Understanding the Self Lecture 1 PDF

Understanding the Self LECTURE #1 Introduction to Self Understanding Understanding oneself is essential to understand behaviors and beliefs that affects ourselves and others specifically in becoming effective and successful person in life, work, and relationship. Moreover, self-understanding (1) pro...

Understanding the Self LECTURE #1 Introduction to Self Understanding Understanding oneself is essential to understand behaviors and beliefs that affects ourselves and others specifically in becoming effective and successful person in life, work, and relationship. Moreover, self-understanding (1) provides a sense of purpose; (2) leads to healthier relationships; (3) helps harness your natural strength; and (4) promotes confidence. Self and personality characterized the way we define our existence, also these refers on how we organized our experiences that are reflected to our behavior. On the other hand, people have different ideas about themselves. These ideas represent the self of the person. Moreover, we behave in different ways in a given situation, but people also behave fairly stable in different circumstances. The relatively permanent pattern of behavior represents personality of the person. In details, Personality The etymological derivative of personality comes from the word “persona”, the theatrical masks worn by Romans in Greek and Latin drama. Personality also comes from the two Latin words “per” and “sonare”, which literally means “to sound through”. Personality has no single definition since different personality theories have different views on how to define it. However, the commonly accepted definition of personality is that it is a relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008). Personality plays a key role in affecting how people shape their lives. It involves the complex relationship of people with their environment, how they cope and adjust through life, and how they respond to demands of physical and social challenges. Personality is the overall pattern or integration of a person’s structure, modes of behavior, attitudes, aptitudes, interests, intellectual abilities, and many other distinguishable personality traits. Personality is the conglomeration of the following components: physical self, intelligence, character traits, attitudes, habits, interest, personal discipline, moral values, principles and philosophies of life. Determinants of Personality Personality refers to the total person in his/her overt and covert behavior. The determinants of factors of personality are as follows: Environmental Factors of Personality. The surroundings of an individual compose the environmental factors of personality. This includes the neighborhood a person lives in, his school, college, university and workplace. Moreover, it also counts the social circle the individual has. Friends, parents, colleagues, co-workers and bosses, everybody plays a role as the determinants of personality. Biological Factors of Personality. This further includes: 1) hereditary factors or genetic make-up of the person that inherited from their parents. This describes the tendency of the person to appear and behave the way their parents are; 2) physical features include the overall physical structure of a person: height, weight, color, sex, beauty and body language, etc. Most of the physical structures change from time to time, and so does the personality. With exercises, cosmetics and surgeries, many physical features are changed, and therefore, the personality of the individual also evolves; and 3) brain. The preliminary results from the electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) research gives indication that better understanding of human personality and behavior might come from the study of the brain. Situational Factors of Personality. Although these factors do not literally create and shape up an individual’s personality, situational factors do alter a person’s behavior and response from time to time. The situational factors can be commonly observed when a person behaves contrastingly and exhibits different traits and characteristics. Cultural Factors. Culture is traditionally considered as the major determinants of an individual’s personality. The culture largely determinants what a person is and what a person will learn. The culture within a person is brought up, is very important determinant of behavior of a person. Culture is complex of these belief, values, and techniques for dealing with the environment which are shared among contemporaries and transmitted by one generation to the next. Personality Traits Personality traits reflect people’s characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Personality traits imply consistency and stability—someone who scores high on a specific trait like Extraversion is expected to be sociable in different situations and over time. Thus, trait psychology rests on the idea that people differ from one another in terms of where they stand on a set of basic trait dimensions that persist over time and across situations. The most widely used system of traits is called the Five-Factor Model. This system includes five broad traits that can be remembered with the acronym OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each of the major traits from the Big Five can be divided into facets to give a more fine-grained analysis of someone's personality. In addition, some trait theorists argue that there are other traits