The Self from

Various Perspectives
 Objectives
• To define anthropology
• Discuss LeDoux’ Implicit and Explicit
Self
• Discuss Ewing’s concept of self-
representation
• Know the impact of culture in the self

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 ANTHROPOLOG
Y

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WHAT IS
ANTHROPOLOGY?
 “ The study of people, past
and present.
Anthropology is
concerned with
understanding how
humans evolved and
how they differ from one
another
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 SELF
⬗ Katherine Ewing defines the
self as encompassing the
“physical organism,
possessing psychological
functioning and social
attributes”

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 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT SELF
⬗ Joseph LeDoux
⬗ Explicit- aspect that we are aware
of (conscious)
⬗ Implicit- aspect that is not readily
available (unconscious)

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 “The self is not static; it
is added to and
subtracted from by
genetic maturation,
learning, forgetting,
stress, ageing and
disease (LeDoux,2002)”

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 SELF AS REPRESENTATION
⬗ People construct a series of self-
representations that are based on
selected cultural concepts of a person
and selected ‘chains’ of personal
memories. Each self concept is
experienced as whole and continuous,
with its own history and memories that
emerge in a specific context to be
replaced by another self-representation
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when the context changes
 SELF AS REPRESENTATION
According to Ewing, people from
all cultures have been observed
to be able to rapidly project
different self-representations,
depending on the context of the
situation. The person is unaware
of these shifts; however, he/she
will still experience wholeness
and continuity despite these
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 CULTURE
Shweder describes that
cultural traditions and
social practices regulate,
express and transform the
human psyche, resulting
less in psychic unity for
humankind than in ethnic
divergences in mind, self,
and emotion.
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 CULTURE
⬗ Cultural psychologists
distinguished two ways of how
the self is constructed.
Independent and
Interdependent constructs.
⬗ These self construals are
embedded in culture.
⬗ Construal- is an interpretation
of the meaning of something, in
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this sense the meaning of self
 INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTS

⬗ Is a characteristic of
individualistic culture. This
represents the self as separate
distinct, with emphasis on
internal attributes or traits,
skills and values.

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 INTERDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTS

⬗ This is typical with the

collectivist culture. This
stresses the connection
between the individual to
other people

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 CULTURE

⬗ Developmental
Psychologist, Catherine
Raeff believed that culture
can influence how you
view: relationships,
personality traits,
achievements, and
expressing emotions.

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 Relationships
⬗ Culture influences how you enter
into and maintain relationships.
Relationships may be seen as
voluntary or as duty-based

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 Personality Traits
⬗ Culture influences
whether (and how) you
value traits, like humility,
self-esteem, politeness,
assertiveness, and so on,
as well as how you
perceive hardship or how
you feel about relying on
others
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 Achievement
⬗ Culture influences how you
define success and whether you
value certain types of
individual and group
achievements.

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 Expressing Emotions
⬗ Culture influences what will
affect you emotionally, as well
as how you express yourself,
such as showing your feelings
in public or keeping it private.

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 Reflectio
n

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