TOPIC/S CHAPTER 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVE

A. Basic Concept of Self

-The need of understanding the self
-The meaning and Nature of Self
WEEK 1.

Time Allotment: 3 Hours

OBJECTIVES/ LEARNING OUTCOME:

By the end of this module, the students shall be able to explain clearly why it is essential to
understand the self; and identify the meaning of self, its nature and importance.

LEARNING CONTENT:

BASIC CONCEPT OF SELF

INTRODUCTION

This chapter will introduce you the meaning and importance of understanding self, self-concept
and self-esteem. It will introduce the importance of understanding the self as a unique individual.
Understanding the self will help in recognizing why a person tend to act or react in a certain way.

DISCUSSION

Understanding the Self -is the awareness of and ability to understand one’s own thoughts and
actions. To attain the insight into your attitudes, motives, defenses, reactions, weaknesses, and strengths.
It is the subjective sense of the self & a complex mixture of unconscious and conscious thoughts, attitudes
& perceptions. Understanding the self represents the sum total of people’s conscious perception of their
identity as distinct from others. It is not a static phenomenon, but continues to develop and change
throughout our lives. - (George Herbert Head)_The understanding self is thinking about what is involved
in being? What distinguish you from being an object, an animal or different person?

The Need of Understanding the Self

There is a well-encompassing need to understand the SELF. Understanding the Self-

1. Helps learners acquire a positive sense of self and social responsibility.

2. Helps learners develop their potentials to enable them to live harmoniously in the context of a
fast changing and challenging world.
3. Helps learners participate meaningfully in all endeavors as responsible members of a global
community considering multi-cultural perspective,
4. Helps learners understand local and global issues and concerns that continue to impact their
lives and the lives of others,
5. Enables the learners develop the capacity to think, reason and act legally and morally as these
will have a sphere of influence to others.
6. Enables the learners to behave in ways that will fulfill their needs and goals in the
contemporary society,
7. Helps learners to possess personal, civil, and moral obligations, not only to themselves but also
to their families, nations, and the globalized contemporary society.
 THE MEANING AND NATURE OF SELF

The SELF is defined in many ways:

1. Self is a unified being and is connected to consciousness, awareness, and agency or with the
faculty of rational choice.
2. Self is the condition of identity that makes one subject of experience distinct from others.
3. Self is exhibited and inferred in the conduct and discourse that emanate from the individual
alone.
4. Self is the person regarded as an individual apart from all others.
5. Self is one’s identity
6. Self is express in the first person

WHY SELF IS IMPORTANT?

Philosophers look at self as very important in several ways.

1. According to Kant, by knowing ourselves, that we are free and that our actions and choices matter,
we can make good on these commitments without the fear of being contradicted by theory. In other
words, we can be responsible to ourselves.
2. By knowing the self, we can examine what type of object the SELF is and how it is constituted.
3. According to Thorin Klowsowski, by knowing the self, we can develop self-awareness and
introspection which we are starting point to every improvement.
4. Understanding the self is an important basis of qualified self-movement which means that if a
person collects data about himself, he can make improvements base on that data (New York Times
Report).
5. Knowing the self requires more than the intellectual self-examination for it demands knowing
something about your feelings and emotions. The more you pay attention to your feelings and
emotions and how you work on them, the better you will understand why you do the things you do.
Ultimately, the more you know about your habits, the easier it is to improve those habits.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SELF

The self is an automatic part of every human being which enables people to relate to others. The
self is constituted or made up of three (3) main parts that, incorporated, allow for the self to maintain
its functions. These parts are:
1. Self-knowledge
2. Interpersonal self
3. Agent self

1. SELF-KNOWLEDGE

This is sometimes referred to as SELF-CONCEPT. Self-knowledge allows for people to gather

information and beliefs about themselves. Self-Concept is an individual’s perception of self and is what
helps make each individual unique. The set of beliefs that we hold about who we are is called the self-
concept. It can also be defined as the sum total of an individual’s belief about his or her own personal
attributes. It is basically the individual's image of the kind of person he or she is. Especially included in
this are the awareness of being (WHAT I AM) and awareness of function (What I Can Do). The Ideal Self
represents the self-concept that an individual would ideally want to possess. TWO WAYS IN WHICH WE
PERCEIVE OURSELVES

1. POSITIVE SELF CONCEPT:

People with positive self-concept believe in themselves, are confident about their ability to deal
with the problems, make decisions, feel equal to others, have respect for themselves and expert it from
others. These people who are realistic in their assessment of themselves and can admit to a wide range
of feelings, behaviors and needs.
2.NEGATIVE SELF CONCEPT:
 If people see themselves as failure and have a negative, pessimistic image of themselves, they will
begin to act the part. Negative feelings feed on themselves and become a downward spiral, gradually
encompassing all the people’s thoughts. People with negative self-concepts tend to complain constantly
and find difficult to accept criticism.

SELF-CONCEPT INCLUDES:

1.COGNITIVE ASPECT: SELF SCHEMA

Self-schema is “cognitive generalizations about the self-derived from experience, that organize
and guide the processing of self-related information”.

2. AFFECTIVE/ EVALUATION ASPECT: SELF ESTEEM

“Self-esteem reflects the perceived difference between an individual’s actual selfconcept (Who
I Think I Really Am) and some ideal self-image (Who I Would Really Like To Be).”

