Introduction to Self Understanding techniques for dealing with the environment which are shared among

contemporaries and transmitted by one generation to the next.

Understanding oneself is essential to understand behaviors
and beliefs that affects ourselves and others specifically in becoming Personality Traits
effective and successful person in life, work, and relationship.
Moreover, self-understanding (1) provides a sense of purpose; (2) leads Personality traits reflect people’s characteristic patterns of
to healthier relationships; (3) helps harness your natural strength; and thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Personality traits imply consistency
(4) promotes confidence. and stability—someone who scores high on a specific trait like
Extraversion is expected to be sociable in different situations and over
Personality time. Thus, trait psychology rests on the idea that people differ from
one another in terms of where they stand on a set of basic trait
• The etymological derivative of personality comes from the dimensions that persist over time and across situations.
word “persona”, the theatrical masks worn by Romans in Greek and The most widely used system of traits is called the Five-Factor Model.
Latin drama. Personality also comes from the two Latin words “per” This system includes five broad traits that can be remembered with the
and “sonare”, which literally means “to sound through”. acronym OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion,
• Personality have no single definition since different Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each of the major traits from the Big
personality theories have different views on how to define it. However, Five can be divided into facets to give a more fine-grained analysis of
the commonly accepted definition of personality is that it is a relatively someone's personality. In addition, some trait theorists argue that
permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency there are other traits that cannot be completely captured by the Five-
and individuality to a person’s behavior (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008). Factor Model. Critics of the trait concept argue that people do not act
• Personality plays a key role in affecting how people shape consistently from one situation to the next and that people are very
their lives. It involves the complex relationship of people with their influenced by situational forces. Thus, one major debate in the field
environment, how they cope and adjust through life, and how they concerns the relative power of people’s traits versus the situatio
respond to demands of physical and social challenges. ns in which they find themselves as predictors of their behavior.
• Personality is the overall pattern or integration of a person’s
structure, modes of behavior, attitudes, aptitudes, interests, intellectual The Five-Factor Model of Personality
abilities, and many other distinguishable personality traits. Personality
is the conglomeration of the following components: physical self, Research that used the lexical approach showed that many of the
intelligence, character traits, attitudes, habits, interest, personal personality descriptors found in the dictionary do indeed overlap. In
discipline, moral values, principles and philosophies of life. other words, many of the words that we use to describe people are
synonyms. Thus, if we want to know what a person is like, we do not
Determinants of Personality necessarily need to ask how sociable they are, how friendly they are,
and how gregarious they are. Instead, because sociable people tend to
Personality refers to the total person in his/her overt and covert be friendly and gregarious, we can summarize this personality
behavior. The determinants of factors of personality are as follows: dimension with a single term. Someone who is sociable, friendly, and
• Environmental Factors of Personality. The surroundings of an gregarious would typically be described as an “Extravert.” Once we
individual compose the environmental factors of personality. This know she is an extravert, we can assume that she is sociable, friendly,
includes the neighborhood a person lives in, his school, college, and gregarious.
university and workplace. Moreover, it also counts the social circle the The most widely accepted system to emerge from this approach was
individual has. Friends, parents, colleagues, co-workers and bosses, “The Big Five” or “Five- Factor Model” (Goldberg, 1990; McCrae & John,
everybody plays a role as the determinants of personality. 1992; McCrae & Costa, 1987). The Big Five comprises five major traits
• Biological Factors of Personality. This further includes: shown in the Figure 2 below. A way to remember these five is with the
1) hereditary factors or genetic make-up of the person that acronym OCEAN (O is for Openness; C is for Conscientiousness; E is for
inherited from their parents. This describes the tendency of the person Extraversion; A is for Agreeableness; N is for Neuroticism). The table
to appear and behave the way their parents are; below provides descriptions of people who would score high and low
2) physical features include the overall physical structure of a on each of these traits.
person: height, weight, color, sex, beauty and body language, etc. Most
of the physical structures change from time to time, and so does the Table 1. Descriptions of Personality Traits
personality. With exercises, cosmetics and surgeries, many physical
features are changed, and therefore, the personality of the individual Big 5 Trait Definition
also evolves; and Openness The tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values,
3) brain. The preliminary results from the electrical stimulation feelings, and behaviors.
of the brain (ESB) research gives indication that better understanding of Conscientiousness The tendency to be careful, on-time for
human personality and behavior might come from the study of the appointments, to follow rules, and to be hard working.
brain. Extraversion The tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy
others; the tendency to have a dominant style.
• Situational Factors of Personality. Although these factors do Agreeableness The tendency to agree and go along with others
not literally create and shape up an individual’s personality, situational rather than to assert one owns opinions and choices.
factors do alter a person’s behavior and response from time to time. Neurotism The tendency to be frequently experience negative
The situational factors can be commonly observed when a person emotions such as anger, worry, and sadness, as well as being
behaves contrastingly and exhibits different traits and characteristics. itnerpersonally sensitive.
• Cultural Factors. Culture is traditionally considered as the
major determinants of an individual’s personality. The culture largely Who Am I?
determinants what a person is and what a person will learn. The culture Understanding of who you are as a person is called self-concept and
within a person is brought up, is very important determinant of understanding what your motives are when you act is called self-
behavior of a person. Culture is complex of these belief, values, and understanding.
