Block-1 (12) PSYCHOLOGY LIVING

BPCG-175
PSYCHOLOGY FOR LIVING
School of Social Sciences

Indira Gandhi National Open University
Rajiv Girdhar
Assistant Registrar
MPDD, IGNOU, New Delhi
978-93-5568-146-1
Course Contents
Pages No.
BLOCK 1 PSYCHOLOGY AND SELF 9

Unit 1 Psychology and Mind-Body Relationship 11
Unit 2 Self and Identity Development 25
Unit 3 Components of Self 47
BLOCK II SELF AND ITS CORRELATES 61

Unit 4 Attitude, Personality and Thinking 63
Unit 5 Emotions and Motivation 78
Unit 6 Problem Solving, Decision Making and Creativity 97
BLOCK III SELF, MALADJUSTMENT AND 111

MENTAL DISORDERS
Unit 7 Self and Maladjustment 113
Unit 8 Mental Disorders 141
BLOCK IV SELF AND POSITIVE GROWTH 173

Unit 9 Correlates of Mental Health and Well-being I 175
Unit 10 Correlates of Mental Health and Well-being II 192
Unit 11 Self in a Changing World 211
BLOCK V ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN POSITIVE 223

GROWTH ACROSS LIFE SPAN
Unit 12 Positive Growth in Childhood 225
Unit 13 Positive Youth Development 239
Unit 14 Successful Ageing 259
Unit 15 Promoting Growth and Wellness: Positive Interventions 275
Unit 16 Counselling and Psychotherapy 302
Psychology and Self
4
the Unit. At the end of each Unit, you are also provided with further learning
resources for enhancing your understanding of the Unit. Thus, the various aspects
of this Self Learning Material (SLM) are designed to help you learn better. These
features also ensure that the teacher is built into the course materials to help
minimize the gap or distance between the learner and the teacher.
IGNOU follows a multi-pronged approach to teaching and learning. Thus there
are printed course materials, audio and video materials. The soft copies of the
course materials are also available on the IGNOU website through egyankosh.
Interaction between the teacher and learner is also facilitated through Gyanvani
(interactive radio counseling), Gyandarshan (tele conference) and web conference.
Gyanvani is available on FM (105.6 channel). Gyandarshan is a television channel,
a must carry channel for all the cable operators. Information about Gyanvani and
Gyandarshan monthly schedule is available on the IGNOU website.
Webconferences and online sessions are also held from time to time by the Faculty
of Discipline of Psychology and you will get the information about the same
from your Regional centre. You can make use of all these features of learning at
IGNOU to take your learning to a new higher level and make it a truly enriching
experience.
BLOCK I PSYCHOLOGY AND SELF
Block I –Psychology and Self will introduce you to the concept of ‘self’ and
describe the process of identity development of the self influenced by a variety
of sources. It will highlight the application of psychology for understanding the
relationship between our mind and body.The Block consists of three Units.
Unit 1 Psychology and Mind-Body Relationship
It defines psychology and describes the nature of psychology. The relationship
between the body and mind are highlighted as influencing our mental health and
well-being. A comprehensive model of health is emphasized.
Unit 2 Self and Identity Development
It focuses on the process of development of identity and delineates how it is
influenced by parenting practices and the society and culture.
Unit 3 Components of Self
This Unit describes about the components of self such as self concept, self esteem
and self-efficacy.
BLOCK II SELF AND ITS CORRELATES
BLOCK II–Self and its Correlates focuses on various psychological constructs
related to self that help explain the functioning of the self. The Block consists of
three Units.
Unit 4 Attitude, Personality and Thinking
The Unit focuses on the meaning and components of attitude. It describes the
nature of personality and factors affecting its development. Further, meaning and
types of thinking are explained.
Unit 5 Emotions and Motivation
It focuses on emotions and motivation which are important correlates of the self
and affects the way we develop and function. The concept, types and theories of
motivation are described. The unit also discusses the functions of emotions and
the need for emotional regulation for positive growth. Strategies to enhance
motivation are also pointed out.
Unit 6 Problem Solving, Decision Making and Creativity
This Unit describes another three correlates of self namely problem solving,
decision making and creativity in terms of their meaning, process and importance.
Further, it highlights the ways to enhance these important aspects of self for
functioning effectively.
BLOCK III SELF, MALADJUSTMENT AND MENTAL DISORDERS
BLOCK III – Self, Maladjustment and Mental Disorders elaborates on
maladjustment related to self. It further discusses various mental disorders that
may arise in the process.The Block consists of two Units.
Unit 7 Self and Maladjustment
The Unit highlights how maladjustment can affect the functioning and well-being
of individuals. Dysfunctional attitude and maladaptive coping are highlighted.
The unit further explains anxiety and stress and points out ways to manage stress.
Unit 8 Mental Disorders
In this Unit, you learn further about specific mental disorders such as mood
disorders, personality disorders etc. The clinical features, causes and treatment/
intervention for each are described.
BLOCK IV SELF AND POSITIVE GROWTH
BLOCK IV – Self and Positive Growth discusses the importance of mental
health and well-being for the self. The Block highlights various correlates of
mental health and well-being that play an important role in promoting one’s
positive growth and development. The Block consists of three Units.
Unit 9 Correlates of Mental Health and Well-being I
It defines the concept of mental health and explains emotions as crucial for good
mental health. It talks about emotion regulation and emotional intelligence as
important constructs that can reduce stress and help achieve well-being of the self
Unit 10 Correlates of Mental Health and Well-being II
This Unit discusses further correlates of mental health and well-being such as
hope, optimism, resilience, mindfulness, happiness, gratitude, forgiveness,
meaning in life and spirituality. Each of these is described in terms of their
importance in ensuring our positive growth and well-being and also ways to
enhance these.
Unit 11 Self in a Changing World
It highlights the importance of understanding self in the context of social change.
It explains how the mental health of self is affected by living and functioning in
a globalized and digitalized world. The challenge related to self-direction and
making one’s life meaningful is discussed as impacting the well-being of self.
BLOCK V - ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN POSITIVE GROWTH ACROSS
LIFE SPAN
BLOCK V - Role of Psychology in Positive Growth Across Life Span
highlights the use of principles of positive psychology for positive growth and
optimal functioning of human beings across life span. It discusses how psychology
can be applied for living well at different stages of life such as childhood, youth
and the old age. Various positive interventions are described for promoting growth
and wellness. The Block also discusses application of counseling for the health
and well-being of individuals.The Block consists of five Units.
Unit 12 Positive Growth in Childhood
It describes the importance of positive growth in children and highlights nurturing
of positive relationships, developing core skills and community support towards
achieving this. Resilience in children and the parenting practices are discussed
as contributing towards positive growth and development in children.
Unit 13 Positive Youth Development
The Unit explains the meaning, nature and models of positive youth development.
Various programmes on positive youth development are described. The challenges
related to this field are also highlighted.
Unit 14 Successful Ageing
This Unit discussesthe concepts of ageing and successful ageing. Various theories
are highlighted and strategies for successful ageing are described.
Unit 15 Promoting Growth and Wellness: Positive Interventions
It focuses on various positive interventions based on positive psychology that
help us in enhancing our health and well-being.
Unit 16 Counselling and Psychotherapy
This Unit discusses the meaning and applications of counseling and psychotherapy
for achieving positive growth and psychological well-being. Counseling for
different population and for different issues are also described.
BPCG-175
Block-I
Psychology and Self
Psychology and Self
10
Psychology and Mind-Body
UNIT 1 PSYCHOLOGY AND MIND-BODY Relationship
RELATIONSHIP*
Structure
1.1 Learning Objectives

1.2 Introduction
1.3 Nature, Scope and Branches of Psychology
1.3.1 Psychology in India
1.4 Mind-Body Relationship
1.4.1 Psychosomatic and Somato-psychological Factors
1.5 Biopsychosocial Model of Health
1.6 Let Us Sum Up
1.7 Key Words
1.8 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
1.9 Unit End Questions
1.10 References
1.11 Further Learning Resources
1.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this Unit, you would be able to:
 Explain the nature and scope of psychology;
 Describe the branches of psychology;
 Understand the relationship between mind and body;
 Explain the meaning of psychosomatic factors;
 Discuss various approaches to health; and
 Point out the importance and implications of the biopsychosocial model of
health.
1.2 INTRODUCTION
Rina studies in class 9th. She has many interests, particularly she likes swimming
since she has learned it last summer. But this time she was hesitant to go for it
and was sad about it. Upon querying, she told her mother that she feels shy in
the swimming costume as she is a little fatter. Some of her friends had also taunted
her about it. She has always been a little fatty from her childhood and as she is
growing now, she is starting to feel conscious about how does she look and feels
stressed.
Arpit is a class 12th boy who is studying commerce. However, he is still not sure
*
Prof. Swati Patra, Faculty of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, IGNOU, New Delhi 11
Psychology and Self about what to do after completing 12th. As he is average in studies, he is also
anxious about securing good marks in the final exam and getting admission in
college. He wants to know about options for a student like him, and feels very
stressed and lethargic sometimes.
Mahi is a young woman who has completed her Masters degree and now wants
to go for a good job. But there is pressure from her parents’ side to get married
as in their community, girls by this age should have been married off. But she
wants to first be financially independent and then think about marriage. There
are a lot of arguments with her parents since past few months, and she is feeling
constantly stressed and frustrated. Of late she has been experiencing back pain
also but the doctor could not find any reason for it. Her parents told her that she
is all making it up as back pain does not occur at such a young age.
Prabhakar has now retired from his govt. job. He served in the administrative
department of a university. He has two girls who are yet to be married and a son
who just finished his Masters degree and is looking for a job. He is concerned
about managing the daily expenses as his wife is not working and his children
are also not settled. He was a very sincere and responsible worker and discharged
his duties properly in his job. He wonders now what did he get out of it while
feeling burdened by family responsibilities. He has developed health problems,
feels life as meaningless and is not able to concentrate in his daily life.
What do you think about the above examples where the concerned persons are
facing different issues and challenges in their life? You might have felt the need
to visit a psychologist for help and support to deal with the issues, challenges
and concerns of growing and living.
You probably have an idea about what psychology is and what does it study. But
do you know exactly what psychology is, what does it study, what is the scope,
where all we can apply psychology, and how does it help us live an effective and
good life? In this unit we will learn about the field of psychology in terms of its
meaning, nature, and the various branches of psychology. Further, we will discuss
how psychology can help us understand the relationship between our mind and
body which has a significant impact on our health and living. The implications
of the biopsychosocial model of health will be explained in this context.
1.3 NATURE, SCOPE AND BRANCHES OF

PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is a scientific study of human and animal behavior and mental
processes. Behaviour includes outward or overt activities – how do individuals
behave, what do they do, what actions they engage in etc.; whereas mental
processes refer to covert or internal activitiessuch as our thoughts, emotions,
motivation,perception, learning, memory, intelligence, problem solving, and
creativity etc.As the American Psychological Association (APA) states,
psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior.
Psychology is a science as it uses systematic and scientific methods to study
these behavior and mental processes. We have physical sciences like physics,
chemistry etc. which study ‘matter’, or the physical systems. There are biological
12 sciences such as botany, zoology etc. which study ‘life’ or living systems. Similarly,
psychology can be called as the science of mind which focuses on studying the Psychology and Mind-Body
Relationship
mental or psychological processes and behavior of human beings, derives laws
of mind, proposes theories and explains human behavior. It answers the ‘why’ of
human behavior - why do we think and behave the way we do – and also the
‘how’ of it by studying the changes in brain and the neural correlates of it.
Psychology can be called a natural science. As in any science, it uses scientific
methods of experimentation, observation and establishes theories to explain
psychological concepts. Research in psychology engages in description (what it
is), explanation (why and how it is happening), prediction (determining if it will
happen in future), and control (changing or modifying) of the behavior,
psychological constructs and phenomena. It has come up with various theories
of perception, attention, learning, memory, thinking and language etc. to describe,
predict and control, modify behavior.
Psychology is also called a social science. Human beings live in asociety and
hence the sociocultural factors do play a significant role in influencing their growth
and development in various aspects. Psychology thus studies the interaction
between the individual and the contextual factors of society and culture in which
s/he lives while explaining human behaviour and mental processes.
The first scientific study of psychology began in the psychology laboratory of
Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig, Germany in 1879. He started psychology as an
independent scientific discipline, different from its’ earlier philosophical roots
and associations influenced by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Hence Wundt is
known as the Father of Psychology. Later on William James came up with his
book ‘The Principles of Psychology’ in 1890. In the same year, American
Psychological Association (APA) was established. Various approaches and
theories have been developed since then such as psychodynamic, behaviouristic,
humanistic, cognitive, and constructivism to study human mind and behavior.
Psychodynamic approach started with Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis which
emphasized on the unconscious aspect of mind and gaining insight into it. All
the subsequent theories (e.g., theories given by Jung, Adler, Erikson) based on
Freud’s ideas are grouped under psychodynamic theories.
Behaviourism focuses on the influence of environment on human behavior. They
do not consider the internal mental states. Contrary to this, Humanistic theories,
called the third force in psychology, focus on the innate goodness of human beings,
emotions and mental processes, subjective view, personal experiences, free will,
and meaning in life.
The next dominant force in the field of psychology is the Cognitive theory which
centres around information processing approach, how environmental inputs are
processed mentally and affect our emotions, experiences and behavior. It focuses
on cognition or the process of knowing and studies constructs like thinking,
problem solving, creativity, decision making, memory, language etc. A recent
approach within cognitive theory is constructivism which states that individuals
actively construct their mind and cognition as they develop based on their own
experience and also in interaction with social-cultural facets (e.g., parent-child
interaction etc.)
The focus of study in psychology is the whole human being, with all it’s attributes,
characteristics, biological factors as well as psychological correlates. In other 13
Psychology and Self fields such as economics or sociology, human beings are studied in respect to
particular aspects or contexts. In psychology, however, the focus is on studying
the individual as a whole. Since psychology studies human beings themselves,
the scope of psychology is very vast. It has applications in almost every area
wherever human beings are involved. The knowledge, principles, skills and
research related to psychology can be applied to:
 Promote mental health and well-being of people
 Treatment of mental disorders
 Understanding human growth and development across life stages
 Addressing learning problems and enhancing learning
 Improving workplace communication
 Building up employee morale, productivity and satisfaction
 Creating a happy workplace and school culture
 Informing policies and regulations
 Facilitating optimal performance in different arena
 Motivating human beings to change for the better
 Deriving purpose and meaning in life
Branches of Psychology
Psychology has expanded manifold. It has made its foray into diverse fields,
applying knowledge and research in psychology to different areas involving myriad
aspects of human functioning. Following are some of themajor branches of
psychology.
Clinical Psychology focuses on studying mental disorders. It explains the clinical
features of disorders, assessment and diagnosis of disorders; etiology/causes of
disorders; and treatment or intervention and management of disorders. Clinical
psychologists mainly focus on psychological assessment, diagnosis and providing
psychotherapies to the clients.
Counseling Psychology deals with cases faced by life’s day-to-day issues and
concerns that affect their mental well-being, whereas clinical psychology deals
with serious concerns of mental disorders. Counseling psychology addresses
psychological problems of milder in nature and provides counseling interventions
to reduce their stress and promote well-being.
Health Psychology takes a holistic perspective and studies how our health gets
affected by a dynamic interaction among various factors such as our behavior,
cognitions, environmental factors and biological factors in the particular context
of the person. It studies stress, coping, patient-doctor relationship, strategies for
health promotion etc.
Life span Psychology, also known as Developmental psychology, focuses on
studying all the developmental stages across the entire life span, starting from
pre-natal stage till the old age, death and dying. It describes aspects of
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development, self and identity development, impact of environmental factors on Psychology and Mind-Body
Relationship
development etc.
Cognitive Psychology focuses on studying human cognition using information
processing approach/model. It studies different faculties of mind, functioning of
the mind such as how do we think, store and remember information, how these
are processed and used. It also addresses problems related to psychological
processes such as learning disabilities and amnesia. A new development in this
field is Cognitive Neuroscience which examines the neurological correlates
associated with cognitive functioning. It studies the changes in our brain and
nervous system when we engage in mental processes such as thinking, memory,
learning etc. The emerging field is Cognitive Science which is an interdisciplinary
field drawing on psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and linguistics.
Social Psychology focuses on the study of human behaviour in the context of the
group and the society. Areas of study include social perception, social interaction,
social influence and social behavior- how these affect our cognition, affect and
action. Pertinent topics covered are aggression, prejudice, inter-personal attraction,
conformity, pro-social behavior etc.
School Psychology aims at building up a conducive school climate that enables
all students to develop optimally and thrive in all areas of development including
cognitive, social, and emotional. It facilitates a school culture with best practices
and policy formulations for the betterment of all the stakeholders in the school.
Organizational Psychology studies human beings in the work context. It focuses
on the selection and recruitment process, training, motivation, communication,
performance appraisal, leadership, quality of life etc. aiming at a harmonious
growth of both individual and the organization.
Personality Psychology addresses the individual differences among people in
their personality characteristics, how these get influenced by and also influence
human behavior and mental processes. Both the role of nature and nurture are
studied.
Environmental Psychology aims at studying the dynamic influence and
interaction between human being and their environment. Each impacts the other
in shaping our thoughts, attitudes and behavior. Research areas include studying
the effect of physical environmental factors such as temperature, pollution,
crowding etc., and also efficient ways of waste disposal, conservation of
environments and so on as they are impacted by human behavior.
Sports Psychology applies the principles of psychology in the sports field to
enhance the performance of sportspersons, deal with the stress experienced as a
result of demands and expectations to excel, working in a team and sustaining
motivation.
Forensic Psychology is applied to the field of law and legal system in guiding
the legal proceedings, assessing competency to stand trial, training police
personnel to handle such cases and threat assessment.
Neuropsychology studies human behavior and mental processes in relation to
the brain and nervous system. It uses imaging techniques such as fMRI, EEG,
PET etc. to study the images of brain and nervous system and the associated
mental processes.
15
Psychology and Self Cross-cultural Psychology studies the dynamic relationship between culture and
human behavior and cognition. Since culture is a dynamic force in an individual’s
life, it influences one’s thoughts, affect and behavior. It can have both a facilitative
and hindering role in the development and performance of the individual.
1.3.1 Psychology in India

Psychology as an academic discipline started in modern India first in 1916 with
the establishment of psychology department in the University of Calcutta. Later
on in 1938, the department started an applied psychology wing. The focus of
early research in psychology was on psychoanalysis, experimental psychology
and psychological testing influenced by the Western tradition. Prominent
psychologists in India who contributed significantly to the field are Durganand
Sinha, Radhanath Rath, Giriswar Misra, E.G. Parameshwaran, J.B.P Sinha, J.P.
Das, Uday Pareek, R.C. Tripathi, R.C. Mishra, Ajit Mohanty, T.S. Saraswathi
and many others. They have broadened the research arena of psychology moving
beyond the issues of academic interest only, and focused on social issues and
concerns studying poverty, disadvantaged, prejudice, language, socialization,
family dynamics, human development, leadership, and other problems and issues
specific to Indian society.
Recently there has been an interest in focusing on Indian psychology, the study
of ideas and theories of Indian origin (Ciccarelli & White, 2018). Many researchers
have done remarkable work in the field of indigenous knowledge systems in
India and contributed to the growth of the field of Indian psychology (e.g., K.
Ramakrishna Rao, J.B.P. Sinha, S.K.Ramachandra Rao, Durganand Sinha,
Giriswar Misra, Ajit Dalal, R.M.M. Cornelissen, R. Safaya, Anand C. Paranjpe,
Sudhir Kakkar, D.P.S.Bhawuk, Manickam, Kiran Kumar K. Salagame, Suneet
Varma etc.).
However, research in Indian psychology needs to be brought to the mainstream
and it needs to be reflected majorly in our syllabus at the universities. Indian
philosophical tradition has extensively focused on mind, mental processes, self,
consciousness, mind-body relation, meaning in life etc. Our ancient texts and
scriptures are a rich source of knowledge and concepts related to psychology.
Our Vedas, Upanishads, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, epics like
Ramayana and Mahabharata etc. offer pertinent information, knowledge and
wisdom about human life, mind, understanding self, how to live life, value system,
personality, realizing oneself, achieving a state of transcendence etc. (e.g., concepts
of karma, dharma, bhakti, pancha kosha, gunas, moksha etc.). Thus psychology
needs to look at the cultural context when trying to understand and explain mind
and human behviour.
Some Quick Points

 Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes.
 Sociocultural context plays an important role in human behavior.
 Scientific research methods are used to study mind and behavior.
 Goals of psychology are to describe, control, explain, and predict various
psychological constructs and phenomena.
16
 Psychologists provide various psychological interventions, counseling and Relationship
psychotherapy to deal with psychological problems, disorders, and also to
promote mental health and well-being.
 A psychologist has Masters and Doctorate degrees in the field of psychology
whereas a psychiatrist is who has a medical degree and then specialized
degree in psychiatry. Psychiatrists only can prescribe medicines, not
psychologists.
 Knowledge and principles of psychology are applied in various fields
ranging from education, school, career context to work, clinical, military,
forensic, sports and health area.
Self Assessment Questions 1

1. According to American Psychological Association, psychology is the
scientific study of _________ and _____________.
2. Psychology can be called as both natural science and ____________
science.
3. The first psychology laboratory was established in the year ____________.
4. ______________ psychology deals with serious concerns of mental
disorders.
5. __________________ studies human behaviour and mental processes in
relation to the brain and nervous system.
6. The first psychology department in India was established in 1916 in the
University of _________________.
1.4 MIND-BODY RELATIONSHIP

As we discussed earlier, psychology studies mental functioning and behavior.
Two important aspects of human beings are mind and body. Hence when we
study about mind and related mental processes, there is a need to understand
these in relation to our body also – the brain, nervous system, hormones, immune
system, disease, disabilities etc. There is a bi-directional influence between our
mind and body. They do not function in isolation.Our mind consisting of our
perception, thoughts, emotions, motivation etc. affect our body’s functioning,
physical health; similarly our body’s capacity, health conditions affect our mind
and mental health. Thus there is a relationship between physical health and mental
health, both affect each other. For instance, our immune system gets affected by
both physical and mental health.In the case example of Rina given in the beginning
of this Unit, you can see how her perception of her body image as influenced by
others around impacts her health.
Mind-body relationship in the context of human functioning can be viewed in
the following ways (Leitan & Murray, 2014): (i) Separation of mind and body
from the conceptualization of human functioning (uncritical dualism), (ii)
Elimination of mind or body from the conceptualization of human functioning
(exclusivism), and (iii) Mind and body conceptualized as a single holistic system
(mind-body monism). The researchers propose a holistic conceptualization of
the mind-body relationship to address the individual as a whole. 17
Psychology and Self
If one does not have any physical disease or illness,
does it mean that one is healthy?
Mind-body relationship has a significant impact on our health. Health does not
refer only to physical health, it is not concerned only to what we eat. Rather
health also includes what we think, say, feel and how we behave. Our thoughts,
emotions and actions are equally important in affecting our health as the food we
take. Further, As the World Health Organization (WHO, 2014) states, health is
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity and is a dynamic state of complete
physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. There are three main aspects of
this definition: (i) health can be considered on a continuum of health – illness,
and the absence of disease may not necessarily make one healthy; (ii) health is a
dynamic state, and is influenced by various factors; and (iii) health consists of all
the four aspects of physical, mental, social and spiritual.
However, the part of the definition focusing on ‘completeness’ has been criticized,
since an individual may suffer from health problems but consider herself as healthy.
What matters here is how the individual perceives and thinks about it, what
emotions she brings into it, how does she adapt to the illness. This indicates the
importance of the underlying dynamics of mind-body relationship. People can
successfully adapt to an illness and feel healthy despite limitations (Huber et.al.,
2011). This brings in a sense of empowerment in the individual. Known as
disability paradox, age-related impaired functioning does not reduce the perceived
quality of life if people are able to develop successful strategies for coping (Von
Faber et.al. 2001). Thus health is defined in terms of a person’s ability to adapt
and function adequately at physical, mental, social and spiritual level within the
context of her environment (Svalastog et. al., 2017).
Psychological factors and social factors need to be considered alongwith the
biological factors to enable the person to deal with the illness and disability. Our
thoughts, attitudes and emotions are powerful tools which can mediate our
perception and experience of illness in significant ways. The type of personality
we have, the life style we lead, the social environment we live in – all can affect
our health.Thus wellness which refers to physical health, and well-being which
indicates overall mental health, both are important for an individual to be
considered as healthy. Hence both mind and body are important for the health
and well-being of human beings.
The inter-dependence of mind and body in affecting our health and the
comprehensiveness of the term health is also discussed by Dalal and Misra (2011)
who state that health consists of three domains: restoration, maintenance and
growth. Restoration refers to recovery from the illness, and the medical and non-
medical interventions taken for this by the individual. Maintenance denotes a
preventive approach where the individual engages in various health promoting
activities and behavior (e.g., exercise, balanced diet, adequate sleep, meditation,
positive thoughts etc.) to maintain good health. Finally, the domain of growth
includes not only physical but also social, mental and spiritual aspects. Thus
health is not limited to bodily aspects only, but goes beyond it to indicate the
18 overall well-being of the individual.
1.4.1 Psychosomatic and Somato-Psychological Factors Psychology and Mind-Body
Relationship
When we have a physical symptom of pain or discomfort, we visit a doctor for
check up and treatment. It may sometimes happen that the doctor is not able to
find any medical cause or explanation for the symptoms. However, the symptoms,
and the pain are real. This is called psychosomatic illness which refers to
experiencing or suffering from real physical (somatic) symptoms which are not
caused by any biological/medical factors, but are caused by psychological factors
such as stress, anxiety, depression etc. In the case example of Mahi given in the
beginning of this Unit reflects the psychosomatic factors, her back pain being
due to the stress she is undergoing because of parental pressure and conflict.
The term psychosomatic involves both mind and body (‘psyche’ refers to mind,
and ‘soma’ refers to body). Psychosomatic illness is defined as any illness that is
caused, exacerbated, or perpetuated – either fully or partially – by psychological
factors; which do not have any adequate medical explanationand cause significant
distress or impairment in functioning (Katz, 2017). There are two scenarios here
– psychological factors contributing to, that is, causing or aggravating physical
diseases are known as psychosomatic factors (e.g., anxiety to perform on stage
leads to stomach upset); and physical factors causing or aggravating mental
disorders refer to somato-psychological factors (e.g., chronic illness can lead to
depression). Both indicate the dynamic ways of interacting between the mind
and body, and affecting our health. Somatic factors as well as psychological
variables influence the symptoms and contribute to mental and physical health
problems respectively.
In psychosomatic illness, the doctor treats for the pain and the biological symptoms
are taken care of. At the same time, the source of this pain – the psychological
factors – are also looked into and necessary steps taken in this regard. Stress,
depression, anxiety etc. can manifest into physical symptoms and cause physical
illness. There may be headache, back pain, neck pain, lowered immunity, stomach
pain, bloating, changes in eating and sleep pattern, lethargic sense etc. Thus the
emotional distress and pain inside the individual is expressed in the form of
physical symptoms and illness. There may not be any medical explanation of the
symptoms. The patient ends up in consulting so many doctors and doing so many
tests and physical investigations to find the cause.
Hence it is very important to remember that bottling up of emotions can lead to
health problems and one should learn to vent these out in a proper way. Managing
stress starts with identifying the triggers of stress so that one can take timely
action to prevent stress. One needs to learn proper ways of coping - focusing on
acceptance-oriented and solution-oriented coping strategies, planning leisure time,
relaxation, letting go, support groups etc.
1.5 BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL OF HEALTH

