FAJILAGMAGO, ANGEL DEE F.
Some World Religious Beliefs and
GE 111
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Chapter 7:
Supernaturals: Believe It or Not!
● Religion
1. A belief in anthropomorphic
supernatural being, such as spirit and
gods
2. A focus on the sacred supernatural,
where sacred refers to a feeling of
reverence and awe
3. The presence of supernatural power
or energy that is found on
supernatural beings as well as
physical beings and objects
4. The performance of ritual activities
that involves the manipulation of
sacred object to communicate to
supernatural beings and/or to
influence or control events
5. The articulation of worldview and
moral codes through narratives and
other means
6. Provide the creation and
maintenance of social bonds and
mechanism of social control within a
community
● Ritual
- Performance of ceremonial acts
prescribed by a tradition or sacred
law
- A specific, observable mode of
behavior exhibited by all known
societies; as a way of defining or
describing humans
- Ritual has the characteristics of:
1. A feeling or emotion of
respect, awe, fascination, or
dread in relation to the sacred
2. Dependence upon a belief
system that is usually
expressed in the language of
myth
3. Is symbolic in relation to its
reference
Practices
Buddhism
Beliefs:
Life is not a bed of roses. Instead,
there are suffering, pain, and frustration. This
reactive cycle can be broken through the
practice of mediation, acquiring more
wisdom and deeper understanding, and
acceptance of things as they are.
Customs and Practices:
Samatha is practiced as mindfulness
of breathing and development of loving
kindness; Vipassana practices aim at
developing insight into reality. Acquiring
wisdom is by studying Buddha’s teaching,
the Dharma.
Buddhist celebrations are
Parinirvana Day in February; Buddha Day
(Wesak) in May; Dharma Day in July;
Padmasambhava Day in October; and
Sangha Day in November.
● Christianity
Beliefs:
Christians believe in Trinitarian God,
one God in three personas: God the Father
(Creator), God the Son (Savior), and God the
Holy Spirit (Sustainer). Eternal life after death
will be achieved through faith in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Bible is a selection of books, which
is divided into two ‒ the Old Testament and
New Testament.
Customs and Practices:
The Sacrament of Baptism
symbolizes the birth in Christian World. The
Sacrament of Communion is an act of
remembrance of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial
love.
Christmas and Resurrection (Easter)
are the two major celebrations in Christianity.
Hinduism
Beliefs:
Hindus believe that existence is a
cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, governed by
Karma, a concept where the reincarnated life
will depend on how the past life was spent.
Vedas are sacred scriptures of Hindus.
Mahabharata and Ramayana are two other
important texts of the Hindus.
Customs and Practices:
Diwali is the Festival of Lights.
Navrati is the festival of nine nights, which
celebrate the triumph of good over evil.
Hindus have set dates to honor particular
manifestations of God.
● Islam
Beliefs:
Islam means “willing submission to
God.” Muslims believe in Allah, who is their
“One God”, in the unity and universality of
God, that Mohammed is the last and final
prophet sent by God. The Holy Book of Islam
is called the Quran.
Customs and Practices:
Muslims believe in the five pillars of
Islam, which are the foundation of Muslim
life:
1. Shahadah – statement of
faith: “There is no God but the
one true God and Mohammed
is his messenger.
2. Salat – the prayer that is
practiced five times a day.
3. Zakat – the monetary offering
for the benefit of the poor. It
comprises the 2.5% of a
Muslim’s assets.
4. Hajj – the yearly pilgrimage to
Mecca. Muslims who can
afford are asked to do the
pilgrimage at least once in
their lifetime.
5. Sawm – the fasting. Muslims
do fasting, from food, drink,
and sexual act, during the
celebration of Ramadan.
Ramadan is the ninth month
of the Islamic lunar calendar.
The fast is from dawn to
sunset.
Eidul-Fitr is the celebration at the
end of Ramadan, while Eidul-
Adha is celebrated within the
completion of the Pilgrimage, the
Hajj.
