TOPIC:

The Self and Its Development Journeying Back to Ones Self

TOPIC OUTLINE:
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SELF NATURE OF THE SELF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SELF ORIGIN OF THE SELF DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF FRAME OF REFERENCE THE SELF ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT AUTHORS OTHER VALUES PLURAL PARTICIPATION OF THE SELF PERCEIVING AND EXPERIENCING ADJUSTMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE SELF SELF-ESTEEM and PLEASURE AUTHENTICITY and BECOMING

I.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SELF

The world has become sophisticated and complicated. Advances in technology make mans life as sophisticated and complicated, too. Amidst this sophistication and complexities, man tries to search for meaning. This search never stops to the extent that man realizes he needs to reflect on his own self. Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my existence?

MAN MUST UNDERSTAND:

1. HEREDITY
Provides common potentialities for development and behavior typical of the human species and is an important source of individual differences.

2. ENVIRONMENT
Mans physical and socio-cultural environment heavily influences the extent to which his genetic potentials are realized.

3. THE SELF
When psychologists refer to the self, they do not think of some little person sitting in the brain, but rather a concept necessary for explaining the many aspects of our perception, feeling, thinking and behavior. The self cannot be observed directly but is inferred from various behaviors that can be observed. The self can be viewed as a complex psychological process which has a developmental course, influenced by learning and is subject to change.

II.

NATURE OF THE SELF

By George Herbert Mead to have a self is to have the capacity to observe, respond to and direct ones own behavior. One can behave towards oneself as one can towards any other social object. One can evaluate, blame, encourage and despair about oneself. One can alter ones behavior. One is behaving toward oneself in the context of interaction with others. SELF A complex process of continuing interpretive activity simultaneously the persons located subjective stream of consciousness (both reflexive and non-reflexive) including perceiving, thinking, planning, evaluating, choosing and the result accruing structure of self-conceptions.

III.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SELF

The self is not an entity, but a process.

1. The self is reflexive. 2. The self is comprised of attitudes. 3. The self is the means whereby social control becomes self control. IV. ORIGIN OF THE SELF 1. The infant engages in imitative but meaningless (to it), behavior. 2. Once the child begins to function symbolically, play activities become important in the
development of the self. 3. Then, organized game follows. CHARLES H. COOLEY- the self is any idea or systems of ideas which is associated with the appropriate attitude we call self-feeling Looking Glass Principal Elements

1. The imagination of our appearance to other persons. 2. The imagination of his judgment of that appearance; and 3. Some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification

V.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF

The individuals self concept is his picture himself- his views of himself as distinct from other persons and

things. The self concept incorporates:

1. His perceptions of who he is (self- identity)

The quality that makes a person or thing different from others. As the individuals experience, broaden, his self-identity comes to include things outside himself with which he feels strong personal involvement.

2. His feelings of worth and adequacy (self- evaluation)

Child develops self evaluation which is heavily dependent upon the way in which others view him, particularly his parents and other important people in his life. Self-evaluations of the childs have long-range effects on his development.

3. His picture of the person he could be and should be (self- ideal)

The individuals image of the person he would like to be and thinks he should be. The discrepancy between a persons existing self- image and self ideal is necessary for the fostering of personal growth. As one author puts it: Its difficult for me to describe what kind of person I am, because a part of someone is, at my stage, made up of what they want to be. Like that I could describe myself partly in terms of what I want to be. Self- direction One behavior systems theorist James G. Miller point out that each living system contains what he describes as a decider subsystem.

VI.

OUR FRAME OF REFERENCE

In ones encounter with his environment, the individual gradually builds an inner cognitive map or his frame of reference. This provides the individual a meaningful picture of himself and his world.

Key elements in the individuals frame of reference are the assumptions he makes concerning reality, value and possibility.

1. Assumptions concerning reality

How things really are. These include ones assumptions, about himself as a person, about other people, and about the world in which he lives.

2. Assumptions about values

How things should be The value system and value judgment of a person may become the source of his frame of reference. 3. Assumptions concerning possibility How things could be The possibilities for change and improvement. The goals we strive for, the thing we value, and our methods for coping with problems of living are determined by the pattern of assumptions we acquire Without any coherent frame of reference, an individual would be incapable of consistent and purposeful action. Generalized other: Reference Group Generalized other Organized community or social group which gives the individual his unity of self. (Mead) Organized structure of attitude that one appropriated from the social milieu Integral part of thinking To think is to interact with oneself from the standpoint of all possible observers. Reference Group Term used by Hyman which is a study of the group of people used for purposes of comparison and evaluation of themselves. It refers to a group that issued as a basis of comparison. The reference relationship may be normative, comparative, or identification-object.

VII.

