Understanding the Self - Lessons 3 and 4

Flashcards for Lessons 3 and 4 of Understanding the Self, concerned with both (1) An Anthropological Conceptualization of the Self: The Self Embedded in Culture and (2) The Psychological Perspective of the Self.

Anthropology

The systematic study of humanity. It is also known as the science of humanity.

Cultural and Biological Processes

These concepts are said to interact to shape human experience according to anthropology.

Holistic and Integrated

Anthropology possesses these approaches in examining human nature.

Biological and Sociocultural Anthropology

The two branches of specialization in anthropology.

Biological Anthropology

This branch of anthropological specialization deals with the study of human evolutionary biology, and it observes behavior to understand the roots of human behavior.

Sociocultural Anthropology

This branch of anthropological specialization interprets the content of particular cultures, explains variation among cultures, and studies processes of cultural change and social transformation.

Gender Relations

Race

Class

Gender Inequality

Some sample research topics for sociocultural anthropology include:

James Peacock

According to this anthropologist, anthropology overlaps with both science and the humanities.

Biological and Cultural Aspects

These aspects, as well as their interconnection and interdependence, are examined by anthropology in their contribution to the human experience at all times and in all places.

Nature

Nurture

Because anthropology defines the self in a holistic perspective, it considers both _____ and _____.

Biological

Sociocultural

Anthropology posits that both _____ and _____ factors influence the development of the self.

Culture

This is defined as a shared understanding that guides behavior and is expressed in behavior.

Ideas

Values

Perceptions

Culture is how people make sense of their experiences and behave according to socially shared ____, ____, and ____.

Ways of Lives

Culture provides patterns of "____”.

Edward Taylor

According to this anthropologist, culture is the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.

Martin Sökefeld

According to this anthropologist, the concept of the self is necessary to supplement the concept of culture.

Ethnic Identity

According to social anthropologists, identity is discussed mostly in the context of "____,” thus, emphasizing the sameness of the self with others.

Language

Culture

Certain characteristics that are most commonly shared within the context of ethnic identities are:

Cultural Individuals

James Peacock refers to people as “____”.

James Peacock

According to this anthropologist, people are not robots or little Gods, rather, people are cultural individuals—we have freedom but at the same time embody the cultural mold where he or she is cast.

Egocentric and Sociocentric

What are the two concepts of the self in different societies from an anthropological perspective?

Egocentric

In this society-based concept of the self, the self is seen as an autonomous and distinct individual.

Capable of acting independently

As defined by the egocentric concept of the self, individuals are those that are said to be “____________”.

Americans

Europeans

Two good examples of the egocentric concept of society are both the ____ and ____, in which these societies place an importance on being assertive and independent.

Sociocentric

This social-based concept of the self describes the self as contingent on a situation or a social setting.

Context-dependent

In the sociocentric concept of the self, the self is said to be “________”. Thus, it gleans that there is no intrinsic self that can possess enduring qualities.

Asian

A good example of a sociocentric concept of society can be observed in ____ cultures, wherein interdependence is more valued than dependence or self-reliance.

Compliance

Subordination

Because Asian cultures display a sociocentric concept of society, they place an importance on ____ and ____ to authority figures.

Social Identity

This concept is constructed from the similarities and differences in characteristics among individuals.

Age

Gender

Sex

Sexual Preference

Common characteristics that are utilized in constructing one’s social identity are:

Identity Toolbox

These are described to be features in a person’s identity that a person emphasizes in constructing the self.

Family Membership

Language

Religious Affiliation

Personal Naming

These four (4) determinants are said to be the most common in establishing one’s social identity.

Family Membership

This is said to be the most significant feature to determine a person’s social identity as belongingness to this group usually comes innately.

Language

This identity determinant is important because it is displayed in how one communicates.

Religious Affiliation

This social identity determinant may serve as an important marker of group identity, especially in places where these beliefs are heavily practiced.

