Its all about the personal and development perspectives on self and identity

1. PERSONAL AND
DEVELOPMENTAL
PERSPECTIVES ON
SELF AND IDENTITY

2. INTRODUCTION
o Before we even had to be in any formal institution of
learning, among the many things that we were first taught as
kids is to articulate and write our names.
o Growing up, we were told to refer to this name when talking
about ourselves. Our parents painstakingly thought about our
names. Should we be named after some famous celebrity, a
respected politician or historical personality, or even a saint?
Were you named after one? Our names represent who we
are.

3. INTRODUCTION
o Human beings attach names that are meaningful because
these are supposed to designate us in the world. Thus, some
people get baptized with names such as “precious”,
“beauty” or “lovely”.
o Likewise, when our parents call our names, we were thought
to respond to them because our names represent who we
are. As a student, we are told to always write our names on
our papers, projects, or any output for that matter. Our
names signify us. Death cannot even stop this bond between
the person and their name. Names are inscribed even into
one’s gravestone.

4. THE SELF,
SOCIETY, AND
CULTURE

5. WHAT IS THE SELF?
o The self, in contemporary literature and even common
sense, is commonly defined by the following characteristics:
“separate, self-contained, independent, consistent, unitary,
and private” (Stevens, 1996)
o The self has always unique and has its own identity. One
cannot be another person. Even twins are distinct from each
other.
o The self is capable of morphing and fitting itself into any
circumstances it finds itself in.

6. THE SELF AND CULTURE
o Remaining the same person and turning chameleon by adapting
to one’s context seems paradoxical.
o According to Marcel Mauss, every self has two faces: personne
and moi.
o Moi refers to a person’s sense of who he is, his body, and his
biological givenness. Simply put, it is a person’s basic identity.
o Personne, on the other hand, is composed of the social concepts
of what it means to be who he is. It has much to do with what it
means to live in a particular institution, a particular family, a
particular religion, a particular nationality, and how to behave
given expectations and influences from others.

7. THE SELF AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL
WORLD
o So how do people produce their social worlds? How do children
become social beings while growing up? More than his
givenness (personality, tendencies, among others), one is
believed to be in active participation in the shaping of the self.
o Often, we think that humans are just passive actors in the
shaping of the selves. Recent studies, however, prove this to be
wrong: “Language as both a publicly shared and privately
utilized symbol system is the site where the individual and the
social make and remake each other” (Schwartz et al., 1993).
Thus, language is the arena in which the unending
metamorphosis of the self is mediated.

8. MEAD AND VYGOTSKY
o For Mead and Vygotsky, the way that human persons
develop is with the use of language acquisition and
interaction with others. The way that we process information
is normally a form of an internal dialogue in our head.
o Those who deliberate about moral dilemmas undergo this
internal dialog: “Should I do this or that?” “But if I do this, it
will be like this.” “Don’t I want the other option?”

9. MEAD AND VYGOTSKY
o Both Mead and Vygotsky treat the human mind as
something that is made, constituted through language as
experienced in the external world and as encountered in
dialogs with others.
o For example, ever notice how children often love role-
playing? How they make scripts and dialogs for their toys as
they play with them? A young child internalizes values,
norms, and social beliefs through exposure to these
dialogues.

10. SELF IN FAMILIES
o Apart from the anthropological and psychological basis for
the relationship between the self and the social world, the
sociological likewise struggled to understand the real
connection between the two concepts. In doing so,
sociologists focused on the different institutions and powers
at play in the society. Among these, the most prominent is
the family.

11. SELF IN FAMILIES
o While every child is born with certain givenness, disposition
coming from his parents’ genes and general condition of
life, the impact of one’s family is still deemed as a given in
understanding the self. The kind of family that we are born in,
the resources available to us (human, spiritual, economic),
and the kind of development that we will have will certainly
affect us as we go through life.
o As a matter of evolutionary fact, human persons are one of
those beings whose importance of family cannot be denied.

12. SELF IN FAMILIES
o Human persons learn the ways of living and therefore their
selfhood by being in a family. It is what a family initiates a person
to become that serves as the basis for this person’s progress.
o Babies internalize ways and styles that they observe from their
family. By imitating, for example, the language of its primary
agents of rearing its family, babies learn the language. The same
is true for ways of behaving. Ever notice how kids raised in a
respectful environment become respectful as well?
o Without a family, biologically and sociologically, a person may
not even survive or become a human person.

13. GENDER AND THE SELF
o Another important aspect of the self is gender. Gender is one of those
loci of the self that is subject to alteration, change, and development.
We have seen in the past years how people fought hard for the right
to express, validate, and assert their gender expression. From the point
of view of the social sciences and the self, it is important to give one
the leeway to find, express, and live their identity.
o The gendered self is then shaped within a particular context of time
and space. The sense of self that is being taught makes sure that an
individual fits in a particular environment. This is dangerous and
detrimental in the goal of truly finding one’s self, self-determination,
and growth of the self. Gender has to be personally discovered and
asserted and not dictated by culture and the society.

14. THE SELF AS A
COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCT

15. THE SELF AS A COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT
o Someone may sharply say "I am who I am" Yet one may ask, "If you
are who you are, then who are you that makes you who you are?”
o Self is defined in several interchangeable concepts but simply put,
self is the sense of personal identity and who we are as individuals.
William James (1890) conceptualized the self as having two
aspects, the "I" and the "me”. The “I” is the thinking, acting and
feeling self (Hogg and Vaughan 2010).
o The me is the physical characteristics as well as psychological
capabilities that make who you are (Gleitman et. al, 2011). Carl
Roger's 1959 Theory of Personality also used the ”I” as the one who
acts and decides while “me” is what you think or feel about
yourself as an object.

