Physical Self

Santrock (2014) said that self-understanding is the individual’s cognitive representation of the
self which consists of the substance and the concept of self-conceptions.
GROWING UP..
What is Physical Self?

• The concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly observed or
experienced.
• Refers to the body, both physical extremities and external organs, which work together to
perform many of its functions.
• Physical self is not just about how you look, not just about abs and such. It is also about
how you nourish your self-image, self-concept and self-esteem.
➢ Physical characteristics are the defining traits of the person’s body.

Erik Erikson believed in the importance of the body from early development; physical as well as
the intellectual skills will somehow serve as a basis whether a person has achieved a sense of
competence and be able to manage and face the demands of life complexities.

William James considered the body as the initial source of sensation and necessary for the origin
of and maintenance of personality.
Puberty
➢ When children reach 10-12 years of age puberty begins and they are now in the adolescent
period. This transition period in the human life span lasts from 18-22 years of age
(Shamrock, 2016).
➢ The World Health Organization describe adolescents as young people whose age ranges
from 10-19 years and considered as a healthy group

3 Periods of Adolescence (healthychildren.org)

1. Early Adolescence (11-14 years old)
2. Middle Adolescence (15-17 years old)
3. Late Adolescence (18-21 years old)

In the Philippines, the Youth in Nation Building Act (1994) defined youth according to ages which
cover between 15-30 years. The age range was created by the National Youth Commission.
PHYSICAL CHANGES

Santrock (2016) recognized puberty as the most essential marker of the beginning of
adolescence.

• Girls reached puberty earlier than boys and experience menarche, which is the first
menstrual flow
• Boys, two to three years later than girls, experience spermarche or semenarche which is
the first ejaculation or nocturnal emission (wet dreams).
In addition, he explained that puberty is a brain-neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in
early adolescence that triggers the rapid physical changes that occur in the adolescent stage of
human development.
Pituitary gland- the master endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates the functions of all
other endocrine glands including the gonads (ovaries: girls, testes: boys). The hormones secreted
by the gonads (sex glands) are distributed by the blood stream throughout the body.

Primary sexual changes for both boys and girls are changes in their reproductive organs which is
a preparation for procreation.
Secondary sexual changes

• Estrogen (girls)- increase in height, widening of the hips, and increase in fatty tissues in
the breast of girls.
• Androgen and testosterone (boys)- responsible for the boy’s growth of facial and body hair,
muscles and change in the voice.

Factors Affecting the Development of Physical Self

1. Hereditary (Nature) – transmission of traits/characteristics from parents to offspring.
Through genes, hereditary potentials like physical, mental, social, emotional, and moral
traits are passed down in generations.
2. Environment (Nurture) – sum total of the forces or experiences that a person undergoes
from conception to old age.
3. Health
BODY IMAGE

Adolescents become preoccupied with their bodies and develop images of what their bodies and
develop images of what their bodies are like.
Body image refers to the way one sees himself/herself or the way he/she imagines how
he/she looks. It could be positive or negative.

• Adolescents with the most positive body image are engaged in health enhancing behavior
such as eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. Girls are less happy with their body
images than boys throughout.
• Adolescents with poor body images have negative thoughts and feelings about their
appearance which can either be true or not.
• A healthy body image includes positive thoughts, feelings and acceptance of one’s body
and overall physical appearance.
• Young adolescents experience spotlight effect which refers to the belief that others
(imaginary audience) are paying more attention to the person’s appearance and behavior
than they really are.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE PERCEPTION OF PHYSICAL SELF

1. Personal Factors
a. Introspection and Self-reflection. Introspection is the process by which one
observes and examines one’s internal state (mental and emotional) after behaving
in a certain way (Hewstone et al., 2015). Introspection is limited because people
are commonly motivated to keep their unwanted thoughts and experiences out of
memory and consciousness. In short, people tend to overestimate their positive
aspects.
b. Self-perception Theory. Bem (1972) self-perception theory explains that since
one’s internal state is difficult to interpret, people can infer inner states by observing
their own behavior – as if they are an outside observer.
 c. Self-concept. Self-concept is a cognitive representation of self-knowledge which
includes the sum total of all beliefs that people have about themselves. It pertains
to all characteristics the person enumerates when asked to describe who he is.
Physical self-concept – individual’s perception or description of his physical self
(including physical appearance)
d. Personal Identity. It is the concept a person has about himself that develops over
the years. This includes aspects of his life that he was born into like family,
nationality, gender, physical traits as well as the choices he makes, such as what he
does for a living, who his friends are and what he believes in.
2. Social Factors
a. Attachment Process and Social Appraisal. Bowlby (1969) states that people
learn about their value and lovability when they experience how their mothers or
caregivers care for them and respond to their needs. Caregiving that is consistent
promote positive self-concept; whereas caregiving that is neglectful creates a
negative self-concept concluding that they are not worthy and others cannot be
trusted.
b. Maintaining Regulating and Expanding the Self in Interpersonal Relationship.
The sense of self is continuously shaped through ongoing interaction with others or
with significant relationship partners. They act as a “private audience” with whom
people carry an internal dialogue.
c. The Looking-glass Self Theory. Cooley stated that a person’s self grows out of
society’s interpersonal interactions and the perception of others. In looking glass
self, the self-image is shaped and reflected from the social world. Other people’s
reaction would serve as a mirror in which people see themselves. Reflected
appraisal are inferences regarding other’s appraisal of a person. It is gained by
observing how people react towards and individual.
d. Social Comparison. Social comparison is a process of comparing oneself with
others in order to evaluate one’s own abilities and opinions.
• Upward social comparison- individual compares himself to others who are
better than him. On the negative, he may experience inferiority, envy or
frustration
• Downward social comparison- individual compares himself to someone
who is in a worse situation than he is especially when he is feeling so low.
On the other hand, one may give rise to feelings of superiority and
arrogance.
e. Social Identity Theory (Collective Identity)
SELF IDENTITY
The person that someone truly is or the A person believes she or he is,
entire person of the individual representing a synthesis and integration
of self-understanding. (Santrock, 2014)
The total characteristics or qualities of The traits or characteristics, social
a person both known and unknown to relations, roles, and social group
others but known to oneself. memberships that define who one is.
A way of making sense of some aspect
or part of self-concept (Leary and
Tangney, 2012)
 This framework was created by Tajfel and Turner in 1979 and all about how people
achieve understanding about themselves by being a member of their group. People
have a need for a positive social identity that is why they connect to a wider social
network. Social groups include gender, ethnicity, religion, profession, political
membership, and business organizations.
The table is a comparison of self and identity. Self belongs to an individual level
analysis which includes self-esteem, self-states, self-efficacy and the like. Identity
is based on societal or cultural level analysis such as cultural concept of oneself and
cultural make-up which makes a person who he is.
Identities are not stable markers of what people exact to be. Identity is a description
of who a person is.

