Module Writer:

Karryl Mae Chan

Ngina

Psychology
Department, College
of Social Sciences,
Benguet State
University

Course Facilitators:
Karryl Mae C. Ngina

SS 21 Understanding the Francine Faith Danai

S. Colallad
Lance Angelo B.
Self Layugan
Marie Emerence T.
Sumeg-ang

This e-learning guide critically examines theoretical

perspectives and issues towards understanding the self.
The picture used here is the koru. Koru (Maori New
Zealander term) for the fern plant is used as a symbol Lesson 5. The
for ‘new beginnings.’
Physical and The
Digital Self

Not for sale and not for uploading. For the use of SS21 BSU students 1st Year 2021-2022. For
feedback contact the author @ [email protected]
 Module 5. The
Physical and the
Digital Self

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 Chapter 5 - Learning Objectives:
✓ Understand the concepts related to the Physical Self
✓ Explore concepts related to the Digital Self
✓ Explore self-care strategies to the Physical and
Digital Self

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ENGAGE & EXPLORE
Time Management as One Step Towards Redefining Physical and Digital Self-
Management

Watch the following video

book summary on the 5 am
club in which how we program
our morning upon waking
programs our day’s success.
Tips and suggestions are
mentioned in the video book
summary. Creating consistent
habits like waking up early is
the key to success. Included in
waking up early is readying our
bodies to our tasks for the day.
Include this in your notes.

5. 1&2. The Digital and Physical Me - Application activity:

Group yourselves to 2-5 in one group. Discuss your physical self

and digital self during the pandemic and nowadays. How did you
care for your physical and digital self? Would you agree that the
rise of social media and internet has affected the mental health of
young people nowadays? Why or why not? Do you have the
philosophy of FOMO? Are you a social media addict? Why or
why not?

Record (video/ audio or written) your discussion. One will upload

the discussion and provide a shareable link that you can copy to
your work output in google classroom. Mention your group mates
when you click submit in the google classroom. If you pass written
output then provide group picture of your discussion. Your
discussion can be face to face or virtual.

Do this after you have gone through the module and through the learning videos.

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Explain and Elaborate:
Physical Self
Physical Self refers to the tangible aspect of yourself. It includes your whole body. The body
grows, develops, and degenerates. The body is central in how we experience life itself. In
relation to this, each individual is encouraged to develop a healthy regards for one’s body
image. One’s body image can have a domino effect on how we regard ourselves (self-esteem)
and how we interact with others. With body image and the physical self, we will tackle two
spectrums on healthy and unhealthy regards of the body.

Body Unhealth
Shaming Body Habits Healthy
Positivity Habits

Here the concepts for understanding the physical self:

➢ Body Shaming – the act where individuals are ‘shamed’ because of their bodies as not
meeting a certain standard of physical attractiveness.
➢ Body Positivity – a movement where individual is encouraged to accept all kinds of
bodies, challenge how society views body and address unrealistic body standards.
➢ Unhealthy Physical Habits – refers to behaviors that decrease your life spand and
threaten your health such as smoking, not exercising, not getting enough sleep, and the
like.
➢ Healthy Physical Habits – refers to behaviors that prolong life and improve health such
as taking healthy foods, having regular exercise, getting enough sleep and others.
Physical Self, Longevity and Philippine Behavior
According to World Health Organization (2020), the Philippines has a life expectancy of
70.4 and rank 119 of out of 232 countries.
Table 7.1. Philippines Life Expectancy (WHO,2020)
Male Female Total World Rank
67.4 73.6 70.4 119

According to Statistica (2021), the Philippines top ten causes of death are ischaemic heart
disease, cerebrovascular diseases, neoplasms, diabetes mellitus, covid virus (identified),

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hypertensive diseases, pneumonia, other heart diseases, covid 19 (not identified) and chronic
lower respiratory infections. Years 2020 and 2021 have changed the top ten causes of mortality
for the Philippines and around the world. As seen in the statistics presented, covid 19 has
become one of the top ten causes of death for Filipinos. Among these, are cardiovascular
related diseases associated with lifestyle and also with the lock down orders that have limited
movement of people. Lack of movement and lack of exercise is bad for the physical self.

