UNDERSTANDING

THE SELF

B.SOCIOLOGY

At the end of this learning module, the student is expected to:

a. Compare and contrast the different views of the self
b.  Examine the two components of self
c. Describe the concept of the looking-glass self and how it affects self-concept
d.  Explain the concept of social comparison and why it is important  to human
behavior

1.SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE SELF

1.1 The Self as Product of Modern Society Among Others
1.2 Self as Necessary Fiction
1.3 Post-modern view of the self
1.4 Rewriting the self as an artistic creation 
1.5 Self Creation and Collective Identity
1.6 Self Creation and the struggle for cultural recognition
2. MEADS THEORY OF SELF

2.1 Mead’s Three Stages of Development of Self

2.2 The Looking-Glass Self: Our Sense is Self is Influenced by Others’ Views of Us
2.3 Social Comparison Theory: Our Sense of Self is Influenced by Comparison with
Others

C. ANTHROPOLOGY
At the end of this learning module, the student is expected to:
1. Define Anthropology
2.  Explain culture and the mechanisms of enculturation
3.  Synthesize anthropological perspectives on self-awareness and self-reflexive
conduct
4.  Show appreciation of one’s cultural identity through practice of one’s cultural
values
1.ANTHROPOLOGY

 It is the study of all the aspects of human condition. This includes human history,
the present of human condition, and even the future possibilities.
 It also examines the biology, interactions in society, language, and specially
culture.
 It explores the interconnectedness and interdependence of human cultural
experiences in all places and ages.

2.THE SELF AND PERSON IN CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY

2.1 Self-Awareness
 Defines as “that which permits one to assume responsibility for one’s own
conduct, to learn how to react to others, and to assume a variety of roles.”
2.2 Self and Behavioral Environment

 There are Four Environmental Orientations namely as, OBJECT ORIENTATION,

SPATIAL ORIENTATION, TEMPORAL ORIENTATION and NORMATIVE
ORIENTATION.

OBJECT ORIENTATION

  positions the self in relation to the surrounding objects, 

 The self should be able to act responsively to the cultural objects around.

SPATIAL ORIENTATION

 Provides the self with personal space in relation to other people or things

TEMPORAL ORIENTATION

  Endows the self with the sense of time.

NORMATIVE ORIENTATION

 Provides the self with the grasp of accepted norms in the community. 
   Being on time is a generally accepted norm in communal activities.
3.THE SELF EMBEDDED CULTURE

  When the self is able to distinguish what is acceptable behavior and what is not,
it only follows that the self is already able to recognize the differences of one’s self
and the other. This ability to manage the differences between selves is what it
makes  the self embedded in culture. 
  The claim of the self as embedded in culture can only be embraced when the
self recognizes its relation to everything else.

D.PSYCHOLOGY
At the end of this learning module, the student is expected to
a. Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the different psychological
theories in the study of the self
b.  Expound the self as a cognitive construction
c.  Examine the self as proactive and agentic
1. THE SELF AS A COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTION

1.1 William James and the Me-Self, I-self

  With the initiative of Wilhelm Wundt, the Father of Scientific Psychology, scientific
methods in studying what Aguirre et al (2011) mentioned as “phenomenon of the
consciousness”, urged interest in further studies of the self and its role in human behavior.
It is in this time that William James’ classic distinction between the self as knower (or
pure ego) and the self as known (or the empirical self) provides a useful scheme within
which to view the multitudinous aspects of self-functioning.
 William James suggested that “ the total self of “Me” , being as it were duplex” is
composed of partly object and partly subject.”

Three components of “Me” are:

1.Material Self

 Consist of things that belong to us or that we belong to. Things like clothes, our body,
and money are some of what make up our material selves.
2. Social Self 
 Our social selves are who we are in a given social situation. For James, people change
how they act depending on the social situation that they are in. James believed that people
had as many social selves as they had social situations they participated in.
3. Spiritual Self
  is who we are at our core. The spiritual self is more concrete or permanent than the other
two selves. The spiritual self is our subjective and most intimate self. Aspects of an
individual’s spiritual self, include things like his/her personality, core values, and
conscience that do not typically change throughout a lifetime.

