Physical Self

Santrock (2014) said that self understanding is the individual’s cognitive representation
of the self which consists of the substance and the concept of self-conceptions.Self-
understanding can be described as simple to perplex and involved a number of aspects
of the self. It also changes throughout the life span as the person grows older.

GROWING UP..-As you grow up, you are exposed to environmental influences that
shape your physical self, including those from your social networks, societal
expectations, and cultural practices that will lead a person to understand themselves.

 The concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly
observed or experienced.
 Refers to the body, both physical extremities and external organs, which work
together to perform many of its functions.
 Physical self is not just about how you look, not just about abs and such. It is also
about how you nourish your self-image, self-concept and self-esteem.

PHYSICAL CHANGES
Santrock (2016) recognized puberty as the most essential marker of the beginning of
adolescence.
 Girls reached puberty earlier than boys and experience menarche which is the first
menstrual flow
 Boys, two to three years later than girls, experience spermarche or semenarche
which is the first ejaculation or nocturnal emission (wet dreams).In addition, he
explained that puberty is a brain-neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in early
adolescence that triggers the rapid physical changes that occur in the adolescent
stage of human development.
Pituitary gland
- the master endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates the functions of all other
endocrine glands including the gonads (ovaries: girls, testes: boys). The hormones
secreted by the gonads (sex glands) are distributed by the blood stream throughout the
body.The chemical substances secreted by the gonads promotes physical changes
 such as height, widening of the hips and increase in fatty tissues in the breast of girls
and responsible for boy’s growth of facial and body hair, muscles, and changes in voice.

Primary sexual changes for both boys and girls are changes in their reproductive
organs which is a preparation for procreation.
Secondary sexual changes
 Estrogen (girls)- increase in height, widening of the hips, and increase in fatty
tissues inthe breast of girls.
 Androgen and testosterone (boys)- responsible for the boy’s growth of facial and body
hair, muscles and change in the voice.Prenatal Development.

10 STAGES OF LIFESPAN by Elizabeth Hurlock
 Infancy and Toddlerhood.
 Early Childhood.
 Middle Childhood.
 Adolescence.
 Early Adulthood.
 Middle Adulthood.
 Late Adulthood.

Games about the stages of life span.- FACT OR MYTH

Factors Affecting the Development of Physical Self

 The understanding of the Physical self is shaped by biological and environmental

factors.

1.Hereditary (Nature)
– transmission of traits/characteristics from parents to offspring.Through genes,
hereditary potentials like physical, mental, social, emotional, and moraltraits are passed
down in generations.
The Biological blueprint involves Heredity and its important factors. The traits are
made up of specific information embedded within one’s gene. Genotype refers to the
specific information embedded within one’s genes; not all genotypes translate to an
observed physical characteristic. Phenotype is the physical expression of a particular
trait. Each individual carries 23 pairs of chromosomes, which are threadlike bodies in
the nucleus of the cell and the storage unit of genes.
The 23rd pair, also known as sex chromosomes, determines the sex of an individual.
Within each chromosome is the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which is a nucleic acid
that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of every
individual.

2.Environment (Nurture)
– sum total of the forces or experiences that a person undergoesfrom conception to
old age.
3. Health

Body Image
Adolescents become preoccupied with their bodies and develop images of what their
bodies and develop images of what their bodies are like.
-refers to the way one sees himself/herself or the way he/she imagines howhe/she
looks. It could be positive or negative.
 Adolescents with the most positive body image are engaged in health enhancing
behaviorsuch as eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. Girls are less
happy with their bodyimages than boys throughout.
 Adolescents with poor body images have negative thoughts and feelings about
theirappearance which can either be true or not.
 A healthy body image includes positive thoughts, feelings and acceptance of one’s
body and overall physical appearance.
 Young adolescents experience spotlight effect which refers to the belief that others
(imaginary audience) are paying more attention to the person’s appearance and
behavior than they really are.