THE SELF ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT AUTHORS

WILLIAM JAMES - The self incorporates feelings and attitudes along with a principle of casualty. He used the term self to have three meanings: A dynamic process A system of awareness Interrelated process and awareness

1. G.A. Allport - He calls the ego-which has the appropriate function in the personality-the self. The
properium comprises awareness of the self and striving activity. It includes bodily sense, Self-image, Self-esteem, Identity.

2. Sigmund Freud
Noted for his theory of psychoanalysis. He gave the ego a central place in his theory of personality structure. The ego decides what instincts to satisfy as well as in what manner satisfy them. It prevents the discharge of tension until the appropriate time. The ego keeps a psychic balance between the demands of the moral arm of the personality and the natural impulses of the person. The ego keeps the harmony between the impulses and conscience. George H. Mead He views the self as an object of awareness. He claims that the person responds to himself with certain feelings and attitudes as others respond to him. He becomes selfconscious (aware) by the way people react to him as an object. K. Lewin The self-concept is represented by a life space region which determines present belief about the self. Life space includes the individuals universe of personal experience as a space in which he moves. Goals, evaluations, ideas, perceptions, of significant objects, future plans and events, all form part of the life space of the person. H. Lundholm He distinguished a subjective self from an objective self. The subjective self is mainly what a person thinks about himself. Sherif and Cantril They asserted that the self is an object and the ego is the process. They conceive the ego as a constellation of attitudes that includes personal identity, values, possessions, and feelings of worth. P. M. Symonds He incorporated the psychoanalytic theory of Freud and the social philosophy of Mead and thus sees the ego as a group of processes and the self as the manner in which the individual reacts to himself. The ego functions more effectively when the self is confident and held in high regard. R. B. Cattell He considers the self as the principal organizing influence exerted upon man who gives stability and order to human behavior. He distinguished the real self from the ideal self. Real self that which a person must rationally admit to be the actual. Ideal self that which a person would aspire to become. G. Murphy He defines self as the individual as known to the individual. To him, the major activities of the ego are to defend and/or enhance the self complex. Carl Rogers He believes in the discontinuity of the unconscious and the conscious. People behave in terms of the ways in which they see themselves as a conscious activity. The consistency between behavior and self-concept indicates the dual role of self: self as object, and self as a process. D. Snygg and A. W. Combs

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 In their phenomenological theory, they claim that all behavior, without exception, is completely determined by and pertinent to the phenomenal field of the behaving organism. Awareness is the cause of behavior: how a person feels and thinks determine his course of action. PHENOMENOLOGY is the study of direct awareness. They claim that the self is composed of perceptions concerning the individual and important effects upon the behavior of the individual.

VIII.

OTHER VALUES

SELF-ESTEEM Man experiences his desire for self-esteem as an urgent imperative, as a basic need. Two aspect of selfesteem: It entails a sense of personal efficacy and a sense of personal worth. It is the integrated sum of selfconfidence and self-respect. It is the conviction that one is competent to live and worthy of living. Mans search for self-esteem is inherent in his nature. SELF-CONFIDENCE This refers to the sense of efficacy. Self-confidence is confidence in ones mind. It is the conviction that one is competent to think, to judge, to know and to correct ones errors. Three Fundamental Epistemological alternatives:

1. A man can achieve and maintain a sharp mental focus, seeking to bring his understanding to an optimal
level of precision and clarity or he can keep his focus to the level of blurred approximation, in a state of passive, undiscriminating, goalless mental drifting. 2. A man can differentiate between knowledge and feelings, letting his judgment be directed by his intellect, not his emotion or he can suspend his intellect under the pressure of strong feelings (desires or fears), and deliver himself to the direction of impulses whose validity he does not care to consider. 3. A man can perform an independent act of analysis, in weighing the truth or falsehood of any claim, or the right, or wrong, of any issue or he can accept, in uncritical passivity. The opinions and assertions of others, substituting their judgment for his own. SELF-RESPECT This refers to the sense of worthiness. A mans character is the sum of the principles and values that guide his actions in the face of moral choices. SELF-ESTEEM AND PRIDE

Self-esteem is an integral part of emotion well-being. It is largely the individuals reaction

to other peoples reactions or opinions of himself Self-esteem differs from pride. Self-esteem pertains to a mans conviction of his fundamental efficacy and worth.

 Self-esteem is I can, while pride is I have. The deepest pride a man can experience is
that which results from his achievement of self-esteem since self-esteem is a value that has to be earned; the man who does so feels proud of attainment. FACTORS AFFECTING SELF-ESTEEM Behavior is crucially affected by a persons self-image, self-perceptions, and self-esteem. MASLOW- Describes this person to be a secure individual as compared to an insecure one. THE FACTORS AFFECTING SELF-ESTEEM ARE THE FOLLOWING:

1. Attitudes of adults towards the growing infant and child. 2. Emotionally disastrous experience of the individual, considered as threat to self, which affects his
stability. 3. Self-attitudes are also affected by the status of the group to which a person belongs. 4. The individuals role and status in the group.

