Psychological Perspective of going into the 1950s, the general

applications of the psychodynamic theory

Self
had been well-established."
What is the psychological perspective of
“I” and “Me” Self
the self?
According to William James (Concept
Not to be confused with self-
of Self), an American philosopher and
psychology, the psychological perspective of
psychologist who was the leader of the
the self is the study and scrutiny of either
movement of pragmatism and functionalism
the cognitive, conative, and/or
and the “father of American Psychology,” the
affective representation of one's identity. In
“I-Self” refers to the self that knows who he
the beginning of modern psychology, people
or she is, that is, the “thinking self.” It
thought about the self in two parts: the self
reflects the soul of a person or the mind,
as the one who knows things (I) and the self
which is also called the pure ego.
as the thing that is known (Me). Nowadays,
in psychology, we see the self as critical for One example is “I see me in the
understanding for how people are motivated, mirror” – the “I” self as the knower,
think, feel, and connect with others. experiencer, in the present tense, and the
storyteller. The “Me-Self” or the empirical self
The self has many facets that make
refers to the person’s personal experiences.
up its integral parts, such as self-awareness,
It is the totality of all contents of
self-esteem, self-knowledge, and self-
consciousness that is experienced as self-
perception.
related. It can be illustrated with sensory
Psychodynamic Theory experiences (i.e., visual, auditory, tactile,
Psychodynamic theory is an approach olfactory). For example, in “I see ME in the
towards psychology that looks into the mirror,” the “ME” is self-known, experienced,
psychological forces underpinning human past tense, and story.
behavior, feelings, and emotions, including
 Material Self – It is the individual’s
how they may relate to early childhood
physical attributes and material
experience. This theory is centered on the
possessions that contribute to one’s
dynamic interplay between conscious and
self-image. It is also known as the
unconscious motivation, contending that
awareness of physical appearance.
behavior results from hidden conflicts,
frequently with limited awareness on the part
You may have heard the statement,
of individuals.
“you are what you eat.” The material
Psychodynamic theory has its origins self goes a step further by suggesting,
in 1874 with the efforts of German scientist “you are what you have." The material
Ernst von Brucke, who put forward the idea self is a totality of all the tangible
that all living organisms are systems of things you own, including your
energy governed by the principle of the possessions, your home, and your
conservation of energy. In the same year, body. The body is one element of the
then-medical student Sigmund Freud material self that gets considerable
adopted this new "dynamic" physiology and attention in our culture. Do you like
expounded on it to devise the original the way you look? Most of us, if we are
concept of "psychodynamics," in which he honest, would want to change
posited that psychological processes are the something about our appearance.
flows of psychosexual energy (also known as When our desired material self and our
libido) in a complex brain. Freud also came self-concept has a discrepancy, we
up with the term "psychoanalysis." may respond to eliminate the
Subsequently, these theories were discrepancy. We may attempt to lose
developed further by Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, weight, develop our muscles, or
Melanie Klein, etc. By the mid-1940s and acquire more hair.
 Social Self – This refers to who a refers to the image of oneself. He also
person is and how he or she acts in said that the self is a flexible and
social situations and is also known as changing perception of personal
awareness of others’ perceptions. It identity. It develops from interactions
includes making friends, with significant people and awareness
understanding others, and talking with of one's characteristics and level of
people. Whether your social side is functioning. He also said that self-
good or not-so-good can affect how actualization or self-fulfillment could
you feel and your ability to achieve be achieved through the development
your goals in life. of self-concept.
Real Self and Ideal Self
Think about a regular day. You chat
Real self consists of all the ideas,
with family, connect with friends on
including the awareness of what one is and
social media, talk business with a boss
what one can do. It is also who we are, how
or coworker, and talk to someone you
we think, how we look, how we feel, and how
like. All these times, and how we feel
we act. Real-self is our self-image.
about ourselves in them, shape our
Meanwhile, the ideal self is the person’s
social self. When you talk to your best
conception of what one should be or what
friend, you are willing to "let down
one aspires to be, which includes one’s goals
your hair" and reveal more thoughts
and ambitions in life.
and feelings than you would in a
conversation with your communication It is what we want to be. It is an
professor or even your parents. Each idealized self-image that we have developed
relationship that you have with over time based from what we have learned
another person is unique because you and experienced.
bring to it a unique social self.