In definition, self-concept is generally thought of as our individual subjective. It is only the ideal forms themselves that are perfect,
perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics—a unchanging, and eternal.
mental picture of who you are as a person. For example, beliefs such as • For Socrates, a human is composed of body and soul, the first
"I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall self- belongs to the physical realm because it changed, it is imperfect, and it
concept. dies, and the latter belongs to ideal realm for it survives the death.
Self-concept tends to be more malleable when people are younger and Socrates also used the term soul to identify self.
still going through the process of self-discovery and identity formation. • The self, according to Socrates is the immortal and unified
As people age, self-perceptions become much more detailed and entity that is consistent over time. For example, a human being remains
organized as people form a better idea of who they are and what is the same person during their childhood to adulthood given the fact that
important to them. they undergone developmental changes throughout their lifespan.

According to the book Essential Social Psychology by Richard Crisp Plato

and Rhiannon Turner:
• A student of Socrates, who introduced the idea of a three-
• The individual self consists of attributes and personality traits part soul/self that is composed of reason, physical appetite and spirit or
that differentiate us from other individuals. Examples include passion.
introversion or extroversion. o The Reason enables human to think deeply, make wise
• The relational self is defined by our relationships with choices and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths. Plato also
significant others. Examples include siblings, friends, and spouses. called this as divine essence.
• The collective self reflects our membership in social groups. o The physical Appetite is the basic biological needs of human
Examples include British, Republican, African-American, or gay. being such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
At its most basic, self-concept is a collection of beliefs one holds about o And the spirit or passion is the basic emotions of human
oneself and the responses of others. It embodies the answer to the being such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness and empathy.
question "Who am I • These three elements of the self works in every individual
Philosophy inconsistently. According to Plato, it is always the responsibility of the
Philosophy is defined as the study of knowledge or wisdom from its reason to organize, control, and reestablish harmonious
Latin roots, philo (love) and sophia (wisdom). This field is also relationship between these three elements.
considered as “The Queen of All Sciences” because every scientific • Plato also illustrated his view of the soul/self in “Phaedrus” in
discipline has philosophical foundations. his metaphor: the soul is like a winged chariot drawn by two powerful
Various thinkers for centuries tried to explain the natural causes of horses: a white horse, representing Spirit, and a black horse,
everything that exist specifically the inquiry on the self preoccupied embodying appetite. The charioteer is reason, whose task is to guide
these philosophers in the history. The Greek philosophers were the the chariot to the eternal realm by controlling the two independent-
ones who seriously questioned myths and moved away from them in minded horses. Those charioteers who are successful in setting a true
attempting to understand reality by exercising the art of questioning course and ensuring that the two steeds work together in harmonious
that satisfies their curiosity, including the questions about self. The unity achieve true wisdom and banquet with the gods. However, those
following lecture will present the different philosophical perspectives charioteers who are unable to control their horses and keep their
and views about self. chariot on track are destined to experience personal, intellectual, and
spiritual failure.
Socrates
• A philosopher from Athens, Greece and said to have the St. Augustine
greatest influence on European thought.
• According to the history he was not able to write any of his • He is considered as the last of the great ancient philosophers
teachings and life’s account instead, he is known from the writings of whose ideas were greatly Platonic. In melding philosophy and religious
his student Plato who became one of the greatest philosophers of his beliefs together, Augustine has been characterized as Christianity’s first
time. Socrates had a unique style of asking questions called Socratic theologian.
Method. • Like Plato, Augustine believed that the physical body is
• Socratic Method or dialectic method involves the search for different from the immortal soul. Early in his philosophical
the correct/proper definition of a thing. In this method, Socrates did development he described body as “snare” or “cage” of the soul and
not lecture, he instead would ask questions and engage the person in a said that the body is a “slave” of the soul he even characterized that
discussion. He would begin by acting as if he did not know anything and “the soul makes war with the body”. Later on he came to view the body
would get the other person to clarify their ideas and resolve logical as “spouse” of the soul, with both attached to one another by a
inconsistencies (Price, 2000). “natural appetite.” He concluded, “That the body is united with the
• The foundation of Socrates philosophy was the Delphic soul, so that man may be entire and complete, is a fact we recognize on
Oracle’s that command to “Know Thyself”. Here, Socrates would like to the evidence of our own nature.”
emphasize that knowing or understanding oneself should be more than • According to St. Augustine, the human nature is composed of
the physical self, or the body. two realms:
• According to Socrates, self is dichotomous which means
composed of two things: The physical realm or the one that is 1. God as the source of all reality and truth. Through mystical
changeable, temporal, and imperfect. The best example of the physical experience, man is capable of knowing eternal truths. This is made
realm is the physical world. The physical world is consisting of anything possible through the existence of the one eternal truth which is God.
we sense – see, smell, feel, hear, and taste. It is always changing and He further added that without God as the source of all truth, man could
deteriorating. The ideal realm is the one that is imperfect and never understand eternal truth. This relationship with God means that
unchanging, eternal, and immortal. This includes the intellectual those who know most about God will come closest to understanding
essences of the universe like the concept of beauty, truth, and the true nature of the world.
goodness. Moreover, the ideal realm is also present in the physical 2. The sinfulness of man. The cause of sin or evil is an act of
world. One may define someone as beautiful or truthful, but their mans’ freewill. Moral goodness can only be achieved through the grace
definition is limited and imperfect for it is always relative and of God.
