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    5 views8 pages

    Uself Lesson 3

    Uploaded by

    TADZMALYN JINANG

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 8
    INTRODUCTION As discussed in the previous lessons, every field of study, at least in the social sciences, have their own research, definition, and conceptualization of self and identity. Some are similar while some specific only in their field. Each field also has thousands of research on self and identity as well as related or synonymous terms. The trend of the lessons also seems to t (i.e. culturesand society) down:to:the:individual. However, it must be pointed out that modern researches acknowledge the contributions of each field and this is not some sort of a nurture vs. nature, society/culture vs. individual/brain, and other social sciences vs. psychology debate may focus on the individual and the cognitive functions, but it does not discount the context and other possible factors that affect the individual. For students who take up psychology, discussions on theories, and development, among others actually take at least one semester and there are still more to be learned about the concept of “self.” This lesson provides an overview of the themes of psychology regarding the said concept. _ J ABSTRACTION In confidence or in an attempt to avoid further analytical discussions, a lot of people say. “| am who | am.” Yet, this statement still begs the question “if you are who you are. then who are you that makes you who you are?” As mentioned earlier, there are various definitions of the “self and other similar or interchangeable concepts in psychology. Simply put, ‘Seifiismihemsense ofpersonanidenttmancdifiwhowwe.aieasindviduals Whangiani and Tarry 2014) was one of the earliest psychologists to study the self and ie self as —the “land theme.” The “I is the thinking, acting, and feeling self (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011, Hogg and Vaughan 2010). The “me” on the other hand, is the physical characteristics oma SR RRR ‘as weil as psychological capabilites that makes who you are (Glertman ry, and Reisberg 2011. Hogg and Vaughan 2010) Gurimbtumeanss® (195 u et (GERBREIM\so used the same terms. the “las —— ” while the “me” 1s what you think Br feel about yourself as an Obfect (Gieitn,, Gross. and Reisberg 2011) Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept Ndentiny composed of personal characteristics, social roles and responsibilities a as affiliations that define who one is (Oyserman, Elmore. and Smith 2012 Sa efind- when-you-are-asked about whg «aig, (Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012). ‘Self, identity, and'self-concept are not fixed in one time frame. For exampg when you are asked about who you are, you can say “I was a varsity player ins. Grade” which pertains to the past, “a college student” which may be the presen and “a future politician” which is the future. They are not also fixed for life nor an they ever-changing at every moment. Think of a malleable metal, strong and har: but can be bent and molded in other shapes. Think about water. It can take ary shape of the container. but at its core, it is still the same element. (Gleitman, Gross and Reisberg 2011; Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). Imagine an organized list or a diagram similar to the one below: ‘1 oe lit oa The €8R@AIB is not limited to the example above It may also include your soWwoOrR: cinterest (COUFSé"ag®. Hame. and physicabcharactenstigs. among others AS you grow and adapt to the changes around you. they also change Bul they are not passive receivers. they actively shape and affect how you see. think. and feel about things (Gleitman. Gross, and Reisberg 2011. Jhangiani and Tarry 2014) For example, when someone states your first name even if they are not talking about you, your attention is drawn to them. If you have a provincial language and you hear Someone using it. it catches your attention. If you consider yourselt a book-lover, a bookstore may always entice you out of all the other stores ina mall FRESHESIGENETaly see the self and identity _7EAACSS. created and fécreatedinimemiory (Oyserman, Elmore. and Smith 2012). Current researches point to the frontalobe of the brain asithelspetificarearinthaibrainlassociatediwith the processes;conceming#hé'Self (Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012) Several psychologists, especially during the field's earlier development, followed this trend of thought. looking deeper into the mind of the person to theorize about the self, identity, self-concept. and in turn, one’s personality. The most influential of them is Si@MGR@Rteud. Basically, FSUGISAWhEIsel! (tsEntaly However, as mentioned earlier, one cannot fully discount the effects of society and culture on the formation of the self, identity. and self-concept. Even as Freud and other theories and researchers try to understand the person by digging deeper into the mind, they cannot fully discount the huge and important effects of the environment. As in the abovementioned definitions of the self, social interaction always has a part to play in who we think we are. This is not nature vs. nurture but instead a nature-and-nurture perspective. Under the {RESPPOFSyMbolic interackohism, GIA=MeaeeI934) argued that ‘self'is Created and developed through-human.interaction the 1 (Hogg and Vaughan 2010). Basically, there are three reasons why self and identity are social products (Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012): 1: "We denotcreate