1.2 GLOBAL VERSUS DIFFERENTIAL MODELS

GLOBAL SELF-ESTEEM

 a.k.a Trait Self-Esteem

  is a personality variable that represents the way people generally feel about
themselves. It is relatively enduring across time and situations. 
 According to researchers, Global Self-Esteem is a decision people make about
their worth as a person.
STATE SELF-ESTEEM

 a.k.a Feelings of Self-worth

  refers to temporary feelings or momentary emotional reactions to positive and
negative events where we feel good or bad  about ourselves during these
situations or experiences.

DOMAIN SPECIFIC SELF-ESTEEM

  a.k.a Self-Evaluations
 Is focused on how people evaluate their various abilities and attributes. 
 This is making distinctions or differentiations on how good or bad people are in
specific physical attributes, abilities and personal characteristics

1.3 REAL AND IDEAL SELF CONCEPTS

KAREN HORNEY

   with her Feminine Psychology, established that a person has an ‘ideal self”,
“actual self” and the “real self”. 
 She believed that everyone experiences basic anxiety through which we
experience conflict and strive to cope and employ tension reduction approaches.
CARL ROGERS
  with his Person-Centered Theory, establish a conception of self, involving the
Real Self (a.k.a. Self-Concept) and Ideal Self.
 Real Self includes all those aspects of one’s being and one’s experiences

1.4 MULTIPLE VERSUS UNIFIED SELVES

MULTIPLE SELVES
According to K. Gergen, are the capacities we carry within us from multiple
relationships. These are not “discovered” but “created” in our relationships with other
people.

UNIFIED SELVES

as strongly pointed out in Traditional Psychology emphasizes that well-being comes

when our personality dynamics are congruent, cohesive and consistent. It is understood
that a person is essentially connected with selfhood and identity. In a healthy person,
the ego remains at the helm of the mind, coherent and organized, staying at the center.
(ctlsites.uga.edu,2016,danielcw)

1.5 TRUE VERSUS FALSE SELVES

DONALD W. WINNICON
 distinguished what he called “true self” from the “false self” in the human
personality, considering the true self as based on a sense of being in the experiencing
body and the false self as necessary defensive organization, a survival kit, a caretaker
self, the means by which a threatened person has managed to survive (Klein, 1994).

TRUE SELF VS. FALSE SELF

   True self has a sense of integrity, of connected wholeness that harks to the early stage
while False self is used when the person has to comply with external rules, such as being
polite or otherwise following social codes. 
  Health False Self is functional, can be compliant but without the feeling that it has
betrayed its true self. Unhealthy False Self fits in but through a feeling of forced
compliance rather than loving  adaptation(changingminds.org2016

2. THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC

SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
  takes an agentic view of personality, meaning that humans have the capacity to exercise
control over their own lives.
AGENT SELF
   The agent self is known as the executive function that allows for actions. This is how we,
individuals, make choices and utilize our control in situations and actions.
SELF-EFFICACY
 it is the measure of one’s ability to complete goals.

E. THE SELF IN WESTERN AND ORIENTAL/EASTERN THOUGHT

At the end of this learning module, the student is expected to:
a. Distinguish the eastern from the western constructs of the self;
b.  Differentiate the individualistic self from the collective self;
c. Explain the spirituality and philosophy of Confucius.

1.INDIVIDUALISTIC VS. COLLECTIVE SELF

 The concept of the psyche is a western model of the soul.

 Western traditions are always preoccupied by the duality of the body and soul.

 The Middle Eastern traditions are also very much associated with communal self.

2. THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SELF IN WESTERN THOUGHT

The western social construct of the self can be characterized in three ways:
1. Individualistic Self
2. Self-sufficiency
3. Self being rational