Binalonan, Pangasinan

MODULE 4: The Self from the Psychological Perspective

Course Title: Understanding the Self
Course Code: GE 1

Name: __________________________________________________________
Course and Year: _________________________________________________
Contact Number/E-mail Address: _____________________________________
Date and Time Allotment: ___________________________________________

Introduction
This module entitled The Self from the Psychological Perspective explains various basic psychological theories and
foundations in shaping one’s persona and self-development.

I. Objectives
At the end of the end of this module, students should be able to:
1. Differentiate the different provinces of the human psyche
2. Discus the different levels of psychosexual stages.
3. Compare and contrast the different Eriksonian psychosocial stages
4.Differentiate ideal self from real self

II. Lectures
The self can be defined in many ways, in different contexts. In the context of psychology, the self can be defined as
a reflexive psychological process that starts when one identifies himself or herself as an object, followed by describing
oneself as a self-concept or self-feeling, and ends with saying that the self is manifested in how one acts and presents
himself or herself to others. (Zhao, 2014). In this process, the self is perceived through how one sees and understand
himself or herself.

Sigmund Freud: The Psychoanalytic Theory of Self

Sigmund Freud - an Austrian Neurologist by which his theories are deterministic in nature. He is the originator of
Psychoanalysis and focuses on the individual’s abnormal functioning.

Freud’s asserts that the human psyche (personality) is structured into three parts (tripartite). These structures – the id, ego,
and superego – all develop at different stages in a person’s life.
These three structures are systems and not physical parts of the brain. Although each part comprises unique
features and contributes to an individual’s behavior and they interact to form a whole.
Parts of Personality
1. Id (internal desires). Also called internal drives or instinctive drives, it consists of the body’s primitive biological
drives and urges, which are concerned only with achieving pleasure and self-satisfaction. Id lives completely in the
unconscious.
2. Ego (reality). It is the “I” part of the individual that gives him/her the sense of pf his/her own identity. The ego is the
rational part of the personality.
3. Superego (conscience). It is the part of the personality concerned with morals, precepts, standards, and ideas. The
superego is also the critical faculty of the personality.
Freudian Stages of Psychosexual Development
Freud also argues that the development of an individual can be divided into distinct stages characterized by sexual
drives. As a person grows, certain areas become sources of pleasure, frustration or both.
1. Oral. From birth to the end of the first year, the mouth becomes part of the body through which gratification is
secured.
2. Anal (expulsive phase). From the age of 2 to 3 years, the child derives the feelings of pleasure or pain from
defecating. It covers the toilet-training period.
3. Phallic. From the age of 3-6 years, the child gets curious about his/her genitals and becomes attached to the parent
of the opposite sex. The attraction or the unconscious desire of a boy to his mother is called Oedipus complex,
while that of a girl to her father is called Electra complex.
4. Latency. From the age of 7 -11 years, sexual motivations presumably recede in importance as the child becomes
preoccupied with the developing skills and other activities.
5. Genital. After puberty, the deepest feelings of pleasure presumably come from heterosexual relations. In this stage,
the teenagers has overcome latency, made associations with one gender of the other, and now seeks out pleasure
through sexual contact with others.
Erik Erikson: The Psychosocial Stages of Self-development
Erikson was primarily concerned with how both psychological and social factors affect the development of
individuals. He has formulated eight stages of development, each posing a unique developmental task and simultaneously
presenting the individual with a crisis that he/she must overcome. According to Erikson, a person passes through eight
developmental stages that build on each other. At each stage we face a crisis. By resolving the crisis, we develop
psychological strengths or character traits that help us become confident and healthy people. Erikson’s theory of
psychosocial development gives us a way to view the development of a person through an entire lifespan. But like all
theories, it has its limitations: Erikson doesn’t describe the exact way that conflicts are resolved. Neither does he detail how
you move from one stage to the next.

