Understanding The Self 3

Self from
Various Perspectives
Psychology
THE SELF AS COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCTION
It is almost a sin for a young person, or at least a

danger, to be too preoccupied with himself, but
for the aging person, it is a duty and a necessity
to devote serious attention to himself. -Carl Jung
WILLIAM JAMES: THE ME-SELF; THE I-
SELF
 William James suggests that the self is divided into

two categories: the I-Self and the Me-Self.
 The I-Self refers to the self that knows who he or
she is, which is also called the thinking self.
 The Me-Self, on the other hand, is the empirical
self, which refers to the person's personal
experiences.
The I-Self vs The Me-Self
 The I-Self reflects the soul of a On the other hand, the “Me”
person or the mind, which is also is the awareness of how
called the pure ego.
people might be thinking
 According to Mead, the “I” is
about you or the expectation
himself or herself doing things
without the opinion of other of people around you.
people.
CARL ROGERS’ SELF THEORY:
REAL AND IDEAL SELF
 Carl Roger’s personality theory is one of the essential
contributions to the notion of self-concept. The self-
concept is defined in a broad way as the individual's
tendency to act in ways which actualize himself, the
belief about himself, how he evaluates himself, and a
mental picture of who he is. Our self-concept begins to
develop in early childhood throughout the lifespan—
the self-concept of how someone thinks about himself.
The Real Self vs The Ideal Self
The real self consists of The ideal self is the
all the ideas, how we see person’s conception of what
ourselves, how a person one should be or what one
aspires to be, striving for
feels and thinks.
the attainment of what he
wants to be.
CARL ROGERS’ SELF THEORY:
REAL AND IDEAL SELF
In Rogers’ theory, the closer the ideal self
to the real self, the more consistent and the
higher person’s self-worth.
Contrary, when the ideal self is far from
the real self, the person becomes unhappy
and dissatisfied.
Incongruency vs Congruency
 Figure A shows that when a  Figure B. shows that when a
person's ideal-self is not consistent person's ideal-self is consistent or
or matched with what happens in matched with what happens in
our life, we experience our life, we experience
incongruence. The more gap congruence. If the real-self and
between the real-self and ideal self, ideal-self closely matched, our
incongruence occurs. Then, self-esteem, trust, and self-worth
anxiety and depression may arise. developed.
MULTIPLE VS UNIFIED SELF,
TRUE VS FALSE SELF
 For an adolescent's understanding self is

conceptualized as multiple or unified and true or false.
The mind is made of a multiplicity of selves, as stated
most clearly by Andras Angyal and there are notions
that humans have a single self.
 Some theorists argue that this is always the case, while
others argue that integrating the various components
of the mind into a single self is a task for the second
half of life.
MULTIPLE VS UNIFIED SELF
 Some theorists argue that this is always the case,

while others argue that integrating the various
components of the mind into a single self is a task
for the second half of life (Lester, 2012).
 The construction of multiple selves varies across
different interpersonal and intrapersonal roles and
relationships. Coping with different selves
constitutes a formidable task among adolescents.
MULTIPLE VS UNIFIED SELF
 These challenges heavily reflect the young

person's struggle for a unified self. The task of
integrating one's multiple selves naturally causes
concern.
 Given the enormous challenges in self-integration,
it is important that adolescents are supported in
their effort to create a consistent, coherent, or
unified theory of the self.
TRUE VS FALSE SELF
 Dr. Donald Winnicot, a pediatrician and a psychoanalyst, expounded the

idea that the function of the false self is to hide and protect the true self.
 He highlighted the importance of the mother as the caregiver and the child
as spontaneous, meaning they just do whatever they want without thinking.
 The child needs reassurance and help, which mother does her best to gratify
the needs. This strengthens a child and tends to grow up feeling confidence
which will help them show their true self in the real world.
TRUE VS FALSE SELF
Sometimes a child has spontaneous needs, and

parents cannot respond immediately, the child will
think that their desire is not manageable and
acceptable. In this case, the child will adjust his
behavior to protect them from depression and
disappointments.
TRUE VS FALSE SELF
 People decided to take out his false self to protect his true
self from pain. For instance, some people may experience
loneliness or be alone, and we do not want other people to
see them in that situation and see how depressed they are.
They will pretend that they are happy, even deep inside,
they need someone to hold on to. Some of them will say, "I
do not need anyone, I am happy with my life" instead of
saying "I need someone to be with" or "someone who will
listen to me".
THE SELF AS PROACTIVE
AND AGENTIC
Albert Bandura (2001) posits that humans,
through their agency, are perceived as proactive
agents of experiences. There were four core
properties of human agencies that are described.
They are intentional, forethought, self-
reactiveness, and self-reflection.
AND AGENTIC
 Intentional includes action plans and strategies where we humans plan and
do things intentionally.
 Forethought forming goals and anticipating future events, where we
expect the consequences of our actions.
 Self-reactivenessprocesses of self-management, self-regulation, and self-
motivation, where we make choices and decide after we think about the
consequence.
 Self-reflection refers to self-examining and reflecting on our decisions.
AND AGENTIC
 Bandura believed that a person could do
and make things happen. People can
make it intentional, and anticipate the
consequences that might occur after the
decision, enable him to make choices
after seeing the possible consequences
and eventually, evaluate the decision he
made.
Sigmund Freud:
The Id, Ego, and Super-ego
 According to Freud, the self, its mental processes, and one’s behavior is
a result of the interaction between the Id, Super Ego, and the Ego.
 Id – set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; a person’s inner desire
 Super Ego – plays the critical and moralizing the role
 Ego – organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of Id
and the Super Ego.
 Social interaction, always has a part to play in who we think we are.
This is not nature vs. nurture, but instead nature-and-nurture
perspective.
Self- awareness
There are times when we are aware of our self-

concepts; This is also called “Self- awareness”.
Self- awareness
 2 Types of Self- Awareness: 3 Self-Schema of Self-
1. Private Self – your internal Awareness:
standards and private thoughts and 1. Actual Self – it is who you are
feelings. at the moment
2. Public Self – your public 2. Ideal Self – who you like to be
image commonly geared toward 3. Ought Self – who you think
having a good presentation of you should be
yourself to others.
Self- awareness
 Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances
and our course of action;
 Self- awareness can keep you from doing something dangerous;
 Sometimes, self- awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being
criticized by others, also known as self- consciousness;
 At other times, especially with large crowds, we may experience
“deindividualization” or the loss of individual self- awareness and individual
accountability in groups.
Other Notes:
Our group identity and self- awareness also has
a great impact on our “self- esteem”
 Our own positive or negative perception or
evaluation of ourselves.
Other Notes:
 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WHICH MAY AFFECT OUR SELF ESTEEM:
1. Social Comparison
2. Social Evaluation – distance ourselves; reconsider other’s skills; strengthen our
resolve
 In the attempt to increase one’s self- esteem, others become narcissist.
 NARCISSISM – a trait with overly high self- esteem, self- admiration, and self- centeredness

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Self from

It is almost a sin for a young person, or at least a

 William James suggests that the self is divided into

 For an adolescent's understanding self is

 Some theorists argue that this is always the case,

 These challenges heavily reflect the young

 Dr. Donald Winnicot, a pediatrician and a psychoanalyst, expounded the

Sometimes a child has spontaneous needs, and

There are times when we are aware of our self-

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