Lesson 4:

The Self from the Perspective of

Psychology

Group 4- UTS Reporter

Datingaling, Che che H.
Advincula, Mary Ann G.
BSBA- OMGT 1202

- Mr. Mark Louis Javier

Psychology
- It is the field of the social sciences that deals with the description,
explanation, and prediction and control of behavior.

Mind and Body Problem

- It is one issue in the field of knowledge.

Nature - Nurture Controversy

Nature
- Refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we
are—from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics.

Nurture
- Refers to all the environmental variables that impact that we are,
including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social
relationships, and our surrounding culture.

William James
- He was an American Philosopher and Psychologist.
- He was professor of psychology and philosophy at Harvard University
and was known for being one of the great pragmatists.
- Also known for his Theory of the Self
- One of his articles on both philosophy and psychology is The Principles
of Psychology in 1890.

The 'Me' and the 'I'

Me self
- can be considered as a separate object or individual that the person
refers to when discussing or describing their personal experiences
- As the empirical me

I self
- The pure ego or the thinking self

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.
The Me self is further divided into three components namely: the material self,
the social self, and the spiritual self.

1. The Material self

- Consists of the things or objects that belong to the person or entities that a
person belongs to. Examples of these are person's body, his family, clothes,
books and even his money. The body is the core of the material self and
everything that is attached or associated to it identifies the person.

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 persons find him in.

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.

Introspection (Self - Observation)

- This is a method that includes reflecting or looking inward to study and
understand the how and why the self.

Pure Ego
- is similar to the person's soul or mind
- The pure ego comprises the totality of the person's identity. It takes into
account the past, present and future selves of the individual.

Other Selves in Psychology

The field of psychology is rich in concepts and ideas about human behavior. The
concept that is self has been studied quite extensively.

Global and Differentiated Self Models

Global Self
-It represents the overall value that a person places upon himself. This affects
how he views and about himself. It is investable for a person to be born and to
grow up in the presence of other people.

Murray Bowen (1913 - 1990)

- was an American Psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry.
- He was among those who developed the Family Therapy and Systemic
Therapy.
- came up with the concept of Differentiated self
Two forces affecting the person:
1. Togetherness
- Too much togetherness creates friction and conflict and prevents the
development of the person's sense of self
2. Individuality
- Too much Individuality on the other hand results in distant and
estranges feelings towards family and other people.

Differentiated Self
- Though still affected by the presence of others, has the ability to
separate feelings and thoughts.
- The person recognizes that he has his own personality and therefore
endowed with unique characteristics not found in other members of the group.

Real and Ideal Self Concepts

Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987)

- was an American psychologists who proposed the personality theory
known as the Personality Centered Theory.

Self - Concept
- is used to refer to how a person thinks about or perceives himself.

Two types of Self - concept:

1. The real self-concept

- refers to all information and perception the person has about himself.
- This is who go actually is and answers the question, "Who am I?"

2. The ideal self-concept

- is the model version the person has of himself.
- this idealized view was borne out of his experiences, standards and
demands of society and the heroes and models which he choose to imitate.

Self-Discrepancy Theory if Higgins (1987)

- stated the people use internalized standards to which they compare
themselves.
-These are called self-guides which provide directions for how the person
should present himself.
The Multiple and Unified Selves

The Multiple Selves Theory

- It suggests that there exists in the individual different aspects of the self.
- A psychologically healthy individual, however, is a person who is able to
make sense of the sometimes confusing and conflicting aspects of themselves
and integrate them into a single, unified self.

Unified Selves
- A unified being is essentially connected to consciousness, awareness
and agency.
- A person who is able to deal with and accept the complexities and the
perceived unfairness that exists in life.

True and False Selves

D.W. Winnicott (1896- 1971)

- He was an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst who studied child
development.
- He looked into the significance of play in child development and through
play where he observed children/ people as having true and false selves.

True self
- one in which the self is seen as creative, spontaneously experiencing
each day of their lives, un appreciating being alive, real, integrated and
connected to the whole of existence.

False self
- manifested as a form of defense.
- It lacks spontaneity, is dead and empty.

The Self as Proactive and Agentic

Albert Bandura (1925- present)

- The proponent of the personality theory known as ' The Social Cognitive
Theory'
- In his theory, the person is seen as proactive and agentic which means
that he has the capacity to exercise control over his life.

The Social Cognitive Theory

- suggested that human beings are proactive, self- regulating, self-
reflective and self- organizing.

Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm

 - How human are affected by the interaction among environmental events,
behavior and personal factors.
Four Features of Human Agency

1. Intentionality
- The actions performed by the person intentionally or with full awareness
of his behavior.
- involves planning with awareness of the possible consequences of
actions.

2. Forethought
- The person's anticipation of likely outcomes of his behavior.
- allows him to select from a repertoire of behaviors and determine which
one will most likely lead to a positive outcome.

3. Self- reactiveness
- The process in which the person is motivated and regulates his behavior
as he observes his progress in achieving his goals.

4. Self- reflectiveness
- The person looking inward and evaluating his motivations, values, life
goals and other people's effect on him.
- The important aspect is the 'self- efficacy' which is the person's belief
that he is capable of behavior that we produce the desired positive results.

Self- Regulation
- allows the person to set goals that are better and higher than the former,
challenging his capabilities and making him a wiser and self- actualized
individual.