Ged 101- UNDERSTANDING THE SELF DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

WEEK 1: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF Personality refers to the total person in

his/her overt and covert behavior. The
PERSONALITY determinants of factors of personality are as
The etymological derivative of personality follows:
comes from the word “persona”. *Environmental Factors of Personality. The
Personality also comes from the two Latin surroundings of an individual compose the
words “per” and “sonare”, which literally environmental factors of personality. This
means “to sound through”. includes the neighborhood a person lives in,
his school, college, university and workplace.
Persona = the theatrical masks worn by Moreover, it also counts the social circle the
Romans in Greek and Latin drama. individual has friends, parents, colleagues,
Personality has no single definition since co-workers and bosses, everybody plays a
different personality theories have different role as the determinants of personality.
views on how to define it. However, the *Biological Factors of Personality. This
commonly accepted definition of personality further includes:
is that it is a relatively permanent traits and
unique characteristics that give both 1) hereditary factors or genetic make-up of
consistency and individuality to a person’s the person that inherited from their parents.
behavior (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008). This describes the tendency of the person to
appear and behave the way their parents
Personality plays a key role in affecting how are;
people shape their lives. It involves the
complex relationship of people with their 2) physical features include the overall
environment, how they cope and adjust physical structure of a person: height,
through life, and how they respond to weight, color, sex, beauty and body
demands of physical and social challenges. language, etc. Most of the physical
structures change from time to time, and so
Personality is the overall pattern or does the personality. With exercises,
integration of a person’s structure, modes of cosmetics and surgeries, many physical
behavior, attitudes, aptitudes, interests, features are changed, and therefore, the
intellectual abilities, and many other personality of the individual also evolves;
distinguishable personality traits. and
Personality is the conglomeration of the 3) brain. The preliminary results from the
following components: physical self, electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB)
intelligence, character traits, attitudes, research gives indication that better
habits, interest, personal discipline, moral understanding of human personality and
values, principles and philosophies of life. behavior might come from the study of the
brain.
*Situational Factors of Personality. Although Big 5 Trait Definition
these factors do not literally create and Openness The tendency to appreciate new
shape up an individual9s personality, art, ideas, values, feelings, and
situational factors do alter a person9s behaviors.
behavior and response from time to time. Conscientiousness The tendency to be careful, on-
The situational factors can be commonly time for appointments, to follow
observed when a person behaves rules, and to be hard working.
contrastingly and exhibits different traits and Extraversion The tendency to be talkative,
characteristics. sociable, and to enjoy others;
the tendency to have a
*Cultural Factors. Culture is traditionally dominant style.
considered as the major determinants of an Agreeableness The tendency to agree and go
individual9s personality. The culture largely along with others rather than to
determinants what a person is and what a assert one owns opinions and
person will learn. The culture within a person choices.
is brought up, is very important determinant Neurotism The tendency to be frequently
of behavior of a person. Culture is complex experience negative emotions
of these belief, values, and techniques for such as anger, worry, and
dealing with the environment which are sadness, as well as being
interpersonally sensitive.
shared among contemporaries and
transmitted by one generation to the next.
Who Am I?

PERSONALITY TRAITS Self-concept - understanding of who you are

as a person.
Personality traits reflect people’s
characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, Self-understanding - understanding what
and behaviors. your motives are when you act.

Personality traits imply consistency and According to the book Essential Social
stability someone who scores high on a Psychology by Richard Crisp and Rhiannon
specific trait like extraversion is expected to Turner:
be sociable in different situations and over • The individual self consists of attributes
time. Thus, trait psychology rests on the idea and personality traits that differentiate us
that people differ from one another in terms from other individuals.
of where they stand on a set of basic trait
dimensions that persist over time and across • The relational self is defined by our
situations. relationships with significant others.