Stage Conflict Age Desired outcome

Birth to 12–18
1 Trust vs. mistrust A sense of trust and security
months
 Autonomy vs. shame & 18 months to 3 Feelings of independence lead to belief in yourself and
2
doubt years your abilities

Self-confidence; the ability to take the initiative and make

3 Initiative vs. guilt 3 to 5 years
decisions

4 Industry vs. inferiority 5 to 12 years Feelings of pride and accomplishment

5 Identity vs. confusion 13 to 21 years A strong sense of identity; a clear picture of your future

6 Intimacy vs. isolation 21 to 39 years Safe relationships filled with commitment and love

Generativity vs. The desire to give to family and community, and to

7 40 to 65 years
stagnation succeed at work

Pride in what you’ve achieved leads to feelings of

8 Integrity vs. despair Over 65 years
satisfaction

Carl Roger’s Self Theory

Carl Rogers proposed that by means of free choice and action, one can shape himself or herself based on what he
or she wants to be. Rogers considers the self as the center of experience. According to him, the self is one’s ongoing sense
of who and what he or she is and how and why he or she responds to the environment. The choices an individual makes
are based on his or her set of values. Roger’s theory focuses on the nature of the self and the conditions that allows the self
to freely develop (Rathus, 2014)

Real Self and Ideal Self

The real self is who an individual actually is, intrinsically. It is the self that feels close to how one identifies with. It is
how one thinks, feels, looks, and acts. It is the self that feels most natural, comfortable, and true to what and who one really
is. It is the self that one continuously needs to accept, takes care of, and improves. Despite the difficulty of an individual to
truly know how others see him or her, his or her real self can still be possibly seen. One’s significant other may tell almost
exactly his or her real self. The real self is one’s self-image.

The ideal self, on the other hand, is the perception of what a person would like to be or thinks he or she would be. It
is an idealized image that has developed over time based on the influence of the environment and the people one interacts
with. It is the self that one thinks he or she should be, and that one feels others thinks he or she should be. This self is
product of expectations and pressures from other people and arises from the need to be love and accepted by others. It is
dynamic and forever changing.

For instance, someone who is not a good singer (real self) desires to be someone who can sing well (ideal self), the
greater the discrepancy between the reals self and the ideal self, the greater the frustration and distress one will experience.
Hence, one should strive to reduce the discrepancy by either addressing the issue or accepting the issue if it cannot be
resolved.
Self-Concept

The term self-concept is a general term used to refer to how someone thinks about, evaluates or perceives themselves. To
be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself.
Baumeister (1999) provides the following self-concept definition: "The individual's belief about himself or herself, including
the person's attributes and who and what the self is". The self-concept is an important term for both social and humanistic
psychology. Carl Rogers (1959) believes that the self-concept has three different components:
1. Self-worth or self-esteem is what one thinks about oneself. This develops in early childhood stages resulting from
the interaction of the child with his or her mother and father.
2. Self-image is how one sees himself or herself, which is important for good psychological health. Self-image includes
the influence of body image on inner personality. At a simple level one might look at oneself as either good or bad,
beautiful of ugly, self-image has an effect on how a person thinks, feels, and behaves in the world.
3. Ideal self is the person one wants to be. It consists of one’s dreams and goals in life, and it is continuously
changing. To illustrate, the ideal self during childhood is not the same ideal during adulthood.

III. ACTIVITY
Act.4.1
1. Describe your real self (Who do you think you are?)
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 2. Describe your ideal self (Who do you want to be?)
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Act. 4.2
Write your common true self and false self behavioral traits.

TRUE SELF BEHAVIORAL TRAITS FALSE SELF BEHAVIORAL TRAITS

IV. ASSESSENT

A. Make a situational scenario wherein you can incorporate the ID, EGO, AND SUPERGEO.

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B. MULTIPLE CHOICE. Encircle the corresponding letter of the correct answer.
1. The unconscious desire of a boy to his mother is called
A. Fixation D. Electra Complex
B. Electro complex C. Oedipus Complex

2. The virtue being developed in the Sixth Stage of Psychosocial theory is what.
A. Hope C. Care
B. Love D. Wisdom

3. Too much discrepancy between reals self and ideal self will lead to ___________.
A. Frustration C. None of the above
B. Distress D. Both A and B

4. It refers to how the individual views himself or herself.

A. Self-image C. ideal self
B. Self-concept D. real self

5. The stages Psychosexual and Psychosocial development can be experienced at random order
A. NO C. Could be
B. YES D. Possibly

Prepared by:

REZZIE P. MENSALVAS, CHRA

Instructor

Submitted to:

RAYMOND N. CLARO, PhD.

Asst. Dean, College of Teacher Education