PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Reviewer made by Mark Lorenz O. Sambalilo from HUMSS 12 Descartes

L1: Knowing Oneself – Strengths and Limitations

Concepts of Understanding Oneself | Know Thyself

“An unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates

It is an old maxim or aphorism which in time has been used in varied literature and consequently gained different
meanings.
One of its meanings is recorded in the Greek encyclopedia of knowledge called “The Suda”.
THOMAS HOBBES
also discussed his own views about the maxim from which he used the phrase “read thyself ” in his famous work The
Leviathan
stressed that an individual could learn more by studying others and that s/he can do this by engaging him/herself to
reading books.
however, he emphasized that a person learns more by studying oneself

SELF-DEVELOPMENT

It is a process of discovering oneself by realizing one’s potentials and capabilities that are shaped over time either by studying
in a formal school or through environmental factors.
It is also called personal development.

SELF-CONCEPT

is one’s abstract and general idea about him/herself particularly toward his/her unique personality and his/her own perception
about his/her set of values, point of views, and behaviour
this theory began as RENE DESCARTES, the Father of Modern Philosophy, proposed his theory that a person’s existence
depends on his/her perception
he stated that mind is the seat of consciousness
Self-concept theory has a lot of suppositions regarding how people learn to judge themselves. among these SINCERO named
three aspects such as:
Self-concept is learned. This explains that no individual is born with self-concept.
Self-concept is organized. This stresses out that one’s perception towards him/her is firm.
Self-concept is dynamic. As an individual grows older, s/he continues to encounter problems or challenges that may reveal
his/her self-concept in that particular time or situation.

SIGMUND FREUD

who is a well-known psychologist, neurologist, and the creator of Psychoanalysis Theory and the Father of Psychoanalysis,
proposed that there are 3 components of personality within us: ID, EGO, & SUPEREGO.
(1) ID. Freud explained that man’s personality is driven by pleasure principle. This means that the nature of ID is to
satisfy man’s desire without thinking much of the situation.
unconscious
satisfaction of basic needs
pleasure principle
immediate gratification
(2) EGO. This is the second component of the personality that is developed at approximately the age of three. This
operates according to reality which makes it possible for the ID to work in a more proper and satisfactory ways.
conscious
reality principle
mediator between ID & Superego
(3) SUPEREGO. Freud believed that this aspect of man begins to manifest as a child turns 5. This is the last component
of personality which holds our moral judgements or concepts of right and wrong that are believed to be acquired from
the family and the environment.
mostly unconscious
moral principle
right and wrong
rules, morals, & norms

L2: Personal Development: Knowing Oneself

SELF-AWARENESS – is an understanding of oneself as unique from others. As an individual, we commonly observe, and
undeniably, judge other people’s manners, beliefs, and lifestyle.
One of the most common self-report measures of self-esteem is taken from the ROSENBERG SELF-ESTEEM SCALE. Indicated
below is a list of statements dealing with your general feelings about yourself. Kindly encircle your answer on how strongly you
agree or disagree with each statement. Scores 15 to 25: Normal Self-Esteem; Scores 15 below: Low Self-Esteem