• He also stated that real happiness can only be found in God. reason, Locke was not convinced with the assumptions of Plato, St.
For God is love and he created humans for them to also love. Problems Augustine and Descartes that the individual self necessarily exists in a
arise because of the objects humans choose to love. Disordered love single soul or substance. For Locke, personal identity and the soul or
results when man loves the wrong things which he believes will give substance in which the personal identity is situated are two very
him happiness. Furthermore, he said that if man loves God first and different things. The bottom line of his theory on self is that self is not
everything else to a lesser degree, then all will fall into its rightful place. tied to any particular body or substance. It only exists in other times
and places because of the memory of those experiences.
Rene Descartes
David Hume
• A French philosopher, mathematician, and considered the
founder of modern philosophy. • He was a Scottish philosopher and also an empiricist.
• Descartes, famous principle the “cogito, ergo sum—“I think, • His claim about self is quite controversial because he
therefore I exist” established his philosophical views on “true assumed that there is no self! In his essay entitled, “On Personal
knowledge” and concept of self. Identity” (1739) he said that, if we carefully examine the contents of
• He explained that in order to gain true knowledge, one must [our] experience, we find that there are only two distinct entities,
doubt everything even own existence. Doubting makes someone aware "impressions" and "ideas".
that they are thinking being thus, they exist. The essence of existing as • Impressions are the basic sensations of our experience, the
a human identity is the possibility of being aware of our selves: being elemental data of our minds: pain, pleasure, heat, cold, happiness,
self-conscious in this way is integral to having a personal identity. grief, fear, exhilaration, and so on.
Conversely, it would be impossible to be self-conscious if we did not • On the other hand, ideas are copies of impressions that
have a personal identity of which to be conscious. In other words, the include thoughts and images that are built up from our primary
essence of self is being a thinking thing. impressions through a variety of relationships, but because they are
derivative copies of impressions, they are once removed from reality.
• The self is a dynamic entity that engages in metal operations • Hume considered that the self does not exist because all of
– thinking, reasoning, and perceiving processes. In addition to this, self- the experiences that a person may have are just perceptions and this
identity is dependent on the awareness in engaging with those mental includes the perception of self. None of these perceptions resemble a
operations. unified and permanent self-identity that exists over time.
• He declared that the essential self or the self as the thinking • He further added that there are instances that an individual is
entity is radically different from the physical body. The thinking self or limited in experiencing their perception like in sleeping. Similarly, when
soul is a non-material, immortal, conscious being, independent of the someone died all empirical senses end and according to him, it makes
physical laws of the universe while the physical body is a material, no sense to believe that self exists in other forms. As an empiricist,
mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of Hume provide an honest description and analysis of his own
nature. experience, within which there is no self to be found.
• He also maintained that the soul and the body are • Hume explained that the self that is being experienced by an
independent of one another and each can exist and function without individual is nothing but a kind of fictional self. Human created an
the other. In cases in which people are sleeping or comatose, their imaginary creature which is not real. “Fictional self” is created to unify
bodies continue to function even though their minds are not thinking, the mental events and introduce order into an individual lives, but this
much like the mechanisms of a clock. “self” has no real existence.
• He identified the physical self as part of nature, governed by
the physical laws of the universe, and available to scientific analysis and Sigmund Freud
experimentation, and the conscious self (mind, soul) is a part of the
spiritual realm, independent of the physical laws of the universe, • A well-known Australian psychologist and considered as the
governed only by the laws of reason and God’s will. And because it Father and Founder of Psychoanalysis. His influence in Psychology and
exists outside of the natural world of cause-and-effect, the conscious therapy is dominant and popular in the 20th to 21st century.
self is able to exercise free will in the choices it makes. • The dualistic view of self by Freud involves the conscious self
and unconscious self.
John Locke • The conscious self is governed by reality principle. Here, the
• An English philosopher and physician and famous in his self is rational, practical, and appropriate to the social environment.
concept of “Tabula Rasa” or Blank Slate that assumes the nurture side The conscious self has the task of controlling the constant pressures of
of human development. the unconscious self, as its primitive impulses continually seek for
• The self, according to Locke is consciousness. In his essay immediate discharge.
entitled On Personal Identity (from his most famous work, Essay • The unconscious self is governed by pleasure principle. It is
Concerning Human Understanding) he discussed the reflective analysis the self that is aggressive, destructive, unrealistic and instinctual. Both
of how an individual may experience the self in everyday living. He of Freud’s self needs immediate gratification and reduction of tensions
provided the following key points: to optimal levels and the goal of every individual is to make
1. To discover the nature of personal identity, it is important to unconscious conscious.
find out what it means to be a person. • Freud proposed how mind works, he called this as provinces
2. A person is a thinking, intelligent being who has the abilities or structures of the mind. By illustrating the tip of the iceberg which
to reason and to reflect. according to him represents conscious awareness which characterizes
3. A person is also someone who considers themself to be the the person in dealing with the external world. The observable behavior,
same thing in different times and different places. however, is further controlled by the workings of the
4. Consciousness as being aware that we are thinking— always subconscious/unconscious mind.
accompanies thinking and is an essential part of the thinking process. • Subconscious serves as the repository of past experiences,
5. Consciousness makes possible our belief that we are the repressed memories, fantasies, and urges. The three levels of the mind
same identity in different times and different places. are:
• Although Locke and Descartes believed that a person or the
self is a thinking intelligent being who has the abilities to reflect and to
1. Id. This is primarily based on the pleasure principle. It • Churchlands’ central argument is that the concepts and
demands immediate satisfaction and is not hindered by societal theoretical vocabulary that people use to think about the selves— using
expectations. such terms as belief, desire, fear, sensation, pain, joy— actually
2. Ego. The structure that is primarily based on the reality misrepresent the reality of minds and selves. He claims that the self is a
principle. This mediates between the impulses of the id and restraints product of brain
of the superego. • The behavior of the self can be attributed to the
3. Superego. This is primarily dependent on learning the neuropharmacological states, the neural activity in specialized
difference between right and wrong, thus it is called moral principle. anatomical areas.