Health is influenced by various factors. As we grow and develop, we form a
concept of our self and identity. This affects the way we perceive, think and
behave. It results in facilitating or hindering our health, functioning and adjustment
in different situations. It may also lead to maladjustment, mental health related
problems, and mental disorders.
Various approaches have been used to explain these psychological disorders. 19
Psychology and Self BiologicalApproach: This is the medical model where the biological factors are
considered to be responsible for the psychological disorders and problems. Genetic
factors, brain damage, anomalies in brain functioning, hormonal imbalances,
chromosomal abnormalities, neurotransmitter system etc. are the causal factors
for the disorders.
Psychological Approach: Psychological approach focuses on the psychological
factors contributing to health problems and mental disorders. Three major
perspectives under this are:
 Psychodynamic perspective which states that repression of unacceptable
and threatening thoughts and desires in one’s unconscious mind leads
tomental disorders and maladaptive behavior.
 Behavioural perspective views that maladaptive thoughts and behavior
are learned from the environment.
 Cognitive perspective focuses on the role of our thought patterns as
responsible for maladaptive behavior and disorders. It talks about illogical
thinking patterns and irrational beliefs as causes.
Sociocultural Approach: Individuals are not alone. They live and function in a
group setting. Hence the role of family, community, society, the socialization
process and the cultural practices cannot be denied in the causation of
maladjustment and psychological disorders. Sociocultural factors influence our
thoughts, attitudes and emotions, which in turn impact our adjustment, functioning
and well-being.
Biopsychosocial Model: The biopsychosocial model of health is a holistic
approach to health developed by George L. Engel in 1977, which combines all
the above approaches of biological, psychological and sociocultural to explain
abnormal thinking and behavior. It takes a holistic view on the various factors
(biological, psychological, and social) affecting the development, adjustment and
health of human beings. For instance, biological factors may make the individual
vulnerable to be aggressive, but environmental factors may cause it to manifest.
Similarly, even if environmental factors may make one vulnerable, sociocultural
factors may act as protective factors.
Fig. 1.1: Biopsychosocial Model of Health

20 (Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biopsychosocial_Model_of_Health_1.png)
Important aspects in the biopsychosocial model of health are as follows: Psychology and Mind-Body
Relationship
 The biopsychosocial model moves from the limited construct of ‘disease’
(medical view only) to understand the human experience of ‘illness’from
the perspective of the patient (Engel, 1977). As Cousins (1990: xvi) says,
‘it is recognised that the mind must not be bypassed or underestimated
in any effort to deal with breakdowns, whether from stress or pathological
organisms’.
 Advocates a systems approach. The individual is not an isolated entity
to be studied and treated, but they are part of an interrelated system
organized in a hierarchical order. It consists of cells, tissues, and organs
which are part of the individual; and the individual themselves are part
of the family, groups, community, society, country, the world and the
universe. Thus they are part of the wider social, cultural, spiritual system
and context. The experiences at the individual level and at the systems
level – both interact and influence each other. Treatment and
psychological intervention need to take this into account.
 Active interaction and communication between the patient and doctor. It
has several benefits for patients’ treatment and health outcomes (Kaplan,
Greenfield & Ware, 1989). It empowers the patient, motivates them for
treatment compliance, encourages them to plan and implement strategies
to improve health especially in case of chronic illness.
Biopsychosocial model has given rise to newer fields of health psychology,
behavioural medicine and psychoneuroimmunology. Health psychology is an
important branch of psychology which mainly focuses on health, illness, their
etiology and treatment, interventions to improve and promotion of health; and
also improvement in healthcare system and health policy formation (Matarazzo,
1982). Behavioural medicine focuses on the behavioural or psychological aspects
as medicine alongwith the biological medicine aspects for comprehensive
treatment. It is thus based on behavioural sciences including psychology, sociology,
anthropology (Schwarz & Weiss, 1977). Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) focuses
on studying the interactions between the brain and immune system and how this
impacts one’s health.
Thus advances in the field of psychology and interdisciplinary approaches are
helping us to understand the dynamics of health, illness and human cognition.
This can have implications at the individual level (e.g., being aware of and
modifying one’s beliefs, thoughts and emotions related to health and illness);
and at the society level (e.g., health promotion strategies at community level,
framing of health policies etc.).
It is pertinent to note here that the Indian perspectives on health also indicate a
holistic approach, but they go beyond the biopsychosocial to the spiritual and
philosophical aspects. As Ravishankar and Shukla (2007, p.321) state, Indian
systems of medicine such as Ayurveda and Siddha focus on physical,
psychological, philosophical, ethical and spiritual well-being of mankind.
Achieving a state of health is related more to achieving a state of inner growth
and realization, developing consciousness of the inner true self. Thus it is the
most comprehensive approach to health advocating for harmony with one’s own
inner self as well as the outside world and the universe.
Other holistic models are the 3 H model (head, heart, hands) and the BMSEST
models (body, mind, spirit, environment, social, transcendent) which focus on 21
Psychology and Self the role of spirituality in the larger health care context, useful for patient care,
education, and research (Anandarajah, 2008). Sulmasy (2002) has also proposed
a biopsychosocial-spiritual model to include the spiritual concerns of patients,
thus taking into account the totality of the patient’s relational existence-physical,
psychological, social, and spiritual.

1. The physical symptoms experienced in psychosomatic illness are false.
True or False.
2. In case of psychosomatic illness, the psychological symptoms in the patient
only needs to be treated. True or False.
3. Illness is more indicative of subjective experience than disease. True or
False.
4. ________model of health considers chromosomal abnormalities and
neurotransmitter imbalances as the causal factors for mental disorders.
5. _________approach to health focuses on illogical thinking patterns as
causes of maladaptive behavior and disorders.
6. The biopsychosocial model of health was given by_______.
1.6 LET US SUM UP

In the present Unit, you learned about what is psychology and how it can help us
in understanding our self and leading a healthy life. Human beings are influenced
by multiple forces which affects their physical health and mental health. The
bidirectional influence of mind and body on each other makes it important to
look at the individual as a whole. The biopsychosocial model signifies this and
considers the role of physical, psychological, social and cultural factors in the
causation of illness and promotion of health and well-being. Recent advances in
the field of health psychology, constructivism and psychoneuroimmunology etc.
are shedding new lights in understanding and promotion of health, stress and
illness dynamics, and role of our beliefs and cognitions in illness and health.
1.7 KEY WORDS

Psychosomatic illness : refers to experiencing or suffering from real
physical (somatic) symptoms which are not
caused by any biological/medical factors, but are
caused by psychological factors such as stress,
anxiety, depression etc.
Biopsychosocial model : takes a holistic view of health and considers the
biological, psychological, social and cultural
factors as contributing to health and illness.
Psychoneuroimmunology : (PNI) focuses on studying the interactions
between the brain and immune system and how
this impacts one’s health.
22
1.8 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS Relationship
Answers to Self Assessment Questions 1

1. mind, behavior
2. social
3. 1879
4. Clinical
5. Neuropsychology
6. Calcutta
1. False
2. False
3. True
4. Medical model of health
5. Cognitive
6. George L. Engel
1.9 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the nature and meaning of psychology.
2. Differentiate between clinical psychology and health psychology.
3. Describe the development of psychology in India.
4. Discuss mind-body relationship and its implications for health and illness.
5. Explain the biopsychosocial model of health and its implications for health
policy formulation and implementation.
1.10 REFERENCES
Anandarajah, G. (2008). The 3 H and BMSEST models for spirituality in
multicultural whole-person medicine. Ann Fam Med., 6 (5):448-58. doi: 10.1370/
afm.864. PMID: 18779550; PMCID: PMC2532766.
Ciccarelli, S.K., & White, J.N. (2018). Psychology. (Adapted by Girishwar Misra).
Pearson India Education Services.
Cousins, N. (1990). Head first: the biology of hope and the healing power of the
human spirit. London: Penguin
Dalal, A. K. & Misra, G. (2011). New Directions in Health Psychology (1st ed.).
New Delhi: Sage Publication.
Engel, G.L. (1977). The need for a new medical model: a challenge for
biomedicine. Science, 196: 129–136
Huber, M. et al. (2011). Health: how should we define it? BMJ, 343:d4163, 235-237 23
Psychology and Self Kaplan, S.H., Greenfield, S., &Ware, J.E. Jr. (1989). Assessing the effects of
physician-patient interactions on the outcomes of chronic disease. Med Care,
27(3 Suppl):S110-27. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198903001-00010. Erratum in:
Med Care 1989 Jul;27(7):679. PMID: 2646486.
Katz, E. (2017). Psychosomatic illness.https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/
home/decision-support-in-medicine/pediatrics/psychosomatic-illness/ Accessed
on 24th July, 2021 at 4.40 p.m.
Leitan, N., & Murray, G. (2014). The mind-body relationship in psychotherapy:
Grounded cognition as an explanatory framework. Frontiers in psychology. 5
(22): 472. Doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00472.
Matarazzo, J. D. (1982). Behavioral health’s challenge to academic, scientific,
and professional psychology. American Psychologist, 37, 1–14.
Schwartz, G.E., &Weiss, S.M. (1977). What is behavioral medicine? Psychosom
Med.;39(6):377-81. doi: 10.1097/00006842-197711000-00001. PMID: 594283.
Sulmasy, D.P. (2002). A biopsychosocial-spiritual model for the care of patients
at the end of life. Gerontologist, 42 Spec No 3:24-33. doi: 10.1093/geront/
42.suppl_3.24. PMID: 12415130.
Von Faber M., Bootsma-van der WielA., van Exel E., Gussekloo, J., Lagaay,
A.M., van Dongen, E. et.al. (2001). Successful aging in the oldest old: who can
be characterized as successfully aged? Arch Intern Med., 161:2694-700.
1.11 FURTHER LEARNING RESOURCES

 Bieliauskas L. (2019). Stress and its relationship to health and illness. New
York: Routledge.
 Brannon, L., & Feist, J. (2000). Health psychology: An introduction to
behavior and health (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning
 Fava, G.A., Cosci, F., &Sonino, N. (2017). Current psychosomatic practice.
Psychother Psychosom, 86 (1): 13-30. doi:10.1159/000448856
 Hamilton-West, K. (2011). Psychobiological processes in health and illness.
London: Sage Publication.
 Lutgendorf, S.K. & Costanzo, E. (2003). Psychoneuroimmunology and health
psychology: an integrative model. Brain Behavior, and Immunity, 17, 225–
315.
 Manickam, L. S. S. (2008). Research on Indian concepts of psychology: Major
challenges and perspectives for future action. In Rao, K.R., Paranjpe, A.C.,
& Dalal, A.K. (Eds.) Handbook of Indian Psychology. New Delhi: Foundation
Books
 Michie, S., Miles, J. & Weinman, J. (2003). Patient-centredness in chronic
illness: what is it and does it matter? Patient Education and Counselling, 51,
197-206.
 Rao, K.R.,& Paranjpe, A.C. (2015). Psychology in the Indian tradition.
24 Springer publication.
UNIT 2 SELF AND IDENTITY Relationship
DEVELOPMENT*
Structure

2.2 Introduction
2.3 Concepts of Self and Identity
2.3.1 Varieties of Self
2.4 Culture, Society and Socialization
2.5 Culture and Self: Mutual Constitution
2.5.1 Conceptualization of Culture
2.5.2 Cultural Patterns and Self
2.5.3 Consequences of Culture for Psychological Functioning
2.5.4 Sociocultural Change and Transformations of Self
2.6 Socio-Structural Influences on Identity
2.6.1 Intersectionality of Identities
2.7 Familial Influences on Self and Identity
2.7.1 Parenting Styles and Consequences for Self
2.8 Let Us Sum Up
2.9 Key Words
2.10 Answers To Self Assessment Questions
2.12 References

 Understand the concepts of self and identity;
 Explain how cultures differ and shape different kinds of selves;
 Describe the various social factors and their impact on self development;
and
 Discuss the role of parenting and sibling relationships in formation of self
and identity.
2.2 INTRODUCTION
We usually make a number of choices in our life, for example, going on a trek,
pursuing a particular course of study or helping someone in need. There are also
*
Dr. Parul Bansal, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women,
University of Delhi, Delhi 25
Psychology and Self choices that we make on a regular basis like watching the television, or what
snack to eat, or what time to go to sleep etc. All these choices are grounded in our
self and identity. Based on our knowledge of who we are, we make our choices
and decisions. As people, we make sense of ourselves – who we are and may
become, and the path we should take in our lives. Self and identity influences
people’s goals and motivations, how they think, the actions they take, their feelings
and ability to regulate our behaviours.
2.3 CONCEPTS OF SELF AND IDENTITY

We become aware of ‘self’ when we reflect on ourselves; when we experience
ourselves. Self is the continually developing sense of awareness and agency that
guides action and takes shape as the individual becomes attuned to the various
environments it inhabits (Markus and Kitayama, 2010). Self includes both the ‘I’
that reflects/experiences and the ‘me’ who is the object of reflection and
experience. ‘I’ is the knower and ‘Me’ is the Known. ‘Me’ is ‘who’ part of I – the
thoughts, needs, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values one has. The ‘me’ aspect is
constituted by and embedded within the moment to moment situations. For
example, when we succeed, we feel that we are competent. When we fail, we
feel incompetent. At times, we crave for stimulation and at times, we need peace
and quiet. The self is always situated and, as a consequence, it always reflects its
contexts.
Self includes not only what I think about me (personal perspective) but also what
others may think of me (other’s perspective). Identity can be understood as
definition of self, i.e., it refers to a consistent sense of self, providing directions
about what one can do, where does one belong, what to value. We can understand
identity to be more stable than self experience which is more momentary.
We are born with a rudimentary sense of awareness of self. Quite early on, we
develop an ecological self – an awareness of our body and its relation to the
physical environment (Neisser, 1988). An infant learns that the more vigorously
it kicks its leg, the faster the hanging toy on the crib will move. Newborns show
a particular interest in human faces and show ability to match their facial
expression to that of their caregivers. Social interaction is integral to self
development (Mead, 1934). The social and cultural factors influence self and
identity development.
We do not always act in a self-aware manner. A lot of our life is lived in un-
selfconscious way, like when we dance with joy in rains, feel immersed in a
book, have fun with friends. At many of these occasions, we are not the object of
our attention. When someone calls out our name in such a situation, for example,
our consciousness shifts to the self.
2.3.1 Varieties of Self

Self is conceptualized in various ways. Triandis (1989) provided the distinction
between private, public and collective aspects of self.
 The private self includes cognitions about traits, states or behaviours of
oneself (“I am kind”, “I enjoy reading books”). It is an assessment of
26 ‘self’ by the self.
 The collective self includes assessments about self by a specific group Self and Identity
Development
such as family, caste group, coworkers/peers etc. (“My friends think I
am a boring person”, “My family makes fun of my soft heartedness”).
 The public self includes cognitions about the self coming from
generalized others (“People usually perceive me as introvert”, “Others
think I can be easily bullied”).
Markus and Kitayama (1991) discussed two types of self construal: Independent
and Interdependent self construals.
(a) The independent self takes one’s own thoughts, feelings and motives to be
the basis of one’s behaviour. Interactions with others produce a sense of
being autonomous, separate or distinct.
(b) For an interdependent self, the immediate referent is the thoughts, feelings,
and actions of others with whom the person is in relationship. It is a sense of
self as connected to, related to, or interdependent with others.
Private and Independent self are overlapping concepts. Similarly, collective and
interdependent self are overlapping concepts.
Fig. 2.1: Independent and Interdependent View of Self (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)
Source: Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition,
emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253.
ACTIVITY 1
Singelis Self Construal Scale (1994)
(Source: https://sparqtools.org/mobility-measure/self-construal-scale/)
Instructions:
This is a questionnaire that measures a variety of feelings and behaviors in
various situations. Listed below are a number of statements. Read each one as
if it referred to you. Circle the response that best matches your agreement or
disagreement on a seven-point scale.
1. I enjoy being unique and different from others in many respects.
Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

disagree Disagree disagree somewhat agree
2. I can talk openly with a person who I meet for the first time, even when this person is
much older than I am.
27
Psychology and Self
3. Even when I strongly disagree with group members, I avoid an argument.

