PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE * abilities

*physical features
*values
INTROSPECTION is both an informal and a formal experimental *goals
approach, but either process can be undertaken by anyone *social roles
with curiosity and determination (Cherry, 2016).
THE SELF AS A COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT
The informal reflection process can be described as examining
our own internal thoughts and feelings and reflecting on what COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTION is a cognitive approach that
focuses on the mental processes
they mean.
With the initiative of Wilhelm Wundt, the father of Scientific
The original idea of introspection was developed by Wilhelm
Psychology,
Wundt in the late 1800s (McLeod, 2008). Wundt focused on
It is at this time WILLIAM JAMES’ classic distinction between
three areas of mental functioning: thoughts, images, and the self as knower (or pure ego) and the self as the known (or
feelings. the empirical self).

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SELF W. James suggested that the “total self of ME, being as it’s
*focuses on the representation of an individual based on duplex is composed of “partly object and partly subject”
his/her experiences.

SELF is one of the most heavily researched areas in social *He referred to the I as pure ego and suggested that this
and personality psychology. component of the self is consciousness in itself.

SELF/SELF-CONCEPT *The ME is one of the many things that the I may be conscious
● “organized, consistent set of perceptions of and beliefs of , and it consists of three components:
about oneself” (Passer & Smith, 2007, p.451).
●
these perceptions and beliefs that comprise our self- PHYSICAL OR MATERIAL SELF- consists of the things that
concept are called self-schemas. belong to us or that make us belong to. Like family, clothes,
our body and money are some of what make up our material
SELF-SCHEMAS selves.
● formed by numerous factors that we may be aware or
unaware of, some of which are:
SOCIAL SELF- who we are in a given social situation.
SPIRITUAL SELF- who we are at our core. It is our subjective
and most intimate self.

GLOBAL VERSUS DIFFERENTIATED MODELS

William James gave a very interesting perspective on the self,

and was among the first to coin the term SELF-ESTEEM (it is
a person’s over-all self evaluation or sense of self-worth).

GLOBAL SELF-ESTEEM (a.k.a TRAIT SELF-ESTEEM) is a

personality variable that represents the way people generally
feel about themselves. Is a decision people make about their
worth as a person

STATE SELF-ESTEEM (Feelings of self-worth) refers to

temporary feelings or momentary emotional reactions to REAL AND IDEAL SELF-CONCEPTS
positive and negative events where we feel good or bad about
ourselves during situations or experiences. *A group of psychologists called for renewed attention to inner
experience, internal processes and self-constructs.
DOMAIN SPECIFIC SELF ESTEEM (Self-evaluations) is
focused on how people evaluate their various abilities and
attributes. Making distinctions or differentiation on how good or KAREN HORNEY
bad people are in specific physical attributes, abilities and
personal characteristics.
FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY, established that a person has an:
‘IDEAL SELF’,
SIGMUND FREUD
‘ACTUAL SELF AND
THERE ARE TWO SELVES, ONE CONSCIOUS, ONE
THE ‘REAL SELF’.
UNCONSCIOUS
Horney believed people develop a number of strategies to
cope with basic anxiety. Because people feel inferior

IDEALIZED SELF-IMAGE --an imaginary picture of the self

ACTUAL SELF-is the person in everyday life, dynamic,

*Underlying both the idealized and actual self is the

REAL SELF, developed to deal with basic anxiety and find
ways of resolving conflicts.

Thus the REAL SELF is not an entity but a ‘force’ that impels
growth and realization.

Our ideal self is essential in guiding and motivating

establish a conception of the self, involving REAL SELF (self- POSSIBLE SELVES
concept) and IDEAL SELF. “Possible selves are developed from past experiences,
current behavior, and future expectations” (Weiten et al., 2014,
*The real self includes all those aspects of one’s being and p. 116).
one’s experiences that are perceived in awareness (though
“Possible selves are one’s conceptions

IDEAL SELF revolves around goals and ambitions in life, is

REAL AND IDEAL SELVES Self-esteem refers to one’s overall assessment of one’s worth
In achieving the ideal self or any goal, numerous studies as a person (Weiten et al., 2014, p. 118), one’s self-worth.
emphasize the importance of visual imagining exercises.
Self-efficacy is how one performs (Coten, 2009).