16. IDENTITY AND SELF-CONCEPT
o Other concepts similar to self are identity and self-concept.
Identity is composed of personal characteristics, social roles
as well as affiliations that define who one is (Oysemen,
Elmore and Smith 2012). Self-concept is what basically
comes to your mind when you are asked who you are.
o Self-identity and self-concept are not fixed in one time
frame. You may identify yourself based from who you are
years back, at present or in the future.

17. MENTAL CONSTRUCTS
o Theories generally point out the self and identity as mental
constructs created and recreated in memory. Researchers
point out to the frontal lobe of the brain as the specific area
in the brain associated with the process concerning the self.
o Sigmund 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. While under the Theory of Symbolic
Interactionism, Mead argued that the self is created and
developed through human language.

18. MENTAL CONSTRUCTS
According to Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith (2012) there are three
reasons why the self is created and developed through human
interactions:
1. We do not create ourselves out of nothing. Society helps in
creating the foundations of who we are even if we make our
choices, we still operate in our social and historical contexts in one
way or the other.
2. Whether we like it or not, we need others to affirm or 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.

19. SELF-AWARENESS
o Self-awareness also presents us at least three other self
schema: 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.
o 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 you have important things to do
when tempted to do something else. Self-awareness also
sometimes can be too much that that we may be
concerned about being observed and criticized by others,
this is then called self-consciousness.

20. SELF-ESTEEM
o Self-esteem is one of the common concepts associated with
the self. It is defined as our own positive and negative
perception or evaluation of ourselves (Uhangiani and Tarry,
2014). One of the ways in which our social relationship
affects our self-esteem is through comparison.
o According to the Social Comparison Theory, we learn about
ourselves, the appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as
our status by comparing aspects of ourselves with other
people (Hoggs and Vaughan, 2010).

21. SELF-ESTEEM
o The Downward Social Comparison is the most common type
of comparing ourselves with others. We create a positive self
concept if we compare ourselves with those who are worse
off than us. By having the advantage, we raise our self-
esteem.
o On the other hand, the Upward Social Comparison is
comparing oneself with those who are better off than
ourselves. While it can be a motivation for some, some may
feel having a lower self- esteem as they highlight more of
their weaknesses and inequities.

22. NARCISSISM
o In one's attempt to maintain or increase self-esteem, one
may resort to Narcissism. It is a trait characterized by an
overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-
centeredness.
o One often takes care of his image by way of looking for
better partners, better acquaintances, and people who will
appreciate them a lot. This makes one a bad romantic
partner or friend since they engage in relationships only to
serve themselves (Uhiangiani and Tarry, 2010).

23. NARCISSISM
o People with high self-esteem are usually outgoing,
adventurous, and adaptable to a lot of situations. They
initiate or build relationships with people. However, they may
leave a relationship or activities that do not conform to or
boost their self-concept. Because of their high regard for
themselves, they usually become bullies or indulge in
experimenting with narcotics, alcohol, and sex.

24. THE SELF IN
WESTERN AND
EASTERN
THOUGHTS

25. THE SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THOUGHTS
Cultures and cultural practices have great effects on peoples’ ways of life
and changes as well. Different cultures with varying environments tend to
create different perceptions of the self. One of the most common
distinction between cultures of people are the cultures of the Eastern versus
the Western. Eastern represents Asia and Western represents Europe and
Northern America.

26. EASTERN THOUGHTS OF SELF
1. CONFUCIANISM
o It is a code of ethical conduct on how should one harmoniously act
according to his relationship with other people. The identity and self-
concept of each individual are interwoven with the identity and
self-concept of the individuals and status of their community or
culture sharing its pride as well as its failure.
o In the Confucianism philosophy, 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
relationship. The cultivated self in Confucianism is what some
scholars call the "subdued self" wherein personal for the good of
many, making Confucian society also hierarchal for the purpose of
maintaining order and balance in the society.

27. EASTERN THOUGHTS OF SELF
2. TAOISM
o Taoism is living the in the way of the Tao, or the universe.
However Taoism rejects having one definition of what Tao is
and one can only state clues of what it is as they adopt the
free-flowing, relative, unitary as well as the paradoxical view
of almost everything.
o 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.

28. EASTERN THOUGHTS OF SELF
o In Taoism, the self is not just an extension of the family or the
community; it is part of a universe, one of the forms and
manifestations of the Tao.
o 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
other beings. In this way, one is able to act spontaneously
because he will not be restricted by some legalistic
standards but because he is in harmony with everything.

29. EASTERN THOUGHTS OF SELF
3. BUDDHISM
o There are various groups adopting Buddhist philosophy, thus
there might be little differences in teachings but more likely
their core concepts are alike.
o The self is seen as illusion, born 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. It is therefore the
quest to forget the self, the cravings of the self, the
attachment with the world, and to renounce the self which is
the cause of all sufferings and in so doing attain Nirvana or
“perfect happiness”.

30. WESTERN THOUGHTS OF SELF
o Western perspectives do not discount the role of
environment and society in the formation of the self but the
focus is always looking toward the self.
o To embody a Western-influenced thought, one has has to
compare himself in order to be better, create associations
and bask in the glory of that group for self-esteem, in other
words, putting primacy to the realization of supremacy of
the self.