4. I have respect for the authority figures with whom I interact.

5. I do my own thing, regardless of what others think.

6. I respect people who are modest about themselves.

7. I feel it is important for me to act as an independent person.

8. I will sacrifice my self interest for the benefit of the group I am in.

9. I'd rather say "No" directly, than risk being misunderstood.

10. Having a lively imagination is important to me.

11. I should take into consideration my parents' advice when making education/career plans.

12. I feel my fate is intertwined with the fate of those around me.

Scoring - The Independent Subscale items are Questions 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, and 10. The
Interdependent Subscale items are Questions 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, and 12. Score the responses as
follows: 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = somewhat disagree; 4 = don't agree or
disagree; 5 = agree somewhat; 6 = agree; and 7 = strongly agree.
28
Add the scores for each subscale’s items and divide this sum by the number of Self and Identity
Development
items in the subscale (6 items).
Note: The original scale has 30 items in total and 15 items in each subscale.
Scores obtained on the complete scale are valid. Selected items from the original
scale are presented here as example.
2.4 CULTURE, SOCIETY AND SOCIALIZATION

It is common knowledge that self and identity are shaped by external factors.
These external factors are termed as cultural and social factors. What is the
difference between cultural and social? Social is usually understood in terms of
categories such as sex, race, class, caste which are associated with status and
roles. For example, facts such as more women do household work while more
men are in paid employment; rich have greater access to educational and health
facilities than poor – are social facts. They refer to roles (household responsibilities
vs. paid work) and status (privileges and power) differentials. Society refers to
patterned interrelationships amongst categories such as sex, race, class, caste,
religion, language and their relative status and roles. Social refers to the state of
affairs as present here and now.
On the other hand, culture is a historically determined set of denotative (what is),
normative (what should be), and pragmatic (how to do) knowledge shared by a
group of individuals who participate in a form of social structure (Triandis, 1995).
It refers to shared knowledge, meaning and practices of a society. Culture is a
contextual factor beyond social. Gendered division of role, i.e., women do
household chores and men work in the public world and the related status
differential, i.e., women do less important work than men, is based on certain
ideas, beliefs, rules and norms about men and women and their position in the
world which are held in common by people of a particular society. This ‘shared’
aspect is culture. People in different cultures may have different cultural ideas,
beliefs and norms about gender roles and relations. In agrarian cultures, for
example, women have always worked outside homes, on farms and have
contributed to various other kinds of farming related economic activities. Thus,
cultural meanings about gender roles and status hierarchies are not the same in
all societies.
Cultures and societies socialize their members to accept the cultural norms and
practices and become functional members of a given society. Socialization is a
life long process of social interaction through which people acquire the behaviors
and beliefs of the culture they live in. It serves three purposes ((Arnett, 1995;
Grusec, 2002).
 Self regulation – It is the capacity to exercise self control over one’s
impulses and wishes and self direct oneself in accordance with social
norms. It is dependent on the development of conscience which monitors
whether or not our behaviours are in accordance with rules and values.
If not, then one feels ashamed or guilty.
 Role Preparation–We learn the worthwhile roles of the society such as
student role, daughter role, son role, marital roles, employee role, citizen
role through socialization. We acquire know-how about the functions of
these roles. 29
Psychology and Self  Sources of Meaning – As existential beings, we continuously make
meaning of our lives and worlds, we ponder over questions of life and
death, reality and fiction, matters of happiness and suffering. It is from
social interactions with members of one’s own culture that we derive
these meanings.
Family, school, peers, workplace, media are the agents of socialization in modern
societies. Seeing parents planning monthly budget and investing in savings teaches
that splurging money is not advisable. Requiring students to wear uniform in
school is an indication that equality is an important social value. Peers can show
that splurging on fun and gadgets is an acceptable behaviour. This message is
contradictory from socialization influences from parents and can create conflicts
in self and identity. Media, too, opens one to role models and influences from
world over in terms of a variety of lifestyle choices of dressing, accent, taste in
music, books and food, travel, living standards, values, opinions and attitudes
etc.
1. Differentiate between the private and public self.
2. What are the two types of self construal?
3. What is socialization process?
2.5 CULTURE AND SELF: MUTUAL

CONSTITUTION
Culture refers topatterns of ideas, practices, institutions, products, and artifacts.
People and their socio-cultural environments are not separate. They mutually
influence each other. People’s selves are shaped by the socio-cultural context
through socialization influences. A self requires inputs from sociocultural
meanings and practices. The self as the centre of awareness and agency
incorporates and reflects these sociocultural patterns. In turn, people’s thoughts,
feelings and actions (selves) reinforce or change the sociocultural meanings and
practices that shape their lives. Let us understand this with the help of an example.
It is a culturally accepted norm that women are primary caretakers of children,
especially newborns and young children. Women internalize this message and
become psychologically ready to mother children exclusively during the infancy
stage. At best, she may be assisted by other women in the family. However, men
are usually exempted from the care responsibilities of infants. In this way, culture
shapes gendered self of men and women. How does self shape culture? One way
is that by following the cultural norms. This leads to perpetuation of cultural
values and norms. However, it is the way cultural norms are resisted and changed
by individual’s personal goals, needs, feelings and beliefs that give us a clearer
idea of the influence that self exerts on culture systems. In a recent incidentof
year 2020, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli took paternity leave and left the
Australian tour after one match to be available with his wife during the child
birth and the period after. This action by a celebrated role model flagged the need
for fathers to be emotionally available for their infant children and wives and
make paternity leave more acceptable at workplaces.
30
2.5.1 Conceptualization of Culture Self and Identity
Development
Culture has been conceptualized in terms of different dimensions which are linked
with various aspects of psychological functioning. Let us become familiar with
three most well known conceptualizations of culture in Psychology.
1. The Dimensions of Culture: Geert Hofstede
Geert Hofstede (1980) has identified six cultural dimensions along which different
cultures vary.
a) High vs Low Power Distance – In cultures high on power distance, less
powerful members of institutions (like family) and organizations (like
schools, corporate, political parties) accept and expect that power is
distributed unequally. Thus, the legitimacy of hierarchy (based on power,
age, gender) and authority is largely unquestioned. The parents, old
people, leaders, superiors at workplace are respected and feared. Cultures
low on power distance have flatter hierarchies, obedience and control
are minimal in social relationships between young and old, superior and
subordinate, student and teachers.
b) High vs Low Uncertainty Avoidance – Cultures high on uncertainty
avoidance have low tolerance for ambiguity. In such cultures strict
behavioural codes and rules are sought, deviant opinions are deemed as
dangerous and curbed and absolute truths are sought after. Cultures low
on uncertainty avoidance are more accepting of ambiguity and tolerant
of difference.
c) Individualism vs Collectivism–In the individualist cultures, ties amongst
individuals are loose, everyone looks after oneself and one’s immediate
family, personal opinion and expression is welcome. In collective cultures,
people are integrated into strong cohesive ingroups which include
extended family, caste, regional, religious groupings. Interdependence,
loyalty and harmony amongst ingroup members is privileged. Personal
opinions and expression are deemphasized.
d) Masculinity vs Femininity – Cultures high on masculinity prescribes
different social and emotional roles for men and women, e.g., boys should
not cry while girls can; boys should fight back while girls should not.
There is admiration for strong people and disdain for the weak ones, and
greater exclusion of women from positions of power. Cultures high on
femininity deemphasizes gendered division of labour; men and women
both are expected to participate in care related responsibilities, there is
sympathy for weak, and greater participation of women in positions of
power.
e) Long term vs Short term orientation–Cultures high on long term
orientation see world as dynamic, are future oriented, believe in adaptation
to changing situations, try to learn from examples of other countries,
consider thrift and perseverance as important goals. Cultures high on
short term orientation consider present as more important than future,
treat traditions as sacrosanct, immediate gratification is incentivized.
f) Indulgence vs Restraint–Cultures high on indulgence allows for free
gratification of human needs and desires. Enjoyment, leisure and pleasure 31
Psychology and Self are given free reign. There is a high perception of personal control and
happiness is pursued. Cultures high on restraint controls gratification of
needs and regulates it by social norms. There is low perception of personal
control, and leisure and pleasure are not highly worthwhile social aims.
2. Cultural Syndromes: Harry Triandis
According to Triandis (1996), “A cultural syndrome is a pattern of shared attitudes,
beliefs, categorizations, self-definitions, norms, role definitions, and values that
is organized around a theme that can be identified among those who speak a
particular language, during a specific historic period, and in a definable geographic
region” (p.408). He (1994) identified four cultural syndromes:
a) Cultural Complexity – Cultures differ in complexity. The hunter gatherer
societies are simpler as compared to service – information societies of
contemporary times. The former have fewer lifestyle options and choices
such as career options, social roles, values. For example, there are about
20 jobs among hunters and gatherers vs. 250,000 types of jobs in
information societies. There are far more religious, economic, social,
aesthetic, political and educational variation in more complex cultures
as compared to less complex cultures.
b) Tight vs Loose Cultures - A tight culture is one where there are rules
for many situations and they are applied strictly. Minor deviations from
the rules are punished. Tight societies have more interdependency, greater
surveillance over people. A loose culture is one where there are fewer
rules and norms of social behaviour. There is also greater tolerance for
deviations from norms. It is more heterogeneous and people don’t depend
on each so much.
c) Individualism vs Collectivism - Individualist and Collectivist cultures
(as discussed above) can be horizontal (emphasizing equality) or vertical
(emphasizing hierarchy). The way these emphases intersect with
individualism and collectivism produce four distinct patterns – Horizontal
Individualism, Horizontal Collectivism, Vertical Individualism, Vertical
Collectivism.
Table 2.1: Varieties of Individualism and Collectivism
Horizontal Vertical
Individualism Horizontal Individualism Vertical Individualism (VI)
(HI)
Collectivism Horizontal Collectivism Vertical Collectivism (VC)
(HC)
In HI, people want to be unique and self-reliant without being especially interested
in gaining status and power. In VI, people want to acquire status and be the ‘best’
and they do this in individual competition from others. In HC, people see
themselves as being similar to others and emphasize common goals with others
as well as interdependence. But they do not “easily submit to authority”. In VC,
32 people emphasize belongingness to in-groups, are willing to subordinate their
personal goals to in-group goals, and engage in competitions with out-groups to Self and Identity
Development
prove greater status of in-group.
ACTIVITY 2
Culture Orientation Scale by Triandis and Gelfand (1998)
(Source: https://fetzer.org/sites/default/files/images/stories/pdf/selfmeasures/
CollectiveOrientation.pdf)
Instructions:
Listed below are a number of statements. Read each one as if it referred to you.
Circle the response (1-9) that best matches your agreement or disagreement,
where 1= never or definitely no and 9 = always or definitely yes.
1. I’d rather depend on myself than others.
2. Parents and children must stay together as much as possible.
3. I rely on myself most of the time; I rarely rely on others.
4. It is my duty to take care of my family, even when I have to sacrifice what
I want.
5. Competition is the law of nature.
6. The well-being of my coworkers is important to me.
7. When another person does better than I do, I get tense and aroused
8. To me, pleasure is spending time with others.
Scoring - The HI Subscale items are Questions 1 and 3. The HC Subscale
items are Questions 6 and 8. The VI Subscale items are Questions 5 and 7. The
VC Subscale items are Questions 2 and 4. If you have marked 1 as your response,
give yourself 1 mark, if marked 2, give yourself 2 and so on. Add the scores for
each subscale’s items.
Note: The original scale has 16 items in total and 4 items in each subscale.
Scores obtained on the complete scale are valid. Selected items from the original
scale are presented here as example.
Match the Following:
a. Delayed gratification of needs i. High power distance

b. Tolerant of differences ii. Collectivism
c. Hierarchy is legitimate iii. High on Masculinity
d. Present is more important than iv. Horizontal
future
e. High political, social, economic v. Lowon uncertainty avoidance
variation
33
Psychology and Self
f. Loyalty and harmony amongst vi. Tight cultures
ingroups is emphasized
g. Cultures emphasizing equality vii. Cultural complexity
h. Different roles for men and women viii. Short term orientation
are emphasized
i. Homogeneous cultures ix. Restraint
2.5.2 Cultural patterns and Self