Lack of movement and lack of physical

exercise during the prolonged lock
downs promoted cardiovascular
diseases.

Also, most work today requires

prolonged sitting. They say that
seating is the new smoking as it is
detrimental to ones health.

Table 7.1. Mortality (Top Ten) (PSA,2021 (August))

Physical Self and Self Care

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In terms of physical self, taking care of one’s body is imperative to let you enjoy your life to
the fullest. Physical fitness allows you to live your life to the fullest. People who are physically
fit are healthier and not prone to physical illness.
So, how can you be physically fit?
Here are some recommended health behaviors:
• Exercise (FYI: You could add as much as 0.3 years to your life expectancy by
exercising a few times a week.)
• Sleep 7-9 hours a day (FYI: The quality of your sleep directly affects your mental and
physical health and the quality of your waking life, including your productivity,
emotional balance, brain and heart health, immune system, creativity, vitality, and even
your weight)
• Eat nutritious food
• Hydrate daily (8-10 cups of water or more)
• Practice good hygiene
• Practice good attitude for living (FYI: Data shows those like you who rate themselves
in good health live 4.0 years longer.)
• If you drink, drink moderately
Here are some health behaviors to avoid:
• Avoid smoking (FYI: Non-smoker - add as much as 11.7 years to their life
expectancy)
• Avoid using illegal dangerous drugs
• Abusing alcohol
• Sleeping less
• Not exercising
• Eating unhealthy food such as junk foods
In addition to sleep, here are the myths and facts about sleep (Sleep Needs, 2020):

Myth: Getting just one hour less sleep per night won’t affect your daytime functioning.
Fact: You may not be noticeably sleepy during the day, but losing even one hour of
sleep can affect your ability to think properly and respond quickly. It also compromises
your cardiovascular health, energy balance, and ability to fight infections.
Myth: Your body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules
Fact: Most people can rest their biological clock, but only by appropriately timed cues –
and even then, by one or two hours per day at best. Consequently, it can take more than
a week to adjust after travelling across several time zones or switching to the night shift.

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 Myth: Extra sleep at night cure you of the problems with excessive daytime fatigue
Fact: The quantity of sleep you get is important, sure, but it’s the quality of your sleep
that you really have to pay attention to. Some people sleep eight or nine hours a night
but don’t feel well rested when they wake up because the quality of their sleep is poor
Myth: You can make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping more on the
weekends.
Fact: Although this sleeping pattern will help relieve part of a sleep debt, it will not
completely make up for lack of sleep. Furthermore, sleeping later on the weekends can
affect your sleep-wake cycle so that it is much harder to go to sleep at the right time on
Sunday nights and get up early on Monday Morning.

This September 10, 2022, the world commemorated Suicide Prevention Day. Suicide is linked
in ending one’s physical life. Bud did you know that suicide is the only death we can prevent.
So let’s talk about suicide prevention and choose Life. Click on the video below to listen to
the speaker Chaplain Mindi Russell.
The speaker in this video talk
emphasized that suicide is the
only death that we can prevent.
The stigma on talking about
suicide should be broken and it
is time to talk about suicide as a
cry for help. Most of the times,
talking about suicide is seen as a
taboo as there is a common
‘MYTH” that when you talk
about it, you are encouraging
people to do suicide. This is
FALSE. Talking about it is a
step towards bringing out the
real issue why people commit
suicide.

Again it is a cry for help of

which as a community we try to
reach out and help the person
Take note. navigate through personal
problem and help the person
CHOOSE LIFE.

