THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SELF
Ultimately, the more you know about your
Why Self is important?
1. Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and one of
the foremost thinkers of the Enlightenment.
Philosophers look at Self as very important in several
ways. According to Kant, by knowing ourselves, that we
are free and that our actions and choices matter, we can
make good on these commitments without fear of
being contradicted by theory. In other words, we can
be responsible to ourselves.
2. By knowing the self, we are able to examine what
type of object the self is and how it is constituted
(created)
3. According to Thorin Klosowski, by knowing the self,
we are able to develop self- awareness and
introspection (self –analysis) which are the starting
point to every improvement. This improvement relates
to understanding your own needs, desires, and failings,
habits and everything else, the more you know about
yourself, the better you are at adopting life changes.
4. Understanding the self is a very important basis of
quantified (measured) self-movement which means that
if a person collects data about himself, he can make
improvements based on the data (New York Times
report)
5. Knowing the self requires more than intellectual self
–examination for it demands knowing something about
your feelings and emotions and how you work on them,
the better you will understand why you do the things
you do.
habits, the easier it is to improve your habits.
Example
Creating a healthy daily routine is a simple yet effective
way to build consistency when it comes to your health.
Not only does your daily routine impact your overall
health, but it has a direct impact on your stress levels,
sleep habits and eating patterns.
Everything from what you do first thing in the morning
to what you do last at night plays a role in your overall
health.
Although it can be tempting to change everything at
once, focusing on small habits and doing them on a
daily basis is the best way to make a healthy daily
routine and healthy daily habits last for the long-term.
Check your daily routine
1. Eat healthy food
2. Read Something
- Reading has benefits to both your physical and mental
health and those benefits can last a lifetime. Not only
can reading stimulate growth, but it can help to reduce
stress, prevent age-related cognitive decline and
promote a good night’s sleep. Reading is the workout
for your mental health and, the same way you take care
of your body, it’s important to take care of your brain.
The Constitution of The Self
The self is an automatic part of every human being
which enables people to relate to others.
The self is constituted or made up of three main parts
that incorporated, allow for the self to maintain its
functions.
These parts are
1. Self –knowledge
2. Interpersonal –self
3. The agent-self
1. Self -knowledge
 This is sometimes referred to as Self-Concept.
 Self-knowledge – allows for people to gather to
information and beliefs about themselves
It involves
1.1 self-awareness,
1.2 self-esteem
1.3 self-deception
How we can learn about ourselves?
We can learn about ourselves in four ways;
a. looking glass self of Charles Cooley
b. Introspection
c. Social Comparisons
d. Self-perception
A. LOOKING GLASS SELF OF CHARLES COOLEY
 The theory that people learn about themselves
through other people.
 A person visualizes how he appears to others.
 The person imagines how other people will judge
him and then develops a response to the judgement
he received from other people.
 The response will likely be something viewed as
pride or shame about themselves.
 It is proven to be partially accurate and inaccurate
 A people can view himself as friendly; however, he
may appear to be quiet and uptight to another
person who may not know him very well.
B. Introspection
 Is a manner in which a person gathers information
about himself through the use of mental functions
and emotions.
 Although the person might not know why he is
thinking or feeling in such a way, he is able to know
what he is feeling.
 However developmental stages in life might affect
introspection
 In Rosenberg study, children up to a certain stage in
development showed that they knew that their
parents usually knew them better than they knew
themselves.
 By Nisbett and Wilson uncovered the fact that
people might not usually know what children are
thinking at all time.
 Introspection is a way of gaining knowledge about
yourself through your inner emotions and thinking,
however it is a conscious part of the brain.
C. Social Comparison
What does social comparison?
 Social comparison refers to a behavior where we
compare certain aspects of ourselves (e.g., our
behavior, opinions, status, and success) to other
people so that we have a better assessment of
ourselves (Buunk & Gibbons, 2007).
 Is the manner in which we compare ourselves to
other people around us.
 By looking to other people, we can rate our work
and behaviors as good, neutral or bad
 The most beneficial or useful comparisons are those
of people that are in the same category as
ourselves.
What are examples of social comparisons?
For example, a music student might compare herself to
the star student of the class. If she finds that her
abilities do not measure up to her peer's talents, she
might be driven to achieve more and improve her
abilities
Why is social comparison important?
Social comparison can motivate people to improve, but
it can also promote judgmental, biased, and overly
competitive or superior attitude
An upward social comparison- refers to a person
comparing himself to a person that is perceived as
better than him in a particular area.
This can be either motivational or discouraging to the
person comparing himself to a person who is perceived
as worse than him, which can make a person feel better
about himself.
D. Self – Perception
 Aspect of self –knowledge is a process of which a
person infers (assumes) about himself through his
behavior.
 His behavior can give him insight as how his feelings
and emotions truly are.
 If a person regards himself as a being smart,
however, he continuously receives bad grades over
the years, that person might rearrange his thinking
that he is not smart as he previously thought.
 This helps re adjust a person’s thoughts in order to
match his behavior better

