Patronage of Mary Development School

Poblacion, Boljoon, Cebu

Tel. Nos. (032)482-9302- Website: www.pmds.ph - Email Address: pmdsmamamary@gmail.com

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

LESSON 1
Understanding the Self

Objectives

1. explain the dimensions of self;

2. discuss the components of attitudes;
3. differentiate self-concept from self-esteem; and
4. maintain a journal.

SELF-CONCEPT INVENTORY:
Take a look at your own self-concept and answer the following self-concept inventory in your
journal. Give yourself a rating using the scale:
0 = very weak, 1 = weak, 2 = somewhat weak/somewhat strong, 3 = strong, 4 = very
strong.

1. I have strong sex appeal.

2. I am proud of my physical figure.
3. I am physically attractive and beautiful/handsome.
4. I exude with charm and poise.
5. I can easily get along with.
6. I can adjust to different people and different situations.
7. I am approachable; other people are at ease and comfortable with me.
8. I am lovable and easy to love.
9. I am a fast learner, can understand instruction easily.
10. I am intelligent.
11. I have special talents and abilities.
12. I can easily analyze situations and make right judgments.
13. I can be trusted in any transaction.
14. I have a clean conscience and carry no guilt feeling.
15. I have integrity and good reputation.
16. My friends and classmates can look up to me as a model worth emulating.
17. I can express my ideas without difficulty.
18. I talk in a persuasive manner that I can easily get people to accept what I say.
19. I can express my ideas in writing without difficulty.
20. I am a good listener.
21. I am emotionally stable and not easily rattled when faced with trouble.
22. I am logical and rational in my outlook and decisions.
23. I feel and act with confidence.
24. I am a mature person.

Scoring: Copy this in your journal. Write your score opposite each number and get the
subtotal. In what areas do you consider yourself strong (with score 14-16) or somewhat
weak (score of 10-13) and very weak (below 10).

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 The word “self” is popularly and generally defined as what
an individual sees, perceives, and defines oneself apart from
others. The term self-perception is a sub-definition of this simple
yet complex concept.

The self as we know it is divided into three known

dimensions – physical, psychological, and spiritual. To know
oneself, one must distinguish the three apart from each other.

The physical dimension revolves around the physical

body of a human being; its processes, functions, mechanisms,
and chemistry – from the cells as the smallest units, the tissues
of these cells create when united, the organs of these tissues
give shape to, the organ systems are responsible to keeping us
alive, walking, talking, and breathing.

Next comes the psychological dimension which

contains the concepts of stress, cognition, behavior, attitude, emotion and ultimately,
personality. As compared to the physical dimension which could be observed directly and be
measured, the psychological dimension has both internal and external factors that can or
cannot be measured, observed, and calculated.

Lastly, the spiritual dimension allows us to view ourselves in a spiritual level as

spiritual beings. Compared to the physical and psychological dimensions, this dimension
cannot be observed but can be subjectively altered and perceived by the person. It holds a
relevance to a perceived existence of God, of a greater good, or a superior being relating to
the humble individual.

Attitudes and its Components: Affect, Behavior, Cognition

A key factor in personality development is attitude – a settled way of thinking and

feeling about someone or something, typically reflecting in a person’s behavior. Attitude
manifests as behavior, as a representative of personality.

Attitude can be both implicit and explicit. Implicit attitudes are thoughts or feelings
that conscious awareness does not cover. Explicit attitudes, however, can be perceived
consciously and expressed accordingly.

Affect, in Psychology, is the term of used to represent emotions directed to the self,
the environment and to others. For one to develop a better attitude towards being rejected,
for example, there must be an underlying emotional response to the action and its doer.

Cognition is the way we think. It encompasses our thoughts in different levels,

ranging from ourselves to our environment, from imaginary to perceivable reality.

Behavior is the action form or manifestation of attitude. Without attitude, affect and
cognition, behavior will be rendered baseless and ungrounded.

A human being learns as it interacts with its environment, thus, it experiences.

Experience, as most say, is the best teacher. Attitudes can form consequently through this,
either from personal encounters or observed consequences. Rejection is a common
experience and often results to embittered attitudes towards the doer of the action – which
influences the affect component.

