UNDERSTANDING THE SELF (ALAGON, JOHN MARK S.

TOPIC 1: PHILOSOPHERS’ PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

1. SOCRATES (470-399 B.C.)

● He explored his philosophy of immortality in the days following his trial and before his
sentence to death was executed.
● According to him, an unexamined life is not worth living. This statement is reflected in
his idea of the self.
● He believed in dualism that aside from the physical body (material substance), each
person has an immortal soul (immaterial substance).
● The body belongs to the physical realm and the soul to the ideal realm. When you die,
your body dies but not your soul. There is a life after the death of your physical body.
There is a world after death.
● According to him, in order for you to have a good life, you must live a good life, a life with
a purpose, and that purpose is for you to do well. Then there you will be happy after your
body dies.

2. PLATO (428/427-348/347 BC)

● He was greatly affected by Socrates’ death. Socrates was Plato’s teacher.
● He believed that the self is immortal and it consists of 3 parts:
a. Reason – the divine essence that enables you to think deeply, make wise choices and
achieve an understanding of eternal truths;
b. Physical Appetite - your basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual
desire and;
c. Spirit or Passion – your basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition,
aggressiveness, and empathy.
● The 3 components may work together or in conflict. If human beings do not live in
accordance with their nature/function, the result will be an injustice.

3. ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430)

● He was a great explorer in his youth and young adulthood; he spent great times with his
friends and up to the extent of fathering an illegitimate child.
● His explorations led to his conversion to Christianity wherein he spent the remainder of
his day serving the bishop of Hippo and writing books and letters including his idea of
the self.
● At first, he thought the body as the “slave” of the soul but ultimately, regarded the body
as the “spouse” of the soul both attached to one another. He believed that the body is
united with the soul, so that man may be entire and complete. His first principle was,
“I doubt, therefore I am.”
● The self seeks to be united with God through faith and reason and he described that
humanity is created in the image and likeness of God, that God is supreme and
all-knowing and everything created by God who is all good is good.

4. RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650)

● Descartes was a scientist in his professional life and during his time, scientists believed
that after death the physical body dies, hence the self also dies.
● He was a devout Catholic who believed in the immortal souls and eternal life. By
having the idea of both the thinking self and the physical body, Descartes was able to
reconcile his being a scientist and a devout Catholic.
● The self is a thinking thing, distinct from the body. The thinking self or soul is
nonmaterial, immortal, conscious while the physical body is material, mortal,
non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of nature.
● “Cogito ergo sum” (I think, therefore I Am) is the keystone to his concept of the self.
The essence of existing as a human identity is the possibility of being aware of oneself.
5. JOHN LOCKE (1634-1704)
● The intolerant and charged atmosphere in England kept Locke to stay abroad and
freedom from political intrigues and duties allowed him to develop his philosophy.
● According to Locke, the human mind at birth is a tabula rasa (“blank slate”). The self
or personal identity is constructed primarily from sense experiences which shape and
mold the self throughout a person’s life.
● Personal identity is made possible by self-consciousness. In order to discover the
nature of personal identity, you have to find out what it means to be a person. A person
is a thinking, intelligent being who has abilities to reason and to reflect. A person is also
someone who considers itself to be the same thing at different times and different
places.
● Consciousness means being aware that you are thinking; this what makes your belief
possible that you have the same identity at different times and in different places. The
essence of the self is its conscious awareness of itself as thinking, reasoning, reflecting
identity.

6. DAVID HUME (1711-1776)

● He left the University of Edinburgh at the age of 15, to study privately. Although he was
encouraged to take up law, his interest was philosophy. It is during his private study that
he began raising questions about religion.
● For him, there is no “self” , only a bundle of perceptions passing through the
theater of your minds.
● According to him, humans are so desperately wanting to believe that they have a unified
and continuous self or soul that they use their imaginations to construct a fictional self.
The mind is a theater, a container for fleeting sensations and disconnected ideas and
your reasoning ability is merely a slave to the passions. Hence, personal identity is
just a result of imagination.

