PSYCHOANALYSIS,

RATIONAL CHOICE,
INSTITUTIONALISM,
FEMINIST THEORY,
HERMENEUTICAL PHENOMENOLOGY
&
HUMAN ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM
DISS
HUMSS
 PSYCHOANALYSIS
A school of thought developed by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis refers to a theory of the
minds and its direct connection to personality and behaviour. The basic premise of psychoanalysis is
that the human mind has an unconscious state. There are thoughts, memories, motions, and feelings
that are hidden from a person’s conscious mind, which, without him or her knowing, affects the way
he or she thinks, feels, and acts. There are also drives and desires in a person’s unconscious mind
that influence his or her view of the world and how he or she decides to go about his or her daily life.
Freud’s theory states that most unconscious desires originate from childhood experiences that
people have long forgotten or repressed. Although repressed and buries deep within a person’s
thoughts, these desires and urges propel one to function in society. The practice of psychoanalysis
comes into play when these unconscious desires hinder the individual to function in society.
Psychoanalytic practice is the method by which the troubling unconscious material, such as memories
and desires, is brought to the level of the conscious mind so that the individual could better
understand himself or herself better.
Specifically, Freud developed a personality theory called psychosexual development of
personality, which posits that at different stages of growth, the individual derives pleasure from
different parts of the body- thus the term psychosexual, relating to pleasure and the human body.
The central idea in this theory is how the mind relates to the body and the pleasure derived from the
activities of the body. An important term in this personality theory is called libido, which is defined as
a natural mental energy that operates the mechanisms of the mind. For Freud, an undressed fixation
in any stage of psychosexual development results in a personality disorder that could manifest later
in adult life.

The first stage is the oral stage, which manifests from birth to approximately 18 months of
age. During this period, the child is totally dependent on others to provide for his or her needs.
Pleasure is derived from the use of the mouth in activities such as sucking, chewing, and biting. The
personality developed in this stage is dependence.
The second stage is anal stage, which begins at 18 months and lasts until 3 years when the
child is being toilet-trained. The personality developed in this stage is independence, self-control, and
sense of accomplishment.
The third stage is the phallic stage, which takes place from 3-6 years of age. During this
period, the child develops an attraction to their parent of the opposite sex and sees a jealous and
rivalrous relationship with his or her parent of the same sex. This is what Freud termed as Oedipus
complex for boys and Electra complex for girls.
The fourth stage is the latency stage, which is manifested from 6-12 years of age. Personality
traits developed in this stage are associated with social skills and social interactions.
Finally, the fifth stage is the genital stage. This stage manifests from 12 years old onwards, or
from puberty to adulthood. The personality developed in this stage is sexual maturity.

Key Concept in Psychoanalysis

Id, Ego, Superego

Freud’s psychoanalytic personality theory provides three levels of awareness: conscious,
preconscious, and unconscious. The conscious level of the mind is the accessible information,
memories, and thoughts that an individual has. The preconscious is the level where accessible and
retrievable information are situated, but are not currently in the conscious level. The unconscious is
the inaccessible memories, thoughts, emotions, and feelings that are most populated by childhood
events. The popular saying “You only see the tip of the iceberg”, is a suitable analogy for the three
levels of the mind. The tip is the conscious level, the part right below the sea line is the preconscious,
and the major portion beneath the sea is the unconscious.

The id, ego, and superego are the three parts that are constitutive of personality that occupy
these three levels of the mind.

RATIONAL CHOICE
 The rational choice theory explains that human action and behaviour are products of choice.
Individuals rationalize their situation by processing between the most beneficial choice and the lesser
individual cost. In the rational choice theory, cost-benefit analysis is always performed in every given situation
and is considered an instinctual response of every human, Cost something disadvantageous to or what is lost
by an individual, while benefit is that which is gained by or advantageous to the individual after making the
choice. Some of the questions commonly asked during a cost-benefit analysis are the following:
● Will this benefit me?
● How will this benefit me?
● What will benefit me most?
● How far am I willing to negotiate?
● What will I have to sacrifice?
● How much will it cost me?

