COLLEGE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
First Semester, A.Y. 2023 – 2024
MODULE 4: The Self from the Psychological Perspective
Course Title: Understanding the Self
Course Code: GE 1
Name: __________________________________________________________
Course and Year: _________________________________________________
Contact Number/E-mail Address: _____________________________________
Date and Time Allotment: ___________________________________________
Introduction
This module entitled The Self from the Psychological Perspective explains various basic
psychological theories and foundations in shaping one’s persona and self-development.
I. Objectives
At the end of the end of this module, students should be able to:
1. Differentiate the different provinces of the human psyche
2. Discus the different levels of psychosexual stages.
3. Compare and contrast the different Eriksonian psychosocial stages
[Link] ideal self from real self
II. Lectures
The self can be defined in many ways, in different contexts. In the context of psychology, the
self can be defined as a reflexive psychological process that starts when one identifies himself or
herself as an object, followed by describing oneself as a self-concept or self-feeling, and ends with
saying that the self is manifested in how one acts and presents himself or herself to others. (Zhao,
2014). In this process, the self is perceived through how one sees and understand himself or herself.
Sigmund Freud: The Psychoanalytic Theory of Self
Sigmund Freud - an Austrian Neurologist by which his theories are deterministic in nature. He is the
originator of Psychoanalysis and focuses on the individual’s abnormal functioning.
Freud’s asserts that the human psyche (personality) is structured into three parts (tripartite). These
structures – the id, ego, and superego – all develop at different stages in a person’s life.
These three structures are systems and not physical parts of the brain. Although each part
comprises unique features and contributes to an individual’s behavior and they interact to form a whole.
Parts of Personality
1. Id (internal desires). Also called internal drives or instinctive drives, it consists of the body’s
primitive biological drives and urges which are concerned only with achieving pleasure and self-
satisfaction. Id lives completely in the unconscious.
2. Ego (reality). It is the “I” part of the individual that gives him/her the sense of his/her own
identity. The ego is the rational part of the personality.
3. Superego (conscience). It is the part of the personality concerned with morals, precepts,
standards, and ideas. The superego is also the critical faculty of the personality.
Freudian Stages of Psychosexual Development
Freud also argues that the development of an individual can be divided into distinct stages
characterized by sexual drives. As a person grows, erogenous zone become sources of pleasure,
frustration or both.
1. Oral. From birth to the end of the first year. The infant’s primary source of interaction occurs
through the mouth, so the sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating,
and infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and
sucking. In this stage, constant failure to gratify oral pleasure may lead to oral fixation.
2. Anal. From the age of 2 to 3 years, the child derives the feelings of pleasure or pain from
defecating. The anus is the primary erogenous zone and pleasure is derived from controlling
bladder and bowel movement. It covers the toilet-training period. Fixations at this point in
development can lead to what Freud called anal-retentive and anal-expulsive.
3. Phallic. From the age of 3-6 years, the child gets curious about his/her genitals and becomes
attached to the parent of the opposite sex. The attraction or the unconscious desire of a boy to
his mother is called Oedipus complex, while that of a girl to her father is called Electra
complex.
4. Latency. From the age of 7 -11 years, sexual motivations presumably recede in importance as
the child becomes preoccupied with the developing skills and other activities.
5. Genital. After puberty, the deepest feelings of pleasure presumably come from heterosexual
relations. In this stage, the teenagers have overcome latency, made associations with one
gender of the other, and now seeks out pleasure through sexual contact with others.
Erik Erikson: The Psychosocial Stages of Self-development
Erikson was primarily concerned with how both psychological and social factors affect the
development of individuals. He has formulated eight stages of development, each posing a unique
developmental task and simultaneously presenting the individual with a crisis that he/she must
overcome. According to Erikson, a person passes through eight developmental stages that build on
each other. At each stage we face a crisis. By resolving the crisis, we develop psychological strengths
or character traits that help us become confident and healthy people. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial
development gives us a way to view the development of a person through an entire lifespan. But like all
theories, it has its limitations: Erikson doesn’t describe the exact way that conflicts are resolved. Neither
does he detail how you move from one stage to the next.