7. IMMANUEL KANT (1724-1804)

● Although Kant recognizes the legitimacy in Hume’s account, he opposes the idea of
Hume that everything starts with perception and sensation of impressions, that’s why he
brought out the idea of the self as a response against the idea of Hume.
● For Kant, there is unavoidably a mind that systematizes the impressions that men get
from the external world.
● Therefore, Kant believed that the self is a product of reason because the self
regulates experience by making unified experience possible.
● We construct the self. The self exists independently of experience and the self goes
beyond experience.

8. SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939)

● Freud developed his theories during a period in which he experienced heart
irregularities, disturbing dreams and periods of depression. He read William
Shakespeare in English throughout his life.
● Based on him, the self is composed of three layers, conscious, preconscious and
unconscious.
● The conscious mind includes thoughts, feelings, and actions that you are currently
aware of; the preconscious mind includes mental activities that are stored in your
memory, not presently active but can be accessed or recalled; while the unconscious
mind includes activities that you are not aware of.
● According to him, there are thoughts, feelings, desires, and urges that the conscious
mind wants to hide, buried in your unconscious, but may shed light to your unexplained
behavior.
9. GILBERT RYLE (1900-1976)
● His father was a general practitioner but had a keen interest in philosophy and
astronomy that he passed on to his children; they had an impressive library where Ryle
enjoyed being an omnivorous reader.
● He graduated with first class honors in the New Modern Greats School of Philosophy,
Politics,and Economics.
● His concept of the self is provided in his philosophical statement, “I Act therefore I am”.
Ryle views the self as the way people behave, which is composed of a set of patterned
behavior.
● Basically, for Ryle, the self is the same as your behavior.

10. PAUL CHURCHLAND (1942)

● Churchland became a professor at the University of California where he later became
the department chair and member of the Cognitive Science Faculty, a member of the
Institute for Neural Computation. His membership to these organizations prompted him
to dwell on the brain as the self.
● Churchland’s theory is anchored in the statement, “the self is the brain”. The self is
inseparable from the brain and the physiological body because the physical brain gives
the sense of self. In short, the brain and the self are one. Once the brain is dead, the
self is dead too.

11. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY (1908-1961)

● When he won the school’s “Award for Outstanding Achievement” in Philosophy it
traced his commitment to the vocation of Philosophy.
● His concept, “the self has embodied subjectivity” explained that all your knowledge
about yourself and the world is based on your subjective experiences and everything
that you are aware of is contained in your consciousness.
● For him, your body is your general medium for having a world.

TOPIC 2: SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

(Answer the question: WHO ARE YOU?)

Sociology
● the study of human behavior/society
● refers to social behavior, society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and
culture that surrounds everyday life.

Socializing The Individual

1. Personality
- uniqueness
- basic organization of an individual
● Physical Characteristics
● Abilities
● Interest
● Belief (self, friends, or nature)
● Habits (routines)

2. Influence of Heredity and Environment (nature or nurture)

● Heredity
- role in personal development
- innate characteristics from birth
● Birth Order
- personality depends on birth order

3. Parents
- age (age of your parents can influence your personality)
- educational attainment
- religion
 4. Subcultures
- enough characteristics to set apart/family interest.
- questioning your family

5. Cultural Environment
- personality reflects on our culture.

THE SOCIAL SELF

1. John Locke
- Tabula Rasa (Blank slate)
- born without qualities
- experiences affects your personality

2. Charles Horton Cooley

- Social Self or “The Looking Glass Theory”
- American sociologist
- Other people are mirror reflecting yourself
- “You are as other see you” “What they see is what you are”
- Act according to the standard of society
- We imagine how we appear to others
- We interpret how others judge that appearance and then respond to that
interpretation through behavior.
- We experience feelings of pride or shame based on this imagined appearance
and judgment by others.
- We respond based on our interpretation.

3. George Herbert Mead

● Self—from experience as we learn to interpret situations by “taking on the role
of the other”
● Seeing yourself as others see you
● Children learn to do that in:
- Imitation (gestures, words)
- Play (specific roles)
- Games (multiple roles)
- Generalized other (role of the group)

Significant Others: (I SELF)

● most important people to you (love ones)
● parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, and so on…

Generalized Others: (ME SELF)

● take the role of an individual
● more roles and responsibilities (willingness)

*Mead explained that the self has 2 divisions: the I and Me self
● I – subjective element and active side of the self. It represents the spontaneous and
unique side of the self.
● Me – objective element of the self that represents internalized attitudes and demands of
other people and the individual’s awareness of those demands.
The full development of the self is attained when I and Me are United.
I SELF (True Self) ME SELF (False Self)

Subjective Objective/social self

Private/personal self Thinking about one self in a valued way.

