LESSON 4: THE SELF FROM

THE PERSPECTIVE OF
PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is the field of the social sciences that
deals with the description, explanation, prediction and
control of behavior (Ciccarelli and Meyer, 2006).

This field believes that the world of material things

including people exists independently of the perceiving
human mind.

The study of human behavior connects to the concept

of the self. Psychologists provided their own
explanations of the self for a better understanding of
the individual and their respective behavior.
 An American Philosopher and
Psychologist

A professor of psychologist and

philosophy at Harvard University
and known as the greatest
pragmatist

He is also known for his Theory

of the Self

He is the author of the book

titled “The Principles of Psychology
William James where his theory was explained
 FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF
HUMAN THOUGHTS
1. All human thoughts are owned by some personal
self.
2. All thoughts are constantly changing or 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
independent of consciousness itself.
5. Consciousness can focus on particular objects and
not others.
As mentioned in the list of thought characteristics
above, thoughts are associated with the existence of
the self.
 THE “ME” AND THE “I”
James believes that the self is composed of two parts:
the ME self and the I self.

The ME self can be considered as a separate object or

individual that the person refers to when discussing or
describing their personal experience.

For example:
The gifts were sent to me.
The person is smiling at me.
 THE “ME” AND THE “I”
The Me self appears to the empirical ME. The ME self
is further divided into three components namely: the
material self, the social self, and the spiritual self.

1. The Material self consist of the things or objects that

belong to the person or entities that belongs to the
person. Remember, that the body is the core material
of the self and everything that is attached to it is
associated and identifies the person.
2. The Social self refers to who the person is in the
particular social situation. Change in behavior can be a
result form the different social situation. The person
chooses the self that would smoothly adapt or allow
him to fit in social situation.
 THE “ME” AND THE “I”
The Me self appears to the empirical ME. The ME self
is further divided into three components namely: the
material self, the social self, and the spiritual self.

3. The Spiritual self refers to the self that is more

concrete or permanent compared to the material and
social selves. It is more subjective and intimate as it
deals with the aspects of individual personality, values,
and morals that are usually constant. The spiritual self
is always engaging in the process of introspection (self-
observation).
 THE “ME” AND THE “I”
James believes that the self is composed of two parts:
the ME self and the I self.

The I self is the part that knows and recognizes who

they are and what they have done.

For example:
I borrowed the book from the library.
I won the game.
 THE “ME” AND THE “I”
The I self is called the Pure Ego. It is similar to
person’s soul or mind and the identity. The
Pure ego takes into account the past, present,
and the future selves and individual. This
perception of identity arises from a continuous
stream of human consciousness.
Other Selves in Psychology
 THE GLOBAL SELF
It represents the overall value that a person
places upon himself that affects his views and
feelings about himself. It is inevitable for a
person to be born and to grow up in the presence
of other people. The groups of people where a
person choose to interacts that strongly
influence him. He turns to them for support and
seeks for his approval in the journey of finding
himself. His global self is the product of all
experiences that he had in the society which
account for the kind of person he is.
 An American Psychiatrist and a
Professor

He was among those who

developed the Family Therapy and
Systematic Therapy

He came up with the concept

of differentiated self based on
his observation of the family

In his theory, he observed that

there are two forces affecting the
person; the first is togetherness and
Murray Bowen the second is individuality
 THE DIFFERENTIATED
It SELF
has the ability to separate feelings and
thoughts, though it still affected by the
presence of others. The person recognizes that
the he has his own personality and therefore
endowed with unique characteristics not
dependent to the opinion of other people. With this
knowledge he realizes that for him to attain self-
fulfillment, he should separate himself from other
group to live and fulfill his destiny.
The differentiated self enables the person to
develop and sustain his unique personality, make
his own choices and accept his responsibility for
his behavior without interrupting the emotional
connection with his family and friends.
 An American Psychologist

He is known for his Person

Centered Theory

He stated that the term self-

concept is used to refer to how a
person thinks about or perceives
himself

There are two types of self-

concept: the real self-concept and
the ideal self-concept
Carl Rogers
 THE REAL AND THE
IDEAL SELF-CONCEPT
The real self-concept refers to all information
and perception the person about himself. The first
question that can be answered is “Who am I?”