Cultural variation is linked to different kinds of self. Generally, in the more
complex, individualistic and loose cultures, people tend to rely on elements of
private/individualistic self more as guides for their behaviour. In complex cultures,
a person is member of many groups – family group, occupational group, hobby
groups, friend groups, religious group, social media groups, neighbourhood group.
These groups are also likely to have conflictual norms : for example – family
espouses different lifestyle values such as saving money as compared to peer
group which encourages spending. This will mean that the individual has to turn
inwards to decide how he/she should act.He/she will rely on personal values and
thoughts in order to act. Due to looseness, it is more difficult for people to agree
on specific norms. During Covid pandemic, U.S.A. witnessed many “anti mask”
and “anti lockdown” demonstrations from its citizens. Also, it is more difficult
to impose severe sanctions and punishments for flouting the rules and norms.
Geographical mobility allows people to leave the groups they find demanding
and constraining freedom.
Conversely, members of homogenous and tight cultures which require that group
members behave according to group norms are more likely to behave as per the
standards and norms of significant others, i.e., they are more likely to be collective
than individualistic. In tight cultures, people tend to socialize their children by
emphasizing the expectations of generalized others. Thus, public and collective
selves are emphasized more in tight cultures as compared to private selves.
In collectivist cultures, children are socialized for obedience and respect for
hierarchy. Again, selves are more likely to be collectivist here. In individualistic
cultures, child rearing patterns emphasize self reliance, finding yourself and
actualization. This reinforces individualistic self. Identity is defined differently
in individualistic and collectivist cultures. Possessions (“My thoughts”, “My
feelings”, “My abilities”, “My experiences”, “My accomplishments”) define one’s
identity. In collectivist cultures, relationship define identity (“Mother of Y”, “Son
of Z”, “Resident of X village” etc.).
2.5.3 Influence of Culture on Psychological Functioning

a) Influence on Cognition
In individualistic cultures like U.S.A., studies have found that when participants
are asked: Is self similar to others? they usually judge the similarity to be low
(Kitayama, Markus, Tummala, Kurokawa, and Kato, 1990). This is because self
34 knowledge is more distinctive, elaborate and accessible to them as compared to
knowledge about others. This pattern is somewhat different for Indian participants Self and Identity
Development
who are found to be judging the self to be more similar to others.
Shweder and Bourne (1984) found that Indian participants tend to describe close
acquaintances in terms of behaviours, what was done, when, how and with whom.
In these person descriptions such as “He has no land to cultivate but likes to
cultivate the land of others,” or “When a quarrel arises, he cannot resist the
temptation of saying a word”, it is the behaviour that is focal rather than the
internal trait that underpins it. Since, self is believed to be contingent on situations
and contexts and is, thus, highly variable in collectivist cultures, global inferences
about persons are typically regarded as not meaningful or informative. In contrast,
Americans are more likely to describe people they know well in terms of traits.
Rather than saying “He does not disclose secrets” Americans are more likely to
say “He is discreet or principled?’ Rather than “He is hesitant to give his money
away,” Americans say “He is tight or selfish”. A similar trend is noticed when
Cousins (1989) compared the self-descriptions of American high school and
college students with the self-descriptions of Japanese high school and college
students. American students were more comfortable using the original Twenty
Statements Test (TST) which simply asks: Who Am I? because it elicits abstract,
context free self characterizations that form the core of their independent self.
When responding to modified TST in which participants are asked to describe
themselves in specific situations (me at home, at work, with friends etc.) the
American participants tend to qualify their descriptions as if to say “This is how
I am at home, but don’t assume this is the way I am everywhere?”
b) Influence on Emotions
Research has shown that negative emotions like anger are considered as highly
dysfunctional in collectivist cultures as it disrupts harmony in relationships, an
important social goal in collectivist cultures. Roland (1988) reports that Asians
are socialized by family to restrain their inner feelings of rage and anger and
particularly the overt expression of these feelings.
Other emotions such as pride and guilt also differ according to the way culture
and self link up with each other. In collectivist cultures, pride in one’s own
accomplishments is inhibited because it involves focus on one’s performance
and abilities which are not emphasized in such cultures. Additionally, there may
be fears of attracting jealousy and ‘evil eye’ from others if one talks of one’s
accomplishments. Often, pride in such cultures is directed towards a collective
of which self is a part. Thus, an Indian girl who tops a civil services exam, is
proud of bringing laurels to her family, coaching institute, educational institutions
and city. These are the important groups which are sought to be enhanced by
one’s personal accomplishments. Correspondingly, guilt is also experienced as a
consequence of hurting others psychologically or bringing a bad name to
significant others. The ostracization of a member of family who is believed to
have tarnished the reputation of the kith and kin is an example of how guilty is
communally punished in collectivist cultures. Thus, pride is experienced in
enhancing the self esteem of the relevant groups of which one is a member. Guilt
is experienced for hurting the pride and feelings of significant others.
c) Influence on Motivation
In individualistic cultures, independent selves are motivated to express their needs,
views and abilities and resist efforts to comply to undue social pressure. In 35
Psychology and Self collectivist cultures, collective selves are motivated to be receptive to others
andto adjust one’s needs and demands to others.
Achievement orientation, for example, is more socially oriented in such cultures.
It is not as mush a drive to feel a sense of accomplishment for one’s own self as
much as it is to meet expectations of significant others to be a success and bring
laurels to them.
In the West, there is a need to maintain consistency between attitudes, between
attitudes and behaviours. However, in the eastern cultures, need for consistency
is not high as personal opinions and beliefs are not significant drivers of
behaviours. Iwao (1988) gave respondents a series of scenarios and asked them
to judge which responses would be appropriate for the person described in the
scenario. In one scenario, the daughter brings home a person from another race.
One of the possible responses given by the father in the scenario was “thought
that he would never allow them to marry but told them he was in favor of their
marriage” This answer was rated as best by only 2% of Americans who have
independent selves. In sharp contrast, however, it was rated as best by 44% of the
Japanese. Among the Americans, 48% thought it was the worst response, whereas
only 7% of the Japanese rated it as the worst.
2.5.4 Sociocultural changes and Transformations of self

In understanding the links between culture and self, one must know that
individualistic and collectivist cultures, independent and interdependent selves
are not mutually exclusive categories. Individualism and Collectivism are two
cultural ideologies emphasized as cultural ideals in the Euro—American and
theAsian, African and Latin American contexts respectively. Triandis (1994)
emphasizes that ‘‘the two [collectivism and individualism] can coexist and are
simply emphasized more or less in each culture’’ (p. 42). With increasing
globalization, migration and inter cultural mixing, these cultural ideologies have
spread to geographical regions beyond their origins resulting in co-existence and
ad-mixtures of self tendencies. Research on Indian self, for example, has shown
that there is a co-existence of individualistic and collectivist tendencies in it(Sinha
and Tripathi, 1994; Mishra, 1994; Verma and Triandis, 1998; Sinha et al, 2001).
Individualism and Collectivism operate as reversible figure and ground.
Figure 2.2: Reversible Figure and Ground
Source: ibitimes.co.uk
36
In this figure, one can sometimes perceive the white portion as a vase figure Self and Identity
Development
taking the two facial profiles (in black) as the background.On other times, one
can perceive the two face profiles as figure taking the white portion as the
background. Similarly, in different contextual conditions, individualism and
collectivism are displayed. They can also be combined as means and end (Sinha
et al., 2001). At workplace, the competitive ethos and the pressure to be self
driven and independent often makes one rely on individualistic tendencies more,
whereas, in familial contexts, the same person behaves in a deferential manner,
fulfilling emotional interdependencies and reciprocal obligations. A young person
in India facing resistance from parents in the way of pursuing a course of one’s
own choicemay adopt collectivist means to individualistic goals. He/she may
cry, plead, stop talking to parents so that they can agree to his/her wishes. Here,
the means adopted are collectivist as parental approval is being sought but the
goal is individualistic, i.e., satisfaction of personal desires. The other route is to
rebel against the parents’ wishes and study what one wants to study and later do
really well in the course of study to bring pride to the family. Here, the means are
individualistic, i.e., self assertion but the goal is collectivist.
2.6 SOCIO-STRUCTURAL INFLUENCES ON

IDENTITY
Many social structural factors such as socio-economic status, gender and caste
influence identity development.
(a) Socio- economic status and identity
Socioeconomic status (SES) is generally defined in terms of an individual’s
economic position and educational attainment, relative to others. Stephens,
Markus, and Phillips (2014) argue that social class gives rise to different kinds of
self construal shaped by the ‘gateway contexts’ of home, work and school. One
kind of self is ‘hard interdependence’ characteristic of those growing up in low-
income environments. It implies a resilient self needed to cope with the adversities
of life. People in such an environment marked by less choices, influence and
control are also more cognizant of interdependence between self and context.
Since, lower class individuals face greater uncertainty in terms of food, income,
housing, personal safety and health, they are more vigilant about external threats
and are motivated to deal with external constraints. The other type of self they
spell out is ‘expressive independence’ which is typical of those who grow up in
affluent, middle class families. They are safeguarded against financial hardships
and threats and are more enabled to express their individuality, personal choices
and agency.
Self perception of one’s social class marked by perceived standing of one’s
occupational status, individual wealth and prestige of educational attainment
shapes social behaviour. By comparing their wealth, educational attainment and
occupational status with those of others, individuals can determine where they
stand in social hierarchy. Subjective social class exert broad influences on the
way one thinks, feels and acts.
The differences in income and wealth are associated with differences in social
capital, in the form of friendship networks, and cultural capital, in the form of
37
Psychology and Self education and knowledge of how the system works. For example, if a child has
family members or neighbours who are doctors, engineers, singers and artists,
then he/she is more likely to entertain these as possible futures as compared to if
he/she doesn’t have these networks. Similarly, if through these networks, the
child has been exposed to libraries, hospitals, museums, traveling, then the child
would know how these systems work and is less likely to be intimidated by
them.
(b) Gender and Identity
Costa et al. (2001) have found that women are generally higher than men in
neuroticism, agreeableness, warmth, and openness to feelings, whereas men are
generally higher than women in assertiveness and openness to ideas. However,
they also found that, contrary to expectations, these gender differences are variable
across cultures and are in fact stronger in European and American cultures than
in African and Asian ones.
Gender and sex are used interchangeably. However, there are differences between
them. “Sex” refers to the physical differences between people who are male,
female, or intersex. Sex is based on physiological characteristics such as genitalia
and chromosome composition. Gender, on the other hand, refers to the
sociocultural meanings ascribed to male and female social categories. It refers to
traits, qualities, behaviours related with masculinity and femininity. Gender
identity is the psychological identification of self as male or female.
Society, specifically family, peers and media play an important role in gender
socialization. The different roles that men and women are allotted by society are
called gender roles. There are also different expectations that society has from
boys and girls. Boys can be loud and messy while girls have to be quiet and
clean. These expectations take on the form of gender beliefs and dictate the choice
of professional roles, leisure activities and clothing. Men are suitable for combat
jobs in defence services but women are not because men are believed to have the
traits and strength for such jobs. Women are more suitable for teaching and nursing
jobs as compared to men as they are believed to be caring and sensitive. These
gender roles, norms, expectations and beliefs are internalized by men and women.
This in turn shapes their gender identity.
Family is the first teacher for children to learn different roles and expectations of
men and women. Parents create a gendered world for the children through different
toys, clothes, language, tolerance levels and behaviours. Leaper and Farkas (2014)
show significant correlation between parents’ gender attitudes and children’s
gender patterns. Girls and boys are encouraged for engaging in certain kinds of
games and play activities with their peers and prohibitedfrom others. In schools,
teachers may have different stereotyped expectations about abilities and needs of
boys and girls. Textbooks also play a role in forming identities of children. It
mediates the gender specific expectations, norms and expectations and thus
contributes to the reproduction of social inequalities. Media often under-represents
as well as mis-represents men and women. They also perpetuate gender stereotypes
by showing women working in kitchens and taking care of family members in
advertisements.
38
(c) Caste and Identity Self and Identity
Development
Researchers stressed the importance and the influence of caste as an integral
social identity among many South Asians (Mand, 2006). Society is categorized
into castes which are allotted different social status (positive or negative) in
accordance with the group’s position within the social hierarchy. The demeaning
occupational titles like chamars (literally, leatherworkers) and churhas (literally,
street sweepers) accorded to certain caste group in line with their historical status
and position within the caste hierarchy negatively affects their self esteem and
creates an identity of being devalued and ‘spoilt’. The high caste groups tend to
essentialize caste identity (Mahalingam, 2007). Caste essentialism ensures that
even when there is a disidentification of low caste groups from the demeaning
occupations, they are still stigmatized. Caste boundaries are keenly maintained
by both high and low castes. It has been noted in ethnographic fieldwork that in
social interactions with high caste group members, scheduled caste members
may assume a hunched posture, remove their towel from their shoulders and tie
it around the waist, and raise one or both hands in greeting, symbolising their
alleged social inferiority (Gorringe & Rafanell, 2007). However, to characterize
low caste identity as exclusively inferior will be reductive and erroneous.
Identification with inspiring leaders like Ambedkar and collective participation
in Dalit movement also leads to development of Dalit pride in one’s identity. In
such cases, the collective struggle is not just for economic upliftment but to
bring revolutionary change at the structural level, to create a world which is free
of exploitation and hierarchies.
2.6.1 Intersectionality of Identities

Individuals are shaped by a vast array of cultural, social and structural contexts.
As an individual, one has gender, racial/caste, ethnic, class, sexual, national and
many other identities. Take the example of a high caste, class Indian gay male
who is discriminated because of his sexual identity but is privileged because of
his dominant caste, class and gender identity. Interdependent social contexts (caste,
class, gender and sexual identities) work dynamically to shape the experiences
and identities of people. Some of these identities are privileged and some are
oppressed. Thus, intersectional identity is more than a sum of its parts as various
identities are interlocked with each other. Intersectionality theory also captures
the within group differences in identities of members belonging to a gender,
class, caste/racial, ethnic, nationality, age, ability, sexuality, or religious group,
e.g., not all men are alike, not all Indians are same or, all Christians are not
identical.
2.7 FAMILIAL INFLUENCE ON SELF AND

IDENTITY
According to Burgess and Locke, “Family is a group of persons united by the ties
of marriage, blood or adoption; consisting a single household, interacting and
intercommunicating with each other in their social roles of husband and wife,
mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister creating a common culture”.
Family is the basic unit of socialization. Usually family evokes the notion of
nuclear families consisting of parents and children living together. In India, we 39
Psychology and Self see extended and joint families too where two or more nuclear families live
together. It can take the form of a man and woman living alongwith their married
sons and daughters-in-law, unmarried sons and daughters, grandchildren and great
grand children. Another form is a group consisting of two or more brothers and
their wives and children living together. Family is a dynamic unit and keeps
changing with times. Now, we see many other forms of families too. This includes
- only couple-no children, same sex parents, single parent families, blended
families due to remarriage.
2.7.1 Influence of Parenting styles on Self

Since parents are so important in the growth of children, psychologists have
placed considerable research efforts in investigating the quality of parent-child
relationships and parenting styles. Parenting styles refers to the practices that
parents adopt in relating to their children and its effect on children. The most
influential work in this field is of Diana Baumrind (1971) which led to the
identification of four parenting styles.Maccoby And Martin (1983) argued that
these four parenting styles are based on two dimensions of parental behaviour –
responsiveness (warmth) and demandingness (control). These four parenting styles
are: Permissive, Authoritarian, Authoritative, Uninvolved.
Fig. 2.3: Types of Parenting style
(i) The Permissive Parent is low on demandingness and high on responsiveness.

