L.

1 KNOWING ONESELF Psychological qualities that contribute to an

individual’s enduring and distinctive patterns of
• Importance of knowing oneself thinking, feeling, and behaving”.
• Would help them grow and achieve
chosen goals. (Psychologists Cervone and Pervin)
• It could help people understand their
strengths and weaknesses and lead
more fruitful and meaningful lives. • Enduring - the qualities are at least
• Challenges and stressful situations are somewhat consistent across time and
handled differently by different kinds of situations of ones life.
people and knowing oneself helps. EX. Empathy, Positivity, Focus,
• It could also help one deal with other Inspiration, Awareness
people more effectively and understand • Distinctive - personality features
how one is in a relationships. differentiate persons from one another.
• Building and maintaining relationships Ex. The way you feel, you think, you
also require a fair amount of self- behave.
knowledge as well as knowledge about The consistent behavior patterns and
others. interpersonal processes originating within the
• Some people use their knowledge of the individual.
self to plan their futures.
• Career choices, financial decisions, and (According to Herman Burger).
interpersonal decisions are affected by Ex. How you relate people, human
who one is a person. (the skills we use relationships.
everyday when we communicate and
interact with other people, both
individually and in groups.) Set of psychological traits and mechanisms
• People with strong interpersonal skills within the individual that are organized and
are often more successful in both their relatively enduring and that influence his or her
professional and personal lives. interactions with, and adaptations to the
• Thus, knowing the self can give a great physical and social environment.
advantage to achieve a good and happy (According to Erik Larson & David Michael
life. To answer who we are, we need to Buss).
understand the concept of personality. Ex. Has traits and mechanisms that they can
endure and adapt to different types of individual