The ideal self-concept refers to the idealized

view carried by experiences, standards, and
demands of society. The ideal self is what a person
aims for himself to be. The first question that can
be answered is “What do I want to be?”
What is most important between this two
types of self-concept?
Rogers stated that there should be
congruence between the real self and the ideal
self in order for the person to be happy and be
satisfied in life.

If the ideal self is different from the real self this

would a lead a person to experience dissatisfaction
and may see himself as a failure (Feist & Feist,
2008).
What is most important between this two
types of self-concept?
According to Self-Discrepancy theory of
Higgins (1987) stated that the people use
internalized standards which they compare
themselves. These are called self-guides which
provides directions for how a person should
present himself. Self-discrepancy arises when the
self is found to be deviating from these guides and
may lead to emotional discomfort.
 MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED
SELVES
The Multiple Selves Theory suggest that there
exists in the individual different aspects of the self.
It makes sense that the self is a whole made up of
parts. These parts of the self may manifest
themselves when situations calls for it. The
psychologically healthy individual can make sense
of the sometimes confusing and conflicting aspects
of themselves to be integrated into a single or
unified self.
 MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED
SELVES
A unified being is essentially connected to
consciousness, awareness and agency. To be
considered as well adjusted person, should be
able to deal with and accept complexities and the
perceived unfairness that exist in life. They can
manifest content with present state of affairs and
continue to adjust, adapt, evolve and survive as an
individual with an integrated, unified multiple
selves.
 An English pediatrician and
psychoanalyst

He looked into the significance

of play and child development.

It is also through play where he

observed children/people as
having true and false selves

D.W. Winnicot
 TRUE AND FALSE SELVES

The true self in individuals is one in which self

is seen as creative, spontaneously experiencing
each day of lives, appreciating being alive, real,
integrated and connected to the whole existence. It
is further characterized by a high level of
awareness in the person of who he is, what he is
capable of and does not afraid to let other knows
know his weakness and imperfections.
 TRUE AND FALSE SELVES

The false self may be manifested as a form of

defense. It is the mask that hides the true person
for fear of rejection and failure. It arises when the
person is forced to comply with existing social
norms and standards. At times false selves enable
the person to form superficial but productive social
relationships.
True and false selves are present in all
individuals. For the two exist in a healthy
individual, they should be functional for the
advantage of both the person himself and the
society.
 An American psychologist

He is the proponent of The

Social Cognitive Theory

He also believes that core of

learning is through observation

He believes that the human

agency is the essence of being a
human

The human undergoes with

Triardic Reciprocal Causation
Albert Bandura Paradigm
 FEATURES OF HUMAN
AGENCY
In the Social Cognitive Theory, Bandura discusses
the four features of human agency:
1. Intentionality refers to the actions
performed by the person intentionally or with full
awareness of his behavior. This feature involves
planning with awareness of the possible
consequences of actions.
2. Forethought refers to the person’s
anticipation of likely outcomes of his behavior
 FEATURES OF HUMAN
AGENCY
In the Social Cognitive Theory, Bandura discusses
the four features of human agency:
3. Self-Reactiveness refers to the process in
which the person is motivated and as he observes
his progress in achieving his goals.
4. Self- Reflectiveness refers to the person
looking inward and evaluating his motivations,
values, life goals, and other people’s effect on him.
An important aspect of self-reflectiveness is self-
efficacy which is the person’s belief that he is
capable of behavior that will produce the desired
positive results.
 SELF-REGULATION
It allows the person to set goals that are better and
higher than the former, challenging his capabilities to
become wiser and self-actualized individual (Feist &
Feist, 2008).
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