Mater Dei College

Cabulijan, Tubigon, Bohol

Tel. No. 508-8106, 508-8166, Fax No. 508-8166

Understanding the Self/Pag-unawa sa Sarili (PERDEV 100)

Instructor: Miss Chiara Genevieve I. Lastimado, COE Faculty

UNPACKING THE SELF: THE PHYSICAL SELF

Week 3 Topic

At the end of the discussion, you are expected to:

a) Explore the different aspects of self and identity;

b) Identify the different forces and institutions that impact the development of various
aspects of self and identity.

GROWING UP
As children grows older, their interests change and with these come changes in their bodies.
When they become teenagers, parents should respect their privacy and allow them to grow, but at
the same time, they should let them know that they are there to listen and provide support. An
obvious change in teenagers are the changes in their physical selves.
• Physical self –concrete dimensions of the body; tangible aspect of the person which can
be directly observed and examined.
• Physical characteristics –the defining traits or features of the person’s body; can be easily
be distinguished with the naked eye.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes adolescent as young people whose age
ranges from 10-19 years and are often thought as a healthy group.
According to Healthy Children Org., adolescence is divided into three periods:
1. Early adolescence- ages 11-14 years old
2. Middle adolescence- ages 15-17 years old
3. Late adolescence- ages 18-21 years old
Nation-Building Act (1994) defined youth according to ages which cover 15-30 years old.
This age range was created by the National Youth Commission.

PUBERTY VS. ADOLESCENCE

Puberty is not the same as adolescence because puberty ends prior to the end of adolescent
period. Puberty is the time in which a child's sexual and physical characteristics mature. It occurs

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due to hormone changes. Adolescence, on the other hand, is the period between puberty and
adulthood.
The changes that are experienced during puberty are different for boys and girls. Girls
reached puberty earlier that boys and experience menarche, or her first menstrual flow. Boys
reached puberty when spermarche/semenarche, or his first ejaculation or nocturnal emission
occurs.

THE BIOLOGICAL BLUEPRINT

A crucial aspect of the self is one’s physical features including the face, bodily structure,
height and weight. However, people should also consider their physical competencies, valuation
of physical worth, and perception of beauty.
However, the physical self is not only limited to what can be seen by the naked eye;
underneath the skin is a dynamic system of biological and chemical processes that contribute to
one’s physical features. Body structure, weight, height, skin color, hair color, and other physical
characteristics do not just develop at random. These are triggered by genetic transformations and
biological development through heredity.

• Heredity– is defined as the transmission of traits from parents to offspring. The traits are
made up of specific information embedded within one’s gene, the basic unit of heredity.
• Maturation– is known as the completion of growth of a genetic character within an
organism. It enables man to walk, run and talk which are evident in the adolescent stage.

BODY IMAGE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIETY

Body Image
It refers to the way one sees himself/herself or the way he/she imagines how he/she looks.

Self-image Problem
This happens when your looks do not match your beauty standards. For example, if you
believed that attractive people are slim ones and if you were not slim (but not obese) then you
might believe that you are unattractive even though others might believe that you are attractive.
The problem here is with your own beauty standards and not with your looks. In order to like your
looks in such a case you must fix your false beliefs about physical attractiveness.
Body image is both internal (personal) and external (society). This includes:
• How we perceive our body visually
• How we feel about our physical appearance
• How we think and talk to ourselves about our bodies
• Our sense of how other people view our bodies
• How we look has possibly never held as much societal importance or reflected so
significantly on our perceived self worth

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The “Spotlight Effect”
The spotlight effect is the psychological phenomenon by which people tend to believe they
are being noticed more than they really are. This causes a lot of social anxiety for people. For
example, if somebody says something incorrect during a conversation, and the spotlight effect
causes them to think “Now everybody must be talking about how I'm stupid,” a more balanced
thought might be something like “Other people might have noticed my mistake, but they probably
didn't think much of it afterwards.”

FACTORS THAT AFFECT PERCEPTION OF THE PHYSICAL SELF

1. PERSONAL FACTORS (INTERNAL)
Introspection and Self-Reflection
• The process by which one observes and examines one’s internal state after
behaving in a certain way.
• Is limited because people are commonly motivated to keep unwanted thoughts
and experiences out of memory and consciousness.

Self-Perception Theory
• Explain that since one’s internal state is difficult to interpret, people can infer
their inner states by observing their own behavior – as if they are an outside
observer.
• Physical perception includes all aspects of a person’s perception of his physical
self.

Personal Identity
• Is the concept a person has about himself that develops over the years.
• Aspects of his life that he was born into like family, nationality, gender,
physical traits as well as the choices he makes, such as what he does for a living;
who his friends are and what he believes in.

