Psychological Perspective of the
Self
Erik Erikson
The Psychosocial Theory
 It proposes that individuals go through 8
psychological stages of development.
While Erikson believed that each stage
is important, he gives particular
emphasis on the development of the
ego.
 The ego is the positive force that
contributes to identify formation and
lays the foundation for certain strengths
and virtues in life such as hope, will
etc.8
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Sigmund Freud
The Psychosexual Stages of Development
 The dynamic forces within the self are
many and inevitable conflict.
 The Three Structures of the Mind: id, ego
and superego
The Three Structures of the Mind
 ID- Pleasure-seeking side, impulsive,
child-like, and demands instant
gratifications
 EGO- Refers to the I and operates on
the reality principle and controls the id.
It can conform with existing societal
consideration.
 SUPEREGO- “The conscience” and
“moral judge” of one’s conduct
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral
 Birth–1
 Mouth is the primary erogenous zone;
pleasure derived from sucking: id is
dominant.
Anal
 1–3
 Toilet training (external reality) interferes
with gratification received from
defecation.
Phallic
 4–5
 Incestuous fantasies; Oedipus complex;
anxiety; superego development.
Latency
 5–Puberty
 Period of sublimation of sex instinct.
Genital
 Adolescence–Adulthood
 Development of sex-role identity and
adult social relationships
Carl Jung
Archetypes
 are the universal models after which
roles are patterned.
 represents the hidden personalities of
the psyche, or total personality.
 are ancient or archaic images that
derive from the collective unconscious.
PERSONA
 It refers to the social roles that individual
present to others. The side of personality
that people show to the world is
designated as the persona. The term is
well chosen because it refers to the
mask worn by actors in the early theater
SHADOW
 It refers to the repressed thoughts that
are socially unacceptable. This is often
considered as the dark side of the
psyche.
ANIMA
 It is the feminine side of the male
psyche.
ANIMUS
 It is the masculine side of the female
psyche.
SELF
 It is the central archetype that unites all
parts of the psyche
Jung believed that the animus is responsible
for thinking and opinion in women just as the
anima produces feelings and moods in men.
The animus is also the explanation for the
irrational thinking and illogical opinions often
attributed to women.
Many opinions held by women are objectively
valid, but according to Jung, close analysis
reveals that these opinions were not thought
out, but existed readymade.
If a woman is dominated by her animus, no
logical or emotional appeal can shake her
from her prefabricated beliefs (Jung,
1951/1959a).
Like the anima, the animus appears in
dreams, visions, and fantasies in a personified
form.
Albert Bandura
THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
Agency
 embodies the endowments, belief
systems, self-regulatory capabilities, and
distributed structures and function
through which personal influence is
exercised, rather than reside as discrete
entity.
Main Features of Human Agency
 Intentionality
 Forethought
 Self Reactiveness
 Self reflectiveness
Winicott
TRUE AND FALSE SELF
 The purpose of the False self id to
protect the TRUE SELF
William James
THE ME-SELF and the I-SELF
 He believes that people have different
social selves depending on the context
of a social situation.
 He believed that the path to
understanding the spiritual self is
through introspection
I-Self

 self that knows who he or she is which is

also called the thinking self.
 Reflects the souls of a person or the
mind which is also called the pure ego.
Me-Self
 The empirical self which refers to the
person’s personal experiences and is
further divided into sub categories:
material, social, spiritual

Carl Rogers
SELF THEORY: REAL AND IDEAL SELF

 SELF CONCEPT refers to the image of

oneself.
 He defines the self as a flexible and
changing perception of personal
identity.
 He suggests that the self develops from
interactions with significant people and
awareness of one’s own characteristics
and level of functioning.
 Human beings are always striving for
self-fulfillment or self-actualization
 When the needs of the self are denied,
severe anxiety may arise.
 Development of self-concept is the
central to achieving self-actualization

Real Self – what is and what one can do

Ideal Self – what one should do