PSYCHOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE
OF THE SELF
Rosie Fe B. Legaspino, MAEd, RGC
Lesson Objectives
Identify the different ideas in psychology about
1 the “self”;

Create your own definition of the “self” based

2 on the definitions from psychology; and

Analyze the effects of various factors identified

3 in psychology in the formation of the “self”

4
“I AM WHO I
AM”
 If you are who you
are, then who are
you that makes you
who you are?
 “Self is the sense of
personal identity and
of who we are as
individuals.”

-Jhangiani and Tarry (2014

Module 3_Lesson 2_Task 1
“YOU” Through the Eyes of Others

Part I. Write down 15 qualities or things that define who you are.
1
1. 6. 11.

2.
2 7. 12.

3. 8. 13.
3
4. 9. 14.

5. 4 10. 15
Module 3_Lesson 2_Task 1
“YOU” Through the Eyes of Others

Part II. Ask your family members, friends, and other people around you
1
to describe you.

I am ____________________________________(your name)
2
Base on what you see me do or what you hear me say, who do
you think I am?

4
 Module 3_Lesson 2_Task 1
“YOU” Through the Eyes of Others

Part III. Application and Assessment

1
1. What aspects are similar? 2. What aspects are true to you?

2
3. What aspects are sometimes true 4. What aspects you think are not part
or circumstantial of your personality?

3
From the activity, how do you define the “self”?
4
 Table of Contents
01 William James
Concept of Self 02 David Lester
Multiplied VS. Unified Self

03 David Winnicott
True VS. False Self
04 Carl Rogers
Self Theory

05 Sigmund Freud
The Importance of the 06 Albert Bandura
Self as Proactive and 07 Carl Jung
Self as the Central
Unconscious Agentic Archetype
 William James
01 Concept of Self

The “Me” Self

The “I” Self

 The “Self” as having 2 aspects:
William James

The “I” Self The “Me” Self

✔Refers to the self that ✔Empirical self
knows who he or she is ✔Refers to describing the
✔Thinking, acting, and person’s personal
feeling self experiences and further
✔Reflects the soul of the subdivided into categories:
person or what is now 1. Material Self
thought of as the mind 2. Social Self
and what is called the 3. Spiritual Self
pure ego
 A man’s self is the sum
total of all that he can call
his, not only his body and
psychic powers, but his
clothes and his house.
- William James
 David Lester
02 Multiplie VS. Unified Self

The “Unified”
Self

The “Multiple”
Self
 Multiple
versus
Unified

✔the construction of
multiple selves varies
across different roles
and relationships

-David Lester
Multiple versus Unified
Coping with different
selves constitutes a
formidable task among
adolescents

these challenges
contribute heavily to the
young person’s struggle
for a unified self
03 David Winnicott
True VS. False Self

The “False”
Self

The “True”
Self
 The function of the
false self is to hide and
protect the true self

-Donald Winnicott
People tend to display
a false self to impress
others.
 Have you
ever
experienced
hiding your
true self?
Why?
04 Carl Rogers
Self Theory
 Carl Rogers
Self Theory

✔Believed in the inherent goodness of people

✔Emphasized the importance of free will and

psychological growth

✔Suggested that the actualizing tendency is the driving

force behind human behavior
 Carl Rogers
Self Theory

✔Human beings are always striving for self-fulfillment

or self-actualization

✔When the needs of the self are denied, severe

anxiety may result
✔Proposed the “Self-Concept”
 ✔refers to the ✔Develops from
image of oneself interactions with other
significant people and
self awareness

Self-Concept

✔Defined the self as a ✔Organized system or

flexible and changing collection of
perception of personal knowledge about who
identity we are
 3 Components of “Self-Concept”
Carl Rogers

Self Image Self-Esteem Ideal Self

Self Concept
✔the view you ✔how much ✔what you
have of value you wish you
yourself place on were really
yourself like
 The curious paradox is
that when I accept
myself just as I am,
then I can change.

-Carl Rogers
05 Sigmund Freud
The Importance of the
Unconscious
 Structural Model of Personality
Sigmund Freud

Id Ego Superego

✔Pleasure-seeki ✔Works on the ✔Conscience,

ng, selfish part , reality
Structure of immature, and the moral
principle,
Personality child-like, judge of
cannot delay controls the conduct
gratification id, and can
delay
pleasure
Sigmund Freud
Psychosexual Stages of Development
 Defense Mechanisms

1. Denial
– refusal to recognize a threatening situation

2. Repression
- pushing threatening situation out of conscious memory

3. Rationalization
- making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior
 Defense Mechanisms

4. Projection
- placing one’s own unacceptable thoughts unto others

5. Reaction Formation
- denial and reversal of one’s feelings

6. Displacement
- transfer of emotions or behaviors to another less threatening
 Defense Mechanisms

7. Regression
- falling back on childlike patterns as a way of coping with
stressful situations

8. Identification
- trying to become like someone else to deal with one’s anxiety
 Defense Mechanisms

9. Compensation (Substitution)
- trying to make up for areas in which a lack is perceived by
becoming superior in some areas

10. Sublimation
- turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable
behavior
 Albert Bandura
06 Self as Proactive and
Agentic
 Humans are producers
of their life
circumstance, not just
products of them.

-Albert Bandura
 Albert Bandura
Social Learning Theory/ Social Cognitive Theory

✔Views people as agents (originators) of experience

✔Humans have the ability to act and make things

happen

✔People learn from one another via observation,

imitation, and modeling
 Four Agentic Perspectives
Albert Bandura

1. Intentionally – enables us to behave with purpose

2. Forethought – allows us to anticipate outcomes

3. Self-Reactiveness – we can be motivated to regulate our actions

4. Self-Reflectiveness – we can reflect on our thoughts and

behaviors and make needed modifications
 Albert Bandura
Social Learning Theory/ Social Cognitive Theory

✔Emphasized the importance of social learning or

learning through observation

✔His theory emphasized the role of conscious thoughts

including self-efficacy, or our own beliefs in our
abilities
 Albert Bandura
Social Learning Theory/ Social Cognitive Theory
 Self-belief does not
necessarily ensure
success, but
self-disbelief assuredly
spawns failure.

-Albert Bandura
 Carl Jung
07 Self as the Central
Archetype
 Archetypes

✔are universal, inborn models of people, behaviors,

or personalities that play a role in influencing
human behavior.
Jung’s Personality Archetypes
Persona – “One’s public personality” or mask, or one’s
1 social roles

Shadow – one’s dark side, part of ourselves that we

2 dislike

3 Anima – female archetypes, or “feminine” side

4 Animus – male archetypes, or “masculine” side

4 Self- central archetypes of personality, represents

5 wholeness
 Carl Jung
Other Archetypes

1. The father – authority figure; stern; powerful

2. The mother – nurturing; comforting

3. The child – longing for innocence; rebirth; salvation
4. The wise old man – guidance; knowledge; wisdom

5. The hero – champion; defender; rescuer

6. The maiden – innocence; desire; purity

7. The trickster – deceiver; liar; trouble maker