GEC.

11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD

MODULE 1
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, students will be able to:

 Acquire basic knowledge on the various conceptualization and representations

of self and identity from the different perspectives.
 Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across different
disciplines and perspectives.
 Learn and examine the different influences, factor or forces that shape the self
 Demonstrate critical or reflective thought in analyzing the development of one’s
self and identity by developing a theory of the self.

WHAT’S IN

Read and analyse the quote below.

“Knowing others in intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power. If you realise that you have enough, you are truly rich” And “The cost
of not following your heart, is spending the rest of your life wishing you had.”
by. J. Paulsen

Introduction

Have many times were you asked to describe yourself? Were your answers the
always the same or were there changes? What are the changes? What factors
affected those changes? The question may look and sound easy and often times
considered a cliché but it is one of the fundamental questions that a human person
needs to answer with reflection, courage, honesty and acceptance. In fact, for some
individuals it is a difficult question.

Are you still the same person when you were five years old? Did you notice the
changes in yourself? Do you still look the same? Do you still wear your hair like “Dora the
Explorer”? Did you notice an improvement to your vocabulary? You are now able to
use words to specifically describe events, experiences and feelings. You no longer want
the same songs when you were younger. You now choose your own clothes and call it
fashion. You are changing. You changed because you are able to learn. You learn to
understand that you have to change because it is a must.

Now, reflect on the following questions:

 Who are you?
 How would you describe yourself?
 Do you love yourself? Why or why not?
 What are the biggest and most important things you have learned in life so far?

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD

LET’S GET STARTED!

Activity 3: DO YOU TRULY KNOW YOURSELF?

Part I. Answer the following questions about yourself as fully and precisely as possible?
1. How would you characterize yourself?
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2. What makes you special?
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3. How is yourself connected to your body?
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4. How is yourself related to others?
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5. What will happen yourself when you die?
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Part II. Was it easy to answer all questions? Which questions were easiest to answer?
Why? Which ones are difficult? Why?

QUESTIONS EASY OR DIFFICULT WHY?

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD
ABSTRACTION

A. THE PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF SELF

SOCRATES: KNOW YOURSELF

Socrates is principally concerned with man. He considers man from the point of
view of his inner life. The famous line of Socrates, "Know yourself," tells each man to
bring his inner self to light. A bad man is not virtuous through ignorance; the man
who does not follow the good fails to do so because he does not recognize it.

The core of Socratic ethics is the concept of virtue and knowledge. Virtue
is the deepest and most basic propensity of man. Knowing one's own virtue is
necessary and can be learned. Since virtue is innate in the mind and self-knowledge
is the source of all wisdom, an individual may gain possession of oneself and be
one's own master through knowledge.

PLATO: THE IDEAL SELF, THE PERFECT SELF

According to Plato, man was omniscient or all-knowing before he came to be

born into this world. With his separation from the paradise of truth and knowledge
and his long exile on earth, he forgot most of the knowledge he had. However, by
constant remembering through contemplation and doing good, he can regain his
former perfections.

Man who is now an exile on earth has a guiding star, a model, or a divine
exemplar which he must follow to reach and attain his destiny. In practical terms,
this means that man in this life should imitate his former self; more specifically, he
should live a life of virtue in which true human perfection exists. Happiness, which is
the fruit of virtue, is attained by the constant imitation of the divine exemplar of
virtue, embodied in man's former perfect self.

IMMANUEL KANT: RESPECT FOR SELF

Man is the only creature who governs and directs himself and his actions, who
sets up ends for himself and his purpose, and who freely orders means for the
attainment of his aims. Every man is thus an end in himself and should never be
treated merely as a means-as per the order of the Creator and the natural order of
things. This rule is a plain dictum of reason and justice: Respect others as you would
respect yourself. A person should not be used as a tool, instrument, or device to
accomplish another's private ends. Thus, all men are persons gifted with the same
basic rights and should treat each other as equals.

RENE DESCARTES: "I THINK, THEREFORE I AM"

Descartes states that the self is a thinking entity distinct from the body. His first
famous principle was "Cogito, ergo sum," which means "I think, therefore I am."
Although the mind and the body are independent from each other and serve their
own function, man must use his own mind and thinking abilities to investigate,
analyze, experiment, and develop himself.

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD
JOHN LOCKE: PERSONAL IDENTITY

John Locke holds that personal identity (the self) is a matter of psychological
continuity. For him, personal identity is founded on consciousness (memory), and not
on the substance of either the soul or the body.

Personal identity is the concept about oneself that evolves over the course of an
individual's life. It may include aspects of life that man has no control over, such as
where he grew up or the color of his skin, as well as the choices he makes, like how
he spends his time and what he believes.

