Republic of the Philippines

NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY

NISU Ajuy Campus, San Antonio, Ajuy, Iloilo
Reg. No. 97Q19783

CHAPTER 2
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

The Psychological View of Self

Sigmund Freud: The psychoanalytic Theory of Self

Freud’s asserts that the human psyche (personality) is structured into three parts (tripartite).
These structures-the id, ego, and superego- all develop at different stages in a person’s life.
These three structures are systems and not physical parts of the brain. Although each part
comprises unique features and contributes to an individual’s behavior, they interact to form a whole.

Parts of Personality
1. Id (internal desires). Also called internal drives or instinctive drives, it consists of the body’s
primitive biological drives and urges which are concerned only with achieving pleasure and
self-satisfaction. Id lives completely in the unconscious. Freud believes that the id is the
pleasure-seeking side, impulsive, child-like, and demands instant gratification.
2. Ego (reality). It is the “I” part of the individual that gives him/her the sense of his/her own
identity. The ego is the rational part of the personality. It operates on the reality principle and
controls the id.
3. Superego (conscience). It is the part of the personality concerned with morals, precepts,
standards, and ideas. The superego is also the critical faculty of the personality. It refers to the
“conscience” and “moral judge” of one’s conduct. Violation of rules leads to feelings of guilt. It
strives for perfection rather than pleasure.

The id, ego and superego are often in conflict with each other. Freud uses the term “ego strength”
to refer to the ego’s ability to resolve the conflict between the three structures. If this constant state of
conflict is unresolved personality problems may arise.

Freudian Stages of Psychosexual Development

Freud also argues that the development of an individual can be divided into distinct stages
characterized by sexual drives. As a person grows, certain areas become sources of pleasure,
frustration or both. Freud believes that each stage has needs and that the dissatisfaction of needs may
result in fixation that can have lasting negative effects on one’s personality.

1. Oral. From birth to the end of the first year, the mouth becomes the part of the body through
which gratification is secured. During this stage, babies derive pleasure from oral activities, such
as sucking and biting. Overindulgence of oral needs may lead to oral incorporative personality
 disorder, such as overeating, smoking, and alcoholism, whereas dissatisfaction may lead to oral
aggressive personality disorder, such as sarcasm and tactlessness.
2. Anal (expulsive phase). From the age of 2 to 3 years, the child derives the feelings of pleasure
or pain from defecating. It covers the toilet-training period. Through toilet training, the child learns
the basic rules of society. Anal fixations can lead to anal-retentive personality disorder, such as
having an obsession with cleanliness, or anal expulsion personality disorder, such as
clumsiness.
3. Phallic. From the age of 3 to 6 years, the child gets curious about his/her genitals and becomes
attached to the parent of the opposite sex. The attraction of a boy to his mother is called Oedipus
complex, while that of a girl to her father is called Electra complex. Sex curiosity will remain high
during elementary years, and children will tend to ask questions regarding anatomical structures,
sex and how babies are made. Fixations at this stage may lead to abnormal sexual behaviors in
later life.
4. Latency. From the age of 7 to 12 years, sexual motivations presumably recede in importance as
the child becomes preoccupied with developing skills and other activities. At this stage, sexual
energy is repressed because children become occupied with school.
5. Genital. Starts from adolescence to adulthood. During this stage, pleasure is again derived from
the genital area, and individuals seek to satisfy their sexual drives from sexual relationships.
Sexual problems may result as a consequence of inappropriate sexual behaviors. The deepest
feelings of pleasure presumably come from heterosexual relations.