Behavioral self-regulation Objective behavior (predictable)

Self-expression How you act in a certain role and expectation.

Subjective behavior Conformity (fit yourself)

Unique personality/qualities Change for group approval

TOPIC 3: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Anthropos - “man”
Logus - “study/science”

THE SELF AND THE PERSON IN CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY

With the identicalness of our physical environment and the cultures in which we thrive, can we
affirm that all men are alike? These questions about human universals form part of the central
themes of anthropology since its inception as a scientific discipline.

In their book, Personality in Nature, Society and Culture, psychologist Henry Murray and
anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1953) claimed that “Every man is in certain respects like all
other men, like some other men, and like no other man.” This statement pictured how
pre-contemporary and contemporary anthropology viewed the human person.

The pre-contemporary view of human nature demonstrated sameness, invariability, and

universality where man was regarded as identical, constant, and general. Humans, like all other
species, are considered essentially the same regardless of place and time. Thus, they are
predictable and can be studied uniformly.

While recognizing the self as an unchanging entity, anthropologists also accept its inherent
variability. Contemporary anthropologists subscribe to a more holistic approach in studying
the self by looking unto human variety brought about by variations across cultures and
variations over time.

They suggest that the human person can be studied from many points of view. And that it’s only
when we study the full range of human phenomenon and consider the inescapable fact that
men are in many respects like no other man, can we genuinely appreciate human nature. This
calls for a more comprehensive and encompassing approach towards understanding the human
person. That is, taking into account all the physical, biological, psychological, social and cultural
elements that make up the self.

This pursuit towards a holistic appreciation of human nature was supported scientifically. For
instance, Anthropology Professor Katherine Ewing asserted an integrative stance on the self by
defining it as one that “encompasses the physical organism, possessing all aspects of
psychological functioning, and social attributes”, (1990:254).

Even the neurobiologist Joseph LeDoux described the self as the totality of what an organism is
physically, biologically, psychologically, socially, and culturally. He further claimed that though
the self is a unit, it is not unitary” (2002: 31).
The Concept of Culture

Cultural anthropology being one of the sub-disciplines of anthropology underscores the

concept of culture and its influence in shaping the self. By reflecting on your outputs in the
activity Festival of Cultures, you probably had a good grasp of what culture is and what
constitutes it. You might have also realized how culture affects the way you construct your
personal identity.

Culture is a broad construct which covers a wide range of elements – from your clothing
designs to your food preferences, the dialect you use for communicating, the festivals you enjoy,
the religious beliefs and customs you observe, the set of values you conform to, or even the
kinds of books you read, or the jokes you crack – all these illuminate your way of life and all
these elements form part of the culture you were raised to.

One of the most fundamental aspects of culture is symbols. As people interact, they share
a common set of symbols which represent their identity. Cultural symbols aid in establishing
the uniqueness of a particular culture. When properly preserved and accurately passed on from
one generation to the other, it continues to be an indelible representation of one’s personhood.

Our Bodies and Culture

Your bodies and what you do with it is a reflection of the life you live and the culture you were
accustomed to. Body modifications and embellishments for instance are regarded as part of the
norms and representations of some cultures.

The Self Embedded In Culture

The self as a basic psychological concept which is commonly assumed to be static and have a
universal nature is therefore susceptible to changes depending on social situations and cultural
contexts. The self is malleable and can act in different ways depending on circumstances; it is
multi-faceted yet unified. As such, the self has to be examined as an entity embedded in culture.

Having interest in cross-cultural understandings of the person, French sociologist and

anthropologist Marcel Mauss (1950) substantiated the notion of person as a cultural category.
He used the terms moi (refers to the concept of self) and personne (refers to the concept of
person) but underscored the latter in elucidating about personhood. According to him, the
person was considered primarily a cultural conception, or a ‘category’ of a particular community.
As a social category, the person is said to be socially and culturally constituted that can only be
understood in relation to everything else in the society and thus, may be subject to quite
substantial, if not infinite, variation.

