LESSON 3:

THE MATERIAL/ECONOMIC SELF

 Wants. Synonymous with luxuries. People
buy them for reasons that do not warrant
necessity.
 Needs. These are important for survival.
Food, clothing, and shelter are basic needs
so people purchase them out of necessity.
In the process of acquiring material goods, people generally
consider 2 things:
 Utility. Concerned with how things serve a practical
purpose.

 Significance. Concerned with the meaning assigned to

the object. It is also concerned with how objects become
powerful symbols or icons of habit and ritual which can
be quite separate from their primary function.
 THE ECONOMIC SELF
• Economic Self-Reliance (ESR) represents a different way
of thinking about the processes and outcomes of economic
development. ESR is an individual’s ability to garner and
hold economic resources in excess of their basic needs.
• The concept of ESR recognizes that there are individuals
who are unable (due to physical and mental disability) to
garner any surplus resources, individuals with surpluses
large and secure enough to meet any conceivable need, and
individuals at every point in between.

Material Self– your
concept of self as
reflected in a total of all
the tangible things you
own. It includes our
bodies and those tangible
possessions that give us
identity.
Possessions– are the
extended versions of
oneself.
MATERIAL SELF PRESENTATION
AND IDENTITY
Studied by JOHN HESKETT.
He explains that there is a subconscious
effect of design in everyday life. It is one
of the basic characteristics of what it is to
be human and an essential determinant
of the quality of life.

ROLAND BARTHES
• He was one of the first to observe
the relationships that people have
with objects, and in particular looked
at objects as signs or things which
could be decoded to convey
message beyond their practical
value.
• Barthes argued that all things, verbal
or visual, could be viewed as a kind of
speech or language. This means that
objects can speak, and even the most
ordinary object might be eloquent.
• Semiology – the study of
objects as signs.
• Sign – anything that conveys
meaning.
Semiotics – from the Greek
work semeion, the study of signs
and texts. Examine how words,
photographs, images and
objects can work as a language
to communicate a range of
ideas, associations and feelings.
 ELEMENTS OF SIGNS
1. Signifier-refers to physical form
ex. diamond ring
2. Signified – a mental concept it refers to.
ex. engaged to be married
 Theory of the Meaning of material possessions
(Dittmar, 1992, 2004)
1. Instrumental functions- relate to the functional properties of a
product.
ex. A person bought a pick-up style of car for family and business
functions

2. Social symbolic functions – signify personal qualities, social

standing, group affiliation and gender role.
ex. Buying an iPhone instead of other mobile phones.
4. Self-expressive functions – reflect a persons unique qualities,
values or attitudes.
Ex. There are people who may represent themselves by collecting
objects with a Hello Kitty brand. Others, their fave color through the
color of their accessories.