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Digital Self
Digital self is the extension of yourself that you present online. With the influx of social media
and avatars, digital self-presentation is a reality that one must learn to navigate. It is another
extension of the physical world where the self is projected through a public digital self and a
private digital self. One example of a public digital self is when you google search for your
name online, what comes out of your search are examples of manifestation of your public self.
The private digital self is what you present online that only you or a few of your acquaintances
can access. However, there has been an ongoing debate that whatever you post online
(whether in private or public setting) is still a public presentation of the self because it can still
be accessed by hackers and the like (e.g. sex video scandals). Nevertheless, the creation of fake
online identities, digital trolls and identity theft are negative occurrences that happen online
with the purpose of stealing, manipulating and taking advantage of a person and/ or a
situation. Especially that anyone can publish online and create accounts online.
With all the positive and negative use of the digital platform in expressing ourselves, there are
positive effects in which you have the control on how to present yourself online (unless
otherwise hacked). You choose the pictures you present, the language you use and the
behavior you project online. That is why a mentor once said to me ‘do not post pictures of
yourself on a drunken spree with your buddies’ or ‘unwholesome talk such as problems at
home or at work’ because the public doesn’t need to know about these things. Also, when a
potential employer would research on you online, wholesome profiles and behavioral
interaction should be seen as part of your digital reputation building. Below are the three things
that you need to checked when posting online:
Figure 2. Your Digital Self (Evonomie, 2018)

ONLINE BEHAVIOR
(People assume that your online actions are
representative of the way you are in person.

ONLINE VOICE
-Do you add value to your conversation?
When you post - are you contentioys/ controversial or inappropriate?

ONLINE PRESENTATION
Maintaining a professional online visual image is just
important as any other aspect of digital presentation

In managing your digital self, be wise in how you use your social media account and other
digital platforms. During this pandemic, digital social marketing has been used to increase sales

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of entrepreneurial individuals. Here are
some tips for smart social media posting
for your posts – (1) know audience, (2)
tailor your posts and (3) schedule posts
wisely (especially for those who are doing
social media marketing).
We live in a fast paced digital world. The
pandemic changed the way we do things.
To adapt means to learn how to use
digital technology. There is a trend in the
teaching force, that older teachers who
have a hard time of coping with
technology would choose to have an early
retirement. Also, during the pandemic,
many lost their jobs but the digital world
provided a booming work from home
industry where your boss can be located
from another country. Outsourcing the
workforce became that fast. Our research with the BPO industry showed that this industry
that relied on digital technologies became a force to help our economy survive and help
individuals have their own source of livelihood (Ngina & Dolipas, 2022).
Social Media Addiction and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

FOMO (fear of missing out) has been correlated with social media addiction (Alutaybi,et.al,
2020; Cham, et.al, 2019) . Fear of missing out can be related on the need to be popular for
others or to be relevant. For others the need to be always in the loop can bring anxiety. Social
media addiction is characterized by excessive use and reliance on social media. Track your
time on how you use your social media and the internet. Social media addiction can lead to
interrupted sleep, lack of concentration, anxiety, more negative feelings, reduce life
competency, negative effects on physical wellbeing and dependence on social media for
gratification.
Techniques like adapting a philosophy such as JOMO (joy of missing out) or being digitally
disconnected for a time and techniques like self talk helps combat FOMO. Example of self
talk is “I do not need to check each notification immediately.” Engagement in non-digital
activities like walking, swimming, running and the like are also important. Changing one’s
mindset by doing self-talk and challenging unrealistic expectations help. Setting boundaries
for online and offline activities also help.

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 Take note on the points in this video.

Cybergame Addiction
How to know if you’re a
video game addict? Answer
the following question -
“Does your video gaming get
in the way of other important
things in your life, like your
relationships, your job or
going to school? If yes, then
you are a video game addict.
In other countries like China,
they have approaches like
military boot camps for
addicted teenagers and
regulatory rules of allowing
teens and children to use
online games during
weekends only for 3 hours/ a
day only.

Take note on the points in this video. Take note that in China if you
use your gadgets more than 6
hours a day means you are

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 addicted. In other countries,
when your cyber dependence
interferes with your normal
functioning then it can be
considered as an addiction.

Cyber Realities – Use of Avatars and augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality as
immersive technologies are transforming how we navigate our real world and cyber world.
Augmented reality uses real world setting while virtual reality is through a created virtual world.
In a virtual reality world, the immersive experience can be enhanced through a virtual reality
headset.

