"Self-awareness is the explicit understanding that one exists.
Furthermore, it includes the concept that one exists as an individual,
separate from other people, with private thoughts. It may also include
the understanding that other people are similarly self-aware.
Self-consciousness is credited only with the development of identity
(see the self). In an epistemological sense, self-consciousness is a
personal understanding of the very core of one's own identity. It is
during periods of self-consciousness that people come the closest to
knowing themselves objectively. Jean Paul Sartre describes self-
consciousness as being "non-positional", in that it is not from any
location in particular.
Self-consciousness plays a large role in behavior, as it is common to
act differently when people "lose one's self in a crowd". It is the
basis for human traits, such as accountability and conscientiousness.
Self-consciousness affects people in varying degrees, as some people
self-monitor (or scrutinize) themselves more than others. Different
cultures vary in the importance they place on self-consciousness."
"Humans are not the only creatures who are self-aware. Observations
and experiments have shown that some animals are self-aware. Thus far,
there is evidence that bottlenose dolphins, other apes, octopuses and
elephants have the capability to be self aware"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness
