PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF a.

The real-self concept – refers to all information and

perception the person has about himself.
WILLIAM JAMES (1842 – 1910) b. The ideal-self concept – refers to what person aims for
 American Philosopher and Psychologist himself to be.
 Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at Harvard
University CONGRUENCE
 One of the great pragmatists
 “Theory of the Self”
 Wrote a book entitled “The principles of Psychology”

THE ME AND I CONCEPT

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. DONALD WOODS WINNICOTT
4. Thoughts deal with objects that are different from and  Suggests that the self is composed of the true self and
independent of consciousness itself. the false self.
5. Consciousness can focus on a particular object and not  False Self - People tend to display a false self to
others. impress others.
 True Self - authentic self
 The self can change depending on situations.

ALBERT BANDURA
 The Social Cognitive Theory
 Learning through observation
 Suggested that human beings are proactive, self
regulating, self-reflective, and self-organizing.
 The human agency is the essence of being human
ME SELF
 A separate object or individual that the person to when FEATURES OF HUMAN AGENCY
discussing or describing their personal experiences.  Intentionality
Examples:  Actions performed by the person with full
1. The gifts were sent to ME. awareness of his behavior.
2. The person is smiling at ME.  Example: Kenneth went online to apply for a
passport because he wants to travel outside his
MATERIAL SELF country.
 Consists of the things or objects that belong to the
person or entities that a person belongs to. (e.g. The  Forethought
person‟s body, his family, clothes, his money)  Person‟s anticipation of likely outcomes of his
behavior.
SOCIAL SELF  Example: Kenneth chose an interview date for
 Refers to the person is in a particular social situation his passport application where most likely he
 Changes in behavior usually result from the different will be on-leave.
social situations the person finds himself in.
 Self-Reactiveness
SPIRITUAL SELF  Process in which the person is motivated and
 Refers to the self that is more concrete or permanent regulates his behavior as he observes his progress
when compared to the material and social selves. in achieving his goals.
 The most subjective and intimate part of the self.  Example: Kenneth saves a larger portion of his
 Always engaging in the process of introspection (self- salary in the bank so he can have enough cash
observation). to travel to Japan.

I SELF  Self-Reflectiveness
 Pure Ego = person‟s soul or mind  The person looking inward and evaluating his
 Comprises the totality of the person‟s identity motivations, values, life goals, and other people‟s
effect on him.
CARL ROGERS (1902 – 1987)  Example: Kenneth believes that he has to enjoy
 Proposed a personality theory known as the „Person- and experience life a little while still able and
Centered Theory‟ capable.
 Self-concept – used to refer how a person thinks about
or perceives himself.
Two types of self-concept:
 CARL JUNG (1875 – 1961) suppress these impulses and instead, adopt the same
 The Self as The Central Archetype sex parent‟s characteristics and values. As a result, the
 Central to Carl Jung‟s theory of the self is the concept superego is formed, and children feel guilty whenever
of archetype. they violate its standards.
 The archetype represents the hidden potentialities of
the psyche, or total personality. LATENCY (6-11 YEARS)
 Sexual instincts die down and the superego develops
ARCHETYPES further. The child acquires new social values from
 For Jung, there are four major archetypes: persona, adults and same sex peers outside the family.
shadow, animus/anima, and self.
 The persona refers to social roles that individuals GENITAL (ADOLESCENCE)
present to others.  With puberty, the sexual impulses of the phallic stage
 The shadow refers to the repressed thoughts that are reappear. If development has been successful during
unacceptable. This archetype is often considered as the earlier stages, it leads to marriage, mature sexuality,
dark side of the psyche. and the birth and rearing of children. This stage extends
 The anima is the feminine side of the male psyche while through adulthood.
the animus is the masculine side of the female psyche.
 The self is the central archetype that unites all parts of ERIK ERIKSON
the psyche. The ego is the individual‟s conscious  The Role of Erik Erikson‟s Theory in Understanding the
perception of the self. Self
 In Erik Erikson‟s theory, adolescence stage is a period
SIGMUND FREUD’S CONSTRUCTION OF SELF AND of identity development.
PERSONALITY  Identity formation is usually viewed as a process that
 According to Sigmund Freud, there are three structures requires adolescents to distance themselves from the
of personality: id, ego, and superego. strong expectations and definitions imposed by parents
 The id is the pleasure-seeking side, immature, and other family members.
impulsive, child-like and cannot delay gratification.  Erikson‟s theory proposes that individuals go through
 It has no regard of others and the law. eight psychosocial stages of development.
 The ego refers to the “I” and works on the reality  Each stage consists of developmental tasks that one
principle, controls the id, and can delay pleasure. needs to accomplish in order to develop successfully.
 The ego can conform with existing societal  During each stage, the person experiences life crisis
consideration. which could have negative consequences if not properly
 The superego refers to the “conscience” and “moral resolved.
judge” of conduct.
 Violation of rules leads to guilt feelings.
 It strives for perfection rather than pleasure.
 ID: Instincts
 Ego: Reality
 Superego: Morality

