Self-understanding – the individual’s cognitive representation of the self which consists of the

substance and the content of self-conceptions. (Santrock, 2014)

 The development of self-understanding in adolescence
o Can be described from simple to perplex
o Involves several aspects of the self
o Differs from the child’s understanding of self which changes throughout the life span as the
person grows older
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
 Erik Erikson
o Believed in the importance of the body from early development because the physical as well as
intellectual skills will serve as a basis whether a person has achieved a sense of competence and
be able to manage and face the demands of life complexities.

 William James

o Considered the body as the initial source of sensation and necessary for the origin and

maintenance of personality.

 Adolescent Period

o The period when the child reaches 10-12 years of age and puberty begins

o Lasts from 18-22 years old (Santrock 2016)

o The age bracket of this period may vary from different groups.

 World Health Organization (WHO)

o Describes adolescents as young people whose age ranges from 10-19 years old

o Often thought of as healthy group

 Healthy children. Org

o Adolescence is divided into three periods:

1. Early adolescence (from 11 to 14 years old)

2. Middle adolescence (from 15 to 17 years old)

3. Late adolescence (from 18 to 21 years old)

 Nation-Building Act (1994) in the Philippines

o Defined youth according to ages which cover between 15-30 years.

o This age range was created by the National Youth Commission

PUBERTY: A PERIOD OF RAPID PHYSICAL CHANGES

 Puberty:

 Santrock (2016) – Puberty ends prior to the end of adolescent period.

 Marks the beginning of adolescence.

 Girls reach puberty earlier than boys which undergo puberty 2 to 3 years later.
Brain-neuroendocrine process – triggers rapid physical changes in the early adolescence.
 Pituitary gland – controls growth and regulates functions of all other endocrine glands including gonads
(ovaries for girls and testes for boys).
 Oestrogen – hormones secreted by ovaries that promote physical changes for girls.
 Androgen and Testosterone – hormones secreted by testes that promote physical changes for boys.
 Primary sexual changes – changes in reproductive system for procreation.
 Secondary sexual changes – physical changes that distinguish boys from girls.
 Signs of Puberty:
 Girls:
 Menarche
 Height
 Widening of hips
 Increase of fats in breast
 Boys:
 Spermarche or Semenarche
 Growth of facial and body hair
 Muscles
 Changes in voice
Body Image
 Refers to the way one sees himself/herself imagines how he/she looks.
 Can either be viewed positively or negatively.
 Santrock – “adolescents become preoccupied with their bodies and develop images of what their bodies
are like.”
 According to recent research:
- Adolescents with positive body images are engaged in health-enhancing behavior.
- Girls are less happy with their body images than boys throughout puberty.
- Both girls and boys feel positive about their body images towards the end of puberty.
 Adolescents with poor body images have negative thoughts and feelings about their appearance which
can either be true or not.
 Healthy body image – made up of positive thoughts, feelings, and acceptance of one’s body and
overall physical appearance.
 Imaginary audience – an egocentric state where a young individual imagines and believes that many
people are watching him or her.
 Spotlight effect – in social psychology, refers to an individual’s belief that other people are paying more
attention to the person’s appearance and behavior than who they really are.
 Myer (2015) – People, especially adolescents, sometimes tend to overestimate the extent to which
others
notice them or their bodies.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT PERCEPTION OF THE PHYSICAL SELF
1. PERSONAL FACTORS
a. INTROSPECTION AND SELF-REFLECTION
 Looking inward is the simplest way to achieve self-knowledge
 Hewstone et al. (2015) - Introspection is the process by which one observes and examines one's internal
state (mental and emotional) after behaving in a certain way.
 Introspection is limited because people are commonly motivated to keep unwanted thoughts and
experiences out of memory and consciousness.
b. SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY
 Since one internal state is difficult to interpret, people can infer their inner states by observing their own
behavior.
c. SELF-CONCEPT
 Self-concept is a cognitive representation of self-knowledge which includes the sum total of all beliefs
that people have about themselves.
 It is a collection of all individual experiences involving one's characteristics, social roles, values, goals,
and fears. Thus, it pertains to all characteristics the person enumerates when asked who he is.

Physical self-concept is the individual's perception or description of his physical self, including his

physical appearance.

d. PERSONAL IDENTITY

 This is the concept of a person has about himself that develops over the years.

 This includes 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

a. ATTACHMENT PROCESS AND SOCIAL APPRAISAL

 Bowlby - 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-concept.

