Psychological

Perspective of the Self

This chapter outlines the psychological theories that
influence the way people understand the self and the
growth process to live to the full. Theories of the self
enables individuals to identify which characteristics are
related to each other. They provide the individual with a
sense of identity and a source of orientation to the
world.
GAMIAO, C.U. 1
“Understanding of the SELF is highest when
the different parts of the self become
integrative”.

“An important aspect of understanding the

self is SELF-AWARENESS”. Carl Rogers

Self-awareness – is how much an adolescent is

aware of his or her own psychological make-up,
what makes him or her unique as a person, as well
as his strengths and weaknesses.
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 William James’ Concept of Self:
The Me-self and the I-self

• William James suggests that the self is

divided into two categories:
The “I-self” – refers to the self that knows
who he or she is.
-- the thinking self.
-- reflects the soul of a person
or what is now thought of as
the mind and is called the
pure ego. 3
Mead and Cooler
The “Me-self” – the empirical self.
-- refers to describing the
person’s personal
experiences and further
divided into sub-
categories:
a. material self
b. social self
c. spiritual self

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a. Material self – consists of things that
belong to a person such as the body,
family, clothes, money, house etc. that
contributes to one’s image.

b. Social self – refers to who and how a

person acts on social situations. James
believed that people have different social
selves depending on social situations.

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c. Spiritual self – refers to the most intimate
and important part of the self that
includes the person’s purpose, core
values, conscience, and moral behavior.
James believed that the path to
understanding the spiritual self requires
introspection.

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 Carl Rogers’ Self Theory:
Real and Ideal Self

Self concept – refers to the image of oneself.

Self – is a flexible and changing perception of

personal identity.
-- the center of experience.

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• Rogers suggests that the self develops from
interactions with significant people and
awareness of one’s own characteristics and
level of functioning.

• According to Rogers, human beings are

always striving for self-fulfillment, or self-
actualization. When the needs of the self
are denied, severe anxiety may result.

• Central to achieving self-actualization is the

development of self-concept.
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• Rogers suggests that there are two
components of self-concept:
The real self – consists of all the ideas,
including the awareness of ‘what I am’
and ‘what I can do’.
The ideal self – is the person’s conception
of what one should be or wanted to be
that includes one’s goals and ambitions
in life.

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The closer the ideal self to the real self, the more
fulfilled and happy the individual becomes.

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When the ideal self is far from the real self, the
person becomes unhappy and dissatisfied.

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 Multiple Versus Unified Self, True
Versus False Self

• The construction of multiple selves varies

across different roles and relationships.
Coping with different selves constitutes a
formidable task among adolescents. These
challenges contribute heavily to the young
person’s struggle for a unified self.

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• Given the enormous challenges of self-
integration, it is important that adolescents
are supported in their effort to create a
consistent, coherent, or unified theory of
the self.

• Winnicott has found that the self is

composed of the true self and the false self.
• The function of the false self is to hide and
protect the true self.

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• Researchers have found that adolescents
perceptions of themselves can change
depending on situations. For instance,
adolescents are more likely to show their
false self during dating situations and are
likely to show their true self when they are
with their family and close friends. In other
words, adolescents display a false self to
impress others.

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• Adolescents develop different selves in
different relational contexts.

• The self can change depending on whether

the adolescents are with their parents,
teachers, or friends.

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 The Self as Proactive and Agentic

• Albert Bandura points out that humans have

the ability to act and make things happen.

• In his theory of the self, people are viewed

as proactive agents of experiences.

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• Agency embodies the endowments, belief
systems, self-regulatory capabilities and
distributed structures and functions through
which personal influence is exercised, rather
than residing as a discrete entity.

• The core features of agency enable people

to play a part in their self-development,
adaptation, and self-renewal with changing
times.

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• The main agentic features of human agency
are:
Intentionality – refers to acts done
intentionally. Intentions center on plans
of action. It would require omniscience
to anticipate every outcome.
Forethought – enables the person to
anticipate the likely consequences of
prospective actions. Through the
exercise of forethought, people are
guided in their actions in anticipation of
future events. 18
Self-reactiveness – involves making
choices and choosing appropriate
courses of action as well as motivating
and regulating their execution.
Self-reflectiveness – gives the person the
ability to reflect upon oneself and the
adequacy of one’s thoughts and
actions. People are not only agents of
action but self-examiners of their own
functioning.

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• Efficacy beliefs are the foundation of human
agency.

Self-efficacy – refers to the individual’s

belief that he or she is capable to
perform a task. It influences whether
people think pessimistically or
optimistically and in ways that are
self-enhancing or self-hindering.

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• Efficacy beliefs also play a central role in
self-regulation.

Self-regulation – is the ability to control

one’s behavior without having to rely
on others for help.

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 The Self as the Central Archetype

Archetype – is the predisposition of

individuals to respond to the world.
It represents the hidden
potentialities of the psyche, or total
personality.
• The psyche continues to develop
throughout life, but the it starts to show a
definite form and content during
adolescence. 22
• According to Jung, archetypes reside in the
personal unconscious (forgotten
experiences) that is common to all human
beings, known as the collective unconscious.

• Four major archetypes:

Persona – refers to social roles that
individuals present to others.
Shadow – refers to the repressed thoughts
that are unacceptable. This archetype
is often considered as the dark side of
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the psyche.
 Anima/Animus – The anima is the
feminine side of the male psyche. The
animus is the masculine side of the
female psyche.

Self – is the central archetype that unites

all parts of the psyche.

Ego – is the individual’s conscious perception of

the self.

