Understanding the Self

Lesson Pack (4)

The Self from Various Perspective: Psychology
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
 Discuss the different representation and conceptualization of the self from various
disciplinal perspective.
 Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across different disciplines
and perspectives.
 Examine the different influences, factors, and forces that shape the self.
 Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the development of one’s
self and identity by developing a theory of the self.

“The self thus becomes aware of itself, at least in its practical action, and discovers itself as a cause
among other causes and as an object subject to the same laws as other objects.”
– Jean Piaget

The Self as a Cognitive Construction

What is Psychology? How can Psychology help you understand yourself and know who
you really are? Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, think, and feel. It includes
topics, such as how the brain works, how our memory is organized, how people interact in groups,
and how children learn about the world. In fact, everything that concerns the human being is a
concern of Psychology. From the basic workings of the human brain to consciousness, memory,
reasoning and language, to personality and mental health, and everything about human experience.
Psychology will scrutinize it so that you as a human being will understand how it is to be “you.”
Online dictionaries define the term cognitive as “of, relating to, being, or involving
conscious intellectual activity, such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering” (WEB). Self-theorists
argue that it is natural for humans to form theories about themselves, both as a single entity and as
a group, to make meaning of one’s existence and experience.

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Psychologist Jean Piaget was a Swiss Clinical Psychologist known for his pioneering work in child
development. He pioneered the “Theory of Cognitive Development,” a comprehensive theory
about the development of human intelligence. The theory deals with the nature of knowledge
itself; and how humans gradually come to acquire, construct, and use it (Torres & Ash, 2007).
According to Piaget, cognitive development is a progressive reorganization of a mental process
resulting from biological maturation and environmental experience. He believes that children
construct an understanding of the world around them, experience inconsistencies between what
they already know and what they discover in their environment, and then adjust their ideas
accordingly (McLeod, 2009). Moreover, Piaget claims that cognitive development is at the center
of the human organism. For example, language is dependent on knowledge and understanding,
and the capacity to speak and express oneself through language can only be acquired through the
development of intelligence, conscious thought, and problem-solving ability that begins in infancy
(Baldwin, 2005).
Piaget (1952) observed how children processed and made sense of the world around them
and eventually developed a four-stage model of how the mind processes new information
encountered.
There are three basic components to Piaget’s cognitive theory. These are:
1. Schemas/Schemes – These are the building blocks of knowledge. Schemes are mental
organizations that individuals use to understand their environments and designate
action.
2. Adaptation – It involves the child’s learning processes to meet situational demands.
3. Stages of Cognitive Development – They reflect the increasing sophistication of the
child’s thought process.
According to Piaget, the knowledge children acquire is organized into schemas (schemes)
or groupings of similar actions or thoughts. Over time, these schemes may change, but they provide
an important base level of information about particular events, object, and information.
Furthermore, he describes two processes used by the individual in his/her attempt to adapt
– assimilation and accommodation. The individual uses both these processes to adjust to his or her
environment in an increasingly complex manner. Assimilation is the application of previous
concepts to new concepts. For example, a child who was just learned the word “fish,” shouts
“fish!” upon seeing one. Meanwhile, Accommodation happens when people encounter completely
new information or when existing ideas are challenged. For example, a child knows dogs and cats.
At school, he/she learns the word “animals.” The child will then adjust her understanding that dogs
and cats are both animals. People often have to form a new schema or alter existing mental
categories to accommodate new information.
In the “Stages of Cognitive Development,” Piaget theorize that children progress through
4 stages and that they all do so in the same order. A brief summary of Piaget’s four stages of
cognitive development appears below.
Table 1 Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

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 STAGE AGE CHARACTERISTIC OF STAGE

0-2 The child learns by doing; looking, touching,

Sensorimotor sucking. The child also has a primitive
understanding of cause-and-effect relationships.
Object permanence appears around 9 months.

2-7 The child uses language and symbols, including

Preoperational letters and numbers. Egocentrism is also evident.
Conservation marks the end of the preoperational
stage and the beginning of concrete operations.

Concrete Operations 7-11 The child demonstrates conservation, reversibility,

serial ordering, and a mature understanding of cause-
and-effect relationship. Thinking at this stage is still
concrete.

Formal Operations 12+ The individual demonstrates abstract thinking at

this stage is still concrete.

