actual self

n. The person as he or she actually is rather than as he or she believes himself/herself to be. In several branches of psychology it is believed that there are often differences between the way a person perceives and reacts to an experience and the way he or she believes that he/she perceives and reacts. This is most likely to occur when a person believes it is socially desirable to be a way that he or she actually is not. For example, a person may believe he or she lacks sexual desire when he/ she actually does react with arousal to sexual stimulation.