DAVID HUME: THE SELF IS THE BUNDLE THEORY OF MIND

Hume is skeptical about the existence of the self, specifically, on whether there is
a simple, unified self that exists over time. For him, man has no "clear and intelligible"
idea of the self. He posits that no single impression of the self exists; rather, the self is
just the thing to which all perceptions of a man is ascribed. Moreover, even if there
were such an impression of the self, it would have to remain constant over time to
constitute identity. However, man's impressions vary and always change. Even
attempts to have impressions of the self must fail for all these attempts are really just
occasions for one to notice perceptions. Put simply, a person can never observe
oneself without some other perceptions. Thus, Hume asserts that what we call the
"self" is really just "a bundle or collection of different perceptions which succeed
each other with an inconceivable rapidity."

Assessment 1
Explain how your concept of “SELF” is compatible with how each philosopher is
compatible with how they explain the concept and nature of self.

1. Socrates
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2. Plato
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3. Kant
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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD
4. Hume
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5. Descartes
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B. THE SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW OF SELF

Activity 4. MYSELF THROUGH THE YEARS

Paste a picture of you when you were in elementary, high school, and now that you are
in college. Below the picture, list down your characteristics that you remember.
High School
Elementary

College

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD

Analysis

After having examined your “self” in its different stages, fill out the table below:

SIMILARITIES IN ALL DIFFERENCES IN MY “SELF” POSSIBLE REASONS FOR THE

“STAGES” OF MYSELF ACROSS THE THREE STAGES DIFFERENCES IN ME

ABSTRACTION

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD: SOCIAL BEHAVIORISM

(Lumen Learning), Mead studied the self, a person’s distinct identity that is
developed through social interaction. In order to engage in this process of “self,” an
individual has to be able to view him or herself through the eyes of others. That’s not
an ability that we are born with. Through socialization we learn to put ourselves in
someone else’s shoes and look at the world through their perspective. This assists us
in becoming self-aware, as we look at ourselves from the perspective of the “other.”
The case of Danielle, for example, illustrates what happens when social interaction is
absent from early experience: Danielle had no ability to see herself as others would
see her. From Mead’s point of view, she had no “self.”

How do we go from being newborns to being humans with “selves?” Mead

believed that there is a specific path of development that all people go through.
During the preparatory stage, children are only capable of imitation: they have no
ability to imagine how others see things. They copy the actions of people with whom
they regularly interact, such as their mothers and fathers. This is followed by the play
stage, during which children begin to take on the role that one other person might
have. Thus, children might try on a parent’s point of view by acting out “grownup”
behavior, like playing “dress up” and acting out the “mom” role, or talking on a toy
telephone the way they see their father do.

During the game stage, children learn to consider several roles at the same time
and how those roles interact with each other. They learn to understand interactions
involving different people with a variety of purposes. For example, a child at this
stage is likely to be aware of the different responsibilities of people in a restaurant
who together make for a smooth dining experience (someone seats you, another
takes your order, someone else cooks the food, while yet another clears away dirty
dishes).

Finally, children develop, understand, and learn the idea of the generalized
other, the common behavioral expectations of general society. By this stage of
development, an individual is able to imagine how he or she is viewed by one or
many others—and thus, from a sociological perspective, to have a “self”.

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD
KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

(Lumen Learning) Moral development is an important part of the socialization

process. The term refers to the way people learn what society considered to be
“good” and “bad,” which is important for a smoothly functioning society. Moral
development prevents people from acting on unchecked urges, instead
considering what is right for society and good for others. Lawrence Kohlberg was
interested in how people learn to decide what is right and what is wrong. To
understand this topic, he developed a theory of moral development that includes
three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.

In the preconventional stage, young children, who lack a higher level of

cognitive ability, experience the world around them only through their senses. It isn’t
until the teen years that the conventional theory develops, when youngsters
become increasingly aware of others’ feelings and take those into consideration
when determining what’s “good” and “bad.” The final stage, called
postconventional, is when people begin to think of morality in abstract terms, such
as Americans believing that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. At this stage, people also recognize that legality and morality do not
always match up evenly (Kohlberg 1981). When hundreds of thousands of Egyptians
turned out in 2011 to protest government corruption, they were using
postconventional morality. They understood that although their government was
legal, it was not morally correct.