2. SOCIAL FACTORS (EXTERNAL)

Attachment Process and Social Appraisal
• People learn about their value and lovability when they experience how their
mothers or caregivers care for them and respond to their needs.
• Caregiving that is consistent and appropriately responds to the infant’s needs
promote positive self-concepts; whereas caregiving that is neglectful and
unresponsive creates a negative self-concept believing that they are not worthy
and that others cannot be trusted.

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 The Looking-Glass Self Theory
• Charles Horton Cooley stated that a person’s self grows out of society’s
interpersonal interactions and the perception of others.
• The self-image is shaped and reflected from the social world. Other themselves
particularly the way in which they are perceived and judged by others.

Social Comparison
• Leon Festinger in 1954 introduced another way of understanding oneself by
comparing one’s traits, abilities, or opinions to that of others.
• Is a process of comparing oneself with other in order to evaluate one’s own
abilities and opinion.
• Facebook is the biggest venue of social comparison.

Types of Social Comparison:

1. Upward Social Comparison- happens when an individual compares himself
to others who are better than him.
2. Downward Social Comparison- happens when an individual compares
himself to someone who is in a worse situation especially when he is feeling so
low.

Social Identity Theory (Collective Identity)

• Was formulated by Tajfel and Turner in 1979 which provides a framework
about how people achieve understanding about themselves by being a member
of their group.
• This idea assumes that as a member of the group they will not be discriminated
by an out-group.
• Social groups include gender, ethnicity, religion, profession, political
membership, and business organizations.

HOW CAN WE BUILD A STRONG POSITIVE BODY IMAGE?

Positive body image involves understanding that healthy attractive bodies come in many
shapes and sizes, and that physical appearance says very little about our character or value as a
person. Here are some effective ways to embrace self-acceptance:
• Talk back to the media. All media and messages are developed or constructed and are not
reflections of reality. So shout back. Speak our dissatisfaction with the focus on appearance
and lack of size acceptance.
• De-emphasize numbers. Kilograms on a scale don’t tell us anything meaningful about the
body as a whole or our health. Eating habits and activity patterns are much more important.
• Realize that we cannot change our body type: thin, large, short or tall, we need to appreciate
the uniqueness of what we have –and work with it.
• Stop comparing ourselves to others. We are unique and we can’t get a sense of our own
body’s needs and abilities by comparing it to someone else. We need to move and enjoy our

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 bodies not because we have to, but because it makes us feel good. Walking, swimming, biking,
dancing – there is something for everyone.
• Spend time with people who have a healthy relationship with food, activity, and their
bodies.
• Broaden our perspective about health and beauty by reading about body image, cultural
variances, or media influence. Check out a local art gallery paying particular attention to fine
art collections that show a variety of body types throughout the ages and in different cultures.
• Recognize that size prejudice is a form of discrimination similar to other forms of
discrimination. Shape and size are not indicators of character, morality, intelligence, or
success. Each of us will have a positive body image when we have a realistic perception of our
bodies, when we enjoy, accept and celebrate how we are and let go of negative societal or
media perpetuated conditioning.

HOME-BASED ACTIVITY #2
Title: “How I See Myself Evaluation”
Kindly print the evaluation form (next page) and paste it in your journal notebook.
Read the instruction and answer it HONESTLY.

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 Journal Entry #2: How I See Myself Evaluation

Instruction: Put an X mark on the number that indicates how you see yourself. Try to be
honest as you can.

I am ugly 1 2 3 4 5 I am attractive
I am uncertain 1 2 3 4 5 I am confident
I am annoying 1 2 3 4 5 I am pleasing
I am coward 1 2 3 4 5 I am brave
I am unsuccessful 1 2 3 4 5 I am successful
I am dull 1 2 3 4 5 I am bright
I am carefree 1 2 3 4 5 I am serious
I am unloved 1 2 3 4 5 I am loved
I am shy 1 2 3 4 5 I am sociable
I am undisciplined 1 2 3 4 5 I am disciplined
I am disagreeable 1 2 3 4 5 I am agreeable
I am lazy 1 2 3 4 5 I am diligent
I am beaten 1 2 3 4 5 I am triumphant
I am weak 1 2 3 4 5 I am strong
I am temperamental 1 2 3 4 5 I am good-natured
I am boring 1 2 3 4 5 I am interesting
I am worthless 1 2 3 4 5 I am worthy
I am stupid 1 2 3 4 5 I am clever
I am dishonest 1 2 3 4 5 I am honest
I am bad 1 2 3 4 5 I am good
I hate myself 1 2 3 4 5 I love myself

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