UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

* Sigmund Freud- proponent of psychoanalysis.
* id, ego, superego - three provinces of the mind.
* conditioned stimulus: the chance to conform- incorrect definition about each of the different
stages of conditioning.
*Plato- best known for his Theory of Forms that asserted the physical world is NOT really “real”
world because the ultimate reality exists beyond the physical world.
* Aristotle- student of Plato and a teacher of Alexander the Great and wrote on diverse subjects such
as physics, poetry, biology, and zoology, logic, rhetoric, politics, government and ethics.
* Category mistake- analyze how this apparent conflict between the theory of Cartesian dualism and

our everyday experience of others is actually the result of confused conceptual thinking.

UNPACKING THE SELF

* Body-image - defined as how one thinks and feels towards one’s body.
* Gender identity - is how you feel inside and how you express your gender through clothing,
behavior, and personal appearance. It’s a feeling that begins very early in life.
* sexual orientation - a person's emotional and erotic attraction toward another individual. It is
about who you’re attracted to and who you feel drawn to romantically, emotionally, and sexually.
* gender can be identified as male and female too- strength of gender under the umbrella of
gender identity.
*gender- a social and legal status, and set of expectations from society, about behaviors,
characteristics, and thoughts.
* Secondary Sex Characteristics - characteristics appear during puberty in humans and at sexual
maturity in other animals.

SENSE OF SELF
* psychological conflict- is when a choice is required between actions or goals that are perceived as
incompatible.
* cognitive stress- Lack of concentration is manifested if an individual experiences this kind of
stress.
* mindfulness- is a mental state where it allows individual to be present with oneself and observe
thoughts in a non-judgmental way.

*existential self- is one of the self’s subsystems and used to refer to how someone thinks about,
evaluates or perceived themselves.
* self-esteem - refers to the extent to which we like, accept or approve of ourselves, or how we
value ourselves.
* external self-awareness - is the ability to clearly see how other people view you.
* cognitive, emotional, physical, behavioral- symptoms of stress can be divided in to these
categories.
* eustress- is a moderate or normal psychological stress, interpreted as being beneficial.
* problem-focused - involves addressing the problem or situation by taking direct action, planning
and thinking of ways to solve the problem.
* self-concept - is a general term used to refer to how someone thinks about, evaluates or perceives

themselves.
* self-image- A mixture of different attributes including our physical characteristics, personality
traits, and social roles.
* ideal self- is an idealized version of yourself created out of what you have learned from your life
experiences, the demands of society, and what you admire in your role models.
*Existential Self – Is the most basic part of the self-scheme or self-concept; the sense of being
separate and distinct form others and the awareness of the constancy of the self.
*Categorical Self – Having realized that he or she exist as a separate experiencing being, the person
becomes aware that he or she is also an object in the world.
*HIGH SELF-ESTEEM: we have a positive view of ourselves. This tends to lead to
 Confidence in our own abilities
 Self-acceptance
 Not worrying excessively about what others think
 Optimism
*LOW SELF-ESTEEM: we have a negative view of ourselves. This tends to lead to
- Lack of confidence
- Wanting to be/look like someone else
- Always worrying what others might think
- Pessimism
* congruence - is where a person’s ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar.
* optimism- is a positive frame of mind and means that a person takes the view of expecting the
best outcome from any given situation.
* self acceptance - is an individual’s satisfaction or happiness with oneself and is thought to be
necessary for good mental health.
* self evaluation - is an procedure to systematically observe, analyze and value your won
professional action and its results in order to stabilize or improve it.
* Value Judgement- Is when we label the event as either good or bad.
* Psychological stressors - Stressors that include challenges such as interpersonal conflict,
isolation, traumatic life events, time-pressured tasks, peer pressure, expectation of others or high
standard for achievement.

“Commit your actions to the  LORD, AND your plans will succeed”.

😊😊 PROVERBS 16:3 😊😊