For example, Sebastian has two classmates whom he wants to be friends with: Ethan, a social outcast
but has the newest action game, and Alyster, the most popular in the class but does not like to play action
games. Sebastian’s first level of cost-benefit analysis is choosing between having the chance to play the
newest action game or not. His second level of cost-level analysis is choosing whether he would like to be
associated with a social outcast or with the most popular student in class. The rational choice for Sebastian
would then be dependent on which is more important to him- to play the game or to be associated with the
popular crowd. This example provides the basic principle of rational choice theory wherein preference plays an
important role in decision-making, while the individual rationalizes the burdens and benefits of the available
choices. This example also highlights the basic assumptions of rational choice theory which are the following:
1. Individuals act purely on self-interest
2. Individuals understand their interests enough to rationally categorize them according to what they
most prefer
3. Preferences are transitive in nature. This means that choices have a hierarchical order and that the
highest preference will always be favoured.

A famous example of rational choice theory is the prisoner’s dilemma. Two recently released convicts
committed a crime however, investigators of the case lack sufficient evidence to prove their guilt. As a
scheme, the investigators had the two suspects held in separate rooms where they were told that if they told
on the other, they would be freed. This condition allows one of them to go free, while the other faces
incarcerations. Since both will think that the one is already betraying the other, both would indeed decide to
betray the other, causing both of them to be incarcerated. This example proves that individual self-interest is
heavily in the process of choice making.
The underlying structure of the rational choice theory is the incentive to do what is beneficial to all;
nevertheless, what weighs more heavily is the incentive to do what is beneficial to the individual. This
structure best explains how this theory readily applies to social phenomena and interactions.

Key Concept in Rational Choice Theory

Social Consequence or Scarcity-based Decision

Humanity’s unlimited want and perpetual desires drove civilizations to either their prominence or
destruction. With natural resources being finite and the requirement of human ambition unending, the most
rational choice is to conserve the limited resources and share these with each other. However, the problem is
that individuals only seek self-interest and would end up deciding what benefits them the most.
Such is the structure of human nature when being described in the context or rational choice theory.
The tragedy of the commons further elaborates this structure. The tragedy of the commons is a scenario
wherein a common piece of land is shared for grazing by a community. Because the grass that grows on the
land is limited, farmers need to limit their herd when grazing so that the land could keep up with the
requirements of the community. The tragedy in this scenario starts when a farmer lets his herd graze more
than what is allotted, thinking that such action would provide him with better profits. If the farmers would all
think the same, the land will eventually become useless to the community. When the land is already unusable,
the farmer would just resort to letting his herd graze more because after all, there will be nothing left.
Plato discussed in his The Republic this very notion of exploitation by the unchecked freedoms of
people. Without justice, people would consume as much as they like and would eventually deplete the
resources common to all. Thomas Hobbes philosophized that the only thing that could prevent the pillaging of
public or common goods is the absolute monarch, which he calls Leviathan.

INSTITUTIONALISM
 In order to understand institutionalism, it is important to first define institution in this
theoretical perspective. Institutions are patterns, routines, norms, rules, and schemes that govern
and direct social thought and action. Institutionalism, therefore, is an approach that aims to
understand and analyse how actions, thought, and meanings penetrate into the different types of
institutionalism, but their common concern is to find out the effects of these institutions and
determine how these affect the manner by which the society functions. Institutionalism claims that
institutions persist because of the reason that they came about in the first place: social legitimacy
and survival. An institution such as education persists because a person would have a bleak future
without it, being educated means having the potential to ascend social hierarchies and organisational
structures, which in turn, affect the economic prosperity of the person and survival in a capitalist
market.
Institutions provide social legitimacy and survival through isomorphism. Isomorphism refers to
the similarity in form, shape, or structure. Institutions arise, change, and persist due to their
regulative, normative, and cognitive functions. These functions are isomorphic in nature as they
adopt in form, shape, or structure to provide social legitimacy, survival, or both.
The regulative function operates through coercive isomorphism, which places value on
expediency as an effect of compliance. Change either happens or not depending on external factors
such as rules and laws. The normative function operates through normative isomorphism, which
places value on complying with social obligation. Change either happens or not depending on
external factors mimetic isomorphism, which places value on what is being complied with by others.
Change either happens or not depending on internal factors such as uncertainty and prevalence of
others’ performance.
Institutionalism, as its core, studies how institutions achieve balance and stability as they
manipulate their different regulative normative, and cognitive functions the dynamics that happen
when these three functions try to meet or comply with environmental and organizational structures is
where institutionalism as a theory presents itself as a model for research analysis.

