MODULE IN UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

(PRE-FINALS)

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW OF SELF

SIGMUND FREUD: THE PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF SELF

Freud’s asserts that the human psyche (personality) is structured into three parts (tripartite).
These structures are the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO. The three structures are systems and not
physical parts of the brain. Although each part comprises uinique features and contributes to an
individual’s behavior.

PARTS OF PERSONALITY

1. ID (internal desires)- also called as internal drives or instinctive drives, it consists of the
body’s primitive biological drives and urges which are concerned only with achieving pleasure
and self-satisfaction.

2. EGO (reality)- it is the “I” part of an individual that gives him/her the sense of his/her own
identity. It is the rational part of the personality.

3. SUPEREGO (conscience)- the part of the personality concerned with morals, precepts,
standards and ideas. It is also the critical faculty of the personality.

FREUDIAN STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

1.ORAL- from birth to the end of the first year, the mouth becomes the part of the body
through which gratification is secured.

2. ANAL (expulsive phase)- from the age of 2 to 3 years, the child derives the feelings of
pleasure or pain from defecating. It covers the toilet-training period.

3. PHALLIC- from the age of 3 to 6 years, the child gets curious about his/her genitals and
becomes attached to the parent of the opposite sex. The attraction of the boy to his mother is
called Oedipus complex, while that of a girl to her father is called Electra complex.

4. LATENCY- from the age of 10 to 12 years, sexual motivations presumably recede in

importance as the child becomes pre occupied with developing skills and other activities.

5. GENITAL- after puberty, the deepest feelings of pleasure presumably come from heterosexual
relations.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSE MECHANISM

Denial – refusal to recognize a threatening situation.

Repression – pushing threatening situations out of conscious memory.

Rationalization – making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior.

Projection – placing one’s own unacceptable thoughts onto them.

Reaction Formation – condemns something that has an unconscious appeal.

Displacement – transfer of emotions or behaviors to another less threatening

Regressions – falling back on child like patterns as a way of coping with stressful situations.

Identification – trying to make up for areas in which a lack is perceived by becoming superior in
some area.

Sublimation – turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behavior.

PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Erik Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight
stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person
experiences a psychosocial crisis that could positively or negatively affect personality
development.

For Erikson (1958, 1963), these crises are psychosocial because they involve the psychological
needs of the individual conflicting with the needs of society.

PSYCHOSOCIAL
STAGE BASIC VIRTUE AGE
CRISIS

1 Trust vs. Mistrust Hope Infancy (0 to 1 ½)

Early Childhood (1 ½
2 Autonomy vs. Shame Will
to 3)

3 Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose Play Age (3 to 5)

Industry vs.
4 Competency School Age (5 to 12)
Inferiority

Ego Identity vs. Role Adolescence (12 to

5 Fidelity
Confusion 18)

Young Adult (18 to

6 Intimacy vs. Isolation Love
40)

Generativity vs.
7 Care Adulthood (40 to 65)
Stagnation

Ego integrity vs.

8 Wisdom Maturity (65+)
Despair
 WILHELM WUNDT
The father of modern psychology, developed the first school of psychology, that of
structuralism.
Structuralism
Focuses on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components (Freedheim,
2010), and to understand these elements, researchers used introspection, a process that relies
on analyzing one’s own mental state (Schultz & Schultz, 2015).
WILLIAM JAMES
Was preoccupied with the evolutionary value, or function, of specific behaviors and
mindsets.
His classic text, The Principles of Psychology (James, 1890), used the phrase
“evolutionary psychology” to argue that certain behaviors operate in the same way as
instincts (inherited predispositions to respond to certain stimuli in adaptive ways).
Functionalism
Is concerned with explaining the function or purpose of certain forms of behavior, namely that
of consciousness or our internal mental states. This theoretical perspective on psychology
sought causal relationships between internal states (such as being happy) and external
behaviors (such as laughter).
The self-comprises two parts: the ‘I’ (the subjective self) and the ‘Me.’ (the objective self).
The “I” is a pure ego – it is what provides continuity between past, present, and future, allowing
us to view ourselves to have a consistent, individual identity, one brought about by the stream
of consciousness that James first defined (Hunt, 1920).
Although the “I” self cannot be further divided, the “Me” can be further broken down into three
sub-categories: a material, social, and spiritual self.
The material self consists of what belongs to a person, such as the body, family, clothes, or
money.
The social self-marks who you are in a specific social situation. We tend to change our actions,
thoughts, emotions, words, and mannerisms based on the current social situation or the people
with whom we are interacting.
Finally, our spiritual self is who we are at our core, including our personality, values, and
conscience. Our spiritual self typically remains relatively stable throughout our lifetime (Green,
1997).
JHANGIANI AND TARRY
“Self” and other similar or interchangeable concepts in psychology. Simply put, “self” is “the
sense of personal identity and of who we are as individuals.
Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our next
course of action.

