GE 1 – UTS

Module 4

Student’s Name: MARY GRACE LOBINA COLAMBO

_______________________________________________________
Course, Year & Section: BTVTED FSM 1B Date Submitted: 10/03/22

Lesson 3: THE SELF AS A COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT

The Self from Psychological Perspective

Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
1. identify the different ideas in Psychology about the “Self”.
2. create his/her own definition of the “self” based on the definitions from
psychology;
3. analyze the effects of various factors identified in psychology in the formation of
the “self”.
Overview:
Each field of study has thousands of research on self and identity as well as
related or synonymous terms. Psychology may focus on the individual and the cognitive
functions but it does not discount the context and other possible factors that affect the
individual. For students who take up psychology, discussion on theories, development,
etc. actually takes at least one semester and still, there are more to be known about the
concept of “self”. The following lesson provides an overview of the themes of
psychology regarding the said content.

Discussion and Analysis:

William James’s Self Theory

William James (1890), an American philosopher and psychologist, divided an individual’s

perception of the self into two categories – Me and I. For James, a human being has the
capacity to be a thinking subject and the object of his thinking at the same time. As a thinking
subject, an individual is both conscious of his environment and conscious of his existence. The
continuous stream of consciousness internal to an individual constitutes the I which is
responsible for the thinking and makes awareness and self-awareness possible. An individual
turns himself into a ME when he makes himself the object of his thinking.

The I is the thinking, acting and feeling self. The me, on the other hand, is the physical
characteristics as well as the psychological capabilities that makes who you are. The I is the one
who acts and decides while the Me is what you think or feel about yourself as an object.
 James claims that in understanding the self, the self can be contextualized in three
categories: the constituents of the self; the feelings and emotions they arouse (self-feelings);
and the actions they prompt (self-seeking). Constituents of the self refer to the further sub-
categories of the self including the material self, social self, spiritual self, and pure ego. The
second category of the self refers to the feelings and emotions aroused in the individual
because of his knowledge and appraisal of his empirical existence in the world. The third
category refers to the actions the self prompts – the effort of every individual to preserve and
improve oneself based on one’s self-knowledge and resulting self-feelings. Simply put, the self
is an object to be reflected upon, an object that is capable of arousing emotions and prompting
actions.

In the constituents of the self, the material self consists of things that belong to us or
that we belong to. Things like family, clothes, our body, and money are some of what makes up
our material selves. Social self connotes the image of an individual in the eyes of the people
around him which determines his reputation in society. Our social selves are who we are in a
given social situation. For James, people change how they act depending on the social situation
that they are in. James believed that people had as many social selves as the social situations
they participated in. Spiritual self includes one’s thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. For James, the
spiritual self was who we are at our core. The spiritual self is more concrete or permanent than
the other two selves. The spiritual self is our subjective and most intimate self. Aspects of an
individual's spiritual self include things like their personality, core values, and conscience that do
not typically change throughout their lifetime. The pure ego is the most puzzling aspect of the
self according to James. It is conceived by understanding that it can recognize its own thoughts
and that these thoughts possess a particular warmth that separate the ego. According to
James, these sub-categories are related in a hierarchical way, with material self at the bottom,
the spiritual self at the top, and the social self in between. Together, they constitute what
James calls the empirical self.

Carl Rogers’s Self Theory

Carl Rogers believes that the self does not exist at birth; it is developed gradually
during childhood wherein one differentiates the self from non-self. He proposed that by means
of free choice and action, one can shape himself based on what he wants to be. Rogers
considered the self as the center of experience. According to him, the self is one’s ongoing
sense of who and what he is and how and why he responds to the environment. The choices an
individual makes are based on his set of values. Rogers’s theory focuses on the nature of the
self and the conditions that allow the self to freely develop.

Real self and ideal self

The real self is who an individual actually is, intrinsically. It is the self that feels closest
to how one identifies with. It is how one thinks, feels, looks, and acts. It is the self that feels
most natural, comfortable, and true to what and who one really is. It is the self that one
continuously needs to accept, takes care of, and improves. Despite the difficulty of an individual
to truly know how others see him, his real self can still be possibly seen. One’s significant other
may tell almost exactly his real self. The real self is one’s self-image.

