Psychological

Perspective of the Self

 WILLIAM JAMES’ CONCEPT OF SELF:
He suggests that the self is divided into two categories:
The I-SELF and the ME-SELF.

The I-SELF. The ME-SELF.

• The I- SELF, refers to the self that
knows who he or she is which is
also called the thinking self. It’s
also reflects the soul of a person
or the mind which is also called
the pure ego.
• The ME-SELF, on the other hand,
is the empirical self which refers
to the person’s personal
experiences and is further divided
into subcategories:
• The Material self, Social self, and
Spiritual self.
 CARL ROGERS’ SELF THEORY: REAL AND IDEAL SELF
• Another aspect of self-understanding that is on Self-Concept.
• Carl Rogers defines the self as a flexible and changing perception of personal identity.
• The self develops from interactions with significant people and awareness of one’s own
characteristics and level of functioning.
• According to him, human beings are always striving for self-fulfillment or self-actualization.
Rogers suggests two components self-
concept.
The real self and the ideal self.
The REAL SELF.
• The real self consists of all the ideas The IDEAL SELF.
including the awareness of what one is • The ideal self - the person conception of
and what one can do. what one aspires to includes one’s goals
and animations in life.
 MULTIPLE VERSUS UNIFIED SELF,
TRUE VERSUS FALSE SELF.

• Self-understanding in adolescents also includes conceptualizing the self as multiple or

unified and true or false.
Construction of Multiple selves varies across different interpersonal and interpersonal role and
relationships.
The task of integrating one’s multiple selves naturally causes concern.
• According to Winnicott that the self is composed of the true self and the false self. The
function of the false self is to hide and protect the true self.
• Researchers have found that adolescents’ perceptions of themselves can change depending
on the situation.
• The Adolescents develop different selves in various relational context.
 THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
• Albert Bandura (2001) posits that humans, through their agency are perceived as proactive agents of
experiences.
The core features of agency enable people to play a part in their self-development, adaptation, and self-renewal.
The main features of human agency are Intentionality, Fore thought, Self- reactiveness, and Self- reflectiveness.

• Intentionality - to acts done intentionally.

• Fore Thought – to anticipate the likely consequences of proactive actions.
• Self-Reactiveness – making Choices and choosing appropriate courses of action.
• Self-Reflectiveness – the ability to reflect upon and the adequacy of their thoughts and actions.

Efficacy beliefs are the foundation of human agency. Self-efficacy refers to the individual’s belief in their capable
to perform a task to think pessimistically or optimistically.
 THE SELF AS THE CENTRAL ARCHETYPE
Central to Carl Jung’s theory of the self is the concept of archetypes.
The archetype represents the hidden potentialities of the psyche, or total personality.

Jung suggests that the psyche continues to develop throughout life but they starts to show a definite form content
during adolescence.
Archetypes reside in the personal unconscious that is common to all human beings, known as the collective
unconscious.
There are four major Archetypes: persona, shadow, anima/animus, and self.
• The Persona refers to social roles that individuals present to others.
• The Shadow refers to the represssed thoughts are socially unacceptable.
• The Anima is the feminine side of the male psyche while the Animus is the masculine side of the female psyche.
• The Self is the central of arcpsyche that unites all parts of the psyche.
 SIGMUND FREUD’S CONSTRUCTION OF
SELF AND PERSONALITY
Dynamic forces within the self are inevital conflict.
The mind composed of three structures through which personality is formed:
the id, ego, and super ego.
• Id – component of the personality characterized to satisfy basic desires.
• Ego – the I and operates on the reality principle and controls the Id. It can conform
with existing societal consideration.
• Super Ego – refers to “Conscious” and “Moral judges” of one’s conduct.
 It appears that the id is the devil within the self, the super ego is the
angel, and ego is the middle.
Freud uses the term “ego strength” that refers to the ego’s ability to
resolve conflict between the three structures.

In Freud’s view, the id, ego, and super ego develop in a series of stages.
He calls these the psychosexual stages of development that progress through five stages. Each stage
is associated with conflicts that the individual must resolve so that he or she can successful move on
to the next stage.
• Oral stage, which lasts from birth up to the first year of life. During this stage, babies derive pleasure
from oral activities like sucking and biting.
• Anal stage, which occurs around the second year of life. During this stage, the child derives pleasure
from the elimination of body wastes.
• Phallic stage which usually occurs around ages 3 and 6. Children during this stage derive pleasure
from examining, touching,finding, or displaying their genitals.
• Letancy stage, which lasts from 7to12 years of age. At this stage, sexual energy is repressed because
children become occupied with school.
• Genital stage, which starts from adolescence to adulthood.