MODULE 1 LESSON 3:

The Self from the Psychological Perspective

- self that feels closest to how
WILLIAM JAMES’S SELF THEORY one identifies with
➢ A human being has the capacity to be - Self-image
a thinking subject and the object of ❖ Ideal Self
his/her thinking at the same time - perception of what a person
➢ Thinking subject – an individual is would like to be
conscious of his/her environment and - Idealized image
existence
❖ I – continuous stream of ❖ Congruence
consciousness internal to an - agreement between the selves
individual - self-worth
❖ Me – makes himself/herself the - self-actualization
object of own thinking

SELF (3 categories)
➢ The feelings and emotions (self- REAL IDEAL
CONGRUENCE
feelings): appraisal of empirical SELF SELF
existence
➢ Constituents of the self: sub-categories
of the self
➢ The actions the self prompts (self- SELF-CONCEPT
seeking) – preserve and improve ➢ totality of complex, organized and
oneself dynamic system of learned beliefs
➢ social product
SUB-CATEGORIES OF THE SELF ❖ Existential Self – when an individual
➢ Material Self: one’s body, clothes, recognizes his/her existence as a
family, or other material possessions separate entity from others (starts
➢ Social Self: image of an individual in from infancy up to early childhood)
the eyes of the people ❖ Categorical Self – after a child
➢ Spiritual Self: one’s thoughts, beliefs, recognizes his/her existence and
and feelings becomes aware that he/she is an
➢ Pure Ego: most puzzling aspect of the object of this world
self
3 COMPONENTS OF SELF-CONCEPT
➢ Self-Worth or Self-Esteem: what one
thinks about oneself
➢ Self-Image: how one sees
himself/herself, good for psychological
health
➢ Ideal Self: the person that one wants to
be

MAX WERTHEIMER’S SELF THEORY

CARL ROGER’S SELF THEORY
➢ Global Models – look into a human
➢ among the founders of the humanistic
being in his/her totality or wholeness
approach to psychology
❖ Max Wertheimer
➢ Self does not exist at birth by means of
o Gestalt Psychology – “The
Free choice and Action
whole is greater than the sum
❖ Real Self
of its parts”
- who an individual actually is
 o Humanistic Psychology – - Anima - feminine,
“Human beings, as humans, unconscious part of a
supersede the sum of their ma
parts” - Animus - masculine,
unconscious part of a
woman
SIGMUND FREUD’S SELF THEORY
➢ Differentiated Models – examining a ALBERT BANDURA’S AGENTIC
human being’s parts THEORY OF THE SELF
❖ Sigmund Freud ➢ people are not merely passive entities
- founder of psychoanalysis molded by environmental forces or
- three parts: driven by inner influences
a. id ➢ rejects the notion that the selfhood is
- desires culturally influenced or controlled by
- exists since birth urges
- storeroom of wishes ➢ Human Agency – capable of thinking,
and obsessions deciding, foreseeing, and controlling
- hedonistic/pleasure actions
principle
- driven by libido 4 CORE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN AGENCY
- egoistic, boorish, ➢ Intentionality: how an individual forms
barbaric intentions with action plans and
b. ego strategies
- reality principle ➢ Forethought: how an individual
- individual’s positions his or her plans in the future
experiences ➢ Self-reactiveness: not only self-planners
- reason and logic and fore-thinkers but also self-
- brilliant, creative, regulators
emotionally balanced o Self-regulation – set goals
c. superego that are better and higher
- morality principle than the former
- compliance with norms, ➢ Self-reflection: capable of self-
values, and standards examining their own functioning
- conscience and the
ideal self
- socialization
- law-abiding, morally
upright, god-fearing,
and socially
acceptable

CARL JUNG’S SELF THEORY

➢ founded analytical psychology
➢ three parts:
a. The Ego
- center of consciousness
- person’s identity and
existence
b. The Personal Unconscious
- memory - all information
stored in person’s mind
c. The Collective Unconscious
- instincts and archtypes