CHAPTER 1
memories), the Ego (the realistic part
LESSON 3: THE SELF AS COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCT
 SELF – “is the sense of personal identity
and of who we are as individuals.”
(Jhangiani and Tarry 2014)
 William James (1890) - one of the
earliest psychologists to study and
conceptualized self.
 SELF HAS 2 ASPECTS: “I” is the
thinking, acting, and feeling self. “Me” is
the physical characteristics as well as
psychological capabilities that makes
who you are. (Gleitman, Gross, and
Reisberg 2011; Hogg and Vaughan
2010)
 Carl Rogers’s (1959) theory of
personality also used the terms, “I” as
the one who acts and decides. “Me” is
what you think or feel about yourself as
an object.
 IDENTITY- composed of personal
characteristics, social roles, and
responsibilities, as well as affiliations
that define who one is. (Oyserman,
Elmore, and Smith 2012)
 SELF-CONCEPT- is what basically
comes to your mind when you are asked
about who you are. (Oyserman, Elmore,
and Smith 2012)
 SELF-SCHEMA- an organized system
or collection of knowledge about who we
are. Includes your interests, work,
course, age, name and physical
characteristics.
 SELF AND IDENTITY- are mental
constructs, created and recreated in
memory.
 FRONTAL LOBE OF THE BRAIN is the
specific area associated with the
processes concerning the self.
 Sigmund Freud - most influential
psychologists who saw the self, its
mental processes, and one’s behaviour
as the results of the interaction between
the Id (the primitive and instinctual part
of the mind that contains sexual and
aggressive drives and hidden
that mediates between desires of the Id
and Superego), and the Superego
(operates as a moral conscience).
 George Herbert Mead’s theory of
symbolic interactionism (1934) argued
that self is created and developed
through human interaction.
 Three reasons why self and identity are
social products (Oyserman, Elmore, and
Smith 2012):
1. We do not create ourselves out of
nothing.
2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we
actually need others to affirm and
reinforce who we think we are.
3. What we think is important to us may
also have been influenced by what is
important in our social or historical
context.
 SOCIAL INTERACTION AND GROUP
AFFILIATION - are vital factors in
creating our self-concept especially in
the aspect of providing us with our
social identity or our perception of who
we are based on our membership to
certain groups.
 SELF-AWARENESS – being aware of
our self-concepts
 Two types of self that we can be aware
of (Carver and Scheier 1981):
1. The private self or the internal
standards and private thoughts and
feelings.
2. The public self or your public image
commonly geared toward having good
presentation of yourself to others.
 Self-awareness also presents three
other self-schema:
1. ACTUAL SELF – who you are at the
moment.
2. IDEAL SELF – who you like to be.
3. OUGHT SELF – who you think you
should be.
 Self-awareness can keep you from
doing something dangerous.
 In some instances, it can be too much only for rewarding good behaviour and
that we are concerned about being other achievements and not for the
observed and criticized by others, also purpose of merely trying to make
known as SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. children feel better about themselves.
 DEINVIVIDUATION – the loss of
individual self-awareness and individual
accountability in groups.
 GROUP IDENTITY AND SELF-
AWARENESS also has a great impact
on our self-esteem. It is defined as our
own positive or negative perception or
evaluation of ourselves.
 SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY – we
learn about ourselves, the
appropriateness of our behaviours, as
well as our social status by comparing
aspects of ourselves with other people.
 SELF-EVALUATION MAINTENANCE
THEORY – states that we can feel
threatened when someone out-performs
us, especially when that person is close
to us.
 We actually react in three ways:
1. We distance ourselves from that
person.
2. We may also reconsider the
importance of the aspect or skill in which
you were outperformed.
3. We may also strengthen our resolve
to improve that certain aspect of
ourselves.
 NARCISSISM – a trait characterized by
overly high self-esteem, self-admiration,
self-centeredness.
 ROSENBERG SCALE – example of
tests and measurements for self-
esteem.
 SELF-ESTEEM is very important
concept related to the self, studies have
shown that it only has a correlation, not
causality, to positive outputs and
outlook.
 People with high self-esteem are
commonly described as outgoing,
adventurous, and adaptable in a lot of
situations.
 Programs, activities, and parenting
styles to boost self-esteem should be
LESSON 4: THE SELF IN WESTERN AND
EASTERN THOUGHTS
EASTERN THOUGHTS
CONFUCIANISM – code of ethical conduct, of
how one should properly act according to their
relationship with other people. (Confucius)
 The IDENTITY and SELF-CONCEPT of
the individual are interwoven with the
identity and status of his/her community
or culture, sharing its pride as well as its
failures.
 SELF-CULTIVATION – is seen as the
ultimate purpose of life but the
characteristics of a chun-tzu (a man of
virtue or noble character).
 SUBDUED SELF – the cultivated self in
Confucianism wherein personal needs
are repressed (subdued) for the good of
many.
TAOISM – is living in the way of the Tao or the
universe. (Lao Tzu)
 They adopt a free-flowing, relative,
unitary, as well as paradoxical view of
almost everything.
 Taoism rejects the hierarchy and
strictness brought by Confucianism and
would prefer a simple lifestyle and its
teaching thus aim to describe how to
attain that life.
 Self is part of the universe.
 IDEAL SELF- is selflessness but this is
not forgetting about the self, it is living a
balanced-life with society and nature,
being open and accepting to change,
forgetting about prejudices and
egocentric ideas and thinking about
equality as well as complementarily
among humans as well as other beings.
BUDDHISM – a path of practice and
spiritual development leading to insight into
the true nature of reality. (Siddhartha
Gautama / Buddha)
 The self is seen as an illusion, born out
of ignorance, of trying to hold and
control things, or human-centered
needs; thus, the self is also the source
of all these sufferings.
 Our quest is to forget about the self,
forget the cravings of the self, break the
attachments you have with the world,
and to renounce the self which is the
cause of all the suffering and in doing
so, attain the state of Nirvana.
 Confucianism and Taoism still
situate the self within a bigger
context. As for Buddhism, the self,
with all its connections and selfish
ideas, is taken not just out of the
center of the picture, but from the
whole picture entirely.
WESTERN THOUGHTS
 Western perspective does not discount
the role of environment and society in
the formation of the self but the focus is
always looking toward the self.
 Western thought looks at the world in
dualities wherein you are distinct from
the other person.
EASTERN VS. WESTERN
 Western culture is what we call an
INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURE since
their focus is on the person.
 Asian culture is called a
COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURE as the
group and social relations that is given
more importance than individual needs
and wants.
 Americans, talk more about their
personal attributes when describing
themselves.
 Asians, talk about their social roles or
the social situations that invoked certain
 traits that they deem positive for their
selves.