Factors that affect the perception of physical self

1.Personal Factors
a.Introspection and Self-reflection
-Introspection is the process by which one observes and examines one’s internal state
(mental and emotional) after behaving in a certain way (Hewstone et al., 2015).
Introspection is limited because people are commonly motivated to keep their unwanted
thoughts and experiences out of memory and consciousness. In short, people tend to
overestimate their positive aspects.
b. Self perception Theory.
-Bem (1972)self-perception theory explains that since one’s internal state is difficult to
interpret, people can infer inner states by observing
their own behavior as if they are an outside observer.
c. Self concept.
-Self-concept is a cognitive representation of self-knowledge which includes the sum
total of all beliefs that people have about themselves. It pertains to all characteristics the
person enumerates when asked to describe who he is.
Physical self-concept – individual’s perception or description of his physical
self(including physical appearance)
d. Personal Identity
- It is the concept a person has about himself that develops over the years. This
includes aspects of his life that he was born into like family,nationality, gender, physical
traits as well as the choices he makes, such as what he does for a living, who his
friends are and what he believes in.

2.Social Factors
a.Attachment Process and Social Appraisal
-Bowlby (1969) states that people learn about their value and lovability when they
experience how their mothers or caregivers care for them and respond to their needs.
Caregiving that is consistent promote positive self-concept; whereas caregiving that is
neglectful creates a negative self-concept concluding that they are not worthy and
others cannot be trusted.
b. Maintaining Regulating and Expanding the Self in Interpersonal Relationship.
- The sense of self is continuously shaped through ongoing interaction with others or
with significant relationship partners. They act as a “private audience” with whom
people carry an internal dialogue.
c. The Looking glass Self Theory.
-Cooley stated that a person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions and
the perception of others. In looking glass self, the self-image is shaped and reflected
from the social world. Other people’s reaction would serve as a mirror in which people
see themselves. Reflected appraisal are inferences regarding other’s appraisal of a
person. It is gained by observing how people react towards and individual.
d. Social Comparison
- Social comparison is a process of comparing oneself with others in order to evaluate
one’s own abilities and opinions.
 Upward social comparison- individual compares himself to others who are better
than him. On the negative, he may experience inferiority, envy or frustration
 Downward social comparison- individual compares himself to someone who is in a
worse situation than he is especially when he is feeling so low. On the other hand,
one may give rise to feelings of superiority and arrogance.
e. Social Identity Theory(Collective Identity)
-This was formulated by Tajfel and Turner 1973 which provides a framework about how
people achieve understanding about themselves by being a member of their group. This
idea assumes that as a member of the group they will not be discriminated by an out-
group. It will enhance their self-esteem because they feel secured with the shield of
group membership where they belong. Social
groups include gender, ethnicity, religion, profession, political membership and business
organizations.

Self Identity
-The person that someone truly is or the entire person of the individual. A person
believes she or he is, representing a synthesis and integration of self-understanding.
(Santrock, 2014)The total characteristics or qualities of a person both known and
unknown to others but known to oneself. The traits or characteristics, social relations,
roles, and social group memberships that define who one is. A way of making sense of
some aspect or part of self-concept (Leary andTangney, 2012).
-This framework was created by Tajfel and Turner in 1979 and all about how people
achieve understanding about themselves by being a member of their group. People
have a need for a positive social identity that is why they connect to a wider social
network.
Social groups- include gender, ethnicity, religion, profession, political membership, and
business organizations.

The table is a comparison of self and identity

SELF IDENTITY IDENTITIES

belongs to an individual is based on societal or are not stable markers of

level analysis which cultural level analysis such
includes self-esteem, self- as cultural concept of
states, self-efficacy and the oneself and cultural make-
like. up which makes a person
who he is.
what people exact to be.
Identity is a description of
who a person is.