The ideal self, on the other hand, is the perception of what a person would like to be
or thinks he would be. It is the idealized image that has developed over time based on the
influence of his environment and the people one interacts with. It is the self that one thinks he
should be. This self is a product of expectations and pressures from other people and arises
from the need to be loved and accepted by others. It is dynamic and forever changing.

The greater the discrepancy between the real self and the ideal self, the greater the
frustration and distress one will experience. Hence, one should strive to reduce the discrepancy
by either addressing the issue or accepting the issue if it cannot be resolved. As much as
possible, there has to be congruence – an agreement between the selves, which happens when
the ideal self is closer to the real self. People with congruent selves are more likely to attain
self-actualization compared to those with incongruent selves. Self-worth is high when the real
self and the ideal self are close to each other.

Ask yourself:
How do you strive to achieve your ideal self?
- I am focusing 1st on my goal and I think when I get what I want ,I will focus to
my self or giving my self the time that I need or I deserve to achieve my ideal
self
Is your ideal self an improved version of your real self? How would you feel when you achieve
this ideal self?
- For me yes cause my ideal self will help me to my future , and to achieve that
ideal self just focus that you can by trusting the process.
Is your ideal self a response to the expectations of your environment? How would you feel
when you achieve this ideal self?
-No I want that Ideal self I didn’t based on others or in my environment, and to
know that you achieving thay ideal self you moving or near to that ideal self just
what I’ve said trust the process you will achieve that ideal self that you want.

Activity 1

In a sentence or two, describe your real self. Who do you think you are?

I’m not a shy person and also a shy type person just a normal but when I get
comfortable with the person, I don't feel shy and I become the loudest and
hyper with the group that I really know.
In a sentence or two, describe your ideal self. Who do you want to be?

-To have a confident to face the problem and not being weak in front of a lot of people, and
this my ideal is my eldest sister I want to be like her.

Self-Concept
 When a human being is born into the world, the concept of self is presented to him like
a small dot whose size increases and develops as one gets older. Self-concept is defined as
the totality of complex, organized, and dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes, and
opinions that each person holds to be true about his personal existence. It is a social product,
developing out of interpersonal relationships and striving for consistency. It is also the
individual’s belief about himself, including his attributes. Self-concept is also defined as the
organized structure of cognitions or thoughts that an individual has about himself. It includes
the perceptions one has about his social identity and personal qualities, as well as his
generalizations about the self based on his experiences.

Aspects of Self-concept

There are two aspects of self-concept – the existential self and the categorical self.

The existential self begins when an individual recognizes his existence as a separate entity from
others and realizes that he will continue to exist over a period of time and space. The existential
self usually starts from infancy up to early childhood. This is evident when a child can relate to
the outside world. This is manifested, for

instance, when he responds to the clapping of hands or when he touches an object and
the object moves.

The categorical self starts after a child recognizes his existence as a separate entity and
becomes aware that he is an object in the world. Like objects with physical properties, one
begins to categorize himself in terms of age, sex, height, weight. Afterwards, an individual
engages in self-description and other’s perceptions about him.

Three Components of Self-concept

Rogers (1951) believed that the self is composed of concepts unique to every individual.

1. Self worth or self-esteem – is what one thinks about oneself. This develops in early
childhood stage resulting from the interaction of the child with his mother and father.
2. Self-image – is how one sees himself, which is important for good psychological health.
Self-image includes the influence of body image on inner personality. At a simple level,
one might look at oneself as either good or bad, beautiful or ugly, self-image has an
effect on how a person thinks, feel, and behaves in the world.
3. Ideal self – is the person that one wants to be. It consists of one’s dreams and goals in
life, and it is continuously changing. To illustrate, the ideal self during childhood is not
the same as the ideal self during adulthood.

Self-Awareness and Self-esteem

Self-awareness is the awareness of our self-concepts. Carver and Scheier (1981)

identified two types of self that we can be aware of: (1) the private self or your internal
standards and private thoughts and feelings; and (2) the public self or your public image
commonly geared toward a good presentation of yourself to others.
 Self-awareness also presents three self-schema: actual, ideal, and ought self. Actual self
is who you are at the moment, the ideal self is who you like to be, and the ought self is who
you think you should be.

Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our

next course of action. Self-awareness can keep you from doing something dangerous. In other
instances, self-awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and
criticized by others, also known as self-consciousness.

Our group identity and self-awareness also have a great impact on our self-esteem, one
of the common concepts associated with the self. It is defined as our own positive or negative
perception or evaluation of ourselves.