CARL JUNG (SELF AS THE CENTRAL ARCHETYPE)

Archetypes are universal, inborn models of people, behaviors or personalities that play a role in
influencing human behavior.
Persona – one’s public personality or mask, one’s social life.
Shadow – one’s dark side, parts of ourselves that we dislike
Animus – male archetypes, or male side
Anima – female archetypes, feminine side
Self – central archetypes of personality, wholeness

ALBERT BANDURA (SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC)

Emphasized the importance of social learning or learning through observation
His theory emphasized the role of conscious thoughts including self-efficacy, or our beliefs in
our abilities.
4 STEPS IN OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING AND MODELING PROCESS
Attention- in order to learn you need to be pay attention.
Retention- the ability to store information is also an important part of the learning process.
Motor Reproduction- practice of the learned behavior leads to improvement and skill
advancement.
Motivation- in order for observational learning to be successful, you have to be motivated to
imitate the behavior that has been modeled.
4 AGENTIC PERSPECTIVES
Intentionally- enables us to behave with purpose
Forethought- allows us to anticipates outcomes
Self- Reactiveness- we can be motivated to regulate our actions
Self-Reflectiveness- we can reflect our thoughts and behaviors and make needed modifications
CARL ROGERS (SELF THEORY)
Refers to the image of one-self
Defined the self as a flexible and changing perception of personal identity
Self develops from interactions with significant people and self-awareness
DONALD WINNICOTT (TRUE SELF VS FALSE SELF)
The function of the false self is to hide and protect the true self
People tend to display a false self to impress others
DAVID LESTER (MULTIPLE VS UNIFIED SELF)
The construction of multiple selves varies across different roles and relationships
Coping with different selves constitutes a formidable task among adolescent
KARL THEODOR JASPERS was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a
strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and
practising psychiatry, Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an
innovative philosophical system.
FRANZ CLEMENS HONORATUS HERMANN JOSEF BRENTANO was a German philosopher
and psychologist. His 1874 Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint, considered his magnum
opus, is credited with having reintroduced the medieval scholastic concept of intentionality into
contemporary philosophy.
JOSÉ ORTEGA Y GASSET was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the
first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and
dictatorship.
JEAN-PAUL CHARLES AYMARD SARTRE was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist,
screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-
century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of
existentialism.
THE SELF IN WESTERN AND ORIENTAL THOUGHTS
WESTERN
PLATO- nature of psyche dual
ARISTOTLE- hylomorphic theory stating that man is composed of matter and form.
DESCARTES- body gathers information and reason processes this information and make sense
with the experiences of the body.
PINEAL GLAND- part of the brain where body and soul us fused together.
ARETE- ultimate goodness
EASTERN
We have only one self
CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Ideal (moral) self
Is always able to forego individual interest in view of prioritizing the social interest.
Individual Self and the Social Self
Is not mutually exclusive but are metaphysically and profoundly related.
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SELF IN WESTERN
Individualistic- shows independence
Self Sufficiency- supply one’s need without external assistance
Self being Rational- everything must be explained by logic and reason
EASTERN CONSTRUCT
Self is a person within the society who exhibit refinement and compassion.
Junzi- the new formed self
Li- refined manner of spiritual rituals sacrifices and protocols in honor ancestors
Ren- character of the self sincerely showing compassion for others.
BUDDHISM PHILOSOPHY
Self is nothing but an evolution and transformation of inner consciousness.
Simple way of living is the way of life.
Nature of man and it’s purpose is to follow the 4 Noble Truth and 8 Folds Path
4 NOBLE TRUTH
1. Life is suffering
2. Suffering is cause by craving and aversion
3. Suffering can be overcome and happiness can be attained
 4. Noble 8 Folds Path ends suffering
a. Right Understanding
b. Right Thought
c. Right Speech
d. Right Action
e. Right Livelihood
f. Right Effort
g. Right Mindfulness
h. Right Concentration
Activity
Direction: Complete the chart below by 1) articulating your own understanding about the
perspective of these different disciplines with regards to the “self”, and by 2) drawing/cutting
out pictures on how these perspectives are tangibly perceived and realized in the society with a
single sentence explanation for each.
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

THE SELF IN WESTERN AND

PHILOSOPHY SOCIOLOGY ANTHROPOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY ORIENTAL/EASTERN
THOUGHT