THE SELF FROM THE

PERSPECTIVE OF
PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
• It is the field of social sicences that deals with the
description, explanation, prediction and control of behavior.
• Psychology furthers believes that the world of material
things including people exists independently of the
perceiving human mind.
WILLIAM JAMES
• He is an American Philosopher and Psychologist.
• He is known for his Theory of the Self.
• He wrote the book 'Principles of Psychology' where his
theory of the self is explained.
THE 'ME' AND THE 'I'
William James in his studies of human thoughts concluded that
thoughts have five characteristics:
1. All human thoughts are owned by some personal self.
2. All thoughts are constantly changing or are never static.
3. There is a continuity of thoughts as its focus shifts from one object
to another.
4. Thoughts deal with objects that are different from and independent
of consciousness itself.
5. Consciousness can focus on particular objects and not others.
James believed that the self is made up of two parts: the ME and the I
self. The ME self can be considered as a separate object or individual
that the person refers to when discussing or describing their personal
experience.
Example: The gifts were sent to ME.
The person is smiling at ME.

The I self is the self that knows and recognizes who they are and what
they have done.
Example: I borrowed the book from the library.
I won the game.
James called the ME self as the empirical ME and the I self the pure Ego
or the thinking self. the ME self is further divided into three
components namely: the material self, the social self and the spiritual
self.
1. The material self consists of the things or objects that belong to the
person or entities that a person belongs to. Examples of these are
the person's body, his family, clothes, books and even his money.
The body is the core of the material self and everything that is
attached or associated to it identifies the person. For instance, you
can identify the person by the style of clothes he wears, the type of
books he reads, the culture of his family and the amount of money
that he has. The more attached and identified the person is to his
material things, the more he will be affected if any of them
changes. For example, a death in the family or being a victim of fire
cause changes in the material self.
2. The Social self refers to who the person is in a particular social
situation. Changes in behavior usually result from the different social
situations the person finds himself in. James believed that people have
many social selves because of the many social situations they find
themselves in. For example the person changes how he presents
himself when he is at home, in school or with his friends. The person
chooses the self that would smoothly adapt to the social situation in
order for him to fit in.
3. The Spiritual self refers to the self that is more concrete or
permanent when compared to the material and social selves. This self
is the most subjective and intimate part of the self. It include aspects
like the individual's personality, values, and morals that are usually
stable and constant.
The spiritual self is always engaging in the process of instrospection
(self-observation). This is the method that includes reflecting or looking
inward to study and understand the how and why of the self. According
to James, this looking inward is more important than satisfying the
needs of either the material or the social self. If there is a conflict in the
spiritual self then it will be very difficult for the person to have peace of
mind.
The I self is what William James called the Pure Ego. The Pure
Ego is similar to the person's soul or mind. Since this is
considered to be a non-substance the I self cannot be studied
objectively. The Pure Ego comprises the totality of the
person's identity. It takes into account the past, present and
future selves of the individual. This perception of identity
arises from a continuous stream of human consciousness
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William James).
OTHER SELVES IN PSYCHOLOGY
• The field of psychology is rich in concepts and ideas about
human behavior. The concept that is the self has been
studies quite extensively. As such, psychologists and other
scientists in the social sciences presented their versions and
ideas about the self.
GLOBAL AND DIFFERENTIATED SELF MODELS
The global self represents the overall value that a person
places upon himself. This affects how he views and feels about
himself. It is inevitable for a person to born and to grow up in
the presence of other people. The groups of people that he
interacts with everyday of his life strongly influence him.
These people are who he turns to when he needs advise,
someone to talk to or just to be with. He turns to them for
support and seeks their approval in the journey of finding
himself. His global self is the product of all experiences that he
had in the society which accounts for the kind of person he
presently is.
 MURRAY BOWEN
• He developed the Family Therapy and Systematic Therapy.
• In his observation of family, he came up with the concept of a
differentiated self.
• In his theory, he observed that there are two forces affecting
the person; the first is togetherness and the second is
individuality. A balance should be maintained between these
two forces for: too much togetherness creates friction and
conflict and prevents the development of the person's sense of
self; too much individuality on the other hand results in distant
and estrange feelings towards family and other people.
• A differentiated self, though still affected by the presence of others, has
the ability to separate feelings and thoughts. The person recognizes that
he has his own personality and therefore endowed with unique
characteristics not found in other members of the group. With this
knowledge he realizes that for him to attain self-fulfillment, he should
have the will to separate himself from the group, live his own life and
fulfill his destiny. Being able to free himself from the influence of others
allows him to define himself. By differentiating from unwanted influences
and in the environment, he can be who he truly is rather than take on
the identity that is prescribed by family or society. The differentiated self
enables the person to develop and sustain his unique identity, make his
own choices and accept responsibility for his behavior and still be able to
stay emotionally connected with his family and friends.
REAL AND IDEAL SELF CONCEPTS
• CARL ROGERS (1902-1987) was an American psychologists who proposed
the personality theory known as the Person-Centered Theory.