One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our self-esteem is through social
comparison. According to the social comparison theory, we learn about ourselves, the
appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social status by comparing ourselves with other
people.

The downward social comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves with
others. As the name implies, we create a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with
those who are worse off than us. By having the advantage, we can raise our self-esteem.
Another comparison is the upward social comparison which is comparing ourselves with those
who are better off than us. While it can be a form of motivation for some, a lot of those who do
this actually felt lower self-esteem as they highlight more of their weaknesses and insecurities.

Social comparison also entails what is called self-evaluation maintenance theory, which
states that we can feel threatened when someone outperforms us, especially when that person
is close to us. In this case, we usually react in three ways. First, we distance ourselves from
that person or redefine our relationship with them. Second, we may also consider the
importance of the aspect or skill in which you were outperformed. Third, we may also
strengthen our resolve to improve that certain aspect of ourselves. However, in the attempt to
increase or maintain self-esteem, some people become narcissistic. Narcissism is a trait
characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-centeredness.

Donald W. Winnicott’s True Self and False Self

Donald Woods Winnicott introduced the concept of the true and false self. The true self
is also known as the real self, authentic self, original self, and vulnerable self. It is the core of
who you are, the original you, unshaped by the upbringing of society. It is one’s spontaneous
and natural self-expression, a sense of being alive in mind and body that allows him to be
genuinely close to others. This is the state one is born in. The false self, on the other hand, is
also known as the fake self, ideal self, perfect self, and pseudo self. This is composed of the
parts of the self wherein behaviors are altered, feelings are repressed, and one’s needs are set
aside in order to fit in with others. When a person has to comply with mores, norms, fads,
crazes, and fashions, a false self is activated. The false self constantly seeks to anticipate the
demands and expectations of others in order to preserve and improve relationships. This may
happen during childhood when one is restricted by the rules of his parents or guardians, or
when one is not allowed to explore, be too adventurous, or be aggressive. When a child’s
demands are denied or rejected, he could not insist thinking that he has no right to argue and
might be disrespectful. When one reaches adolescence, he begins to wear a social mask. This
social mask helps one to interact properly in a larger variety of interpersonal contexts. The false
self is also called the adapted self.

When the false self is functional both for the person and for society then it is considered
healthy. The healthy false self feels that it is still being true to the true self. A self that fits in
but through a feeling of forced compliance rather than loving adaptation is unhealthy. When the
false self wins debates against the true self, the person finds that they are unable to be guided
by their true self and so has to adapt to the social situation rather than assert its self.

True Self vs False Self

True self: Optimistic, Proactive, Confident, Focused, Patient, Honest, Active,
Responsible, Loving, Calm
False self: Pessimistic, Blaming, Insecure, Confused, Impatient, Dishonest, Timid,
Irresponsible, Jealous, Worried
Ask yourself:
Have you ever felt losing your true self because of focusing on a false self that is accepted by
others?
-Yes cause the someone around you is only know the false self of you they didn’t
encounter or trying to know the truly you or the True self of you.
How many social masks do you wear?
-I don’t really even think so cause wearing that social masks is the one that we
know to be in other people to make us belong or part of they group and I can’t even
count it.
If you use your false self in response to your environment, aren’t you being untrue to yourself
and to others?
-Yes cause what I’ve been said it is based on the situation and there’s a lot situation
that I am untrue to my self to make the others comfortable or not having a some
problem, and in others when I’m become a selfish and when I priority the others
even to those person that don’t want.

Activity 2

Write your common true self and false self behavioral traits.

True Self False Self

-scared to being failure. -being okay all the time.
-Weak, easy to cry even it is not a really big -Pretend to be strong and doesn’t feel hurt
deal anymore.
-talkative -quiet

Global versus Differentiated Models

 Global self refers to the general value that a person places on him/her and should be
distinguished from appraisals of specific traits or abilities. A person’s global concept of self
should logically be related to a person’s personality. As human with own mind and body, one
must create a concept of the self.

Differentiated model is an important aspect of self-development. Differentiating from

negative influences and identities from our past allows us to become who we truly are, rather
than following a prescribed identity from either our family or our society. As Dr. Robert
Firestone writes his book The Self-Under Siege: A Therapeutic Model for Differentiation, “In
order for people to live their own lives and fulfill their destinies, they must differentiate from
destructive environmental influences”.