They have low expectations of conduct and achievement from their children.
They have an attitude of “Do what you want”. They are lenient and rarely
discipline their child. However, they emphasize on relatedness. They provide
loving support for and encourage free expression in their children.
(ii) The Uninvolved Parent is low in both demandingness and responsiveness.
They may have multiple tasks to attend to alongwith parenting. Thus, they
may pay little attention to their children and do not invest emotionally much
in bringing children up. In short, they “don’t care much”. They do not protect,
discipline and set limit for their children. Alongside they also do not have
much emotional attachment for them. They do not express much love for
them.
(iii) The Authoritative Parent is high on demandingness and high on
responsiveness. They have high expectations for conduct and achievement
40 for their children. They set clear rules and norms to follow. However, they
discuss matters of discipline, explain the reasons for the rules and negotiate Self and Identity
Development
and compromise if the need be. Also, they are warm and tuned into their
children’s needs and desires. They show care and flexibility.
(iv) The Authoritarian Parent is high on demandingness and low on
responsiveness. They impose their rules and norms and expect obedience
from children. Children are not involved in discussions and negotiations about
matters that affect them. These parents response to children’s questions to
authority by “Because I say so”. Such parents are not attuned to their children’s
emotions and feelings. They are punitive in their punishments.
Baumarind describes Authoritative parenting as the “just right” style of parenting.
Children in such households are more likely to grow up with a sense of
independence and responsibility, reinforcing their beliefs that they can eventually
take care of themselves successfully. It promotes self regulation, appropriate
assertiveness, critical thinking skills and self confidence.
The Authoritarian parenting impedes development of empathy and self
assuredness amongst siblings. Such children tend to be conforming, passive and
dependent. Since they feel emotionally controlled by their parents, they are less
self assured, less creative and less socially adept than other adolescents.
Children of permissive parents are more likely to be experiment with both positive
and negative behaviours. As they do not fear repercussions, they tend to be less
responsible and get easily drawn into negative social behaviours. They are higher
in self confidence and lower in academic achievement. They are also more likely
to show greater aggression and hyperactivity as compared to other children.
Baumrind (1991) found that children whose parents have an uninvolved parenting
style have the worst outcomes on a number of behavioral and psychological
measures. These children demonstrate high rates of problem behaviors and drug
use Moreover children of neglectful parents tend to rank low in terms of cognitive
and emotional empathy development which is considered to be of significant
importance with regard to positive social development.
The common parenting practice in Asian cultures like India fits into authoritative
parenting. However, responsiveness and demandingness shown by Indian parents
do not fit into the acceptable meanings of these dimensions found in the western
culture. For example, parents in Indian culture rarely praise their children and do
not show open love and affection towards them. But they are responsible for the
well being of their children, support them financially and emotionally and continue
to remain involved with the matters of their lives well into adulthood. Also,
Indian parents do not engage much in debate and discussion but expect compliance
from their children. However, this compliance is demanded keeping the child’s
interest in mind. Also, social change is affecting parenting too and now Indian
parents are allowing greater freedom and flexibility to the children to decide
their own course of action, while remaining as guides.

Fill in the Blanks.
1. ____________ parents are likely to have the stance “I don’t care” towards
their children.
41
Psychology and Self
2. Authoritarian parents are ________ on demandingness and __________
on warmth.
3. Authoritative parents are _________ on warmth and __________on
demandingness.
4. ______________parents are likely to have “Do what you want” stance
towards their children.
5. Indian parents usually have boundaries and rules for their children but they
are also involved with them. They are high on _______________ parenting
style.
2.8 LET US SUM UP

Self and identity are constituted by sociocultural forces. The behavioural norms,
child rearing practices, cultural values related to social categories such as gender,
class, caste etc. shape self and identity. People of a culture help in reinforcing
these cultural norms and meanings. But people can also resist and change these
values and practices. Thus, self and culture mutually shape each other. Different
cultures emphasize different kinds of self construals – independent and
interdependent selves; private, public and collective selves. However, in each
culture there are possibilities of expressing all of these selves, depending on
situations and contexts. One of the most important gateway context that mediates
between socio-cultural factors and individual is the family. The way parents relate
with their children (parenting styles) impact the development of their selves.
2.9 KEY WORDS

Self : is the centre of self awareness and agency. It includes
both I (knower) and Me (known)
Identity : is the stable and consistent sense of self.
Individualism : is a cultural ideology emphasizing (i) independent
concept of self, (ii) greater importance of personal over
group goals, (iii) attitudes, beliefs and values as basis
of social behaviour, (iv) rationality in evaluating and
choosing social relationships.
Collectivism : is a cultural ideology emphasizing (i) interdependent
concept of self, (ii) compatibility of personal and group
goals, (iii) norms as the basis of social behaviour, (iv)
relationality in social relationships.
Independent self : is a self that is unique, private and autonomous. It seeks
to assert and express the internal attributes (needs, traits,
talents, beliefs and values) in social situations.
Interdependent self : is a self that sees itself as part of social relationships
and recognizes that one’s behaviour is contingent on
what the actors perceives to be the thoughts, feelings
and actions of others in the relationship.
42
Intersectionality : is a framework that describes how different identities Self and Identity
Development
of a person combine to create different modes of
discrimination and privilege.
Parenting Style : sare the various patterns shown by parents in their
attempts to socialize their children.
Demandingness : refers to the demands placed by the parents on children
to behave in certain ways, the way parents supervise
and discipline the children and confront the child when
it disobeys.
Warmth : refers to the extent parents are attuned to, supportive of
and acquiesce to their children.
2.10 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. The private self includes cognitions about traits, states or behaviours of oneself
(e.g., “I am kind”, “I enjoy reading books”), whereas the public self includes
cognitions about the self coming from generalized others (e.g., “People usually
perceive me as introvert”).
2. Independent and Interdependent self construals.
3. Socialization is a life long process of social interaction through which people
acquire the behaviors and beliefs of the culture they live in.
a-Restraint, b-Low on uncertainty avoidance, c-High power distance, d-Short
term orientation, e-Cultural complexity, f-Collectivism, g-Horizontal, h-High on
masculinity, i-Tight cultures
1. Uninvolved, 2. high, low, 3. high, high, 4. Permissive, 5. Authoritative

1. What is self? Discuss its various types.
2. Discuss the various dimensions of culture.
3. How does culture and self constitute each other?
4. How socio-structural factors influence development of identity?
5. How does the nature of achievement orientation differ between the
individualistic and collectivist cultures of the world?
6. Why is pride and guilt experienced as shared emotions in collectivist cultures?
7. “Individualism and Collectivism are mutually exclusive categories”. Do you
agree?
43
Psychology and Self 8. Describe the effect of parenting styles on psychological functioning of
children.
REFLECTIVE EXERCISE:
1. Think of two examples of changes in social and cultural life of Indians since
Independence.
2. How do you think having particular kinds of exposure and education (cultural
capital) as well as knowing certain types of people (social capital) help us in
life?
3. What kind of gender based division of roles and responsibilities do you see in
your environment?
4. Are you aware of your caste standing? How does it shape your self
understanding?
5. Think of the important identities that you have. Which one’s are socially
powerful and which one’s are socially weak?
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Costa P. T., Jr., Terracciano A., McCrae R. R. (2001). Gender differences in
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Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Self and Identity
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Mead, G.H. (1934). Mind, Self, and Society from the Standpoint of a Social
Behaviorist. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
Mishra, R. C. (1994). Individualist and collectivist orientations across generations.
In U. Kim, H. C. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi, S. C. Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.),
Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and application (pp. 225–238).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Neisser, U. (1988). Five kinds of self-knowledge. Philosophical Psychology, 1(1),
35–59.
Roland, A. (1988). In search of self in India and Japan: Toward a crosscultural
psychology Princeton, N J: Princeton University Press
Shweder, R. A., & Bourne, E. J. (1984). Does the concept of the person vary
cross-culturally? In R. A. Shweder & R. A. LeVine (Eds.), Culture theory: Essays
on mind, self, and emotion (pp. 158-199). Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press
Sinha, D., & Tripathi, R. C. (1994). Individualism in a collectivist culture: A case
of coexistence of opposites. In U. Kim, H. C. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi, S. C.
Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and
application (pp. 123–136). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Sinha, J.B.P., Sinha, T., Verma, J. and Sinha, R. (2001) Collectivism
Coexisting with Individualism: An Indian Scenario. Asian Journal of Social
Psychology, 4, 133-145.
Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., & Phillips, L. T. (2014). Social class culture
cycles: How three gateway contexts shape selves and fuel inequality. Annual
Review of Psychology, 65, 611–634.
Triandis, H. C. (1989). The self and social behavior in differing cultural
contexts. Psychological Review, 96(3), 506–520.
Triandis, H. C. (1994). Major cultural syndromes and emotion. In S. Kitayama &
H. R. Markus (Eds.), Emotion and culture: Empirical studies of mutual
influence (pp. 285–308). American Psychological Association.
Triandis, H. C. (1996). The psychological measurement of cultural
syndromes. American Psychologist, 51(4), 407–415.
Triandis, H.C. (1995). Individualism and Collectivism. Boulder: Westview Press 45
Psychology and Self Verma, J., & Triandis, H. C. (1998). The measurement of collectivism in India.
Paper presented at the meeting of the International Association of Cross Cultural
Psychology, Bellingham, WA, August.
2.13 FURTHER LEARNING RESOURCES

Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (2010). Cultures and selves: A cycle of mutual
constitution. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), 420–430.
Triandis, H. C. (1989). The self and social behavior in differing cultural
contexts. Psychological Review, 96(3), 506–520.
46
Self and Identity
UNIT 3 COMPONENTS OF SELF* Development
Structure

3.2 Introduction
3.3 The Proprium
3.4 Self Concept
3.4.1 Characteristics of Self Concept
3.5 Self Esteem
3.5.1 Characteristics of Self Esteem
3.5.2 Importance of Self Esteem
3.5.3 Dark Side of Self Esteem
3.6 Self Efficacy
3.7 Let Us Sum Up
3.8 Key Words
3.9 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
3.11 References

 Explain self concept and describe its characteristics;
 Describe the concept of self esteem;
 Understand the meaning of self efficacy;
 Differentiate between self concept, self esteem and self efficacy.
3.2 INTRODUCTION
Kabir is an engineering student. He is an ambitious young man. His family believes
in his capabilities and supports his ambitions. People in his wider circle view
him as a smart person and a go-getter. He loves to exercise and keep his body fit.
He says “My body is my biggest asset”. He often talks of missing his city and his
school friends because now he is in a hostel in another city. Now, he is making
this new city his home.
Saina is a banker. She really likes to travel and make friends. She calls herself –
a globe trotter. All her friends find her lively and enthusiastic. She has a dream
*
Dr. Parul Bansal, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women,
University of Delhi, Delhi 47
Psychology and Self that one day she will own a farmland in the hills and she will open a small
restaurant there.
We all have ideas about our personality traits, our intelligence levels, likes and
dislikes, opinions and talents, social roles. Collectively these ideas constitute the
“me’. William James (1890), a famous psychologist, discussed the “me” which
he called the empirical self.
In its widest possible sense … a man’s Me [empirical self] is the sum total of all
that he CAN call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes,
and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation
and works, his lands and horses, and yacht, and bank account. (p. 44)
He categorized the empirical self in three parts: the material self, the social self
and the spiritual self.
The material self refers to all tangible objects, places and people that are called
as “mine” or “my”. It includes both the bodily self and extracorporeal (beyond
the body) self which can be referred to as extended self (Rosenberg, 1979).
Speaking of bodily self, a person refers to ‘my legs’, ‘my head’, as entities
constituting who he/she is. Rahul saw his body as ‘his biggest asset’. But self is
not limited to one’s body. It also includes one’s pets, one’s house, one’s favourite
tourist destination, one’s chair, one’s children etc. Material self refers to the
psychological ownership of these tangible entities. These are regarded as ‘my’ or
‘mine’. They are constitutive of self because one is emotionally invested in these
entities. For example, Rahul misses his old friends and city. When one’s house is
praised by others, one feels good. When one’s favourite chair is sold off, one
feels sad. “Not only the people but the places and things I know enlarge my Self
in a sort of metaphoric way”, James wrote (p. 308). Interestingly, people show
enhanced liking for the letters that make up the initials of their names (Greenwald
& Banaji, 1995).
The social self is the self known by others. William James said “”A man has as
many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him and carry an image
of him in their mind” (1892/1985, p. 46)”. The others are significant to the
constitution of self. We often know ourselves as others know us. Our self-image
(i.e., how I see myself to be) is influenced by how we think others perceive us.
So, we may think of ourselves as intelligent if our teachers and family think of us
like that. We see ourselves as reflected in the words and eyes of significant others.
Rahul was viewed as smart and Saina as lively by others. We also are different
selves in different relationships – obedient in front of parents, carefree in front of
friends, caring with children. Sometimes, these different selves in different
situations and relationship cause confusion. For example, students often feel
flustered when they see their teachers outside the classroom, such as in a mall or
in a movie theatre. They are not used to seeing their teachers acting informally or
dressed casually. The multiple social selves raise an important question. Is there
a core, stable self that is common to all situations, relationships and roles? Opinion
is divided on this. While some theorists say that there is no true, real or genuine
self apart from the social roles (Gergen, 1982), others maintain that there is a
common thread of self that runs through various social roles (Lifton, 1993).
The spiritual self refers to the psychological self and comprises of our self
48 perceived thoughts, beliefs, values, needs, motives, feelings, interests and traits.
People think of themselves as reserved or outgoing, people oriented or task Components of Self
oriented, as considerate or inconsiderate etc. Both Rahul and Saina believed
themselves to be a ‘certain’ kind of person.
3.3 THE PROPRIUM

