Senior High School

Disciplines and Ideas in the

Social Sciences
Module 5:
Basic Concepts and Principles of
Psychoanalysis and Rational
Choice Theory

AIRs - LM
LU_Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5
HUMSS – DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Module 5: Basic Concepts and Principles of Psychoanalysis and Rational Choice Theory
Second Edition, 2021

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La Union Schools Division
Region I

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LU_Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

 SHS
Disciplines and Ideas in the
Social Sciences
Module 5:
Basic Concepts and Principles of
Psychoanalysis and Rational Choice
Theory

LU_Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

Introductory Message
This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear
learners, can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities,
questions, directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you
to understand each lesson.

Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you
step-by-step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.

Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in

each SLM. This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module
or if you need to ask your facilitator or your teacher’s assistance for better
understanding of the lesson. At the end of each module, you need to answer
the post-test to self-check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each
activity and test. We trust that you will be honest in using these.

In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teacher are
also provided to our facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on
how they can best help you on your home-based learning.

Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on
any part of this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises
and tests. And read the instructions carefully before performing each task.

If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in

answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher
or facilitator.

Thank you.

LU_Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

 Target

Samuel Sumaoang, a Christian Educator affirms that dominant

approaches and ideas in the scientific study of society are ways of looking at
society and explaining the things that are happening in it.
In your previous lesson, you have learned about the emergence and
essence of the Social Sciences and its disciplines; and prepared analyzing
some major social science theories.
In this week’s module, we will be continuing the journey in
understanding the different approaches and ideas employed in the study of
Social Sciences. These concepts may help provide credible explanations on
why humans act and think the way they do.
After going through this module, you are expected to analyze the basic
concepts and principles of the Social Science ideas: Psychoanalysis
(HUMSS_DISS 11-IIIi-5) Rational Choice (HUMSS_DISS 11-IVa-6).
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Define what is Psychoanalysis and Rational Choice Theory;
2. Discuss the basic concepts and principles of Psychoanalysis and
Rational Choice Theory; and
3. Apply the concepts and principles of Psychoanalysis and Rational
Choice Theory in analyzing one’s behavior and attitude.

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

 Jumpstart

To start up your engine, do the following activities.

Enjoy yourself and you’ll do great!

Activity 1: Anticipation Reaction Guide

Direction: The following statements enable you to gauge your level of
understanding about the roles, functions and competencies of counselors.
You are required to agree or disagree with each of the following statements.
Place a check mark (✓) on the before the lesson study column if you agree
with the statement and cross mark () if you don’t. Leave the after the lesson
study column for the latter part of this learning material.

Before the After the

Lesson Statement Lesson
Study Study
Psychoanalysis is a comprehensive theory about
human nature, drive actions, growth and
experience.
Psychoanalysis began with Sigmund Freud in
1882.
One of the criticisms of Psychoanalysis is
becoming subjective with too much focus on
individual experiences and cannot generalize for a
larger population.
As a Social Science approach, Psychoanalysis
made the case study method popular in social
sciences.
In understanding the psychodynamics of a
person’s personality, it is important to discuss the
key concepts of id and ego.

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

Activity 2: Think Of Me!
A. Read and analyze the situation below. What is your response if you will be
in this situation? Use extra sheet of paper where you can write your answer.

It’s been more than a year that tourism shuts down due to the pandemic
disease. But now, little by little, tourism industries opens up. Being a travel
wanderer, will you go out and maximize the time you’ve lost because of
community quarantines or you prefer to stay at home and wait until the disease
will be finally gone?

_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

Discover

Dominant Approaches and Ideas in the Social Sciences:

Psychoanalysis

According to the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA),

psychoanalysis can be described in two ways: first it is comprehensive theory
about human nature, drive actions, growth and experience. Second, it also
refers to a method of treatment for psychological problems and challenges in
living a successful life. It is based on the observation that individuals are often
unaware of the factors that determine their emotions and behavior.
Psychoanalysis is considered under critical social science because of its
emancipatory goal of liberating the individual from the unconscious by
analyzing the sources of domination which are hidden to a person (Jose and
Ong, 2016). Psychoanalysis as a social science approach liberates people by
acquiring consciousness of the unconscious. By means of it, people will

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

understand why they behave in a certain way or why they hold certain values
and beliefs.
Sigmund Freud started the study of psychoanalysis in 1890s. He
believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the
ego, and the superego. He was influenced by Joseph Breurer who believed that
a client with psychological disorder can be helped by simply talking about his
or her problem. He was the founder of psychoanalysis, but other thinkers—
including his own daughter Anna Freud—also left a significant mark on the
field. Among the most prominent names in psychoanalysis were Erik
Erikson, Erich Fromm, and Carl Jung.