The four steps of differentiation

1. Breaking with the destructive thoughts and attitudes toward ourselves that we
internalized based on painful early experiences.
2. Recognizing and changing negative personality traits in ourselves that are incorporation
of the negative traits of our parents or other influential figures.
3. Looking into the psychological defenses we developed as an adaptation to the pain and
distress we experienced growing up.
4. Developing our own values, ideals, and beliefs rather than automatically accepting the
beliefs that we grew up with or those of our culture.

Global models look into a human being in his totality, as an individual entity that
cannot be broken down into parts. The two prominent schools of thought supporting this idea
are Gestalt psychology and humanistic psychology. Gestalt psychology is guided by the principle
that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. It was asserted by Max Wertheimer as a
response to Wilhelm Wundt’s structuralist view of the self. Gestalt psychologists reject the view
that the self is a structure composed of the id, ego, and superego. This particular school of
thought is interested in looking at the entirety of the self – the mind, body, physical attributes,
behaviors, and more. It looks into the self as a whole, independent of its parts. Advocates of
the Gestalt movement believe that the mind understands external stimuli as a whole and not
simply as a sum of its parts. On the other hand, humanistic psychology is guided by the
principle that “human beings, as humans, supersede the sum of their parts”. They cannot be
reduced to components. It posited the idea that personality should be studied from the point of
view of the individual’s subjective experience. For humanistic psychologists, the way to
understand other people is not to analyze the structure of the self composed of the id, ego, and
superego. Rather, it is better to understand one’s emotions and experiences in order to know
more about one’s identity. It puts more emphasis on the influence of the environment on one’s
experiences than the thoughts and desire’s that define one’s personality. Both Gestalt and
humanistic psychology focus on the totality of the self. The former believes that understanding
the self relies on social behavior while the latter believes that the self is best understood based
on hoe others perceive it.

The differentiated models look into a human being through examining its parts for it
is divisible or can be broken into components. Psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
studied the human psyche and its structure that is essential in understanding personality and
identity. For Freud, the psyche is composed of three parts – the id, ego, and superego. The id
exists since birth and pertains to instinct. It serves as the storeroom of wishes and obsessions
related to sexual and aggressive desires. It is driven by the so-called libido (sexual energy). It
operates according to the pleasure principle. The ego is developed as a product of coping with
anxiety brought by the id’s repression of impulses. It operates according to the reality principle.
The superego is the las part of the psyche to develop. It operates according to the morality
principle. The superego is the reservoir of moral standards. It ensures compliance with the
norms, values, and standards imposed by the society.

For Jung, the human psyche is divided into three parts – the ego, the personal
unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The ego is the center of consciousness; it is the
person’s sense of identity and existence. It organizes thoughts, feelings, senses, and intuition.
The personal unconscious refers to all information stored in a person’s mind that are readily
accessible to consciously recall. The collective unconscious refers to the unconscious mind
shared by all human beings such as instincts and archetypes (models of people, personalities,
and behavior). For the psychoanalysts, the self is the sum total of the psyche.

Ask yourself:
Which model of the self is acceptable to you – global or differentiated?
-I think of being focus on what I want in or having a focus in my goal that I need to
achieve it.

Albert Bandura’s Agentic Theory of the Self

Social Cognitive Theory takes an agentic view of personality, meaning that humans
have the capacity to exercise control over their own life. People are self-regulating, proactive,
self-reflective, and self-organizing and that they have the power to influence their own actions
to produce desired consequences. People consciously act on their environment in a manner that
permits growth toward psychological health. An adequate theory of personality, according to G.
Allport, must allow for proactive behavior (Feist et al., 2013).

The social cognitive theory makes use of the agentic theory of the self to make sense of
the self. To be an agent means to be capable of intentionally influencing one’s own functionality
and life circumstances. An agent recognizes his own ability to make life decisions. Albert
Bandura, who advanced the agentic theory of the self, asserted that people are not merely
passive entities molded by environmental forces or driven by inner influences. The agentic
theory of the self rejects the notion that selfhood is culturally influenced or controlled by
urges, rather, it looks upon every human being as capable of thinking, deciding, foreseeing, and
controlling his actions, free to decide for himself. This capability is termed by Bandura as
human agency. It is the capability of an individual to exert influence over the course of his
actions.
 For Bandura, there are four core properties of human agency – intentionality,
forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflection. An individual with agency is expected to be
able to manifest these properties in how he functions in his environment.

