Lesson 3: Psychological Perspective of the Self

Introductory Activity 3:
In the space provided below, answer the following statements in each box. Afterwards,
answer the questions below the boxes.

One thing that One thing that When I am

makes me laugh makes me cry angry, I tend to

One thing that When I am

One thing that
most people don’t stressed,
most people know
know about me I tend to
about me

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What do you think of the activity above?
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Does knowing things about yourself make you understand yourself better?
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Introduction:
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 Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. It encompasses the
biological influences, social pressures, and environmental factors that affect how people
think, act, and feel. Gaining a richer and deeper understanding of psychology and its
different theories can help a person achieve insights of what the self is.
Being aware of how our mind works and how our behaviour and emotions are
create a deeper understanding of the self. In this lesson, two topics shall be introduced in
order to further understand how the structure of our mind and emotions affect our
behaviour and eventually create our personalities.
A. Sigmund Freud’s Construction of Self and Personality

According to Sigmund Freud, the dynamic forces within the self are many and inevitable
conflict. He argues that the mind is composed of three structures through which the
personality is formed:
The Id refers to the component of the personality characterized by its need to satisfy
basic urges and desires and demands instant gratification. Because its sole function is to
seek pleasure, we say that the id serves the pleasure principle. The ego or I, is the only
region of the mind in contact with reality. It is governed by the reality principle, which it
tries to substitute for the pleasure principle of the id. As the sole region of the mind in
contact with the external world, the ego becomes the decision-making or executive branch
of personality. The superego, or above-I, represents the moral and ideal aspects of
personality and is guided by the moralistic and idealistic principles as opposed to the
pleasure principle of the id and the realistic principle of the ego.

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In Freud’s view, the id, ego, and superego develop in a series of stages. Freud calls
these the psychosexual stages of development. Each stage is associated with conflicts
that the individual must resolve so that he or she can move to the next stage. Freud also
believes that each stage has needs and if not met may result in fixation which would have
lasting negative effects on one’s personality.

Stage Age What happens at this stage? What happens if the need is
dissatisfied?

Oral 0 – 1 year Babies derive pleasure from Overindulgence may result to

Stage old oral activities like sucking and personality disorders such overeating,
biting smoking, and alcoholism.
Dissatisfaction may result to oral
aggressive personality such as sarcasm
and tactlessness.

Anal 2 – 3 years The child derives pleasure Anal fixations can lead to anal retentive
Stage old from elimination of body personality disorder such as having
wastes. obsession with cleanliness or anal
expulsion disorder such as clumsiness.

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Phallic 3 – 6 years Children around this age Fixations of this stage may lead to
Stage old derive pleasure from abnormal sex behaviors in later life.
examining, touching, fondling,
or displaying their genitals.
They become curious of the
differences between the
anatomy of man and woman.

Latency 7 – 12 years At this stage, sexual energy is

Stage old repressed because children
become occupied with school.

Genital Adolescenc Pleasure is again derived from Sexual problems may result as a
Stage e to the genital area and consequence of inappropriate sex
adulthood individuals seek to satisfy behaviors.
their sexual drives from
sexual relationships.

Let’s have an example for this one:

George wants to buy a new smartphone but his money is not enough. He thought of getting
money from his mother’s card. However, he understood that it was not the right thing to do.
He then asked his mother to let him borrow money that he would gradually pay back.

In this example given, which structure prevailed? The Id, Ego or Superego? Why do you
think so? _________________________________________________________________________________________
Take note that, according to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance
between the id, the ego, and the superego. If the ego is able to adequately moderate
between the demands of reality, the id, and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted
personality emerges. Freud believed that an imbalance between these elements would lead
to a maladaptive personality. If the ego is able to adequately moderate between the
demands of reality, the id, and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted personality
emerges. Freud believed that an imbalance between these elements would lead to a
maladaptive personality.
What about you? Have you experienced moments were you had a conflict with what
you want versus what should be done? How were you able to deal with it?

B. Carl Rogers’ Self Theory: Real and Ideal Self

Carl Rogers defines the self as flexible and changing perception of personal identity. The
self is the center of experience. He suggests that the self develops from interactions with
significant people and awareness of one’s own characteristics and level of functioning.
According to Rogers, human beings are always striving for self-fulfillment and self-
actualization. When the needs of the self are denied, severe anxiety may arise. Central to
achieving self-actualization is the development of self-concept.

Rogers suggests two components of self-concept: the real self and the ideal self. The
real self consists of all the ideas, including the awareness of what one is and what he or she

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can do. On the other hand, the ideal self is one’s conception of what he or she should be.
This includes what he or she aspires to be, his or her goals, and ambitions in life. In Roger’s
view, the closer the ideal self to the real self, the happier the individual becomes. When the
real self is far from the ideal self, the individual becomes unhappy and dissatisfied.