Harter’s Self-Development Concept

Psychologist, author, and professor, Dr. Susan Harter (1999) detailed the emergence of
self-concept and asserted that the broad developmental changes observed across early childhood,
later childhood, adolescence could be interpreted within Piagetian framework. Additionally, Harter
expanded her self-development concept until adulthood. The development of self-concept
according to Harter is as follows:
 Early Childhood – The child describes the “self” in terms of concrete, observable
characteristics, such as physical attributes (“I’m pretty/ugly/strong”), material possessions
(“I have lots of toys”), behaviors (“I love playing with my toys”), and preferences (“I like
candies”).
 Middle to Later Childhood – The self is described in terms of trait like constructs (e.g.,
smart, honest, friendly, shy) that would require the type of hierarchical organizational skills
characteristics of logical thought development.
 Adolescence – According to Harter, this is the emergence of more abstract self –
definitions, such as inner thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and motives. For example one 15-
year old girl in a study on self-conceptions described herself as follows: “What am I like
as a person? Complicated! I’m sensitive, friendly, outgoing, popular, and tolerant though I
can also be shy, self-conscious even obnoxious…I’m a pretty, cheerful person, especially
with my friends… At home, I’m more likely to be anxious around my parents” (Harter
1990b, p. 352) The use of the abstract words sensitive, outgoing, cheerful, and anxious as

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 a self-portrait is consistent with Piaget’s findings on the adolescent’s ability to construct
higher-order abstraction and the capacity for introspection (Harter , 1999).
 Emerging Adults – The marked characteristic of “self” for emerging adults is having a
vision of a “possible self.” It is the “age of possibilities” (Amett, 2004a). In one Australian
study (Whitty, 2002) early emerging adulthood (ages 17-22) was found to be a time of
“grand dreams,” of being wealthy and having a glamorous occupation, but beyond
emerging adulthood (ages 28-33) the visions of a possible-self became more realistic, if
still optimistic.

William James and the Me-Self; I-self

“The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook,” wrote William James in his ground
breaking masterpiece, The Principles of Psychology, written in 1890. A figure commonly known
as “the Father of American Psychology,” philosopher, psychologist, and university professor,
William James gave one of the earliest self-theory psychological analyses. According to James
(1950), the “self” has two elements; the I – Self and the Me – Self.
I – Self is the pure ego. It is the “self” that is aware of its own actions. The I-Self
characteristically has four features. These are:
1. A sense of being the agent or initiator of behavior. I believe my actions have an impact;
that I cause an effect in my environment.
2. A sense of being unique. This is how I am different from everything in my environment;
I perceive there is only one Me.
3. A sense of continuity. I am the same person from day to day
4. A sense of awareness about being aware. I understand what is going on in me and around
me; and I know I understand it.
(James, 1950; Newman, 2017; Pomerleau, 2017; Damon & Hart, 1982)
The Me-Self is the self that is the object. It is the “self” that you can describe, such as your
physical characteristics, personalities, social role, or relationships, thoughts feelings (Newman,
2017; James, 1950; Pomerleau, 2017). James called it the empirical self. Empirical is defined as
“based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure
logic” (WEB).
The dimensions of the me-self include:
1. Material – physical appearance and extensions of it such as clothing, immediate family,
and home;
2. Social – social skills and significant interpersonal relationships; and
3. Spiritual – personality, character, defining values.
(James, 1950; Newman, 2017; Pomerleau, 2017; Damon & Hart, 1982)
Real and Ideal Self-Concepts