The most widely used system of traits is • The collective self reflects our membership
called the Five-Factor Model. This system in social groups.
includes five broad traits that can be
remembered with the acronym OCEAN.
WEEK 2: THE SELF ACCORDING TO *The ideal realm is the one that is imperfect
PHILOSOPHY and unchanging, eternal, and immortal.
PHILOSOPHY
It is defined as the study of knowledge or PLATO
wisdom from its Latin roots, “philo” (love)
A student of Socrates, who introduced the
and “sophia” (wisdom). This field is also
idea of a three-part soul/self that is
considered as “The Queen of All Sciences”
composed of reason, physical appetite and
because every scientific discipline has
spirit or passion.
philosophical foundations.
o Reason enables human to think deeply,
make wise choices and achieve a true
SOCRATES understanding of eternal truths. Plato also
called this as divine essence.
*A philosopher from Athens, Greece and
said to have the greatest influence on o Physical Appetite is the basic biological
European thought. needs of human being such as hunger, thirst,
and sexual desire.
*According to the history he was not able to
write any of his teachings and life’s account o Spirit or passion is the basic emotions of
instead, he is known from the writings of his human being such as love, anger, ambition,
student Plato who became one of the aggressiveness and empathy.
greatest philosophers of his time. Socrates
had a unique style of asking questions called
Socratic Method. ST. AUGUSTINE
*Socratic Method. Socrates did not lecture; *Augustine has been characterized as
he instead would ask questions and engage Christianity’s first theologian.
the person in a discussion. He would begin
*Like Plato, Augustine believed that the
by acting as if he did not know anything and
physical body is different from the immortal
would get the other person to clarify their
soul. Early in his philosophical development
ideas and resolve logical inconsistencies
he described body as “snare” or “cage of the
(Price, 2000).
soul”.
*“Know Thyself”. Here, Socrates would like
According to St. Augustine, the human
to emphasize that knowing or understanding
nature is composed of two realms:
oneself should be more than the physical
self, or the body. 1. God as the source of all reality and truth.
Through mystical experience, man is capable
* According to Socrates, self is dichotomous
of knowing eternal truths. world.
which means composed of two things.
2. The sinfulness of man. The cause of sin or
*The physical realm - one that is changeable,
evil is an act of men freewill.
temporal, and imperfect.
*He also stated that real happiness can only *The way people judge you, it’s not you, it’s
be found in God. For God is love and he them.
created humans for them to also love.

SIGMUND FREUD
ARISTOTLE
*A well-known Australian psychologist and
*Student of Plato considered as the Father and Founder of
Psychoanalysis.
*Law of Diminishing Utility - (lahat ng sobra
ay masama, lahat ng kulang ay masama) *The dualistic view of self by Freud involves
the conscious self and unconscious self.
*EUDIMONIA – happiness
*Subconscious serves as the repository of
past experiences, repressed memories,
RENE DESCARTES fantasies, and urges. The three levels of the
mind are:
*A French philosopher, mathematician, and
considered the founder of modern 1. Id. This is primarily based on the pleasure
philosophy. principle. It demands immediate satisfaction
and is not hindered by societal expectations.
*Descartes, famous “I think, therefore I
exist” established his philosophical views on 2. Ego. The structure that is primarily based
“true knowledge” and concept of self. on the reality principle. This mediates
between the impulses of the id and
*He explained that in order to gain true
restraints of the superego.
knowledge, one must doubt everything even
own existence. Doubting makes someone 3. Superego. This is primarily dependent on
aware that they are thinking being thus, they learning the difference between right and
exist. wrong, thus it is called moral principle.
Morality of actions is largely dependent on
childhood upbringing particularly on
JOHN LOCKE rewards and punishments.

*An English philosopher and physician and *According to Freud, there are two kinds of
famous in his concept of “Tabula Rasa” or instinct:
Blank Slate that assumes the nurture side of
*Eros- the life instinct
human development.
*Thanatos- the death instinct

DAVID HUME
*He was a Scottish philosopher and also an
empiricist.
GILBERT RYLE *Churchland’s central argument is that the
concepts and theoretical vocabulary that
*A British analytical philosopher. He was an
people use to think about the selves using
important figure in the field of Linguistic
such terms as belief, desire, fear, sensation,
Analysis which focused on the solving of
pain, joy actually misrepresent the reality of
philosophical puzzles through an analysis of
minds and selves. He claims that the self is a
language.
product of brain activity.
*According to Ryle, the self is best
understood as a pattern of behavior, the
tendency or disposition for a person to MAURICE-MERLAUE PONTY
behave in a certain way in certain
*A French philosopher and
circumstances.
phenomenologist.
(your actions reflect who you are)
He took a very different approach to the
(your personality depends on who you are self and the mind/body problem. According
with) to him, the division between the “mind” and
the “body” is a product of confused thinking.