Psychologist Gordon Allport (1955) refers to the self as Proprium. Proprium
relates to personal states that are experienced as “peculiarly mine”. It is the ‘self’
as known by oneself, something that is experienced as important and central to
oneself. Most of our behavior are according to our qualities and reflect who we
are and who we want to be. It indicates expressing our own unique ‘self’. This
Allport calls as ‘propriate functioning’.
The proprium is not innate but develops over time. There are seven aspects in the
development of the proprium. The first three aspects make an appearance in the
first three years of life. The next two start appearing between the ages of three
and six. The last two aspects develop between six and twelve years of age.
1. A sense of bodily self – Quite early on, the child begins to recognize that it
is an object in a world of objects. The first distinction between me and not
me occurs in the realm of body. A baby begins to understand that its hand is
separate from its caregiver. It also becomes aware of bodily sensations of
hunger, thirst, defecation coming from within.
2. Self identity – With language, the child proceeds further to recognize oneself
as a distinct and constant frame of reference. One’s name becomes an
anchorage of one’s identity. When asked – ‘Who is Saira?’, the child points
to oneself. Its clothes, bed, toys and other possessions consolidates its sense
of identity.
3. Self esteem or pride – As the child becomes more capable of walking,
running, holding and dropping objects, talking, it begins to experience pride
in one’s accomplishments. The child becomes more explorative and likes to
master and control one’s environment. Success in being able to express oneself
verbally, pushing a block through the right slot, piecing a puzzle together
gives child a sense of worth and achievement.
4. Self extension – The sense of self extends to include objects which are not a
part of one’s bodily self. This refers to a sense of possessiveness about ‘my
mumma-papa’, ‘my teddy bear’, ‘my tricycle’. These are guarded against
any loss or takeover by other people. It is around this time that children are
taught that ‘sharing is caring’ because they are jealously protective of their
objects – both living and non living.
5. Self image – This is dependent on how a child views itself in the eyes of
others. The child receives many messages about it being ‘good’ or ‘bad’,
‘worthy’ or ‘unworthy’ etc. This impacts the way the child thinks and feels
about itself.
6. Rational Coping – This is the time when the child develops the self awareness
that it can cope with its problems through reason and thought. The child is
developing moral and cognitive abilities to find rational solutions to daily
life dilemmas. 49
Psychology and Self 7. Propriate striving – It is a striving towards long range goals, a purposeful
life. As the child enters adolescence, future becomes important. Propriate
striving makes a beginning with the child entering adolescence and takes the
form of intentional planning of one’s life goals and deriving a sense of meaning
from defining and achieving life’s objectives.
1. Who gave the concept of empirical self? What is the meaning of empirical
self?
2. What is the material self?
3. Which aspects of self develop in the first three years, then between 3-6
years and finally between 6-12 years?
3.4 SELF CONCEPT

We have learnt that self has an ‘I’ that thinks and ‘me’ which is the content of
those thoughts. An important part of the ‘me’ is the self concept – the idea about
who one is, was and will become. In terms of who one is, self concept refers to a
person’s thoughts, feelings and experiences about the self in a specific behavioural
domain such as one’s body weight, one academic performance, one’s gender role
etc. In terms of who one will become, self concept includes ideas about possible
selves. These possible selves are personalized, detailed and specific conception
of self that one expects, fears, wishes and ought to be in future, such as: ‘I will be
able to take care of my parents’, ‘I shall not live for long’.
Self concept is the self knowledge we have about ourselves in various aspects
such as physical characteristics (“I have a broad nose”; “I am taller than average
Indian woman”), social roles (“I am a student”; “I am an Indian citizen”),
personality traits (“I am naughty”; “I go along with other people’s opinions”),
interest and skill (“I am a music lover”; “I cannot make round chapatis”) etc.
Thus, self concept is multi-dimensional. One way of capturing the multi-
dimensionality of self concept is to see it as composed of:
 Physical Self concept – It includes the image of one’s body, appearance, its
attractiveness, e.g., How do I look? Am I attractive? Which part of the body
am I most happy with? Which part of the body I am not happy with?
 Psychological Self concept – It includes one’s personality traits, abilities,
weaknesses, level of adjustment, e.g., Am I smart, rude, anxious, honest,
outgoing, good in chess, art, or pathetic in sports? Can I take care of myself?
 Attitudinal Self concept–It includes one’s values, beliefs, convictions, ideals,
philosophy of life, e.g., Am I a cautious spender or a spend thrift? Do I like a
life full of excitement and change or safe, secure life? Do I support inter
caste marriages or marriages within caste?
3.4.1 Characteristics of Self concept

Let us see the following characteristics of self concept:
1. It is social and learnt
50
Self concepts are formed on the basis of a person’s interactions with the Components of Self
environment. They reflect understandings of self made both by the self and others.
How do we know that we are shy, good at chess, anxious, or anything else?
There are many explanations for this. The Self Perception theory (Bem, 1967)
suggests that we form self concept by observing our own behaviour. If we make
strong efforts to be on time for meetings and classes, the inference we can make
is –we are punctual. Just as we infer other people’s values, motivations and traits
on the basis of their behaviour, in the same way, we do so by observing our own
behaviour. The Social Comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) states that we know
ourselves on the basis of our comparisons with others. We know that we are
good at chess when we compare ourselves with many other chess players and
find ourselves better at the game. Thus, spontaneous comparisons of one’s physical
appearance, traits, abilities and attitudes with similar others feed into our
understanding of ourselves.
How we interpret social comparisons influence our self concept. Comparing
oneself with people who suffered from Covid 19 can lead us to make two
interpretations – ‘Thank God! I didn’t get it’ or ‘I too may get it very soon as
everyone is getting infected’. Upward social comparison (i.e., comparing oneself
to better offs) can make one feel worse, but it also helps one improve. Downward
social comparison (i.e., comparing oneself to worse offs) can make one feel better.
Role played by others and socio-cultural norms in shaping self concept are also
very important. Other people’s perceptions and judgments about ourselves are
significant in the way we perceive ourselves. If others think that we have a good
sense of humour, this attribute is likely to become a part of self. Socio-cultural
norms such as the cultural emphasis on ‘thinness’ has led to a large number of
normal weight woman having a self concept of being “fat”.
2. It is organized
A self concept consists of diverse perceptions related to different aspects of self
such as physical, psychological and attitudinal. As a schema, i.e., a broad mental
representation, it organizes self relevant information in a hierarchical manner
(Markus and Wurf, 1987). The most generalized information such as “I am a
good student” is placed at the top. Below it we have categories of more specific
information such as –”I attend classes regularly”, “As far as possible, I submit
good quality work”, “Teachers like my performance and behaviour”. The lowest
level of hierarchy is occupied by specific examples of such statements.
3. It can have discrepant aspects
While, self concepts are organized and lend a sense of unity and coherence to our
sense of ourselves; they can also be discrepant and diverge from each other.
Psychologist Tory Higgins (1987) explains this in his self discrepancy theory. He
says that we all have three selves: the actual self, the ideal self and the ought self.
The actual self is who we are currently. It includes our good and bad qualities
and what we think others see us as. The ideal self is who we would like to be in
the future. It is based on who we truly want to become; it is based on our dreams,
aspirations and goals. So, if one can have any job, what will it be? How would
one like to look like? What kind of lifestyle will I like to lead? The ought self is
what we think others expect of us. It is organized on the basis of what we think 51
Psychology and Self our parents want us to be like, our friends expect from us, our social world hopes
from us and what the cultural norms tell us as appropriate or inappropriate. The
ought self is dependent upon the reference group which is important for us at a
given moment of time. We have different notions of what our parents expect
from us as compared to what our first date or romantic partner expects from us.
Often, these selves do not align with each other. This mismatch between our
selves is called self discrepancy. Higgins (1987) found that when actual and ideal
self don’t overlap with each other to a large extent, i.e., when we don’t live upto
most of our ideals, we will experience “dejection related emotions” such as
disappointment, shame, embarrassment and depression. When actual and ought
self don’t overlap with each other to a large extent, i.e., when we mostly don’t
live upto other people’s expectations, we will experience “agitation related
emotions” such as guilt, fear, self contempt and anxiety.
Psychologist Carl Rogers (1959) points out that a state of incongruence exists
when the actual self differs widely from the ideal self, i.e., the self that a person
would most like to possess. Due to people’s evaluations, a person may deny his
or her experiences of actual self. For example, people may deny their anger because
it is frowned upon by other people in one’s environment. It may lead the person
to aspire to become peaceful and calm while suppressing one’s genuine feelings.
This creates defenses and distortions which affects a person’s relationship with
other people too. Here the person needs to accept their anger and express it in
appropriate manner instead of using defenses.
4. Positive and Negative Self concepts
Self concept can be positive and negative. Positive self concept is a result of self
perception of oneself as good, competent, worthy. On the other hand, disapproving,
criticizing, blaming and doubting oneself creates negative self concept. There is
a two way interaction between self concept and social environment. People with
positive self concept express these feelings of self competency in social situations.
Others respond positively to the confident, capable self of the person, further
authenticating the self concept. This promotes individual’s sense of social security
and adjustment. The negative views of self affect the way a person behaves and
get corresponding reactions from others, further validating negative thoughts
about self.
5. It provides self direction
Not only are self concepts shaped by life experiences and cultural norms but they
also give meaning, form and direction to behaviours. We act in accordance with
the understanding we have of ourselves. Believing the self as kind will make us
help others in problems. If we consider ourselves as determined, then we will
overcome challenges of our lives.
6. It is stable yet dynamic
Self concepts are stable. They don’t change from moment to moment and day to
day. We have a relatively consistent sense of who we are. However, it doesn’t
mean that they do not change with experience. Many experiences of our lives
make us learn new things about ourselves, expand our self definitions and give
up the self concepts that no longer help us. Sometimes, reading a book, watching
52
a film, conversing with a friend makes us aware of a part of us we were not aware Components of Self
of earlier.
Fill in the blanks.
(i) Self concept refers to the _________ part of self.
(ii) Self concept has physical, psychological and attitudinal aspects. It is
____________ in nature.
(iii) The ______________________ theory suggests that we form self concept
by observing our own behaviour.
(iv) The __________________ theory suggests we know ourselves on the
basis of our comparisons with others.
(v) Self concept is ____________ organized.
(vi) The ____________ self, _____________ self and _______________ self
may not always overlap with each other.
(vii) Self concept is __________________ yet dynamic.
3.5 SELF ESTEEM

If self concept is our perception of our traits, beliefs and opinions, then self esteem
is our evaluation of self concept as good, bad, worthwhile, useless etc. It is our
evaluation of our own worth based on assessment of our self concept. One may
have low academic self esteem based on poor feedback on one’s performance in
school. One may have high social self esteem based on one’s popularity amongst
school friends. In addition to evaluations about abilities and attributes, self esteem
is also defined in terms of one’s feelings of affection for oneself. People who like
themselves have high self esteem. People who have ambivalent or mildly positive
feelings about themselves have low self esteem. Self hate can result in various
kinds of mental illnesses. Thus, in a broader sense, self esteem is the extent of
liking that one has for one self and the kind of evaluation one makes of one’s
abilities and attributes. It is not necessary that positive evaluation of self will be
accompanied by self liking. A person who considers oneself as attractive or popular
may not feel good about herself/himself. Similarly, a person who is poor in
academics may still like oneself.
ACTIVITY
Instructions: Below is a list of statements dealing with your general feelings
about yourself. Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each
statement.
1. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
2. At times I think I am no good at all.
3. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
4. I am able to do things as well as most other people.
53
Psychology and Self
5. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.
6. I certainly feel useless at times.
7. I feel that I’m a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others.
8. I wish I could have more respect for myself.
9. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.
10. I take a positive attitude toward myself.
Scoring: For items 1,3, 4, 7,10, give “Strongly Disagree” 1 point, “Disagree”
2 points, “Agree” 3 points, and “Strongly Agree” 4 points. For items 2, 5, 6,
8, 9 give “Strongly Disagree” 4 point, “Disagree” 3 points, “Agree” 2 points,
and “Strongly Agree” 1 points. Sum scores for all ten items. Higher scores
indicate higher self-esteem.
3.5.1 Characteristics of Self esteem

1. Self esteem has social origins
If we think others value us, we have a positive self esteem. Psychologist Carl
Rogers (1979) states that humans have a strong need to be positively valued by
others, referred to as need for positive regard. Based on how others regard us, we
come to value ourselves. For example, if a teacher thinks I’m smart, then I’m
smart. With time and repeated experiences with others, positive or negative self
regard develops and becomes a property of the self, somewhat independent of
others’ evaluations. Important people in the life of a child set conditions of worth
for him/her. These are expectations of certain valued behaviours, abilities and
traits from the child. These expectations do not allow the child to experience
unconditional positive regard from the significant others in his/her environment.
The child learns that he/she is worthy only when it behaves and feels in a certain
way and not in other way. This results in the child denying aspects of self or
having negative feelings about one’s abilities and behaviours.
2. Self esteem is both person centred as well as collective
Self esteem is tied not only toone’s feelings of liking towards one’s self and
evaluation of one’s attributes, but also with feelings towards and evaluations of
the social groups which we are a part of – family, school/college, friend circle,
place of work, neighbourhood, nationality, caste/racial status etc. How proud
does one feel about one’s college? How advanced one thinks one’s nation is?
How well known is one’s organization of work? Do we feel good about these
groups? Psychologist Tajfel (1981) defined it as collective self esteem. Collective
self esteem is “that aspect of an individual’s self-concept which derives from his
knowledge of his membership in a social group (or groups) together with the
value and emotional significance attached to that membership” (Tajfel, 1981; p.
255). We often take pride in the achievements of our siblings and members of
extended family. We talk about “My sister” or “My distant cousin” to increase
our self esteem in front of others. Hard core sports fan proudly wear their team
colours following a victory. Clashes between fans of opposing soccer teams can
also be understood as injuries to the collective self esteem of fans who feel
54 personally involved in the victories and loses of the teams they support.
3. Self esteem involves feelings of belonging and mastery Components of Self
Feelings of belonging is based on the feeling that one is loved and valued
unconditionally. It is not that one is considered worthy for any particular attribute
or reason. This is what Carl Rogers described as unconditional positive regard.
Mastery involves the feeling that one is having an impact on the world – not on
a large scale always, but in one’s daily life also. It’s a feeling of being immersed
in an activity like writing an academic paper, cooking, or cleaning one’s room. It
is also the feeling of overcoming some obstacle in one’s life.
4. Evaluation in several domains of life determines self esteem
Self concepts are multi dimensional and so is self esteem. People evaluate
themselves on several characteristics, such as – attractive, intelligent, popular,
kind, artistic, energetic etc. All these characteristics are not equally important to
a person. One may think being energetic or artistic is important; while another
person thinks that being attractive and intelligent is very important. In such a
case, positive self evaluation in unimportant domains and negative self evaluation
in important domains is likely to result in overall low self esteem. Psychologist
William James (1890) noted that outcomes in domains of high personal importance
have a greater effect on self esteem than do outcomes in domains of low personal
importance. Rosenberg (1979) also states that qualities valued by the person impact
their self esteem more significantly. What characteristics are important depend
on both the individual’s own judgment as well as what society dictates as
important.
5. Self esteem is affected by actual-ideal self discrepancy
The self discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1985) describes the three types of selves –
actual, ideal and ought self. The more our current self image matches our ideal
self image, the higher the self esteem.
3.5.2 Importance of self esteem