Key Concepts in Institutionalism

Formal and Informal Institutions

Formal and Informal institutions can be distinguished by what rules, practices, and norms they
derive authority from. Formal institutions codify rules, policies, and norms that are considered official,
originating form state laws, government, or organization. Informal institutions, on the other hand,
are equally known rules and norms but are not commonly written down. Informal institutions are
social practices that have been commonly viewed as acceptable and are more persistent than codifies
laws like that of formal institutions.
One aspect of institutionalism studies how formal and informal institutions affect the very
society that created them and how this society behaves to either conform to or break established
rules. Institutionalism also studies conflict or congruence between formal and informal institutions.

Institutional Actors
Institutional actors refer to the people who make up society, whose actions are controlled and
regulated by institutions. Institutional actors can be an individual, a group, an organization, or a
government that creates or follows rules. However, it must be noted that the term “institutional
actors” does not simply denote people or organizations in the perspective, individually, identity, and
self. It even represents interactions of multiple entities-or in game theory, players- and is often
referred to as the constellation of actors.
In political science, institutional actors and their relationship with one another is often the
subject of research. Local and international laws, and economic gain and fluctuations together with
historical relationships, are but some of the elements that are used in political institutionalism.
The rigid line that institutions provide us also constraints our ability for creativity, individuality,
spontaneity, and even reasoning. Institutions become constraints as they predetermine actions,
making them predictable, assumed, and expected.

FEMINISM
 Feminism studies gender and its relation to power, and the dynamics these two concepts
play out in economics, politics, sexuality, race, and nationality, among others. It is both a sociological
perspective and a philosophy that aims to promote gender equality, social justice, and women’s
rights. However, the primary concern that feminism tiers to address is the oppression of women in
society and the patriarchal structure of most societies.
Patriarchy, in its most basic sense, is a social organization wherein the father or eldest male
heads a society or government. To illustrate this, one only has to look at the traditional Filipino family
structure or of most societies for that matter. The head of the family is the father, and the mother is
subordinate to the decisions of the father. In some contexts, however, patriarchs construct a social
structure where men are seen as more powerful than women. In labour and economics, for example,
the father goes to his job everyday while the mother is left at home to take care of the children. In
the past, when women did find opportunities to leave the house and gain employment, the jobs
offered to them were limited to being a secretary or nurse. Even when women’s role started being
considered in the workforce, they were still subjected as subordinates to men. The popular saying
“Women are best left in the kitchen” is not a pronouncement of a woman as productive only in
household work. This is but one struggle that feminism undertook in its advocacy for women.
Feminism developed in three waves. Each movement addressed a particular issue, which
women struggled with at that time, thus:
1. The first wave of feminism took place during the 19 th and early 20th centuries, which
challenged the legal issue concerning women. Women at that time surrendered their
properties to their husbands, were not allowed to hold public office, and were not given the
rights of suffrage. It was only during the 1920s that women first voted in America. Women
also advocated their right to choose their own profession. When World War I went in full
swing, men were sent to battlefields, leaving the women to take factory jobs. This
development showed that women were as productive as men in the workforce.

2. The second wave of feminism began during the 1960s up to 1990s and was born out of the
civil rights’ movement. The primary issues that this movement tries to address was sexual
equality and reproductive rights. Unlike the first wave movement, the second wave movement
encompassed women of all economic classes, races, and nationalities. With Marxism
incorporated in feminism, women were seen as a social class fighting a social conflict. The
second wave thus included all women in its advocacy and not just white women of the middle
class. This advocacy showed that race, gender, and colour were struggles that were
interrelated in society. The second wave also distinguished sex (biological) from gender (social
construct). Finally, this movement saw “feminine” objects such as bras, lipsticks, and high
heels, as forms of male oppression and an objectification of women was most evident in
beauty pageants, parodied the Miss America pageant and crowned a sheep as the title holder.

