Knowing and Valuing Self Self- A separate being within an environment.

Self-Concept  Self-Concept- totality of all your thoughts and feelings with reference to yourself. It is the foundation on which almost all your actions are based. Your cognitive awareness of who you are How accurate are we in our assessment of self?  Four Developmental Areas of Self Physical Self Mental Self Emotional Self Social Self Spiritual (added)

Development of Self-Concept  Sources of Self-Concept Development Social Interaction (reflections & perception) Social Information (verbal feedback from others) Social Comparison (family, peers & culture) Self-Observation (awareness of our thoughts and behavior) How much should we rely on others? Self?

Self-Esteem  Self-Esteem- the overall value or worth that we place on ourselves. Global- overall self-evaluation Like Self-Concept it is Based on Internal and External Sources Effects of Self-Esteem Academic Performance Emotions and Behavior (depression & drug use) Relationships (Closeness) Career Success

Physical Self  What are the characteristics of “total physical wellness?”  Three Categories or Approaches to Health Health Gamblers Take health for granted and assume that there is little they can do about changing the way they are. Health Mechanics Tend to illness when it strikes but do little to promote wellness. Health Gardeners Mindful of physical and mental health, take steps to prevent illness, and are active in promoting wellness.

Mental Self  Your cognitive abilities and capacities for logic & reason. It includes how you feel about your ability to make decisions.  Intelligence The ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, act purposefully, or adapt to changes in the environment. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) (measures school related abilities) Multiple Intelligence Theory (Howard Gardner)  He argued that there is more than one type of intelligence  Linguistic, Logical, Musical, Bodily-kinesthetic, Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal Emotional Quotient The ability to identify your own and other people’s emotions accurately, express your emotions clearly, and regulate emotions in yourself and others.

Mental Self (cont)  Attitude Optimist v. Pessimist (optimists get sick less often and are solution oriented in their approach)  Thoughts Can Drive Emotions and Actions Events-Thoughts-Emotions-Actions Consider Assignment 1b. You are in one way a sum total of all your thoughts.

Emotional Self  Emotional Expression Socialization Plays a Big Role in Expression Consider your family’s emotional expression. What about differences between females and males. Culture Language (“I feel like..” confuses thoughts and feelings) Awareness of Emotions Takes practice Healthy expression can go against socialization and culture

Social Self  Social Status- a position or status held in a social group Examples Include: wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, employee, friend, king, peasant, citizen.  Social Role- behavioral expectations associated with a particular social status Examples Include: lover, nurturer, provider, decider, doer, listener

Spiritual Self  Religious Faith is Positively Associated with: Not smoking, taking vitamins, walking regularly, wearing a seatbelt, engaging in exercise, enjoying sound sleep, & drinking moderately or not at all. A number of studies have definitively linked religious participation to a longer life. An increase in spirituality can decrease the progression of disease.

Integrating the Whole Self  Systems Theory Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social, Spiritual Change in one area of self influences or brings about changes in other areas of self. Again consider the impact of thoughts on all areas listed above.

Nature vs Nurture What Makes You The Way You Are? Nature- we are what we are based on our biology Nurture- we are what we are based on the manner in which the environment shapes and molds us. Nature vs Nurture (heritability is.50) System or Reciprocal Relationship (consider biological-cellular level).

Personality Personality- a stable or long enduring pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Five Perspectives of Psychology 1) Psychodynamic 2) Learning/Behavioral 3) Humanistic 4) Biological 5) Cultural

Psychodynamic Perspective  Emphasis on unconscious intrapsychic dynamics  Belief in the importance of early childhood  Belief that development occurs in fixed stages  Focus on fantasies and symbolic meanings of events (dreams, slips of the tongue)  Reliance on subjective rather than objective methods (dreams)

Freud’s View of Personality  Id: Operates according to the pleasure principle Primitive and unconscious part of personality  Ego: Operates according to the reality principle Mediates between id and superego  Superego: Moral ideals and conscience

Defense Mechanisms  Repression: Threatening idea is blocked from consciousness  Projection: Unacceptable feelings are attributed to someone else  Displacement: Directing emotions toward objects or people that aren’t the real target  Reaction Formation: A feeling that produces anxiety is transformed into its opposite.  Regression: A person reverts to a previous phase of psychological development.  Denial: A person refuses to admit that something is unpleasant.

