How We Use Introspection
Introspection is important for several reasons.
Doing a reflective dive into our own psychology can help improve our levels of self-awareness.
Some historians suggest that introspection is not the most accurate term to refer to the methods that Wundt utilized.
In everyday use, introspection is a way of looking inward and examining one’s internal thoughts and feelings.
As a research tool, however, the process was much more controlled and structured.
Psychotherapy
Introspection can also be useful inpsychotherapysessions.
Engaging in introspection-based activities has been found beneficial for certain mental health conditions.
It’s also used in psychotherapy sessions.
It all came down to the rigorous methods he used.
InWundt’s lab, highly trained observers were presented with carefully controlled sensory events.
The observations were also repeated numerous times.
What was the purpose of these observations?
Wundt believed that the human mind was made up of two key components: sensations and feelings.
Wundt believed that researchers needed to do more than identify its structure or elements to understand the mind.
Wundt focused on making the introspection process as structured and precise as possible.
Observers were highly trained and the process itself was rigid and tightly controlled.
In many instances, respondents were asked to simply respond with a “yes” or “no.”
In some cases, observers pressed a telegraph key to give their response.
The goal of this process was to make introspection as scientific as possible.
What Are the Benefits of Introspection?
Among them are:
Drawbacks of Introspection
Introspection is not a perfect process.
So, it can come with a few drawbacks.
Bias
People often give greater weight to introspection about themselves while judging others on their outward behavior.
This can result in bias without recognizing that a bias exists.
This is a phenomenon known as the introspection illusion.
Cognitive biasesare a good example of how people are often unaware of their own thoughts and biases.
Despite this, people tend to be very confident in their introspections.
Bias can also exist during research studies using introspection.
This bias can influence what they observe.
Rumination
Ruminationinvolves obsessing over things or having them run through your mind over and over again.
This can have negative impacts mentally.
This rumination often leads to a worsening of their symptoms.
One of the most critical?
The process is extremely subjective, making examining or repeating the results impossible.
When using introspection in research, different observers often responded significantly differently to the same stimuli.
Even the most highly trained observers were not consistent in their responses.
Limited Use
Another problem with introspection as a research technique is its limited use.
This technique is also difficult to use with children and impossible to use with animals.
Cowden RG, Meyer-Weitz A.Self-reflection and self-insight predict resilience and stress in competitive tennis.Soc Behav Personal.
2016;44(7):1133-1149. doi:10.2224/sbp.2016.44.7.1133
Brock AC.The history of introspection revisited.
In: Clegg JW, editor.Self-Observation in the Social Sciences.
London: Taylor & Francis; 2018:25-44. doi:10.4324/9781351296809-3
Anders A.Introspection and psychotherapy.SFU Res Bull.
2018;277:7-13. doi:10.1016/j.psychresns.2018.04.008
Hergenhahn B.An Introduction to the History of Psychology.
2021;3(1):51-53.
2016;24(5):367-370. doi:10.1111/ijpp.12268
Zhao X.On leadership and self-awareness.Wharton Magazine.
Lilienfeld SO, Basterfield C.Reflective practice in clinical psychology: Reflections from basic psychological science.Clin Psychol Sci Pract.
2020;27(4):e12352.
2019;44:1604-1612. doi:10.1038/s41386-019-0399-3
Eurich T.What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it).Harvard Business Review.
Litman JA, Robinson OC, Demetre JD.Intrapersonal curiosity: Inquisitiveness about the inner self.Self Ident.
2017;16(2):231-250. doi:10.1080/15298868.2016.1255250
Brock, AC.The history of introspection revisited.
In JW Clegg (Ed.
),Self-Observation in the Social Sciences.
2007; 43(4): 565-578. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.011.