 Neglectful and unresponsive caregiving creates a negative self-concept, believing that they are

not worthy and that other cannot be trusted.

 This is developed prior to achieving self-awareness.

b. MAINTAINING, REGULATING AND EXPANDING THE SELF IN INTERPERSONAL

RELATIONSHIP

 The sense of self is continuously shaped through ongoing interaction with others or with

significant relationship partners.

 They act as a "private audiences" with whom people carry an internal dialogue.

c. 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 view of oneself comes from a compilation of personal qualities and impressions of how

others perceive the individual.

 The self-image is shaped and reflected from the social world.

 Other people's reaction would serve as a mirror in which people see themselves particularly the

way in which they are perceived and judged by others.

 Later in life, people internalized other people's appraisal of them through more cognitively

reflected processes.

 Reflected appraisals are inferences regarding other's appraisal of a person.

 It is gained by observing how people react towards the individual.

d. SOCIAL COMPARISON

 Understanding oneself by comparing one's traits, abilities or opinions, to that of others.

 Social comparison is a process of comparing oneself with others in order to evaluate one's own

abilities and opinions.

 2 TYPES OF SOCIAL COMPARISON

1. Upward Social Comparison

a. When an individual compare himself to others who are better than him.

b. Has a positive and negative effect.

2. Downward Social Comparison

a. When an individual compare himself to someone who is in a worse

situation than he is, especially when he is feeling so low.

b. Has a positive and negative effect.

 For a person to have a healthy self-image, it is important to never compare oneself to others.

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY (Collective Identity)

 provides a framework about how people achieve understanding about themselves by being a

member of their group.

 People have a need for a positive social identity that is why they connect to a wider social

network.

 This idea assumes that they will not be discriminated by an out-group.

 Social groups include gender, ethnicity, religion, profession, political membership and business

organizations.
SELF VS IDENTITY

SELF IDENTITY

The person that someone truly is or the entire person

of the individual.

Is who a person believes she or he is, representing a

synthesis and integration of self-understanding

The total characteristics or qualities of a person both

known and unknown to others but known to oneself.

The traits and characteristics, social relations, roles

and social group memberships that define who one is.

A way of making sense of some aspect or part of

self-concept.

 The self belongs to an individual level analysis which includes self-esteem, self-states, self-efficacy and

the like.

 Identity is based on societal or cultural level of analysis such as cultural concept of oneself and cultural

make up which makes a person who he is.

 Identities are not stable markers of what people expect to be, but rather are dynamically created in the

moment.

 Choices that feel identity-consistent in one situation may not necessarily feel identity-consistent in

another situation. This flexibility identities make the self-useful.

 The social milieu, therefore, is crucial in developing the individual’s self-knowledge either from direct
or indirect feedback through interaction, interpretation of how others see them and group identification.

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM: THE IMPORTANCE OF

BEAUTY

 Culture – is defined as a social system that is characterized by the shared meanings that are attributed to

people and events by its members (Hewstone, 2015).

 Adolescents

o their self-esteem is greatly influenced by how the culture they grew up in conceptualizes beauty.

o Are forced to adhere to society’s definition of beauty.

 Beauty - according to Merriam and Webster, is the quality of being physically attractive or the qualities

in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.

 In every culture and every individual, the standard of beauty varies a lot.

 ”Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

 For a young adolescent , BEAUTY is what social media dictates.

 Body Image – created by the adolescent which includes perception and feelings about oneself.

-Could either be positive or negative.

-Based on how the adolescent measures up to the cultural standards of an ideal body

image.

The Filipino Concept of Beauty

LESSON 1: THE PHYSICAL SELF: THE SELF AS IMPACTED BY THE BODY

 Eurocentrism – a tendency to interpret the world in terms of European or Anglo-American values and

experiences.

o Filipinos with eurocentric features are seen everywhere in media. They usually have fair skin and

tall noses that sweep Filipinos with flat noses and dark complexions under the rug.
 Billboards and advertisements showcase Filipino mestiza and mestizo artists that deceive

foreigners on how a majority of Filipinos look like.

o Mixed Filipinos as the default attractive standard is a trend.

 This extant standard of beauty has strong implications on how the Filipinos in the society

perceive beauty.

o 'Tisoy' and 'Tisay' beauty standard is strongly promoted in media today.

o European standard of beauty is what the media is perpetuating as the only thing that can be

deemed as beautiful.