ourselves Out OF Rething. Society helped in creating the will still operate in our social and historical contexts in one way or the other. You may, of course, transfer from one culture to another, but u were will still affect you and you will also have jg parts of who yol king at your definition of whe adapt to the new social context. Try 00} you are and see where society had affected you : id We also need them as reference an points about our identity. One interesting example is the social media interactions we have. In the case of Facebook. there are those who will consciously or unconsciously try to garner more “likes” and/or positive “reactions” and that can and will reinforce their self-concept {t is almost like a battle between who got more friends, more views, and trending topics. If one says he is a good singer but his performance and the evaluation of his audience says otherwise, that will have an effect on that person's idea of himself, one way or another. 3. What we:thinkcisamportant-to-us may also-havebeer influenced by what is:important in ‘our S6cial or histonical-context Education might be an important thing to your self-concept because you grew up in a family that valued education. Money might be important to some because they may have grown in a low-income family and realized how important money is in addressing certain needs like medical emergencies. Being a nurse or a lawyer can be priority in your self- schema because it is the in-demand course during your time ‘Social interaction and group affiliation. therefore, Greivitalfactorsanereating “our: self-concept especially in the aspect of providifig-Uswith “our social identity or dUF{perceptionsofsWhOWE"are’ based on our membership to certain groups (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). It is also inevitable that we can have several social identities, that those identities can overlap, and that we automatically play the roles as we interact with our groups. For example, you are a student who is also part of a certain group of friends. You study because it is your role as a student but you prefer to study with your friends and your study pattern changes when you are with your friends than when you do it alone. There are times, however, when we are aware of our self-concepts: this 's also called self-awareness. s phallic (1981) identified WE™yRS and private thoughts and feelings. and (2) commonly geared toward havin 9 4 good presentati f and Vaughan 2010) ion of yourself to others (Hogg SERRE s., SreReAT TE WH atleast Three other SeHSCREAT the actual ideal and ought sell The GttlalS6ISiWheyellareaLIneNGMEnt the Adeal” Sell s-who you tke tobe_and th sid be (Higgins 1997 in Hogg and Vaughn 2010) An example is that you are a student interested in basketball buts also academically challenged in most of your subject Your eal self might be to practice more and play with the varsity team but ought to pass your subjects as a responsible student One has to find a solution to such discrepancies to avoid agitation, dejection, or other negative emotions. In some instances, however, all three may be in line with one another “SEIFAWAFERESE may be positive or negative dependingon the circumstances and our next course of action. @eifsaWAFEAES® can keep you from doing something dangerous, It can help remind you that there is an exam tomorrow in one of your subjects when you are about to spend time playing computer games with your cousins, among others. In other instances, @e@lziW@rSAass can’ rs, also known as GSRICONSGIOUSHBSs (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). At other times, especially with large crowds, we may experience deindividuation or “the loss of individual self- awareness and individual accountability in groups” (Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb 1952, Zimbardo 1969 in Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). A lot of people will attune themselves with the emotions of their group and because the large crowd also provides some kind of anonymity, we may lessen our self-control and act in ways that we will not do when we are alone. A common example is a mass demonstration erupting into a riot. Our group ydennty-and Seleawareness als6 has a great impact on our Salt esteem, one of the common concepts associated with the “self.” It is defined as our own positive or negative perception or evaluation of ourselves (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014; Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011). One of the ways in which our social relationship affects ourGeifsesteen is through § According to the Séeialicomparisamatheony we learn _ appropri , as well as our social status: cBpeerpeniay aber ot oorsever WF ore=peeple (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014, Hogg and Vaughan 2010) The downward social comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves with others. As the name implies, we create a positive self-concept by companng ourselves with those who are worse off than us (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014) By having the advantage. we can raise our self-esteem Another comparison '$ the upward social comparison which is comparing ourselves with those who are While it oan be oll-ente ary 2014) actually fell lower § better off than us (Jhangiantand | for some, alot of those who do Hus or inequilies. mh more of their weakne: Take (groUPS Thus. a person's group Is performing 1 t! shes ay also be heightened than the other group, then his sel-es

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