LESSON 3

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 synonymous terms. The trend of the lessons
also seerns to define the concept of the "self" from a larger context (i.e.,
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.
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).
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:

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).
For example, when someone states your first name even if they are
not 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.
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 (Jhangiani 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 a certain group of friends. You study because it is your role as a
student but you 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 Scheier (1981)
identified two types of self that we can be aware of: (1) the private self
or your internal standards and private 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. 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 better off than us (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). While it can
be a form of motivation for some, a lot of those who do this actually felt
lower self-esteem as they highlight more of their weakness or inequities.
Take note that this occurs not only between individuals but also among
groups. Thus, if a person's group is performing better and is acknowledged
more than the other group, then his self-esteem may also be heightened.
Social comparison also entails what is called self-evaluation maintenance
theory, which states that we can feel threatened when someone out-
performs us, especially when that person is close to us (i.e., a friend or
family) (Tesser 1988 in Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). In this case, we usually
react in three ways. First, we distance ourselves from that person or redefine
our relationship with them (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014). Some will resort to the
silent treatment, change of friends, while some may also redefine by being
closer to that person, hoping that some association may give him a certain
kind of acknowledgment also. Second, we may also reconsider the
importance of the aspect or skill in which you were outperformed (Jhangiani
and Tarry 2014). If you got beaten in a drawing competition, you might think
that drawing is not really for you and you will find a hobby where you could
excel, thus preserving your self-esteem. Lastly, we may also strengthen our
resolve to improve that certain aspect of ourselves (Jhangiani and Tarry
2014). Instead of quitting drawing, you might join seminars, practice more
often, read books about it, and add some elements in your drawing that
makes it unique, among others. Achieving your goal through hard work may
increase your self-esteem, too.
However, in the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people
become narcissistic. Narcissism is a "trait characterized by overly high self-
esteem, self-admiration, and self-centeredness" (Jhangiani and Tarry 2014).
They are often charismatic because of how they take care of their image.
Taking care of that image includes their interpersonal relationships thus they
will try to look for better partners, better acquaintances, as well as people
who will appreciate them a lot. This makes them a bad romantic partner or
friend since they engage in relationships only to serve themselves (Jhangiani
and Tarry 2014).
Sometimes, there is a thin line between high self-esteem and narcissism
and there are a lot of tests and measurements for self-esteem like the
Rosenberg
scale but the issue is that the result can be affected by the desire of the
person
to portray herself in a positive or advantageous way (Jhangiani and Tarry
2014).
In case you want to take a test and find a numerical value or level of your
self-
esteem, try to be honest and objective about what you feel and see about
yourself.
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)