1. Intentionality – is manifested in how an individual forms intentions with action plans and
strategies to realize them.
2. Forethought – refers to how an individual positions his pans in the future. This is how he
visualizes himself in a future state of existing, therefore ensuring that plans made can
anticipate possible opportunities or roadblocks.
3. Self-reactiveness – shows that agents are not only planners and forethinkers but also
self-regulators. In order for one’s intentions and foresight to produce successful actions,
an individual needs to self-regulate his efforts for his standards, constructing appropriate
courses of action, monitoring activities, and regulating them by making use of self-
reactions.
4. Self-reflection – signifies that people are capable of self-examining their own
functioning. They reflect on their life pursuits, the meaning of the actions they take in
order to accomplish these pursuits, their thoughts, and personal efficacy.

Bandura’s theory views the self as a person and not as a distinct entity responsible for
bearing information and regulating behavior. As agents, individuals exercise control over their
own functioning. Since the self is situated in an environment where the interplay of
interpersonal and intrapersonal activities occur, the self functions as a product of these
influences making the individual responsible for how he lets these various influences affect how
he functions.

Ask yourself:
How do you make decisions in life? Is it based on you own capability, as asserted by Bandura’s
theory, or is it dependent on your environment?
- For me it is based on my own capability cause we decide cause we want it and
we want to do it but sometimes I depend in the environment cause it is based
also in the situation if it is good to everyone.
In the process of portraying an ideal or false self in order to be accepted by the society, can the
ideal or false self turn into one’s true or real self?
- For me NO cause we talking about FALSE and based on what I know from the
other the False are never been be become a True many people is already know it,
so for me it can be turn the false self into True self.

Summary / Key Points

Self is the essence of a person: his thoughts, feelings and actions, experiences, beliefs,
values, principles, and relationships.
 William James’ theory of self is divided into two main categories: “ME” Self, refers to the
aspects of someone that come from that person's experiences; and ‘I’ Self classified as the
thinking self.

Real self is who an individual actually is while the ideal self is the person he would like
to be. The ideal self must be close to the real self to achieve self-worth.

A person is in his true self if he has a sense of integrity and of connected wholeness.
When the person has to comply with external rules, such as being polite or otherwise following
social codes, then a false self is used. The false self constantly seeks to anticipate demand of
others in order to maintain the relationship.

Global models look into a human being in his totality, as an individual entity that cannot
be broken down into parts. The two prominent schools of thought supporting this idea are
Gestalt psychology and humanistic psychology. The former believes that understanding the self
relies on social behavior while the latter believes that the self is best understood based on hoe
others perceive it.

The differentiated models look into a human being through examining its parts for it is
divisible or can be broken into components. For the psychoanalysts, the self is the sum total of
the psyche.

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 decision making, self-control, taking charge in situations,
and actively responding.

Assessment

Write T if the statement is true and F if false.

1. Self is the sense of personal identity and of who we are as individuals. -T
2. The I is the thinking, acting and feeling self while the Me is the one who acts and
decides.-T
3. Identity is composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and responsibilities as well
as affiliations that define who one is.- T
4. Social interaction always has a part to play in who we think we are.-T
5. Society helped in creating the foundations of who we are and even if we make our own
choices, we still operate in our social and historical contexts in one way or another.-T
6. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and reinforce who
we think we are.-T
7. What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what is important in
our social or historical context.-T
8. The closer the real self to the ideal self, the greater is the feeling of disappointment and
frustration.-T
 9. The false self is shown through a social mask that help maintain relationships.-T
10. A false self is only made to portray a positive and ideal version of the self of a person.-T

Self and Module Evaluation:

Rate your learning experience in using this module according to the following
scale: Put a check mark on your response.
___ 4 - I learned a lot from this module
__✓_ 3 - I learned just right
__✓_ 2 - I still need guidance on certain topics
___ 1 - I did not understand anything

References:
Alata, Eden Joy P. et al, (2019), Understanding the Self, 1 st Ed. Manila, Rex Book Store
Brawner, Dalisay G., Arcega, Analiza F. (2018), Understanding the Self, Quezon City,
C & E Publishing Inc.
Corpuz, R. Estoque, R. & Tabolado, C. (2019) Understanding the Self. Quezon City: C
& E Publishing, Inc.