Judaism
Beliefs:
The Jews believe in the God of
Abraham, in the coming of Messiah, the
Savior. The sacred scripture of the Jews is
called the Torah or the Law.
Customs and Practices:
There are five major festivals
observed by the Jews:
1. Rosh Hashanah – the New
Year
2. Yom Kippur – the Day of
Atonement
3. Pesach – Passover
4. Shavuot – Pentecost
5. Sukkot – Tabernacles
The Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday
evening at sunset and is an important time
when families gather for the Shabbat meal.
● Logotherapy
- A psychotherapy introduced
by Dr. Viktor Frankl
- The main belief is that “man’s
primary motivational force is
search for meaning.”
- Aids individuals to find
personal meaning of life,
whatever life situation they
may be
- It uses the philosophy of
optimism in the face of
tragedy.
The Franklian Psychology has these basic
concepts:
- Life has meaning under all
circumstances.
 - The main motivation for living is our
will to find meaning in life.
- Freedom to find meaning
Franklian Psychology aims to:
1. Become aware of spiritual
resources;
2. Make conscious spiritual
resources; and
3. Use “defiant power of the
human spirit” and stand up
against adversity.
Logotherapy Assumptions
1. The human being is an entity
consisting of body, mind, and
spirit.
2. Life has meaning under all
circumstances, even the most
miserable.
3. People have a will to
meaning.
4. People have freedom under
all circumstances to activate
the will to find meaning.
5. Life has a demand quality to
which people must respond if
decisions are to be
meaningful.
6. The individual is unique.
Frankl’s Sources of Meaning
1. Purposeful Work. Each individual has
his/her own future goal to achieve or
a task to perform; the meaning of life
is unique to every individual.
2. Courage in the Face of Difficulty. To
find meaning of life is to recognize
suffering, pain, and death as part of
life and to have the courage to face
these life difficulties.
3. Love. “The ultimate secret on the
spiritual foundation of life is that love
is salvation and joy eternity.” The
ultimate factor to find the meaning of
life is love.
Chapter 8:
The Political Self and Being Filipino
- The Philippines as we know it
today has only emerged in the
1890s after over three
centuries of colonization of
the Spaniards;
- Liberation from the last
colonizers, the Japanese,
only occurred in 1946.
- Foreign culture, beliefs,
language, and religion have
made a huge dent on our own
by setting a foundation to the
contemporary Filipino identity
and culture.
● Who Is a Filipino?
- According to the 1987
Philippine Constitution,
Filipino citizens are:
“…those whose fathers or mothers
are citizens of the Philippines, those born
before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers,
who elect Philippine citizenship upon
reaching the age of majority, and those who
are naturalized in accordance with law.”
- Citizenship is not the only
marker of being a Filipino;
People who were born and
grew up in the same culture
develop and share common
personality traits and values
Filipino Values and Traits
The Filipino Hospitality
Filipinos welcome their guests and tourists
as if they are their own brothers and sisters.
They always make their guests feel at home,
offering them something to eat, or even a
place to stay.
• Respect for Elders
- Filipinos greet their elders by kissing
their hand while saying “Mano po!”
and constantly using “po” and “opo”
in conversations.
- A wide array of references to elder
people such as ate for older sister;
kuya for older brother; tito and tita for
uncle and aunt; lolo and lola for
 grandfather and grandmother; and
manong and aling for older people
outside the family.
● Close Family Ties
- Filipinos maintain a tight relationship
with their families. They are fond of
family reunions during birthdays,
holidays, or fiestas year-round.
- Some Filipino families even opt to
live in a big house where everyone
can stay together. Nursing homes are
almost always not an option for family
members.
• Cheerful Personality
Filipinos smile when they are happy, or
sometimes even when they are sad or angry.
Smiling has been a coping strategy for many
Filipinos especially during trying times and
calamities.
Self-sacrifice
- Filipinos go out of their way to extend
help to their friends, families, and
loved ones.
- Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)
sacrifice a lot. That is why they are
regarded as modern-day Filipino
heroes.
• Bayanihan
It is the spirit of communal unity and
cooperation of Filipinos. It is also about
giving without expecting something in return.
• “Bahala Na” Attitude
- It is the Filipino version of the famous
line “Hakuna Matata,” meaning no
worries.
- The phrase is said to have originated
from “Bathala na,” where Bathala
means God, and the phrase meaning
leaving everything into God’s hands.
Colonial Mentality
It is regarded as the lack of patriotism and the
attitude where Filipinos favor foreign
products more than their own; but also the
desire to look more foreign than local and
keep up with foreign beauty trends.
• “Mañana” Habit
Filipino term for procrastination; derived from
a Filipino phrase called “Mamaya na”
meaning dawdling things, which could have
been done at an earlier time.
• “Ningas Kugon”
- “Ningas” is a Filipino term for flame
and “kugon” is a Filipino term for
Cogon grass that easily burns out
after it is put into flames. It is the
attitude of eagerly starting things but
quickly losing eagerness soon after
experiencing difficulty.
Pride
Most Filipinos hold on to their pride as if they
are more precious than keeping a good
relationship with family and loved ones.
• Crab Mentality
It is a toxic trait among Filipinos where one
resents the achievement of another, instead
of feeling happy for that person; just like
crabs in a container, they pull each other
down.
• Filipino Time
Filipinos have this common attitude of
arriving late at commitments, dinner, or
parties especially if they are meeting
someone close to them.
Filipino Markers
1. Proverbs or Salawikain
a. proverbs expressing a
general attitude toward life
and the laws that govern life
b. ethical proverbs
recommending certain virtues
and condemning certain vices
c. proverbs expressing a system
of values
d. proverbs expressing general
truths and observations about
life and human nature
e. humorous proverbs
f. miscellaneous proverbs
2. Superstitions
- Filipinos’ set of superstitions
passed down from generation
to generation
- Some of these may be
influenced by beliefs from
other cultures, but Filipinos
have retold these
 superstitions according to
their own experiences.
3. Myths and Legends
- Due to the Philippines’s rich
culture and history, numerous
myths and legends have
sprung.
- These stories are aimed to
explain the origin of things, at
the same time, teach a
valuable lesson.
4. Heroes and Icons
- Heroes serve as a reminder of
true patriotism and
nationalism as they have
sacrificed their lives for the
sake of their country’s
freedom and progress.
- Famous Filipino icons such as
Lea Salonga, Manny
Pacquiao, and our very own
national hero, Jose Rizal,
have made the Filipino name
more pronounced worldwide
through their own expertise.
How to Be A Good Filipino
1. Be an active Filipino citizen.
2. Study the Philippine history.
3. Support local products.
4. Speak the Filipino language.
5. Do not spread fake news and be
democratic in engaging with dissent.
Chapter 9:
Who Am I in the Cyber World? (Digital Self)
- More than half of the population
worldwide now uses the Internet.
- Internet has already become an
integral part of everyday life for most
of the world’s population. The
Philippines is among one of the
countries with the most active
Internet users.
- Online identity is actually the sum of
all our characteristics and our
interactions.
- Partial identity is a subset of
characteristics that make up our
identity.
- Persona is the partial identity we
create that represents ourselves in a
specific situation.
● Selective Self-presentation and
Impression Management
- Self-presentation is the “process of
controlling how one is perceived by
other people.”
- To construct positive images,
individuals selectively provide
information about them and carefully
cater this information in response to
other’s feedback.
- Sharing ourselves is no longer new
and has been practiced as soon as
human beings were formed.
- Digital devices help us share
information broadly, more than ever
before.
- We have entered an extraordinary
era of self-portraiture. In older family
albums, the photographer was not
often represented in the album,
whereas with arm’s-length photos,
they are necessarily included (e.g.,
selfies and groupies).