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 Sigmund Freud’s Construction of Self
and Personality

• According to Freud, the dynamic forces

within the self are many and in inevitable
conflict.
• Three structures of the personality:
Id – refers to the “core of our being” that
includes the instincts and drives that
motivate individuals as well as the
genetic inheritance and reflexes and
capacities to respond. 25
 Ego – refers to the “I” and works on the
reality principle, controls the id, and
can delay pleasure. The ego can
conform with existing societal
consideration.
Superego – refers to the “conscience” and
“moral judge” of conduct. Violation of
rules lead to guilt feelings. It strives for
perfection rather than pleasure.
• The id, ego, and superego are often in
conflict with each other.
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 Ego strength – refers to the ego’s ability to
resolve the conflict between the three
structures.

• If this constant state of conflict is

unresolved, personality problems may arise.

• In Freud’s view, the id, ego, and superego

develop in a series of stages.

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• The psychosexual stages of development
progresses through five stages. Each of the
stage is associated with conflicts that the
individual must resolved so that he or she
can successfully forward to the next stage.

• Freud also believed that each stage has

needs and dissatisfaction of needs may
result in fixation which could have lasting
negative effects on personality.
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Oral Stage – (0 to 1 year old) During this
stage, babies derive pleasure from oral
activities like sucking and biting.
-- Overindulgence of the oral
needs may lead to oral incorporative
personality disorder such as overeating,
smoking, and alcoholism.
-- Dissatisfaction may lead to
oral aggressive personality disorder
such as sarcasm and tactlessness.

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Anal Stage – (2 year old) During this
stage, the child derives pleasure from
the elimination of body wastes.
Through toilet training, the child learns
the basic rules of society.
-- Anal fixations can lead to
anal retentive personality disorder such
as obsession with cleanliness.
-- Or Anal expulsion personality
disorder such as clumsiness.

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Phallic Stage – (3 to 6 year old) Children
during this stage derive pleasure from
examining, touching, fondling, or
displaying their genitals, or others.
-- These behaviors are likely
motivated by curiosity on the
differences between the anatomy of
man and woman.
-- Sex curiosity will remain high
during the elementary years and
children tend to ask questions with
regard to anatomical structures, sex,
and how babies are made. 32
 -- During this stage, parents
and teachers need to properly educate
the children about sexuality.
-- Fixations at this stage may
lead to abnormal sex behaviors in later
life.

Latency Stage – (7 to 12 year old) At this

stage, sexual energy is repressed
because children become busy with
school.

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Genital Stage – (adolescence to
adulthood) During this stage, pleasure
is again derived from the genital area
and individuals seek to satisfy their
sexual drives from sexual relationships.
-- Sexual problems may
result as a consequence of
inappropriate sex behaviors.

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 The Role of Erik Erikson’s Theory in
Understanding the Self

• Adolescence stage is a period of identity

development.
• Identity formation is usually viewed as a
person as a process that requires
adolescents to distance themselves from the
strong expectations and definitions
imposed by parents and other family
members.
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• To achieve an individual identity, one must
create a vision of the self that is authentic,
that is, a sense of having hold of one’s
destiny in an effort to reach goals that are
personally meaningful.
• Erikson’s theory proposes that individuals
go through eight psychosocial stages of
development.

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• Erikson gave an emphasis on the
development of the ego. It is the positive
force that contributes to identity formation
and lay the foundation for certain strengths
and virtues in life.
• Each stage consists of developmental tasks
that one needs to accomplish in order to
develop successfully.
• During each stage, the person also
experiences life crisis which could have
negative consequences if not properly
resolved. 37
Trust versus Mistrust
-- ( 1st year of life)
-- The child will develop trust if properly
cared for.
-- If the child is not well-cared, mistrust
is likely to develop.
Autonomy versus Shame & Doubt
-- ( 1 – 3 years of life)
-- Autonomy means independence of
thought and confidence to think
and act for oneself.
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-- Children begin to assert their
independence during this stage.
-- If parents allow their children to explore,
the children will become more
confident and secure in their own
abilities.
-- If children are overly protected, may
become overly dependent on their
parents and feel a sense of shame or
doubt their own abilities.
-- This stage has important implications for
the development of independence and
identity during adolescence. 39
Initiative versus Guilt
-- ( 3 to 5 years of life)
-- During this period, developing a
sense of responsibility among
children develops initiative.
-- A child who is made to feel
irresponsible might develop guilt
feelings.

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Industry versus Inferiority
-- ( elementary years)
-- During this stage, children face the
task of developing knowledge and
skills usually taught in schools.
-- When children are encouraged in
their efforts, they will develop
sense of industry.
-- However, children who receive little
or no encouragement from
parents and teachers, will doubt
their own abilities and likely to
develop inferiority. 41
Identity Formation versus Identity
Confusion
-- ( adolescence stage)
-- At this stage, adolescents face the
task of finding out who they are,
what they are, what they want in
life.
-- They are confronted with many roles
and responsibilities.
-- If parents provide proper support,
adolescents will develop positive
identity.
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Intimacy versus Isolation
-- ( early adulthood)
-- During this stage, it is vital that
people develop intimate
relationship with others.
-- Those who are successful at this
stage, will form relationships that
are stable and successful.
-- An inability to develop intimate
relationships during this stage,
will lead to mistrust and isolation.
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Generativity versus Stagnation
-- ( middle adulthood)
-- Generativity involves a person’s
desire to contribute to world by
teaching, leading, and guiding the
next generation and doing
activities that will benefit the
community.
-- Those who fail to attain generativity
will feel worthless.

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Integrity versus Despair
-- ( old age)
-- Focused on reflection of life.
-- At this stage, individuals reflect on
the important events of their
lives.
-- If they are satisfied and feel proud of
their accomplishments, they will
feel a sense of integrity.
-- Those who are unsuccessful during
this stage will feel that their life
has been wasted and will
experience regrets and despair. 45