Self and Personality Part-I

The study material for Class XII CBSE Psychology students for Chapter-2

1. Self and Personality Mrs. Navarathina Devakumar, M.Sc., M.Phil. (Psychology) Chapter-2 : Part-I

2. Self Self refers to “The totality of an individuals conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings with regard to himself or herself” Who Am I? I am SMART HANDSOME CHEERFUL FRIENDLY……..

3. How Self D evelops? A newly born child has no idea of its self As a child grows older, the idea of self emerges and its formation begins. Parents, friends teachers and other significant persons play a vital role in shaping child's ideas about self Our daily interaction with other people, our experiences and the meaning we give to them , serve as the basis of our self

4. Personal Identity Personal identity refers to those attributes of a person that make him or her different from others When a person describes himself or herself by telling her name ( I am Urmila ) Based on the qualities or characteristics ( I am honest or hardworking person ) Potentialities or capabilities ( I am a dancer ) Beliefs ( I am a believer of God ) I am Urmila, I am sincere , hardworking and a dancer

5. Social identity Social identity refers to those aspects social of a person that link him/her to a social or cultural group or are derived from it When someone says I am a Hindu/Muslim or a Adivasi or North Indian or South I ndian is trying to indicate is Social identity I am an Adivasi

6. Self as Subject and Self as Object Self as Subject Self as Object The self is described as a subject- who does something The self is described as a object - which gets affected I am a dancer- an entity that does something I am one who gets easily affected- an entity which gets easily affected Self is being described as a knower- I know who I am Self is being described as known- something that can be known As a subject ( actor ) the self actively engages in the process of knowing itself As an object ( consequence ) the self gets observed and comes to be known

7. Kinds of Self Personal Self Social / Familial / Relational Self Personal self is primarily concerned with oneself Social self emerges in relation with others Emphasis comes to be laid on those aspects of life that relate only to the concern the person, such as personal freedom, personal responsibility, personal achievement or personal comforts Emphasises such aspects of life as cooperation, unity, affiliation, sacrifice, support or sharing . This self values family and social relationship

8. Cognitive and Behavioural aspects of Self Self concept The way we perceive our self and the ideas we hold about our competencies and attributes is called as self concept At a general level – view of oneself is positive or negative At a specific level - a person may have a positive view about his athletic ability but a negative view of his academic talents Assessment of self concept T he most frequently used method is asking the person about herself/ himself

9. Self Esteem “The value judgement of a person about himself or herself is called S elf Esteem” Development of self esteem : Studies indicate that children by the age of 7 years have formed self esteem in following four areas: Academic Competence Social Competence Physical A thletic C ompetence & Physical A ppearance Overall self esteem : I t is the capacity to view oneself in terms of stable disposition and combine separate self evaluation into a general psychological image of oneself

10. Self Esteem Self esteem shows a strong relationship with our everyday behaviour Children with high academic self esteem perform better in schools than those with low academic self esteem Studies reveal that warm and positive parenting helps in developing high self esteem in children because they feel they are accepted ,competent and worthwhile. When parents help or make decisions for them when they do not need assistance suffer from low self esteem. Children with low self esteem in all area shows anxiety, depression and increasing anti social behaviour Child with low self esteem Anxiety Depression Anti social behaviour

11. Assessment of Self Esteem Assessment of self esteem: A variety of statements are presented to a person and ask him to indicate the extent to which the statements are true for her or him. Ex : I am highly liked by my peers - True I am good at homework - True If a child repots these statements are true for him/her there self esteem is high in comparison to someone who says no.

12. Self - Efficacy Self- efficacy is an extent to which a person believes they themselves control their life outcomes or the outcomes are controlled by luck or fate or other situational factors. The notion of self efficacy is based on Banduras Social learning theory . He showed that children and adults learned behaviour by observing and imitating others People’s expectation of achievement also determine the type of behaviour in which they will engage, also the amount of risk they would undertake. Strong sense of self efficacy allows people to select, influence and even construct the circumstances of their own life, also feel less fearful. Society, parents and own positive experiences can help in the development of a strong sense of self efficacy by presenting positive models during the formative years of children

13. Self Regulation Self Regulation refers to our ability to organise and monitor our own behaviour People, who are able to change their behaviour according to the demands of external environment are high on self monitoring. Self Control Self control is learning to delay or defer the gratification of needs. Self control plays a key role in fulfilment of long-term goals Psychological Techniques of Self Control Observation of own behaviour is one which provides us with necessary information that may be used to change, modify or strengthen certain aspects of self Self Instruction : Instructs our self to do something and behave the way we want to. Such instructions are quiet effective in self regulation Self Reinforcement : this involves rewarding behaviours that have pleasant outcomes.

14. Culture and Self Indian view of self Western view of self Shifting nature of boundary between self and others (Individual self and social self) Boundary is relatively fixed Does not have clear dichotomies Has clear dichotomies between self and other, man and nature, subjective and objective Collectivistic nature – Self is generally not separated from one’s own group, rather both remain in a state of harmonious coexistence Individualistic culture - Self and the group exists as two different entities with clearly defined boundaries, individual members of group maintain their individuality Individual Group Western Prospective Individual Group Family

15. P ersonality Meaning of personality is derived from the Latin word persona The way a person thinks, feels & behaves across various situations Personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to individuals and situations. Example describing a person as shy, sensitive, quiet warm, concerned etc It refers to unique and relatively stable qualities that characterise an individuals behaviour across different situations over a period of time Personality is characterised by the consistency in behaviour, thought and emotions across situations and time periods Example: An honest person is most likely to remain honest irrespective of time or situation

16. Characteristics of Personality It has both physical and psychological components. Its expression in terms of behaviour is fairly unique in a given individual. Its main features do not easily change due to internal or external situational demands. Thus personality is adaptive to changes. Its main features do not easily change with time. Characteristics of an individuals personality helps to Predict how that individual will probably behave in a variety of circumstances Understanding of personality allows us to deal with people in a realistic and acceptable ways

17. Personality : Related T erms Temperament : biologically based characteristic way of reacting Ex: a person emotionally reacting in a irritable, anxious, restless in most of the situations Trait: stable, persistent and specific way of being Ex: introverts being passive, reserved, shy and cautious Dispositions: tendency of a person to react to a given situation in a particular way Ex: an individual having a tendency to argue and get angry when negatively criticized Character : the overall pattern of regularly occurring behaviour Habit: overlearned modes of behaving Values: goals and ideals that are considered important and worthwhile to achieve Ex: a student values punctuality, hard work, sincerity to achieve in his academics