Personal Naming

This identity determinant establishes a child’s birthright and social identity, individualizing the person and legitimizes them as a member of a social group.

Name

A ____ may serve to symbolically represent one’s cultural self.

Identity

According to anthropological views of the self, this concept is continuously developed throughout one’s life.

Arnold van Gennep

According to this ethnographer, status and identity are marked by a three-phased rite of passage.

Status

Identity

____ and ____ are marked by a three-phased rite of passage according to Arnold van Gennep.

Separation Phase

In Arnold van Gennep’s three-phased rite of passage, this phase is described as when people detach from their former identity to another.

An example of this would be the wedding itself.

Liminality Phase

In Arnold van Gennep’s three-phased rite of passage, this phase is described as when a person transitions from one identity to another.

An example of this would be the wedding ceremony.

Incorporation Phase

In Arnold van Gennep’s three-phased rite of passage, this phase is described as when the change in a person’s status is officially incorporated.

An example of this would be the wedding ceremony and the party thereafter.

Identity Struggles

This is a phenomenon that occurs when there is a discrepancy between the identity that a person claims to possess, and the identity attributed to that person by others.

Self-identification

Collective Identification

Identity struggles stems from the clashing between ____ and ____. Meaning, the conflict between societal norms and personal values.

Identity Crisis

If not kept in check, identity struggles may lead to a/an “________”.

Clifford Geertz

According to this anthropologist who changed the definition of culture, culture is defined as a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which people communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge and attitudes towards life.

Communicate

Perpetuate

Develop

According to Clifford Geertz, culture is defined as a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which people ____, ____, and ____ their knowledge and attitudes towards life.

It is necessary for people to give meaning to their experiences

Alongside his re-definition of culture, Clifford Geertz also posited that “________________________________________.”

First Main Idea of Geertz

Culture can be viewed as a set of control mechanisms for governing behavior.

Rules

Instructions

From Geertz’s first main idea of culture, his examples include:

Second Main Idea of Geertz

Man is dependent on external control mechanisms such as cultural programs to order his behavior.

Human Nature

Interdependent

Culture

From Geertz’s second main idea of culture, it can be concluded that _________ is ____ with _____.

Cultural Differences

This refers to a phenomenon that occurs when groups of people assign different meanings to different life events and things.

Ways of Dressing

Work Culture

Assertiveness

Cultural differences are best exemplified by these examples:

The self is embedded in culture

In general, the anthropological perspectives of the self posit that “_____________________________________.”

William James

This psychologist and proponent of functionalism created the concept of the I-Self and the Me-Self.

I-Self

Me-Self

William James divided his concept of the self into two categories: the ____ and the ____.

I-Self

In William James’s concept of the self, this category embodies the “thinking self”.

Pure Ego

The I-Self is the self that knows who the person is as well as reflects the soul of the person or the mind. It is also known as the “____”.

Me-Self

In William James’s concept of the self, this category embodies the “empirical self”.

Material Self

Social Self

Spiritual Self

The Me-Self is said to embody one’s personal experiences, and it is further subdivided into three other categories. These are:

Material Self

This facet of the Me-Self represents an individual’s physical attributes and material possessions that contribute to one’s self-image.

Social Self

This facet of the Me-Self represents who a person is and how he/she acts in social situations. Furthermore, James believed that this concept varies depending on the concept of the situation, making it unique per person.

Spiritual Self

This facet of the Me-Self represents the intimate and important part of the self, embodying the person’s purpose, core values, conscience, and moral behavior.

Purpose

Core Values

Conscience

Moral Behavior

The Spiritual Self is said to be representative of a person’s ____, ____, _______, and ________.

Introspection

This is a requirement of the spiritual self in order for it to be understood and is also known as the act of looking inward.

Carl Rogers

A proponent of humanistic psychology—along with Abraham Maslow—this psychologist developed the concept of Self Theory.