Learning : Behavioral Theory  Behaviorism (B.F. Skinner): An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior. Operant Conditioning: The process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on its consequences. Reinforcer: A stimulus or event that strengthens or increases the probability of the response it follows. Punisher: A stimulus or event that weakens or decreases the probability of the response it follows.

Learning: Social Cognitive Theory  Social Cognitive theory (Albert Bandura): A theory that emphasizes how behavior is learned and maintained through the interaction between individuals and their environment, an interaction strongly influenced by such cognitive processes as observations, expectations, perceptions, and motivating beliefs. Expectancies-predictions about the outcome of behaviors

Biological Perspective  Heredity and Temperament Heritability: A statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in some trait that is attributable to genetic differences among individuals within a group. Temperaments: Physiological dispositions to respond to the environment in certain ways; they are present in infancy and are assumed to be innate.  Heredity and Traits

Biological Trait Perspective: (Five Central Factors) Extroversion versus Introversion Agreeableness Neuroticism Conscientiousness Openness to Experience

Cultural Perspective  Culture: A program of shared rules that govern the behavior of members of a community or society, and a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by most members of that community  Socialization: a process of learning how to behave according to the requirements of our society  Socializers- parents, teachers, friends

Culture (cont)  Individualist Culture: The self is regarded as autonomous, and individual goals and wishes are prized above duty and relations with others.  Collectivist Culture: The self is regarded as embedded in relationships, and harmony with one’s group is prized above individual goals and wishes.

Values and Stress

Where Do Values Originate? How Do They Develop?  Develop Over Time Not born with values. They are learned through socialization. Socializers include: Family, Peers, School, Religion, Government, & Media  Transmitted Through Moralizing- Direct, although sometimes subtle transmission of the adult’s values to young people Laissez-faire- Opposite means of value transmission than moralizing. In laissez-faire the young person is left to discover values without leadership or guidance.

Altering Influences of Our Values  Major Life Changes  Mental Unrest  Changes in Wants  Evaluating Your Values  Characteristics of Healthy Values Owned Realistic Behaviors that promote positive outcomes Life Enhancing

Recommendations for Values Development  Set a Positive Example Do as I say not as I do yields a child who will do just that, say one thing but do another.  Encourage the Values You Think are Important Positive Reinforcement  Teach and Guide Encourage Thinking for Oneself Allow Experience to Be a Teacher  Instill a Value of Self  Emphasize Universally Acceptable Values

Just Checking in With Self  Based on Assignment 1a, you should have a better idea of your self-concept and the manner in which other’s see you. With this feedback you have some decisions to make.  Do you believe what they have told you?  Do you want to change anything about you?  What are they?

Defensiveness: The Enemy  True or Real Self vs Ideal Self What do we do when the “Real Self” and the “Ideal Self” are not the same  Cognitive Dissonance: A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or when a person’s belief is inconsistent with his or her behavior.

Coping with Stress  Benefits of Physical Activity  Nutrition Weight Maintenance Diet, Cardio, Weight Training  Adequate Rest  Thought Control  Breathing

Mental Health: Stress Management  Stress- the bodies experience of a perceived demand to adjust.  General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)

Stress Management (cont)  Distress v. Eustress (both are taxing)  Sources of Stress External and Internal  Coping with Stress Deep Relaxation and Breathing Cognitive Change (see

Theory of Change I: Thought Changing Change Negative Thought Patterns Cognitive Theory  Event-Thought-Emotion-Action (cycle)  Punctuate Thought  Thoughts become automatic  Negative thoughts begat negative emotions Change Your Thoughts  Cognitive Restructuring- thought changing  Tune into Self Talk or Metacognition- your thoughts  Irrational Beliefs- unreasonable and exaggerated thoughts

Thought Changing Change Negative Thought Patterns (cont) Albert Ellis  Identify irrational thought  Determine the truth of the thought and related facts  Restructure thought Just because ____ doesn’t mean  End with an affirmation Thought Stopping- A cognitive technique in which you mentally say “stop thinking this way” or just “stop”

Theory of Change II.  Behaviorism (B.F. Skinner): An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior. Operant Conditioning: The process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on its consequences. Reinforcer: A stimulus or event that strengthens or increases the probability of the response it follows. Punisher: A stimulus or event that weakens or decreases the probability of the response it follows.  If you persist in an unhealthy behavior your self-esteem will not increase. Make wise decisions.