- Conversion of private diaries into
public revelations of inner secrets;
the lack of privacy in many aspects of
social media make the users more
vulnerable.
- Sharing the good things, the bad,
embarrassing, and “sinful” things we
experience; we also react and
comment on negative experiences of
others; empathize with people; argue
with others online.
- Blogs and social media are the
primary digital fora on which such
confessions occur, but they can also
be found in photo- and video-sharing
sites where blunders and bad
moments are also preserved and
shared.
 - We should have a filtering system to
whatever information we share
online, as well as to what information
we believe in, which are being shared
or posted by others online.
Gender and Sexuality Online
The terms “sex,” “gender,” and
“sexuality” are often thought of as
synonymous. They are actually quite distinct:
- Sex is the biological state that
corresponds to what we might call a
“man” or a “woman.” It is often
explained as biological, fixed, and
immutable. It is actually socially
constructed.
- Gender is the social understanding of
how sex should be experienced and
how sex manifests in behavior,
personality, preferences, capabilities,
and so forth; as a socioculturally
specific set of norms that are mapped
onto a category of “sex.”
- Sexuality is an individual expression
and understanding of desire. While
like gender, this is often viewed as
binary (homosexual or heterosexual),
in reality, sexuality is often
experienced as fluid.
● Performing Gender Online
- Judith Butler conceptualized gender
as a performance.
- Gender was performative, in that it is
produced through millions of
individual actions, rather than
something that comes naturally to
men and women.
- The ability of users to self-
consciously adapt and play with
different gender identities would
reveal the choices involved in the
production of gender, breaking down
binaries, and encouraging fluidity in
sexuality and gender expression.
- Social media has been celebrated for
facilitating greater cultural
participation and creativity;
- The emergence of a “free culture”
where individuals are empowered to
engage in cultural production using
raw materials, ranging from
homemade videos to mainstream
television characters to create new
culture, memes, and humor.
- While the number of male and female
bloggers is roughly equivalent, they
tend to blog about different things;
- Although the technologies are the
same, the norms and mores of the
people using them differ.
● Setting Boundaries to Your Online
Self: Smart Sharing
Before posting or sharing anything
online, consider the following:
- Is this post/story necessary?
- Is there a real benefit to this post? Is
it funny, warm-hearted, teachable—
or am I just making noise online
without purpose?
- Have we (as a family or parent/child)
resolved this issue? An issue that is
still being worked out at home, or one
that is either vulnerable or highly
emotional, should not be made
public.
- Is it appropriate? Does it stay within
the boundaries of our family values?
- Will this seem as funny in 5, 10, or 15
years? Or is this post better suited for
sharing with a small group of family
members? Or maybe not at all?
Rules to Follow
Here are additional guidelines for
proper sharing of information and ethical use
of the Internet according to New (2014):
- Stick to safer sites.
- Guard your passwords.
- Limit what you share.
- Remember that anything you put
online or post on a site is there
forever, even if you try to delete it.
- Do not be mean to or embarrass
other people online.
- Always tell if you see strange or bad
behavior online.
- Be choosy about your online friends.
- Be patient.
Chapter 10:
Learning to Be a Better Learner
• Metacognition
- Commonly defined as “thinking about
thinking”
- It is the awareness of the scope and
limitations of your current knowledge
and skills.
- Enables the person to adapt their
existing knowledge and skills to
approach a learning task, seeking for
the optimum result of the learning
experience
- Includes keeping one’s emotions and
motivations while learning in check
- The goal of metacognition is for the
student to be a self-regulated learner.
- Metacognition basically has two
aspects:
1) self-appraisal is your
personal reflection on your
knowledge and capabilities.
2) self-management is the
mental process you employ
using what you have in
planning and adapting to
successfully learn or
accomplish a certain task.
