From the Perspective of

Psychology
What is Psychology?
• derived from the Greek words ‘psyche’
which means ‘soul’ and ‘logos’ which
means ‘the study of’
• scientific study of human behavior and
mental processes
• It is the field of social sciences that
deals with the description, explanation,
prediction and control of behavior.
Goals of Psychology

•Describe
•Explain
•Predict
•Control
Nature vs. Nurture Controversy
• the longstanding controversy
over the relative contributions
that genes and experiences
make to the development of
psychological traits and
behaviors
William James (1842-1910)
• American Philosopher and
Psychologist
• Founder of American Psychology
• Professor of psychology and
philosophy at Harvard University
• Theory of the self - an individual’s
mental picture of the self is divided
into two categories: the “Me” and
the “I”
The ‘ME’ and the ‘I’
William James in his studies of human thoughts concluded that
thoughts have five characteristics:
1. All human thoughts are owned by some personal self
2. All thoughts are constantly changing or are never static
3. There is a continuity of thoughts as its focus shifts from one object
to another
4. Thoughts deal with objects that are different from and independent
of consciousness itself
5. Consciousness can focus on particular objects and not others
• Thoughts are associated with the existence of the self
• The self is made up of two parts: ME self and I self
ME self
• Can be considered as a separate object or individual that the person
refers to when discussing or describing their personal experiences
• Also called empirical ME
Ex. The gifts were sent to ME.
The person is smiling at ME.
Three components of ME self
1. The Material self
2. The Social self
3. The Spiritual self
1. The Material self
• Consists of the things or objects that belong to the person or
entities that belongs to.
• The core of the material self is the body
• Everything that is attached or associated to the body identifies
the person
• The more attached and identified the person to his material
things, the more he will be affected if any of them changes
Ex. The person’s body, his family, clothes, style of clothes, the
culture of his family
2. The Social self
• Refers to who the person is in a particular social situation
• Changes in behavior usually result from the different social
situations the person finds himself in
• James believed that people have many social selves because
of the many social situations they find themselves in
• The person chooses the self that would smoothly adapt to the
social situation in order for him to fit in.
Ex. The person changes how he presents himself when he is at
home, at school, or with his friends
3. The Spiritual self
• Refers to the self that is more concrete or permanent when
compared to the material and social selves
• This self is the most subjective and intimate part of the self
• It includes aspects like the individual’s personality, values and
morals that are usually stable and constant
• Always engaging in the process of introspection (self-
observation) – it is a method that includes reflecting or looking
inward to study and understand the how and why of the self
• Looking inward is more important because if there is conflict, it
will be very difficult for the person to have peace of mind
I self
• It is the self that knows and recognizes who they are and what
they have done
• Pure Ego or the thinking self
• Similar to the soul or mind
• Considered to be non-substance
• Comprises the totality of the person’s identity
• It takes into account the past, present and future selves of the
individual
• This perception of identity arises from a continuous stream of
human consciousness
Other Selves in Psychology
The Global Self
• Represents the overall value that a
person places upon himself
• The group of people we interacts with
every day of our life strongly influence us
• Global self is the product of all
experiences that we had in the society
which accounts for the kind of person we
presently are
Differentiated Self
• Coined by Murray Bowen who was an American Psychiatrist and
professor of Psychiatry. He developed the Family Therapy and
Systemic Therapy. His observation of the family (particularly his own)
he came up with the concept of a differentiated self
• According to this theory there are two forces that affect the person,
Togetherness and Individuality.
• Too much togetherness creates friction and conflict and prevents
development of the person’s sense of self
• Too much individuality results in distant and estrange feelings
towards family and other people
• A balance should be maintained between these two forces
Differentiated Self
• Enables the person to
develop and sustain unique
identity, make own choices,
and accept responsibility for
behavior and still be able to
stay emotionally connected
with family and friends
• Being able to free himself
from the influence of others
allow him to define himself
Real and Ideal Self-concepts
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
• Born on January 8, 1902
• American Psychologist
• He proposed the personality
theory known as the Client-
centered or Person-Centered
Theory
Self-concept
• It refers to how the person thinks about or perceives
himself
• Includes all those aspects of one’s being and one’s
experiences that are perceived in awareness (though
not always accurately) by the individual
• There are two types of self-concept:
1. Real self-concept
2. Ideal self-concept
Self-concept