SIGMUND FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES

ORAL (BIRTH – 1 YEAR)
 The new ego directs the baby‟s sucking activities
towards breast or bottle. If oral needs are not met THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CONCEPTS OF SELF
appropriately, the individual may develop such habits as
thumb sucking, fingernail biting, and pencil chewing in WESTERN THOUGHTS
childhood and overeating and smoking later in life.
 Conducted scientific investigations in the effort to
understand the self and have developed theories and
ANAL (1 – 3 YEARS)
concepts to account for the similarities and differences
 Toddlers and preschoolers enjoy holding and releasing among them.
urine and feces. Toilet training becomes a major issue
 In the Western thought, the emphasis is
between parent and child. If parents insists that children
individualistic rather than relational.
be trained before they are ready, of if they make too few
demands, conflicts about anal control may appear in the
EASTERN THOUGHTS
form of extreme orderliness and cleanliness or
 Many movements of Eastern thoughts raise questions
messiness disorder.
about the ultimate meaning of human life and have
developed theories of self insofar as they have
PHALLIC (3 – 6 YEARS)
investigated what it means to be a human being.
 As preschooler take pleasure in genital stimulation.
 Eastern thoughts aim at transformations in
Freud‟s Oedpus conflict for boys and Electra conflict for
consciousness, feelings, emotions, and one's relation to
girls arise: Children feel a sexual desire for the other-
other people and the world.
sex parent and hostility towards the same sex parent.
To avoid punishment and loss of parental love, they  In the Eastern thought, the emphasis is relational
rather than individual. The self is considered not in
 isolation but in relation to others, society, and the  The ideal is to experience Nirvana, a state of
universe. transcendence devoid of self-reference.
 They offer a variety of techniques for cultivating a  This state of transcendence can be achieved through
deeper understanding of the self, they do not utilize the meditation
scientific techniques of investigation.
HINDUISM
MODELS AND APPROACHES OF UNDERSTANDING  Hinduism has no one founder but is instead a fusion of
THE SELF various beliefs.
 The goal of man is to have a knowledge of the true
reality – Brahman
 Law of karma is the most important doctrine of
Hinduism.
 All actions are subject to karma.
 Individual actions will lead to either a good or bad
outcome in one‟s life.
 Hindus believe that Atman being an immortal soul
continues to be reincarnated from lifetime to lifetime
until it is freed from the cycle of rebirth and reach a
state of nirvana or non-birth.
 Karma does not end with a body‟s death, so its
influence may extend through incarnation of the soul.

FOUR ANCIENT EASTERN PHILOSOPHY CONFUCIANISM

 The core of Confucian thought is the Golden Rule or the
principle of reciprocity: “Do not do to others what you
would not want others to do to you”.
 Another important feature in Confucian thought is the
individual‟s greatest mission of attaining self-realization
wherein self-cultivation is instrumental.
 Self-cultivation could be accomplished by knowing
one‟s role in the society and act accordingly.
 Moral character is perfected through continuously
taking every opportunity to improve oneself in thought
and action.

TAOISM
 Taoism (also spelled Daoism) is a religion and a
philosophy from ancient China that has influenced folk
BUDHISM and national belief. Taoism has been connected to the
 Siddharta Gautama known as Buddha is the founder philosopher Lao Tzu, who around 500 B.C.E
of Buddhism.  To them, the self is an extension of the cosmos, not of
 The root word of Buddhism is budh meaning awake. social relationships.
 To be awake may imply that when the eyes are open, it  The self is described as one of the limitless forms of the
would lead to understanding more about the self and Tao.
the world.  The Tao is commonly regarded as Nature that is the
 According to the teachings of Buddhism, every person foundation of all that exists.
has the seed of enlightenment, hence, potential to be a  It is not bounded by time and space.
Buddha. But the seed should be nurtured.  The ideal is to identify with the Tao.
 In Buddhist philosophy, man is just a title for the  The perfect man has no self.
summation of the five parts (matter, sensation,  The selfless person leads to a balanced life, in harmony
perception, mental constructs, and consciousness) that with both nature and society.
compose the individual, however each of the parts  Taoists believe that simplicity, spontaneity, and
distinctly is not man. harmony with nature should govern one‟s life.
 There is no self (or no-soul).  There should be unity and harmony among opposing
 There is only nothing and all else is an illusion. elements: the Yin and Yang - light and dark, male and
 There is nothing permanent, but change. female, life and death.
 In Buddhism, anicca (impermanence) means that
everything in life is always changing, that nothing lasts
forever.
 The ignorance of the impermanence of everything may
lead to an illusion of selfhood.