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM: THE

IMPORTANCE OF BEAUTY
Culture
is defined as a social system that is characterized by the shared meanings that are
attributed to people and events by its members. Culture strongly influences adolescents
who are ina face-to-face encounter with their physical selves is how their culture
conceptualize beauty.Beauty, as defined by Merriam-Webster, a quality of being
physically attractive or qualities in a person or a thing that give pleasure to the senses
or the mind. It should be noted that in every culture and in every individual, the
standards of beauty vary a lot.

The following cultural elements could be to blame for the misunderstandings:

Societal Ideals of The Adolescents are Exposed Societal Norms That are
Ideal Physical to Perfect Images in All Reaffirmed by The Media
Appearance Forms of Media

For women: Women Images that they view Being attractive,white

online, on television, in skinned, or muscular and
should have white, flawless
movies, and in print. tanned had come to be
skin, a small waist, large
seen as indicators of being
breasts, and a full back.
intelligent, successful,
They should also be tall
popular, healthy, and
and slender.
disciplined.
For man: Tall, flawlessly
Dull, lazy, ugly, and weak
tanned skin, a muscular are attributes that are
build, and six-pack abs. associated with the
Images that they view opposite group
online, on television, in
movies, and in print.

The Filipino Concept of Beauty

Eurocentrism

 There is a tendency to view mixed-race Filipinos as the default attractive standard,
as shown by the fact that Filipinos frequently win international beauty pageants.

 The "Tisoy" and "Tisay" beauty standards are heavily marketed in the media.

 The term "colorism" refers to a component of eurocentrism that is "the prejudicial
treatment of same-race people based solely on the color of their skin." Morena
people were usually advised to use whitening products and criticize
 Having fair skin gives the appearance of being beautiful, healthy, and wealthy.

 Mixed-race Filipinos are regarded as more attractive because they are closer to
looking Caucasian which indicates wealth and good breeding.

 Dark-skinned Filipinos frequently have unfavorable self-images.

 Foreign standards have a significant impact on Filipino youth.

 Eurocentrism and colorism do in fact have substantial
.

SELF-ESTEEM AND THE IDEAL BODY IMAGE

Self-esteem
-worth based on some personal or social standard. It is a global evaluative dimension of
the self.
-As one's overall assessment of oneself, which may be favorable or unfavorable.
-Is a way to evaluate someone's worth based on a subjective or objective standard.
-It is a self-evaluation dimension on a global scale.
-The value that person places on himself in the eyes of others.

As children advance to the stage of adolescence, they form a body image. Adolescent’s
body image includes the following:
•Perception of their physical self when they look in the mirror.
•Feelings of like or dislike about the physical self that they see.
•Their thoughts and how they relate to their physical self.
•Perception of how other people view them physically. A person with positive body
image will have a high self-esteem and will often spend more time taking care of their
appearance. However, when a person is not satisfied with what he sees which affects
how he perceives himself and feels that he does not measure up how his culture
defines beauty, then he will have a negative body image and a low self-esteem.
Adolescent may resort to extreme negative behaviors in order to meet the so-called
status quo. And this behavior is unnecessary because it gives pressure to the young
people by risking their physical and mental health. The following are some aspects in
culture that may have led to the a fore mentioned misconceptions:
1.Society’s ideals of the perfect physical form
2.Images of perfection adolescents see in all types of media i.e. print, television, film
and internet
3.Any characteristic that does not conform to the standard is labelled as ugly.

Adolescence is the period wherein the self-identity is formed. It is important for adults to
listen to the young people and provide good guidance and support. Adolescent should
not be afraid to talk and disclose confusing aspects of his physical development to his
significant others.

WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR BODY IMAGE AND INNER SELF

•Smile a lot.
•Take good care of your health.
•Live a well-balanced life.
•Dress well and be neat.
•Spend some time alone to reflect
•Be creative and do something new all the time.
•Develop a wholesome attitude toward sex.
•Avoid temptations.
•Respect individuality
• Make friends.
•Face your fears.
•Be independent.
•Accept things as they are.
•Ask and listen.
•Think positive.
•Pray.
•Be thankful