UNDERSTANDING

THE SELF

MRIP-RPM
SELF
“a unified being, essentially connected to
consciousness, awareness, and agency”
The consciousness of the existence of the
self has been almost automatic or reflexive.
Thus, people are mostly unaware of it in their
daily lives
CHAPTER 1:
SOCIAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
AND OTHER LIFE
FACTORS (S.E.L.F)
NATURE VS NURTURE
Nature can be compared to a pre-wiring
and is influenced by genetic inheritance and
other biological factors. Nurture is generally is
the influence of external factors after
conception such as life experiences and
learning on individual
IDENTITY VS SELF
IDENTITY are qualities, beliefs, etc. that
make a particular person of group of different
from others
It is the distinguishing character or
personality of an individual
SELF refers to the person that someone
normally or truly is, or the entire person of an
individual
IDENTITY VS SELF
Identity distinguishes or compares one from
another while self refers to the total
characteristics or qualities of a person both
known and unknown to others (but known to
oneself)
 Identities are the traits ad the characteristics,
social relations, roles, and social group
membership that define who one is. Identities can
be focused on the past – what used to be true of
one, the present – what is true of one now, or the
future – the person one expects or wishes to
become, the person one feels obligated to try to
become, or the person one fears one may
become; together, identities make up one’s self
concept variously described as what comes to
mind when one thinks of oneself.

Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith (2012)

DIMENSIONALITIES OF THE
SELF/IDENTITY
IDENTITY
Highlighted by a dominant trait which makes
him/her distinguishable from others

Example: Si ano… yung mataba.. Yung

maliit… yung ano ngay… yung kasama
teacher sa UTS… yung babae
I. SOCIAL FACTOR
 an agent of one’s being
The influences of significant people in one’s
life.
Examples: family, neighbor, peer group,
church, and school44
Social factors are strong foundations of one’s
being
PERSONALITY
The individual differences in characteristic
patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
It is said that no two people would have an
identical personality, and that every individual is
unique. One may share commonalities with other
people (e.g., manners, appearance, bearing, etc.)
II. ENVIRONMENTAL
FACTOR
 A less obvious factor that simultaneously affects
one's being or character
It broadly includes the physical and communal
elements present in everyday surroundings, and
are invariably dealt with by individuals in a specific
geographic region or area.
This factor does not only cover the physical
properties of the surroundings but also the larger
society or community
III. HEREDITARY
FACTOR
 Heredity – a biological process by which
certain traits and characteristics are passed
from one generation to another.
This unlike the 2 other factors are non
negotiable factor, if one does have a choice
whether or not to adopt the influence of social
groups and to change or improve one’s
environment, heredity is relatively FIXED and
PERMANENT.
IV. PERSON-VOLITION
FACTOR
The inclination of a person to form and
construct a specific identity that will set him
apart from others.
It emanates from within the mentality of an
individual, brought about by aggregated social-
life experiences
THE
PHILOSOPHICAL
VIEW OF SELF
SOCRATES: KNOW THYSELF
A classical Greek philosopher who is highly
He considered man from the point of view of his
inner life.
Know Thyself tells each man to bring his inner
self to light
A bad man is not virtuous through ignorance, the
man who does not follow the good fails to do so
because he does not recognize it
SOCRATES: KNOW THYSELF
The core of his ethics is the concept of virtue
and knowledge
Virtue – the deepest and the most basic
propensity of man, knowing one's virtue is
necessary and can be learned
Virtue is innate in the mind, and self-knowledge
is the source of all wisdom, an individual may
gain possession of oneself and be one’s own
master through knowledge
PLATO: THE IDEAL SELF,
THE PERFECT SELF
Man was omniscient or all knowing before he
came to be born into this world. With his
separation from the paradise of truth and
knowledge and his long exile on earth,
remembering through contemplation and doing
good, he can regain his former perfection
PLATO: THE IDEAL SELF,
THE PERFECT SELF
Man in his life should imitate his former self;
more specifically, he should live a life of virtue in
which true human perfection exists.
Happiness, which is the fruit of virtue, is
attained by the constant imitation of the divine
exemplar of virtue, embodied in man’s former
perfect self
RENE DESCARTES: “ I THINK
THEREFORE I AM”
Father of Modern Philosophy
Self is a thinking distinct from the body.
His most famous principle “Cogito,ergo sum”
means although the mind and the body are
independent from each other and serve their own
function, man must use his own mind and thinking
abilities to investigate, analyze, experiment, and
develop himself.
JOHN LOCKE:
PERSONAL IDENTITY
Personal identity is a matter of
psychological continuity( memory), and not
on the substance of either the soul or the
body.