Self Theory

This refers to Carl Rogers’s theory which posits that personality is driven by one’s desire for self-actualization. Furthermore, the self develops from interaction with significant people and awareness of one’s own characteristics and level of functioning.

Center of Experience

In Carl Rogers’s Self Theory, the self is encapsulated as the _______________.

Self-Concept

This refers to the central theme of Carl Rogers’s Self Theory, and it is said to be the image of one’s self.

Severe Anxiety

This is said to be the resultant when the needs of the self are denied.

Development of Self-Concept

This is said to be central to achieving self-actualization.

Real Self

Ideal Self

The two components of the self according to Carl Rogers are:

Real Self

According to Carl Rogers, this component of the self embodies the present self. Furthermore, it comprises of all the ideas that a person represents, including what one is and what one can do.

Ideal Self

According to Carl Rogers, this embodies what a person wants to be. It is the person’s conception of what one should be or what one aspires to be which includes one’s goals and ambitions in life.

Closer

Fulfilled

In Rogers’s Self Theory, the ____ the real self is to the ideal self, the more _____ we are.

Farther

Unhappy

Dissatisfied

In Rogers’s Self Theory, the ____ the real self is from the ideal self, the more we become ____ and ____.

Congruence

This concept in the Self Theory is said to manifest when there is a lot of overlap between the real self and the ideal self.

Donald Winnicott

This psychoanalyst was the first to conceptualize the self as involving the construction of multiple selves that vary across different roles and relationships.

Self as a Daughter

Self as a Sibling

Examples of there being multiple selves include:

Coping with Different Selves

This is seen as an important task of adolescents.

Unified Self

This is a concept of the self that is resultant of unifying multiple selves.

Self-integration is highly challenging

Adolescents need to be supported because "________________________________.”

Cohesive

Coherent

Unified

The general aim of the concept of the unified self is to create a ____, ____, and ____ theory of the self.

True Self

False Self

According to Donald Winnicott, these two categories are the compositions of the self.

False Self

In Donald Winnicott’s theory, this concept represents the self that hides and seeks to protect itself. It is the self’s defensive facade, is said to feel empty, and its behaviors are controlled.

Dating

A major example of the False Self would be:

True Self

In Donald Winnicott’s theory, this concept represents the person’s feelings of being truly present and alive. It is a facet of the self that is most likely to be shown with family and friends, and this level of the self is based on authentic experiences.

Spontaneous

Genuine

Behaviors that are exhibited by the True Self, according to Donald Winnicott, are said to be ____ and ____.

Albert Bandura

A behavioral-cognitivist and founder of the social cognitive theory, this psychologist posits that humans, through their own agency, are perceivable as “proactive agents” of experiences.

Proactive Agents of Experiences

Through one’s own agency, Albert Bandura suggested that humans are perceivable as “__________________________________.”

Agency

In line with Albert Bandura’s theories, this concept embodies the endowments, belief systems, self-regulatory capabilities, and distributed structures and functions through which personal influence is exercised rather than reside as a distinct entity.

Sense of Control

Ability to Decide and/or Act

A person’s agency is said to have two main functions in every person. These two are:

Play a part in self-development

A person’s agency enables them to "___________________________________.”

Intentionality

Forethought

Self-Reactiveness

Self-Reflectiveness

According to Bandura’s theory of Human Agency, there are four main features:

Intentionality

This feature of human agency is representative of acts that are done intentionally. It encompasses plans of action with the anticipation of possible outcomes.

Forethought

This feature of human agency is a property that enables a person to anticipate consequences that are likely to be borne from a prospective action.

Self-Reactiveness

This feature of human agency is involved in making choices and choosing appropriate courses of action as well as motivating and regulating them. Thus, it embodies self-regulation.

Self-Reflectiveness

This feature of human agency is a property that involves the ability to reflect upon the adequacy of his/her thoughts and actions. This also allows people to self-examine on their own functioning.