Psychological Perspective

of the Self
Understanding The Self - Week 4
Intended Learning Outcomes:
• Demonstrate an understanding of major
psychological theories related to the self,
including self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy,
and identity formation;
• Analyze the psychological processes involved in
the development of self-identity, considering
factors such as childhood experiences, social
interactions, and personal reflection; and,
Intended Learning Outcomes:
• Critically examine self-perception theory and its
implications on how individuals come to
understand themselves through observation of
their own behavior and reactions.
 What is Psychology?
• The term psychology comes from the Greek words
‘psyche’ meaning soul or mind, and ‘logos’ meaning
‘study of.’
• In a general sense, it is the study of mind and
behavior.
• It is a multifaceted discipline within the field of social
sciences that encompasses the systematic study of
human behavior, cognitive processes, and the
underlying mental phenomena.
 Jean Piaget
• Theory of Cognitive Development – It is a
comprehensive theory about the development
of human intelligence. It deals with the nature
of knowledge, and how humans gradually
come to acquire, construct, and use it.
• Stages of Cognitive Development: (1)
sensorimotor, (2) preoperational, (3) concrete
operations, and (4) formal operations
Important components of Piaget’s cognitive theory:
• Schemas/schemes – The building blocks of knowledge. These are
mental organizations that individuals use to understand their
environments and designate actions.
• Adaptation – The child’s learning processes to meet situational
demands.
1. Assimilation – The child incorporates new information or
experiences into his/her existing mental frameworks or schemas.
2. Accommodation – It is the process of modifying existing
schemas or creating new ones to accommodate new information
or experiences that do not fit within the current mental
framework.
3. Equilibration – It is the process of achieving cognitive balance
or equilibrium between assimilation and accommodation.
 Stages of Cognitive Development
STAGE AGE CHARACTERISTICS
Sensorimotor 0-2 • Learning by doing through their senses and
motor actions (looking, touching, sucking)
• Primitive understanding of cause-and-effect
relationships
• Goal: Object permanence
Preoperational 2-7 • Use of language and symbols (letters and
numbers)
• Egocentrism
• Goal: Conservation
 Stages of Cognitive Development
STAGE AGE CHARACTERISTICS
Concrete 7-11 • Demonstrate conservation, reversibility, serial
Operations ordering, and mature understanding of cause-
and-effect relationship
• Goal: Logical thought
Formal 12+ • Demonstrate abstract and hypothetical thinking
Operations • Can reason about complex, theoretical concepts
and engage in deductive reasoning
• Goal: Scientific reasoning
 Dr. Susan Harter
• She asserted that there are broad
developmental changes that can be observed
early childhood, later childhood, and
adolescence which could be interpreted
through the Piagetian framework.
• She elaborated the stages or development
of self-concept: (1) early childhood, (2) middle
to later childhood, (3) adolescence, and (4)
emerging adults.
 Stages of Self-Concept
STAGE CHARACTERISTICS
The Undifferentiated • have a limited understanding of themselves as distinct
Self (Infancy to Early individuals
Childhood)
The Categorical Self • categorize themselves and others based on concrete,
(Preschool Years) observable characteristics
The Real Self (Middle • develop a more nuanced and realistic self-concept
Childhood) • incorporate internal characteristics and abilities
(personality traits, skills, and preference)
 Stages of Self-Concept
STAGE CHARACTERISTICS
The Ideal Self • emergence of more abstract self-concept (inner
(Adolescence) thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and motives)
• creating an image of the person they aspire to be
The Feared Self • become aware of the aspects of themselves that they
(Adolescence and fear becoming or being seen as
Beyond)
The False Self • adaptation of one's self-presentation to meet the
(Adulthood) expectations and approval of others
 William James
• He is commonly known as “the father of
American psychology”.
• The right to believe – “a fact cannot
come at all unless a preliminary faith exists
in its coming” (James, 1896)
• The self has two elements: the I-self and
the Me-self
THE I-SELF
• known as ‘pure ego’
• represents the subjective and immediate awareness
of oneself as the thinker, the doer, and the
experiencer of one's own actions and thoughts
• Four features of the I-self:
1. A sense of being the agent or initiator of
behavior
2. A sense of being unique
3. A sense of continuity
4. A sense of awareness about being aware
 Carl Ransom Rogers
• He stressed that a person is an active,
creative, experiencing being who lives
in the present and who thinks, feels, and
responds to his or her environment.
