THE SELF AND

ITS
DEVELOPMENT
By : Ma. Cristina D. Diola
THE SIGNIFICANT OF THE
SELF
The world has become
sophisticated and complicated.
Advances in technology make a man’s
life as sophisticated and complicated,
too. Amidst this sophistication and
complexities, man tries to search for
meaning. This search never stops to
the extent that man realizes he needs
to reflect on his own self.
 THE FOLLOWING BASIC
QUESTIONS CONFRONT IN
THIS MODERN WORLD:
“WHO AM I?” “WHY I’M
HERE?”
“WHAT IS THE PURPOSE
OF MY EXISTENCE?”
HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT
AND THE SELF
1. Heredity
> genetic inheritance which provides
basic potentialities for development and
behavior. 
> includes not only physical structure but
also man’s striving, thinking, feeling,
acting and patterns of growth and
change throughout a predictable life
cycle.
2. ENVIRONMENT
>Man’s physical and socio-
cultural environment heavily
influence the extent to which
genetic potentials are realized.
 > Socio-cultural inheritance
(end product of social
revolution).
3. THE SELF
> concept necessary for explaining many
aspects of our perception, feeling,
thinking and behavior.
 > Cannot be observed directly but is
inferred from various behavior that can
be observed.
 > Can be viewed as complex
psychological process which has
developmental course influenced by
learning and subject to change.
 NATURE OF THE SELF
The SELF is a complex process of
continuing interpretive activity,
simultaneously the person’s located
subjective stream of consciousness
(both reflexive and non-reflexive)
including perceiving, thinking,
planning, evaluating, choosing and the
resultant accruing of self-conceptions.
“TO HAVE A SELF IS TO
HAVE THE CAPACITY TO
OBSERVE, RESPOND
TO, AND DIRECT ONE’S
OWN BEHAVIOR.”
-GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
CHARACTERISTIC OF
THE SELF
The self is not an entity, but a process
 > one’s behavior is a process that includes
carving out a line of action that meditates
between one’s impulses (“I”) an the
expectations of social environment (‘me”)
 > The individual changes, the particular
structure of attitudes that comprise the self
at a particular time is NOT permanent.
2. THE SELF IS
REFLEXIVE.
> Individual can be an object of
his own behavior, aware of
various qualities he has and of
roles he plays, he acts towards
himself and guides on the basis
of the kind of object he is to
himself.
 (AN INDIVIDUAL BEHAVES DIFFERENTLY
AS HE RELATES TO A PROFESSOR, A
FRIEND, A CHILD, ETC.)

3. The self is comprised of Attitudes.

> self is an organization of shared
attitudes; a structure of attitudes, not a
group of habits, which comprises the self.
 > without the shared values, there could
be no self no viable communal life;
without the differences there could be no
novelty and no individuality.
THE SELF IS THE MEANS
WHEREBY SOCIAL CONTROL
BECOMES SELF-CONTROL.
> to have a self is to internalize
the attitudes of the community
and thereby control one’s own
behavior in terms of those
attitudes
 Social Control – ‘Me” over “I”
 ( individuals behavior conforms
 ORIGIN OF THE SELF
1.The infant engages in initiative but
meaningless behavior ( gestures then
language)
2.Once the child begins to function
symbolically, play activities become
important in the development of the self.
3.Then, organized games. One must generalize
the expectations of the other and act on the
basis.
 CHARLES H. COOLEY –
THE SELF IS ANY IDEA
OR SYSTEMS OF IDEAS
WHICH IS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE
APPROPRIATE ATTITUDE
WE CALL SELF-FEELING.
 LOOKING – GLASS
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
1.The imagination of our
appearance to other persons.
2.The imagination of his judgment
of that appearance
3.Some sort of self-feeling, such as
pride or mortification.
 
THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE SELF
The individual self-
concept is his picture
himself-his views of
himself as distinct from
other persons and things.
 THE SELF-CONCEPT
INCORPORATES:
  His perceptions of who he is (self-identity)

> The quality that makes a person or

thing different from others.
 > As the individual’s experience,
broaden, his self-identity comes to include
things outside himself with which he feels
strong personal involvement.
 2. HIS FEELINGS OF WORTH AND
ADEQUACY (SELF-EVALUATION)

> Child develops self-evaluation

which is heavily dependent upon the
way in which others view him,
particularly his parents and other
important people in his life.
 > Self-evaluations of the child’s
have long-range effects on his
development.
3. HIS PICTURE OF THE PERSON HE COULD
BE AND SHOULD BE (SELF-IDEAL)

 > The individual’s image of the

person he would like to be and
thinks he should be.
 > The discrepancy between a
person’s existing self-image and
self-ideal is necessary for the
fostering of personal growth.
AS ONE AUTHOR PUTS IT: “
IT’S DIFFICULT FOR ME
DESCRIBE WHAT KIND OF
PERSON I AM, BECAUSE A
PART OF SOMEONE IS, AT
MY STAGE, MADE UP OF
WHAT THEY WANT TO BE.
LIKE THAT I COULD
DESCRIBE MYSELF PARTLY
IN TERMS OF WHAT TO BE.”
SELF-DIRECTION
> “One behavior systems
theorist James G. Miller
point out that each living
system contains what he
describes as a “decider
subsystem”.
OUR FRAME OF
REFERENCE
> In one’s encounter with his
environment, the individual
gradually builds an inner cognitive
map or his frame of reference.
> This provides the individual a
meaningful picture of himself and
his world.
 KEY ELEMENTS IN THE
INDIVIDUAL’S FRAME OF REFERENCE
ARE THE ASSUMPTIONS HE MAKES
CONCERNING REALITY, VALUE AND
POSSIBILITY.
1. ASSUMPTIONS CONCERNING
REALITY
How things really are.
These include one’s assumptions, about
himself as a person, about other people,
and about the world in which he lives.
2. ASSUMPTIONS
ABOUT VALUES
> How things should be
> The value system and
value judgment of a person
may become the source of
his frame of reference.
3. ASSUMPTIONS
CONCERNING POSSIBILITY

> How things could be

> The possibilities
for change and
improvement.
GENERALIZED OTHER
> Organized community or social
group which gives the individual
his unity of self. (Mead)
> Organized structure of attitude
that one appropriate from the
social milieu.
> Integral part of thinking.
REFERENCE GROUP
Term used by Hyman which is a
study of the group of people
used for purposes of comparison
and evaluation of themselves.
 It refers to a group that issued
as a basis of comparison.
THE SELF ACCORDING TO
DIFFERENT AUTHORS
“ The self-incorporates feelings
and attitudes along with a
principle of casuality.”
  -
William James
“ The ego which has the
appropriate function in the
personality is the self.”
“ The ego describes what instinct to satisfy, as
well as in what manner to satisfy them. It keeps
a “Psychic Balance” between the demands of the
moral arm of the personality and the natural
impulses of the person. “
- Sigmund Freud

“ The self is an object of awareness. The person

responds to himself with certain feelings and
attitudes as to others respond to him.”
  - George H.
Mead
 “ The self-concept is a represented
by a life space region which
determines present belief about the
self.”
  - K. Lewin
 

“ The subjective self is mainly what

a person thinks about himself.”
- H.
Lundhoin
 “ The self is an object an the ego
is the process.”
  - Sheriff and
Cantril
 
“ The ego is a group of
processes and the manner in
which the individual reacts to
himself.”
  - P. M. Symonds
 “ The self is the principal
organizing influence asserted
upon man which gives stability
and order to human behavior.”
- R. B. Catell
 

“ The self is the individual

known to the individual.”
- G. Murphy
“ The consistency between behavior and the
self-concept indicates the dual role of self:
self as object and self as a process.”
- Carl Rogers

  “ The self is composed of perceptions

concerning the individual and this
organization of perceptions has vital and
important effects upon the behavior of
individual. “
- D. Syngg and A.
W. Combs
 
CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE
If a child lives with criticism. He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility. He learns to fight. 
If a child lives with ridicule. He learns to be shy.
 If a child lives with tolerance. He learns to be patient. 
If a child lives with encouragement. He learns
confidence. 
If a child lives with praise. He learns appreciate. 
If a child lives with fairness, He learns justice. 
If a child lives with security. He learns faith. 
If a child lives with approval. He learns to like himself. 
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship. He
learns to find love in the world.
THE
END
Thank you for
listening……….