Personality
It is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and PERSONALITY
unique characteristics that give both • Refers to the enduring characteristics
consistency and individuality of a person’s and behavior that comprises a person’s
behavior. unique adjustment to life, including
(Raymond Feist, Nora Robertsand) major traits, interests, drives, values,
self-concept, abilities, and emotional
Ex. Character Traits, Attitude patterns.
 • Totality of an individuals behavioral and Ex.: strong adaptability, curiosity, ability to learn
emotional [Link] a quickly and problem-solving skills
person’s mood, attitude, opinion,
Unique traits- These are traits that distinguish
speaking, and acting. It is part of what
as an individuals.
makes each individual different.
Ex.: an interest in politics sports such as
basketball.
Personal Development
• Refers to activities designed to improve Ability traits- Skills and abilities that
yourself. determines how well we can work towards our
• Looking inward and focusing on ways to goals.
better yourself. Ex: verbal ability, mathematical ability,
• Increases your self-awareness, self- reasoning ability
esteem, increases your skills, and fulfills
your aspirations.
• Learning about one’s strengths and Temperament traits- Emotions or feelings that
limitations is one of the most effective determine how we react to people and
ways of knowing oneself. situations.
EX.: assertiveness and the tendency to be
• It is really a struggle to choose between
fretful or easygoing.
things that one really likes and things
that will make one feel part of a
Dynamic traits-These traits underlie our
preferred group of friends.
motivations and drive our behavior.
• Indeed, it is true that the need to belong
Ex: outgoing, enthusiastic, and adaptable to
is crucial at this point and the social
changing environments.
environment greatly influences how
would respond. It takes some time to
think about our self and the challenges
Source traits- These are the stable, and
to the situation.
permanent elements of behavior.
• How They Work (Source vs. Surface
Determining Personality traits Traits)
According to Gordon Allport, a psychologist • Source Traits: Deep, fundamental, less
adopt the uniqueness of each individual. He visible traits (e.g.,
focused on understanding and measuring Introversion/Extraversion, Dominance
personality in terms of traits, which are the • Surface Traits: Observable clusters of
enduring and consistent disposition of human behaviors that result from source traits
beings. He identified around 200 traits that (e.g., someone who is quiet, prefers
guide people’s behavior. solitary activities, and introspects might
be showing traits of Introversion).
• In essence, source traits are the
Types of Traits: "roots" (underlying factors), while
surface traits are the "leaves and
branches" (observable behaviors) that
Common Traits- These are the traits which grow from them.
everyone shares, for example everyone has
same measure of intelligence.
Constitutional traits-Source traits that have Extraversion
biological origins, such as behaviors which
• Who are fun- loving, sociable, active,
arises from too much alcohol consumption.
and passionate about everything they
do.
Environmental-mold traits-Source traits that
have environmental origins such as behaviors • They are not shy nor reserved or
influenced by our friends, work environment, or passive, nor they prefer to be on their
neighborhood. own.
• They tend to be affectionate, jovial,
talkative, and fun-loving.
L.2 DETERMINING PERSONAL • Extraversion refers to the quantity and
TRAITS. intensity of energy directed outward into
The five dimensions as OCEAN the social world.
(According to Raymond Cattell-Psychologist)
O- Openness
C- Conscientiousness Agreeableness
E- Extraversion • Relates to people who are good-
A- Agreeableness natured, trusting, generous, and lenient.
N- Neuroticism
• It is not applicable to people who are
Openness
stingy, ruthless, suspicious, or are
• Open to new things and prefer variety natural antagonists.
versus those who seek more comfort • Described as softhearted, trusting,
and familiarity. generous, lenient, and good-natured.
• People who love to step out of their • Interactions range from being
comfort zone. compassionate to being tough-minded
• They are adventurous, imaginative,
original and liberal as opposed to
conventional, conservative, and Neuroticism
obediently following a routine.
• Is known to be a common quality of
Conscientiousness worries.
• This trait can explain those who are
• Describes the extent to which people are
always anxious, emotional, vulnerable,
orderly, controlled, organized, ambitious,
and self-conscious.
achievement-focused and self -
• People tend to be vulnerable to stress-
disciplined.
related disorders.
• It describes a person’s ability to be rule-
bounded, hardworking, and persevering.
• This is in contrast to someone who is
messy, aimless, disorganized, and lazy.
• It refers to the degree of organization,
persistence, control, and motivation in
goal-directed behavior.
According to Robert McCrae and Paul behavior, attitudes, traits from the
Costa: FIVE-OCEAN forefathers, etc.
Nurture
• rom the environment, your friends,
Openness
people around you, who you interact
• Imaginative or practical most of the time.
• Interested in variety or sticks to a routine
More often, people simply attribute their
• Independent or conforming
personalities to both factors. Current researches on
Conscientiousness personality, however, have come up with the
hypothesis that personality arises from nature
• Organized or disorganized through nurture.
• Careful or careless
In other words, it is neither nature nor nurture, but
• Disciplined or impulse
nature through nurture.
Extraversion
L.3 Importance of Keeping Personal
• Sociable or retiring
• Fun-loving or somber Journal
• Energetic or reserved • Knowing oneself is facilitated by taking
Agreeableness time to pause and reflect about how one
is or has been after some significant
• Soft-hearted or ruthless personal experiences.
• Trusting or suspicious • By writing your thoughts and feelings,
• Helpful or uncooperative one is able to gain more insights into
Neuroticism (Emotional Instability) oneself.
• By regularly sharing about yourself in
• Calm or anxious your personal journal, you will see more
• Secure or insecure clearly the person that you are—your
• Self-satisfied or self-pitying joys and what gives you the high, along
with your sorrows or what brings you
into the “low”.
Origins of Personality: Nature Writing about yourself -helps develop your
via Nurture ability to express yourself since you attain more
clarity and practice in communicating about
how you are.
If people have different personalities and if
these determine how people think and behave,
where does personality come from? Do people Your personal journal can be a resident best
inherit their personality from their parents? Do friend who listens to you and is there with you
people learn it from their environment? always.

Nature-inherited characteristics from their By pouring your innermost thoughts and