1.Self- Knowledge
 is a desire for the majority of human beings.
 In knowing about themselves, we are more capable
of knowing how to be socially acceptable and
desirable.
 We seek out self-knowledge due to the appraisal
motive, self- enhancement motive and consistency
motive
The appraisal motive describes the desire to learn the
truth about oneself in general.
The self- enhancement motive is the desire to learn
about one’s good qualities only.
The consistency motive is the desire to receive
reinforcement of those preconceived notions that a
person has about himself. The feedback will verify the
thoughts and beliefs they already had relating to
himself.
1.1 Self- awareness
 Is divided into two categories: private self-
awareness and public self-awareness.
 Private self- awareness - is defined as the self-
looking inward at oneself, including emotions,
thoughts, beliefs and feelings. All of these cannot be
discovered by anyone else.
 Public self-awareness - is defined by gathering
information about yourself through the perception
of others.
 The actions and behaviors that other show towards
a person will help that person establish a sense of
how others perceive him.
For example
If a person likes to sing, however, many discourage him
singing, that person may conclude that he might not be
the best in singing.
In this situation, he is gaining public awareness about an
aspect of himself (Watts,2009)
1.2 Self – Esteem
 Examines how a person evaluates himself positively
or negatively.
 Four factors that contribute to self- esteem;
 are the reactions we get from people,
 how we compare to ourselves,
 social roles and
 our identification.
 Our social roles can be stigmatized (marked out) as
being negative, such as a criminal or homeless
person.
 People with high self –esteem tend to be confident,
gain self-acceptance, do not worry as much about
what others think about them, and think
optimistically.
 In contrast, people with self-esteem view their
selves as containing negative traits.
People with low self-esteem
 Are less successful in their work
 Are less confident in their success rate
 Have confused and diverged notions about their self
(self –concept confusion)
 Focus on self –protection more than self-
enhancement
 Are more prone to emotional imbalances
 Are less confident about their success than high-
self-esteemed people
 Worry what others think them consistency
 Have more pessimistic thinking
 Desire to resemble others more than high self-
esteemed people (Sedikides ,2007)
1.3 Self –deception
strategies are mental tricks of a person’s mind that hide
the truth and constitute false beliefs
2. Interpersonal self
 It can be referred to as your public self.
 This feature allows for social connection to others.
 With the interpersonal self, a person is able to
display himself to others around him.
 Interpersonal self is apparent in situations of self-
presentations, being a group member or partner in
relationship, person’s social roles and his
reputations.
 Example, a person might show confidence and
determination in his work atmosphere, whereas, he
shows more emotional and nurturing side in his
romantic relationship
 The interpersonal self (or public self) is the
component of the self-concept that is tied to a
 variety of relational and social contexts (Baumeister
1986).
 The aspects tied to the interpersonal self are the
characteristics that a person expresses when in the
presence of others.
 What does interpersonal mean in psychology?
 adj. pertaining to actions, events, and feelings
between two or more individuals.
 For example, interpersonal skill is an aptitude
enabling a person to carry on effective interactions
and relationships with others, such as the ability to
communicate thought and feeling or to assume
appropriate social responsibilities
Social rules
are defined as the parts that a person plays in different
situations and with other people.
Our roles change in order to fit the “expected
“behaviors in various scenarios.
cosmos towards its final trans- worldly goal- a loving
union with the God’s as the infinite fullness of all
goodness (Ariola, 2016)
For Aristotle
 The self is an embodied spirit – one in which it is
expressed fully shining for all the world to see.
 It is the right and responsibility of the self to give
the spirit its fullest expression in this body.
 The opportunity to become embodied and whole
begins at birth and continues throughout life (Ariola
2016)
Meaning of “embodied spirit”
When we say “embodied spirit” we mean that the body
is not separate from the soul, just as the soul is not
separate from the body.

For example;

A person may be a mother, a doctor, a wife and a

daughter.

Her behavior would most likely change in her transition

from being a doctor in coming home to her daughter.

3. Agent self

 The agent self is known as the executive function

that allows for actions.
 This is how we, as individuals, make choices and
utilize our control in situations and actions.
 The agent self resides over everything that involves
decisions making, self- control, taking charge in
situations and actively responding.
 A person might desire to eat unhealthy foods;
however, it is his agent self that allows that person
to choose to avoid eating them and make a
healthier food choice

The Constitution of the self-according to Aquinas and

Aristotle

The self is an embodied spirit

For St. Thomas Aquinas

The Self is by nature a finite embodied spirit in search of

the Infinite, in social solidarity with its fellow human
beings, on a historical journal through this material