Tabula Rasa
ST. AUGUSTINE: LOVE AND JUSTICE
AS THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE
INDIVIDUAL SELF
A virtuous life is dynamism of love
It is a constant following of and turning towards
love while a wicked life is a constant turning away
from love

Loving God – loving one’s fellow, Loving

fellowmen – denotes never doing any harm to
others
SIGMUND FREUD:
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF
SELF
 Freud asserts that human psyche (personality)
is structured into 3 parts

1. ID ( Pleasure Principle)
2. EGO (Reality Principle)
3. SUPEREGO (Morality Principle)
FREUDIAN STAGES OF
PSYCHOSEXUAL
DEVELOPMENT
 Freud proposed that the development of
individuals can be divided into distinct
stages characterized by sexual drives.
As a person grows, certain areas become
sources of pleasure, frustration or both.
FREUDIAN STAGES OF
PSYCHOSEXUAL
DEVELOPMENT
1) ORAL – birth – end of the first year
2) ANAL (expulsive phase) – 2 – 3 years old
3) PHALLIC – 3 – 6 years old
4) LATENCY – 10-12 years old
5) GENITAL – After Puberty
ERIK ERIKSON:
PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF
SELF-DEVELOPMENT
Concerned with how psychological and social
factors affect the development of individuals

He formulated 8 major stages of development,

each posing a unique developmental task and
simultaneously presenting the individual with a
crisis he/she must overcome
ERIK ERIKSON:
PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF
SELF-DEVELOPMENT
Crisis is not threat or a catastrophe but a
turning point, a crucial period of increased
vulnerability and heightened potential
ERIK ERIKSON:
PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES
OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT
ERIK ERIKSON:
PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES
OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT
CARL ROGERS
 In order for self to grow, we need an environment that
provides us with genuineness, acceptance, and
empathy
 Unconditioned Positive Regard is where we are
accepted and loved regardless of our weaknesses. It
tells us that we need not to pretend to be loved and
accepted.
 Conditional Positive Regard - is where positive
regard, praise, and approval exists when we behave in
certain ways
CARL ROGERS
Congruence – the feeling, experience
and behavior in ways which we are
consistent with our self-image and which
can reflect to our ideal self
CHAPTER 2:
SOCIOLOGY
SELF
 Self in common sense is defined by the
following characteristics
a) Separate – distinct from other selves, unique
and has own identity
b) Independent and Self-contained – self itself
can exist. Its distinctness allows its self-
contained thoughts, characteristics and volition
SELF
c) Consistent -
d) Unitary – centers on experiences and thoughts that
run through a certain person. Its like a chief in
command post in an individual where all processes,
emotions, and thoughts converge.
e) Private – sorts out information, feelings, and
emotions, and thought processes within the self.
- Self is private it lives within its own world
 Self for social constructivists argue that self
should not be seen as a static entity that
stays constant through and through. Self
itself should be seen as a constant struggle
with external reality and is malleable in
dealing with society. Self is always in
participation with social life and its identity is
subjected to influences here and there.
THE SELF AND CULTURE
Marcel Mauss – A French Anthropologist
 Every self has 2 faces MOI and PERSONNE
Moi – the basic identity of the person. It is the sense of
who he is, his body, and his basic identity
Personne – these are based on social concepts of what it
means to be who he is. It has to do with what it means to
live in a particular institution, a particular family, a
particular religion, nationality and how to behave given
the expectations and influences from others.
MEAD AND VYGOTSKY
 Human person develops through language acquisition
and by forming an internal dialogue in our head