that cannot be completely captured by the Five-Factor Model. Critics of the trait concept argue that people do not act consistently from one situation to the next and that people are very influenced by situational forces. Thus, one major debate in the field concerns the relative power of people’s traits versus the situations in which they find themselves as predictors of their behavior. The Five-Factor Model of Personality Research that used the lexical approach showed that many of the personality descriptors found in the dictionary do indeed overlap. In other words, many of the words that we use to describe people are synonyms. Thus, if we want to know what a person is like, we do not necessarily need to ask how sociable they are, how friendly they are, and how gregarious they are. Instead, because sociable people tend to be friendly and gregarious, we can summarize this personality dimension with a single term. Someone who is sociable, friendly, and gregarious would typically be described as an “Extravert.” Once we know she is an extravert, we can assume that she is sociable, friendly, and gregarious. The most widely accepted system to emerge from this approach was “The Big Five” or “Five-Factor Model” (Goldberg, 1990; McCrae & John, 1992; McCrae & Costa, 1987). The Big Five comprises five major traits shown in the Figure 2 below. A way to remember these five is with the acronym OCEAN (O is for Openness; C is for Conscientiousness; E is for Extraversion; A is for Agreeableness; N is for Neuroticism). The table below provides descriptions of people who would score high and low on each of these traits. Descriptions of Personality Traits Big 5 Traits Openness The tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values, feelings, and behaviors. Conscientiousness The tendency to be careful, on-time for appointments, to follow rules, and to be hard working. Extraversion The tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy others; the tendency to have a dominant style. Agreeableness The tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one owns opinions and choices. Neurotism The tendency to be frequently experience negative emotions such as anger, worry, and sadness, as well as being interpersonally sensitive. Example behaviors for those scoring low and high for the big 5 traits Big 5 Trait Example Behavior for LOW Scorers Example Behavior for HIGH Scorers Openness Prefers not to be exposed to alternative moral systems; narrow interest; inartistic; not analytical; down-to-earth Enjoys seeing people with new types of haircuts and body piercing; curious; imaginative; untraditional Conscientiousness Prefers spur-of-the-moment action to planning; unrealiable; hedonistic; careless; lax Never late for a date; organized; hardworking; neat, persevering; punctual; self-disciplined Extraversion Preferring a quiet evening reading to a loud party; sober; aloof; unenthusiastic Being the life of the party’ active; optimistic; fun-loving; affectionate Agreeableness Quickly and confidently asserts own rights; irritable; manipulative; uncooperative; rude Agrees with other about political opinions; good-natured; forgiving; gullible; helpful; forgiving Neurotism Not getting irritated by sall annoyances; calm, unemotional; hardy; secure; self-satisfied Constantly worrying about little things; insecure; hypochondrical; feeling inadequate Scores on the Big Five traits are mostly independent. That means that a person’s standing on one trait tells very little about their standing on the other traits of the Big Five. For example, a person can be extremely high in Extraversion and be either high or low on Neuroticism. Similarly, a person can be low in Agreeableness and be either high or low in Conscientiousness. Thus, in the Five-Factor Model, you need five scores to describe most of an individual’s personality. In the exercises part of this module there is a short scale to assess the Five-Factor Model of personality (Donnellan, Oswald, Baird, & Lucas, 2006). You can take this test to see where you stand in terms of your Big Five scores. Traits are important and interesting because they describe stable patterns of behavior that persist for long periods of time (Caspi, Roberts, & Shiner, 2005). Importantly, these stable patterns can have broad-ranging consequences for many areas of our life (Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, 2007). For instance, think about the factors that determine success in college. If you were asked to guess what factors predict good grades in college, you might guess something like intelligence. This guess would be correct, but we know much more about who is likely to do well. Specifically, personality researchers have also found the personality traits like Conscientiousness play an important role in college and beyond, probably because highly conscientious individuals study hard, get their work done on time, and are less distracted by nonessential activities that take time away from school work. In addition, highly conscientious people are often healthier than people low in conscientiousness because they are more likely to maintain healthy diets, to exercise, and to follow basic safety procedures like wearing seat belts or bicycle helmets. Over the long term, this consistent pattern of behaviors can add up to meaningful differences in health and longevity. Thus, personality traits are not just a useful way to describe people you know; they actually help psychologists predict how good a worker someone will be, how long he or she will live, and the types of jobs and activities the person will enjoy. Who Am I? Have you ever ask yourself the question, “Who am I?”