Psychology and the Self

PSYCHOLOGY
• Scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.
• A dynamic field of study that seeks to explain, understand and predict human
behavior.
• Self is a cognitive construction since it only exists in our minds, and the mind
develops and shapes the self-according to our personality, experiences,
influences culture and religion.
THE SELF AS COGNITIVE CONSRUCT WILLIAM JAMES AND THE ME-SELF
AND I-SELF
Functionalism – a school of thought that focused on how behavior functions to aid
in the adaptation of individuals to their environment.
He developed a theory of the self in which he said that the self is both the knower
and the known.
Knower – I Known - Me
THE SELF AS COGNITIVE CONSRUCT WILLIAM JAMES AND THE ME-SELF
AND I-SELF
Total self – can be defined as duplex, partly the object and partly the subject.
I – the doer, experiencer, agent
Me – narrative self, one that exists in the past and the future, as well as in the
present
THE SELF AS COGNITIVE CONSRUCT
I - experiences weather and interact with other people. Being aware of the
consciousness. I exists only in the here and now.
Me – part of the self which is repository of all the experiences of the individual
Components of me: • Material self • Social self • Spiritual self
• The different components correspond to the aspects of our lives that
influences and shapes who we are as we live through different experiences.
COMPONENTS OF ME
MATERIAL SELF
- Refers to the things or objects that a person owns or belongs
to such as family and money - Care of the material self is the body - We often
define ourselves from the family that we are born
into and it shapes our sense of who we are - Money is an important aspect of the
material self in that it changes how the person views him/herself with the amount
of money that he/she has.
COMPONENTS OF ME
SOCIAL SELF
- Refers to the recognition which a person gets from other people, such as the
need to be noticed favorably by the people who are
important to us. - There is no greater punishment than to be ostracized by your
peers and society. - Facilitated by the need for emotional corrections with
significant
others - Filipinos are very relational beings, we have that innate need to relate
COMPONENTS OF ME
SPIRITUAL SELF
Manifested by our ability to feel and think about ourselves
removed from our environment and circumstance - Example: when we shed tears
because of a story/movie, when we experience enlightenment when we finally
find the correct answer to a difficult problem
WILLIAM JAMES
How we behaved is determined by our true self, a totality of material self, social
self and spiritual self and pure ego or the
Through the self we can become whoever we want to be, as long as we strive for
it.
GLOBAL VS. DIFFERENTIATED MODELS MURRAY BOWEN
- Developed a theory of the self as part of his Family Systems
Theory Anxiety and stress can disrupt the quality of one's relationship: imbalance
may lead to adjustment problems, dissatisfaction with one's life
GLOBAL VS. DIFFERENTIATED MODELS MURRAY BOWEN
- Differentiation and fusion refers to the extent in which an
individual can separate their emotional and intellectual selves
- Differentiated selves – have a strong intellectual aspect that can take control of
their emotions, SOLID SELF
- Fused individual – will respond to life situations emotionally all the time,
PSEUDO SELF
GLOBAL VS. DIFFERENTIATED MODELS MURRAY BOWEN
- Differentiated selves – able to handle stress better than highly fused individuals.
Can function effectively in any life situations as the intellectual aspect can provide
direction and reason, while still being able to feel and experience the event and
thus facilitate learning and better adjustment
GLOBAL VS. DIFFERENTIATED MODELS
MURRAY BOWEN
Differentiated selves – SOLID SELF, determined, aware of its needs and desires,
can remain calm and focused in the face of adversities, will preserve its own
identity, will not be afraid to stand for its convictions and principles
- Fused self – PSEUDO SELF, will only react to its surroundings, will lose his/her
relationship with that significant other, will follow rules, customs, culture and
expectations
GLOBAL VS. DIFFERENTIATED MODELS SHAVELSON HUBNER &
STANTON
Global self - refers to the extent to which one's perception of the self is clearly and
consistently defined. - Very characteristically consistent - May take on various
roles, but will behave, think and feel in the same way
REAL AND IDEAL SELF
KAREN HORNEY
Man is endowed with the capacity and desire to develop his potentialities and
become decent human beings, moreover she believed that man can change and
go on changing as long as he lives. - Horney's vision of the self, consisted of what
she called the real self (possible self) and the ideal self (impossible self)
REAL AND IDEAL SELF
REAL SELF
- Mental abstraction but can be real, felt and certain - A system of potentialities,
imbued with talents, capacities, and predispositions that we are born with and will
be able to develop given a positive and nurturing environment - The person you