Harry Triandis (2019), a psychology professor at the University of Illinois, furthered the
discourse about the self being culturally shaped. In his research, The Self and Social Behavior
in Differing Cultural Contexts (1989), he introduced and distinguished

Three aspects of the self: (private, public, and collective self)

● The private self are cognitions that involve traits, states, or behaviors of the person; it is
an assessment of the self by the self.
● The public self on the other hand refers to cognitions concerning the generalized others
view of the self.
● The collective self corresponds to an assessment of the self by a specific reference or
group. These aspects of the self are heavily influenced by culture.
TOPIC 4: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Psychology
● study of mind and behavior

1. William James’s Me-Self and I-Self

American philosopher and psychologist, William James (1842-1910), extensively explained the
self and its aspects in his 1890 publication The Principles of Psychology.

According to James, a man's self is the “sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body
and his psychic powers, but his clothes and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and
friends, his reputation and works, his lands and horses, and yacht and bank-account.” This
suggests that the self is composed of everything the person has.

It embraces all his physical and corporeal possessions and extends even to the non-physical or
intangible aspects. As such, our sense of self pertains to all entities which we consider ours and
which we value as they are deemed extensions of us.

Two facets of Self:

● I-Self is said to be the self in action or as subject; it is that aspect of the self that does
the acting, thinking, and feeling. It is also known as the self as the knower or perceiver.
● Me-Self on the other hand refers to the self as an object; it is that facet of the self which
is the known or the perceived. .

Three Components Empirical Self or Me-Self:

● Material Self - which encompasses all of our important possessions as well as the
people we treasure
● Social Self - involved how we think we are viewed and regarded by others and also our
instinctive desire to be recognized
● Spiritual Self - contains our subjective dispositions like our self-appraised abilities,
beliefs, attitudes, emotions, etc.

For William James, these facets of the Me-Self help people define us; and aid us too in defining
and understanding ourselves. These may further bring about positive or negative self-feelings
that will motivate and direct our efforts to maintain, change, or improve ourselves.

2. Carl Rogers’s Real Self and Ideal Self

Known for being one of the pillars of humanistic theory, American psychologist Carl Rogers
(1902 – 1987), posited about self-concept. Self-concept simply speaks of how we think and
view of ourselves. It includes the entire schema and the knowledge that we have or that we are
aware of about ourselves.

As we come to interact with others, we may come across feedback or may be subjected to
experiences which will challenge our self-concept. Once established however, we may have
difficulties changing our self-concept and thus, we are likely to deny or distort them whenever
there are incongruences.

Two Essential Components of the Self:

● Real self - speaks of how we genuinely appraise ourselves. It is the self that feels most
true to what and who we really are. It may not be perfect but it is the part of us that feels
most real.
● Ideal self - denotes one’s view of self as one wishes to be. It contains attributes, usually
positive, that people aspire to possess.

Further, Rogers suggests that a discrepancy between our ideal and real selves redounds to
non-equilibrium, indicating an unhealthy personality.
 3. Albert Bandura’s Proactive and Agentic Self

Renowned psychologist who advocated the social cognitive theory of learning. This learning
perspective contends that human behavior results from vicarious learning, through the
experiences of other people.

Bandura viewed people as agents or originators of experience. We don’t just merely observe
and imitate behavior; we have cognitive faculties that enable us to discern whether or not such
behavior is worth emulating or if such can help us become better individuals.

One of the fundamental concepts espoused by social cognitive theory is self-efficacy, which is
defined as one’s conviction or belief that he or she can take on a certain task successfully. With
these emerged the concept of the self as proactive and agentic.

The self as proactive is constructive; it is optimistic that it can get through whatever
adversities it may encounter. Being proactive means having the capacity to recognize and
take advantage of opportunities that may be beneficial to ourselves and to better our lives in
general.

An agentic self is one who takes charge of his choices and actions; it is self-reflective
and self-regulating. Bandura views people as being more than just mere planners and fore
thinkers. We are agents of change; we can be actively involved in shaping our own lives
because we are equipped with the cognitive faculty and capacity to do so. We can be highly
motivated and not easily discouraged when faced with challenges.

An agentic and proactive self believes that no matter how big the problem may seem to be, he
or she can overcome it.

