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Lesson 4 FROM THE Perspective OF Psychology

Understanding the Self (Cavite State University)

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FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY

What is Psychology? The ‘ME’ and the ‘I’

William James in his studies of human thoughts

concluded that thoughts have five
• derived from the Greek words ‘psyche’ which
characteristics:
means ‘soul’ and ‘logos’ which means ‘the study
of’ 1. All human thoughts are owned by some
personal self
• scientific study of human behavior and mental
processes 2. All thoughts are constantly changing or are
never static
• It is the field of social sciences that deals with
the description, explanation, prediction and 3. There is a continuity of thoughts as its focus
control of behavior. shifts from one object to another

4. Thoughts deal with objects that are different

from and independent of consciousness itself
Goals of Psychology
5. Consciousness can focus on particular objects
•Describe
and not others
•Explain
• Thoughts are associated with the existence of
•Predict the self

•Control • The self is made up of two parts: ME self and I

self

Nature vs. Nurture Controversy

•the longstanding controversy over the relative
contributions that genes and experiences make
to the development of psychological traits and
behaviors
ME self
• Can be considered as a separate object or
individual that the person refers to when
discussing or describing their personal
experiences

• Also called empirical ME

William James (1842-1910)
Ex. The gifts were sent to ME.
• American Philosopher and Psychologist
The person is smiling at ME.
• Founder of American Psychology

• Professor of psychology and philosophy at

Harvard University Three components of ME self

• Theory of the self - an individual’s mental 1. The Material self

picture of the self is divided into two categories:
2. The Social self
the “Me” and the “I”
3. The Spiritual self

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FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. The Material self • It includes aspects like the individual’s

• Consists of the things or objects that belong to
the person or entities that belongs to.
• The core of the material self is the body
• Everything that is attached or associated to
the body identifies the person
• The more attached and identified the person
to his material things, the more he will be
affected if any of them changes
Ex. The person’s body, his family, clothes, style
of clothes, the culture of his family
personality, values and morals that are usually
stable and constant
• Always engaging in the process of
introspection (self- observation) – it is a method
that includes reflecting or looking inward to
study and understand the how and why of the
self
• Looking inward is more important because if
there is conflict, it will be very difficult for the
person to have peace of mind
I self

2. The Social self • It is the self that knows and recognizes who
they are and what they have done
• Refers to who the person is in a particular
social situation • Pure Ego or the thinking self

• Changes in behavior usually result from the • Similar to the soul or mind
different social situations the person finds
• Considered to be non-substance
himself in
• Comprises the totality of the person’s identity
• James believed that people have many social
selves because of the many social situations • It takes into account the past, present and
they find themselves in future selves of the individual

• The person chooses the self that would • This perception of identity arises from a
smoothly adapt to the social situation in order continuous stream of human consciousness
for him to fit in.

Ex. The person changes how he presents himself

Other Selves in Psychology
when he is at home, at school, or with his
friends The Global Self

• Represents the overall value that a person

places upon himself
3. The Spiritual self
• The group of people we interacts with every
• Refers to the self that is more concrete or
day of our life strongly influence us
permanent when compared to the material and
social selves • Global self is the product of all experiences
that we had in the society which accounts for
• This self is the most subjective and intimate
the kind of person we presently are
part of the self

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FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Differentiated Self theory known as the Client- centered or Person-

Centered
• Coined by Murray Bowen who was an
American Psychiatrist and professor of
Psychiatry. He developed the Family Therapy
Theory
and Systemic Therapy. His observation of the
family (particularly his own) he came up with Self-concept
the concept of a differentiated self
• It refers to how the person thinks about or
• According to this theory there are two forces perceives himself
that affect the person, Togetherness and
Individuality. • Includes all those aspects of one’s being and
one’s experiences that are perceived in
• Too much togetherness creates friction and awareness (though not always accurately) by
conflict and prevents development of the the individual
person’s sense of self
• There are two types of self-concept:
• Too much individuality results in distant and
estrange feelings towards family and other 1. Real self-concept
people 2. Ideal self-concept
• A balance should be maintained between
these two forces
Self-concept