How aligned are your ideal and real selves? – is directly correlated with self-esteem.
For self-esteem and self-efficacy to increase, we have to learn
to give unconditional positive regard to each other.

• Rogers presented the idea of a fully functioning

person:

– “this means that the person is in touch with the

here and now, his or her subjective experiences
and feelings, continually growing and changing”
(McLeod, 2014, para. 9).

Some of the key characteristics of a fully-functioning

According to Rogers, the congruence (healthy personality) or person include:
incongruence (unhealthy personality) between the ideal “openness to experience,
and real self has effects on our self-esteem. a flexible self-concept,
unconditional [positive] regard for the self,
Experiencing incongruence may happen from time to time,
the ability to live in harmony with others” (Cherry, 2017,
most especially in cases or contexts that are new and para. 16)
extreme.
“If there’s one "program" we could all start that would do
 wonders for our self-esteem, it’s abolishing needless self-
• FALSE SELF as a necessary defensive organization, a
criticism and punitive self-talk—and that program, is free!” survival kit, a caretaker of the self, the means by which
a threatened person has managed to survive.
(Winch, 2014, para. 13)
SELF-AWARENESS
We have the ability to improve ourselves. • TRUE SELF has a sense of integrity, connected
wholeness.

KENNETH GERGEN
MULTIPLE vs. UNIFIED SELVES
• FALSE SELF is used when the person has to comply
with external rules.

• The false self constantly seeks to anticipate

KENNETH GERGEN argues that having a flexible sense of demands of others in order to maintain the
self in different context is more socially adaptable than force
oneself to stick to one self-concept.
relationship.
• HEINZ KOHUT (1971), can lead towards ‘narcissistic
MULTIPLE SELVES are the capacities we carry within us from personality’ which identifies with external factors at the
multiple relationships. These are not ‘discovered’ but rather cost of one’s own autonomous creativity.
‘created’ in our relationships with other people. SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC SELF
UNIFIED SELVES well-being comes when our personality
GORDON ALLPORT
dynamics are congruent, cohesive and consistent. It is
understood that a person is essentially connected with
selfhood and identity. AGENT SELF- is known as the executive function that allows
for actions.
TRUE vs. FALSE SELVES
DONALD WINNICOT HUMAN AGENCY
Is an active process of exploring, manipulating and influencing
the environment in order to attain desired outcomes.
• Distinguished the ‘true self’ from the ‘false self’ in the
human personality, considering the TRUE SELF as
based on a sense of being in the experiencing body ALBERT BANDURA -the core features of human agency are:
*INTENTIONALITY (acts a person performs intentionally)
*FORETHOUGHT (setting goals, anticipation of outcomes of
actions, selection of behaviors to produce desired outcomes
and avoiding undesirable ones)
*SELF-REACTIVENESS (monitoring progress toward fulfilling
choices)
*SELF-REFLECTIVENESS (examination of own functioning,
evaluation of the effect of other people’s action on them)

all of which lead to SELF-EFFICACY, the belief that they are

capable of performing actions that will produce a desired
result.

SELF-EFFICACY lies in the center of Bandura’s Social

Cognitive Theory. It is the measure of one’s ability to complete
goals.

*People with high self-efficacy often are eager to accept

challenges because they believe they can overcome them,
while

People with low self-efficacy may avoid challenges, or believe

experiences are more challenging than they actually are.

“When you invest your time in developing yourself

personally and professionally, you are role-playing as a
catalyst for self-growth. There are myriad skill investment
avenues.