self, actual

n. The person as he/she actually is rather than as he/she believes he/she is. In several branches of psychology it is believed that there are often differences between the way a person perceives and reacts to his/her experience and the way he/she believes 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/she actually is not. For example, a person may believe he/she lacks sexual desire when he/she actually does react with arousal to sexual stimulation.