3. BEHAVIORAL ASPECT: SELF PERCEPTION

Daryl Bem’s (1972) influential theory of self-perception posits- we observe our behavior and
situation in which it took place, make attributions about why the behavior occurred, and draw
conclusions about our own characteristics and dispositions. In other words, we come to
understand ourselves the same way we perceived and understand others.

COMPONENTS OF SELF
1. SELF IDENTITY- A sense of personality is what sets one person apart as a unique individual. Identity
includes a person’s name, gender, ethnic identity, family status, occupation, and roles. One’s personal
identity begins to develop during childhood and is constantly reinforced and modified throughout life.

2. BODY IMAGE- is an attitude about one’s physical attributes and characteristics, appearance, and
performance. It is dynamic because any change in body structure or function, including the normal
changes of growth and development, can affect it.

3. SELF-ESTEEM- is the judgement of personal performance compared with the self-ideal.it is derived
from a sense of giving and receiving love, and being respected by others.

4. ROLE PERFORMANCE
Role refers to a set of expected behaviors determined by familial, cultural, and social norms. The
level of self -esteem is dependent upon the self-perception of adequate role performance in these
various social roles.

Social Role- is defined as the parts that a person plays in different situations and with other people.
Our roles change in order to fit the “expected” behaviors in various scenarios.
Example: a person maybe a mother, doctor, a wife and a daughter. Her behavior would most
likely change in her transitional from being a doctor in coming home to her daughter.

BUILDING UP SELF CONCEPT

Building up self-concept is primarily factor of effective personality and behavior. The four
steps to build-up self-concept are as follows:

1. SELF AWARENESS- Our attention is sometimes directed outward towards the environment and
sometimes it is focused inward on ourselves. Certain experiences in the world automatically focus
attention inward, such as catching sight of ourselves in the mirror, having our picture taken, or, more
subtly, being evaluated by others. We begin to think of ourselves not as moving actors in the
environment but as objects of our own and others’ attention. Experiencing oneself as an object of our
own and other’s attention is called SELF AWARENESS. It leads people to evaluate their behavior against
a standard (standards physical appearance, intellectual performance, athletic prowess, or moral
integrity) and to set an adjustment process in motion for meeting the standard.
2. SELF ACCEPTANCE- Having being aware of who we really are, rather than the person we would wish
to be, the next step on our journey to self-concept is to accept ourselves. It involves self-
understanding, a realistic, though subjective, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses. It results
in an individual’s feeling about oneself, that they are of “unique worth”.

3. SELF REALIZATION- it means fulfillment of one’s own potential. It is realizing our inner potentials.
This step on self-concept route involves growth and development motivated from within. It is a
willingness to pursue our ideal-self on our own, to grow and to change because we think it is
important.

4. SELF DISCLOSURE- is the process of letting another person know what we think, feel and want, that
is telling others about ourselves. It includes all kinds of information like life experiences, personal
circumstances, feelings, dreams, opinions and so on. It involves disclosing our innermost thoughts
and feelings.

5. SELF CONFIDENCE- a feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities and judgment is called selfconfidence.
The believe that you can achieve success and competence. In other wordsbelieving yourself to be
capable.

6. SELF IMAGE- It is how you perceived yourself. It is a number of self-impressions that have built up
over time. These self-images can be very positive, giving a person SELF CONFIDENCE in their thoughts
and actions, or negative, making a person doubtful of their capabilities. It is important that yourself
image be both positive and negative.

2. INTERPERSONAL SELF -can be referred to as your PUBLIC SELF. This feature allows for social
connection to others. With the interpretation self, a person can display himself to others around him.
Interpersonal self is apparent in situations of self-presentation, being a group member or partner in a
relationship, a person’s social roles and his reputation. For example, a person might show confidence
and determination in his work atmosphere, whereas, he shows more emotional and nurturing side in
his romantic relationship.

SOCIAL NORMS- constitute the “UNWRITTEN RULES” that we have about how to act in a certain
scenario and with various people in our lives. For example, WHEN A PERSON IN THE CLASSROM, HE
IS MORE LIKELY TO BE QUIET AND ATTENTIVE, WHERAS AT A PARTY, HE IS MORE LIKELY TO BE
SOCIALLY ENGGAGE AND STANDING.

NORMS- act as a guidelines that shape our behavior. Without them, there would not be any order,
as well as lack of understanding in situations in society. ( Baumaister and others,2001)

2. AGENT SELF- is known as the executive function that allows for actions. This is how we, as
individuals, make choices and utilize our control in situations and actions. The agent self resides
over everything that involves decision making, self-control, taking charge in situations and actively
responding. For example, a person desire to eat unhealthy foods, however, it is his agent self that
allows that a person to choose to avoid eating them and make a healthier food choice.

SUMMARY

In conclusion, understanding the self must continue to expand beyond the self to a larger selves. The
flow of change process must necessary starts from the self and continuous throughout life so that the self
will live and work effectively as a human person. Several junctures in our life as unique individuals lead
us to be in contradiction to our own desire, thinking, decision and goals. But as we grow and mature we
unfold and become one with our very self. Such is a process of metamorphosis, a change that leads us to
happiness and selfdetermination.

REFERENES:
1. Ariola, M. (2018). Understanding the Self. Manila, Philippines: Unlimited Books Library Services &
Publishing INC.
2. Magalona E., & Cruz, E. (2018). Understanding the Self: Developing Other. Manila, Philippines:
Mindshapers Co.,