Key concepts in Psychoanalysis:

A. Id – it is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary
component of personality; it is the only component of personality that
is present from birth. The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which
strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If
these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety
or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce
an immediate attempt to eat or drink. However, immediately fulfilling
these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled
entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing the
things that we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own
cravings. This behavior would be both disruptive and socially
unacceptable. According to Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension
created by the pleasure principle through the use of primary process
thinking, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object
as a way of satisfying the need.
B. Ego – develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can
be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world because it deals
with reality. It is the decision-making branch of the personality.
The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy
the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality
principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to
act upon or abandon impulses. The ego also discharges tension created
by unmet impulses through secondary process thinking, in which the
ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental
image created by the id's primary process. Imagine that you are stuck
in a long meeting at work. You find yourself growing increasingly
hungry as the meeting drags on. While the id might compel you to jump
up from your seat and rush to the break room for a snack, the ego
guides you to sit quietly and wait for the meeting to end. Instead of

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

 acting upon the primal urges of the id, you spend the rest of the meeting
imagining yourself eating a cheeseburger. Once the meeting is finally
over, you can seek out the object you were imagining and satisfy the
demands of the id in a realistic and appropriate manner.
C. Superego – referred to as the discriminating branch of the personality
in the sense that it holds the internalized moral standards and ideals
that we acquire from our parents and society (our sense of right and
wrong). The superego provides guidelines for making judgments. The
superego tries to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress
all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon
idealistic standards rather that upon realistic principles. The superego
is present in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

Strengths of Psychoanalysis:
• As a social science approach, it made the case study method popular
in social sciences, especially in psychology.
• It highlights the importance of childhood personality development
because childhood experiences will help in explaining and
understanding personality issues.
• It can be applied in a practical way and analysis of how unconscious
human behavior provides an explanation on social behavior.

Criticisms of Psychoanalysis:
• It is too subjective – focusing on individual experiences and therefore
cannot generalize for a larger population.
• It is also seen as too deterministic, focusing on the hidden forces that
dominate people to behave the way they do.
• It lacks of empirical evidence to support the theory’s complex nature as
one of its weaknesses, and its reliance on therapeutic achievements
makes it less credible.
•
Rational Choice Theory

Rational Choice Theory is one of the many positivist theories that try to
explain human behavior in terms of utility maximization or that when a
person is confronted with a set of choices, that person will choose the option
that will best serve his or her objectives. Rational means people act based on
or in accordance with reason or logic while choice refers to an act of selecting
or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.
The beginnings of the foundations of rational choice can be traced to
the age of reason (Oppenheimer, 2008). In the 1960s George Homans, an
American sociologist was credited for establishing rational choice theory in

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

sociology. Gary Becker (1930-2014) is also one of the contributors in the study
of Rational Choice Theory. His ability of extending microeconomic
investigation to a broad extent of human behavior and interaction such as
discrimination, crime and punishment, human capitals, families and organ
market paved him the way for the Nobel Prize in 1992.

Key concepts in Rational Choice Theory:

A. Utility Maximization – people will choose the object that provides the
greatest reward at the lower cost.
B. Structure of preferences – refers to the idea that people are motivated by
their personal desires and aspirations but since it is not possible for
them to attain all of the things that they want, they must make choices
related to their goals and the means for attaining those goals. For
instance, a person who wishes to have a car may choose between two
options: buy the car by spending most of his savings (he or she may
have little savings left but will merit status symbol for being able to buy
a car) or steal the car (which can lead to imprisonment and social
disapproval when caught).
C. Decision-making under conditions for uncertainty – The decision-maker
is not aware of all available alternatives, the risks associated with each,
and the consequences of each alternative or their probabilities. In the
face of such uncertainty, decision-maker needs to make certain
assumptions about the situation in order to provide a reasonable
decision. He or she has to depend upon their judgment and experience
for making decisions.
D. Centrality of individuals in the explanation of group outcomes – means
that group outcomes must be explained by maximized actions of
individual. Social phenomena can be explained in terms of the
individual actions that led to those phenomena. The basic unit of social
life is individual human deed. Therefore, group outcomes are caused by
the maximizing actions of individuals.