Erik Erikson; the Psychosocial Stages of Self- development

Erikson was primarily concerned with how both psychological and social factors affect the
development of individuals. In his theory, adolescence is a period of identity development. Identity
information is usually viewed as a process that requires adolescents to distance themselves from
strong expectations and definitions imposed by parents and other family members. One way
adolescents try to establish their identity is thorough status symbols such as having “state-of-the-
art” mobile phones, designer bags and clothes, and other material possessions.
He has formulated eight major stages of development, each posing a unique development task
and simultaneously presenting the individual with a crisis that he/she must overcome. As defined
by Erikson, a crisis is not “a threat of catastrophe but turning point, a crucial period of increased
vulnerability and heightened potential.” Accordingly, individuals develop a healthy personality by
mastering “life’s outer and inner dangers.”

Erik Erikson: The Psychosocial Stages of Self development

Stage 1: Infancy (birth-18 months)
Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust
Important life events: Feeding
Relationship: Maternal
Choices/Decisions: To give in return
To get
Outcome: The individual develops a sense of trust towards the caregiver, especially with the mother’s
genuine affection and car. A lack of this leads to mistrust.

Stage 2: Early childhood (18 months-3 years)

Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Important life events: Toilet training
Relationship: Paternal
Choices/Decisions: To hold on
To let go
Outcome: The individual needs to develop a sense of personal control over physical skills and sense
independence. Success leads to feelings of autonomy; failure results in feelings of shame and doubt

Stage 3: Preschool (3-5years)

Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Initiative vs. Guilt
Important life events: Exploration
Relationship: Family
Choices/Decisions: To make
To make like
Outcome: The individual needs to begin asserting control and power over the environment. Success in
this stage leads to a sense of purpose. Children try to exert too much power experience disapproval
resulting a sense of guilt.

Stage 4: Elementary school age (6-11years)

Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Industry vs. Inferiority
Important life events: School
Relationship: School, Neighborhood
Choices/Decisions: To make things
To make together
Outcome: As an individual moves into the world of schooling, he/she needs to cope with new social
and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence while failure results in feelings of
inferiority. Those who reject, ridicule or ignore children’s efforts are strengthening feelings of inferiority.

Stage 5: Adolescence (12-18 years)

Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Identity vs. Role confusion
Important life events: Social relationships
Relationship: Peer group
Choices/Decisions: To be oneself
To share being oneself
Outcome: As an individual enters adolescence or teen years, he/she needs to develop a sense of self
and personal identity. When the adolescent fails to develop a “centered” identity, he/she becomes
trapped in their role confusion or negative identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to oneself
while failure leads to weak sense of self.

Stage 6: Young adulthood (19-40 years)

Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Important life events: Relationships
Relationship: Partners in friendship/sex/competition
Choices/Decisions: To lose
To bind oneself to others
Outcome: As an individual grows as a young adult, he/she needs to form intimate, loving relationships
with other people. Success leads to strong relationships while failure results in loneliness and isolation.

Stage 7: Middle Adulthood (40-65 years)

Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Important life events: Work and Parenthood
Relationship: Partner
Choices/Decisions: To make be
 To take care of
Outcome: The adults needs to create or nurture things that will outlast him/her, often by having children
or creating a positive change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of usefulness and
accomplishment while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.

Stage 8: Old age/Maturity (65 to death)

Basic Conflicts/Crisis: Integrity vs. Despair
Important life events: Reflection on life
Relationship: Mankind
Choices/Decisions: To be, through having been
To face not being
Outcome: The older adult needs to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment. Success at this
stage leads to feelings of wisdom while failure results in regret, bitterness and despair.

William James: The Me-Self and the I-Self

William James suggests that the self is divided into two categories: the Me-Self and I-Self.
Me-Self- is the empirical self, which refers to a person’s personal experiences and is further divided
into sub-categories: the material self, social self, and spiritual self.
Material self – it is attributed to an individual’s physical attributes and material possessions that
contribute to one’s self-image.
Social Self – it refers to who a person is and how he or she acts in social situations. James
believes that people have different social selves depending on the context of a social situation.
Spiritual Self – it refers to the most intimate and important part of the self, which includes the
person’s purpose, core values, conscience, and moral behavior. James believes that the path to
understanding the spiritual self requires introspection.