actually are, it is how you behave right at the moment of a situation, it who you
are in reality – how you think, feel, act at present sloppy
REAL AND IDEAL SELF
IDEAL SELF
- Idealized image that overtakes the real self - The type of person we feel that we
should be - Self that we become in order to survive in a potentially cruel
world - Brings about another kind of self which is the despised self - Despised self
– what we feel we become when we fail to live up to our own unrealistic
expectations of who we should be
MULTIPLE VS. UNIFIED SELVES
DAVID LESTER
Proposed a multiple self-theory wherein he postulated that personality consists of
the hypothesized structures and processes in mind that can explain the patterns
of behavior that individuals consistently exhibit. - Mind is composed of multiple
such subselves that are autonomous sets of psychological processes such as
dreams, desires, emotions and memories - One of the subself will gain
dominance or executive control
MULTIPLE VS. UNIFIED SELVES
DAVID LESTER
- Person may have multiple selves due to the fact that each one has varied
experiences, goals, desires, emotions to go through in life it would be taxing for
the mind to only have oneself
MULTIPLE VS. UNIFIED SELVES
DAVID LESTER
UNIFIED SELF - Integration of the subselves into one - Commence when the
individual has eliminated all the other subselves except for one, fusion of the
separate subselves into a single one - Multiple subselves will form into a cohesive
unit
MULTIPLE VS. UNIFIED SELVES
TRUE SELF
- Inherently moral, good and transcends situations and
circumstances, also culturally stable - Governed by a moral code, which is
unchanging and will be
the moral compass of the self - Impervious to evil as it is inherently good
MULTIPLE VS. UNIFIED SELVES
FALSE SELF
- Refer to all of the dimensions of the self that are not essential to the true self
The roles that we pretend to play or the appearance and behaviors that we take
on but do not reflect how we truly are
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
ALBERT BANDURA
Developed a theory called social cognitive theory; development of personality is
brought by the interaction of behavioral, cognitive and environmental factors
Proactive: the ability to anticipate and plan for future events and needs and to be
able to work hard towards it People are active participants and contribute towards
the success of their endeavors
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
ALBERT BANDURA
The individual can only be proactive if he/she is agentic Agentic: the ability of the
self to influence intentionally one's functioning and life circumstances. - A living
and dynamic contributor to our own lives
As an individual with agency, you can take charge of your circumstances and
plan your courses and your performances so that you would be able to transfer to
a course that would be more suited to your interests
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
ALBERT BANDURA
- Personal agency is said to begin as soon as you
recognize yourself as separate from your parents - Agentic development:
crying/tantrums would immediately get what you want
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
FOUR CORE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN AGENCY
- Intentionality - Forethought - Self-reactiveness - Self-reflectivism
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
INTENTIONALITY
- The ability to plan and in working towards realizing that plan
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
FORETHOUGHT
- The envisioning of the future and making use of that
vision to motivate the present behavior - Being able to anticipate what the future
will be and to plan a course of action based on that anticipated future event
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
SELF-REACTIVENESS
- The ability to construct appropriate systems of behaviors that will address the
anticipated course of events which may not be favorable to the individual
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
SELF-REFLECTIVISM
- The ability to learn from life-events to reflect on the course of action taken and to
be able to assess their self-efficacy
- SELF-EFFICACY: important facet of human agency it is the ability to assess
one's capacity to be able to accomplish what they set out to do

THIS CHAPTER WILL DISCUSS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW IN THE

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF
Me self is the self that you can describe such as physical characteristics, social role,
relationship
Physical appearance
Social skills and significant interpersonal relationships, relation to others
Character, defining values
Always late cannot be hurried because it is who they are
Example: different behavior in school, workplace, or home
When this happens, the person will be at peace with his/her self
Older sibling tend to be strict but in reality you care and love
The realization that in order to do well in your studies you have to actively engage in
your subjects and classes and behave accordingly is being proactive