• He coined the term ‘actualizing
tendency’.
• He established the Theory of Personality
Development.
 IDEAL SELF REAL SELF
• the self-concept that an individual • the individual's current self-
aspires to become concept
• represents the person's idealized • represents how a person sees
version of himself or herself himself or herself as he or she is
• could include: (1) notions now, without idealization or
influenced by the parents, (2) what distortion
a person admires in others, (3)
what the society sees as
applicable, and (4) what a person
thinks is in his or her best interest
 Importance of Aligning the Ideal Self and Real Self
CONGRUENCE
• when an individual’s self-concept aligns with their actual experiences and
feelings
• leads to a more authentic and genuine sense of self
INCONGRUENCE
• when there is a significant gap between one's self-concept and their
actual experiences
• can lead to inner conflicts, anxiety, and a lack of self-acceptance
 Gordon Allport
• He proposed the Personality Trait
Theory asserting that every person
possesses traits.
• Traits – a stable characteristic that
remains the same regardless of the
situation
 Three Classes of Traits
Cardinal Traits
• the dominant and defining traits that shape an individual's entire
personality
Central Traits
• the core traits that make up an individual's personality
Secondary Traits
• less prominent and specific traits that may emerge in particular
situations or contexts
 Eric Berne
• He developed the Transactional Analysis
Model as a basis for understanding behavior.
• The Transactional Analysis Model is anchored
on two notions:
1. Every person has three ego states in his or
her personality.
2. People communicate with one another
assuming roles of any of these three ego
states.
 Three Ego States
Parent Ego
• represents the internalized voice of authority figures from an individual's
past
Adult Ego
• the rational and objective part of the individual that processes information,
makes decisions based on facts, and engages in critical thinking
Child Ego
• represents the emotional and instinctual part of the individual
• Natural child (loves to play but is sensitive and vulnerable); Little
professor (curious child who wants to try everything); and, Adaptive
child (one who reacts to the world)
 Gregg Henriques
• He proposed that the self has three related, but
separable domains.
1. Experiential self – the theater of
consciousness; closely tied to memory
2. Private self-conscious – the narrator or
interpreter; narrates the unfolding events
and tries to makes sense of the experience
3. Public self or persona – image a person
projects to the public; interacts with others
and will influence how others sees a person
 Donald Woods Winnicott
• According to him, the self is simple “the
person who is me”.
• He introduced the concepts of the ‘true self’
and the ‘false self’ as part of his
psychoanalytic theory.
 TRUE SELF FALSE SELF
• an individual's authentic and • a protective, adaptive persona that
innate sense of self individuals develop in response to
• the core of one's being and external expectations, pressures,
encompasses genuine emotions, and social norms
desires, and a sense of personal • designed to gain acceptance,
identity avoid rejection, or meet the
• spontaneity, creativity, and a sense demands of others
of vitality
 REFERENCES
• Otig, V.S. et al. (2019). A Holistic Approach in Understanding the Self. Mutya
Publishing House, Inc.
• Psychology. https://www.britannica.com/science/psychology
• Jean Piaget And His Theory & Stages Of Cognitive Development.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
• Who Was William James And How Did He Influence The Field Of Psychology?
https://www.simplypsychology.org/william-
james.html#:~:text=The%20'I'%20is%20the%20self,others%20(the%20objective%2
0self).
• Carl Rogers Humanistic Theory And Contribution To Psychology.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html
• Trait theory of personality. https://online-learning-college.com/knowledge-
hub/gcses/gcse-psychology-help/trait-theory-of-personality/
 REFERENCES
• Transactional Analysis Theory & Therapy: Eric Berne.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/transactional-analysis-eric-berne.html
• True or False: Winnicott’s Notions of Self. https://theweekenduniversity.com/true-or-
false-winnicotts-notions-of-
self/#:~:text=The%20true%20self%20refers%20to,rather%20than%20spontaneous
%20and%20genuine.