3.Categorical functions – the extent to which material possessions

may be used to communicate group membership and status.
Ex. Buying or renting a
condo unit in Makati City
 ECONOMIC SELF PRESENTATION
AND IDENTITY
ECONOMICS – the study of
things that a person is
lacking, of how people make
use of the things that they
have, and of making the right
decisions;
A condition of the person,
group or region as regards to
material prosperity.
ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY- the ability of
individuals and families to consistently meet their
needs.
ECONOMIC CONSCIOUSNESS – the result of
socialization and professionalization of the
subject that acquires a particular significance in
human affairs. Includes social perception,
attitudes, relationships and opinions of persons
or groups about different economic objects.
Economic Identity - a psychological phenomenon that results from
social categorization.
SYMBOLIC MOTIVES
1. Status – the extent to 2. Affective Motives – a concept used
which people believe they in Environmental Psychology. Affect
can derive a sense of serves as a motivator of pro-
recognition or environmental behavior. People’s
achievement from owning emotional affinity with nature can be
and using the right kind of better predictor of pro-environmental
product, can be an behavior than cognitive beliefs about
important motivator of environmental
behavior. issues.
 THE ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN SHAPING BEHAVIORS
1. Advertising Media
Media is such a part of our daily lives that we don’t even realize it’s
influencing us in big and small ways. Through advertising, products
become irresistible-perfumes, not just a sweet smelling liquid but an
essence of allure making it user irresistible.
2. Entertainment Media
Media can shape who we are as both public and private people. A
celebrity wears a certain clothes ensemble or mentions the designer,
manufacturer or store where it was purchased and almost immediately,
sales for that item skyrocket. Celebrity endorses bring instant brand
awareness and receptivity even if indirect.
3. Online Media
The internet has added significantly to media’s ability to influence
consumers. There are thousands of websites from both commercial and
private sources hawking everything for sale under the sun.
4. Caveat Emptor
Websites such as Angie’s List and the Urban Shopper exist to guide
consumers in their choice of products and services, locally and nationally.
The consumerism adage “Buyer Beware” is needed more than ever as
the power of all media to influence
and inform and impact consumerism continues grows exponentially, and
more people have access to that media, with fewer controls in place to
scrutinize what’s respectable or true.
 THE ROLE OF CONSUMER CULTURE ON THE SENSE OF
SELF AND IDENTITY
Consumer Identity – the pattern of consumption that describes the
consumer.
Consumerism – the pre- occupation with and an inclination
towards the buying of consumer goods.

Identity itself can be seen as commodity which can be for sale. Self is
not an internal sense of authenticity but rather a predictable condition of
social success and survival. We have to create and ‘sell’ an identity to a
variety of social markets with the purpose of having intimate
relationships, jobs and social standing.
 LESSON 4:
THE SPIRITUAL SELF
• The Philippines is a Catholic country but our notion about
supernatural and mythical beings is a very prominent part of our
lives most especially those Filipinos who come from the country
side.
• Belief in supernatural beings is one of the basic characteristics of
religion.
• A supernatural being is a being that is better and more powerful
than any creature in the natural world.
• The supernatural or above natural includes all that cannot be
explained by the law of nature, including things with characteristics
of or relating to ghosts, gods or other types of spiritual and other
non-material beings, or to things beyond nature.
• The term animism is one of the oldest beliefs which is
taken from the Latin word anima, meaning breath or soul.
• Animism is a belief of our ancestors that everything in
nature have their own spirit or divinity, that souls are quasi-
physical and can exist outside the body (in dreams and in
vision).
• Animate or inanimate creatures have ‘souls’ or ‘life force’.
Our ancestors believed in the spirit beings in the
environment, deceased ancestral souls, and to forces in
nature (wind, moon, stars) which are invoked for help.
The soul or spirit of a person is called:
1. Kaluluwa by the Tagalogs
2. Gimokud by the Bagobos
3. Makatu by the Bukidnons
4. Dungan by the Ilonggos when the person is alive; “Kalag”
or “detached”, when he is dead
5. Ikararuwa by the Ibanags
6. Kadkadduwa by the Ilokanos when the soul is in the
physical body; and karuruwa when it departs.
• The soul according to the indigenous Filipino is known as
kaluluwa, ikararuwa or kararuwa. It is taken from the root
word duwa which means two. The soul has two parts – one is
the physical part, where it is connected to the body and its
life, and the other spiritual, where it exists on its own.
• For Ibanags, the soul is the principle of life in man. Body is
the matter; soul is the form. As long as body and soul are one
unit, man is alive. Death is the separation of the soul from the
body.
• Rituals are formalized behaviors that is set aside from everyday life
that allow communities to explore their religious and/or cultural worlds
through action.
• Ceremony - movements or gestures expressing feelings or beliefs
beyond the limitations of speech. It can be elaborate or simple, formal
or intimate.
• Religion refers to beliefs and behaviors related to supernatural beings
and powers. Religion is narrower than a worldview, or cosmology,
which is a culture’s understanding of how the universe came into being,
why it is the way it is, and the place of people in it
• All cultures have religion, spirituality, a worldview and magic.
Adherents are people who practice a religion.
William James defined personal religion as the “feelings, acts, and
experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend
themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider divine.”