- Similar concepts:
1) metacognitive knowledge
or what you know about how
you think
2) metacognition regulation or
how you adjust your thinking
processes to help you learn
better
- Under metacognitive knowledge,
there are several variables that affect
how you know or assess yourself as
a thinker:
1) personal variable, which is
your evaluation of your
strengths and weaknesses in
learning
2) task variable, which is what
you know or what you think
about the nature of the task,
as well as what strategies the
task requires
3) strategy variable refers to
what strategies or skills you
already have in dealing with
certain tasks.
- You must have an accurate self-
assessment—you must be honest
about what you know and capable of
in order to find ways to utilize your
strengths and improve on your
weaknesses.
- The following are other skills that can
help you in exercising metacognition:
-
• Knowing your limits. The
scope and limitations of your
resources so that you can
work with what you have at
the moment and look for ways
to cope with other necessities
• Modifying your approach.
The recognition that your
strategy is not appropriate
with the task, to modify your
strategy in comprehending
your material
• Skimming. Browsing over a
material and keeping an eye
on keywords, phrases, or
sentences. It is also about
knowing where to search for
such key terms.
• Rehearsing. It’s not just
about repeatedly talking,
writing, and/or doing what you
have learned, but also trying
to make a personal
interpretation or summary of
the learning experience.
• Self-Test. Trying to test your
comprehension of your
learning experience or the
skills you have acquired
during learning.
 - Other strategies that you need to
develop include asking questions
about your methods, self-reflection,
finding a mentor or support group if
necessary, thinking out loud (though
you have to be considerate of others
also when doing this), and welcoming
errors as learning experiences.
- Other tips that you can use in
studying are the following:
1. Make an outline of the things
you want to learn, the things
you are reading or doing,
and/or the things you
remember.
2. Break down the task in
smaller and more
manageable details.
3. Integrate variation in your
schedule and learning
experience. Change reading
material every hour and do
not put similar topics together.
4. Try to incubate your ideas.
5. Revise, summarize, and take
down notes, then reread them
to help you minimize
cramming in the last minute.
6. Engage what you have
learned.
Chapter 11:
Do Not Just Dream, Make It Happen
● Albert E. Bandura’s Self-efficacy
- The Bobo Doll Experiment:
Sample children were presented
with new social models of violent and
nonviolent behavior toward an inflatable
redounding Bobo doll.
Result were: The group of children
who saw the violent behavior model
became violent to the doll, while the control
group who was presented with the
nonviolent behavior model was rarely
violent to the doll.
- This experiment has proven right the
hypothesis that social modeling is a
very effective way of learning.
- Bandura’s social cognitive theory
states that people are active
participants in their environment and
are not simply shaped by that
environment.
● Summary of Self-efficacy Theory:
- Distinguishes between expectations
of efficacy and response-outcome
expectancies:
Outcome expectancy is “a person’s
estimate that a given behavior will lead to
certain outcomes.”
Efficacy expectation is “the
conviction that one can successfully
execute the behavior required to produce
the outcomes.”
- Outcome and efficacy expectations
are differentiated because
individuals can believe that a
particular course of action will
produce certain outcomes.
- Self-efficacy typically comes into
play when there is an actual or
perceived threat to one’s personal
safety, or one’s ability to deal with
potentially aversive events.
- Dr. Bandura defined self-efficacy as
“people’s beliefs about their
capabilities to produce designated
levels of performance that exercise
influence over events that affect their
lives.”
- He identified acts of people with
“high assurance in their capabilities,”
such as:
1. Approach difficult tasks as
challenges to be mastered;
2. Set challenging goals and
maintain strong commitment
to them;
3. Heighten or sustain efforts in
the face of failures or
setbacks;
4. Attribute failure to insufficient
effort or deficient knowledge
 and skills which are
acquirable; and
5. Approach threatening
situations with assurance that
they can exercise control
over them.
- He identified acts of people with
“high assurance in their capabilities,”
such as:
1. approach difficult tasks as
challenges to be mastered;
2. set challenging goals and maintain
strong commitment to them;
3. heighten or sustain efforts in the
face of failures or setbacks;
4. attribute failure to insufficient effort
or deficient knowledge and skills
which are acquirable; and
5. approach threatening situations with
assurance that they can exercise
control over them.