Real Self Self Ideal Self Real Self Self Ideal Self

Satisfied Individual Unsatisfied Individual

Let’s have an example for this one:

Cindy is born with as a small, brown-skinned with curly hair girl. She often sees girls as
beautiful when they’re fair-skinned, tall and with straight hair. Thus, often times she gets
unsatisfied with how she looks like. She always labels herself as ugly and would be shy when
facing other people.
In the example above, Cindy grew with a distorted self-concept. Her self was not in
line with her ideal self. The inconsistence in her real self and her ideal self often leads to
unhealthy self-image. This may cause other people to be anxious and depressed due to
their unsatisfied wants.
In your opinion, what could make Cindy be satisfied with how she looks like?
Carl Rogers believed that humans have one basic motive that is the tendency to self-
actualize. A person may be able to fully grow given that the conditions are right. Each
person will flourish and reach their potential if their environment is good enough. The
potential of an individual human is unique, and we are meant to develop in different ways
according to our personality. Rogers believed that people are inherently good and creative.
They become destructive only when a poor self-concept or external constraints override
the valuing process. Take Note: Carl Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-
actualization they must be in a state of congruence. This means that a person’s ideal self is
in harmony with their actual behaviour.

Name: _______________________________ Course, Year & Section: _________________________

Application
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Instruction: Write as much as possible traits, characteristics, values etc. that describes
your real and ideal self. Write your answer in the Venn Diagram. Write in the overlapping
part of the circles the traits, characteristics, etc. that you think can be both found in your
real self and ideal self. Afterwards, answer the questions below:

My Real Self My Ideal Self

Do you think you are truly satisfied with yourself right now?
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What do you think can be done to be more satisfied of yourself?

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ASSESSMENT

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Name: ______________________________________ Year and Section: __________________
Instructions: In the illustration below, create your own assumption or perspective on the
development of the self using the lessons that has been covered. You may use more than
one page if needed.

Philosophically, how does the “SELF” develop? Sociologically, how does the “SELF” develop?
You may use one or more or a mix of the theories You may use one or more or a mix of the theories
to explain or you may come up with your own to explain or you may come up with your own
theory. theory.

How does the

develop?

Psychologically, how does the “SELF” develop?

You may use one or more or a mix of the theories
to explain or you may come up with your own
theory.

Rubrics:
For you to be guided on how your work will be rated, please see details of the
rubrics below:
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 CATEGORY 30 25 20 15 10

Main concept The main The main The main The main The main concept
concept is concept is concept concept of the has no relation to the
appropriate relevant belongs to the subject is not main theme.
and relevant within the topic, but it is exposed in a
to the topic. topic, but not clear and
does not fundamental or orderly way.
present a answers the
focus focus question.
question.

Subordinate It includes all It includes Some of the Most of the It did not include the
concepts the most of the important important most significant
important important concepts that concepts that concepts. It repeated
concepts that concepts that represent the represent the several concepts
the main represent the main main and / or several
information main information of information of foreign or irrelevant
of the topic information the topic are the topic are concepts appear.
represents. of the topic. missing. Repeat missing. Repeat
some concept. some concept.

Link words The Some of the Only some of Several of the Presents invalid
and propositions propositions the propositions propositions
propositions represent the are invalid or propositions are not valid according to topic,
main do not are valid according to with links describing
information. represent the according to the a non-existent
main the topic. Repeat relationship, false
information topic. Repeat various claims. 
of the topic. some concept. concepts. Presents vague
statements and / or
various foreign or
irrelevant concepts
appear.

Presentation All ideas Some ideas Only a few Ideas presented Ideas presented
of Ideas presented presented ideas presented were somewhat were not clear and
were clear were clear were clear and unclear and not direct to the
and direct to and direct to direct to the indirect to the main concept
the main the main main concept main concept
concept concept

References

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Philosophical Perspective of the Self
 Del Rosario, Ronuel L. (2018). Understanding The Self Lecture 1 - Philosophical
Perspectives. Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/shinpaiwa/understanding-the-self-lecture-1-
philosophical-perspectives

 Ilyzzaevanz (2019). Philosophical Perspective On Self. Wattpad. Retrieved from:

https://www.wattpad.com/715925505-understanding-the-self-philosophical-
perspective/page/3

Sociological and Anthropological Perspective of the Self

 Delfin, Arnold. (2015). Social self & Socialization. Slideshare. Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/ArnoldDelfin1/social-self-socialization

 Open Education Resource (OER) LibreTexts Project. (2019). Retrieved from:

https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/Book
%3A_Sociology_(Boundless)/04%3A_The_Role_of_Socialization/
4.02%3A_The_Self_and_Socialization/4.2B%3A_Sociological_Theories_of_the_Self

 OpenStax CNX. (n.d). Introduction to Sociology 2e. Retrieved from:

https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/1-introduction-to-sociology

 Stets, Jan & Burke, Peter. (2003). A Sociological Approach to Self and Identity.
Handbook of Self and Identity. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252385317_A_Sociological_Approach_t
o_Self_and_Identity

Psychological Perspective of the Self

 Aldana, Carl. (2018). Psychological Perspective Of The Self. Prezi. Retrieved from:
https://prezi.com/p/fpbc8plhnddm/psychological-perspective-of-the-self/

 Ngwako, Abby. (2014). Psychological Perspectives. Slideshare. Retrieved from:

https://www.slideshare.net/angwako/psychological-perspectives-37304334