DUE: OCTOBER 9, 2020

Name: Score
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CHAPTER 1:
DEFINING THE SELF: PERSONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL
PERSPECTIVES ON SELF AND IDENTITY
Lesson 3: The Self as Cognitive Construct
• identify the different ideas in psychology about the "self,
• create your own definition of the "self-based on the definitions from psychology in the psychology, and
• analyze the effects of various factors identified formation of the "self"

INTRODUCTION
As discussed in the previous lessons, every field of study, at least in the social sciences, have their
own research, definition, and conceptualization of self and identity. Some are similar while some specific only in
their field. Each field also has thousands of research on self and identity as well as related or aynonymous terms.
The trend of the lessons also seems to define the concept of the "self from a larger context (ie, culture and society)
down to the individual. However, it must be pointed out that modern researches acknowledge the contributions
of each field and this is not some sort of a nurture vs, nature, society/culture vs. individual/brain, and other social
sciences vs. psychology debate. Psychology may focus on the individual and the cognitive functions, but it does
not discount the context and other possible factors that affect the individual. For students who take up psychology,
discussions on theories, and development, among others actually take at least one semester and there are still more
to be learned about the concept of "self." This lesson provides an overview of the themes of psychology regarding
the said concept

ABSTRACTION
In confidence or in an attempt to avoid further analytical discussions, a lot of people say, "1 am
who I am." Yet, this statement still begs the question if you are who you are, then who are you that makes you
who you are?"
As mentioned earlier, there are various definitions of the "self and other similar or interchangeable concepts in
psychology. Simply put "self is "the sense of personal identity and of who we are as individuals (Jhangiani and
Tarry 2014).

William James (1890) was one of the earliest psychologists to study the self and conceptualized
the self as having two aspects-the "I" and the "me The T is the thinking, acting, and feeling self (Gleitman, Gross,
and Reisberg 2011: Hogg and Vaughan 2010). The "me on the other hand, is the physical characteristics as well
as psychological capabilities that makes who you are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011: Hogg and Vaughan
2010). Carl Rogers's (1959) theory of personality also used the same terms, the “I” as the one who acts and decides
while the “me” is what you think or feel about yourself as an object (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011).

Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept. Identity is composed of personal
Characteristics, social roles, and responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who one is (Oyserman, Elmore,
and Smith 2012). Self concept is what basically comes to your mind when you are asked about who you are
(Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012).

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 Self, identity, and self-concept are not fixed in one time frame. For example, when you are asked
about who you are, you can say "I was a varsity player in 5th Grade which pertains to the past, "a college student
which may be the present, and a future politician" which is the future. They are not also fixed for life nor are they
ever-changing at every moment. Think of a malleable metal, strong and hard but can be bent and molded in other
shapes. Think about water. It can take any shape of the container, but at its core, it is still the same element.

Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self-schema or our organized system or collection
of knowledge about who we are (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011; Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). Imagine an
organized list or a diagram similar to the one below:

Hobbies

Family
SELF Religion

National
ity

The schema is not limited to the example above. It may also include your interests, work, course, age, name,
and physical characteristics, among others. As you grow and adapt to the changes around you, they also change. But they
are not passive receivers, they actively shape and affect how you see, think, and feel about things (Gleitman, Gross, and
Reisberg 2011: Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). someone states your first name even if they are not
For example, when talking about you, your attention is drawn to them. If you have a provincial language
and you hear someone using it, it catches your attention. If you consider yourself a book-lover, a bookstore may always
entice you out of all the other stores in a mall.
Theories generally see the self and identity as mental constructs, created and recreated in memory
(Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012). Current researches point to the frontal lobe of the brain as the specific area in the
brain associated with the processes concerning the self (Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012).
Several psychologists, especially during the field's earlier development, followed this trend of thought,
looking deeper into the mind of the person to theorize about the self, identity, self-concept, and in turn, one's personality.
The most influential of them is Sigmund Freud. Basically, Freud saw the self, its mental processes, and one's behavior as
the results of the interaction between the Id, the Ego, and the Superego.