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Assessment Test of self-concept can be answered through this website:
https://childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/092008-32Self-Concept.pdf
Carl Ransom Rogers was an American psychologist and among the founders of the
humanistic approach to psychology (Capuzzi, 2016). Humanistic psychology is a psychology
perspective that rose to prominence in the mid-20th century. This approach highlighted the
individual’s innate drive toward self-actualization and the process of realizing and expressing of
one’s own capabilities and creativity (Hansen, 2014).
Humanistic psychology emphasized the active role of the individual in shaping their
internal and external worlds. Rogers stressed that a person is an active, creative, experiencing being
who lives in the present and who thinks, feels and responds to his or her environment. He coined
the term actualizing tendency, which refers to a person’s basic instinct to succeed at his or her
highest capacity. Through person-centered counseling and scientific therapy research, Rogers
formed his theory of personality development, which highlighted free will and the great reservoir
of human potential for goodness (McLeod, S.A. 2014).
Personality development and the self-concept
Rogers based his theories of personality development on humanistic psychology and
theories of subjective experience. According to Rogers, all behavior is motivated by self-
actualizing tendencies and these tendencies drives you to reach your full potential. He believes
that the world a person exists in is the center of constant changes, and the person reacts to these
changes. As a result of this constant interaction with the environment and others, an individual
forms a structure of the self or self-concept an organized, fluid, conceptual pattern of concepts and
values related to the self. If the person holds a positive self-concept, he or she would tend to feel
good about himself or herself, and would generally see the world as a safe and positive place. If
the person holds a negative self-concept, the he or she may feel unhappy with who he/she is
(Kirschenbaum & Henderson, 1989).
Ideal self vs. Real self
Rogers further divided the self into two categories: the ideal self and the real self. The ideal
self is the person that you would like yourself to be; it is your concept of the “best me” who is
worthy of admiration. It is idealized image of self that the individual has developed based on what
you have has learned experienced. For example, your parents are medical doctors who are
respected and admired in your community. Observing your parents, you conclude that to be happy,
you need to be smart and have a high paying job. Your ideal self may be someone who excels in
science subjects, spends a lot of time studying, and does not get queasy easily.
The ideal self could include:
1. Notions influenced by your parents;
2. What you admire in others;
3. What the society sees as acceptable; and
4. What you think is in your best interest.

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 The real self is the person you actually are. It is how you behave right at the moment of a
situation. It is who are in reality – how you think, feel, or act at present.
(Rogers, C. 1959; Gale, C. L. 2015; Eysenck, M.W., 2004; Brouwer, I. B., 2014)

The importance of alignment

Rogers accentuated the need to achieve consistency between the ideal self and the real self.
According to Rogers, “If the way that I am (the real self) is aligned with the way that I want to be
(the ideal self), then I will feel a sense of mental well-being or peace of mind. In other words, when
you’re real self and ideal self are very similar you experience congruence. High congruence leads
to a greater sense of self-worth and a healthy, productive life” (Rogers, C. 1950, 2000).
When there is a great inconsistency between your Ideal and real selves or if the way you
are is not aligned with what you want to be, then you experience a state Rogers called
incongruence. He added that incongruence could lead to maladjustment. Maladjustment is defined
as the inability to react successfully and satisfactorily to the demands of one’s environment
(Rogers, C. 1950, 2000).

Multiple vs. Unified Selves

William James (1890) said, “Properly speaking, a man has as many social selves as there
are individuals who recognize him and carry an image of him in their head.”
On the other hand, social psychologist Roy Baumeister (2010) said, “But the concept of
the self loses its meaning if a person has multiple selves…the essence of self involves integration
of diverse experiences into a unity…In short, unity is one of the defining feature of selfhood and
identity. ”
These two statements represent one of the oldest puzzles for psychologists in their study
of the “self.” The question is not just “What is a “self?” but “Is there just one self or there are many
selves?” Most likely you would say, “of course there’s just one self. There’s just me. I am the one
reading this book. ” True. This observation is justified since there is only one physical body reading
the text. However, let us reflect deeper. When you talk about “self” you are not just talking about
your physical body. There is something in you that cannot be reduced to biology, chemistry, or
physics. Thus, the question “Who am I (really)?” remains relevant then and now.

The Unity of Consciousness

The human experience is always that of unity. For example, you dropped a hot pot because
forgot the potholder. The experience of feeling pain and dropping the pot displays striking unity.
It was you who experience both pain and the act, rather than a string of consciousness where one

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part felt the pain and the other dropped the pot. It was experienced by “you” – a single, distinct,
conscious entity in the situation.
The unity of consciousness was a central topic for classical modern philosophers (from
1600s to 1900s). This idea was pushed by Descartes, the mind (that is the thinking, experiencing
being) is not made up of parts; thus, it cannot be a physical substance because anything material
has parts (Skirry, 2005). Descartes claimed that this “being” is of unified consciousness and not
composed of merged fragments (Brook, 2016).

One Self or Many Selves?

Contemporary psychological studies challenged the notion of a single, district, “only one”
notion of self. Several major personality theorists proposed that the mind is made up of several
sub-selves.

