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Understanding The Self Lesson 10

Understanding the Self (Technological University of the Philippines)

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Technological University of the Philippines

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

Understanding the Self

Lesson Pack (10)
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
• Understanding the theoretical underpinnings for how to manage and care for
different aspects of the self.
• Acquire and hone ne skills and learnings for better managing of one’s self and
behaviors.
• Apply these new skills to one’s self and functioning for a better quality of life.

What is Self – Efficacy?

“In order to succeed, people need a sense of self – efficacy, to struggle together with resilience to
meet the inevitable obstacle and inequities of life.” – Albert Bandura
It is referring to your belief in your capacity to perform necessary actions to produce
specific performance goals (Bandura, 1977, 1886, 1997). Self – Efficacy is the reflection of your
confidence in the ability to exert control over your own motivation, behavior and social
environment.
A strong sense of self-efficacy adds to your sense of well – being that helps you perform
your tasks well. Those with a high sense of self – efficacy see a difficult task as a challenge that
must be conquered rather than a problem that must be avoided. This outlook fosters deep interests
in performing any activity. It sustains them to continue with their efforts in times of adversity.

Social cognitive psychologist and Professor Albert Bandura is best – known for his social
learning theory and the concept of self – efficacy. Social learning theory stressed the importance
of observational learning, imitation, and modeling. According to Bandura (1977), “Learning would
be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of
their own actions to inform them what to do.”
The theory of self – efficacy, as presented by Bandura (1977: 193) was “for analyzing
changes achieved in fearful and avoidant behavior.” He asserted that even though you believe an
activity may lead to a certain outcome, you might not be motivated to perform the action; hence,
you doubt your ability to perform.
Bandura presented four principal sources of self – efficacy beliefs:
1. Enactive mastery experiences

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• It is the most influential source of efficacy information.

• It provides the most authentic evidence of whether one can muster what it takes to
succeed.
• Success increases sense of self – efficacy; failure undermines it.
• A strong sense of self – efficacy is achieved through experience and perseverance
in overcoming obstacles.
2. Vicarious experience (compassions)
Bandura believed that most human behavior is learned be observation through
modeling. Additionally, people tend to approach tasks that they have seen others perform.
Through observation, you can build your self – efficacy by watching others perform task.
Factors might facilitate retention processes:
• Participant modeling. Observer watches and perform
• Timing. The learner is internally motivated, and the environment is conductive to
learning.
• Learning strategy. The lessons are appropriate for the learner’s level. Learning is
built on what the learner already knows.
• Variation and consistency in assessing performance and in giving feedback.
• Mental practice. It enhances vividness and stability of learning.
3. Verbal persuasions and allied types of social influences

There are people who can help motivate you and strengthen your beliefs in your
capacity to succeed. These significant people (i.e., parents, teachers, friends and so on) can
persuade you to believe that you possess the capability to master your tasks. Their moral
support will make you more likely to put in effort even when problems arise.
4. Emotional and Physiological States
Your emotions and physical health affect your self – efficacy judgment with
respect to specific task. For example, you feel depressed or you have a fever, yet you
need to study for a test; you are not motivated to study because you feel you will not
understand any of the topics anyway.
Factors that could alter sense of self – efficacy:
• Preconception of capability – your personal assessment of your capacity.
• Perceived task difficulty – your assessment whether the tasks is par with your
preconceived capability.
• Effort – how hard you will work at your task
• Amount of external support – the resources and support system that will help you
accomplish your task.
• Circumstances under which they perform – your physical mental, and emotional
states.

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• Pattern of successes and failures – how many times you have succeeded or failed
in the exact or similar task in the past.
• How the experience is cognized and reconstructed in memory – your
assessment whether the experience was pleasurable or painful.

What is SELF – CONCEPT?

Self – concept is your idea of who you are (self) based on your personal beliefs and your perceived
notion of how other people see you. These personal beliefs could be your body image (“I’m sexy”),
your notions about yourself (“I am hard working”), and how you tend to label yourself in different
situations (“I can be nasty if you push me too far”).
Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to “Who am I?”
Self – Knowledge
Self – Knowledge is philosophically viewed as your knowledge of
your own sensations, thoughts, beliefs, and other mental states.

Self – Awareness
When you are self-aware, you understand that you stand apart from
others and from your environment, and that you are a subject that acts,
interacts, and experiences your environment, Self – Awareness assists
Self – Concept Versus the person to reflect on his or her “self.”

Self – Esteem
It is your general attitude toward yourself.
It answers the questions:
Do I like myself?
Do I accept me for who I am?
Am I a person of value

What is SELF – ESTEEM?

“Everything that happens to you is a reflection of what you believe about yourself. We cannot
outperform our level of self – esteem. We cannot draw to ourselves more than we think we are
worth.” - Iyanla Vanzant
Self – esteem always involves a degree of self – evaluation. It is used to describe a person’s overall
sense of self – worth or personal value. Generally, children who have warm and secure
relationships with their parents/careers are more likely to have positive self – concepts and high
self – esteem. Self – esteem is often seen as a personality trait, which means it tends to be enduring.
It also affects your trust in others, your relationships, and your work – nearly every part of your
life.