Religion, magic and spirituality serve a number of functions, including

reducing stress, reinforcing group norms and identity, providing sanctions
for individual behavior and providing a sense of the world.
Magic is an attempt to make supernatural forces act in specific ways,
while religion is seen as an attempt to please these forces. There are two
principles of magic:
1. Imitative magic – based on the assumption that like produces like. It is
the principle that underlies the use of a voodoo doll.
2. Contagious magic – based on the principle that things that were
once in contact can still influence each other after separation. Some
magic rituals require hair or nail clippings of a person they wish to affect.
• Magic is also the power of apparently influencing the course of
events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.
THE WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY
Anthropologists nearly always use the term “witch” to identify people
suspected of practicing, either deliberately or unconsciously, socially
prohibited forms of magic, among other characteristics, and who are
thus often scapegoats, members of persecuted groups, and reflective of
social tensions, for example within close-knit communities or kin groups.
A wizard is one who is thought to be acquainted with the secrets of
the non-material or unseen world while a necromancer is one who
is ‘seeking unto the dead.’ It is a term that includes all forms of
attempt to make contact with departed spirits.

Barang is a Filipino term for a sorcerer. It is used to describe

malignant sorcery or familiar spirits (usually a swarm of destructive
insects, specifically carnivorous beetles). In the Philippines, it means
small invisible insects residing in bamboos that enter the body
through open space causing the intestine, stomach, lungs and liver
to swell during high tides and shrink during low tides.
Mambabarang is a person who practices this specific type of sorcery or
witchcraft. Binarang is the target (usually a person) of the sorcery or
witchcraft.

Kulam is the Tagalog word for ‘voodoo’ or witchcraft. It is one of the most
well-known aspects of Philippine Folklore. The fear of kulam usually has
an effect on how the person conducts himself in the community and on
how people treat each other in community. A mangkukulam is a person
who uses black magic or spells on a victim.

Albulario/mananambal is a Filipino practitioner of traditional medicine.;

he is also a medicine man who is also capable of performing sorcery.
Albulario is a Filipino witchdoctor, folk healer or medicine man.
Spirituality – involves experiencing something beyond oneself
in a transcendent manner and living in a way that benefits others
and society. It could also be related to a search for the sacred.
Spiritual identity – the persistent sense of self that addresses
ultimate questions about the nature, purpose , and meaning of
life. It results in behaviours that are consonant with the
individual’s core values. The definition of a sense of spiritual
identity focuses on the individual’s construction of a relationship
to the sacred and ultimate meaning.
 LOGOTHERAPY

• From the Greek word ‘logos’

(reason or meaning)
• Developed by neurologist and psychiatrist VIKTOR FRANKL
(1950s) and considered the “Third Viennese School of
Psychotherapy” after Freud’s psychoanalysis and Adler’s
Individual Psychology. It is based on an Existential Analysis.
• Rather than power or pleasure, logotherapy is founded on
belief on striving to find a meaning in one’s life (that is the
primary, most powerful motivating and driving force in
humans)
 BASIC PRINCIPLES ON DISCOVERING MEANING IN LIFE

1. Meaning in life. In logotherapy, man should see existence

as experiencing life’s ups and downs. Finding meaning in life
does not mean that people should strive to become perfect.
This principle emphasizes that in spite of the person’s wealth,
status or gender, he should discover meaning in life events
and circumstances. He should realize that sufferings are part
of life which cannot be avoided and that finding meaning is still
possible even in times of great loss and deep sorrow. Life has
meaning under all circumstances even the most miserable
ones.
2. Will to meaning. The meaning that one attaches to
experience is not obvious. Since the meaning varies from
person to person and situation to situation, it is quite
challenging to discover what the experience means to be
fulfilled. The meaning given to one’s life may also vary at any
given moment.
3. Freedom to will. People are given the freedom to make
life choices which includes how they respond to life events.
People can discover meaning through the values that they
attach to things connected with their lives. Values can be
creative, experiential and attitudinal.
 HUMAN SPIRIT AND LOGOTHERAPY
The human spirit is referred to in several of the assumptions of
logotherapy:

1. The term spirit is not “spiritual” or “religious” in Frankl’s view, the spirit

is the will of the human being.