Allport’s Personality Theory

Psychologists Gordon Allport (1961) proposed his “personality trait” theory asserting that
every person possesses “traits”. According to Allport, a “trait” is your essential characteristic that
never, ever changes and sticks with all your life. Moreover, these traits shape who you are (how
you think, feel, or behave, etc.) in any given day (Hall, & Lindsay, 1957; Morris, et al., 2002).

The Ego States

In 1960 psychiatrist Eric Berne began to develop his transactional analysis model as basis
for understanding behavior. Transactional analysis is anchored on two notions:
1. Every person has three parts called “ego states” in his or her personality.
2. People communicate with one another assuming roles of any of these ego states.
Berne presented the ego states as:
1. Parent 2. Adult 3. Child
The parent ego state is the voice of authority. It could be comporting “nurturing parent”
voice or a “controlling/critical parent” voice that tells what you should or should not do. The Adult
ego state is the rational person. It is the voice that speaks reasonably and know how to assert
himself or herself. There are Three child ego states. First is the natural child who loves to play but
is sensitive and vulnerable. The little professor is the curious child who wants to try everything.
The adaptive child is the one who reacts to the world. He or she trying to fit in or is rebelling
against authority (Berne, 2016 edition).

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Domains of the Self
University professor and author Gregg Henriques proposed that the human self has three
related, but separable, domains. These domains are:
1. Experiential self;
2. Private self-conscious; and
3. Public self/persona.
Henriques (2014) described the “experiential self” as the theater of consciousness because
it is the first to experience its beingness (the states or fact existing). He added that the experiential
self is closely tied to memory. The “private self-conscious” can be described as the narrator
interpreter. It is the self that narrates the unfolding events and at the same time tries to make sense
of the experience. The “public self or persona” is the image you project to the public. This is the
image that interacts with others and will influence how others see you.

True vs. False Selves

Imagine that people are like onions. The center of the onion needs to be protected by the
layers to be able to survive. At the center of the onion lies our true self, surrounded by layers we
have developed through our lives as protection. These layers are our false self. Most of us needs
our false selves as protection to survive childhood, and we carry these layers with us through our
adult lives because these protective layers helps us endure.
In 1960, an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst, D. W. Winnicott introduced his
concept of “False Self” and “True Self.” According to Winnicott the “self” is simply “the person
who is me” (1960; 1965). Winnicott also proposed that the healthy core of a healthy person’s self
is hidden from the outside world, influenced by the external (harsh) realities. The false self is put
up to depend the core from these realities and prevent it from any changes.

False Self
Winnicott expressed that the false self is the product of early experience. It is a defensive
organization formed by the infant because of inadequate mothering or failures in empathy. He
added that the false self is developed as the infant is repeatedly subjected to maternal care that
intrudes upon, rejects or abandons his or her experience (Daehnert, 1998). The false self is also
based on being completely obedient to the parent’s wishes. Winnicott asserted that when the child
is constantly expected to follow rules, a false self develops. The false self is a mask or a persona.
It is a form defense that constantly seeks to anticipate others’ demands and complying with them,
as a way of protecting the true self from a world that is felt to be unsafe.
However, when the person has false self but can still function both as an individual and in
the society, then he or she has a healthy false self. The healthy false self feels that it is still

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connected with the true self. Thus, it can be complaint without feeling guilty that it abandoned its
true self.
On the other hand, there is also the unhealthy false self. An individual who may seem happy
and comfortable in his or her environment but actually feels forced to fit in and constantly needs
to adjust his or her behavior to adapt to the social situation is said to have an unhealthy false self.

True Self
True self flourishes in infancy if the mother is positively responsive to the child
spontaneous expressions (Winnicott,1960; Jones-Smith, 2011). Winnicott described true self as a
sense of “self” based on “spontaneous authentic experience.” It is an awareness that bodily
functions are working, such as the heart pumping, as well as simply breathing. Moreover, true self,
according to Winnicott (1960), is part of the infant that feels creative, spontaneous, and real. It has
a sense of being alive and real in one’s mind and body, having feelings that are spontaneous and
unforced. This experience of aliveness is what allows people to be genuinely close to others and
to be creative.
Winnicott believed that people unconsciously repeat early relationships (particularly the
mother-infant relationship) in one form or another. A child whose mother is positively responsive
and supports the child’s natural process of individuation will grow up as an adult with a stable self-
image; views other people realistically; and accepts both the positive and negative side of every
person including himself/herself (Jones-Smith, 2011).

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