Multiple versus Unified Self
 Spiritual Self Let us start with a basic common-
Spiritual self is the most intimate and sense response and assume that there is a
important part of the self, which single self. This position can first be justified
includes the person’s purpose, core, by the elementary observation that we
values, conscience, and moral inhabit one body. The body can be conceived
behavior. of as an object." (Henriquez, 2014) As a
physical object, the body exists in one
Your spiritual self consists of all your location in space and time, and in that sense,
internal thoughts and introspections it is singular. However, deeper reflection
about your values and moral reveals that we are not normally talking
standards. It is not dependent on what about the physical body when we are talking
you own or with whom you talk; it is about the self. If so, then your “self” would
the essence of who you think you are still be there if you had a heart attack and
and of your feelings about yourself fell to the floor and died.
apart from external evaluations. Your
spiritual self is the part of you that Hence, what does the “self” consist
answers the question, "why am I of? The first domain is the experimental self
here?" or unified self. This is the “theater of
consciousness” and the first person to felt
 Self-Concept – Carl Ransom Rogers, the experience of being. In this context, it
who was an American psychologist includes the felt consistency of being across
and among the pioneers of the time. In that sense, it is tied closely
humanistic approach to psychology, to memory. This is the part of you that
stated that self-theory or self-concept "disappears" as you enter deep sleep,
is an important aspect of self- flickers and switches on and off as you
understanding in adolescent years. It
dream, and then comes back as you wake good, whereas the false self is bad), others
up. This particular level of self is a mental indicate that the false self has two types,
capacity we share with other animals and that is, a healthy false self and an unhealthy
presumably disappears forever when we false self.
pass away (at least from the naturalistic
In our day-to-day lives, occasions
perspective).
arise where it would be harmful to us to let
A second aspect of the human self our true selves dominate. For instance, we
is called the private self-consciousness do not bear our deepest feelings and
system or multiple self. In common parlance, thoughts while at work. This kind of
we can call this the "narrator" (or vulnerability would not only show a lack of
interpreter). It is the portion of your being boundaries but would also open us up to
that verbally narrates what is happening and potential attacks from others who might not
why. It is also the part that includes your treat our feelings with acceptance. Instead,
reportable self-concept and outspoken beliefs we use our healthy false self, for instance:
and values about the way the world works
(such as your religious and political beliefs).
This is what Damasio also calls the If I am pretty, I will be more likeable.
"autobiographical self." (Henriquez, 2014) If I have a lot of money, I am successful.
True versus False Self If I work hard/achieve more, I will have more
The false self has the function of value.
concealing and protecting the true self,
because the true self is represented by our One more glass of wine, and I will start
own real feelings and desires, while on the feeling better.
other hand the false self is a side of us that
has changed its behavior, repressed feelings,
and pushed needs aside to survive. Our society emphases altruism and
being selfless. We are taught to place others
According to developmental
before ourselves, that it is good to "be there"
psychologists such as John Bowlby and D.W.
for other people, and that self-sacrifice is a
Winnicott, children are remarkably attuned to
virtue. All these aforementioned beliefs are
their parents' feelings and needs. They
false self-beliefs.
unconsciously acknowledge that they need
their parents' approval to survive. Our real feelings and desires matter.
(GrowththruChange, 2018) Thus, they strive They are what they are, and they are part of
to meet their needs as much as possible. The who we are. The “shoulds," "ought to," and
true self, that is, the child's set of real "have to" are learned ideas and not parts of
feelings, needs, desires, and thoughts, is our true selves. When we ponder around how
pushed further and further inside the onion. many activities we may carry out in our daily
We still have all these feelings, needs, lives through a sense of obligation, we could
desires, and thoughts; however, the adapted trace these "should" back to their origin. The
false self dominates it. Although this striving only obligation we have to anyone is to
is necessary for our younger years, it ourselves.
changes us. The false-self thought and
behavior patterns we develop during
childhood stay with us as adults. While
initially helpful, they often become a
hindrance as we get older and gain
independence.
While several psychologists view the
true self as black and white (the true self is