Understanding the Self

1. THE SELF AS COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCT

2. LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Identify the different ideas in psychology about the “self”;
2. Create your own definition of the “self” based on the definitions
from psychology; and
3. Analyze the effects of various factors identified in psychology in
the formation of the “self.”

3. ACTIVITY
This activity has two parts that try to compare how we look at
ourselves against how people perceive us depending on how we
present ourselves to them. For the first part, list 10 to 15 qualities or
things that you think define who you are around the human figure
representing you.
For the second part, in the space below, write “I am ___________
(your name). Who do you think I am based on what you see me do or
hear me say?” Pass your paper around for two to three minutes
without looking who writes on it. As you fill out the paper of your
classmates, write briefly and only those that you observe about the
person. Do not use any bad words and do not write your name. After
the allotted period, pass all the paper to your teacher who will
distribute them to the respective owners.

4. ANALYSIS
Compare what you wrote about yourself to those written
by your classmates. What aspects are similar and what are
not? What aspects are always true to you? What aspects
are sometimes true or circumstantial? What aspects do
you think are not really part of your personality?

5. THE SELF
o There are various definitions of the “self” and other similar or
interchangeable concepts in psychology.
o Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept:
o Identity is composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and
responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who one is.
o Self-concept is what basically comes to your mind when you are
asked about who you are.
o Self, identity, and self-concept are not fixed in one time frame.
o Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self-schema or our
organized system or collection of knowledge about who we are.

6. THE SELF
o Theories generally see the self and identity as mental constructs, created and
recreated in memory.
o 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.
-There are three reasons why self and identity are social products:
1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society helped in creating the
foundations of who we are.
2. Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and
reinforce who we think we are.
3. What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what is
important in our social or historical context.

7. THE SELF
o Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors in creating our self-
concept especially in the aspect of providing us with our social identity;
o There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts; this is also called self-
awareness;
- Carver and Scheier 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

8. THE SELF
o Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schema:
•The “actual” self is who you are at the moment
•The “ideal” self is who you like to be
•The “ought” self is who you think you should be
o Self-awareness may be positive or negative depending on the
circumstances and our next course of action.
o Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great impact on our
self-esteem, defined as our own positive or negative perception or
evaluation of ourselves.

9. THE SELF
o One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our self-esteem is through
social comparison:
•The downward social comparison is the more common type of comparing
ourselves with others, by comparing ourselves with those who are worse off
than us.
•The upward social comparison which is comparing ourselves with those who
are better off than us.
o 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.
o In the attempt to increase or maintain self-esteem, some people become
narcissistic, a “trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and
self-centeredness.”

10. THE SELF
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.

11. APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT
o Do a research and list 10 things to boost your self-esteem or
improve your self-concept. Cite your sources.
o 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.

12. LESSON SUMMARY
o Other concepts similar to self:
Identity, composed of personal characteristics, social roles, and
responsibilities
Self-concept, what basically comes to your mind when you are
asked about who you are
o Self, identity, and self-concept are not fixed in one time frame.
o Theories generally see the self and identity as mental constructs,
created and recreated in memory.
o Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors in creating
our self-concept.

13. LESSON SUMMARY
o There are times when we are aware of our self-concepts; this is also called self-
awareness.
o 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.
-Self-awareness also presents us with at least three other self-schema:
•The “actual” self is who you are at the moment
•The “ideal” self is who you like to be
•The “ought” self is who you think you should be

14. LESSON SUMMARY
o Our group identity and self-awareness also has a great impact
on our self-esteem.
o One of the ways in which our social relationship affects our
self-esteem is through social comparison:
•The downward social comparison is by comparing ourselves
with those who are worse off than us.
•The upward social comparison which is comparing ourselves
with those who are better off than us.