 Colorism – the prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on the color of

their skin.

o Morena or dark-skinned in the Philippines is usually advised to use pampaputi or whitening

products. They often hear comments like "pumuti ka lang, gaganda ka na" or "kung maputi ka

lang ang ganda mo siguro."

o Fair-skinned is associated with cleanliness and gives the impression of beauty, health and wealth.

o Mixed Filipinos are seen as more desirable because they are closer to looking Caucasian which

indicates wealth and good breeding.

 Caucasian - used especially in referring to persons of European descent having usually

light skin pigmentation.

o Dark-skinned Filipinos tend to have a negative body image. They think they are valued less

compared to those with lighter skin. This proves the importance of visibility and representation

in mass media.

o The message that society gives is that flat noses and dark complexions do not define beauty.
Eurocentrism and colorism indeed have significant effects on the body image and identities of

the common Filipino.

SELF- ESTEEM AND THE IDEAL BODY IMAGE

SELF- ESTEEM

 Overall evaluation that a person has of himself which can be positive or negative, high or low.

(Hewstone et al., 2015)

 Measure of person’s self- worth based on some personal and social standard.

 Global evaluative dimension of the self.

 How valuable to himself and others the person perceives himself to be.

 The level of self- esteem fluctuates across the life span and may not always match

with reality

(Santrock, 2014).

 Physical Appearance- factor that may affect the self- esteem of a person.

 Body Image- refers to how individuals perceive, think, and feel about their body and

physical

appearance.

Adolescent’s Body Image

1. Perception of their physical self when they look in the mirror.

2. Feelings of like or dislike about the physical self that they see.

3. Their thoughts and how they relate to their physical self.

4. Perception of how other people view them physically.

 If a person has a positive body image, he/ she will also have a high self- esteem.

If a person has a negative body image, he/ she will also have a low self- esteem.

 Status quo- in order to achieve this, and adolescent may resort to extreme negative behaviors.

Beauty Standard Misconception

1. Perfect Physical Form:

Women: White perfect skin, small waistline, big breast and behind, long straight hair,

long

manicured nails, slender and tall.

Men: Tanned perfect skin, muscled physique, with 6- pack abs.

2. Images of perfection adolescents see in all types of media. It is a powerful tool that reinforces

cultural beliefs and values. Repeated exposure via media lead them to believe in the

misconceptions.

3. Any characteristic that does not conform to the standard set by the society and reinforced by the

media is considered ugly.

 These misconceptions strongly affect how the young form their body image and its influence on their

self- esteem.

 Adolescence is the period where self- identity is formed, it is important to provide proper guidance and

support.
 Man is a transitional being? This body is a bridge."
(Sri Arubindo).

Physical Self refers to the body, this marvelous container and complex, finely tuned, machine
with which we interface with our environment and fellow beings. The Physical Self is the
concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly observed and
examined.

Scientifically, however, this important aspect of our Self seems to have lost somewhere
between the Eastern detachment and Western narcissism, so much so that sufficient theoretical
development on this issue is lacking. However, directly or indirectly, the discussion on Physical
Self has found a place in various schools of psychology like psychoanalysis, behaviorism,
humanism etc. with some of its most ardent exponents and followers dealing with the issue in
varying proportions.

William James considered body as the initial source of sensation and necessary for the origin
and maintenance of personality. However, James considered body subservient to the mind, for
e.g., mental concentration can be so tightly focused? as not only to banish ordinary sensations,
but even the severest pain? (James, 1890, Vol. 1, p.49). A simple example could be the
numerous reports of soldiers in the battle or a boxer in the ring who suffer severe wounds but do
not notice them until the intensity of the fighting abates. For James the body is an expressive
tool of indwelling consciousness and good physical health is something that wells up from the
every part of the body of a muscularly well trained human being, and soaks the indwelling soul
in him with satisfaction?. It is an element of spiritual hygiene of supreme significance. (James,
1899. p. 103).

In Psychoanalytical school, Sigmund Freud's construction of self and personality makes the
physical body the core of human experience. Freud was of the view that the ego is first and
foremost a body ego (Freud, 1937). However, in spite of Freud's recognition of the centrality of
body, his own writings on therapy rarely discuss it. Among western theorists Wilhelm Reich
seems to probably most concerned with body (Fadiman and Frager, 2002). Although, in his later
works, Freud placed less emphasis on libido, Reich took Freud?s concept of libido as his central
principle. For Reich, the freeing of the blocked bioenergy is the chief task of psychotherapy.
Reich argued that mind and body are one; all psychological processes, he postulated, are a part
of physical processes, and vice versa. So for Reich, body is essential dynamic in all
psychological functioning and it plays a critical role in storing and channeling the bioenergy,
which is the basis of human existence and experience.