- In contrast, people “who doubt their
capabilities”:
1. shy away from tasks they
view as personal threats;
2. have low aspirations and
weak commitment to goals
they choose to pursue;
3. dwell on personal
deficiencies, obstacles they
will encounter, and all kinds
of adverse outcomes, rather
than concentrating on how to
perform successfully;
4. slacken their efforts and give
up quickly in the face of
difficulties;
5. are slow to recover their
sense of efficacy following
failure or setbacks; and
6. fall easy victim to stress and
depression.
- Dr. Bandura described four main
sources of influence by which a
person’s self-efficacy is developed
and maintained. These are:
1. performance
accomplishments or mastery
experiences;
2. vicarious experiences;
3. verbal or social persuasion;
and
4. physiological (somatic and
emotional) states.
● Carol S. Dweck’s Fixed and
Growth Mindset Theory
- Dr. Dweck described people with
two types of mindset:
People who believe that success is
based on their innate abilities have a “fixed”
theory of intelligence, and goes under fixed
mindset.
People who believe that success is
based on hardwork, learning, training, and
perseverance have growth theory of
intelligence, which goes under growth
mindset.
- Fixed-mindset individuals dread
failure because it is a negative
statement on their basic abilities;
- Growth-mindset individuals do not
mind or fear failure as much
because they realize their
performance can be improved and
learning comes from failure.
- Individuals may not necessarily be
aware of their own mindset, but their
mindset can still be discerned based
on their behavior.
Edwin A. Locke’s Goal Setting Theory
- The basic contents of goal setting
theory are summarized in terms of
14 categories of findings:
1. The more difficult the goal,
the greater the achievement.
2. The more specific or explicit
the goal, the more precisely
performance is regulated.
3. Goals that are both specific
and difficult lead to the
highest performance.
4. Commitment to goals is most
critical when goals are
specific and difficult.
 5. High commitment to goals is
attained when:
a. the individual is
convinced that the
goal is important; and
b. the individual is
convinced that the
goal is attainable (or
that, at least,
progress can be
made toward it).
There are many ways to convince a
person that a goal is important:
• In most laboratory settings, it is quite
sufficient to simply ask for
compliance after providing a
plausible rationale for the study.
• In work situations, the supervisor or
leader can use legitimate authority to
get initial commitment.
• Continued commitment might
require additional incentives such as
supportiveness, recognition, and
rewards.
Financial incentives may facilitate
commitment and performance; participation
by subordinates in setting goals leads to
higher commitment than curtly telling people
what to do with no explanation; self-set
goals can be highly effective in gaining
commitment.
Commitment can be enhanced by effective
leadership. Relevant leadership techniques
include:
• providing and
communicating an inspiring
vision;
• acting as role model
for the employees;
• expecting outstanding
performance;
• promoting employees
who embrace the vision and
dismissing those who reject
it;
• delegating
responsibility (“ownership”)
for key tasks;
• goal setting itself can
be delegated for capable,
responsible employees;
• expressing (genuine)
confidence in employee
capabilities;
• enhancing capabilities
through training; and
• asking for
commitment in public.
6. In addition to having a direct effect
on performance, self-efficacy
influences:
a. the difficulty level of the goal
chosen or accepted;
b. commitment to goals;
c. the response to negative
feedback or failure; and
d. the choice of task strategies.
7. Goal setting is most effective when
there is feedback that shows
progress in relation to the goal.
8. Goal setting (along with self-efficacy)
mediates the effect of knowledge of
past performance on subsequent
performance.
9. Goals affect performance by
affecting the direction of action, the
degree of effort exerted, and the
persistence of action over time.
10. Goals stimulate planning in general.
Often, the planning quality is higher
than that which occurs without goals.