IX.

PLURAL PARTICIPATION OF THE SELF

1. Social Distance. It measures the degree of intimacy or remoteness, of acceptance or rejection, in social relations. 2. Identification. In this process, the individual takes over the ideas, beliefs, and habits of the members of a group and makes them his own. 3. Assimilation. This is the final stage in the imperceptible transmission from cultural hybridity to cultural fusion.

X.

PERCEIVING AND EXPERIENCING

CARL ROGERS- Each new experience is perceived or interpreted in terms of its meaning and significance to the self. In essence, the process involves three alternative sub- process. As new experiences are encountered by the individual, they either: 1. Categorized and organized into some relationship with the self; 2. Ignored because they are not perceived as having significance to the self; 3. Perceived in a distorted way because they are incongruent with the individuals self-concept; COMBS AND SNYGG:

People do not behave according to the facts as others see them. They behave according to the facts as they see them.

XI.

ADJUSTMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE SELF

LIFE involves a process of constant adjustment. The following are some techniques for adjustment:

1. Self-defense and self-enhancement.

The function of self-defense is to keep intact and to conceal its nature whenever the individuals self-image is likely to be exposed. Self-enhancement functions to permit the individual to achieve the goals and ideals he has established for himself.

2. Repression.
This is a form of selective forgetting. We tend to remember pleasant experiences more permanently than unpleasant ones, because of disapproval by others in the past arouses a feeling of guilt.

3. Fantasy.
This technique is used by the individual in his earliest attempts to adjust himself to changes in his environment. Fantasies may be adopted in three ways: a. Some persons may try to compensate for their wishes by daydreaming to experience temporary resolution to tensions; b. Other people would prefer to stay in their fantasies since they become so gratified; and c. People may put their fantasies to effective use and return from the realm of fantasy with something to show for their trip.

4. Compensation
It is a mechanism of adjustment that all people resort to in the face of frustration, failure, and other threats to the self. It serves in the following ways: a. A substitute for achievement along another line; b. Relief from the tension which frustration begets; and c. A means of concealing from others and from the frustrated individual his own weaknesses or deficiency.

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Rationalization. Is a technique of self-concealment and self-justification A person who rationalizes always fears disapproval by others or from himself. He gives emotionally satisfying rather than real reasons for committing an act. The real motive behind rationalization is a desire for mastery, for social approval, for appearing superior to what we are.

6. Projection.
The individual guards himself from exposure, disapproval or punishment by ascribing his fault to others.

7.

Fixation. Is the arrest of the development at an immature level Regression means the return to an earlier mode of adjustment after a mature form had already been attained.

8.

Identification and Sublimation. Consists, to a large extent, in erecting a model for the self to imitate. Sublimation refers to the need of the socialized individual to redirect forbidden urges into socially acceptable forms of behavior.

9. Self-enhancement.
In the words of Krech and Crutchfield, when the individual achieves a desired goal, his standards of performance are thereby changed and he is impelled to strive for higher levels of achievements. Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action. Every achievement of man is a value in itself, but is also a stepping stone to greater achievement and values.

XII.

SELF-ESTEEM and PLEASURE

Pleasure is a metaphysical concomitant to life, the reward and consequences of successful action just as pain is the symbol of failure, destruction and death. A mans basic values reflect his conscious or subconscious view of himself and of his existence. They are expression of: a. The degree and nature of his self-esteem or lack of it; b. The extent to which he regards the universe as open or closed to his understanding and action. Productive work is essential mans sense of efficacy and thus is essential to his ability to fully enjoy the values of his existence. A rational, confident man is motivated by a love of values, the desire to celebrate his control over his existence, and by the desire to achieve them. A neurotic is motivated by fears and by a desire to escape from it. A man of self-esteem a man in love with himself and with life feels an intense need to find human beings he can admire to find a spiritual equal whom he can love.

XIII. AUTHENTICITY and BECOMING

Its good to be me I am very happy to be me. There are actually the goals which are essential for achieving authenticity. They are encompassing: (1) meaning, (2) dropping of mask, and (3) love. Living authentically is a process of personal change and growth throughout life it is a process of becoming. The following are useful pointers for ones moving into authenticity and the process of becoming:

1. Increased autonomy.
Changes in the direction of increased self-reliance, self-regard, and self-direction. 2. More adequate assumption. Changes in the direction of more adequate assumptions concerning reality, possibility and values. 3. Improved Competencies. Changes in the direction of increased intellectual, emotional, and social competence. 4. Increased awareness and openness to experience. Changes in the direction of resolving disabling conflicts, dismantling unnecessary selfdefenses, maintaining openness to experience, and achieving increased awareness, greater depth and scope of feeling.

Reference:

Introduction to Values Education (BOOK) Dr. Epitacio S. Palispis

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