• He stated that the term self concept is used to refer to how a person thinks
about or perceives himself. There are two types of self concept: the real self
concept and the ideal self concept.
• THE REAL SELF CONCEPT refers to all information and perception the
person has about himself. This is how he actually is and answers the
question, “Who am I?”
• THE IDEAL SELF CONCEPT is the model version has of himself. This idealized
view was borne out of experiences, standards and demands of society and
the heroes and models which he chooses to imitate. In short, the ideal self
is what the person aims for himself to be. It answers the question of who he
wants to become or “Who do I want to be?”
• Rogers stated that there should be congruence (sameness, equality)
between the real self and the ideal self in order for the person to be
happy and satisfied with his life. If the real self is very different from the
ideal self then the person will experience dissatisfaction and may see
himself as a failure or a loser.
• THE SELF-DISCREPANCY THEORY OF HIGGINS stated that people use
internalized standards to which they compare themselves. These are
called self-guides which provide directions for how the person should
present himself. When the self is found too deviating/diverting from
these guides, the result is self-descrepancy. Self-descrepancy may cause
emotional discomfort to the individual and can manifested as guilt or
worst as indifference.
 MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED SELVES
• The Multiple Selves Theory suggests that there exists in the individual
different aspect of the self. It makes sense that the self is a whole made
up of parts. These parts of the self may manifest themselves when
situations call for it. A psychologically and healthy individual, however, is
a person who is able to make sense of the sometimes confusing and
conflicting aspects of themselves and integrate them into a single,
unified self.
• A unified being is essentially connected to consciousness, awareness and
agency. To be considered a well-adjusted person, success and failures
should be accepted and understood. This is a person who is able to deal
with and accept the complexities and the perceived unfairness that exist
inlife. They manifest content with the present state of affairs and
continue to adjust, adapt, evolve and survive as an individual with an
integrated, unified multiple selves.
TRUE AND FALSE SELVES
• D.W. WINNICOTT (1896-1971) was an English pediatrician and
psychoanalyst who studied child development.
• He looked into the significance of play in child development.
• It is also through play where he observed children/people as having
true and false selves.
• The true self in individuals 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 existence.
• It is furher characterized by a high level of awareness in the person of
who he is, what he is capable of and is not afraid to let others know
his weaknesses and imperfections.
• THE TRUE SELF is the individual who recognizes his strengths and accepts
his limitations, enjoys winning and success and learns from mistakes and
failures. Never afraid to try over again.
• A FALSE SELF may be manifested as a form of defense. It lacks
spontaneity, is dead and empty. It is the mask that hides the true person
for fear of the pain of rejection and failure. False selves usually surface
when the person is forced to comply with existing social norms and
standards. At times false selves enable the person to form superficial but
productive social relationships.
• According to Winnicot, true and false selves are present in all individuals.
For the two to exist in a healthy individual, they should be functional for
the advantage of both the person himself and his society. A person that
struggles to fit in but still experiences the feeling of being forced to
comply rather than adapting gracefully to the situation is a person whose
self is maladjusted and unhealthy.
THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
• ALBERT BANDURA (1926-present) is the proponent of the personality
theory known as the Social Cognitve Centered Theory.
• In his theory, the person is seen as proactive and agentic which means
that he has the capacity to exercise control over his life.
• The human agency according to Bandura is the essence of being human.
• In his Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm, he explains further how
human beings are affected by the interaction among environmental
events, behavior and personal factor.
• In his theory, the basic principle involved in human learning is learning
through observation. A large portion of human behavior resulted from
modelling in which the behavior of the model is consciously acquired for
in the mind of the person, this process will help him achieve his goals.
Human natures described by Bandura is plastic and flexible.
• 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 the environment
and achieve desired consequences.
FEATURES OF HUMAN AGENCY
In the Social Cognitive Theory. Bandura discusses the four features of
human agency:
1. INTENTIONALITY refers to the actions performed by the person
intentionally or with full awareness of his behavior. This feature
involves planning with awareness of the possible consequences of
actions.
2. FORETHOUGHT refers to the person's anticipation of likely
outcomes of the behavior. This allows him to select from a
repertoire of behaviors and determine which one will most likely
lead to positive outcome.
3. SELF-REACTIVENESS refers to the process in which the person is
motivated and regulates his behavior as he observes his progress in
achieving his goals. The goals that the person wants to reach should
be clear and specific. It should also be within his ability to achieve.
The person should be realistic, aware of his potentials and
capabilities to fulfil his goals.
4. SELF-REFLECTIVENESS refers to the person looking inward and
evaluating his motivations, values, life goals and other people's
effect on him. An important aspect of self reflectiveness is self
efficacy which is the person's belief that he is capable of behavior
that will produce the desired positive result.
SELF REGULATION
The person engages in self-regulated behavior when he reactively
attempts to minimize the discrepancies between what he has already
accomplished and what he still wants to achieve. After seeing that he is
at the right track in achieving his goal he will also proactively set new
and higher goals for himself.
Self regulation allows the person to set goals that are better and higher
than the former, challenging his capabilities and making him a wiser
and self-actualized individual.