When people possess task or goal-
relevant plans as a result of
experience or training, they activate
them automatically when confronted
with a performance goal. Newly
learned plans or strategies are most
likely to be utilized under the
stimulus of a specific, difficult goal.
11. When people strive for goals on
complex tasks, they are least
effective in discovering suitable task
strategies if:
a. they have no prior
experience or training on the
task;
b. there is high pressure to
perform well; and
 c. there is high time pressure
(to perform well immediately).
12. Goals (including goal commitment),
in combination with self-efficacy,
mediate or partially mediate the
effects of several personality traits
and incentives on performance.
13. Goal-setting and goal-related
mechanisms can be trained and/or
adopted in the absence of training
for the purpose of self-regulation.
14. Goals serve as standards of self-
satisfaction, with harder goals
demanding higher accomplishment
in order to attain self-satisfaction
than easy goals. Goals can also be
used to enhance task interest,
reduce boredom, and promote goal
clarity. When used to punish or
intimidate people, however, goals
increase stress and anxiety.
Chapter 12:
Less Stress, More Care
● Stress and Human Response
- Selye hypothesized a general
adaptation or stress syndrome. This
general stress syndrome affects the
whole body. Stress always manifests
itself by a syndrome, a sum of
changes, and not by simply one
change.
- The general stress syndrome has
three components:
1. The alarm stage
2. The stage of
resistance
3. The exhaustion stage
- Stress diseases are maladies
caused principally by errors in the
body’s general adaptation process.
- If stress is induced chronically, our
defense response lowers its
resistance since fewer antibodies
are produced and an inflammatory
response dwindles.
- The stress response begins in the
brain.
- When someone experiences a
stressful event, the amygdala, an
area of the brain that contributes to
emotional processing, sends a
distress signal to the hypothalamus.
- The hypothalamus is a bit like a
command center. This area of the
brain communicates with the rest of
the body through the autonomic
nervous system.
- The autonomic nervous system has
two components:
The sympathetic nervous system
triggers the fight-or-flight response,
providing the body with a burst of energy so
that it can respond to perceived dangers.
The parasympathetic nervous
system promotes the “rest and digest”
response that calms the body down after
the danger has passed.
● Techniques to Counter Chronic
Stress
1. Relaxation response. These
include deep abdominal
breathing, focus on a
soothing word (such as
peace or calm), visualization
of tranquil scenes, repetitive
prayer, yoga, and tai chi.
2. Physical activity. People can
use exercise to stifle the
buildup of stress in several
ways. Exercise, such as
taking a brisk walk shortly
after feeling stressed, not
only deepens breathing but
also helps relieve muscle
tension.
3. Social support. Confidants,
friends, acquaintances, co-
workers, relatives, spouses,
and companions all provide a
life-enhancing social net, and
may increase longevity.
The Cultural Dimension of Stress and
Coping
- a person’s internalized cultural
values, beliefs, and norms affect the
appraisal process of stressors and
 the perceived appropriateness of
coping responses;
- stress and coping are universal
experiences faced by individuals
regardless of culture, ethnicity, and
race;
- members of different cultures might
consider and respond to stressors
differently with respect to coping
goals, strategies, and outcomes.
- avoidance, withdrawal, and
forbearance coping methods are
common among Asians;
- spiritual, religious, and ritual based
coping are common among African-
Americans and African-Canadians;
- spiritual and religious coping and
coping through family support are
common among individuals of
Latino/Latina backgrounds
● Self-care Therapy
1. Stop, breathe, and tell yourself: “This
is hard and I will get through this one
step at a time.”
2. Acknowledge to yourself what you
are feeling. All feelings are normal
so accept whatever you are feeling.
3. Find someone who listens and is
accepting. You do not need advice.
You need to be heard.
4. Maintain your normal routine as
much as possible
5. Allow plenty of time for a task.
6. Take good care of yourself.
Remember to:
a. Get enough rest and sleep.
b. Eat regularly and make
healthy choices.
c. Know your limits and when
you need to let go.
d. Identify or create a nurturing
place in your home.
e. Practice relaxation or
meditation.
f. Escape for a while through
meditation, reading a book,
watching a movie, or taking a
short trip.
