Module 4

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE SELF

Introduction
The phenomena of the self in terms of self-knowledge, self-awareness, self-esteem,
self-enhancement, self-regulation, self-deception, self-presentation—to name just a few,
are indispensable research areas. Whereas prior conceptions of the self as knower tended
to posit a “transcendental” capacity for the ego, psychologists made this concept more
congenial by simply referring to it as the function that allows for continuity among
thoughts and experiences. James’s distinction perseveres in the interest that self-theorists
accord to how people acquire self-knowledge and how this knowledge is manifested in
behavior. The major topics related to self-functioning that social and personality
psychologists address concern the ways in which people understand and define their
characteristics (self-knowledge), how people use task and social feedback to monitor their
goal progress (self -regulation), the influence of personal standards, expectations, and
values on perception of others (self in social judgment), and how people maintain desired
self-images. The self has been studied as an individual difference variable (primarily by
personality theorists), as a determinant of social perception, attribution, and judgment,
and as an essential element in social relations.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, the students are expected to:

1. determine whether the “I” self and “Me” self are congruent or not based on
people’s view and your own perception;
2. distinguish how the structures of the mind operate in your personality; and
3. illustrate the real self and ideal self.

Learning Content

I. The self as a cognitive construction:

● William James (1842–1910) was one of the first to postulate a theory of the self
in The Principles of Psychology.
- James described two aspects of the self that he termed the “I Self”and “Me
Self.”
- The I Self reflects what people see or perceive themselves doing in the physical
world (e.g., recognizing that one is walking, eating, writing).
- The Me Self is a more subjective and psychological phenomenon, referring to
individuals’ reflections about themselves (e.g. Characterizing oneself as
athletic, smart, and cooperative).

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 - Other terms such as self-view, self-image, self-schema, and self-concept are
also used to describe the self-referent thoughts characteristic of the Me Self.
James further distinguished three components of the Me Self.

(1) The material self (e.g., tangible objects or possessions we collect for
ourselves)
(2) The social self (e.g., how we interact and portray ourselves within
different groups, situations, or persons)
(3) The spiritual self (e.g., internal dispositions).

● According to Sigmund Freud,

human personality is complex and
has more than a single component.
In his famous psychoanalytic
theory of personality, personality
is composed of three elements.
These three elements of
personality—known as the id, the
ego, and the superego—work
together to create complex human
behaviors.

- The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate

gratification of all desires, wants, and needs.
- The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's
desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways.
- The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral
standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society —our sense
of right and wrong.

● The 3 Levels of Awareness

- The conscious: The conscious consists of what someone is aware of at any

particular point in time. It includes what you are thinking about right now,
whether it is in the front of you mind or the back. If you are aware of it then it
is in the conscious mind.

Example: Right now as you are reading about Freud you could be thinking
about what is being said in the text and that your eyes are tired from staring at
this screen. In the back of your mind, however, you might be thinking "wow
this website is really cool, if I was a psychology teacher I would give whoever

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 made it an A". Both of these thoughts occur in the
conscious mind.

- The Preconscious: The preconscious contains

information that is just below the surface of
awareness. It can be retrieved with relative ease
and usually can be thought of as memory or
recollection.

Example: Right now think of your middle name.

That is an example of preconscious memory.
Similar example could be what is your mom's
birthday, when did it last rain, and how long does
it take to drive to the mall.

- The Unconscious: The unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and

desires that are buried deep in ourselves, well below our conscious awareness.
Even though we are not aware of their existence, they exert great influence on
our behavior.

Example: Things in your unconscious would be forgotten negative experiences

in your past, extreme dislike for a parent, or a terrible event that you pushed
out of your preconscious.

II. True self

There is true self that has a sense of integrity, of connected wholeness that
harks to the early stage.

False self

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 demands of others in order to maintain the relationship.
In early development, the false self is split off as an adaptation to a mother or
career who reflects her own defenses onto the infant rather than reflecting the
infant's actual moods.

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 Two Kinds of False Self
Healthy false 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 that
it is still being true to the true self. It can be
compliant but without feeling that it has
betrayed its true self.
When the situation becomes difficult, the
true self can still override the true self and
so acts as an effective conscience or super-
ego.
Unhealthy false 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.

Discussion
An unhealthy and pathological false self never gains independence from the mother, and so
never gets to transition to independence.
These principles help explain how people seem at ease or are constantly in tension and so act
in dysfunctional ways. It also indicates how treatment is not about exposing the fragile true
self, which most of us naturally fear, but helping the individual move on, both letting go of the
unhealthy portions of the false self and building a healthy replacement.

III. Ideal Self -concept

This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in life,
and is dynamic – i.e., forever changing.
The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late twenties etc.

Real Self Concept

The knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions people have about themselves as they actually
are. It is how we think, how we feel, look, and act. The real self can be seen by others, but
because we have no way of truly knowing how others view us, the real self is our self-
image. The real self can be seen by others, but because we have no way of truly knowing
how others view us, the real self is our self-image.
Discussion
According the Humanistic Psychologist Carl Rogers, the personality is composed of the
Real Self and the Ideal Self. Your Real Self is who you actually are, while your Ideal Self is
the person you want to be.
It is an idealized version of yourself created out of what you have learned from your life
experiences, the demands of society, and what you admire in your role models.