3. The third wave of feminism began in the 1980s and continues until today. Feminists from
the third wave do not consider “feminine” objects as artefacts of male oppression, but as tools
to enrich their femininity. For the movers from putting on makeup just to be treated as equals.
Women continuously advocate for their right to individuality in whatever form or shape. This
advocacy rues the blame-the-victim practice in which sexually harassed women are treated as
sex objects and are actually blames because of what they wear and because they put on
makeup.

Key concepts in Feminism

Gender Ideology
Gender ideology is a social belief that supports gender inequality. It is a social divide that
establishes perceived roles for men and women, and relegating them to specific roles. Some gender
ideologies include women staying at home while men go to work, and women being more delicate,
emotional, and nurturing compared to men who are more aggressive, assertive and dominant.
Gender inequality is the actualization or realization of gender ideology, there’s gender
inequality when the perceived role of women's subordination to men reflects hiring procedures and
requirements; for example, a secretarial post accepting only female applicants. Salaries are also
unequal when it comes to men and women. For instance, a research on gender pay gap revealed
that women in the U.S receive less than men even if they have the same position and job title.
Gender ideology is also actualized in how toys are determined for children. Typically, action
figures are supposed to be played by boys and dolls are to be played by girls. A boy playing with a
doll is ridiculed as being gay, while girl playing action figures is teased as a lesbian. It is evident that
at this early stage of development, children’s perception of gender roles are already being established
and affirmed. The gender ideology in children’s play evolves in adulthood as gender bias and
prejudices, which further support inequality.

Hermeneutical Phenomenology

Hermeneutical Phenomenology is a philosophy of and a method for interpreting human

experiences as a means to understand the question of what it is to be human. This philosophy was
developed by Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) as a continuation and divergence from phenomenology,
the philosophy developed by his mentor and colleague, Edmund Husserl (1859-1938). Hermeneutical
phenomenology is sometimes referred to as interpretative phenomenology or existential
phenomenology, while the phenomenology developed by Husserl is sometimes referred to as
descriptive phenomenology or pure phenomenology. In order to understand the fundamental
similarities and differences of both ideas, let us first examine Husserl’s phenomenology.
Phenomenology as developed by Husserl is an inquiry on how the human mind can grasp the
true nature of things as experienced in the world. It is a question of how a thorough examination of
experiences of the world can provide a deeper insight and perception of the world. In order to
answer thin inquiry, Husserl’s ideas revolved around descriptions—by how descriptions are formed
and how descriptions can form truths and experiences. Husserl suggested that prejudgments,
prejudices, and biases must first be removed in order to grasp the essential nature of things. Husserl
hoped that a thing would reveal what it truly is if these unnecessary descriptions are removed. This is
precisely what the tenet of the phenomenological project “to go back to the things themselves,”
which means that describing a thing for what it really is reveals its universal truth.
The phenomenological perspective tells us to remove our preconceived ideas in order to arrive
at a pure description of our experiences. Hermeneutical phenomenology, on the other hand, similarly
seeks the truth in things as experienced in the world. However, it attempts to see the truth in things
as a means to understand what it is to be human. Heidegger’s phenomenological approach attempts
to interpret experiences of the world to find truths, which can be used to learn about human
existence or being. Heidegger states that humans are born in a particular historical period, country,
community, and background. The human mind is shaped by these factors and is therefore
constitutive of how we experience and interpret the world. Rather than description, hermeneutical
phenomenology is more concerned with how experiences are interpreted and how they generate
meaning. The question of hermeneutical phenomenology is what the revelation of the thin means for
you.
The reflections made from experiences are affected by worldviews, which in turn would be
constitutive of future experiences. This is what Heidegger calls a hermeneutic circle, or the process
wherein one’s influences affect his or her experiences of the world, which would then create other
influences that would affect experiencing the world, and so on.

The Significance of Data

In hermeneutical phenomenology, date and their significance provide a catalyst for which
reflection and interpretation results in meaning, as a research methodology, hermeneutical
phenomenology is qualitative by conventional descriptions, and can be thoroughly applied to any
social science research. Its applicability is generally driven from its aim to create meaning out of live
experiences. It takes into account the meaning derived by resource persons of the study regarding
the particular topic, and how the research affects the researcher.
Applying Heidegger’s hermeneutic circle, the research topic in itself- together with the
formulation of the problem, subsequent questions, and interview tools- is influenced by the
researcher’s personal experiences. The research proper is applied by the researcher using past
experiences. Finally, the findings and conclusions of the research would then become new influences
for the researcher after undergoing reflection and interpretation. These newly formed influences
would then be constitutive of his or her future research. The significance of data in this sense is that
the date provides an object for which experience can take place, be reflected upon, interpreted, and
become influences for viewing and experiencing the world and looking at other data.