? Answering the question 'Who am I?' can lead to a solid self-concept and self-understanding. For many people, answering this question isn't very easy. For others, a solid understanding of who they are is a big part of their lives. Understanding of who you are as a person is called self- concept and understanding what your motives are when you act is called self-understanding. In definition, self- concept is generally thought of as our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics—a mental picture of who you are as a person. For example, beliefs such as "I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall self-concept. Self-concept tends to be more malleable when people are younger and still going through the process of self- discovery and identity formation. As people age, self-perceptions become much more detailed and organized as people form a better idea of who they are and what is important to them. According to the book Essential Social Psychology by Richard Crisp and Rhiannon Turner: The individual self consists of attributes and personality traits that differentiate us from other individuals. Examples include introversion or extroversion. The relational self is defined by our relationships with significant others. Examples include siblings, friends, and spouses. The collective self reflects our membership in social groups. Examples include British, Republican, African- American, or gay. At its most basic, self-concept is a collection of beliefs one holds about oneself and the responses of others. It embodies the answer to the question "Who am I?". The lesson to follow will facilitate learning about the self, and self concept. Philosophy Philosophy is defined as the study of knowledge or wisdom from its Latin roots, philo (love) and sophia (wisdom). This field is also considered as “The Queen of All Sciences” because every scientific discipline has philosophical foundations. Various thinkers for centuries tried to explain the natural causes of everything that exist specifically the inquiry on the self preoccupied these philosophers in the history. The Greek philosophers were the ones who seriously questioned myths and moved away from them in attempting to understand reality by exercising the art of questioning that satisfies their curiosity, including the questions about self. The following lecture will present the different philosophical perspectives and views about self. Socrates A philosopher from Athens, Greece and said to have the greatest influence on European thought. According to the history he was not able to write any of his teachings and life’s account instead, he is known from the writings of his student Plato who became one of the greatest philosophers of his time. Socrates had a unique style of asking questions called Socratic Method. Socratic Method or dialectic method involves the search for the correct/proper definition of a thing. In this method, Socrates did not lecture, he instead would ask questions and engage the person in a discussion. He would begin by acting as if he did not know anything and would get the other person to clarify their ideas and resolve logical inconsistencies (Price, 2000). The foundation of Socrates philosophy was the Delphic Oracle’s that command to “Know Thyself”. Here, Socrates would like to emphasize that knowing or understanding oneself should be more than the physical self, or the body.  According to Socrates, self is dichotomous which means composed of two things: The physical realm or the one that is changeable, temporal, and imperfect. The best example of the physical realm is the physical world. The physical world is consisting of anything we sense – see, smell, feel, hear, and taste. It is always changing and deteriorating. The ideal realm is the one that is imperfect and unchanging, eternal, and immortal. This includes the intellectual essences of the universe like the concept of beauty, truth, and goodness. Moreover, the ideal realm is also present in the physical world. One may define someone as beautiful or truthful, but their definition is limited and imperfect for it is always relative and subjective. It is only the ideal forms themselves that are perfect, unchanging, and eternal. For Socrates, a human is composed of body and soul, the first belongs to the physical realm because it changed, it is imperfect, and it dies, and the latter belongs to ideal realm for it survives the death. Socrates also used the term soul to identify self. The self, according to Socrates is the immortal and unified entity that is consistent over time. For example, a human being remains the same person during their childhood to adulthood given the fact that they undergone developmental changes throughout their lifespan. Plato A student of Socrates, who introduced the idea of a three-part soul/self that is composed of reason, physical appetite and spirit or passion. o The Reason enables human to think deeply, make wise choices and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths. Plato also called this as divine essence. o The physical Appetite is the basic biological needs of human being such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire. o And the spirit or passion is the basic emotions of human being such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness and empathy. These three elements of the self works in every individual inconsistently. According to Plato, it is always the responsibility of the reason to organize, control, and reestablish harmonious relationship between these three elements. Plato also illustrated his view of the soul/self in “Phaedrus” in his metaphor: the soul is like a winged chariot drawn by two powerful horses: a white horse, representing Spirit, and a black horse, embodying appetite. The charioteer is reason, whose task is to guide the chariot to the eternal realm by controlling the two independent- minded horses. Those charioteers who are successful in setting a true course and ensuring that the two steeds work together in harmonious unity achieve true wisdom and banquet with the gods. However, those charioteers who are unable to control their horses and keep their chariot on track are destined to experience personal, intellectual, and spiritual failure. St. Augustine He is considered as the last of the great ancient philosophers whose ideas were greatly Platonic. In melding philosophy and religious beliefs together, Augustine has been characterized as Christianity’s first theologian. Like Plato, Augustine believed that the physical body is different from the immortal soul. Early in his philosophical development he described body as “snare” or “cage” of the soul and said that the body is a “slave” of the soul he even characterized that “the soul makes war with the body”. Later on he came to view the body as “spouse” of the soul, with both attached to one another by a “natural appetite.” He concluded, “That the body is united with the soul, so that man may be entire and complete, is a fact we recognize on the evidence of our own nature.” According to St. Augustine, the human nature is composed of two realms: 1. God as the source of all reality and truth. Through mystical experience, man is capable of knowing eternal truths. This is made possible through the existence of the one eternal truth which is God. He further added that without God as the source of all truth, man could never understand eternal truth. This relationship with God means that those who know most about God will come closest to understanding the true nature of the world. 2. The sinfulness of man. The cause of sin or evil is an act of mans’ freewill. Moral goodness can only be achieved through the grace of God. He also stated that real happiness can only be found in God. For God is love and he created humans for them to also love. Problems arise because of the objects humans choose to love. Disordered love results when man loves the wrong things which he believes will give him happiness. Furthermore, he said that if man loves God first and everything else to a lesser degree, then all will fall into its rightful place. Rene Descartes A French philosopher, mathematician, and considered the founder of modern philosophy. Descartes, famous principle the “cogito, ergo sum—“I think, therefore I exist” established his philosophical views on “true knowledge” and concept of self. He explained that in order to gain true knowledge, one must doubt everything even own existence. Doubting makes someone aware that they are thinking being thus, they exist. The essence of existing as a human identity is the possibility of being aware of our selves: being self- conscious in this way is integral to having a personal identity. Conversely, it would be impossible to be self- conscious if we did not have a personal identity of which to be conscious. In other words, the essence of self is being a thinking thing. The self is a dynamic entity that engages in metal operations – thinking, reasoning, and perceiving processes. In addition to this, self-identity is dependent on the awareness in engaging with those mental operations. He declared that the essential self or the self as the thinking entity is radically different from the physical body. The thinking self or soul is a non-material, immortal, conscious being, independent of the physical laws of the universe while the physical body is a material, mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of nature. He also maintained that the soul and the body are independent of one another and each can exist and function without the other. In cases in which people are sleeping or comatose, their bodies continue to function even though their minds are not thinking, much like the mechanisms of a clock. He identified the physical self as part of nature, governed by the physical laws of the universe, and available to scientific analysis and experimentation, and the conscious self (mind, soul) is a part of the spiritual realm, independent of the physical laws of the universe, governed only by the laws of reason and God’s will. And because it exists outside of the natural world of cause-and-effect, the conscious self is able to exercise free will in the choices it makes. John Locke An English philosopher and physician and famous in his concept of “Tabula Rasa” or Blank Slate that assumes the nurture side of human development. The self, according to Locke is consciousness. In his essay entitled On Personal Identity (from his most famous work, Essay Concerning Human Understanding) he discussed the reflective analysis of how an individual may experience the self in everyday living. He provided the following key points: 1. To discover the nature of personal identity, it is important to find out what it means to be a person. 