WEEK: PED103: Physical Education 3 P

WEEK: PSY101: Understanding the Self

AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SELF:

THE SELF AS EMBEDDED IN CULTURE

ANTHROPOLOGY
 It is concerned with how culture and biological processes interact to shape human experiences.
 Holistic view of nature
 Anthropology considers human experience as an interplay of “nature” referring to genetic
inheritance which sets the individual potential and “nurture” refers to sociocultural environment.
 Both cultural and biological factors have significant influence in the development of self.

THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF SELF AND IDENTITY

 Edward Taylor
 defines culture as complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts morals, law,
custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society.
 It is how people make sense of their experiences and behave according to socially shared
ideas, values and perception.
 There are two concept of self is view in different society: egocentric and sociocentric.
 egocentric view,
 the self is seen as an autonomous and distinct individual and replica of all humanity but
capable of acting independently from others.
 the self is viewed autonomous and distinct in individual with inheritance characters.
 The Americans are egocentric, they believe that they should be asserted and
independence.
 sociocentric view,
 the self is context-dependent which emphasizes that there is no intrinsic self can
possess enduring qualities.
 Christine Kiefer
 the Japanese possess sociocentric view of the self in which the member of a person in a
particular social group defines the boundaries of the self.
 Frans Hsu
 he explains that the Chinese prioritize kin ties and cooperation, For them the very essence
of interpersonal relations is mutual independence.
 From the similarities and differences in the characteristics among individuals, people construct
their social identities.
 The Identity toolbox: refers to the features of a person’s identity that he or she chooses to
emphasize in constructing a social belief.
 Kinship, gender, and age:
are almost universally used to differentiate people.
 Ethnicity:
personal appearance, & socioeconomic status aren’t always used in every society.
 Family membership:
could be a most significant feature to determine of the personal identity.
 Language:
is another important identity determinant that’s often viewed as essential for the
maintenance of a group.
 Religious affiliation: In other, societies, it is an important marker of a group identity.
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WEEK: PSY101: Understanding the Self

• In Mindanao, being a Christian or a Muslim is possibly the most important defining

feature of social identity.
 Personal naming: a universal practice with numerous cross-cultural variations establishes
a child birthright and social identity. A name is an important device to individualize person
and to have an identity.
 One’s identity is not inborn. It is something people continuously develop in life
 Changes in one’s identity usually involve rites of passage that prepares individuals for new roles
from one stage of life to another.
 Changes in one’s status and identity are marked by three phased rite of passage: separation,
liminality (transition), and incorporation.
 In the separation phase,
 people, detach from former identity to another.
 example: in a wedding, the bride walking down the aisle to be “given away” by the
parents to the groom implies the separation from one’s family to become part of one.
 In liminality phase,
 a person transitions from one identity to another. For example, the wedding ceremony
itself is the process of the transition of the bride and the groom from singlehood to
married life.
 In the incorporation phase,
 the change in one’s status is officially incorporated. For example, the wedding reception
and parties that celebrates the wedding serve as a markers that officially recognize the
bride and groom’s towards being husband and wife.

PSYCHOLOGY
 The term psychology comes from the Greek words’
 “psyche” meaning soul or mind, and
 “logos” meaning study of
 In a general sense, it is the study of mind and behavior.
 Understanding of the self is highest when the different parts become integrative
 It is a multifaced discipline within the field of social sciences that encompasses the systematic
study of human behavior, cognitive processes, and the underlying mental phenomena

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

1. WILLIAM JAMES
→ The “I-Self”
▪ refers to the self that knows who he or she is, he
believes that the “I-Self” is thinking self
▪ reflects the soul of a person or what is now thought of
as the mind & is called pure ego
→ The “Me-Self” is the empirical self.
▪ It refers to describing the person’s experiences and
further divided into sub categories: material self, social
self, and spiritual self
1) material self – consists of the things that belong to a
person such as the body, clothes, house
2) social self – refers to whom and how a person acts on
social situations
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WEEK: PSY101: Understanding the Self

3) spiritual self – refers to the most intimate and important part of the self that includes the
person’s purpose, motives, emotions, values, conscience and moral behavior

2. JEAN PIAGET
→ Theory of Cognitive Development – it is a comprehensive theory
about the development of human intelligence. It deals with
nature of knowledge, and how humans gradually com to
acquire, construct, and use it.
→ Stages of Cognitive Development
1) Sensorimotor
2) Preoperational
3) Concrete operations
4) Formal operations
→ Important components of Piaget’s Cognitive Theory
▪ Schemas/schemes – the building blocks of knowledge.
These are mental organizations that individuals use to understand their environments
and designate actions.
▪ Adaptation – The child’s learning processes to meet situational demands.
1) Assimilation – the child incorporates new information or experiences into his/her
existing mental frameworks or schemas.
2) Accommodation – it is the process of modifying existing schemas or creating new
ones to accommodate new information or experiences that do not fit within the
current mental framework.
3) Equilibration – it is the process of achieving cognitive balance or equilibrium
between assimilation and accommodation.

Stages of Cognitive
Stage Age Characteristics
• Learning by doing through their senses and motor actions
(looking, touching, sucking)
Sensorimotor 0-2
• Primitive understanding of cause-and-effect relationships
• Goal: Object permanence
• Use of language and symbols(letters and numbers)
Preoperational 2-7 • Egocentrism
• Goal: Conservation
• Demonstrate conservation, reversibility, serial ordering, and
Concrete
7 - 11 mature understanding of cause-and-effect relationship
Operations
• Goal: Logical thought
• Demonstrate abstract and hypothetical thinking
Formal • Can reason about complex, theoretical concepts and engage in
12+
Operations deductive reasoning
• Goal: Scientific reasoning
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WEEK: PSY101: Understanding the Self

3. SIGMUND FREUD
→ Three structures of personality: id, ego, and superego
1) Id: is the devil within the self;
pleasure-seeking side, immature, impulsive, child-like and
cannot delay gratification
2) Ego: is the person in the middle
Freud used term ego strength to refer to the ego ability to
resolve the conflict between the tree structure.
3) Superego: is the angel
→ Psychosexual Stages of Development
▪ Freud called those the psychosexual stages of development that progresses through
five stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.
1) Oral stage:
 which last birth to first year: sucking and biting.
 Overeating, smoking, and alcoholism
2) Anal stage:
 the child derives pleasure from the elimination of the body waste and could lead to
anal retention personality disorder such as obsession with cleanliness or anal
expulsion personality disorder such as clumsiness.
3) Phallic stage:
 children during pleasure from examining.
 Touching, fondling, or displaying their genitals or others.
 These behaviors are likely motivated by curiosity on the difference between the
anatomy of man and woman.
 Sex curiosity will remain high during the elementary years and children tend to
question with regards to anatomical structures, sex, and how babies made.
4) Latency stage:
 sexual energy is repressed because children become busy with school.
5) Genital stage:
 pleasure is again derived from genital area and individual seek to satisfy their sexual
drives from sexual relationship.

4. DR. SUSAN HARTER

→ She asserted that there are broad developmental changes that
can be observed early childhood, later childhood, and
adolescence which could be interpreted through the Piagetian
framework.
→ She elaborated the stages or development of self-concept:
(1) early childhood
(2) middle to later childhood
(3) adolescence
(4) emerging adults
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Stages of Self-Concept
Stages Characteristics
The Undifferentiated Self have a limited understanding of themselves as distinct individuals
(Infancy to Early Childhood)
The Categorical Self categorize themselves and others based on concrete, observable
(Preschool Years) characteristics
The Real Self (Middle - develop a more nuanced and realistic self-concept
Childhood) incorporate internal characteristics and abilities (personality - traits,
skills, and preference)
The Ideal Self - emergence of more abstract self-concept (inner thoughts,
(Adolescence) emotions, attitudes, and motives)
- creating an image of the person they aspire to be
The Feared Self - become aware of the aspects of themselves that they fear
(Adolescence and Beyond) becoming or being seen as
The False Self adaptation of one's self-presentation to meet the expectations and
(Adulthood) approval of others

5. CARL RANSOM ROGERS

→ He stressed that a person is an active, creative, experiencing being who
lives in the present and who thinks, feels, and responds to his or her
environment.
→ He coined the term ‘actualizing tendency’.
→ He established the Theory of Personality Development.

Ideal self Real self

• the self-concept that an individual aspires to become • the individual's current
• represents the person's idealized version of himself or herself self-concept
• could include: • represents how a
(1) notions influenced by the parents, person sees himself or
(2) what a person admires in others, herself as he or she is
(3) what the society sees as applicable, and (4) what a person now, without idealization
thinks are in his or her best interest or distortion

→ Importance of Aligning the Ideal Self and Real Self:

→ Congruence
▪ when an individual’s self-concept aligns with their actual experiences and feelings
▪ leads to a more authentic and genuine sense of self
→ Incongruence
▪ when there is a significant gap
between one's self-concept and
their actual experiences
▪ can lead to inner conflicts,
anxiety, and a lack of self-
acceptance
▪ Carl Rogers’s Self Theory: Real
and Ideal Self
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WEEK: PSY101: Understanding the Self

6. GORDON ALLPORT
→ He proposed the Personality Trait Theory asserting that every
person possesses traits.
→ Traits – a stable characteristic that remains the same regardless
of the situation.
▪ Classes:
1) Cardinal Traits - the dominant and defining traits that
shape an individual's entire personality.
2) Central Traits - the core traits that make up an individual's
personality.
3) Secondary Traits - less prominent and specific traits that
may emerge in particular situations or contexts.

7. ERIC BERNE
→ He developed the Transactional Analysis Model as a basis for understanding behavior.
→ The Transactional Analysis Model is anchored on two notions:
1. Every person has three ego states in his or her personality.
2. People communicate with one another assuming roles of any of these three ego states.
→ 3 Ego States
1) Parent Ego: represents the internalized voice of authority
figures from an individual's past.
2) Adult Ego: the rational and objective part of the individual that
processes information, makes decisions based on facts, and
engages in critical thinking.
3) Child Ego: represents the emotional and instinctual part of the
individual. Natural child (loves to play but is sensitive and
vulnerable); Little professor (curious child who wants to try
everything); and, Adaptive child (one who reacts to the world).

8. GREGG HENRIQUES
→ He proposed that the self has three related, but separable
domains.
1. Experiential self:
 the theater of consciousness; closely tied to memory.
2. Private self-conscious:
 the narrator or interpreter; narrates the unfolding events
and tries to makes sense of the experience.
3. Public self or persona:
 image a person projects to the public; interacts with
others and will influence how others sees a person.
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9. DONALD WOODS WINNICOTT

→ According to him, the self is simple “the person who is me”.
→ He introduced the concepts of the ‘true self’ and the ‘false self’ as
part of his psychoanalytic theory.

True Self False Self

• an individual's authentic and innate sense of • a protective, adaptive persona that
self individuals develop in response to
• the core of one's being and encompasses external expectations, pressures, and
genuine emotions, desires, and a sense of social norms
personal identity • designed to gain acceptance, avoid
• spontaneity, creativity, and a sense of vitality rejection, or meet the demands of others