Morality of actions is largely dependent on childhood upbringing • Neurophilosopy was coined by Patricia Churchland, the
particularly on rewards and punishments. modern scientific inquiry looks into the application of neurology to age-
• According to Freud, there are two kinds of instinct that drive old problems in philosophy. The philosophy of neuroscience is the
individual behavior – the eros or the life instinct and the thanatos of study of the philosophy of science, neuroscience, and psychology. It
the death instinct. The energy of eros is called libido and includes urges aims to explore the relevance of neurolinguistic experiments/studies to
necessary for individual and species survival like thrist, hunger, and the philosophy of the mind.
sex.in cases that human behaior is directed towards destruction in the • Patricia Churchland claimed that man’s brain is responsible
form of aggression and violence, such are the manifestations of for the identity known as self. The biochemical properties of the brain
thanatos. according to this philosophy of neuroscience is really responsible for
man’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
Gilbert Ryle • Paul Churchland is one of the many philosophers and
psychologists that viewed the self from a materialistic point of view,
• A British analytical philosopher. He was an important figure in contending that in the final analysis mental states are identical with,
the field of Linguistic Analysis which focused on the solving of reducible to, or explainable in terms of physical brain states. This
philosophical puzzles through an analysis of language. assumption was made due to the physiological processes of the body
• According to Ryle, the self is best understood as a pattern of that directly affecting the mental state of the person. The advent of
behavior, the tendency or disposition for a person to behave in a sophisticated technology and scientific research gives hope to
certain way in certain circumstances. understand the connection between the physical body and the
• He opposed the notable ideas of the previous philosophers mind/brain relationship that integrated in the self.
and even claimed that those were results of confused conceptual • Being an eliminative materialist, he believes that there is a
thinking he termed, category mistake. need to develop a new vocabulary and conceptual framework that is
• The category mistake happens when we speak about the self grounded in neuroscience. This new framework will be a more accurate
as something independent of the physical body: a purely mental entity reflection of the human mind and self.
existing in time but not space
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Immanuel Kant
• A French philosopher and phenomenologist.
• A German Philosopher who made great contribution to the • He took a very different approach to the self and the
fields of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Kant is widely regarded mind/body “problem.” According to him, the division between the
as the greatest philosopher of the modern period. “mind” and the “body” is a product of confused thinking. The self is
• Kant maintained that an individual self makes the experience experienced as a unity in which the mental and physical are seamlessly
of the world comprehensible because it is responsible for synthesizing woven together. This unity is the primary experience of selves and
the discreet data of sense experience into a meaningful whole. begin to doubt it when an individual use their minds to concoct abstract
• It is the self that makes consciousness for the person to make notions of a separate mind and body.
sense of everything. It is the one that help every individual gain insight • Developed the concept of self-subject and contended that
and knowledge. If the self failed to do this synthesizing function, there perceptions occur existentially. Thus, the consciousness, the world, and
would be a chaotic and insignificant collection of sensations. the human body are all interconnected as they mutually perceive the
• Additionally, the self is the product of reason, a regulative world.
principle because the self regulates experience by making unified • According to him, the world and the sense of self are
experience possible and unlike Hume, Kant’s self is not the object of emergent phenomena in the ongoing process of man’s becoming.
consciousness, but it makes the consciousness understandable and • Phenomenology provides a direct description of the human
unique. experience which serves to guide man’s conscious actions. He further
• Transcendental apperception happens when people do not added that, the world is a field of perception, and human consciousness
experience self directly, instead as a unity of all impressions that are assigns meaning to the world. Thus man cannot separate himself from
organized by the mind through perceptions. Kant concluded that all his perceptions of the world.
objects of knowledge, which includes the self, are phenomenal. That • Perception is not purely the result of sensations nor it is
the true nature of things is altogether unknown and unknowable (Price, purely interpretations. Rather consciousness is a process that includes
2000). sensing as well as interpreting/reasoning.
• For Kant, the kingdom of God is within man. God is
manifested in people’s lives therefore it is man’s duty to move towards Sociology and Anthropology
perfection. Kant emphasized that people should always see duty as a
divine command (Price, 2000). Sociology and Anthropology are two interrelated disciplines that
contributes to the understanding of self. Sociology presents the self as
Paul and Patricia Churchland a product of modern society. It is the science that studies the
development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of human
• An American philosopher interested in the fields of being. On the other hand, Anthropology is the study of humanity. This
philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, cognitive neurobiology, broad field takes an interdisciplinary approach to looking at human
epistemology, and perception. culture, both past and present. The following set of sociologists and
anthropologist offered their views about self.
 • Generally, Meads theory sees the self as a perspective that
George Herbert Mead and the Social Self comes out of interactions, and he sees the meanings of symbols, social
objects, and the self as emerging from negotiated interactions.