Real self-concept Ideal self-concept

• Refers to all information and • It is the model version the
person has of himself and what
perception the person has the person aims for himself to
about himself be
• This is who the person • This idealized view was borne
out of his experiences,
actually is standards and demands of
society and the heroes and
• Answers the question, “Who models which he chooses to
am I? imitate
• Answers the question “Who do I
want to be?”
Self-Discrepancy Theory
• developed by Edward Tory Higgins in
1987
• individuals compare their “actual” self
to internalized standards or the
“ideal/ought self” or self-guides.
• Self-discrepancy is when the self is
found to be deviating/diverting from
the self-guide. It may cause
emotional discomfort and can be
manifested as guilt or worst as
indifference
Multiple and Unified Selves
• Multiple selves theory
suggests that there exists in
the individual different
aspects of the self
• Unified self is the integration
of the different and conflicting
aspects of the self
True and False Selves
• came from an English Pediatrician and
Psychoanalyst, Donald Woods Winnicott
• D.W. Winnicott suggests that play is
significant in the development of the child
• True Self – is one in which the self is
seen as creative, spontaneously
experiencing each day of their lives,
appreciating being alive, real, integrated
and connected to the whole of existence
• False Self – a defense, a kind of mask
that hides the true person for fear of the
pain of rejection and failure
The Self as Proactive and Agentic
• Albert Bandura, a Canadian-
American psychologist, is the
proponent of the personality theory
known as The Social Cognitive
Theory
• Humans are seen as proactive and
agentic which means that we have
the capacity to exercise control over
life
Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm
• Explains how human beings are affected
by the interaction among environmental
events, behavior and personal factors
• Ex. A child does not like a particular
subject, so he/she will not study it
(personal factor). This will lead to getting
lower marks in the exam, which will lead
to the child being at the receiving end of
his parents' and teacher's reprimands
(environment). This will make the child not
want to study that subject even more, and
he/she may also begin disliking the
teacher (behavior), creating further
problems.
The Social Cognitive Theory
• Suggested that human beings are proactive, self-
regulating, self-reflective and self-organizing.
• People have the ability to influence their own behavior
which may lead to desired outcomes
• This human agency involves the active process of
exploration and manipulation in order to influence
environment and achieve desired consequences
Core Features of Human Agency
• Intentionality – refers to acts a person performs
intentionally
• Forethought – refers to the person’s anticipation
of likely outcomes of their actions
• Self-Reactiveness – refers to the process of
motivating and regulating our own actions
• Self-Reflectiveness – refers to the examining our
own functioning; thinking about and evaluating our
motivations, values, life goals, and the actions of
other people have on us.
• Self efficacy – the person’s belief that he is capable of
behavior that will produce the desired positive results
Self-regulation
• Self-regulation can occur when a
person attempts to minimize the
discrepancies between what a
person already accomplished and
what the person still wants to
achieve
• It allows the person to set goals
that are better and higher than the
former, challenging his capabilities
and make a person wiser and self-
actualized individual
Self-regulation
According to Albert Bandura, self-
regulation is a continuously active
process in which we:

1. Monitor our own behavior, the

influences on our behavior, and the
consequences of our behavior;
2. Judge our behavior in relation to our
own personal standards and
broader, more contextual standards;
3. React to our own behavior (i.e.,
what we think and how we feel
about our behavior)
THANK YOU!
Activity No. 5: From the Perspective of
Psychology
• Go to this link https://kevan.org/johari
• Pick 5 or 6 words that you feel/think best describes you from the
list
• Enter your “full name” and save your results.
• Ask several of your family, friends and classmates (30 or more)
to say which words they associate with you. (You can post this
on your facebook, or send the link to your friends)
Activity No. 5: From the Perspective of
Psychology
• Read the instruction below. You can direct them to your link
indicated below. E.g.

• Watch your Johari window by saving the link for viewing. E.g.
Activity No. 5: From the Perspective of
Psychology
• Once finished, review your Johari Window assessment. Compare notes between
self and others assessment.
• Create a table for Arena quadrant, Façade quadrant, Blind spot quadrant,
Unknown quadrant.
Answer the following questions:
1. How easy or difficult was it to select the adjectives to describe yourself? Why?
2. How easy or difficult was it to select the adjectives to describe your friends?
Why?
3. After comparing feedback, what were you surprised by?
4. What can you do to reduce your Blind Spot and/or Facade, and move those
traits into your Arena instead?
5. How can you apply what you learned about you and your friends to improve
yourself?