2. A person is a thinking, intelligent being who has the abilities to reason and to reflect. 3. A person is also someone who considers themself to be the same thing in different times and different places. 4. Consciousness as being aware that we are thinking—always accompanies thinking and is an essential part of the thinking process. 5. Consciousness makes possible our belief that we are the same identity in different times and different places. Although Locke and Descartes believed that a person or the self is a thinking intelligent being who has the abilities to reflect and to reason, Locke was not convinced with the assumptions of Plato, St. Augustine and Descartes that the individual self necessarily exists in a single soul or substance. For Locke, personal identity and the soul or substance in which the personal identity is situated are two very different things. The bottom line of his theory on self is that self is not tied to any particular body or substance. It only exists in other times and places because of the memory of those experiences. David Hume He was a Scottish philosopher and also an empiricist. His claim about self is quite controversial because he assumed that there is no self! In his essay entitled, “On Personal Identity” (1739) he said that, if we carefully examine the contents of [our] experience, we find that there are only two distinct entities, "impressions" and "ideas". Impressions are the basic sensations of our experience, the elemental data of our minds: pain, pleasure, heat, cold, happiness, grief, fear, exhilaration, and so on. On the other hand, ideas are copies of impressions that include thoughts and images that are built up from our primary impressions through a variety of relationships, but because they are derivative copies of impressions, they are once removed from reality. Hume considered that the self does not exist because all of the experiences that a person may have are just perceptions and this includes the perception of self. None of these perceptions resemble a unified and permanent self-identity that exists over time. He further added that there are instances that an individual is limited in experiencing their perception like in sleeping. Similarly, when someone died all empirical senses end and according to him, it makes no sense to believe that self exists in other forms. As an empiricist, Hume provide an honest description and analysis of his own experience, within which there is no self to be found. Hume explained that the self that is being experienced by an individual is nothing but a kind of fictional self. Human created an imaginary creature which is not real. “Fictional self” is created to unify the mental events and introduce order into an individual lives, but this “self” has no real existence. Sigmund Freud A well-known Australian psychologist and considered as the Father and Founder of Psychoanalysis. His influence in Psychology and therapy is dominant and popular in the 20th to 21st century. The dualistic view of self by Freud involves the conscious self and unconscious self. The conscious self is governed by reality principle. Here, the self is rational, practical, and appropriate to the social environment. The conscious self has the task of controlling the constant pressures of the unconscious self, as its primitive impulses continually seek for immediate discharge. The unconscious self is governed by pleasure principle. It is the self that is aggressive, destructive, unrealistic and instinctual. Both of Freud’s self needs immediate gratification and reduction of tensions to optimal levels and the goal of every individual is to make unconscious conscious. Freud proposed how mind works, he called this as provinces or structures of the mind. By illustrating the tip of the iceberg which according to him represents conscious awareness which characterizes the person in dealing with the external world. The observable behavior, however, is further controlled by the workings of the subconscious/unconscious mind. Subconscious serves as the repository of past experiences, repressed memories, fantasies, and urges. The three levels of the mind are: 1. Id. This is primarily based on the pleasure principle. It demands immediate satisfaction and is not hindered by societal expectations. 2. Ego. The structure that is primarily based on the reality principle. This mediates between the impulses of the id and restraints of the superego. 3. Superego. This is primarily dependent on learning the difference between right and wrong, thus it is called moral principle. Morality of actions is largely dependent on childhood upbringing particularly on rewards and punishments. According to Freud, there are two kinds of instinct that drive individual behavior – the eros or the life instinct and the thanatos of the death instinct. The energy of eros is called libido and includes urges necessary for individual and species survival like thrist, hunger, and sex.in cases that human behaior is directed towards destruction in the form of aggression and violence, such are the manifestations of thanatos. Gilbert Ryle A British analytical philosopher. He was an important figure in the field of Linguistic Analysis which focused on the solving of philosophical puzzles through an analysis of language. According to Ryle, the self is best understood as a pattern of behavior, the tendency or disposition for a person to behave in a certain way in certain circumstances. He opposed the notable ideas of the previous philosophers and even