family background. feelings in your entries, you will also find
comfort during difficult times when there is no
• biological characteristic includes genetic
one to talk to.
disease, eye color, hair color, skin color,
 Five Areas of Personal Development
Writing journal, likewise helps you clarify what
troubles you or surprisingly, what uplifts you.
Presents you with a creative and productive Physiological development
moment of coming together inside and knowing • Refers to the physical changes in the
yourself more clearly. body as well as the senses and changes
in skills related to movement.
• This is evident especially during the
Developing the Whole Person onset of puberty when there is a notable
body change. (9-14-boys, 8-14-girls)
• As you grow into your teens, enormous
developments happen on many levels or
dimensions of yourself. Psychological development
• Your body changes from basic of height
• Refers to a person’s way of thinking,
and weight to vocal tones, and the
feeling, and behaving.
manifestation of your emerging gender
and sexual characteristics.
How do I really feel?
• Girls may notice increasing breast sizes
How is my emotional well-being?
and begin to have monthly periods.
(handle life’s stresses and adapt to
• Boys further develop their more
change and in difficult times)
masculine features like hair in various
parts of the body and more strong-felt
Or why did you feel nervous when the
hormones particularly in the presence of
new girl arrived in class?
the opposite sex.
As your body undergoes many changes, there Why did you walk out when your parents
is also an expansion of your social network as did not allow you to go to a friend’s
you participate more actively in peer-based party?
activities like hanging out together, going on ---- Due to emotions and feelings ----
gimmicks after school or during weekends, and
having more close friends of your age group.
Emotions- Is a physiological reactions (or state
of awareness) that gives you information about
At the same time, there is a tremendous surge
the world.
of ideas and curiosities about yourself, other
people and the world as you take on more • Usually caused by physical sensations
challenging courses in school. experienced by the
• body as a reaction to a certain external
Through all these significant changes, you feel
stimulus. (Temperature changes, vision,
unfamiliar that tends to confuse how you see
hearing, tasting, smelling.
and feel the world. In all these developments, it
helps to recognize how the different • Make our heart beat faster, bring sweat
physiological, cognitive, psychological, to our palms, make us breathe more
spiritual, and social developments are in deeply.
dynamic relationship to one another. • Dilate our pupils and increase blood
pressure (Four basic Emotions: Happy,
By recognizing such changes, you can Sad, Afraid or Surprised, Angry or
understand and evaluate your thoughts, Disgusted)
feelings, and behaviors in actual life situations.
Feelings • The development of one’s mental
abilities affects how one makes
• Is your conscious awareness of the
decisions, remembers details, and solve
emotion itself.
problems.
• Your mind tells about.
• This aspect of the self is enhanced when
• Are the result from the emotions that
one attends school to study and learn or
were experienced.
engages in other mental endeavors.
Social development
• Is about our inborn capacity to relate to Attitudes
others, to connect, and to feel
belongingness. • Are a person’s thoughts, feelings,
• Refers to the relationships a person has and emotions about another person,
with people. object, idea, behavior, or situation.
• Bonding with mother or a caregiver and • Result of a person’s evaluation of an
later the family. A baby or a child who is experience with another person,
welcomed with joy in the family tends to object, idea, behavior, or situation
have positive views of himself/herself based on his or her values and belief
and others. systems
• Children who are rejected or seen as
3 Components of Attitudes:
burden by their social environment may
develop more negative views of
themselves and other people. Cognitive- Belief and knowledge about
• Such experiences early in life could the object
affect one’s self-concept and Ex: Snakes are dangerous.
predisposition toward other people, all
the way into adolescence and adulthood Affective- Feelings and emotions.
Ex: I am disgusted by snakes.
• As a person grows, there is the desire to
be part of various groups and be
Behavioral- The way the attitude
recognized.
influences behavior
• Difficult interactions could restrict one’s
Ex: Whenever I see snakes, I run as
natural openness toward others, making
fast as I can.
them shy or inhibited individuals who
find difficult to trust and enjoy the
company of family and friends.
Mental abilities
• Social self is enriched by building and
cultivating relationships, being • are developed by engaging in
comfortable in relating with other people intellectual pursuits such as
is essential in social development. studies, work, and in figuring out
• Cognitive development- Refers to a how best to deal with challenges.
person’s intellectual abilities as shown in • The more we study, the more we
his/her thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and learn, and the more we learn, the
values. more we are able to study better.
• Refers to the thinking process of a • Like an unused muscle, mental
person abilities are not exercised
become useless.
Spiritual Development Values
• Is defined as discovering oneself beyond • Are the guiding principles that a person
the soul, spirit, or the “inner essence” lives by.
that is often disregarded or taken for • Are ideas or goals
granted.
Virtues
• It is experiencing a glimpse of the “inner
guide” of one’s beliefs and values for • Are lived values
discovering a meaning in life. • Are dispositions to do good deeds.
• It also to connect Higher Power, (God, • Behavior showing high moral standards
Buddha, Allah, etc.) • How we practice and demonstrate
• If people believe that they can attain
anything they set their mind to, coupled Ex: Honesty, Courage, Compassion, Integrity
with great determination, they will
probably find ways to overcome the
odds. 1. Values are more on theory while
• If people believe that they are left with Virtues are more on reality.
no choice and are stuck in an
unfortunate situation, they will feel 2. Values as a foundation of
helpless and waste time wallowing in principle and good moral being while
misery. Virtues are traits or quality that is
deemed to be morally good.
Beliefs
• Determine how people react to life. 3. Values are goals or ideals or even
opinions, while Virtues are behaviors
• An acceptance that a statement is true
showing high moral standards.
or not that something exists
• Faith
Human action is a result of the interplay of
Values
three variables:
• Are individuals beliefs that motivate
people to act one way or another 1. Person (cognitive, affective, biological
• A person develops values based on factors)
his/her beliefs. 2. Behavior
• Our values affect our belief 3. Environment