• Mead is an American philosopher, sociologist, and
psychologist. He is regarded as one of the founders of social psychology The Self as a product of modern society among other constructions
and the American sociological tradition in general. Mead is well-known Georg Simmel
for his theory of self.
• He postulated that, the self represents the sum total of • Simmel was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. He
people’s conscious perception of their identity as distinct from others. was intensely interested in the ways in which modern, objective culture
Mead argued that the self like the mind is social emergent. This means impacts the individual’s subjective experiences.
that individual selves are the products of social interaction and not • In contrast to Mead, Simmel proposed that there is
logical or biological in nature. something called human nature that is innate to the individual. This
• He claimed that the self is something which undergoes human nature is intrinsic to the individual like the natural inclination to
development because it is not present instantly at birth. The self arises religious impulse or the gender differences. He also added that most of
in the process of social experience and activity as a result of their our social interactions are individual motivations.
relations to the said process as a whole and to other individuals within • Simmel as a social thinker made a distinction between
that process. In other words, one cannot experience their self alone, subjective and objective culture. The individual or subjective culture
they need other people to experience their self. refers to the ability to embrace, use, and feel culture.
• The social emergence of self is developed due to the three • Objective culture is made up of elements that become
forms of inter-subjective activity, the language, play, and the game. separated from the individual or group’s control and identified as
• He proposed the stages of self formation: separate objects.
1. Preparatory Stage. Mead believed that the self did not exist • There are interrelated forces in modern society that tend to
at birth. Instead, the self develops over time. Its development is increase objective culture according to Simmel. These are
dependent on social interaction and social experience. At this stage, urbanizations, money, and the configuration of one’s social network.
children’s behaviors are primarily based on imitation. It was observed • Urbanization is the process that moves people from country
that children imitate the behaviors of those around them. At this stage, to city living. This result to the concentration of population in one place
knowing and understanding the symbols are important for this will brought about by industrialization. This paved way to the organization
constitute their way of communicating with others throughout their of labor or increased division of labor, which demands specializations
lives. wherein this creates more objective culture.
2. The Play Stage. Skills at knowing and understanding the • Simmel also stressed that the consumption of products has an
symbols of communication is important for this constitutes the basis of individuating and trivializing effect because this enables the person to
socialization. Through communication, social relationship are formed. create self out of things. By consumption, an individual able to
Now children begin to role play and pretend to be other people. Role- purchase things that can easily personalized or express the self. People
taking in the play stage is the process of mentally assuming the process used commodities to create self-concept and self-image. Simmel also
of another person to see how this person might behave or respond in a said that products used in the modernity to express and produced the
given situation (Schefer, 2012). The play stage is significant in the self is also changing. It becomes more and more separated from
development of the self. It is at this stage where child widens his subjectivity (subjective culture) due to division of labor and market
perspective and realizes that he is not alone and that there are others economy. Many products are easily replaced, subjected to the
around him whose presence he has to consider. dynamics of fashion and diversification of markets which leads to
3. The Game Stage. Here, the child is about eight or nine years inappropriate sign use.
of age and now does more than just role-take. The child begins to • Money creates a universal value system wherein every
consider several tasks and various types of relationships commodity can be understood. Money also increases individual
simultaneously. Through the learnings that were gained in stage two, freedom by pursuing diverse activities and by increasing the options for
the child now begins to see not only his own perspective but at the self- expression. Money also makes the individual to be less attached to
same time the perspective of others. In this final stage of self the commodities because the individual tends to understand and
development, the child now has the ability to respond not just to one experience their possession less in terms of their intrinsic qualities and
but several members of his social environment. more of their objective and abstract worth. Additionally, money also
• Generalized other the person realizes that people in society discouraged intimate ties with people. Money comes to stand in the
have cultural norms, beliefs and values which are incorporated into place of almost everything – and this includes relationship! Money
each self. This realization forms basis of how the person evaluate further discourages intimate ties by encouraging a culture of
themselves. calculation.
• The self, according to Mead is not merely a passive reflection • Because of urbanization, Simmel observed that social
of the generalized other. The responses of the individual to the social networks also changed. Group affiliations in urban is definitely different
world are also active, it means that a person decides what they will do from rural settings wherein the relationship are strongly influenced by
in reference to the attitude of others but not mechanically determined family. An individual tends to seek membership to the same group
by such attitudinal structures. Here, Mead identified the two phases of which makes the family as basic socialization structure. This natural
self: inclination to join groups is called by Simmel as organic motivation and
1. the phase which reflects the attitude of the generalized other the grouping is called primary group. This group is based on ties of
or the “me”; and affection and personal loyalty endure over long periods of time, and
2. the phase that responds to the attitude of generalized other involve multiple aspects of a person’s life.
or the “I”. • On the other hand, in the modern urban settings, group
• In Mead’s words, the "me" is the social self, and the "I" is a membership is due to rational motivation or membership due to
response to the "me". Mead defines the "me" as "a conventional, freedom of choice. This characterized the secondary group which is
habitual individual and the “I” as the “novel reply” of the individual to goal and utilitarian oriented, with a narrow range of activities, over
the generalized other. limited time spans. As a result, it is more likely that an individual will
develop unique personalities. Moreover, Simmel said that a complex
web of group affiliations produces role conflicts and blasé attitude. Role
conflict is a situation that demands a person of two or more roles that past and present condition, by biological characteristics, the
clash with one another. Blasé attitude is an attitude of absolute communication and language use, and the lifestyle we choose to live.
boredom and lack of concern. This is the inability or limited ability to
provide emotional investment to other people. The Self Embedded in the Culture Clifford Geertz

The Self and Person in the Contemporary Anthropology • Clifford Geertz was an Anthropology Professor at the
University of Chicago. He studied different cultures and explored on the
• The four subfields of anthropology – Archeology, Biological conception of the self in his writings entitled, “The Impact of the
Anthropology, Linguistics, and Cultural Anthropology, suggest that Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man” (1966) in his fieldwork at
human beings are similar and different in varying ways and tendencies. Java, Bali and Morrocco.