For Erik Erikson, experience is anchored in the ground-plan of body (Erikson, 1963). According
to him the role of bodily organs is especially important in early developmental stages of a
persons life. Later in life, the development of physical as well as intellectual skills help determine
whether the individual will achieve a sense of competence and ability to choose demanding
roles in a complex society. For example, healthy children derive a sense of competence as their
bodies become larger, stronger, faster and more capable of learning complex skills. However,
as a stage theorist, Erikson is aware of the constant interaction of the body, psychological
processes and social forces. He acknowledges the classical Freudian view of fundamental
biological drives but insists that these drives are socially modifiable.

Carl Gustav Jung in his exposition to Analytical Psychology didn't deal explicitly with the role of
the body and choose to direct his efforts to analyzing the psyche only. He has argued that
physical processes are relevant to us only to the extent they are represented in the psyche. The
physical body and the external world can be known only as psychological experiences: I'm
chiefly concerned with the psyche itself, therefore I'm leaving out body and spirit. The body and
spirit are to me mere aspects of the reality of the psyche. Psychic experience is the only
immediate experience. Body is as metaphysical as the spirit. (Jung, 1973).

B. F. Skinner was a staunch behaviorist and for him the role of body is of primary importance.
For Skinner the terms personality and self are mere explanatory fictions and all there is, is the
body. However, in spite of this, body never truly interested the skinner. He treats human being
as an unopened, but certainly not empty, box.

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, the two most prominent figures of the Humanist tradition,
have not discussed in detail the role of body in the process of self- actualization. According to
Maslow's Need-Hierarchy theory once the physiological needs of a person are met, the
individual becomes more concerned with the higher order needs. However, he writes that the
body be given its due. Asceticism, self-denial, deliberate rejection of the demands of the
organism, at least in the West, tend to produce a diminished, stunted or crippled organism, and
even in the East, brings self-actualization to only a very few, exceptionally strong individuals?
(Maslow, 1968). On the other hand, Carl Rogers, in spite of some evidence that his person-
centered work is focused on the physical feelings (fernald, 2000), has not given special attention
to the role of body.

In the Eastern traditions, especially the Indian, the various aspects of self, including the physical
self, has received tremendous attention. One of the most important achievement of Indian
tradition, i.e. the schools of Yoga, have regarded the body in different ways. These attitude
range from the outright rejection of the body, because it is seen as the source of desires and
attachments, to an appreciation of the body as the main vehicle spiritual growth and self
realization. The Bhagvat Gita counsels, Yoga is a harmony. Not for him who eats too much, or
for him who eats too little; nor for him who sleeps too little, or for him who sleeps too much (VI:
16). Most Yoga disciplines advocate a moderate approach to body, neither indulgent and nor
unduly ascetic.

There is entire discipline devoted to Physical Self i.e. Hath-yoga, or the Yoga of the body. The
Indian tradition views growth and enlightenment as the whole body event, which is not possible
until one has a pure and strong body. However, hath-yoga is a system of health and hygiene
involving both body and mind. It aims at whole man for his full development and self realization.
It takes into account not only proper growth, strength and tone of the different muscles of the
body but also efficiency and functions of the basic factors of the constitutional health, namely
the inner organs and the glands (Majumdar, 1964).

In Buddhist tradition the concept of Middle Path is of central importance in one's attitude
towards the body. It involves neither full indulgence of one's all desires nor extreme asceticism
or self-mortification. This is because ?both your life and your body deserve love and respect, for
it is by their agency that Truth is practiced and the Buddha's power manifested? (Dogen in
Kennett, 1976).

Physical Self: The Sun in Darkness

The body that was to be a lamp to self,

One day worms will have a horrid feast of it.

Here is the common glory of all human flesh,

That the good and bad, high and low, all must die.

(Sir Edwin Arnold, Buddha-The light of Asia)

References

James Fadiman & Robert Frager (2002). Personality and Personal Growth. Printice Hall, New
Jersey.

Satprem Sri Aurobindo or The Adventure of Consciousness

Comments Received

Nice write up and good elaboration of the concept through various schools of psychology. I liked
the Indian view, really cool. (Anonymous)

https://utsged101portfolio.wordpress.com/section-1-the-physical-self/

https://www.uen.org/lessonplan/view/29132

https://positivepsychology.com/self-concept/

https://www.uen.org/lessonplan/view/29132