Self-knowledge is important. For instance, people need to know what their strengths are to choose the right careers, or know their weaknesses to avoid certain situations. While self-knowledge seems easy to attain, do our views of ourselves line up with how we actually perform or how others view us? This course is designed to equip students with a knowledge that views of the self can be flawed-- even with all the time we spend with ourselves and all the motivation to make good judgments. Students will learn what biases underlie judgments of the self, evaluate whether the biases are functional, and learn ways to overcome biases in self-judgments. More specifically, the course draws on interdisciplinary research in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and history to illustrate how humans construct views of the self, with implications for work and social behaviour. Students will learn the value of (biased) self-views, and how to attain self-knowledge that predicts better performance and social outcomes. Students will also learn about self-stereotyping and the effects on behaviour and achievement. There will be a group project devoted to analyzing specific real-world issues in which knowledge of the self is important. In a personal, group, business or cross-national context, students will examine different ways in which self-knowledge and self-serving biases affect decision-making or leadership.

• To provide an overview of the concepts and theories in how people understand the self
• To develop skills in applying those concepts and theories to analyze individual, interpersonal, group, and organizational factors that influence judgments of the self, with implications for work and social behaviour
• To enhance self-knowledge and develop critical thinking, communication skills, and interpersonal skills
• To provide hands-on practice with those skills using case analysis and group work