* Maurice Merleau-Ponty • A French

IMMANUEL KANT
philosopher and phenomenologist. • He
*A German Philosopher who made great took a very different approach to the self and
contribution to the fields of metaphysics, the mind/body Developed the concept of
epistemology, and ethics. Kant is widely self-subject and contended that perceptions
regarded as the greatest philosopher of the occur existentially. Thus, the consciousness,
modern period. the world, and the human body are all
interconnected as they mutually perceive
*Additionally, the self is the product of
the world.
reason, a regulative principle because the
self regulates experience by making unified *Phenomenology provides a direct
experience possible and unlike Hume, Kant’s description of the human experience which
self is not the object of consciousness, but it serves to guide man’s conscious actions.
makes the consciousness understandable
and unique.

PAUL AND PATRICIA CHURCHLAND

*An American philosopher interested in the
fields of philosophy of mind, philosophy of
science, cognitive neurobiology,
epistemology, and perception.
WEEK 3: THE SELF ACCORDING TO Through communication, social Relationship
SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY is formed. Now children begin to role play
and pretend to be other people. Role-taking
SOCIOLOGY presents the self as a product of
in the play stage is the process of mentally
modern society. It is the science that studies
assuming the process of another.
the development, structure, interaction, and
collective behavior of human being. The play stage is significant in the
development of the self. It is at this stage
ANTHROPOLOGY is the study of humanity.
where child widens his perspective and
This broad field takes an interdisciplinary
realizes that he is not alone and that there
approach to looking at human culture, both
are others around him whose presence he
past and present.
has to consider.
3. The Game Stage. Here, the child is about
George Herbert Mead and the Social Self eight or nine years of age and now does
more than just role-take. The child begins to
*Mead is an American philosopher,
consider several tasks and various types of
sociologist, and psychologist. He is regarded
relationships simultaneously. Through the
as one of the founders of social psychology
learnings that were gained in stage two, the
and the American sociological tradition in
child now begins to see not only his own
general.
perspective but at the same time the
Mead is well-known for his theory of self. perspective of others. In this final stage of
self-development, the child now has the
*He postulated that; the self represents the
ability to respond not just to one but several
sum total of people’s conscious perception
members of his social environment.
of their identity as distinct from others.
Mead argued that the self like the mind is *Generalized other the person realizes that
social emergent. This means that individual people in society have cultural norms, beliefs
selves are the products of social interaction and values which are incorporated into each
and not logical or biological in nature. self. This realization forms basis of how the
person evaluate themselves.
* He proposed the stages of self-formation:
*Here, Mead identified the two phases of
1. Preparatory Stage. Mead believed that the
self:
self-did not exist at birth. Instead, the self
develops over time. Its development is 1. the phase which reflects the attitude of
dependent on social interaction and social the generalized other or the “me”
experience. At this stage, children’s
2. the phase that responds to the attitude of
behaviors are primarily based on imitation.
generalized other or the “I”.
2. The Play Stage. Skills at knowing and
*In Mead’s words, the "me" is the social self,
understanding the symbols of
and the "I" is a response to the "me".
communication is important for this
constitutes the basis of socialization.
GEORG SIMMEL o Linguistic Anthropology. Focused on using
language as means to discover a group’s
*Simmel was a German sociologist,
manner of social interaction and their
philosopher, and critic. He was intensely
worldview.
interested in the ways in which modern,
objective culture impacts the individual’s o Cultural Anthropology. Focused in knowing
subjective experiences. what makes one group’s manner of living
forms an essential part of the member’s
*In contrast to Mead, Simmel proposed that
personal and societal identity.
there is something called human nature that
is innate to the individual. The following are the ways in which culture
may manifest itself in people:
*INTRINSIC- (ikaw mismo)
*Symbols. These are the words, gestures,
*EXTRINSIC- (ginawa mo kasi may reward)
pictures or objects that have recognized or
*OBJECTIVE CULTURE– tangible accepted meaning in a particular culture.