Human- Environment System

 One of the major scientific challenges of our time is investigating the impact of human activity
to our natural environment and how each system affects one another. Human-environment
systems are the interdisciplinary approaches which study the complex interactions among human
and environment systems. Human systems are the various institutions and activities human created
in society. These systems include government policies, industrial waste management, agriculture,
urbanization, culture, and tradition. On the other hand, environment systems are the biological,
ecological, and living and non-living natural systems in our planet. Environment systems include the
biodiversity of Earth, global weather systems, landscapes, and animal and plant life, among others.
The idea of the human-environmental system holds that society shapes nature and that nature
shapes society. What we do to the environment affects and changes us. One could see how human
systems affect environment systems by looking at our laws and policies. For example, our political
and economic systems dictate how we create laws on forestry and agriculture, which could result in
either the conversation or depletion of natural resources. Additionally, such laws could affect food
production for human consumption. Consequently, political agendas and economic models are
influenced by food supply, which in the first place, was influenced, too, by human laws and policies.
As if depicting a cycle, every human-environment system is an inquiry into how these systems
interact, mitigate, and respond to problems that arise in either or both systems.

Key Concept in Human-Environment System

Sense of Place
A sense of place refers to the development of meaning or association with a given location.
Geographers, sociologists, and psychologists study how a sense of place is developed for an
individual, a community, or a group of people, and how this sense of place differ from other places
set upon by these people. A sense of place is an attachment to a particular environment and is
deepened by its history, the writings about it, and the experiences of an individual. A sense of place
is a sense of belongingness or identity, which is developed through the community that occupies it,
its landscape features, and the emotions it brings. Some senses of place are codified such as
historical landmarks, heritage sites, or even places given special names by an individual, group, or
community.

Mental Map
A mental map of a place refers to the mental representation of things and people of a given
location. A mental map is formed by the memory’s identification of the physical characteristics and
features of a particular place. A simple exercise that could develop your mental map is by describing
the features of your classroom. What is the sitting arrangement of your class? What is the color of
the floor and of the walls of your classroom? Over time, mental maps change as new experiences of
the place are acquired directly or indirectly from how others would describe a place or by watching
travel shows. A better focus of the mental image is also reached when objects and people are
associated with the place. For example, you and your best friend first met in a store in your
neighbourhood; hence, you are reminded of the attached feeling and memory whenever you visit
that place, either physically or in your mind.

Primary Landscape
The themes, attachments, memories, and emotions we hold for places create a sense of place
for us in the world. That is why we call our house a “home” wherever we might be relocated because
“home” is a sense of place which we attach to a house. The place where we grew up is what human
geographers consider as our primary landscape and is the basis for our experience of new places. It
is the primary landscape that we compare new places we visit, and the memories and emotions we
attached to it will be transposed to the new environment and bring a new sense of place.

Spatial Distribution and Spatial Process

Spatial distribution refers to the distribution of anything that exists on earth that can be
mapped out and is observable through spatial processes. Spatial distribution maps out natural and
physical aspects such as temperature weather, and cities. It observes cultural aspects such as
language, nationality, gender, and religion. It also studies the distribution of how human systems
affect environmental systems such as soil erosion, animal and plant extinction due to deforestation,
and air pollution due to factory fumes. Spatial distribution is essentially the distribution of physical,
cultural, and human-environment systems’ interaction over the pace of Earth.
Spatial process is the underlying structure responsible for things. For example, the physical
distribution of mountain ranges can be attributed to tectonic shifts, while their cultural distribution
can be attributed to technological systems affecting human needs. Railways in America contributed to
a vast migration of people and the formation of new cities. The propagation of the Spanish language
in different countries could be attributed to the Western civilization’s desire for world dominance,
which became one of the catalysts for the Age of Discovery.