There is enough evidence to suggest that low self esteem is directly or indirectly
linked with many adverse social consequences such as:
- Educational underachievement
- Crime and delinquency
- Risky sexual behaviour (contracting sexually transmitted diseases,
teenage pregnancy)
- Alcohol or drug abuse
- Eating disorders
- Depression and suicide
One important area where high or low self esteem makes a difference is how
people deal with negative evaluative feedback. When we fail in an exam, are not
invited for a party by our friends, criticized by boss and colleagues orunder-
appreciated by parents, we feel hurt and sad. But the emotional, cognitive and
behavioural responses to failure vary for people with high and low self esteem.
Usually, people with low self esteem take failures more personally; it humiliates 55
Psychology and Self them and makes them feel ashamed of themselves (Brown and Dutton, 1995).
Their self esteem is more dependent on the “latest outcome”. They feel they are
as good as the last win or success they have. They are more likely to attribute
their failure to stable and general factors such as lack of intelligence rather than
to a specific ability which was required for that task. Following failure, people
with low self esteem disparage their overall worth. Baumeister et.al (1989) found
that when confronted with failures, people with low self esteem are more likely
to become self protective, choosing to avoid situations that might lead to negative
self relevant feedback.
Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, and Vohs (2003) showed that high self esteem
increases initiative. It gives people confidence in their views and abilities to
follow their own directions. They are more willing to reject other people’s views,
initiate interpersonal interactions, take risks and experiment. The researchers
also found that high self esteem feels good. One of the reasons why people with
high self esteem can bounce back is because they have a stock of good feelings
about themselves which they can use to help themselves during difficult times.
Epstein (1980) notes that these stock of good feelings come from secure
attachment with loving parent who is proud of the child’s successes and tolerant
of its failures. They feel disappointed and saddened by specific experiences but
they recover as do children secure in their mother’s love. People with low self
esteem, on the other hand, carry a disapproving parent who is harshly critical of
child’s failures and feel happy for a short time on the child’s success. Such feelings
are then exhibited in the later life when failures are confronted.
3.5.3 Dark side of self esteem

High self esteem can be secure or defensive. A person with secure self esteem do
not need reassurance from others to maintain their self view. People with
defensively high self esteem are actually harbouring a low self esteem (inferiority
complex). They often feel threatened by anyone who questions their self esteem.
They need repeated praise and are often boastful and arrogant.
Is high self esteem always beneficial? While it feels good to have a high self
esteem but it is dangerous to feel that one is “better”, “superior”, “more deserving”
or “purer” than other people. Elevated self esteem bordering on narcissism can
be counterproductive and result in prejudicial and discriminatory behaviours.
Bullies in schools have high self esteem and they feel the best when they bully
their victims. At the level of global politics, we have seen how Nazi unfounded
beliefs of they being the ‘superior race’ led to barbaric acts of violence and brutality
against the Jews.
Unhealthy narcissism is a personality disorder too. The concept of narcissism is
derived from the Greek myth of Narcissus. According to the myth, Narcissus
was a hunter. Once out on hunting, he saw his own reflection in the waters of a
pond and fell in love with it. He eventually dies because he got so self absorbed
in his own reflection that he couldn’t do anything except stare at the reflection of
himself with absolute admiration. The moral of the story is that healthy self esteem
involves humility. Humility goes a long way in building a resilient and socially
productive self.
56
Components of Self
Mark the statements as true or false.
(i) Self concept and self esteem mean the same.
(ii) Self esteem refers both to the feelings and evaluations we have our selves.
(iii) Conditions of worth helps in the development of high self esteem.
(iv) Self esteem pertains to personal abilities and characteristics only.
(v) Both a sense of mastery and belonging gives us a feeling of high self
esteem.
(vi) Positive outcomes in domains of low personal importance have a greater
impact on self esteem as compared to positive outcomes in domains of
high personal importance.
(vii) People with high self esteem do not take failures personally.
(viii)A high self esteem is always a good thing to have.
3.6 SELF EFFICACY

Related to self concept and self esteem is self efficacy. Psychologist Albert Bandura
(1977) defined it is as the expectation that one can, by personal efforts, master a
situation and bring about a desired outcome. Self efficacy affects initiation and
persistence of coping behaviour. When people fear and doubt their ability to deal
with a situation, they avoid such situations. They enter situations where they
have high self efficacy expectations. It also affects how much effort people expend
in their choice of activities as well as how long will they sustain efforts in dealing
with challenging situations.
Self efficacy can be improved using four strategies:
 Performance accomplishment: Actual and repeated experiences of
mastery and success in varied situations create strong efficacy
expectations. This is especially true when one can attribute success to
one’s own efforts rather than to other factors.
 Vicarious observation: Observing other people succeed with persistent
effort also provide support for learning ‘what works’. By role modelling
the skills and behaviours of successful models, self efficacy improves.
 Verbal Persuasion: Encouraging people to believe that he or she can
cope effectively is also a good way of improving efficacy beliefs.
 Managing emotional arousal: When confronted with a challenging task,
one experiences emotional and physiological arousal. Feelings like sweaty
palms, butterflies in the stomach, anxiety, tension in muscles are
commonly experienced. Helping people to recognize these signs of
arousal and using them productively to enhance performance is key to
success. So rather than feeling bogged down by anxiety, one can think of
it as energizing oneself to deal with uncertainty.
Bandura suggested that efficacy beliefs must be understood alongwith outcome
expectations. Outcome expectations refer to a person’s beliefs that a given
57
Psychology and Self behaviour will lead to a particular outcome. A person may believe that an action
such as continuous practice of a task will lead to an outcome. This is outcome
expectation. But there may be doubt whether he/she can produce such an action.
This is self efficacy belief. When the environment doesn’t reward effective
performance such as in case of partial attitudes of teachers in a class or
discriminatory employment policies, it reduces outcome expectations. In such
situations, people with high efficacy will show activism and protest in order to
change the attitudes and policies acting as barriers. On the other hand, people
with low self efficacy will show apathy, resignation and anxiety in similar
circumstances. In another scenario, where the environment rewards effective
behaviour, people with high self efficacy will be self assured and active, while
those with low self efficacy are likely to be depressed.
3.7 LET US SUM UP

Self has two components: I (knower) and Me (known). Self concept is a part of
‘me’ which refers to the idea about who one is, was and will become. It is the self
knowledge we have about ourselves in various aspects such as physical
characteristics, social roles, personality traits, interest and skills, e.g., “I am a
music lover”; “I cannot make round chapatis”, etc. Thus, self concept is multi-
dimensional. It develops through experience. It is based on our perceptions of
our behaviour as well as our comparisons with others on self relevant criteria.
Social influences also contribute significantly to the process. It can be positive or
negative, organized hierarchically, is stable yet dynamic. Our self concept is based
on understandings of how congruent or incongruent our actual, ideal and ought
selves are. Self esteem refers to our feelings and evaluations about the way we
know ourselves. Like self concept, self esteem too is shaped by our experiences
with the social world. It can be high or low. It is multi-dimensional. It refers to
our sense of worthiness based on ourown evaluations of ourselves as well as that
of the groups we are a part of. Both feelings of belongingness and mastery
influence self esteem. It has consequences for our behaviour. Excessively high
self esteem bordering on narcissism is counterproductive personally and socially.
A related concept is self efficacy. It is defined as the expectation that one can, by
personal efforts, master a situation and bring about a desired outcome.
3.8 KEY WORDS

Proprium : is a term coined by Allport which refers to the ‘self’ as known
by oneself, something that is experienced as important and
central to oneself. Itrepresents the positive, creative, growth-
seeking, and forward-moving quality of human nature.
Self Concept : is how one perceives one’s abilities, traits and behaviour as a
result of one’s self perception, social comparison and responses
of others.
Self Esteem : is the subjective sense of personal value and worth held by a
person.
Self efficacy : refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute
behaviors necessary to produce specific performance
58 attainments.
Components of Self
3.9 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
1. William James gave the concept of empirical self. It refers tothe sum total of
all that the person can call his. It thus includes the material self, the social
self and the spiritual self.
2. The material self refers to all tangible objects, places and people that are
called as “mine” or “my”. It includes both the bodily self and extracorporeal
(beyond the body) self which can be referred to as extended self.
3. Aspects of self that develop in the first three years are – a sense of bodily
self, self identity, and self esteem; between 3-6 years – self extension, and
self image; between 6-12 years – rational coping, and propriate striving.
(i) me, (ii) multidimensional, (iii) self perception, (iv) social comparison, (v)
hierarchically, (vi) actual, ideal, ought, (vii) stable.
(i) False, (ii) True, (iii) False, (iv) False, (v) True, (vi) False, (vii) True, (viii)
False

1. Distinguish between self concept and self esteem.
2. Describe the various features of self concept.
3. Explain how self concept and esteem are multi-dimensional.
4. Reflect on the social nature of self concept and self esteem.
5. When does high self esteem become counter productive?
6. Observe people around you including your family members, friends, teachers,
and analyze their behaviour, verbal and non-verbal expressions indicating
high or low self esteem.
3.11 REFERENCES
Allport, G. W. (1955). Becoming: Basic considerations for a psychology of
personality. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Baumeister, R. F., Campbell, J. D., Krueger, J. I., & Vohs, K. D. (2003). Does
high self-esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness, or
healthier lifestyles? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(1), 1–44.
Baumeister, R. F., Tice, D. M., & Hutton, D. G. (1989). Self-presentational
motivations and personality differences in self-esteem. Journal of Personality,
57, 547-579. 59
Psychology and Self Bem, D. J. (1967). Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive
dissonance phenomena. Psychological review, 74(3), 183.
Brown, J. D., & Dutton, K. A. (1995b). The thrill of victory, the complexity of
defeat: Self esteem and people’s emotional reactions to success and failure.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 712-722.
Epstein, S. (1980). The self-concept: A review and the proposal of an integrated
theory of personality. In E. Staub (Ed.), Personality: Basic issues and current
research (pp. 82- 132) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Festinger, L. (1954) A Theory of Social Comparison Processes. Human
Relations, 7, 117-140.
Gergen, K. J. (1982). From self to science: What is there to know? In J. Suls
(Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. 1, pp. 129-149). Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum
Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes,
selfesteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102, 4-27.
Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and
affect. Psychological Review, 94(3), 319–340.
James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology (Vol. 1). New York: Holt.
Lifton, R. J. (1999). The protean self: Human resilience in an age of
fragmentation. University of Chicago Press.
Markus, H., & Wurf, E. (1987). The Dynamic Self-Concept: A Social
Psychological Perspective. Annual Review in Psychology, 38, 299-237.
Rogers, C. (1959). A Theory of Therapy, Personality, and Interpersonal
Relationships as Developed in the Client-Centered Framework. Reprinted In H.
Kirschenbaum, & V. Henderson (Eds.), The Carl Rogers Reader. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Rogers, C. (1979). The Foundations of the Person Centered Approach. Education,
100 (2), 98-107
Rosenberg, M. (1979). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories: Studies in social
psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.12 SUGGESTED READINGS

Kirsh, S.J., Duffy, K.G., & Atwater, E. (2015). Psychology for living: Adjustment,
growth and behaviour today, 11th ed. Pearson.
Rogers, C. R. (1995). On becoming a person (2nd ed.). Houghton Mifflin.
60

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PSYCHOLOGY FOR LIVING

School of Social Sciences

BLOCK 1 PSYCHOLOGY AND SELF 9

BLOCK II SELF AND ITS CORRELATES 61

BLOCK III SELF, MALADJUSTMENT AND 111

BLOCK IV SELF AND POSITIVE GROWTH 173

BLOCK V ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN POSITIVE 223

1.1 Learning Objectives

1.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1.3 NATURE, SCOPE AND BRANCHES OF

1.3.1 Psychology in India

Some Quick Points

Self Assessment Questions 1

1.4 MIND-BODY RELATIONSHIP

1.5 BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL OF HEALTH

Fig. 1.1: Biopsychosocial Model of Health

Self Assessment Questions 2

1.6 LET US SUM UP

1.7 KEY WORDS

Answers to Self Assessment Questions 1

1.9 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1.11 FURTHER LEARNING RESOURCES

2.1 Learning Objectives

2.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

2.3 CONCEPTS OF SELF AND IDENTITY

2.3.1 Varieties of Self

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

3. Even when I strongly disagree with group members, I avoid an argument.

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

4. I have respect for the authority figures with whom I interact.

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

5. I do my own thing, regardless of what others think.

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

6. I respect people who are modest about themselves.

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

7. I feel it is important for me to act as an independent person.

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

9. I'd rather say "No" directly, than risk being misunderstood.

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

10. Having a lively imagination is important to me.

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Don’t agree or Agree Agree Strongly

2.4 CULTURE, SOCIETY AND SOCIALIZATION

2.5 CULTURE AND SELF: MUTUAL

a. Delayed gratification of needs i. High power distance

2.5.2 Cultural patterns and Self

2.5.3 Influence of Culture on Psychological Functioning

2.5.4 Sociocultural changes and Transformations of self

Figure 2.2: Reversible Figure and Ground

2.6 SOCIO-STRUCTURAL INFLUENCES ON

(b) Gender and Identity

2.6.1 Intersectionality of Identities

2.7 FAMILIAL INFLUENCE ON SELF AND

2.7.1 Influence of Parenting styles on Self

Fig. 2.3: Types of Parenting style

(i) The Permissive Parent is low on demandingness and high on responsiveness.

Self Assessment Questions 3

2.8 LET US SUM UP

2.9 KEY WORDS

2.10 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS