The Self from Various

MODULE 1: Perspectives
Lesson 3: Psychological Perspective
by: Gregorio S. Naldo Jr.

INTRODUCTION
Understanding the self or knowing one’s self is vital in life. Various perspectives explain the
self and serve as our guide to know ourselves more like philosophy, anthropology, sociology, etc.
Aside from guiding us in knowing ourselves better, all those perspectives have a common
factor. It tells us that we can better understand how our surroundings and past can shape our self
or personality. Put it another way, those perspectives mentioned above highlights the importance
of the external factors.
But how about understanding oneself in terms of our inner being - our thoughts, behaviors,
and actions. Our behavior and attitude change over time depending on various factors such as the
environment, current thoughts and beliefs, plans, how we view ourselves, and the like.
The purpose of this module is to help you deepen your understanding of who you are as a
person - as a real person. It will help you explore yourself and embrace or acknowledge your
perceived strengths and weaknesses to grow as a person. Moreover, the topic will help you
examine yourself through various psychological factors like your personal identity (real vs. ideal
self), social roles (friends, family, etc.), traits and values, problem-solving skills, or responses to
the possible stressors in life.
With all these, you will be able to know or examine how your personal identity has been
shaped by those factors mentioned above, plus your experiences (past and future) in life.
Moreover, you will also learn that knowing yourself will be beneficial for you and the people around
you.
Please note that you will be encouraged to exert your most real and truthful efforts to
answer all the activities listed below. Expect many self-report activities since we are now dealing
with “knowing yourself” using the psychological perspective. Hence, the very first person whom
you can ask about your personality is YOU.
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, it is expected that you will be able to:
1. Identify the different ideas, concepts, and factors in psychology about self;
2. Analyze how these factors, concepts, and ideas affect the formation of the self; and
3. Examine yourself using the knowledge about self from the psychological perspective.

MOTIVATION
A. PERSONALITY TEST
Direction

1. Open the link below and follow the given instructions before taking the personality test.
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
2. After taking the test, copy and paste the entire result to a letter-sized paper (word
doc.).
3. Make a reflection about the result of your personality test. Is there anything on the
results that surprised you? What are those, and why?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

4. What values or characteristics from your test result do you think are most valid and
most untrue to you? Why?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

LESSON PROPER

Psychology is the field of social sciences that deals with describing, explaining, predicting,
and controlling behavior (Ciccarelli and Meyer, 2006). Psychology further believes that the world
of material things, including people, exists independently of the perceiving human mind
(www.uky.edu/eushe2/Pajares/psy.html).
Some issues in the field of knowledge are:

 “The Mind-Body Problem” – Philosophy Some questions to ponder:

Unlike Any other perspectives in

 “Nature vs. Nurture” – Psychology, e.g., IQ and explAining the self, whAt do you think
is the primAry reAson why there Are
Personality of a person
mAny versions of the self in
psychology?
Psychology is the study of human behavior and mental
WhAt role do indiviDUAl
processes. Hence, the concept of the SELF is one of the most differences plAy in knowing oneself?

well-explained concepts in psychology.

Many famous psychologists have provided their explanations of the self and human
behavior. Some of them were: William James, Murray Bowen, Carl Rogers, D.W. Winnicott, and
Albert Bandura.
I. THE “ME” AND “I” SELF
 For William James, thoughts have five characteristics: WILLIAM JAMES (1842-1910)

1. Some personal self owns all human thoughts.

2. Thoughts are constantly changing or are never

static.

3. There is a continuity of thoughts as its focus shifts

from one object to another.

4. Thoughts deal with objects that are different from

An American Philosopher and
and independent of consciousness itself.
psychologist, and the first
educator to offer a psychology
5. Consciousness can focus on particular objects and course in the United States
not others. James is considered to be a
leading thinker of the late
 The self is made up of two parts: the “Me” and the “I” self nineteenth century, one of the
most influential philosophers of
 “Me” – can be considered as a separate object or the United States

individual that the person refers to when discussing or "Father of American psychology “

describing their personal experiences

He is also known for his Theory of
the Self
e.g., “She is smiling at ME” and “The gifts were sent to
ME” Published several books,
 “I” – is the self that knows and recognizes who they are including The Principles of
Psychology in 1980 – where his
and what they have done. theory of the self is explained.

e.g., “I won the game” and “I borrowed the book from her.”
 The “ME” Self
James went on to group the various components of the
SELF empirical self into three subcategories: (a) the material self,
(b) the social self, and (c) the spiritual self.

“I” “ME”
 Material self – consists of one’s body, valued
Pure ego or Personal experience possessions, and loved ones. It identifies the self most clearly
thinking self 1. Material Self
Linked to “soul” 2. Social Self in terms of material possessions.
or mind 3. Spiritual Self
 Social self – consists of the recognition that the self can
get from others.
 Spiritual self – one’s own understanding of selves as creatures who think, feel, act, and
experience life.
 The “I” self

It is pure ego. It is similar to one’s soul or mind. It cannot be studied objectively since this
is considered to be non-substance. It comprises the totality of the person’s identity. It takes into
account the past, present, and future selves of the individual.

II. GLOBAL AND DIFFERENTIATED SELF MODELS

Global self

 It represents the overall value that a person places upon himself. It affects how he views
and feels about himself. It is inevitable for a person to be born and grow up in other people's
presence.

 Our surroundings can strongly influence us.

 Your global self is the product of all experiences you had in society, which accounts for the
kind of person you are at present.

Differentiated Self

 The term self-differentiation was first introduced by Murray Bowen, whose ideas are the
basis of family systems therapy.