For example, people have the same need for food and water, but they • The analysis of Geertz (1966) in his cultural study about the
have different means on how to satisfy them. These similarities and description of self in Bali is that the Balinese person is extremely
differences make life so interesting. As one learn facts/information that concerned not to present anything individual (distinguishing him or her
make them similar to the other, they will also discover that they have from others) in social life but to enact exclusively a culturally prescribed
different characteristics the define them. This knowledge aims to role or mask. In one instance, Geertz (1973) gave an example of the
highlight the uniqueness of each person and making them value life and stage fright that pervades persons in Bali because they must not be
existence even more. The subfields of Anthropology are as follows: publicly recognizable as individual selves and actors points precisely to
o Archeology. Focus on the study of the past and how it may the fact that agency or an ability to act in one’s own account is an
have contributed to the present ways of how people conduct their daily integral ability of human beings—an ability which continually threatens
lives. Archeologists have so far discovered the unique ways in which the culturally established norm of nonindividuality
human beings adapted to the changes in their environment in order for
them to survive. Among their discoveries around the world is the Psychology
species, homo sapiens did not become extinct because of their ability
to think, use tools and learn from experience. In relating to the • The cognitive aspect of the self is known as self-concept. Self-
contemporary society, people still aim for survival, for their basic needs concept is defined as self-knowledge, a cognitive structure that includes
to be fulfilled and to live legacy to their society. beliefs about personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values,
o Biological Anthropology. Focus on how the human body goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that an individual exist as
adapts to the different earth environments. Among the activities of individuals. As humans grow and develop, self-concept becomes
Anthropologists are identification of probable causes of diseases, abstract and more complex.
physical mutation, and death, evolution, and comparison of dead and • According to the psychologist Dr. Bruce A. Bracken in 1992,
living primates. They are interested in explaining how the biological there are six specific domains that are related to self-concept these are:
characteristics of human being affects their way of living. Accordingly, 1) the social domain or the ability of the person to interact with
human beings at present still share the same biological strengths and others;
vulnerabilities. Like eating balanced nutrients and minerals that are 2) the competence domain or the ability to meet the basic
beneficial to all human beings while being exposed to a virus in a needs;
pandemic might cause negative implications to many. 3) the affect domain or the awareness of the emotional states;
o Linguistic Anthropology. Focused on using language as means 4) the physical domain or the feelings about looks, health,
to discover a group’s manner of social interaction and their worldview. physical condition, and overall appearance;
Anthropologists in this field want to discover how language is used to 5) academic domain or the success or failure in the school; and
create and share meanings, to form ideas and concepts and to promote 6) family domain or how well one function within the family
social change. Furthermore, they also study how language and modes unit.
of communication changes over time.
o Cultural Anthropology. Focused in knowing what makes one William James and the Me-Self and I-Self
group’s manner of living forms an essential part of the member’s
personal and societal identity. This encompasses the principles of • William James is a well-known figure in Psychology who is
Theory of Cultural Determinism which suggests that the human nature considered as the founder of functionalism. He brought prominence to
is determined by the kind of culture he is born and grew up in. Cultural U.S. psychology through the publication of The Principles of Psychology
diversities are manifested in different ways and different levels of dept. (1890) that made him more influential than his contemporaries in the
The following are the ways in which culture may manifest itself in field.
people: • James made a clear distinction between ways of approaching
Symbols. These are the words, gestures, pictures or objects the self – the knower (the pure or the I – Self) and the known (the
that have recognized or accepted meaning in a particular culture. objective or the Me – Self). The function of the knower (I-Self)
Example: colors have similar meaning across all cultures. according to James must be the agent of experience. While the known
Heroes. These are persons from the past or present who have (Me-Self) have three different but interrelated aspects of empirical self
characteristics that are important in culture. They may be real of work (known today as self- concept): the Me viewed as material, the Me
of fictions. Example: Fiction – Thor, Captain America; Real – Jose Rizal, viewed as social, and the Me viewed as spiritual in nature.
Apolinario Mabini. • The material self is consists of everything an individual call
Rituals. These are activities participated by a group of people uniquely as their own, such as the body, family, home or style of dress.
for the fulfilment of desired objectives and are concerned to be socially On the other hand, social self refers to the recognition an individual get
essential. Example: Wedding, fiesta, Christmas celebration, graduation, from other people. Lastly, spiritual self refers to the individual inner or
etc. subjective being.
Values. These are considered to be the core of every culture.