2. The emphasis, is on the search for meaning, which is not necessarily
the search for God or any other supernatural being.
3. Noted the barriers to humanity’s quest for meaning in life. He warns
against affluence, hedonism, materialism in the search for meaning.
 EXISTENTIAL VACUUM
• The psychological condition in which a person doubts,
whether life has any meaning. This new neurosis is
characterized by loss of interest and lack of initiative.
• Thus the individual relies mainly upon actions of others and
neglects the meaning of his own personal life.
• Hence he sees his own life as a meaningless and falls into the
“existential vacuum” feeling inner void.
• Progressive automation causes
increasing alcoholism, juvenile
delinquency and suicide.
 LESSON 5:
THE POLITICAL SELF
Politics - from the Greek work Politika, which is etymologically defined
as ‘affairs of the cities. It is the process of making decisions that
applies to all members of the group.
Types of motives of social influence
1.Normative influence - based on conforming to positive expectations
of others; helps avoid punishment. Peer pressure can also be an
example of this type.

2. Informational influence - based on accepting the

information obtained from others as evidence of reality.
Ex. Survey or facts
 LEADERSHIP
• An important aspect of politics is the capacity to influence and
lead a group of people. Leadership is the process by which
certain group members motivate and guide the group
The human psyche is a political psyche. In everyday life,
people need to adjust not only to themselves but to their
world, the forces in the environment that create pressures,
ideas and interests. This leads to an independent and
interactive nature of one’s psyche.
 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Psychological Needs
David McClelland believed that we have three psychological
needs:

1.Need for power – want others to follow him/her.

2.Need for affiliation – need to please others or you want others
to like you.
3.Need for achievement – need for you to reach your goals and
to be competitive
 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Three Leadership Motivation Patterns
(Chan and Drasgow, 2001)

1.Affective identity motivation – the motivation to lead as a

result of a desire to be in charge and lead others.
2.Noncalculative motivation– those who seek leadership
positions because they will result in personal gain.
3. Social-normative motivation –
the desire to lead out of a sense
of duty or responsibility.
 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Types of Leaders According to Path-Goal Theory

1. Instrumental– leaders who plan and organizes for their

subordinates.
2. Supportive – leaders who show concern to their subordinates.
3. Participative – leaders who allow subordinates to participate in
decision making.
4. Achievement-oriented – sets challenges and rewards
achievement.
Leadership style is a pattern of leadership behaviour which is
repeatedly shown as evident across a variety of situations. It
can be classified as follows:

1.Autocratic leadership – directive, non-participative and

domineering
2.Democratic leadership – participative, communicative and
egalitarian
3.Laissez-faire leadership – ‘hands-off’, with few attempt
made to influence others.
With regard to what leaders and followers offer to one another, the
following are the leaders’ descriptions:

1. Transactional leaders – focus on the proper exchange of resources,

who give followers something in exchange for something the leaders
want.
2. Transformational leaders (charismatic leaders) – focus on aligning
the group or organizational goals with the followers’ need and
aspirations by developing an appealing vision (whereby organizational
needs are placed above self-interest).
3. Laissez-faire leaders – engage in ‘non-leadership,’ that is they avoid
making decisions, hesitate in taking action and are often absent when
needed (Hewstone, et.al., 2015)
• Open Space Technology – developed/advocate by Harrison
Owen set about to create a process that captured a freedom,
spontaneity and the high energy of the coffee breaks and their
effective outcomes. OST runs on passion and responsibility.
• An effective approach to purpose-driven leadership which initially
has no formal agenda but eventually leads to a specific or
important purpose or task.
PRINCIPLES
1. Whoever comes are the right people.
2. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
3. Whenever it starts is the right time.
4. When it is over, it’s over.
Filipino values are, for the most part, centered at maintaining
social economy, motivated primarily by the desire to be
accepted within a group. The main sanction against diverging
from these values are the concepts of “Hiya”, roughly translated
as ‘a sense of shame’, and “Amor propio” or ‘self-esteem’.
Social approval, acceptance by a group, and belonging to a
group are major concerns. Caring about what others will think,
say or do, are strong influences on social behavior among
Filipinos.
 Traits and Values
1. Pakikipagkapwa-tao is the shared sense of identity and consciousness
of the ‘other’. It is treating others with respect and dignity as an equal not
someone that is beneath the individual.
Pakikipagkapwa or Kapwa – the core value of the Filipino