EX: If a person believes that respecting others Holistically speaking:

is important, that person values being polite
and considerate. • the way a person sees and interpret
things affects his/her behavior.
• the way one thinks of a situation or
Values and virtues - are often used someone will affect
interchangeably, but they are not exactly the • how he/she would deal with the
same. situation or person.
L.4 DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES IN Eight stages of Development:
MIDDLE AND LATE ADOLESCENCE
Infancy
Adolescence
• enters a world of uncertainty with
• Is that transition period between being a respect to the fulfillment of his/her
child and being an adult. (10-19) needs.
• One may still feel like a kid deep down, • The baby looks up to a reliable caregiver
but sometimes the people around may who is usually the mother.
expect him/her to “grow up” and act
• When this happen regularly, the baby
maturely.
feels secure and is able to develop basic
• Time a person finds conflict in doing trust in a world that cares, non-harming.
what he/she wants to do and doing what (0-1yr)
he/she has to do.
• Otherwise, he/she develops mistrust and
• Times of struggle in deciding how withdrawal, finding the world to be
he/she truly thinks or feels about dangerous and uncaring.
something.
• If he/she harshly attended to, the baby
In the biological sense: develops fear and anxiety which leads to
insecurities when dealing with the world.
Puberty is the usual physiological indicators
that one leaves childhood and enters
adolescence. Early childhood