 Self-differentiation involves being able to possess and identify your thoughts and feelings
and distinguish them from others. It's a process of not losing connection to self while
holding a deep connection to others, including those you love whose views may differ from
yours.
 Two forces are affecting the person: togetherness and individuality. A balance should be
maintained between them.

III. REAL AND IDEAL SELF-CONCEPTS

Real Self Ideal Self

 The real self is what we  Is the self that we think we

CARL ROGERS (1902-1987)
are intrinsically. want to be, that we strive
to be, and that we feel we
are expected to be.

 It`s the self that feels  This self is borne out of

most true to what and influences outside of us. It
who we really are; the is the self that holds
honest self that leaves values absorbed from
us most comfortable in others; a culmination of all
our skin. those things that we think
we should be, and that we An AmericAn Psychologist

feel others think we should Proposed the personAlity

theory known As the Person-
be.
Centered Theory

 It may not be perfect,  We want to accommodate He stAted thAt the term Self-
concept is used to refer to how A
but it`s the part of us those expectations person thinks About or perceives
that feels most real. And because we believe we himself

it`s the one we need to will be more loved and Self-Concept: The Real Self And the

learn to love the most. accepted if we do. Holding Ideal Self.

the values of others is not

a conscious decision, but
rather, a process of
osmosis. For the most
part, we are not even
aware of it.
IV. MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED SELVES
Multiple Selves Theory Unified
Selves
 Suggests that there exists in the  Is essentially connected to
individual the different aspects of the consciousness, awareness and
self. agency.
 The self is a whole made up of parts.  To be considered a well-adjusted
person, success and failures
should be accepted and
understood.

Reflecting on the above discussion, give personal example of the following:

“I” and “Me” self:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Global and Differentiated Self:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Real and Ideal Self:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Unified and Multiple Self:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
__
V. TRUE SELVES AND FALSE SELVES

True Self False Self

DONALD WOODS WINNICOTT
(1896 – 1971)
 True self in individuals is  Manifested as a form
one in which the self is of defense
seen as creative,  Lacks spontaneity, is
spontaneously dead and empty.
experiencing each day of  Mask that hides the
their lives, appreciating true person for fear of
being alive, real, the path of rejection
integrated, and connected and failure. n English pedi tr n nd
psycho n lyst who w s espe lly
to the whole of existence  False selves usually
influen l in the field of object
 High level of awareness in surface when the
rel tions theory nd
the person of who he is, person is forced to
developmen l psychology.
including his strengths comply with existing
He looked into the signIFICAnce of
and weaknesses social norms and
“P y” s n impor nt w y to
 Enjoys winning and standards.
observe children/people s
success and learns from  At times, it can enable h ng true nd f lse selves
mistakes and failures. the person to form
superficial but
productive social
relationships.

GIVE 2 SAMPLES OF YOUR TRUE SELF MENTION TWO OF YOUR FALSE SELF

V. THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC

Bandura believes that through our agency, we humans are perceived as proactive
agents of experiences. We humans play a big role in our self-development, adaptation, and
self-renewal through these agents or agencies. It is said that human agency has four features.
These features are intentional, forethought, self – reactiveness, and self – reflectiveness.
 Intentionality - We humans plan things intentionally, or we do things intentionally. By doing
this, we wait for possible outcomes. We make our plans,
actions, and decision based on our intention in life. We, as
humans, are interested in different things. We make ALBERT BANDURA
ourselves interested in the things we do therefore acting (1925 – PRESENT)
with our intentions.

 Forethought - enables us to anticipate the consequences of

the things we do. We expect different expectations;
therefore, we likely think better before we do something or
decide in the future.

 Self-reactiveness - involves making choices. We make

different choices, and we make choices after thinking about
the consequences.

 Self-reflectiveness - gives us the ability to reflect on our

decisions, choices, and consequences.

Born:4 December 1925 (present)

In his Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm, he explains how human beings are affected
by the interaction among environmental events, behavior, and personal factors (Feist & Feist,
2008)—learning through modeling and observation. Human nature is plastic and flexible.

GIVE THE FOUR FEATURES OF HUMAN AGENCY?

1) 2) 3) 4)
APPLICATION

Which among those perspectives in psychology in defining the self is most true
or applicable to you? Would you please share any personal experiences that
may relate to your chosen view?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

GENERALIZATION

Psychology is the field of social sciences that deals with describing, explaining,
predicting, and controlling behavior
Understanding the self using the psychological perspective means understanding
your innermost being – inward reflections about your own thoughts, behaviors,
and actions.
Some psychologists like William James, Murray Bowen, Carl Rogers, D.W.
Winnicott and Albert Bandura believed that the “Self” is made up of different
aspects within oneself: “I” and “Me” self, Global and Differentiated Self, Real and
Ideal Self, and the Unified and Multiple Self.
It is important to have balance with these aspects to highlight our real personality.
Our Surroundings and experiences can strongly influence us.
Our personality may not be perfect, but it is important to accept our imperfections
in order for us to grow as a person.
We humans play a big role in our self-development

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PORTRAIT OF MY “SELF”
Draw a representational portrait of yourself on the left side of the box below. On
the left side of the box, write your definition of the term “SELF” based on what you have
learned from psychology's different views of the self.

MIND MARK
Which psychological views or thoughts in defining the self had the most
challenging impact on your mind – the thought that you think you will not easily
forget? Why?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

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REFERENCES
Ciccarelli, S.K. & Meyer, G.E. (2006). Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson.
Feist, J. & Feist, G. (2008). Theories of personality. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

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