*SUBJECTIVE CULTURE- intangible *Heroes. These are persons from the past or
present who have characteristics that are
* Urbanization is the process that moves
important in culture.
people from country to city living. This result
to the concentration of population in one *Rituals. These are activities participated by
place brought about by industrialization. This a group of people for the fulfilment of
paved way to the organization of labor or desired objectives and are concerned to be
increased division of labor, which demands socially essential.
specializations wherein this creates more
*Values. These are considered to be the core
objective culture.
of every culture.
The four subfields of anthropology are
Archeology, Biological Anthropology,
Linguistics, and Cultural Anthropology,
suggest that human beings are similar and
different in varying ways and tendencies.
The subfields of Anthropology are as follows:
o Archeology. Focus on the study of the past
and how it may have contributed to the
present ways of how people conduct their
daily lives.
o Biological Anthropology. Focus on how the
human body adapts to the different earth
environments.
WEEK 4: THE SELF ACCORDING PSYCHOLOGY WILLIAN JAMES (Me-Self and I-Self)
PSYCHOLOGY *William James is a well-known figure in
Psychology who is considered as the founder
Psychology is a scientific study of mental
of functionalism. He brought prominence to
processes and human behavior.
U.S. psychology through the publication of
The Self as Cognitive Construction The Principles of Psychology (1890) that
made him more influential than his
*The cognitive aspect of the self is known as
contemporaries in the field.
self-concept. Self-concept is defined as self-
knowledge, a cognitive structure that James made a clear distinction between
includes beliefs about personality traits, ways of approaching the self the “knower“
physical characteristics, abilities, values, (the pure or the I-Self) and the “known” (the
goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge objective or the Me-Self).
that an individual exists as individuals. As
knower (I-Self) - the agent of experience.
humans grow and develop, self-concept
known (Me-Self) have three different but
becomes abstract and more complex.
interrelated aspects of empirical
According to the psychologist Dr. Bruce A.
*Me viewed as material - everything an
Bracken in 1992, there are six specific
individual call uniquely as their own, such as
domains that are related to self-concept
the body, family, home or style of dress.
these are:
*Me viewed as social - recognition an
1) social domain - ability of the person to
individual gets from other people
interact with others
*Me viewed as spiritual in nature - individual
2) competence domain - ability to meet the
inner or subjective being.
basic needs;
3) affect domain - awareness of the
emotional states; CARL ROGERS (Real VS. Ideal Self)
4) physical domain - feelings about looks, *Carl Rogers is best known as the founder of
health, physical condition, and overall client centered therapy and considered as
appearance one of the prominent humanistic or
existential theorists in personality. His
5) academic domain - success or failure in
therapy aimed to make the person achieve
the school
balance between their self-concept (real-
6) family domain - how well one function self) and ideal self.
within the family unit
*The real self includes all those aspects of
one's identity that are perceived in
awareness.
*The ideal self is defined as one’s view of self DONALD WINNICOTT (True VS. False Self)
as one wishes to be.
FALSE SELF - is an alternative personality
*A wide gap between the ideal self and the used to protect an individual’s true identity
self-concept indicates incongruence and an or one’s ability to hide the real self.
unhealthy personality.
*Healthy self if it is perceived as functional
for the person and for the society and being
compliant without the feeling of betrayal of
MULTIPLE VS. UNIFIED SELF
true self.
*According to Multiple Selves Theory, there
*Unhealthy false self happens when an
are different aspects of the self-exist in an
individual feels forced compliance in any
individual.
situation.
*Self is a whole consist of parts, and these
TRUE SELF has a sense of integrity and
parts manifest themselves when need arise.
connected wholeness that is rooted in early
*Gregg Henriques proposed the Tripartite infancy.
Model of Human Consciousness
o experiential self - theater of consciousness
ALBERT BENDURA (Proactive VS. Agentic)
is a domain of self that defined as felt
experience of being. *Albert Bandura is a psychologist and
Professor Emeritus of Social Science in
o private self -consciousness system or the
Psychology at Stanford University. He is
narrator/interpreter is a portion of self that
known for his theory of social learning by
verbally narrates what is happening and tries
means of modeling. He is famous for his
to make sense of what is going on.
proposed concept of self-efficacy.
o public self - persona, the domain of self
PROACTIVE means an individual have control
that an individual shows to the public, and
in any situation by making things happen.
this interacts on how others see an
AGENTIC assume some degree of ownership
individual.
and control over things, both internally (I
*UNIFIED being is essentially connected to control my own thoughts) and externally (I
consciousness, awareness, and agency. A make things happen in the environment).
well-adjusted person is able to accept and
*SELF-EFFICACY beliefs determine how
understood the success and failure that they
people feel, think, motivate themselves and
experienced.
behave.
WEEK 5: THE SELF IN THE WESTERN AND Confucianism is centered on ren which can
ORIENTAL/EASTERN THOUGHT be manifested through the:
Individualistic VS. Collective Self *li (propriety)
Individualistic Self *xiao (filiality)
*Individualism is not the idea that *yi (rightness)
individuals should live like isolated entity, nor
REN
the idea that they should never get or give
help from others, nor the idea that an -reflects the person’s own understanding of
individual never owes anything to other humanity.
people.
- found within each person and can be
*Individualism is the idea that the realized in one’s personal life and
fundamental unit of the human species that relationship.
thinks, lives, and acts toward goals is the
-guides human actions that makes life worth
individual. This means that we can form our
living which can be realized through li, xiao,
own independent judgments, act on our own
and yi:
thoughts, and disagree with others.
o Li the propriety. Rules of propriety should
*Western cultures are known to be
be followed to guide human actions. These
individualistic.
rules are the customs, ceremonies, and
traditions that forms the basis of li.
Collective Self o Xiao the filiality. This is the virtue of
reverence and respect for the family.
*Collectivism is the idea that the
Children show respect to their parents by
fundamental unit of the human species that
exerting efforts to take care of themselves
thinks, lives, and acts toward goals is not the
individual, but some group. In different o Yi the rightness. The right way of behaving
variants, this group may be the family, the which is unconditional and absolute. Right is
city, the economic class, the society, the right, and what is not right is wrong.
nation, the race, or the whole human
species.
*Asian countries are known to be collective
in nature.