 Americans would highlight their personal

achievements.

 Asians, would rather keep a low profile

as promoting the self can be seen as
boastfulness that disrupts social
relationships.

 Westerners may seem to have loose

associations or even loyalty to their
groups. COMPETITION is the name of
the game and they are more likely
straightforward and forceful in their
communication as well as decision-
making.

 Eastern or oriental persons look after

the welfare of their groups and values
cooperation.

 Eastern perspective sees the other

person as part of yourself as well as the
things you may create, a drama in which
everyone is interconnected with their
specific roles (Wolter 2012).

 Westerners also emphasize more on the

value of equality even if they see that
the individual can rise above everything
else. Because everyone is on their own
competition.

 Asians, put more emphasis on hierarchy

as the culture wants to keep things in
harmony and order.
CHAPTER 2
LESSON 1: PHYSICAL SELF
 There are many things that
make anorexia seductive, and many of
them coalesce into the outlines of the
underfed body. A recent reader’s
question made me wonder: is there
really beauty in thinness? What do we
feel when we see a thin person? Are
thin people really more attractive?
 Anorexia nervosa is a psychological
disorder wherein the person keeps
his/her weight as low as possible
because of faulty thinking that he/she is
fat and would want to be thin as
possible.
 Bulimia is another eating disorder. It
characterized by a cycle of overeating
then purging what has been eaten by
vomiting to avoid gaping weight. It is a
serious eating disorder wherein thereon
feels that he/she has lost control of
eating, and there is also distorted image
of oneself.
PHYSICAL CHANGES AND BODY IMAGE
 Physiological
Most of the physical changes have
already taken place at the early part of
adolescence, which is roughly between
ages 12-14. One of the reasons is the
secretion of hormones by the endocrine
glands. Hormone is a chemical
substance that passes through the
bloodstream to reach different organs
and tissues. Hormones enable the
organs and tissues to perform their
respective function.
 Physical
During the middle part of adolescence, a
major growth spurt sets in, resulting in
the individual’s distinct characteristics.
These are secondary characteristics as
a result of physiological changes in the
body.
 Psychological
From that awkward feeling of
recognizing the changes happening with
your body, you now become conscious
of what has taken place and what
comes with it. You become more
concerned with your body image. You
already make specific references on
how you would like to present yourself.
BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM IN
YOUTH
 Positive body image and healthy self-
esteem are important to a child's health
and wellbeing. The media, people
around us, and popular culture all
influence our body image. In today's
society, children and youth are exposed
to many images that show being thin
and muscular as a standard of beauty,
elegance and masculinity. Television,
magazines, movies, the internet and
social media sites are full of these
images.
 Seeing these images over and over
again is linked to poor body image and
feelings that our own bodies are not
okay. These feelings can affect your
child's self-esteem and negatively affect
their mental health and wellbeing.
 Sadly, poor body image and self-esteem
among children and youth is common
and continuing to increase. The
negative effects of these feelings can
last throughout a person's life, not just in
childhood and adolescence. Parents
can help their children build a healthy
body image at any age. It is never too
early to start, as we know that about
30% of children as young as 10 to 14
are dieting, according to a study by the
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
and the Royal Ottawa Mental Health
Centre.