kapwa

Hindi
Ibang - tao Ibang - tao
2. Family orientation is regarded as important among Filipino
families. When Filipino parents are old and cannot take care of
themselves, they are very rarely brought by their children to
institutions like “Homes for the Aged.” They are expected to care
for their old family members. When Filipinos turned 18 years old,
they are not expected to move out of their parents’ home unlike in
Western countries.
3. Joy and humor in spite of experienced adversities and
struggles in calamities, flood and in whatever situation, Filipinos
are optimistic and always positive. Laughter and humor could be a
coping technique just like a child who trips and laughs at himself to
hide his embarrassment.
4. Flexibility, adaptability and creativity sometimes referred to as
‘diskarte’. They are aversive to standard rules or procedures because
they follow a natural clock or organic sense of time by doing things in
the time they feel is right.
5. Resilient in different life challenges, Filipinos seemingly have
learned to become resilient and acquired a good ability to survive.
6. Hardworking, industrious and resourceful, Filipinos are very
determined and persevering in accomplishing whatever they set their
minds to.
7. Bayanihan, one of the natural traits of the Filipino that can be
observed in Filipino community is the spirit of cooperation which is also
referred to as damayan.
8. Hospitable to the point that they would do anything just to have
something for the visitors.
9. Being onion-skinned or ‘balat sibuyas’ which is described as
easily affected by slight insult. Correcting another person in public
or being corrected in public is not considered acceptable behavior
for Filipinos for it may cause the person to ‘lose face’.

With regards to time management, most Filipinos are not time-

conscious and have poor time management (Filipino time).
Sometimes, planned meetings are extended later, much later or
never.
 RETHINKING FILIPINO VALUES
Hiya is not the same with “shame” or “guilt” but rather it is a sense
of propriety.
Bahala na is not fatalism but it is risk-taking and determination.
Utang na loob is not a debt or a burden; it is gratitude and
solidarity.
Salawikain (proverbs) is a saying that conveys native and
ancestral wisdom, values and philosophy distinct to Filipino
lifestyle. These proverbs serve as a guide for everyday living, a
pointer for reflection on universal truths and human existence.
Expressive Motive – a motive which comes down to wanting to be
in charge of one’s personal behavior and identity.
Some Filipino Proverbs:

• Pag binato ka ng bato, batuhin mo ng tinapay.

(If someone throws a rock at you, throw him bread)
• Hangga’t makitid ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot.
(While the blanket is short, learn how to bend)
• Pag may tiyaga, may nilaga.
(If you persevere, you will reap the fruits of your
labor)
• Kung may tinanim, may aanihin.
(If you plant, you harvest)
• Daig ng maagap ang masipag.
(The early comer is better than the hard worker)
The article on democracy and cultural expression (Francisco, 2015)
highlighted that the Philippines has been ruled in the past by elite
families and capitalist in terms of economics and politics. True
democracy cannot be achieve without a balance in economic and
social structure. The voice of Philippine democracy lies within the
middle class who had been primed by education to value freedom of
thought and expression. They have the desire but also the means-
through education and entrepreneurship-to change the future.

Though many Filipinos go abroad, this exposure to global culture and

its elevation of local aspirations will be a major force in reshaping the
Filipino future.
There is a need for a new cultural revolution that will assert the
ordinary citizen’s rights over power and privilege to better
understand and accept what it means to be a Filipino in this
globalized world.

