CHAPTER 3

William James (1890) - earliest psychologists to study the self.

Two aspects:
a. The “I”
- the thinking, acting and feeling self
b. The “me”
-The physical characteristics as well as the psychological capabilities that
make you who you are.
Self is not fixed in one time frame

Carl Rogers (1959)

“I” who acts and decides.

“Me” what you think or feel about yourself

Other concepts similar to self are IDENTITY and SELF-CONCEPT

IDENTITY composed personal characteristics, social roles and

responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who one is.

SELF-CONCEPT basically comes to your mind when you are asked

about who you are.

SELF-IDENTITY, and SELF-CONCEPT are not fixed in one time frame.

SIGMUND FREUD
Saw the self, its mental processes, and one’s behavior as the results of the
interaction between the Id, Ego, and the Superego.

ID “Internal Desires”
- achieving pleasure and satisfaction. Lives in the Unconscious mind.
EGO “Reality”
- gives sense of identity. Rational part.
SUPEREGO “Conscience”
- concerned with morals, precepts, standards, and ideas. Critical faculty of the
personality.

Freud believed that personality develops through a series of childhood stages.

If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully, the result is a healthy

personality.

If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixation can occur.
A fixation is a persistent focus.

1. Oral Stage
- the infant’s primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting
and sucking reflex is especially important.
- weaning process-the child must become less dependent upon caretakers. If fixation
occurs at this stage.

2. Anal Stage
- toilet training-the child has to learn to control his or her bodily needs. Developing this
control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence.

3. Phallic Stage
- primary focus of the interests is on the genitals. At this age, children also begin to
discover the differences between males and females.

Affection of the parent of the opposite sex:

Oedipus complex wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father.
Electra complex describes the girl wants her father and tries to keep out her mother.

4. Latency Stage
- the point of interests is suppressed. Children enter into school and become more
concerned with peer relationships, hobbies and other interests. Development of
social and communication skills and self-confidence.

5. Genital Stage
- the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage
begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Social Interaction and group affiliation therefore, are vital factors in creating our
self.

Awareness of Self – Concepts- is having a clear perception of your personality.

Carver and Schier (1981) identified two types of self that we can be aware of:
a. The Private Self – internal standards and private thoughts and feelings
b. The Public Self – geared towards having a good presentation of yourself to others.
Self – Awareness can also be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and
our next course of action.

Deindividuation – “the loss of individual self – awareness and individual

accountability in groups”

“SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY”

- we learn about ourselves, the appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social
statues by comparing aspects of ourselves with other people.
● Downward social comparison - comparing ourselves with others. As the
name implies, we create a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with
those who are worse off than us.
● Upward social comparison (Also with groups) which is comparing
ourselves with those who are better off than us. While it can be a form of
motivation for some.

“Self – Evaluation Maintenance Theory”

- we can feel threatened if someone outperforms us specially if that person is closed to
us. We distance ourselves from that person or redefine relationship ex.

However, in the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people become

NARCISSISTIC.

NARCISSISM- is a trait characterized by overly high self-esteem.

Self-esteem- is used to describe a person's overall subjective sense of personal

worth or value.

● Self-Complexity and Self-Concept Differentiation

Self-concept – is a knowledge representation that contains knowledge about us,

including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities.

Self-complexity – the extent to which individuals have many different and relatively
independent ways of thinking about themselves.

● Why is it important to know yourself?

Happiness - you will be happier when you can express who you are.
Less inner conflict – when your outside actions are in accordance with your inside
feelings and values.
Better decision-making – when you know yourself, you are able to make better choices
about everything.
Self-control – when you know yourself, you understand what motivates you to resist bad
habits and develop good ones.
Resistance to social pressure – you are less likely to say “yes” when you want to say “no”.
Tolerance and understanding of others – your awareness of your foibles and
struggles can help you empathize with others.
Vitality and pressure – being who you truly are helps you feel more alive and
makes your experiences of life richer, larger, and more exciting.

Etymologic -philosophical analysis of the notion of “self” in Western philosophy.

The notion of “self” has a derivative connotation from, perhaps, the most famous
thought of the French scientist and philosopher René Descartes

The Concept of Self in Eastern Philosophy

In Eastern philosophy, the most well-known conceptions of the self are:

Confucianism. related to the social aspect of human existence. The self is conceived as a
“relational self” – “one which is intensely aware of the social presence of other human
beings”.

Taoism. accentuates the falsehood of language, way before the philosophy of

linguistic analysis and the deconstruction of Jacques Derrida.

The so-called “Tao”, the essence of life and the universe, or the Way, cannot be described
by human language.

Buddhism. Nonetheless, Buddhism argues that the self as such does not exist, that it is an
illusion.

Buddha advised that one should abstain from dealing with metaphysics,
because this activity is futile.

Hinduism. self through a monistic philosophy (metaphysics). They views the essence of
human life as consisting in suffering and asserts that this is caused by having a fallacious
conception of the self.