These are unconscious, neither discuss or observed, and can only be Carl Rogers : Real and Ideal Self
inferred from the way people act and react to situations. Example:
hospitality, respect for elders etc. • Carl Rogers is best known as the founder of client- centered
• The field of Anthropology offers another way by which a therapy and considered as one of the prominent humanistic or
person can view themselves. As self is formed or determined by the existential theorists in personality. His therapy aimed to make the
person achieve balance between their self- concept (real-self) and ideal • Albert Bandura is a psychologist and Professor Emeritus of
self. Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. He is known for his
• The real self includes all those aspects of one's identity that theory of social learning by means of modeling. He is famous for his
are perceived in awareness. These are the things that are known to proposed concept of self- efficacy.
oneself like the attributes that an individual possesses. • His personality theory, The Social Cognitive Theory asserts
• The ideal self is defined as one’s view of self as one wishes to that a person is both proactive and agentic, which means that we have
be. This contains all the aspirations or wishes of an individual for the capacity to exercise control over our life. This theory emphasized
themselves. that human beings are proactive, self-regulating, self-reflective, and
• A wide gap between the ideal self and the self-concept self- organizing.
indicates incongruence and an unhealthy personality. Psychologically • Self as proactive means an individual have control in any
healthy individuals perceive little discrepancy between their self- situation by making things happen. They act as agent in doing or
concept and what they ideally would like to be. making themselves as they are. Agency is a defining feature of modern
selfhood. Agents assume some degree of ownership and control over
Real and Ideal Self things, both internally (I control my own thoughts) and externally (I
make things happen in the environment). The ability of an individual to
• According to Multiple Selves Theory, there are different pursue their goals in life is an example of agentic approach to self.
aspects of the self exist in an individual. From here, we can say that self • According to Bandura (1989), self-efficacy beliefs determine
is a whole consist of parts, and these parts manifest themselves when how people feel, think, motivate themselves and
need arise. behave. Such beliefs produce these diverse effects through four major
• Gregg Henriques proposed the Tripartite Model of Human processes. They include cognitive, motivational, affective and selection
Consciousness, wherein he described that self is consist of three processes. A strong sense of efficacy enhances human accomplishment
related, but also separable domains these are the experimental self, and personal well-being in many ways.
private self, and public self. • In contrast Bandura (1989) said that people who doubt their
capabilities shy away from difficult tasks which they view as personal
o The experiential self or the theater of consciousness is a threats. They have low aspirations and weak commitment to the goals
domain of self that defined as felt experience of being. This includes the they choose to pursue. When faced with difficult tasks, they dwell on
felt consistency of being across periods of time. It is tightly associated their personal deficiencies, on the obstacles they will encounter, and all
with the memory. This is a part of self that disappears the moment that kinds of adverse outcomes rather than concentrate on how to perform
an individual enter deep sleep and comes back when they wake up. successfully. They fall easy victim to stress and depression.
o The private self consciousness system or the
narrator/interpreter is a portion of self that verbally narrates what is Western and Oriental/Eastern Thought
happening and tries to make sense of what is going on. The moment
that you read this part, there is somewhat like a “voice” speaking in Cultural differences and environment creates different perceptions of
your head trying to understand what this concept is all about. the self. The most common distinction between people and cultures is
o Lastly, the public self or Persona, the domain of self that an the Eastern-Western distinction. Eastern are known as the Asian
individual shows to the public, and this interacts on how others see an countries, and Western represents the Europe and Northen America. It
individual. Henriques’ Tripartite Model attempts to capture the key must be noted that countries who are geographically closer to each
domains of consciousness, both within the self and between others. other my share commonalities, but factors that may create diffrences
• Unified being is essentially connected to consciousness, must be considered.
awareness, and agency. A well-adjusted person is able to accept and
understood the success and failure that they experienced. They are Individualistic versus Collective Self
those kinds of person who continually adjust, adapt, evolve and survive
as an individual with integrated, unified, multiple selves. Understanding individualism and collectivism could help in the
understanding of the cross-cultural values of a person. Not every
Donald Winnicott: True versus False Self culture is at one end or the other of the spectrum, but the majority
tend to favor one over the other in everyday life.
• Donald Winnicott was a pediatrician in London who studied
Psychoanalysis with Melanie Klein, a renowned personality theorist and Individualistic Self
one of the pioneers in object relations and development of personality
in childhood. • Individualism is not the idea that individuals should live like
• According to him, false self is an alternative personality used isolated entity, nor the idea that they should never get or give help
to protect an individual’s true identity or one’s ability to “hide” the real from others, nor the idea that an individual never owes anything to
self. The false self is activated to maintain social relationship as other people.
anticipation of the demands of others. Compliance with the external • Individualism is the idea that the fundamental unit of the
rules or following societal norms is a good example of this. false self can human species that thinks, lives, and acts toward goals is the individual.
be a healthy self if it is perceived as functional for the person and for This means that we can form our own independent judgments, act on
the society and being compliant without the feeling of betrayal of true our own thoughts, and disagree with others.
self. On the other hand, unhealthy false self happens when an • Each adult individual can consider what is in his own best
individual feels forced compliance in any situation. interests. Each can act on his own private motivations and values and
• On the contrary, true self has a sense of integrity and can judge other people as good people to form relationships with, or as
connected wholeness that is rooted in early infancy. The baby bad people to be avoided. Each can decide whether to cooperate with
creates experiences of a sense of reality and sense of life worth living. others to solve problems. Each can choose to think for himself about
Winnicott claimed that true self can be achieved by good parenting that the conclusions that the majority of others in a group come to,
is not necessarily a perfect parenting. accepting or rejecting their conclusions as indicated by his own
thought.