4. Murray Bowen’s Differentiated Self

Known for being one of the forerunners of family therapy and notable for having developed a
family systems theory, American psychiatrist Dr. Murray Bowen (1913 – 1990), posited on the
differentiation of selves.

Differentiation of selves - refers to the degree to which one is able to balance:

(a) emotional and intellectual functioning
(b) intimacy and autonomy in relationship

On a more personal level, differentiation involves the ability to make clear boundaries between
our thoughts and feelings, and to choose which of the two will guide our behavior.

Highly differentiated - individuals are able to balance autonomy and intimacy in their
relationship. This means that one is able to establish connection with others without losing one’s
self in the process. For instance, a highly differentiated person may be able to assert one’s self
despite the influence of peers.

Poorly differentiated individuals, on the other hand, may engage in fusion in their
relationships. This means that they become much attached to the roles they play in a
relationship, they have few firmly held beliefs, they are more likely to be compliant, and seek
approval from others before making a major decision.

Moreover, highly differentiated individuals are flexible and are better able to adapt to
stressful situations. Since they can set clear boundaries between their thoughts and feelings,
they can shift from being emotional to being rational (or vice versa) depending on the situation
and may make impulsive decisions based on their current emotional states. Thus differentiation
of self is the capacity to achieve a clear, coherent sense of self along with emotional
relationships with important others. According to Bowen, differentiation is a salient trait for
attaining mature development and psychological well-being (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998).
 5. Donald Woods Winnicott’s True and False Selves

He was an English psychoanalyst who conceptualized the true and false selves.
According to him the true self is based on our authentic experiences as a person. This is
somehow similar to Roger’s concept of the real self. The feeling of being alive, doing the things
you want to do, and just being yourself comprise the true self. On the other hand, the false self,
which may also be referred to as a fake self or superficial self, is our defense against the
vulnerabilities or imperfections of our real self. Our true self may have its own share of
blemishes and weakness that sometimes lowers our self-esteem. As a result, we try to cover up
these flaws and act “as if” we do not have them.

The false self may start to surface as early as infancy, when we are put under the control of our
parents or early caregivers. As we grow old, we are taught different rules imposed by our
families, the school, or the society.

Continually suppressing our true selves may inhibit us from truly expressing who we are, which
may negatively impact our wellbeing.

TOPIC 5: THE SELF IN WESTERN AND ORIENTAL/EASTERN THOUGHTS

Individualistic Perspective
● views the self as one that is independent from others
● recognizes individual differences
● self-made whose success and happiness do not necessarily depend on others, not even
to the society in general.

Collective Perspective
● all things are seen as interdependent
● the awareness of unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events in life.
● identity and self-esteem are wrapped up in their group

WESTERN EASTERN
(Greek and Judeo-Christian Traditions) (Classical Indian and Chinese Philosophies)

Individualism/Fragmentary/Dualistic: Collectivism/Wholistic

Outer-world dependent: Inner-world dependent:

Searching outside yourself – through Searching inside yourself – through
research and analysis meditation and right living

Science/evidence-based culture: Evidence is meaningless:

What can be proven/measured is deemed the Truth is given and does not have to be
truth . proven.

Man is an element of the Divine Man is a part of the cosmic unity

Life is a service (to God, money, business, Life is a journey towards eternal realities
etc.) outside the world

The journey of mankind is linear: Journey of mankind is cyclical;

everything has its beginning and end. perception of eternal recurrence

Action is not necessarily a translation of the The action is the extension of the mind.
mind.

The concept of “Me”: the true “me” is a part of Me- to be discovered by liberating from the
the Divine that need not become apparent: it false “me” – attachment to the material things
is given, does not have to be cognizable
The Self as Embedded in the Oriental Thoughts
While its western counterpart highlights the importance of individualism, the eastern thought
values unity and harmony and being part of the greater whole, where everything is believed to
be connected and interdependent with others and nature.