1. SELF-ESTEEM
a. Self-esteem is your evaluation of your own worth.
b. It may be positive or negative
i. Positive self-esteem is the valuation that is pleasing and accessible according to your standard and that of others
ii. Negative self-esteem is the opposite which is feeling distraught or down and unaccepted by others
c. it does not imply that one believes he or she is better than others, only that he or she is a person of worth
d. self-esteem can be tested in two ways:
i. Explicitly and implicity, and both methods reveal that most people have a favorable image of themselves.
e. the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is a popular explicit self-report measure of self-esteem, higher scores on the scale
indicate higher self-esteem
2. SELF-EFFICACY
a. it may sound like a term you’re already familiar with self-esteem – but they’re not the same thing
b. self-esteem is the measure of how much you like or “esteem” yourself, or how much you believe you are decent and
worthwhile person. Self-efficacy, on the other hand, refers to your belief in your ability to succeed and perform well in
various aspects of life, such as education, work, and relationships
c. you can perform a certain job or achieving a specific goal by means of these five (5) different ways that influenced self-
efficacy from the ideas of ALBERT BADURA, a professor, and a psychologist
i. (a) Performance Experiences – if you are good at achieving your specific goal, then you probably think that you will
achieve it again. When the opposite happens, if you fail, you will often think that you will fail again.
ii. (b) Vicarious Performance – if others achieved their goal or specific task, then you’ll come to believe that you will
also achieve your goal.
iii. © Verbal Persuasion – it is when people tell you whether they believe or not on what you can do or cannot do. The
effect of your self-efficacy will depend on how that person matters to you.
iv. (d) Imaginal Performances – when you imagine yourself doing well, then it will happen
v. (e) The Affective States & Physical Sensations – if your mood or emotion (e.g. shame) and physical state (e.g. shaking)
come together, it will affect your self-efficacy. If negative mood connects with negative physical sensation, the result
will be negative. And if it is positive, most likely the result will be positive.
3. SELF AND IDENTITY
a. According to WILLIAM JAMES, a psychologist “the self is what happens when I reflect upon ME”
b. TAYLOR described the self as a REFLECTIVE PROJECT. How we see ourselves is geared toward improving ourselves
depending on a lot of factors
c. DAN MCADAM, a psychologist, reiterated that even there are many ways on how we reflect to improve ourselves, it
brings us back to these three (3) categories:
i. Self as Social Actor – we are portraying different roles and behaving for every type or set of people in front of us
since we all care about what people think about us; it is practically for social acceptance
ii. Self as Motivated Agent – people act based on their purpose; they do things based on their own dreams, desires, and
planned goals for the future; this, though, is not easily identifiable since it is self-conceptualized, unless it was shared
with us
iii. Self as Autobiographical Author – s/he as the creator of his/her own entire life story; it is about how oneself is
developed from his/her past, up to the present, and what s/he will become in the future
4. JUDGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING
a. As an individual, you are expected to act and decide on your own
 b. Most people tend to decide based on the intuitions and available information that could be a hindrance in making a wise
decision and that could be a habit
c. It is recommended that people think through critical judgement or decision. Unfortunately, we don’t always do so.
d. Many of us place far more trust in our instincts than we should.
e. And, even when we try to think logically, the way we enter data into formal decision-making procedures is frequently
biased
f. To help you, the idea of Bazerman and Moore in 2013 reiterated by Jhangiani that suggests the Six Steps on How to Make
a Rational Decision:
i. Define the Problem (select your most desired course);
ii. Identify the criteria necessary to judge the multiple options (list things to be considered e.g. location, facilities, prestige,
etc.)
iii. Weight the criteria (rank the criteria based on its importance to you);
iv. Generate alternatives (the schools that accepted you);
v. Rate each alternative on each criterion (rate each school on the criteria you have identified); and
vi. Compute the optimal decision

L3: Developing the Whole Person: Evaluate One’s Personality

Who would be responsible in developing one’s personality?

As a child, you are dreaming of a good and satisfying life when you grow up. Your family becomes your helping hand in
nurturing, guiding, and educating yourself.
When you reach adolescence, you experience drastic changes in your:
Physical appearances
Cognitive abilities
Social relationship
Emotional behavior
At this stage, our environment becomes part of our development from which we acquire knowledge and collect information to
organize and interpret different life situations.
According to Erik Erikson, adolescence stage of Psychosocial development, also known as “identity versus role confusion” is
the stage wherein teens need to develop the sense of self and personal identity.
At this point, teenagers starts to have circle of friends in which they build their trust
Teenagers also experience adolescence cognitive empathy, also known as “theory of mind” which is described as having high
regards toward the perspective of others and feeling concern for others
Teenagers are very careful in understanding the emotions of their friends as they start to create deep trust with them
Based on research, teenagers are commonly high risk-takers and impulsive due to incomplete development of frontal lobe
during adolescence.
The frontal lobe is responsible for judgement, impulse control, & planning
That is how they search for their self-identity and independence which requires guidance from their parents, relatives, and
other people like teachers with whom they can share their struggles.
These experiences and challenges are part of a process of personality development that adolescents need to understand
You cannot escape life challenges so you should know how your thoughts, feelings, and actions in managing personal agency
should be handled
Thoughts are impressions activated by a stimulus in your mind that is evident from the environment that you are in.
This conscious thought occupies emotions that give life to thoughts, and it expressed through feelings.
Sometimes when you are too emotional, you could not think properly because emotions occupy your thoughts, this
means there is lesser space to analyze the situations because feelings occupy it.
Behaviours are bodily reaction made based on our feelings that result to actions
There are instances when feelings are faster than emotion and thought.
This would result to fast reaction and realizing the emotion and thought afterwards.
Teenagers experience enjoyment and daunting but it is very important to stay focused so that they will lead you to he route of
your goal.
It is not easy to achieve the goal but if you have self-regulation that will control your emotions, thoughts, and behavior it
will help you to be successful in life.
Learning from mistakes and facing challenges with confidence and faith in God will give you the power to be successful in life