GILLIGAN’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER

(Lumen Learning) Another sociologist, Carol Gilligan, recognized that Kohlberg’s

theory might show gender bias since his research was only conducted on male
subjects. Would females study subjects have responded differently? Would a female
social scientist notice different patterns when analyzing the research? To answer the
first question, she set out to study differences between how boys and girls
developed morality. Gilligan’s research demonstrated that boys and girls do, in fact,
have different understandings of morality. Boys tend to have a justice perspective,
by placing emphasis on rules and laws. Girls, on the other hand, have a care and
responsibility perspective; they consider people’s reasons behind behavior that
seems morally wrong.

Gilligan also recognized that Kohlberg’s theory rested on the assumption that the
justice perspective was the right, or better, perspective. Gilligan, in contrast,
theorized that neither perspective was “better”: the two norms of justice served
different purposes. Ultimately, she explained that boys are socialized for a work
environment where rules make operations run smoothly, while girls are socialized for
a home environment where flexibility allows for harmony in caretaking and nurturing

Assessment 2

Answer the following questions clearly and honestly. Write your answers in the space
provided.

1. How would you describe yourself

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD

2. What are the influences of the family in your development as an individual?

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3. Think of the time when you felt you were your “true self”. What made you think
you were truly who you are during this time of your life?
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4. Following the questions above, can you provide a time when you felt you were
not living your “true self”. Why did you have to live a life like that? What did you
do about it?
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5. What social pressures help shape your “self”? Would you have wanted it
otherwise?
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6. What aspects of your self do you think may be changed or you would like to
change?
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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD

C. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW OF SELF

Activity 5. “YOU” THROUGH OTHER’S EYES

Part I. List to 10-15 qualities or things that you think define who you are around the
human figure representing you.

Part II. In the space below, write “I am _____________________________ (your name).

Who do you think I am based on what you see me or do or hear me say? Let the
members of your family respond by letting them write on the same paper.

Analysis
Compare what you wrote about yourself to those written by your family members.
And answer the matrix below.

What aspects What aspects What aspects What aspects What aspects
are similar? are not similar? are always true? are do you think are
circumstantial? not really part of
your personality?

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD
ABSTRACTION

SIGMUND FREUD: THE PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF SELF

Freud's asserts that the human psyche (personality) is structured into three parts
(tripartite). These structures - the id, ego, and superego-all develop at different
stages in a person's life.

These three structures are systems and not physical parts of the brain. Although
each part comprises unique features and contributes to an individual's behavior,
they interact to form a whole.

Parts of Personality

1. ld (internal desires). Also called internal drives or instinctive drives, it consists of

the body's primitive biological drives and urges which are concerned only with
achieving pleasure and self-satisfaction. Id lives completely in the unconscious.

2. Ego (reality). It is the T" part of the individual that gives him/ her sense of his/her
own identity. The ego is the rational part of the personality.

3. Superego (conscience). It is the part of the personality concerned with morals,

precepts, standards, and ideas. The superego is also the critical faculty of the
personality.

FREUDIAN STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

Freud also argues that the development of an individual can be divided into
distinct stages characterized by sexual drives. As a person grows, certain areas
become sources of pleasure, frustration or both

1. Oral. From birth to the end of the first year, the mouth becomes the part of
the body through which gratification is secured.
2. Anal (expulsive phase). From the age of 2 to 3 years, the child derives the
feelings of pleasure or pain from defecating. It covers the toilet-training
period.
3. Phallic. From the age of 3 to 6 years, the child gets curious about his/her
genitals and becomes attached to the parent of the opposite sex. The
attraction of a boy to his mother is called Oedipus complex, while that of a
girl to her father is called Electra complex.
4. Latency From the age of 10 to 12 years, sexual motivations presumably
recede in importance as the child becomes preoccupied with developing
skills and other activities.
5. Genital. After puberty, the deepest feelings of pleasure presumably come
from heterosexual relations.

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD
ERIK ERIKSON: THE PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Erikson was primarily concerned with how both psychological and social factors
affect the development of individuals. He has formulated eight major stages of
development, each posing a unique developmental task and simultaneously
presenting the individual with a crisis that he/she must overcome.
As defined by Erikson, a crisis is not "a threat of catastrophe but a turning point, a
crucial period of increased vulnerability and heightened potential". Accordingly,
individuals develop a healthy personality by mastering "life's outer and inner dangers.

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GEC. 11 - UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Gretchen B. Millena, LPT, MS, and Noel R. Rafer, LPT, MSA, MA, MS, PhD

(Cherry, 2020)

Assessment 3

Do a research and list 10 things to boost your self-esteem or improve your self-concept.
Cite your sources. Analyze which of those tips are more likely to backfire and make
someone conceited, narcissistic and revise them to make the statements both helpful
to the individual as well as society in general.

Works Cited
Cherry, K. (2020, June 26). very well mind. Retrieved August 23, 2020, from
https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740
Lumen Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sociology/

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