Anthropological Perspective of the Self

What is Anthropology?

- Is the study of what makes us human.

- Anthropos (Human)
- Logos (Study)

Sub Disciplines of Anthropology

- Cultural
- Archeological
- Biological (Physical)
- Linguistic

Cultural

- Explores the diversity of past and present

- Ethnography (based on field work)
- Ethnology (based on cross-cultural comparison)

Archeological

- Interprets human behavior through material remains

Biological (Physical)

- Scientific study concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings and other non-human
primates.

Linguistic

- Language in its social and cultural context across time and space.

What is Perspective?

- A particular way of viewing things that depends on one’s experience and personality.

What is Self?

- “Physical Organism, possessing psychological functioning and social attributes.” –Katherin Ewing (1990)
- The self is not static; it is added and subtracted from genetic maturation, learning, forgetting, stress, ageing and
disease.” –Ledoux (2002).

Self (According to Steven (1996)

- Separate
- Unitary
- Independent
- Private
- Consistent
- Self-Contained

2 ASPECTS OF SELF
Explicit – Aspect of the self that you are consciously aware.

Implicit – not immediately available to the consciousness.

Self in Culture

- Shared
- Symbolic
- Natural
- Learned
- Integrated
- Encompassing
- Adaptive and Maladaptive

Culture

- Customary behavior and beliefs that are passed through enculturation - Kottak (2008)

Marcel Mauss

- According to him every self has two faces: Personne and Moi

Personne – is composed of the social concepts of what it means to be who he is.

Moi – refers to a person’s sense of who he is, his body.

Cultural Psychologist

Construal – interpretation of the meaning of something.

Independent Construct – Characteristic of individual culture

Interdependent Construct – collectivist culture in East Asia

Catherine Raeff –

- Relationship
- Personality Traits
- Achievements
- Expressing Emotions

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

Self – is the sense of personal identity of who we are as individuals.

William James – conceptualized the self as having two aspects- the “I” and the “me”

- The “I” is the thinking, acting and feeling self

- The “me” is the physical characteristics as well as psychological capabilities that makes you who you are.
Carl Roger’s (1959) theory of personality used the same terms:

- The “I” as the one who acts and decides

- The “me” is what you think and feel about yourself as an object.

Identity

- Is composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who
the one is.

Self Concept – is what basically comes to your mind when you are asked about who you are.

Social

Values
Goals
Self
Concept

Beliefs Abilities