Strengths of Rational Choice Theory:

• Generality – one set of hypotheses applies to all sets of structural
hypotheses, that is the most general theory of social action which can
be used to understand all human behavior (Ogu, 2013)
• Parsimony – a principle to which an explanation of a thing or event is
made with the fewest possible assumptions.
• Predictive – decisions of individuals depend on the structures and
assumptions.

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

Criticisms of Rational Choice Theory:
• Difficulty encountered by individuals to make decisions in case of
inadequate information and uncertainty.
• Human social action and interactions is complex and rational choice
theory may not be able to explain all of these complexities.
• Difficulty of explaining macro level structures and institutions simply
from the models of individual social action.
• Rational choice assumption that almost everything humans do and
rational is problematic, since not all human actions are rational.

Explore

Here are some enrichment activities for you to work on to master and
strengthen the basic concepts you have learned from this lesson. Don’t
hesitate to go over the lesson on Psychoanalysis and Rational Choice
Theory.

Enrichment Activity 1. ESSAYhan Lang Natin!

Direction: Answer the following questions in two or three sentences. Write
your answers in your study notebook.
1. How can psychoanalysis help people understand why they feel and
behave in particular ways?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Think of another scenario which will show how the id, ego and superego
form reactions based on their nature.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Why do most societies treat women as subordinate to men?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

 4. How does gender ideology affect gender inequality?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Scoring Rubric
Points Description
5 • Provides an insightful and detailed
explanation/opinion that includes or
extends ideas from the text.
4 • Provides some explanation/opinion that
includes ideas from the text for support.
3 • Uses text incorrectly or with limited
success and includes an inconsistent or
confusing explanation.
2 • Demonstrates minimal understanding of
the task and provides an unclear reference
or no use of the text for support
1 • Response is completely irrelevant or off –
topic

Enrichment Activity 2. Identify Me!

Direction: Identify the concept being described in each number. Use extra
sheet of paper where you can write your answer.
1. People act based on or in accordance with reason or logic.
2. People will choose the object that provides the greatest reward at the
lowest cost.
3. Credited for establishing rational choice in sociology.
4. Idea that people must make choices related to their goals and the means
of attaining those goals.
5. A principle to which an explanation of a thing or event is made with the
fewest possible assumptions.

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

Assessment
Directions: Complete the table by showing a brief description, contributors,
strengths and criticisms of the lesson (Rational Choice Theory &
Institutionalism) being discussed. Copy the table in your study notebook.

CRITICISMS
THEORIES DESCRIPTION CONTRIBUTORS STRENGTHS

Psychoanalysis
Rational
Choice Theory

Deepen

After doing those pen and paper activities, it is time for you to apply the
concept you have learned. Choose one scenario from the ones listed below
and share your own personal and social experience or knowledge of them
using one of the two theories discussed in this lesson. Write a reflection paper
about it.
a. Being a member of a particular organization (religious or socio-
civic)
b. Deciding where to eat during lunch break
c. Roles of your family in shaping your norms and values

Rubric for Reflection Paper

CRITERIA DESCRIPTION POINTS POINTS
OBTAINED
Content The learner was able to choose
one scenario and was able to
interpret personal and social
10
experiences using one of the two
approaches discussed in this
lesson.
Analysis Analysis was clear and concise
6
based on the data presented.
Organization The paper was well-written with
4
ideas easily conveyed to readers.
Total 20

LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

 Gauge

Essay: Using a separate sheet of paper. Write and discuss in at least 5

sentences the statement below. Use the scoring rubric above.

“A person is likely to help someone in need if in his past experiences, his actions
has been rewarded” – George Homan
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Good job! You are done with this module. ☺

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LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

References
Printed Materials
Jose, Mary Dorothy et al. (2016) Disciplines and Ideas in the Social
Sciences: Quezon City, Philippines: Vibal Group, Inc.

Tatel Jr., Carlos, P. (2016) Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences:
Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.

Links
Cherry, Kendra (2020). The Influence of Psychoanalysis on the Field of
Psychology. Retrieved from September 14, 2020 from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-psychoanalysis-2795246
https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/decision-making/decision-
making-under-certainty-risk-and-uncertainty/3371
http://socialsciences101.blogspot.com/
https://slideplayer.com/slide/13700036/

Image/Picture
http://clipart-library.com/free/thinking-clip-art-black-and-white.html

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LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5

 For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – SDO La Union

Curriculum Implementation Division
Learning Resource Management Section
Flores St. Catbangen, San Fernando City La Union 2500
Telephone: (072) 607 - 8127
Telefax: (072) 205 - 0046
Email Address:
launion@deped.gov.ph
lrm.launion@deped.gov.ph

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LU_ Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences _Module 5