● Self-compassion Therapy
- Being warm and understanding
toward ourselves when we suffer,
fail, or feel inadequate, rather than
flagellating ourselves with self-
criticism;
- Being imperfect and experiencing
life difficulties is inevitable, so we
soothe and nurture ourselves when
confronting our pain rather than
getting angry when life falls short of
our ideals;
- Recognizes that life challenges and
personal failures are part of being
human, an experience we all share.
In this way, it helps us to feel less
desolate and isolated when we are
in pain.
Self-compassion Phrases
- This is a moment of suffering.
- Suffering is a part of life.
- May I be kind to myself.
- May I give myself the compassion I
need.
The first phrase helps to mindfully
open to the sting of emotional pain. The
second phrase reminds us that suffering
unites all living beings and reduces the
tendency to feel ashamed and isolated
when things go wrong in our lives. The third
phrase begins the process of responding
with self-kindness rather than self-criticism.
The final phrase reinforces the idea that you
both need and deserve compassion in
difficult moments.
Other phrases that may feel more
authentic in a given situation are: “May I
accept myself as I am,” “May I forgive
myself,” or “May I learn to accept what I
cannot change.”
● Self-compassion and Emotional
Well-being
- A key feature of self-compassion is
the lack of self-criticism, and self-
criticism is known to be an important
predictor of anxiety and depression.
- Self-compassion is not merely a
matter of looking on the bright side
of things or avoiding negative
 feelings. Self-compassionate people
recognize when they are suffering,
but are kind toward themselves.
- Self-compassion is associated with
greater wisdom and emotional
intelligence, suggesting that self-
compassion represents a wise way
of dealing with difficult emotions.
- By wrapping one’s pain in the warm
embrace of self-compassion,
positive feelings are generated that
help balance the negative ones.
Self-compassion, Motivation, and Health
- Research supports the idea that self-
compassion enhances motivation
rather than self-indulgence.
- Self-compassionate people aim just
as high, but also recognize and
accept that they cannot always
reach their goal.
- Self-compassionate people have
been found to have less motivational
anxiety and engage in fewer self-
handicapping behaviors such as
procrastination than those who lack
self-compassion.
- Self-compassion was positively
associated with mastery goals (the
intrinsic motivation to learn and
grow) and negatively associated with
performance goals (the desire to
enhance one’s self-image)
- Self-compassionate people are
motivated to achieve, but for intrinsic
reasons, not because they want to
garner social approval.
● Self-compassion versus Self-
esteem
Self-compassion:
- Predicts greater happiness and
optimism as well as less depression
and anxiety when controlling for self-
esteem
- Are less focused on evaluating
themselves, feeling superior to
others, worrying about whether or
not others are evaluating them,
defending their viewpoints, or angrily
reacting against those who disagree
with them
Self-esteem :
- Robust association with narcissism
- Evaluation of superiority/inferiority
that helps to establish social rank
stability and is related to alerting,
energizing impulses and dopamine
activation
Self-compassionate Letter
1. Candidly describe a problem that
tends to make you feel bad about
yourself.
2. Next, think of an imaginary friend
who is unconditionally accepting and
compassionate.
3. Finally, write a letter to yourself from
that perspective. What would your
friend say about your perceived
problem? What words would he or
she use to convey deep
compassion? How would your friend
remind you that you are only
human? If your friend were to make
any suggestions, how would they
reflect unconditional understanding?
4. When you are done writing, put the
letter down for a while and come
back to it later. Then read the letter
again, letting the words sink in,
allowing yourself to be soothed and
comforted.
● Less Stress, Care More
We should be in control of the stress
that confronts us every day. Otherwise,
when we are overwhelmed by stress, it can
be detrimental to our health. Self-care and
self-compassion are two ways to positively
confront stress. We should love and care for
our self more and more each day.