L5: Developmental Tasks and Challenges of Adolescence

Transition period between childhood and early adulthood – the most rapid stage of human development
It is also a time to develop knowledge and skills, learn to manage emotions and relationships, and acquire attributes and
abilities that will be important for enjoying the adolescent years and assuming adult roles
DEVELOPMENTAL – Cambridge Dictionary defines developmental as relating to the process of growing or changing into a
more advance, larger, and stronger form, while challenges is defined as something that needs great mental or physical effect in
order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person’s ability.
The challenges the adolescents are facing occur during the development of his/her:
Biological
Cognitive
 Physiological
Spiritual & Moral aspects

Early Adolescence Middle Adolescence Late Adolescence

Transition as the young
Developmental changes and the Development of body shape
Biological person consolidates his
onset of puberty as indicate by Physical changes from
Challenges identity and comes to
growth spurt puberty continue
grips with his future
Complex abstract
thinking; identification of
The concrete thinking, but
Concrete thinking, but early moral difference between law
early moral concepts;
concepts and morality
Psychological progression of sexual
Development of sexual identity Feeling himself or herself
Challenges identity development
Possible of sexual preferences; peer a completer and more
The awakening of
interest separate person
heterosexuality
Development of personal
identity
The first tentative interest Form and maintain truly
and approach towards the intimate relationships
opposite sex usually takes with others whose beliefs,
Start of strong peer identification place ideals, and motives he can
Social Challenges His group activities are primarily The awakening of see and respect as clearly
with members of his own sex heterosexuality that often as he does his own.
disrupts previous peer Development of
groupings and intimate vocational capability and
friendships financial independence
His behavior may temporarily show
a disorganized, erratic quality along
with a decreased willingness to This is the stage when
S/he is more able to be
accommodate the expectations of his adolescent rebellion starts
Behavioral selective and
parents and others Period of irritability, wide
Challenges discriminating in his
Wide mood swings and periodic mood swings, and rapidly
relationships
bouts of feeling ill-treated and changing feelings
unloved may dominate his emotional
life.

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS OF ADOLESCENCE

Early Adolescence
Developing self-concept
Self-evaluation of their physical acceptability
Achieving personal independence
Developing acceptable attitudes toward society
Learning to get along with peers
Middle Adolescence
Emergence of new thinking skills
Accepting one’s physique
Increase self-direction
Achieving psychological independence
Achieving mature relations with both sexes
Achieving a masculine or feminine social roles
Achieving emotional independence of adults
Establish psychological independence from one’s parents
Acquiring values and an ethical system to guide behaviour
Desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior
Preparing for adult roles and making preliminary decisions and vocational goals
Late Adolescence to Early Adult Life
Preparing adult life crystallize their vocational goals
Establish sense of personal identity
Psychologically independent from their parents
Shift to adulthood is nearly complete
Preparing for marriage and family life
Preparing for an economic career

L6: Development Through the Help of Significant People

Influential People in My Life

People normally look up to influential personalities, who have shown greatness in terms of leadership, intelligence, creativity,
talents, and charisma.
They usually listen to their strong belief system that brings so much inspiration and positive energy to other’s life
These are some the people who molded you in many significant ways and have become part of your existence:
Parents
Siblings
Friends
Teachers
Community Leaders
Success in social interaction would have a lasting effect on a person’s personal development. Since human interaction happens
as long as you life, it is fitting to know the proper ways on how to effectively express your thought to reach for others. These
skills in communication must be learned as early as childhood and could be mastered during adolescence
FAMILY as the most important agent of socialization, has given you the knowledge of self-care. As you learn to take care
of yourself, this is also done towards the way you deal with other agents in the society. PARENTS teach the value of
relationship
PEERS would always have a great deal of influence in your life. It is rightful; therefore, for parents to feel worried about
the circle of friends you opt to get involved with. It is difficult for parents to see if adolescents cast astray from the right
path of self-realization; therefore, it is necessary to carefully select the right set of individuals who would contribute in
bringing out the best in your capabilities
TEACHERS are also special agents we see in school, a place where many exciting memories are forged through time, as
we collaborate with peers. They mold us in so many ways. Their role is not only to teach us the concept of socialization
but gave us the opportunities to discover much more about socializing
COMMUNITY LEADERS need to develop selfless future leaders, as well. Since they have an important role in
community development, they are extending so much help in addressing the needs of adolescents particularly in
community involvement and civic responsibility.