The Self as Proactive and Agentic Albert Bandura • Example of the description would include an individual
identifies primarily with self, with the needs of the individual being
satisfied before those of the group. Looking after and taking care of o Western Self as materialistic and rationalistic. The western
ourselves, being self-sufficient, guarantees the well-being of the group. accentuation of rational, scientific approach to reality has tended to
Independence and self-reliance are greatly stressed and valued. define spiritual and immaterial phenomena as potentially superstitious
• In general, people tend to distance themselves and dangerous. In any society, belief system is stratified and composed
psychologically and emotionally from each other. One may choose to of a hierarchy of interrelated, causal-explanatory models.
join groups, but group membership is not essential to one’s identity or
success. Individualist characteristics are often associated with men and The Self as Embedded in Relationships and through Spiritual
people in urban settings. Development in Confucian Thought
• Western cultures are known to be individualistic. • Confucius was born in the period of the Zhou Dynasty in 551
BCE in the state of Lu. He grew up poor although he was descended
Collective Self from scholarly family.
• Confucius philosophy is known as humanistic social
• Collectivism is the idea that the fundamental unit of the philosophy which focusses on human beings and the society in general.
human species that thinks, lives, and acts toward goals is not the • Confucianism is centered on ren which can be manifested
individual, but some group. In different variants, this group may be the through the li (propriety), xiao (filiality), and yi (rightness). For
family, the city, the economic class, the society, the nation, the race, or Confucius, ren reflects the person’s own understanding of humanity. It
the whole human species. The group exists as a super-organism is found within each person and can be realized in one’s personal life
separate from individuals: A group may make its own decisions, acts and relationship. Ren guides human actions that makes life worth living
apart from the actions of individuals, and has its own interests apart which can be realized through li, xiao, and yi:
from those of the individuals that compose it. o Li the propriety. Rules of propriety should be followed to
• Under collectivism, individuals are analogous to ants in the guide human actions. These rules are the customs, ceremonies, and
protection of their queen ant. The individual ant doesn’t have minds of traditions that forms the basis of li. According to Confucius, “to master
their own, and generally cannot disagree with the hive. Any ant that oneself and return to propriety is humanity” (Koller, 2007). Self mastery
acts in a way contrary to the interests of the group is a malfunctioning involves self development. Self mastery is characterized by self-control
ant. If an ant does not follow the certain pattern of how they protect and the will to redirect impulses to change these to socially accepted
their queen, it will be entirely unable to support itself, find other ants expression of human nature. Li conforms to the norms of humanity,
that support other queen ant and will surely die in short order. If the thus one must fulfill their duties and responsibilities in this five (5)
malfunctioning ant stays within the group, it will be a threat to the line relationships: father and son, ruler and subject, older and younger
appropriate to protecting the queen ant. brothers, husband and wife, friend and friend.
• Examples of the collectivist thinking is when our identity is in o Xiao the filiality. This is the virtue of reverence and respect for
large part, a function of our membership and role in a group, e.g., the the family. Parents should be revered for the life they and given.
family or work team. The survival and success of the group ensures the Children show respect to their parents by exerting efforts to take care
well-being of the individual, so that by considering the needs and of themselves. Reverence for parents and family is further
feelings of others, one protects oneself. Harmony and the demonstrated by bringing honor to the family, making something of
interdependence of group members are stressed and valued. Group himself and to earn respect of other. If, however, the person is having
members are relatively close psychologically and emotionally, but difficulty giving his family the honor that they deserved, he should just
distant toward non-group members. Collectivist characteristics are do this best to not disgrace the family. Relationship that exist in the
often associated with women and people in rural settings. family reflect hoe the person relates to others in the community. The
• Asian countries are known to be collective in nature. family is the reflection of the person. How the person interacts socially
and the values they emulate can all be traced back to their family
The Social Construction of the Self in Western Thought environment. This forms the bases of the person’s moral and social
virtues (Koller, 2007).
• Self has been an area of interest by French and English o Yi the rightness. The right way of behaving which is
philosophers, and evident in the ideas of Greek philosophers like unconditional and absolute. Right is right, and what is not right is
Socrates and Plato. wrong. Actions must be performed and carried out because they are
• Descartes in 17th century emphasized the self in his dictum “I right actions. Confucius emphasized that actions should be performed
think therefore I am” which claims that cognitive basis of the person’s because they are right and not for selfish benefits that they provide.
thoughts is proof for the existence of the self.
• Kant believed that the self is capable of actions that entitles it
to have rights as an autonomous agent.
• Here are some qualities imparted to the Western subjective
self. It sketches some features on subjectivity and ways of thinking of
western persons. This provides an impressionistic profile through the
use of a few strokes characterizing some ways of being and thinking of
many western persons.
o Western self as analytic. Since analytic and inductive modes
of thinking were prominent for person in western cultures, to see
objects as divisible combinations of yet smaller objects. Real things are
not only visualized but immaterial things like thoughts, ideas and
memories would be given emphasis.
o Western self as monotheistic. Monotheism can be known as
the rigid consequence of the doctrine of normal human being. It is like
forcing the concentration of supernatural capabilities.

o Western self as individualistic. The emphasis on individualism

has direct and indirect effects on both the presentation of self (in public
ways) and the experience of the self (in private awareness).