The pictures at the left side are an example of an

avatar (representation of the self) and augmented
reality in the virtual call settings in Facebook wherein
the users can choose what activity and background
can be used to augment the real world of the users.
During the pandemic, much of these technologies
were used to bridge the social distancing and lock
down problems to enhance digital social interaction
and wellbeing.

Conclusion:
Physical self is manifested through our bodies and how we view and use our bodies. How we
view and use our bodies can also enhance our longevity affected by factors such as diet,
exercise, genes, environment, vices, social support and others. Also, it is encouraged that we
developed body positivity as it helps people accept all kinds of bodies and shapes without
discrimination.
Digital self on the other hand is an extension of physical self – where we manage our digital
identity presentation, digital behavior and online voice. It is easier to manage and control the
digital self-compared to the physical self. As we immerse ourselves in the digital world, both
positive and negative impacts are seen. Navigating through these positive and negative impacts
is through use of our human capacity to choose the best option and choice of interacting with
others.

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Evaluate:
Activity 5.3. Flex Your Brain Muscles – Quiz on Physical and Digital Self (2 points
each)
Part 1. On the Physical Self
Choose from the following choices:
A – Sleep B – Diet C – Exercise
D –Social Support E – Vices (Substance Abuse – Alcohol, Cigarettes, Drugs)

_________________1. Lack of this factor is the common cause of illness during this time of
pandemic.
_________________2. Lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular illnesses are commonly
caused by lack of this factor.
_________________3. Suicidal risk factor and life span is commonly caused by lack of this
factor.
_________________4. Lack of this factor can affect your cognitive optimal functioning.
_________________5. Presence of this factor in your lifestyle can shorten your lifespan.

Part 2. On the Digital Self

Choose from the following choices:
A – Online Behavior B – Online Voice C – Online Presentation
D – Virtual Reality E – Augmented Reality F- FOMO G - JOMO

_________________6. An example of this is facebook’s background changing and online

games that you can play with the person you are video chatting.
_________________7. An example of this is Roblox game where you have an avatar that
does what you want it to do in an online world.
_________________8. The antidote of fear of missing out and focuses on digital detox.
_________________9. This is when you use your most professional profile picture to present
your most professional self.
_________________10. An example of this is when you give feedback through emoticons
in Facebook to posts of others.

Part 3. True or False

_________________11. Covid made it into the top ten causes of death in the Philippines in
2021.
_________________12. Waking up early is one common physical habit of successful people
according to the first videos shown in this module.
_________________13. Cyber addiction is a problem that may interfere with normal
functioning and productivity.
_________________14. Digital technologies have also improved mental health and
wellbeing.
_________________15. According to the speaker on suicide, talking about suicide should be
normalized like talking about sex education in the home.

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References:

Alutaybi, A., Al-Thani, D., McAlaney, J., & Ali, R. (2020). Combating Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) on Social Media:
The FoMO-R Method. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 17(17),
6128. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17176128

Cham S., Algashami A., Aldhayan M., McAlaney J., Phalp K., Almourad M.B., Ali R. (2019) Digital Addiction:
Negative Life Experiences and Potential for Technology-Assisted Solutions. Adv. Intell. Syst.
Comput. ;16:921–931. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-16184-2_87.

Evonomie (2018). Your Digital Self: How To Present Yourself Online. https://evonomie.net/digital-
identity/your-digital-self-how-to-present-yourself-online/
Philippine Statistics Authority (2021). Preliminary Causes of Death in the Philippines January-June 2021.
https://psa.gov.ph/content/causes-deaths-philippines-preliminary-january-june-2021
Ngina,KMC & Dolipas,MTB (2022). Outsourcing in the New Normal. Unpublished research article.
Sleep guide (2020). Sleep Guide. Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/sleep/sleep-needs-get-
the-sleep-you-
need.htm#:~:text=While%20sleep%20requirements%20vary%20slightly,least%207%20hours%20of
%20sleep. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdro_statistical_data_table5.pdf
World Health Organization (2018). Philippines Life expectancy. Retrieved from
https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/philippines-life-expectancy
World Health Organization (2018). Philippines Health Profile. Retrieved from
https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/country-health-profile/philippines

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