claimed that those were results of confused conceptual thinking he termed, category mistake. The category mistake happens when we speak about the self as something independent of the physical body: a purely mental entity existing in time but not space Immanuel Kant A German Philosopher who made great contribution to the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Kant is widely regarded as the greatest philosopher of the modern period. Kant maintained that an individual self makes the experience of the world comprehensible because it is responsible for synthesizing the discreet data of sense experience into a meaningful whole. It is the self that makes consciousness for the person to make sense of everything. It is the one that help every individual gain insight and knowledge. If the self failed to do this synthesizing function, there would be a chaotic and insignificant collection of sensations. Additionally, the self is the product of reason, a regulative principle because the self regulates experience by making unified experience possible and unlike Hume, Kant’s self is not the object of consciousness, but it makes the consciousness understandable and unique. Transcendental apperception happens when people do not experience self directly, instead as a unity of all impressions that are organized by the mind through perceptions. Kant concluded that all objects of knowledge, which includes the self, are phenomenal. That the true nature of things is altogether unknown and unknowable (Price, 2000). For Kant, the kingdom of God is within man. God is manifested in people’s lives therefore it is man’s duty to move towards perfection. Kant emphasized that people should always see duty as a divine command (Price, 2000). Paul and Patricia Churchland An American philosopher interested in the fields of philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, cognitive neurobiology, epistemology, and perception. Churchlands’ central argument is that the concepts and theoretical vocabulary that people use to think about the selves—using such terms as belief, desire, fear, sensation, pain, joy—actually misrepresent the reality of minds and selves. He claims that the self is a product of brain activity. The behavior of the self can be attributed to the neuropharmacological states, the neural activity in specialized anatomical areas. Neurophilosopy was coined by Patricia Churchland, the modern scientific inquiry looks into the application of neurology to age-old problems in philosophy. The philosophy of neuroscience is the study of the philosophy of science, neuroscience, and psychology. It aims to explore the relevance of neurolinguistic experiments/studies to the philosophy of the mind. Patricia Churchland claimed that man’s brain is responsible for the identity known as self. The biochemical properties of the brain according to this philosophy of neuroscience is really responsible for man’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Paul Churchland is one of the many philosophers and psychologists that viewed the self from a materialistic point of view, contending that in the final analysis mental states are identical with, reducible to, or explainable in terms of physical brain states. This assumption was made due to the physiological processes of the body that directly affecting the mental state of the person. The advent of sophisticated technology and scientific research gives hope to understand the connection between the physical body and the mind/brain relationship that integrated in the self. Being an eliminative materialist, he believes that there is a need to develop a new vocabulary and conceptual framework that is grounded in neuroscience. This new framework will be a more accurate reflection of the human mind and self. Maurice Merleau-Ponty A French philosopher and phenomenologist. He took a very different approach to the self and the mind/body “problem.” According to him, the division between the “mind” and the “body” is a product of confused thinking. The self is experienced as a unity in which the mental and physical are seamlessly woven together. This unity is the primary experience of selves and begin to doubt it when an individual use their minds to concoct abstract notions of a separate mind and body. Developed the concept of self-subject and contended that perceptions occur existentially. Thus, the consciousness, the world, and the human body are all interconnected as they mutually perceive the world. According to him, the world and the sense of self are emergent phenomena in the ongoing process of man’s becoming. Phenomenology provides a direct description of the human experience which serves to guide man’s conscious actions. He further added that, the world is a field of perception, and human consciousness assigns meaning to the world. Thus man cannot separate himself from his perceptions of the world. Perception is not purely the result of sensations nor it is purely interpretations. Rather consciousness is a process that includes sensing as well as interpreting/reasoning. GUIDE IS STUDYING/ PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR ASSESSMENT A. Guide Questions 1. Identify the two distinct entities that Hume claims exist in our experience. 2. What term does Hume use to describe basic sensations such as pain, pleasure, and happiness? 3. Who is considered the Father and Founder of Psychoanalysis? 4. Who is the British analytical philosopher known for his work in Linguistic Analysis? 