• One’s body develops more fully. • as the child grows and discovers
• So, does the mind with its different his/her abilities,he/she becomes
intellectual abilities such as thinking, assertive in exercising his/her new
planning, judging, reasoning, reflecting, found skills of walking and handling
organizing, evaluating, and using the things.
imagination. • Sometimes the child can be stubborn
• Sudden growth spurts, adolescents are as he/she will develops more. (birth
stereotyped as being confused, moody, to 8 yrs)
changeable, sometimes quick to • If he/she is encouraged and
irritability and anger, and extra rebellious supported in his/her struggles to
against the traditional norms in the become autonomous and
family or society. independent, he/she grows more
confident and secure in his/her ability
To understand the whole developmental stages
to survive in the world.
of human development, Psychoanalyst Erik
• If overly controlled or criticized, the
Erikson theorized the
child feels shame and doubt and
see himself/herself as inadequate,
and dependent on others with a low
sense of self-esteem.
 Play age is: a troublemaker at home, an obedient
pupil in school, a friend shares much, or
• the child rapidly develops as
a sibling who is quarrelsome.(10-19)
he/she becomes more active in
• The teenager begins to seek a personal
initiating activities like play or
identity that makes sense to him/her
discovering out of curiosity. (0-4
with all his/her many different behaviors.
yrs.)
(13-19 yrs.)
• If he/she embarrassed or
• Failure to establish a sense of identity
punished in his/her initiatives,
can lead to role confusion and having
his/her guilt feelings are evoked
an unsure place in the world.
and sees himself/herself as a
• The painful state of role confusion may
nuisance or a burden.
lead the adolescent to experiment with
• His/her natural creativity may also
possible sources of more immediate
be constricted.
security or sense of belonging such as a
• Some guilt is needed to develop
barkada or an organization, and may be
one’s conscience and sense of even alcohol, smoking, or drugs.
control, it should be balanced by
providing opportunities for the
child to manifest his/her Young Adulthood
initiative, make his/her own
• the struggle for young adult is one of
decisions, and
developing closer relationship that
enjoy leading others.
could lead to intimacy and the
possibilities of shared care, safety,
and commitment. (18-22, 18-25)
School age
• Or it could lead to fear of being with
• the young pupil learns many new others in case, and think of
knowledge and skills. His/her social isolation.
world expands beyond the family to • He/she finds out how vulnerable or
include his/her playmates. (6-12) unattractive he/she is and the young
• In struggling to learn more and get along adult may squelch his/her need for
with peers, he/she can be industrious closeness, become anxious about
and gain a sense of competence with commitment, and sadly choose to be
enough recognition from his/her a loner unable to enjoy the virtue of
authority figures. Love.
• If the tasks are too demanding for
his/her abilities, or when he/she fails too
Middle adulthood
often and ridiculed in the process,
he/she can instead develop a sense of • the challenge is to be
inferiority. generative/productive that is, to find a
career, to have a lifetime partner and
family, or have vocation that enables
one to become meaningful part of a
Adolescence
bigger world beyond just oneself. (35-
• is a major stage of development as the 64)
child needs to know the roles he/she will • In fulfilling the developmental tasks, one
assume as an adult. He/she is feels empowered-making a difference by
confronted with questions of who he/she generating helpful products or services
 to the world. Otherwise, one can universal developmental stages or inevitable
become stagnant, unproductive, and childhood conflicts.
feel empty.
Horney attributed social and cultural
conditions, most especially early childhood
Old age experiences, to be largely responsible for the
formation of one’s personality. She believed
• The senior citizens such as
that social relationship between a child and
grandparents or the elderly, the
his/her parents is the key factor.
challenge is to find satisfaction in a life
that has been lived fruitfully and That social and cultural conditions,
provides a sense of accomplishing especially childhood experiences, are largely
worthwhile goals in life.(65 until death) responsible for shaping personality.
• When these are absent, one faces the
end of life with despair, hopelessness, The present situation of a certain person is
and depression. shaped by his/her past.
• Thus, success in meeting this final A difficult childhood is largely responsible for
developmental task leads to the virtue of abnormal personality development.
wisdom which empowers one to look
back on his/her life with a peaceful
sense of meaning and openness to It is the sum total of early childhood
death with hope. experiences and relationships that shapes
one’s personality. Later experiences
may have an effect on personality as well, but
Erikson - believed that these eight stages are childhood experiences are mainly responsible.
appropriate to all cultures, all people, whether
from past or present generations. It is important Children who grow up in a harsh environment
to remember that the age definition of filled with fear, develop strategies for dealing
adolescence is not always constant since some with threatening people or situations. They
people mature ahead of others, while some come up with a way to “survive” these feelings
experience a delay in maturity for various when dealing with others. In response to
reasons such as family upbringing and anxiety.
inherited traits.

Three stages of Adolescence:

1) Early Adolescence- between the ages
of 10-13 years.
2) Middle Adolescence-between the ages
of 14-16 years.
3) Late Adolescence-between the ages of
17-20 years.

A Socio-Cultural View of Knowing

Oneself: Karen Horney

In contrast with Erikson, Karen Horney did not

believe in
Horney theorized three interaction styles
that individuals use to cope:

Moving towards people

• Characterized by compliance.
• These people become very dependent
on others, and seek affection,
acceptance, and approval.
• They create a friendly relationship with
the outside world.
Moving against people
• Emphasizes hostility and aggression.
• People with this interaction style may
tend to bully others, take advantage of
others, or push people around.
Moving away from people
• highlights isolation.
• People who move away from others
desire privacy, independence and self-
sufficiency.
Horney describes two views of the self:

Real self
• is a person’s actual and current being,
the mix of a person’s strategies,
strivings, strengths, and weaknesses

Ideal self
• when under a problematic environment,
the ideal self appears, such that it
substitutes the place of the real self
when the real self does not receive
positive praise from significant others.
• an imagined fantasy that promises a
sense of positive identity, thus it is called
the “impossible self”.