THE SELF IN HINDUISM

● The self is Atman, and Atman is the innermost essence of the self whose destiny is to
be Brahma in Nirvana.
● Attachment of the self to the material world (maya/illusion) leads to suffering
(samsara).
● Reincarnation of the self is a form of suffering because the self keeps coming back to
the material-world thinking that it is its real destiny. The self has to liberate itself from this
ignorance by cultivating an authentic knowledge (self-realization) that the self has is
NOT MAYA but ATMAN.
● When the self has been thoroughly cleansed from its illusions, the self is filled with the
sense of well-being, and at death, its soul is liberated from endless rebirths
(reincarnation) and joins the universal spirit Brahma and becomes one with Brahma.

THE SELF IN BUDDHISM

● The doctrine of non-self or annata dictates that the self is subject to the law of changes.

Constant Change
● born
● grows
● dies.

Five Aggregates
● natter
● sensation
● perception
● mental construct
● consciousness.

Each aggregate is transitory in nature Buddhism discards the existence of the self. The idea of
the self is illusory. This false belief yields harmful thoughts of selfish desire, “me-and-mine”
mentality, craving, attachment, ill-will, hatred, conceit, pride, egoism, and any other defilements
and social problems. It is the source of all troubles in societies.

The goal of the self is to attain enlightenment by freeing oneself from ignorance that causes
suffering. To eliminate ignorance and attain enlightenment, the self should:

Four Noble Truths

● suffering exists
● it has a cause
● it has an end
● it has a cause to bring about its end

Eightfold Path.
1. Right Understanding
2. Right Emotion
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Awareness
8. Right Meditation
THE SELF IN CONFUCIANISM
● The self is a moral and social being.
● Confucius was essentially concerned with what made a good life. Good life depends on
order, and order depends on good and just government. If a ruler lives and governs
virtuously, virtuous people would obey him. Virtue consists of correct behavior, such as
benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and loyalty

These virtues must guide human relations, namely,

(a) between ruler and people
(b) between parents and children
(c) between husband and wife
(d) between elder brother and younger brother
(e) between friends and friends.
● A true self is a noble man who possesses all the virtues, and this nobleman is called the
man of JEN.

The self is a dot in the universe and being a part of nature, the self must live in accordance with
the law of nature that rules and directs the movements of all things. The highest achievement of
every human being is being a wise person. As a wise person, his highest achievement is affinity
with the universe. The happiness of the self is found in the self’s conformity with nature.

Confucius advocated the active role of man in relation to creating oneness with nature. Since
the self is the master of nature, his duty is to actively harmonize himself with nature by
translating the innate law of nature into action.

THE SELF IN TAOISM

● Taoism advocates what is natural and spontaneous, simple, and necessary.
● Taoism derived its name from its central idea, Tao or the Way of nature.
● Taoism considers the self as merely one of the many elements of the natural world. Tao
is an indescribable force that governs nature.

Three Great Virtues:

● humility
● frugality
● contentment

The self should not strive for learning, riches, and power; the self should find happiness by
being quiet, thoughtful, and humble. In other words, to be able to harmonize, the self must
practice the WU-WIE or the non-interference with the natural courses of events. Most of the
problems in the world are caused by the self’s active participation in creating harmony with
nature. Too much involvement of the self in nature can lead to destruction.

FILIPINO CONCEPTS OF THE SELF

● The concepts of PAGKATAO and LOOB. Pagkatao or humanities indicates the fact that a
Filipino is a human being just like anyone else. The concept of loob is exemplified by
Filipino holistic worldview and interiority (human heartedness)
● With this non dualistic worldview, the self is seen as a body-soul embodiment. Life is not
seen as compartmentalized, the present is the continuation of the past, and this
continuity moves in a cyclic manner that has no beginning and no end (Gulong ng
Palad). A Filipino does not distinguish the subject from the object, the person from
feelings. Harmonious relationship is of prime importance; this is maintained by the value
of sensitivity. Interiority pertains to love, mercy, charity, elemency, and leniency.
● This human heartedness is mirrored in the Filipino concepts of kagandahang-loob,
kabutihang loob, kalooban, which somehow depict our interdependency with others.
They slow the social dimension of the self, sharing of the self with others in values of
pakikisama, camaraderie, hospitality, utang-na-loob, bayanihan spirit,
family-centeredness, meal-centeredness, etc.
PHYSICAL SELF
● refers to the body, this marvelous container and complex, finely tuned, machine
with which you interface with your environment and fellow beings
● is the concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly
observed and examined.