5. What term does Kant use to describe the unity of impressions organized by the mind? 6. What philosophical perspective does Paul Churchland represent? 7. What term did Patricia Churchland coin to describe the intersection of neurology and philosophical inquiry? 8. Who is the French philosopher known for his phenomenological approach to the self? 9. Which trait in the Five-Factor Model is associated with emotional instability and anxiety? 10. What term describes the understanding of one’s motives behind actions? B. Choose the correct answer: 1. Imagine a situation where a person behaves differently at work than at home. How does this relate to the concept of consistency in the self? A) It shows that their self is fragmented and lacks identity. B) It highlights that their underlying traits remain stable, even if behaviors vary. C) It indicates that the self is completely defined by external circumstances. D) It demonstrates that the self has no influence on behavior. 2. If someone keeps their personal thoughts and feelings private, what does this indicate about their self in terms of its characteristics? A) Their self is dependent on others for validation. B) Their self is distinct and possesses an internal realm that is not shared. C) Their self is inconsistent and lacks a clear identity. D) Their self is influenced by public opinion. 3. Consider a person who struggles to form a consistent identity due to external influences. How might this affect their sense of being self-contained? A) They will feel more self-contained as they adapt to their environment. B) They may feel fragmented and struggle with their sense of self. C) They will develop a stronger and more stable identity. D) They will become indifferent to their personal identity. 4. Maria is always cheerful and outgoing in her job as a salesperson, but she tends to be more reserved and serious at family gatherings. What does this illustrate about her personality? A) Her personality is inconsistent and lacks depth. B) She has different faces that reflect her adaptability in various situations. C) Her personality is entirely determined by her job. D) She has no real personality traits. 5. During a team-building exercise, John shares his personal struggles with his coworkers but keeps his deepest fears to himself. What does this reveal about the Japanese concept of having three faces? A) John is open and shows all his faces to everyone. B) John shows his second face to his colleagues while keeping his third face hidden. C) John does not have a distinct personality. D) John is trying to impress his coworkers by being vulnerable. 6. When asked about their hobbies, Emma talks passionately about her love for painting, but she never shares her insecurities about her artistic talent. How does this relate to the idea of personality having multiple dimensions? A) Emma has no real interests; she only pretends to like painting. B) Emma's personality is shaped by her public and private selves. C) Emma only has one true face that she shows to everyone. D) Emma’s personality is defined solely by her insecurities. 7. Tom is known for being reliable and organized at work, but he is spontaneous and adventurous with friends. What does this say about his personality traits? A) Tom's personality traits are rigid and unchanging. B) Tom exhibits consistency in his behavior across all settings. C) Tom has unique traits that provide both consistency and individuality. D) Tom's personality is irrelevant to how he interacts with others. 8. Michael has a genetic predisposition to anxiety, which his mother also experienced. How does this illustrate the role of biological factors in his personality? A) It shows that personality is only shaped by the environment. B) It indicates that hereditary factors can influence behavior and emotional responses. C) It demonstrates that physical features have no impact on personality. D) It suggests that brain function is irrelevant to understanding personality. 9. After receiving feedback at work, Jamie reflects on her skills and how they align with her career goals. This process helps her form a clearer picture of her abilities. What is Jamie primarily engaging in? A) Self-understanding B) Self-concept C) Identity crisis D) Social comparison 10. If a philosopher claims that human experience cannot be understood without considering the unity of mind and body, which philosophical stance does this align with? A) Dualism B) Phenomenology C) Behaviorism D) Idealism C. True or False 1. According to Kant, without the self, experiences would remain chaotic and insignificant. 2. According to Descartes, true knowledge can be gained without doubting one’s own existence. 3. According to St. Augustine, true knowledge of eternal truths is attainable solely through human reason, independent of a relationship with God. 4. Thanatos is focused on survival and reproduction. 5. Understanding oneself is crucial for effective personal and professional relationships, as it influences behaviors and beliefs that impact both oneself and others. 6. Maurice Merleau-Ponty believes that the self is experienced as a unity rather than a division between mind and body. 7. Cultural factors have no impact on an individual’s personality development. 8. The Five-Factor Model of personality is commonly summarized using the acronym OCEAN. 9. Neuroticism relates to emotional stability and resilience. 10.Hume considers the self to be a solid, tangible entity that can be easily defined.