Democracy is a process rather than a product, the campaign will

initially exist in the mind addressing social and economic
inequalities. This assertion of seeking for democracy will eventually
lead to shape the national identity and bring to the fore what it really
means to be a Filipino.
Lesson 6
Digital citizenship refers to norms of appropriate, responsible
behavior with regard to technology use. Digital citizenship is anchored
on three general principles: respecting oneself and others, educating
oneself and others and protecting oneself and others. serves the
purpose of regulating human behavior in a high technological
and digital world.
According to the article of Medinilla (2016), the Philippines is the
fastest-growing market of smartphones in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) based on the report of a market
research company, International Data Corporation (IDC). Another
report indicated that about 3.5 million smartphones were shipped to
the country during the first quarter of 2016.
What statistics say?
The idea of the digital self developed from the original phenomenon of
the ‘extended self’, pioneered by Russell Belk in 1988. He believed our
possessions are a major contributor to and reflection of our identities.
Nowadays however, it isn’t merely tangible belongings that researchers
consider as part of our extended self. Our digital possessions such as
photos, videos, statuses, texts, and emails are now seen to be
significantly important to shaping our digital self.
The Digital Self is like a mask that we put on to language the
technological world. Physician and Psychoanalyst, Donald Winnicot,
proposed a theory of self that posited there was a ‘true self’ that is the
instinctive core of our personality and must be nurtured and realized.
Then there is the ‘false self’ that is created to protect the true self from
insult and danger.
Countless individuals today explore and navigate the many
aspects of their self-identities. In this technological age, the
digital self has become a frequent visitor on the couch. Some
couples have become divorces over Facebook affairs,
couples that have wound up happily married who met
through Match.com, adolescents who became suicidal due to
cyber-bullying, single moms now with the flexibility to work at
home, and the embarrassing consequences of drexting (aka
drunk texting).
 Why do we have a Digital Self?

The idea of the Digital Self is an interesting and relatively new topic discussed
in consumer behaviour research. Researchers, such as Stone (1996) and
Hemetsburger (2005) claim that the digital web allows us to try out different
personas that differ from our real life identities. 
• To feel a sense of belonging: Some of us want to fit in with the crowd
and upload things that are ‘down with the trend’ - for instance, who
notices the amount of people posting pictures of their food
increasing? It didn’t come from nowhere.
• Bigger sense of freedom: Unlike real life, digital platforms allow us to
express ourselves in any way we want to without anyone there to
physically judge us
• Striving to be our ideal selves: Digital Apps, such as Facetune, that
allow us to improve our appearances on photos (through teeth
whitening, skin smoothing and body shape editing) helps consumers to
express as their ‘ideal’ self online and inevitably feel better about
themselves.
• Digital literacy is defined as the capabilities possessed by individuals
who are living, learning and working in a digital society. In the real
world, authority and status may be expressed by clothing and body
language. In virtual interactions, these markers are stripped.
• The millennial generation is considered digital natives because they
were born in an era of technology.
In the cyberspace People are more willing to speak out and misbehave
without fear of disapproval and punishment from authority figures.
because.. AUTHORITY IS MINIMIZED.

Adolescents who speak out may believe that they come from a position
of authority just like others due to linkages and easy access of
communication.