*Confucius philosophy is known as

humanistic social philosophy which focusses
on human beings and the society in general.
WEEK 6: PHYSICAL SELF ● Puberty is a brain neuroendocrine process
occurring primarily in early adolescence that
The concept of Physical Self
triggers the rapid physical changes.
● The understanding of the Physical self is
shaped by biological and environmental
factors. The self as impacted by the body
● Heredity is defined as the transmission of 1. Psychodynamic Perspective
traits from parents to offspring.
The body and its evolving mental
●Genotype refers to the specific information representations form the basis of a sense of
embedded within one’s genes; not all self (Krueger, 2002). The development of a
genotypes translate to an observed physical body self mainly has three stages:
characteristic.
1.Early psychic experience of the body in
●Phenotype is the physical expression of a which sensations like tactile like in infants
particular trait. enable babies to discriminate bodies from
their surroundings, which contribute to the
*Each individual carries 23 pairs of
sense of self.
chromosomes, which are threadlike bodies
in the nucleus of the cell and the storage unit 2.Defining body surface boundaries which is
of genes. The 23rd pair, also known as sex the stage of being awareness of body image
chromosomes, determines the sex of an in contrast to surface boundaries.
individual.
3.Distinguishing of the body’s internal states
● Maturation is known as the completion of which is the stage of having cohesion of the
growth of a genetic character within an body. In these images and experiences of the
organism or the unfolding of an individua’s body and the body, surfaces can be
inherent traits or potential. organized into holistic understanding of the
body.
● A period of rapid physical changes is in
Puberty. According to Santrock (2016), 2. Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective
puberty is not the same as adolescence
Focuses on perceptual, cognitive, and
because puberty ends prior to the end of the
affective aspects which is a multidimensional
adolescent period. But the recognized
experience that can aid a more precise
puberty as the most essential marker of the
understanding of the body.
beginning of adolescence. The changes
experienced during puberty are different 3. Feminist Perspective
from girls and boys. Girls reach puberty
Relies on the social construction in which
earlier than boys and experience menarche
there is a possibility of individuals to
which is her first menstrual flow. Boys, two
experience their bodies in distorted ways
or three years later, experience spermarche
(especially, women).
or semenarche which is his first ejaculation
or nocturnal emission (wet dreams).