 The cognitive development of the child is always a
mimicry of how it is done in the social world, in the
external reality he is in
MEAD AND VYGOTSKY
 They treat human mind as made, constituted
through language as experienced in the
external world and as en encountered
dialogue with others
 The child internalizes, norms, values,
practices and social beliefs and more
through exposure to dialogs that will be
eventually part of his individual world
MEAD’S 3 STAGES OF
DEVELOPMENT OF SELF
1. The Preparatory Stage ( birth – 2 years)
 Children mimic those around them, this is
why parents of young children are
discouraged to use foul language around
them.
 Children who usually mimic the actions and
words of their parents do not know the
implications of such.
MEAD’S 3 STAGES OF
DEVELOPMENT OF SELF
2. The Play Stage ( 2 – 6 years old)
 Children start to play pretend and do not
adhere to the rules in an organized games
like patintero or basketball.
 Playing games with children of this age is far
easier to just with “any rules” they come up
with during the course of the game
MEAD’S 3 STAGES OF
DEVELOPMENT OF SELF
3. The Game Stage ( 7 years old onwards)
 Children begin to understand and adhere to
the rules of the games.
 They can begin to formalize games because
they begin to understand other people’s
perspectives and the perspective of the
generalized other
THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF: OUR SENSE
OF SELF IS INFLUENCED BY OTHERS’
VIEWS OF US
 The concept of the looking-glass self states that part of
how we see ourselves comes from our perception of
how others see us
 Charles Horton Cooley – stated that the degree of
personal insecurity you display in social situations is
determined by what you believe other people think of
you.
 A person’s self grows out of a person’s social
interactions with others. The views of ourselves come
from the contemplation of personal qualities and
impressions of how others perceive us
THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF: OUR SENSE
OF SELF IS INFLUENCED BY OTHERS’
VIEWS OF US
 The influence of other people’s appraisals of
ourselves on our self-concept may be so strong that
we end up internalizing them
 The labeling bias occurs when we are labeled and
others’ views and expectations of us are affected by
that labeling.
 Self-labeling may occur which happens we adapt
others’ labels explicitly into our self-concept. The
effects of this labeling on our self-esteem appear to
depend very much on the nature of the labels
SELF AND FAMILIES
 As a child is born there is a givenness and
disposition inherited from his parents’ genes
 The kind of family that we are born in, the
resources available to us, and the kind of
development that we will have will certainly
affect us
 Human persons learn the ways of living and
selfhood within the family
 Babies internalize ways and styles that they
observe from their family
 “Without a family, biologically and
socially, a person may not even
survive or become a human person”
GENDER AND THE SELF
Sex

Gender
- Something that is subjected to change,
alteration, and development
- There is struggle to fight for your right to have
a free will in choosing your gender
GENDER AND THE SELF
 In social sciences point of view of the self it its
important to give on the leeway to find, express
and live his identity

 Our gender partly illustrates or determines how

we see ourselves in the world. It is the society’s
expectations to its members
GENDER AND THE SELF
 Nancy Chodrow – a feminist proposed that
mothers take the role of taking care of the kids
and family because this is what they
witnessed growing up. Girls tend to imitate the
same and reproduce the same action.

 Role playing with dolls, kitchenware toys

GENDER AND THE SELF
Men on the other hand are expected to
hold their emotions, be tough and
fatalistic. They are taught to have a hard
physical labor and do everything to
provide for their family
Circumcision plays a big role into boy’s
manhood