Stage Conflict Age Desired outcome
Birth to 12–18
1 Trust vs. mistrust A sense of trust and security
months
Autonomy vs. 18 months to Feelings of independence lead to belief
2
shame & doubt 3 years in yourself and your abilities
Self-confidence; the ability to take the
3 Initiative vs. guilt 3 to 5 years
initiative and make decisions
Industry vs.
4 5 to 12 years Feelings of pride and accomplishment
inferiority
Identity vs. A strong sense of identity; a clear picture
5 13 to 21 years
confusion of your future
Intimacy vs. Safe relationships filled with commitment
6 21 to 39 years
isolation and love
Generativity vs. The desire to give to family and
7 40 to 65 years
stagnation community, and to succeed at work
Pride in what you’ve achieved leads to
8 Integrity vs. despair Over 65 years
feelings of satisfaction
Carl Roger’s Self Theory
Carl Rogers proposed that by means of free choice and action, one can shape himself or herself
based on what he or she wants to be. Rogers considers the self as the center of experience. According
to him, the self is one’s ongoing sense of who and what he or she is and how and why he or she
responds to the environment. The choices an individual makes are based on his or her set of values.
Roger’s theory focuses on the nature of the self and the conditions that allows the self to freely develop
(Rathus, 2014)
Real Self and Ideal Self
The real self is who an individual actually is, intrinsically. It is the self that feels close to how
one identifies with. It is how one thinks, feels, looks, and acts. It is the self that feels most natural,
comfortable, and true to what and who one really is. It is the self that one continuously needs to accept,
takes care of, and improves. Despite the difficulty of an individual to truly know how others see him or
her, his or her real self can still be possibly seen. One’s significant other may tell almost exactly his or
her real self. The real self is one’s self-image.
The ideal self, on the other hand, is the perception of what a person would like to be or thinks
he or she would be. It is an idealized image that has developed over time based on the influence of
the environment and the people one interacts with. It is the self that one thinks he or she should be, and
that one feels others thinks he or she should be. This self is product of expectations and pressures from
other people and arises from the need to be love and accepted by others. It is dynamic and forever
changing.
For instance, someone who is not a good singer (real self) desires to be someone who can sing
well (ideal self), the greater the discrepancy between the real self and the ideal self, the greater the
frustration and distress one will experience. Hence, one should strive to reduce the discrepancy by
either addressing the issue or accepting the issue if it cannot be resolved.
Self-Concept
The term self-concept is a general term used to refer to how someone thinks about, evaluates or
perceives themselves. To be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself.
Baumeister (1999) provides the following self-concept definition: "The individual's belief about himself
or herself, including the person's attributes and who and what the self is". The self-concept is an
important term for both social and humanistic psychology. Carl Rogers (1959) believes that the self-
concept has three different components:
1. Self-worth or self-esteem is what one thinks about oneself. This develops in early childhood
stages resulting from the interaction of the child with his or her mother and father.
2. Self-image is how one sees himself or herself, which is important for good psychological health.
Self-image includes the influence of body image on inner personality. At a simple level one
might look at oneself as either good or bad, beautiful of ugly, self-image has an effect on how a
person thinks, feels, and behaves in the world.
3. Ideal self is the person one wants to be. It consists of one’s dreams and goals in life, and it is
continuously changing. To illustrate, the ideal self during childhood is not the same ideal during
adulthood.
REFERENCES:
Ariola, M. (2016). Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. Unlimited Books
Library Services and Publishing Inc.
Ariola M. (2016). Sociology and Anthropology with Family Planning. Purely Books Trading
and Publishing Co.
Brawner & Arcega. (2018). Understanding the Self, C&E Publishing, Inc.
Corpuz, R., Estoque, R.S., & Tabotabo, C.V. (2019). Understanding The Self. C&E
Publishing, Inc.
Galotti, K. (2011). Cognitive Development Infancy through Adolescence. Library of
Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Peñaflor and Peñaflor. (2016). Values Education Legal and Ethical Perspective (1st edition).
Unlimited Books Library Services and Publishing Inc.