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 However, as mentioned earlier, one cannot fully discount the effects of society and culture on the formation
of the self, identity, and self-concept. Even as Freud and other theories and researchers try to understand the person by
digging deeper into the mind, they cannot fully discount the huge and important effects of the environment. As in the
abovementioned definitions of the self, social interaction always has a part to play in who we think we are. This is not
nature vs. nurture but instead a nature-and-nurture perspective.
Under the theory of symbolic interactionism, G.H. Mead (1934) argued that the self is created and
developed through human interaction (Hogg and Vaughan 2010). Basically, there are three reasons why self and identity
are social products (Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith 2012):
1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society helped in creating the foundations of who we are and even if we
make our choices, we will still operate in our social and historical contexts in one way or the other. You may, of
course, transfer from one culture to another, but parts of who you were will still affect you and you will also have
to adapt to the new social context. Try looking at your definition of who you are and see where society had affected
you.
2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and reinforce who we think we are. We also
need them as reference points about our identity. One interesting example is the social media interactions we have.
In the case of Facebook, there are those who will consciously or unconsciously try to garner more likes and/or
positive "reactions and that can and will reinforce their self-concept. It is almost like a battle between who got more
friends, more views, and trending topics. If one says he is a good singer but his performance and the evaluation of
his audience says otherwise, that will have an effect on that person's idea of himself, one way or another
3. What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what is important in our social or historical
context. Education might be an important thing to your self-concept because you grew up in a family that valued
education Money might be important to some because they may have grown in a low-income family and realized
how important money is in addressing certain needs like medical emergencies. Being a nurse or a lawyer can be
priority in your self-schema because it is the in-demand course during your time.
Social interaction and group affiliation, therefore, are vital factors in creating our self-concept especially in
the aspect of providing us with our social identity or our perception of who we are based on our membership to certain
groups (hangiani and Tarry 2014) It is also inevitable that we can have several social identities, that those identities can
overlap, and that we automatically play the roles as we interact with our groups For example, you are a student who is also
part of certain group of friends. You study because it is your role as a student but you a prefer to study with your friends
and your study pattern changes when you are with your friends than when you do it alone.
There are times, however, when we are aware of our self-concepts: this is also called self-awareness Carver
and Scheler (1981) identified two types of self that we can be aware of (1) the private self or your internal standards and
prate thoughts and feelings, and (2) the public self or your public image commonly geared toward having a good presentation
of yourself to others (Hogg and Vaughan 2010)
Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schema: the actual, ideal, and ought self. The actual" self is
who you are at the moment, the ideal self is who you like to be, and the "ought self is who you think you should be (Higgins
1997 in Hogg and Vaughn 2010). An example is that you are a student interested in basketball but is also academically
challenged in most of your subject Your ideal self might be to practice more and play with the varsity team but ought to
pass your subjects as a responsible student. One has to find a solution to such discrepancies to avoid agitation, dejection, or
other negative emotions. In some instances, however, all three may be in line with one another.
Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the circumstances and our next course of action. Self-awareness
can keep you from doing something dangerous: it can help remind you that there is an exam tomorrow in one of your
subjects when you are about to spend time playing computer games with your cousins, among others. In other instances,
self-awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and criticized by others, also known as self-
consciousness (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). At other times, especially with large crowds, we may experience deindividuation
or the loss of individual self awareness and individual accountability in groups (Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb 1952,
Zimbardo 1969 in Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). A lot of people will attune themselves with the emotions of their group and
because the large crowd also provides some kind of anonymity, we may lessen our self-control and act in ways that we will
not do when we are alone. A common example is a mass demonstration erupting into a riot
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 Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great impact on our self esteem, one of the common
concepts associated with the "self." It is defined as our own positive or negative perception or evaluation of ourselves
(Jhangiani and Tarry 2014: Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011).
One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our self-esteem is through social comparison.
According to the social comparison theory, we learn about ourselves, the appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our
social status by comparing aspects of ourselves with other people (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014 Hogg and Vaughan 2010).
The downward social comparison is the more common type of comparing ourselves with others. As the
name implies, we create a positive self-concept by comparing ourselves with those who are worse off than us (Jhangiani
and Tarry 2014). By having the advantage, we can raise our self-esteem. Another comparison is the upward social
comparison which is comparing ourselves with those who are.
And though self-esteem is a very important concept related to the self, studies have shown that it only has
a correlation, not causality, to positive outputs and outlook (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). It can be argued that high or healthy
self esteem may result to an overall good personality but it is not, and should not be, the only source of a person's healthy
perspective of herself.
People with high self-esteem are commonly described as outgoing adventurous, and adaptable in a lot of
situations. They also initiate activities and building relationship with people. However, they may also dismiss other activities
that do not conform to their self-concept or boost their self-esteem. They may also be bullies and experiment on abusive
behaviors with drugs, alcohol, and sex (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014)
This duality in the behavior and attitudes only proves the above-mentioned correlation. Baumeister, Smart,
and Boden (1996) in their research on self-esteem concluded that programs, activities, and parenting styles to boost self-
esteem should only be for rewarding good behavior and other achievements and not for the purpose of merely trying to
make children feel better about themselves or to appease them when they get angry or sad (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).

APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT

Do a research and list ten (10) things to boost your self-esteem or improve your self-concept. Cite your sources. Analyze
which of those tips are more likely to backfire and make someone conceited or narcissistic and revise them to make the
statements both helpful to the individual as well as society in general. (write your work in a short bondpaper)

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CHAPTER 1:
DEFINING THE SELF: PERSONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL
PERSPECTIVES ON SELF AND IDENTITY

Lesson 4: The Self in Western and Eastern Thoughts

• differentiate the concept of self-according to Western thought against
• Eastern/Oriental perspectives, explain the concept of self as found in Asian thoughts, and
• create a representation of the Filipino self

INTRODUCTION
Different cultures and varying environment tend to create different perceptions of the "self" and one of the
most common distinctions between cultures and people is the Eastern-vs-Western dichotomy wherein Eastern represents
Asia and Western represents Europe and Northern America. It must be understood that this distinction and the countries
included was politically colored at the time that aforementioned concepts were accepted and used in the social sciences,
Furthermore, it must be reiterated that while countries who are geographically closer to each other may share commonalities,
there are also a lot of factors that create differences. In the Philippines alone, each region may have a similar or varying
perception regarding the "self."

ACTIVITY: Two Sides of the Same Planet

Write top five (5) differences between Western and Eastern society, culture, and individuals in the table below. Cite your
sources.
WESTERN EASTERN

ANALYSIS
Do you agree with the differentiation between the West and the East? Where can you find the Philippines
in the distinction? What are the factors that make the Philippines similar or different from its Asian neighbors? Is there also
a difference between regions or ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines?

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ABSTRACTION
There are actually a lot of sources in which you can analyze the perspective of each culture and country
about the concept of "self." You can see it in their literature like how one culture depicts a hero or a villain in their stories.
You can see it in their social organization like how they see their boss or their subordinate. Artworks, dances, even clothing
may show you clues about the self

In this lesson, we will look at religious beliefs and political philosophies that greatly influenced the mindset
of each nation or culture. Since almost all the theories about the self, which were discussed in the previous lessons, also
came from the Western scientific research, we will highlight the Eastern thoughts in this lesson

First is Confucianism. Confucianism can be seen as a code of ethical conduct, of how one should properly
act according to their relationship with other people; thus, it is also focused on having a harmonious social life (Ho 1995),
Therefore, the identity and self-concept of the individual are interwoven with the identity and status of his/her community
or culture, sharing its pride as well as its failures (Ho 1995).

Self-cultivation is seen as the ultimate purpose of life but the characteristics of a chun-tzu, a man of virtue
or noble character, is still embedded in his social relationships (Ho 1995). The cultivated self in Confucianism is what some
scholars call a "subdued self wherein personal needs are repressed (subdued) for the good of many, making Confucian
society also hierarchal for the purpose of maintaining order and balance in society (Ho 1995).

The second philosophy is Taoism. Taoism is living in the way of the Tao or the universe. However, Taoism
rejects having one definition of what the Taoism, and one can only state clues of what it is as they adopt a free-flowing,
relative, unitary as well as paradoxical view of almost everything. Taoism rejects the hierarchy and strictness brought by
Confucianism and would prefer a simple lifestyle and its teachings thus aim to describe how to attain that life (Ho 1995).

The self is not just an extension of the family or the community, it is part of the universe, one of the forms
and manifestations of the Tao (Ho 1995). The ideal self is selflessness but this is not forgetting about the self, it is living a
balanced life with society and nature, being open and accepting to change, forgetting about prejudices and egocentric ideas
and thinking about equality as well as complementarity among humans as well as other beings (Ho 1995). In this way, you
will be able to act spontaneously because you will not be restricted by some legalistic standards but because you are in
harmony with everything.