For example, your parents are medical doctors who are respected and admired in the
community, and experience tells you that in order to be happy, you need to be smart and

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have a high-paying job. Your Ideal Self might be someone who excels in science subjects,
spends a lot of time studying, and does not get queasy at the sight of blood. If your Real
Self is far from this idealized image, then you might feel dissatisfied with your life and
consider yourself a failure.

IV. Unified self

● It is the integration of the sub selves into one, however, integration is a task for the
later part of life.
● “each version of self includes cognitive elements as well as feelings, drives, values,
and behaviors organized around a certain point of view.”

Multiple self

● It contains different modes of the self, “appear, one after another and side-by-side
in the consciousness.”

V. Agentic Self and Proactive Self

The agentic self is defined as the aspect of human personality that is determined by future
assessments of one's goals, objectives, and actions. Its functions are adversely affected by
degenerating planning, selecting, and implementing the capabilities of an individual.
The proactive self make things happen, instead of waiting for them to happen to you.
Active means "doing something." The prefix pro- means "before." So if you
are proactive, you are ready before something happens. Proactive Attitude (PA) is a
personality characteristic which has implications for motivation and action. It is a belief
in the rich potential of changes that can be made to improve oneself and one's
environment. This includes various facets such as resourcefulness, responsibility, values,
and vision.

THE SELF IN WESTERN AND ORIENTAL/EASTERN THOUGHTS

Key Concepts

EASTERN
MAIN PRINCIPLES
1. Cosmological unity
2. Life is a journey towards eternal
realities that are beyond the
realities that surround us
3. Circular view of the universe,
based on the perception of eternal
recurrence
4. Inner-world dependent
5. Self-liberation from the false "Me"
and finding the true "Me". The
WESTERN
1. Feeling oneself as an element of
the Divine
2. Life is a service (to the God,
money, business, etc.)
3. Linear view of the universe and
life, based on the Christian
philosophy where everything has
its beginning and the end.
4. Outer-world dependent

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 highest state is believed to be a
state of 'no-self', where neither
self-worth nor self-importance
have any real meaning.
6. Behavioral ethics
5. Self-dedication to the goal (life
vision, success,happiness,
etc.)

THE “ME” CONCEPT

Eternal reality of the universal truth: self- “Me” is here and now. The true “Me” in
liberation through getting rid of the false every human being is a part of the Divine
"Me" and discovering the true "Me" that need to become apparent. True “Me”
is given and doesn’t have to be
cognizable.
SEARCH FOR ABSOLUTE TRUTH
● HOLISTIC approach – all ● More focused on INDIVIDUAL
events in the universe are EVENTS and the role of the
interconnected person
● Searching INSIDE ● Searching outside yourself -
YOURSELF – by becoming a through research andanalysis
part of the universe
through meditation and right "The truth that survives is simply the
living lie that is pleasantest to believe."
~ H.L.Mencken
"Though he should live a hundred
years, not seeing the Truth Sublime;
yet better, indeed, is the single day's
life of one who sees the Truth
Sublime." ~ Buddha

INDIVIDUALISM/COLLECTIVISM
A human being is an integral part of the A human being has an individualistic
universe and the society. People are nature and is an independent part of the
fundamentally connected. Duty towards universe and the society.
all others is a very important matter. INDIVIDUALISM is stronger.
COLLECTIVISM is stronger.
ACHIEVEMENT & WINNING
Winning is INSIDE yourself. Winning is OUTSIDE yourself.

"Though he should conquer a thousand "You're not a star until they can spell
men in the battlefield a thousand times, your name in Karachi."
yet he, indeed, who would conquer ~ Roger Moore
himself is the noblest victor." ~ Buddha
"Life affords no higher pleasure than
that of surmounting difficulties, passing
from one stop of success to another,
forming new wishes and seeing them

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 "He who conquers others is strong; he
who conquers himself is mighty." ~ Lao
Tzu
"The most excellent Jihad is that for the
conquest of self."
– Mohammad
gratified."
~ Samuel Johnson
"It is not because things are difficult
that we do not dare; it is because we do
not dare that they are difficult."

LEADERSHIP
SPIRITUAL; walking behind people; HANDS-ON; walking ahead of people;
silence is golden. speech is golden.

"In order to guide people, "Leadership is done from in front.

the leader must put himself behind Never ask others to do what you, if
them. Thus when he is ahead they feel challenged, would not be willing to do
no hurt." ~ Lao Tzu yourself."
~ Xenophon

● THE CONCEPT OF SELF IN THE CONFUCIAN THOUGHT

Self or No-Self
- The notion of self in Confucian thought is very similar to what Ames expresses in
above quote, and to the understanding of self in our examples of the Maori.
Although it is by westerners often understood that there is no self in Confucian
thought, (because in Confucianism one does talk of the concept of "no-self") this
concept may be misunderstood when taken into western paradigms of thinking.
- But what is really meant by the idea of "no self", is this: "If one had no selfish
motives, but only the supreme virtues, there would be no self. … If he serves
selflessly, he does not know what service is [does not recognize it as service]. If he
knows what service is, he has a self… [to think] only of parents but not of yourself…
is what I call no self." (Zoku Kyuo dowa [Kyuo’s Moral discourses continued],
1835).

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