RELATIONSHIP OF PHYSICAL SELF TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-ESTEEM

The physical self has a big impact in the development of your self-esteem. Self-esteem is an
individual’s sense of personal worth and an acceptance of who one is. It is the value you place
on yourselves; how much you like or dislike who you are. And how do you achieve this? A
self-help environment reflects the belief that autonomy and independence are the birth right of
every child. Nothing renders people more helpless than not being able to maintain their own
needs or to take care of themselves in basic ways. Self-concept is based on what you know
about yourselves, which includes the ability to take care of your own needs.

Your physical attributes and experiences impact the development of a strong self-concept and a
positive self-esteem.

There are four (4) components of self-esteem (Gordon, 2000):

(1) A sense of one’s own identity
(2) A sense of belonging (connectedness)
(3) A sense of one’s own uniqueness and (
4) A sense of self (power).

A positive self-image strengthens self-confidence. Self-image is based on the way society views
individuals. And an essential ingredient of self-image is the quality of human interactions.

HOW BEAUTY IS DEFINED AROUND THE WORLD

1. Ethiopia: Body Scars
While some are concerned with erasing scars, Ethiopia’s Karo tribe is creating them. In the
tribe’s eyes, beauty is literally skin deep: the scars cut onto the stomachs of women at childhood
are seen as beautiful adornments meant to attract men who are husband material.

2. Kenya: Long Earlobes and Shaved Heads

To the Masai tribe of Kenya, long, stretched earlobes and low-maintenance buzz cuts are the
ideal. Women are known to shave their heads and use everything from elephant tusks to twigs
to pierce and stretch their lobes to become more attractive.

3. Burma and Thailand: Long Necks

Long, giraffe-like necks are the ultimate sign of beauty and female elegance to the Kayan
tribe. At 5 years old, Kayan women start priming their necks with heavy brass rings. Each
year, more coils are added, pushing down their shoulders and creating the effect of a
longer neck. Keep in mind that the rings in this centuries-old ritual can weigh up to 22
pounds (9.98 kg).

4. China, Thailand and Japan: Pale Skin

In various parts of Asia, pale, white skin is revered as a sign of affluence and attractiveness. In
Japan, women avoid the sun at all costs, while skin-care products with whitening agents are the
norm in places like China and Thailand. Sometimes, it’s hard to find products without bleaching
properties.

5. New Zealand: Face Tattoos

Tattooing is a sacred ritual to the Maori people of New Zealand, and not something parents
warn their teenagers they’ll one day regret. Traditionally, a chisel was used to carve grooves into
the skin, creating swirling tattoos called Tamoko. Women with tattooed lips, chins and full blue
lips are the most beautiful.
6. Mauritania: Full Figures
While Americans are perpetually dieting and striving to be thin, Western African cultures find
women who are overweight to be the most beautiful — the more stretch marks, the better. In the
past, it wasn’t completely unheard of for families in Mauritania to send their daughters to “fat
farms,” camps that would force-feed girls 16,000 calories a day to help them reach their ideal
weight. Fuller figures are still the ideal, and fattening camel’s and cow’s milk are go-tos for
plumping up, but thankfully, the government now frowns upon the unpleasant force feeding.

7. Iran: Surgical Bandages

Nose jobs seem like a staple in the image-conscious U.S., but Iran is actually the rhinoplasty
capital of the world. Both men and women are proud to show off their procedures — a sign of
their social status and their path on the route to beauty. So much so that they’ll often wear their
bandages much longer than needed, while others will purchase surgical tape to wear, even if
they haven’t gone under the knife.

8. India: Decorated Skin

Instead of accessorizing with extravagant jewelry, women in India turn to nose rings, bindis and
henna to make themselves more attractive for festivals and celebrations, like weddings. Brides
in particular will often wear a dot of red powder on the face known as a kumkum to look more
beautiful.

9. Japan: Stick Straight Hair

In Japan, stick straight hair is seen as the norm, and therefore, the most beautiful hair texture.
Japanese women with waiver patterns have become pros at getting this look, turning to
chemicals and flat irons to keep their hair as sleek as possible. It’s no surprise that thermal
reconditioning — using a bond-breaking chemical and meticulous flat-ironing to straighten hair
— is referred to as Japanese hair straightening in the U.S.