Real self-concept
Differentiated Self
• Refers to all information and perception the
• Enables the person to develop and sustain person has about himself
unique identity, make own choices, and accept
responsibility for behavior and still be able to • This is who the person actually is
stay emotionally connected with family and • Answers the question, “Who am I?
friends

• Being able to free himself from the influence

of others allow him to define himself Ideal self-concept

• It is the model version the person has of

himself and what the person aims for himself to
Real and Ideal Self-concepts
be

• This idealized view was borne out of his

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) experiences, standards and demands of society
• Born on January 8, 1902 and the heroes and models which he chooses to
imitate
• American Psychologist
• Answers the question “Who do I want to be?”
• He proposed the personality

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FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY
Self-Discrepancy Theory
• developed by Edward Tory Higgins in 1987
• individuals compare their “actual” self to
internalized standards or the “ideal/ought self”
or self-guides.
• Self-discrepancy is when the self is found to be
deviating/diverting from the self-guide. It may
cause emotional discomfort and can be
manifested as guilt or worst as indifference
Multiple and Unified Selves
• Multiple selves theory suggests that there
exists in the individual differentaspects of the
self
• Unified self is the integration of the different
and conflicting aspects of the self
True and False Selves
• came from an English Pediatrician and
Psychoanalyst, Donald Woods Winnicott
• D.W. Winnicott suggests that play is significant
in the development of the child
• True Self – is one in which the self is seen as
creative, spontaneously experiencing each day
of their lives, appreciating being alive, real,
integrated and connected to the whole of
existence
• False Self – a defense, a kind of mask that
hides the true person for fear of the pain of
rejection and failure
The Self as Proactive and Agentic
• Albert Bandura, a Canadian- American
psychologist, is the proponent of the personality
theory known as The Social Cognitive
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Theory
• Humans are seen as proactive and agentic
which means that we have the capacity to
exercise control over life
Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm
• Explains how human beings are affected by
the interaction among environmental events,
behavior and personal factors
• Ex. A child does not like a particular subject, so
he/she will not study it (personal factor). This
will lead to getting lower marks in the exam,
which will lead to the child being at the
receiving end of his parents' and teacher's
reprimands (environment). This will make the
child not want to study that subject even more,
and he/she may also begin disliking the teacher
(behavior), creating further problems.
The Social Cognitive Theory
• Suggested that human beings are proactive,
self- regulating, self-reflective and self-
organizing.
• People have the ability to influence their own
behavior which may lead to desired outcomes
• This human agency involves the active process
of exploration and manipulation in order to
influence environment and achieve desired
consequences
Core Features of Human Agency
• Intentionality – refers to acts a person
performs intentionally
• Forethought – refers to the person’s
anticipation of likely outcomes of their actions
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FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGY

• Self-Reactiveness – refers to the process of

motivating and regulating our own actions

• Self-Reflectiveness – refers to the examining

our own functioning; thinking about and
evaluating our motivations, values, life goals,
and the actions of other people have on us.

• Self efficacy – the person’s belief that he is

capable of behavior that will produce the
desired positive results

Self-regulation

• Self-regulation can occur when a person

attempts to minimize the discrepancies
between what a person already accomplished
and what the person still wants to achieve

• It allows the person to set goals that are

better and higher than the former, challenging
his capabilities and make a person wiser and
self-actualized individual

According to Albert Bandura, self- regulation is a

continuously active process in which we:

1. Monitor our own behavior, the influences on

our behavior, and the consequences of our
behavior;

2. Judge our behavior in relation to our own

personal standards and broader, more
contextual standards;

3. React to our own behavior (i.e., what we

think and how we feel about our behavior)

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