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Having positive / high self – esteem helps you to try new things, like approaching people and
building your social network while having low self - esteem makes you unsure of yourself. Your
lack of confidence and your self – doubt will affect your motivation to work toward your goals.
Components of self – esteem (Branden, 1969):
1. It is an essential human need that is vital for survival, as well as for normal, healthy
development.
2. It arises automatically from within, based on a person’s beliefs and consciousness.
However, external factors can affect it, too.
3. It occurs along with a person’s thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and actions.
Persons with positive self – esteem:
• Feel good about themselves
• Feel proud of what they do
• Believe in themselves, even when they don’t succeed at first
• See their own good qualities, such as being kind or capable
• Feel liked, loved, and respected
• Accept themselves even when they make mistakes
• Take care of their overall well – being
• Trust others
• Independent but are cooperative
• Have the ability to accept mistakes, either their own or those of others
• Are able to say “No” appropriately
Persons with low self – esteem:
• Lack confidence
• Wish to be look/like someone else
• Always worry about what others may think
• Are pessimistic
• Have a negative view of life
• Have a perfectionist attitude
• Mistrust others – even those who shows signs of affection
• Have a blaming behavior
• Are afraid of taking risks
• Have a feeling of being unloved and unlovable?
• Show dependence – letting others make decisions
• Are afraid of being ridiculed
LOCKE’S GOAL –SETTING THEORY
You know the importance of having a goal. But are your daily actions bringing you closer to your
goal/goals? Are you planning your goals correctly? Wait, “plan my goal”? What’s that?

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As defined by professors Edwin Locke and Gary Latham (2006:332), a goal is “a level of
performance proficiency that one wishes to attain within a specific time period” (as cited in shields
et al., 2015). Locke and Latham stated, “Goal setting theory was based on the premise that much
human action is purposeful, and it is directed by conscious goals” (O’Neil & Drillings, 1994, p.14).
Goal – setting theory predicts that people will channel effort toward accomplishing their goals,
which will in turn affect performance (Locke & Latham, 1990).
Locke, who primarily developed the goal-setting theory, proposed three factors that will make
individuals highly motivated:
1. Goals are challenging and specific.
2. They are strongly committed to the goal/goals.
3. They strongly believe in their ability to accomplish their goal.
According to Locke, those factors will occur if:
a. People know what is required of them.
b. They know how they are expected to perform.
c. They can identify with the goals.
d. Feedback is precise and frequent.
Five Principles of Goal Setting
Goals must have:
1. Clarity. When a goal is a clear and specific there is less misunderstanding about what
behaviors will be rewarded. You know what is expected, and you can use the specific result
as a source of motivation.
2. Challenge. People are often motivated by achievement. It is important to strike an
appropriate balance between a challenging goal and realistic goal. A goal that is too easy
or too difficult will not motivate the person to work hard on a task.
3. Commitment. A personally relevant goal will motivate a person to work on accomplishing
it. Interestingly, goal commitment and difficult often work together. The harder the goal,
the more commitment is required. If you have an easy goal, you do not need a lot of
motivation to get it done.
4. Feedback. Feedback provides opportunities to clarify expectations, adjust goal difficulty,
and gain recognition. It is an assessment to help you know where you are toward achieving
your goal, how effective your strategies are how your best practices are recognized, and
how your areas for improvement are determined.
5. Task complexity. Just like setting a challenging goal, task complexity involves appropriate
balance. With complicated tasks, make sure to learn or practice what is expected of you
and give yourself sufficient time to meet your goal.
(Mind Tools Ltd, 1996-2017)

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SMART GOALS
The conditions given by Locke gave way to a goal – setting technique called SMART goals
developed by management experts and authors, Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
When originally introduced by Blanchard, SMART goals were denoted as: Specific and
Measurable, Motivating, Attainable, Relevant and track-able (Blanchard, & Zigarmi, 1985, p. 89-
90). Over time, the SMART acronym for goals has evolved into what they are today: Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time – bound.
Specific
For you to be motivated to perform, you need to have a specific goal. “Increase my grade” is too
vague. A specific goal would be “Get a grade of 95 in Psychology.”
Measurable
A measurable goal is important so that you can monitor your progress and receive feedback. Thus,
a specific and measurable goal would be, “Increase my grade in Psychology from 88 to 95.”
Achievable
You should be able to relate to your own goal. Make your goal a personal commitment. For
example, “I will increase my grade in Psychology from 88 to 95.”
Realistic
You cannot just say, “I will increase my grade in Psychology from 88 to 100.” Likewise, you
should not set very low goals, such as, “I will increase my grade from 88 to 89.” Goals that are too
difficult enough to be realistically attained.
Time – related
A “habit” implies something that happens regularly. Since “habits” are occurred regularly, these
are also relatively quick to develop – provided you stick to them! Setting a time frame for your
goal will require you to develop a habit or routine. Once you have established your routine,
working toward your goal will come naturally (as opposed to forced effort).

REFERENCE:
Otig, V. S., Gallinero, W. B., Bataga, N. U., Salado, F. B., & Visande, J. C. (2018). A
Holistic Approach in Understanding the Self. Malabon City, Philippines: Mutya Publishing

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