The Self as a Social Construct The Self in the Western and Oriental Thought

Lesson Objectives: INDIVIDUALISM

•Articulate what culture means as part of the •emphasize that people are independent of
society. their groups.

•Attribute self-understanding and behavior to •personal goals are more important than the
cultural factors. goals of the in group.

•Recognize and appreciate differences in COLLECTIVISM

cultural behaviors of the self, particularly from •goals of the in group are more important than
the Western and Asian contexts. personal goals
CULTURE •people are expected to maintain close
That complex whole which includes knowledge, interdependent relationships
beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs, and any
other capabilities and habits acquired by
humans as a member of society.

Figure 6.5. independent and interdependent

views of self. (a) Individuals in cultures that
support an independent view perceive the self
as clearly separated from significant others. (b)
Individuals in cultures that support an
interdependent view perceive the self as
The Self as Embedded in Culture
inextricably connected to others.
To understand how the self is influenced by its
culture, there are two components that is
essential to know:

•Non-material culture – beliefs, values, norms

and symbols

•Material Culture – consists of human

technology

The self is clearly linked to his/her culture. In

fact, our social personality is a reflection of
culture itself.
The Psychological Self POSSIBLE SELVES

How well do you know yourself? FEEL GOOD about yourself?

Most of the time, we are too hard on ourselves  There is CONGRUENCE or alignment or
because of the many expectations we have. there is a small gap between our real self
and ideal self.
SELFCONCEPT  This gives us confidence, satisfaction, and
 It is an organized, consistent set of fulfillment leading to a high self-esteem.
perceptions of and beliefs about oneself.  Otherwise, there is a feeling of
(Carl Rogers) disappointment and frustration about
 These perceptions are called self-schemas ourselves.
 This results to us being distressed, anxious,
SELFSCHEMAS leading to a low self-esteem, and
defensive.
 They are formed by numerous factors such
as Past experiences SELF-EFFICACY
 Personality traits
 It is the belief that you can do and perform
 Abilities
things.
 Physical features
 When our performance improves, our self-
 Values
esteem improves too.
 Goals
 But an increase in self-esteem does not
 Social roles
mean an increase to self-efficacy. Why?
 Own observations
 Feedback from others SELF-ESTEEM
2 Selves according to Carl Rogers It is how we value our selves and perceive our
worth as a person.
IDEAL SELF
People with high self-esteem succeed more,
 Person we want to be
have better relationships, and are happier.
 Idealized version of yourself
 How should I be  SOCIAL SELF-IMAGE
 EMOTIONAL SELF-IMAGE
REAL SELF
 ACADEMIC SELF-IMAGE
 Who we actually are  PHYSICAL SELF-IMAGE
 How I see me
What to do?
 Also called “actual self” Who we actually
are  Seek help through counseling or people
 How I see me who can help.
 Do self-reflection
Our ideal self is essential in guiding and
 Be easy on yourself.
motivating us to behave in a way that would
 Stop comparing yourselves with others.
lead us to the best version of who we want to
 Invest on yourself by learning
be.
something new. Change your way of
Let’s do some visual imagining exercise. thinking.
Understanding your Physical Self
 there is always a pressure in our society
to look good.
 This has given rise to beauty products and
enhancement procedures for the purpose
that we could fit in, be accepted, and be
beautiful.
 Our physical selves have become so
dependent on the judgment of our
appearance and not with the celebration
of it.
 There is always a pressure in our society
to look good.
 This has given rise to beauty products and
enhancement procedures for the purpose
that we could fit in, be accepted, and be
beautiful.
 Our physical selves have become so
dependent on the judgment of our
appearance and not with the celebration
of it.
Why do I look like myself?
Our biology dictates that our looks are a result
of the genes transferred to us by our parents.
(Gregor Mendel)
 Are there more positive traits than
negative traits written on your chart?
 Are there more physical traits than non-
physical traits that have been recorded?
 Are you happy for having those traits?
Cultural Standards of Beauty
 Define BEAUTY.
 Different cultures have different standards
of beauty.
 How about the Philippines?
Our concept of physical selves as Filipinos is
largely associated with our skin color.
We were forced to believe that they were more
superior people, more civilized, and how they
look were deemed as standard of beauty.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
 Patients worry that there is something
wrong with the shape or appearance of a
body part – most often breasts, genitalia,
hair, or the nose, or some portion of the
face.
 The ideas they have about their bodies are
not delusional, rather they are overvalued
ideas.
 Frequently request for medical procedures
or plastic surgeries but are often
dissatisfied with the results.
The Filtered Self
 Why filter?
 Today, our self-approval is dependent on
the likes, shares, and comments, of our
social media posts
 The more we approve of the filtered us,
the more we disregard our real, unfiltered
physical selves
 Perhaps, at one point in our lives, we have
been implicitly or explicitly criticized or
even ridiculed for how we look.
 Who is bold enough to share the time you
were mocked and how did it made you
feel?
 You can PLAY or PASS.’
WHO AM I? THE PHILOSOPHICAL  Moral law exists and is imposed on the
mind.
VIEW
 There is an eternal law and it is the law of
SOCRATES conscience*