The behaviour of people tends to be different in virtual spaces when

compared to face-to-face interactions. People feel more relaxed, less
restrained and tend to express themselves more openly. This
phenomenon is known as online disinhibition (Suler, 2004)
Online disinhibition is the lack of restraint one feels when
communicating online in comparison to communicating in-person.
Categories:
Benign Disinhibition. Not all disinhibition is a bad thing. Sometimes
people share very personal things about themselves. It could be a
cathartic experience which gives opportunity to reveal secret emotions,
fears and wishes. They show unusual act of kindness and generosity,
sometimes going out of their way to help others.
2. Toxic Disinhibition. Disinhibition can also be ugly. People have
witnessed rude language, harsh criticism, anger, hatred, even threats
online. Others even go to the dark side of the internet where they can
access pornography, crimes, and other forms of violence.
• Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic
technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment
such as cellphones., computers and tablets as well as
communication tools including social media sites, text messages,
chat and websites. This only applies to minors.
• Cyber Harassment is the use of Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) to harass, control, manipulate or habitually
disparage a adult, business or group without a direct or implied
threat of physical harm. It is the adult form of cyber bullying.
• The term digital identity (DI) refers to anything that describes a
persona an individual presents across all the digital spaces that he
or she is represented in.
Username is also called login name, logon name, sign-in name, sign-on
name which is a unique sequence of characters used to identify a user
and allow access to a computer system, computer network, or online
account.
Consciously or unconsciously, people may feel that the imaginary
characters they “created” exist in a different space, that one’s online
persona along with the online others live in a make-believe dimension,
separate and apart from the demands and responsibilities of the real
world. This pertains to dissociative imagination.
Absent face-to-face cues combined with text communication can alter
self-boundaries. People may feel that their minds have merged with
the mind of the online companion. Reading another person’s
message might be experienced as a voice within one’s head as if that
person’s psychological presence and influence have been assimilated
or introjected into one’s psyche. This refers to solipsistic
introjection – a notion that it’s only in their heads or minds.

Dissociative anonymity also plays a role for online users. As the

word “anonymous” indicates, a person can have no name or at least
not the real name.
 SELF-PRESENTATION STRATEGIES AND IMPRESSION
MANAGEMENT

How do people present

themselves offline? How about
online?
Self-presentation is a range of
strategies that people adopt to
shape what others think of them.
 Types of Self Presentation
1. Self –promotion – trying to show that he/she is competent, effective
or a winner; better and capable than others so they will admire
him/her.
2. Ingratiation – has a desire to be likeable and longing for attention.
They expect affection. Takes an interest in one’s personal lives to
show them that they are friendly. He/she often uses flattery and
favours to make others like them.
3. Exemplification – has an intention to achieve worth from others.
He/she expects others to feel guilty by their actions.
4. Intimidation – tries to appear dangerous or ruthless. He/she expects
others to be afraid of them (instilling fear).
5. Supplication – The person using supplication, would like to appear
helpless handicapped or unfortunate). He/she aims to achieve
nurturance from others. This person would act as if they know less than
others so people will help them out.
Self enhancement refers to the tendency to think of oneself in a
favorable light, whereas impression management refers to a
deliberate attempt to distort one’s responses in order to create a
favourable impression with others.
Personal boundaries are the set of guidelines, rules or limits that a
person creates to identify reasonable, safe and permissible ways for
people to behave towards them and how they respond in case someone
breaks these rules and oversteps the limits.
Asynchronicity. It allows the person to think more carefully
about what he/she would like to say before posting, which
could help when someone has trouble with face-to-face
interactions.

Gender intensification hypothesis states that psychological

and behavioural differences between boys and girls become
greater during early adolescence because of increased
socialization pressure to conform to masculine and feminine
gender roles
 PERSONAL/INDIVIDUAL vs SOCIAL IDENTITY ONLINE
Identity is made up of both personal identity and social identity.
Social identity is usually based on group affiliation. Like in
social media, many people identify themselves as member of a
certain group so that it will be easy for them to communicate
their concerns or issues. But there is a paradigm shift with
regards to identity. In the modern era (enlightenment through
20th century), identity is described as fixed, stable and unitary. In
post-modern period (now)identity is considered as fluid, multiple
and socially constructed. Sherry Turkle pointed out that people
have different roles in different settings.
Researchers have shown that exposure to sexual content is
related to more permissive studies about premarital and
recreational sex (Hewstone, et al., 2015). This may also be
applicable to online devices since many sites are open to the
public through the access of internet. Another form is
sexting, which refers to sending, receiving, or forwarding
sexually explicit messages, photographs or images, primarily
between mobile phones. It may also include the use of a
computer or any digital device
FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE
DEC. 15-18, 2021