LESSON 3

UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES

I. Introduction

One of our earliest experiences is that of seeing ourselves in the mirror. A baby responds to
his image and reflections in only a simple and elemental way. As he grows older, he discovers
his physical self and begins to ask questions about the parts of his body and their functions.
These moves over a period of several years, a more or less casual acceptance of him, until all
of a sudden, the “self” becomes the center of attention once more. The young adolescent girls,
for example, begin to show evidence of extreme modesty and a desire to isolate herself for
short periods of privacy. She wants to look at herself, admire herself and feel the admiration
of others. She needs understanding and help in achieving this purpose-that of growing from
childhood into young womanhood and attaining a feeling of security in the estimate of herself
and of what others think of her.

A boy shows similar signs of maturing in his boyish ways. Both boys and girls, with girls
maturing about two years ahead of boys, are learning and forming attitudes about themselves
and about each other from infancy to adolescence.

So, whether or not our parents have set out to influence our attitudes and behavior
patterns in certain specific ways, we inevitably acquire a set of attitudes and behavior
characteristics in the course of our development.

II. Objectives
At the end of this activity, you can:

1. Explain the different aspects of one's complex self that determines individual differences
2. Identify the causes of human frustrations and maladjustments
3. Describe how the 5 components contributes to who we become as a person
 III.Concept/s Explanation

THE PHYSICAL SELF

Heredity and environment play a vital role in one’s growth and development. The
following are characteristics transmitted from parent to offspring:

a. Body type f. Eye color

b. Hair color g. Skin color
c. Facial contour h. Handedness
d. Blindness and deafness i. Diabetes and certain type of allergies
e. Feeble-mindedness j. Insanity

Actual structure and function, particularly those parts which have to do with nutrition,
reproduction and adaptation to environment, is another important part of human life that needs
understanding.

From the time of conception, a difference in chromosome composition between men

and women are evident. Males and females are different in every cell of their bodies. There are
differences in the following areas which become marked at the onset of puberty, namely:

a. Metabolic rate in women is usually lower, the heart rate faster and the blood temperature
warmer than that of men.
b. The internal glandular secretion of the male stimulates the growth of beard, deepening of
chest, physical structure and the normal sex characteristics of the male.
c. Glandular secretions in the female produce the female characteristics in body form and
structure and the reproductive characteristics of her sex.

Each person needs to study and understand his own system in order to recognize his
own personal capacity for optimum performance in each area of life.

THE EMOTIONAL SELF

The emotional self, so closely interrelated with the physical self is even more complex and
difficult to understand. At birth, we possess the bare potentialities for the development of future
patterns of emotional behavior. Like organic functions, emotional responses largely provide
basis upon which social responses are developed.

There are fundamental differences in the basic capacities and characteristics of individuals
at birth as concluded by a child psychologist, namely:

a. Alertness- our degree of sensitivity to our external environment.

b. Complexity- the extent to which we are either simple or complex in the organization and
integration of our organic and mental equipment.
c. Temperament- the extent to which, with relative ease, we make various orientations to the
outer world.
d. Cadence- the degree to which we are sensitive to change, including the rate of development
or maturity in the course of our development.
e. The degree to which we are pliable, adjustable, adaptable to the conditions of life.

The majority of emotional feelings and sentiments are learned through the process of
conditioning – the way in which we are cared for and managed throughout the early years of our
lives. (Fear is one of the earliest forms).

The following emotions seem to be the cause of many varieties of human frustration
and maladjustment, namely:

1. Fear – one of the earliest forms of behaviour exhibited in infancy and is due to early
conditioning, that is, it is acquired through experience rather than inherited.

2. Anger – another emotion which gets one into difficulty. The causes of anger are many and
varied and anger is expressed in several ways.

3. Love and hate, of which jealousy is often apart, are other forms of emotional responses
which the individual must learn to handle. Love and hate are closely tied up with the basic need
for security and with the way in which we have been trained to meet reality, that is, the situations
in our environment which must be dealt with from day to day.

Emotional maturity is one of the basic and fundamental assets for success and happiness
in human relationships. This can be acquired if we can analyze ourselves and understand our
fear, anger, love, hate and many other specific kinds of emotional feelings we have and learn to
redirect our emotions along the lines of constructive outlet.

THE SOCIAL SELF

The social self is more or less our conception of ourselves and the feeling we have about
what others think of us as members of social groups and society at large. Early conditioning from
birth to maturity is important in that we learn various techniques for meeting and associating
with people in different social situations.

We are not born social beings; the large number of people who as adults feel shy are timid and
feel insecure in relation to normal, everyday social functions.
 In the course of our social development, many fears or feelings of insecurity have never been
learned or overcome because of family background. The family can teach many of the social
graces and techniques which make it easy for us to take part in social life with a sense of ease,
confidence and security.

Growing up and maturing and arriving at a better understanding of one’s self and being, enable
to love a more mature life; it is a process in which we must all engage throughout the entire
course of our lifetime. The degree of our success will be determined by our will to grow in
understanding and persistent efforts toward changing our attitudes and behaviours.

THE INTELLECTUAL SELF

There are some aspects of one’s mental capacity which are not subject to a great
modification. A person maybe born with a mental capacity which is below normal and only
through special education can he acquire the facility which will enable him to meet life in a
reasonably self-sufficient manner. The main problem is that of finding one’s place in life and
utilizing one’s intellectual equipment to fullest capacity.

It is easy to acquire a sense of inferiority with reference to our ability in intellectual

pursuits as when one is told early in life that he is “dumb” and actually believes it, when as a
matter of fact, he may have an IQ of 120. Many people are afraid to find out what their actual
intellectual capacity is, while many others are intellectually lazy.

Sensing our strengths and weaknesses may guide us to improve our limitations and to
capitalize upon our greatest assets.

THE SPIRITUAL SELF

One’s spiritual self consists of some basic philosophy which gives a person a sense of
being related to the universe as a whole, to its evolution, past and future, and to those
imponderables of life and death, such as man’s origin and the destiny of man’s “soul” after
death. Understanding or achieving for one’s self a reasonably well-defined ethical and spiritual
set of values is an important basis of successful living.

Spiritual values are not considered as being within the realm of scientific inquiry, and
yet no man can live successfully in any culture unless he lives by certain values which he
acquires throughout the course of his development in that culture. Every society defines for its
members certain values which are held acceptable or not acceptable, and, within the framework
of these definitions, must make their decisions and live their lives.
 CONDITIONING FACTORS

There are four factors that condition a person’s physical, emotional, social, intellectual and
spiritual self namely:

a. The Family is the first and probably the most important set of relationships in determining
one’s personality and cultural attitudes. It is a dictator for many years and the children are
dependent upon the intelligence, understanding, insight and direction of those who control their
early environment. Sentiments of friendliness, of kindness, of industry and of honesty or
sentiments of which are the antithesis of these are developed, depending upon the standard of
parents and the manner in which they manage and direct the early development of their children.

b. Nurture has a bearing upon one’s physical and emotional development. The kind of food
given during the earliest years and the nature of one’s habits of eating, sleeping, playing,
eliminating and the like will condition one’s later feelings and attitudes toward and about
ourselves, or will give us the kind of physical and mental energy, stamina and health which will
make it possible for us to function at a high level of efficiency.

c. The kind of Community in which one lives conditions many of our attitudes and feelings,
both about ourselves and others. Many factors in the neighbourhood and community and in the
accidental social and economic level into which one is born may be elements to be considered in
understanding one’s self and how one came to be as one is.

d. The particular Culture in which one lives have imposed certain cultural standards or
sanctions and restrictions with reference to one’s behaviour and moral conduct. Certain
folkways, mores, laws and institutions have been evolved which express and define the proper
channels by which to satisfy our basic drives and needs.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

a. Heredity – the transmission of personal traits from the parent to the offspring.

b. Environment – the things that surround man. It includes your family, school, social groups
and other groups with whom you are in contact with from the very beginning.

c. Chromosome – microscopic DNA molecule which collectively carries the hereditary

materials called genes.

d. Genes – the basic unit of heredity and evolution.

e. Hormones – substances produced by the endocrine glands that regulate metabolism, growth
and reproduction.
f. Puberty – the period of life when the reproductive glands begin to function; the condition of
being able to reproduce.

g. Conditioning – the process of influencing thought and behaviour patterns in others, so as

to bring them into conforming with a set of ideas.

h. Attitudes – tendency to react positively and negatively toward an object.

i. Values – things, person, ideas or goals which are important in life.

j. Philosophy of life – outlook of life which grows out of a person’s system of values and is a
deliberate attempt to unify one’s beliefs, morals and behaviour so that they provide a basis for
actions when one is faced with a problem.

IV. Work/Practice Exercise

1. Enumerate the five (5) components of ourselves and give a brief description on what it is all
about.
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2. Enumerate the four (4) conditioning factors and explain how these factors may influence or
affects our personality that makes us unique with others.

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