 KNOW THYSELF: “An unexamined life is RENE DESCARTES

NOT worth living.”
 I think, therefore; I am. (Cogito ergo sum)
 Soul first before man’s body. 
 The mind and body are separate entities
 The soul has knowledge by direct intuition
but the mind is conjoined with the body
and all these are stored in his mind.
in an intimate way that they casually act
 When man came to the material world, he
upon each other.
forgot most of what he knew, thus,
 The essence of the Self is in its being a
resulting to lack of knowledge or
“thinking being” – the self being the mind
ignorance.
more than the body.
 But knowledge can be restored through
 When the body is gone, the mind may
dialectic method or Socratic method, an
continue to exist and function.
exchange of question and answer that
ultimately aims to make the person JOHN LOCKE
remember all the knowledge he has
 He included the concept of a person’s
forgotten.
memory in the definition of the self.
PLATO  He subscribes to the memory theory
which holds that we are the same person
 Ideal world vs. Material world
as we were in the past for as long as we
 Human beings are composed of a body and
can remember something from that past.
a soul. The soul is the true self; the body is
 Personal identity is explained in terms of
the changing self.
psychological connection between life
 The soul exists before birth and leaves
stages in the memory theory.
room for the possibility that it might
 Our memory makes us aware of our
survive bodily death.
existence.
 The body is seen as a prison and we can
only be free through contemplation. DAVID HUME
 Contemplation entails communion of the
 The self keeps on changing, thus, an
mind with universal and eternal ideas.
“enduring self” is just a fiction by our
 We continue to exist even in the absence
imagination.
of our bodies because we are souls only.
 “I” will be constantly changing because
AUGUSTINE the different experiences one has for
every constant change will affect and
 Out of love, God created man.
reshape that person.
 Man is created in the image of God and
 Thus, we cannot observe any permanent
he has an immortal soul whose main
self because we continuously undergo
pursuit is to have an everlasting life with
change.
God.
 In conclusion, THERE IS NO SELF.
 In this world, man pursues happiness but
this can only be achieved in God alone.
IMMANUEL KANT
 Refuted Hume’s claims and argued that it
is possible to find the essence of the self.
 He believes that man is a free agent,
capable of making a decision for himself.
 As a free agent, man is gifted with reason
and free will (to be moral or not).
 Thus, we must respect every individual and
they should not be exploited and used.
SIGMUND FREUD
 Famous for his tripartite division of the
mind – id, ego, and superego.
 Id - impulses; biological drives and urges,
pleasure principle
 Ego - the rational part, reality principle
 Superego - moral and ethical standards;
moral principle
GILBERT RYLE
 The mind is certainly a part of our body.
 The only way by which we can know how
the mind is working is through the
behavior of the person.
 Hence, we can only know a person through
how a man behaves, their tendencies and
reactions in certain circumstances.
PAUL CHURCHLAND
 The self is the brain.
 Our moods, emotions, actions, and
consciousness are deeply affected by the
state of our brain.
 By manipulating certain parts of the brain,
our feelings, actions, and physical state are
successfully altered
MAURICE MERLEAUPONTY
 To be a self is to be more than one’s body.
 The self is grounded on the experiences
from the past, the possibilities for the
future, and the present cognition.
 It is a continuous flow of movement from
infancy to adulthood.
 The definition of self is all about one’s
perception of one’s experience and the
interpretation of those experiences.
THE SUMMARY
 Socrates: Man is essentially a soul. It was
seconded by Plato.
 Augustine: Man is an image in the likeness
of God and he is essentially a soul whose
goal is to be with God.
 Rene Descartes – Man is a mind – a thinking
being separate from his body. It doesn’t
mean that we don’t need the body, because
the body is a necessity for the mind in order
for it to perform any act.
 John Locke – Self is a consciousness and
that for as long as we have memories about
who we are and our identity, then that tells
us that we are that same person, that same
self that we are conscious of now.
 David Hume – There is NO permanent self
because the self is only a bundle of senses
that keeps on changing.
 Immanuel Kant – it is possible for us to
construct our self. We can organize our
experiences so that we can build an idea of
who we are.
 Sigmund Freud – man is made up of two
things: conscious and unconscious and that
man has many layers.
 Gilbert Ryle – how one behaves is a big
factor in showing who man is
 Paul Churchland – the brain is the essence
of the self
 Maurice Merleau- Ponty – Man is all about
how he sees himself (subjectivity)