UNDERSTANDING

THE SELF
BY : CARVIN PAUL G. TAMPOS
CHAPTER 1
DEFINING THE SELF: PERSONAL AND
DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES ON
SELF IDENTITY
 THE SELF AS COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCT
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
LESSON
At the end of this lesson, you should be able
to:
1. Identity the different ideas in psychology about “self”;
2. Create your own definition of the “self” based on the definitions
from psychology; and
3. Analyze the effects of various factors identified in psychology in the
formation of the “self”.
3
ABSTRACTION
In confidence or in an attempt to avoid further analytical discussions, a lot of people say, “I
am who I am." Yet, this statement still begs the question “if you are who you are, then who are
you that makes you who you are?”
As mentioned earlier, there are various definitions of the "self' and other similar or
interchangeable concepts in psychology.
• Jhangiani and Tarry (2014) quoted that “self” is “the sense of personal identity and of who
we are as individuals.”
• William James (1890): as one of the earliest psychologists to study the self and
conceptualized the self as having two aspects—the “I” and the “me.” The “I" is the thinking,
acting, and feeling self (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Hogg and Vaughan 2010).
The “me” on the other hand, is the physical characteristics as well as psychological
capabilities that makes who you are (Gleitman, Gross and Reisberg 2011: Hogg and
Vaughan 2010).
• Carl Rogers's (1959) theory of personality also used the same terms, the "I" as the one who
acts and decides while the "me" is what you think or feel about yourself as an object
(Gleitman Gross, and Reisberg 2011).
Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept.
• Identity is composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and responsibilities, as well as
affiliations that define who one is (Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012).
• Self-concept is what basically comes to your mind when you are asked about who you are
(Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012).
SELF, IDENTITY, AND SELF-CONCEPT ARE NOT FIXED IN ONE TIME FRAME.

Carl Rogers’s concept of self-schema

Self-schema - our organized system or collection of knowledge about who we are
(Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Jhangiani and Tarry 2014)
 HOB-
BIES

RELI-
FAMILY SELF GION

NATIO-
NALITY

Schema is not limited to the example above. It may also include your interests, work,
course, age, name, physical characteristics, etc.
• Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith (2012) stated that the current researches point to the frontal
lobe of the brain as the specific area in the brain associated with the processes concerning the
self. Several psychologists, especially during the field's earlier development, followed this
trend of thought, looking deeper into the mind of the person to theorize about the self,
identity, self-concept, and in turn, one's personality. The most influential of them is Sigmund
Freud.
• Sigmund Freud saw the self, its mental processes, and one's behavior as the results of the
interaction between the ld, the Ego, and the Superego.
Theory Of Symbolic Interactionism, G.H. Mead (1934)
• He argued that the self is created and developed through human interaction.
3 REAONS WHY SELF AND IDENTITY ARE SOCIAL PRODUCTS
1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing.
2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and reinforce who we
think we are.
3. What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what is important in our
social or historical context.
 Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors in creating our self-concept
especially in the aspect of providing us with our social identity or our perception of who we are
based on our membership to certain groups (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). It is also inevitable
that we can have several social identities, that those identities can overlap, and that we
automatically play the roles as we interact with our groups.

SELF-AWARENESS - when we are aware of our self-concepts

Carver and Scheier (1981) identified two types of self that we can be aware of:
(1) PRIVATE SELF or your internal standards and private thoughts and feelings
(2) PUBLIC SELF or your public image commonly geared toward having a good presentation
of yourself to others

Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schema: the actual, ideal, and
ought self.
Actual Self - is who you are at the moment.
Ideal Self - is who you like to be.
Ought Self – is who you think you should be.
• Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our next
course of action. Self-awareness can keep you from doing something dangerous, it can help
remind you that there is an exam tomorrow in one of your subjects when you are about to
spend time playing computer games with your cousins, among others. In other instances,
self-awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and criticized by
others, also known as self-consciousness (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
 Self-Esteem - It is defined as our own positive or negative perception or evaluation of
ourselves (Jhanglani and Tarry 2014; Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011).
• Affected by group identity and self-awareness
• Our social relationship aaffect's our self-esteem is through social comparison
SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY - we learn about ourselves, the appropriateness of
our behaviors, as well as our social status by comparing aspects of ourselves with other
people (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014; Hogg and Vaughan 2010).
DOWNWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON - we create a positive self-concept by
comparing ourselves with those who are worse off
than us (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). By having the advantage, we can raise our self-
esteem.
UPWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON - comparing ourselves with those who are better off
than us (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). While it can be a form of motivation for some, a lot
of those who do this actually felt lower self-esteem as they highlight more of their weakness
or inequities.

Social comparison also entails the “SELF-EVALUATION MAINTENANCE THEORY”

states that we can feel threatened when someone out-performs Us, especially when that
person is close to us (ie, a friend
or family) (Tesser 1988 in Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
In this theory, we usually react in 3 ways:
• First, we distance ourselves from that person or redefine our relationship with them.
Some will resort to the silent treatment, change of friends, while some may also
redefine by being closer to that person, hoping that some association may give him a
certain kind of acknowledgment.
• Second, we may also reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you
were outperformed. If you got beaten in a drawing competition, you might think
 that drawing is not really for you and you will find a hobby where you could excel,
thus preserving your self-esteem.
• Lastly, we may also strengthen our resolve to improve that certain aspect of
ourselves. Instead of quitting drawing, you might join seminars, practice more often,
read books about it, and add some elements in your drawing that makes it unique,
among others. Achieving your goal through hard work may increase your self-
esteem, too.
NARCISSISM
• Some people in attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem become narcissistic.
• is a trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-
centeredness" (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
• Sometimes, there is a thin line between high self-esteem and narcissism
• There are a lot of tests and measurements for self-esteem like the Rosenberg scale
SELF-ESTEEM and PERSONALITY
• though self-esteem is a very important, studies have shown that self-esteem only has a
correlation, not causality, to positive outputs and outlook (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
• high or healthy self-esteem may result to an overall good personality but it is not, and
should not be, the only source of a person's healthy perspective of his/herself.
• People with high self-esteem are commonly described as outgoing, adventurous, and
adaptable in a lot of situations. They also initiate activities and building relationship with
people.
SELF-ESTEEM and PERSONALITY
• However, they may also dismiss other activities that do not conform to their self-concept
or boost their self-esteem. They may also be bullies and experiment on abusive
behaviors with drugs, alcohol, and sex (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
This duality in behavior and attitudes only proves the above-mentioned correlation. Baumeister,
Smart, and Boden (1996) in their research on self-esteem concluded that programs, activities,
and parenting styles to boost self-esteem should only be for rewarding good behavior and other
achievements and not for the purpose of merely trying to make children feel better about
themselves or to appease them when they get angry or sad (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
END.