The third belief is Buddhism. There are various groups who have adopted Buddhism; thus, you may find
differences in their teachings with our discussion but more likely, their core concepts remained the same. The self is seen
as an illusion, bom out of ignorance of trying to hold and control things, or human-centered needs, thus, the self is also the
source of all these sufferings (Ho 1995). It is therefore, our quest to forget about the self, forget the cravings of the self,
break the attachments you have with the world, and to renounce the self which is the cause of all suffering and in doing so,
attain the state of Nirvana (Ho 1995)

The self or the individual is not the focus of the abovementioned Asian or Eastern philosophies or beliefs.
Even with extended discussions about how then self should work. Confucianism and Taoism still situate the self within a
bigger context. In striving to become a better person, one does not create a self above other people or nature but a self that
is beneficial to his community as well as in order and harmony with everything else. As for Buddhism, the self, with al its
connections and selfish ideas, is taken not just out of the center of the picture, but from the whole picture entirely.
As previously discussed, Western perspective does of environment and society in the formation of the self but the focus is
always looking toward the self. You compare yourself in order to be better you create associations and bask in the glory of
that group for your self-esteem; you put primacy in developing yourself.

One can also describe that the Western thought looks the world in dualities wherein you are distinct from
the other person, the creator is separate from the object he created, in which the self is distinguished and acknowledged
(Wolter 2012). On the other hand, the Eastern perspective sees the other person as part of yourself as well as the things you
may create, a drama in which everyone is interconnected with their specific roles (Wolter 2012).

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 Several studies showed that Americans, for example, talk more about their personal attributes when
describing themselves while Asians in general talk about their social roles or the social situations that invoked certain traits
that they deem positive for their selves (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011). Evaluation of the self also differs as
Americans would highlight their personal achievements while Asians would rather keep a low profile as promoting the self
can be seen as boastfulness that disrupts social relationships (Gleitman, Gross, and Reisberg 2011).

The Western culture is what we would call an individualistic culture since their focus is on the person.
Asian culture, on the other hand, is called a collectivistic culture as the group and social relations that is given more
importance than individual needs and wants.

By valuing the individual, Westerners may seem to have loose associations or even loyalty to their groups.
Competition is the name of the game and they are more likely straightforward and forceful in their communication as well
as decision making. Eastern or oriental persons look after the welfare of their groups and values cooperation. They would
also be more compromising and they tend to go around the bush in explaining things, hoping that the other person would
feel what they really want to say (Qingxue 2003)

Westerners also emphasize more on the value of equality even if they see that the individual can rise above
everything else. Because everyone is on their own in the competition, one can say that they also promote ideals that create
"fair competition and protect the individual. Asians, with their collectivistic culture, put more emphasis on hierarchy as the
culture wants to keep things in harmony and order (Qingxue 2003). For example, Westerners would most likely call their
bosses, parents, or other seniors by their first name The boss can also be approached head-on when conflicts or problems
about him arises. For Asians. we have respectful terms for our seniors and a lot of workers would not dare go against the
high-ranking officials (Qingxue 2003).

It must be emphasized, however, that these are general commonalities among Western cultures as
compared to Asian or Oriental cultures. In the case of the Philippines, we can also consider the colonization experience for
differences and similarities with our Asian neighbors. We might also find variation among provinces and regions due to
geographical conditions.

With the social media, migration, and intermarriages, variety between the Western and Asian perceptions
may either be blurred or highlighted. Whereas conflict is inevitable in diversity, peace is also possible through the
understanding of where each of us is coming from

APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT

Create a representation diagram, or concept map of the SELF according to Filipino culture. Provide a brief explanation of
your output. You can also cite books and researches about Filipino culture, self, and identity to further elaborate on the topic

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REFERENCES
• Gleitman, Henry, James Gross, and Daniel Reisberg, 2011. Psychology. On Ed. Canada: WW Norton and Company
• Ho, David. 1995. "Selfhood and Identity in Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism: Contrast with the West
Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior 25: 2. Accessed October 14, 2017. http://www.laccp.org/sites/
default/files/ho_1995_0.pdf
• Qingxue, Liu. 2003. Understanding Different Cultural Patterns or Orientations Between East and West."
Investigationes Linguisticae. Vol. IX April 2003, accessed October 14, 2017 http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/-
inveling/pdf/iu_quingxue_inve9.pdf
• Elmore, Kristen, George Smith, and Daphna Oyserman. and Handbook of Self and Identity. Leary and June Price
Tangney: 69-95. New York: Guilford Press
• Gleitman, Henry, James Gross, Daniel Reisberg. Canada: W.W. Norton and Michael, and Graham 2010. Essentials
Psychology Pearson Education Limited.
• Jhangiani, Rajiv, and Hammond Tarry. 2014. Principles Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
International License.

Disclaimer: The School and the teachers do not claim any rights or ownership of the information found in
the learning module. This is solely educational purpose only.

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