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM: THE

IMPORTANCE OF BEAUTY
Culture is defined as a social system that is characterized by the shared meanings that are
attributed to people and events by its members. Culture strongly influences adolescents who are in
a face-to-face encounter with their physical selves is how their culture conceptualize beauty.

Beauty, as defined by Merriam-Webster, a quality of being physically attractive or qualities in a

person or a thing that give pleasure to the senses or the mind. It should be noted that in every
culture and in every individual, the standards of beauty vary a lot.

• In Egyptian art, beauty is perceived in women with slim, high waist, narrow hips, and long
black hair.
• Women with a full figure and rounded hips were considered beautiful during the
Renaissance period.
• Some tribes (e.g., Africa) during the Medieval Age considered chubby, fat, or plump
women beautiful.
• People in Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia used to consider flat noses to be attractive.
• Generally, humans who have clean and unblemished skin, thick shiny hair, well-
proportioned bodies, and symmetrical faces, are traditionally considered the most
beautiful. Beauty is considered important because it indicates youth, health, good genes,
fertility
Young adolescents, who awkwardly experiencing physical changes, who is inexperienced and
innocent of the complexities of the world, BEAUTY is what social media dictates.

THE FILIPINO CONCEPT OF BEAUTY

• Eurocentrism is defined as “a tendency to interpret the world in terms of European or

Anglo-American values and experiences”
• Filipinos with Eurocentric features are their fair skin, and tall noses sweep Filipinos with
dark complexions and flat noses under the rug.
• Mixed Filipinos are seen as more desirable because they are closer to looking Caucasian
which indicates wealth and good breeding.
• Colorism is defined as “the prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based
solely on the color of their skin. Morena people were usually advised to use whitening
products and criticized. Dark-skinned Filipinos tend to have a negative body image.
• Young people who alter their physical selves are not aiming to be of another racial
background but rather of not wanting to possess the physical features associated with their
racial group.
SELF-ESTEEM AND THE IDEAL BODY IMAGE
Self-esteem

• Hewstone et al., (2015) defines self-esteem as the overall evaluation that a person has of
himself which can be positive or negative.
• It is a measure of the person’s self-worth based on some personal or social standard. It is a
global evaluative dimension of the self. Physical appearance affects the person’s self-
esteem.
As children advance to the stage of adolescence, they form a body image. Adolescent’s
body image includes the following:

• Perception of their physical self when they look in the mirror.

• Feelings of like or dislike about the physical self that they see.
• Their thoughts and how they relate to their physical self.
• Perception of how other people view them physically.

A person with a positive body image will have a high self-esteem and will often spend
more time taking care of their appearance. However, when a person is not satisfied with what he
sees which affects how he perceives himself and feels that he does not measure up how his culture
defines beauty, then he will have a negative body image and a low self-esteem.

Adolescent may resort to extreme negative behaviors in order to meet the so-called status
quo. And this behavior is unnecessary because it gives pressure to the young people by risking
their physical and mental health.
The following are some aspects in culture that may have led to the aforementioned
misconceptions:

1. Society’s ideals of the perfect physical form

2. Images of perfection adolescents see in all types of media i.e. print, television, film and
internet
3. Any characteristic that does not conform to the standard is labelled as ugly.

Adolescence is the period wherein the self-identity is formed. It is important for adults to
listen to the young people and provide good guidance and support. Adolescent should not be afraid
to talk and disclose confusing aspects of his physical development to his significant others.
WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR BODY IMAGE AND INNER SELF

• Smile a lot.
• Take good care of your health.
• Live a well-balanced life.
• Dress well and be neat.
• Spend some time alone to reflect
• Be creative and do something new all the time.
• Develop a wholesome attitude toward sex.
• Avoid temptations.
• Respect individuality
• Make friends.
• Face your fears.
• Be independent.
• Accept things as they are.
• Ask and listen.
• Think positive.
• Pray.
• Be thankful