Social factors, on the other hand, influence attitude heavily. Your roles in a social
environment and of course, the social norm that tell you what to do and what not to do in a
social situation also affect attitude.

Learning is another factor. Consider how commercials can affect your attitudes
particular products like the usual fast food commercial that caters to your appetite by
showing off crispy meals in slow-motion and the like.

Operant conditioning can also affect and influence how we develop attitudes. A
common example would be alcohol consumption and the headache its hangover gives a
person. It is a matter of consequences, pleasant or unpleasant, that our attitude towards it
is affected.

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 Finally, modelling – when someone particularly close to us, person we admire or
adore, or a parent does something, it is more than likely we would be doing the same thing
they are doing.

Attitude is a prominent factor in personality. If you know how it is created, you can
know how to handle it especially when you need to. It is a matter of self-monitoring and
self-assertion.

Self-concept and Self-esteem

Self-concept and self-esteem are two different terms that are usually mistakenly
interchanged. Let us define them by aiming for their key differences.

Self-concept is our cognition to ourselves, what we think and know about our
identity, personality, and individuality. It requires a lot of self-evaluation and reflection to be
able to say that your self-concept is high. Then again, it is still focused on the cognition
component of attitude, proving what Rene Descartes had said: “I think, therefore I am.”

Self-esteem is related to self-concept but it is different. It does not focus on how

we know ourselves but rather our attitude towards ourselves. It is a more situational
approach in terms of attitude because self-esteem is how we value ourselves, given the
negative or positive feedback we receive.

Self-concept and self-esteem are learned variables, however. If one is raised in an

unsupportive home filled with verbal degradations one would probably feel and think that he
or she is burden to blame for familial problems. On the other hand, if an individual is raised
in a fostering or nurturing environment, his or her self-concept and self-esteem would be
more positive – making one feel secure, integrated, and sure of oneself.

References

Santos, Ricardo Rubio (2016). Personal Development, Manila: Rex Bookstore.

Perez, Aida Maria Hernandez (2016). Personal Development, Quezon City: Vibal Publishing

Cayubit, Ryan Francis and Avelina L. Mandin (2017). Actualizing the Adolescent: Values
Approach to Personality Development. Makati City Don Bosco Press.

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 Patronage of Mary Development School
Poblacion, Boljoon, Cebu
Tel. Nos. (032)482-9302- Website: www.pmds.ph - Email Address: pmdsmamamary@gmail.com

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Name ______________________________________________ Grade Level __________
Email Address ___________________________ Date _____________ Time ___________

Learning Task 1

A. Multiple Choice. Click the letter that corresponds to the correct answer.

1. Which of the following are learned variables about our self?

a. self-awareness and self-mastery
b. self-management and time management
c. personhood and gender
d. self-concept and self-esteem

2. Jenny is struggling about understanding herself. She reflected and evaluated about how
she thinks and about her identity and personality. What variable does Jenny is trying to
understand about herself?
a. self-concept
b. self-preservation
c. self-struggle
d. self-understanding

3. Celebrities are admired and imitated by their fans because of the outstanding qualities
and talents. What factor in personality development is explained here?
a. admiring
b. qualifying
c. modeling
d. imitating

4. What variables do influence heavily on teenagers attitude that affect their roles in a social
environment and how they relate with people?
a. social media
b. social factors
c. social studies
d. social influence

5. Erwin starts to be conscious about himself particularly his skin, shape of his face and
nose. He is also conscious about the way he walks and talks. What dimension of self is
described here?
a. intellectual
b. temporal
c. physical
d. emotional

6. Teacher Marie emphasized in her lesson, the relevance to a perceived existence of God,
the greater good and the need to be humble and grateful all the time. What dimension of
self is given importance by Teacher Marie?
a. social
b. mental
c. spiritual
d. temporal

7. What component of your attitude that covers your thoughts, from yourself to your
environment, from imaginary to your perceived reality?
a. affect
b. behavior
c. perception
d. cognition

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8. What make a behavior of a person intact and functional in a society?
a. concept, esteem and awareness
b. behavior, affect and cognition
c. beauty and brain
d. spiritual and physical

9. Peter was used to be alcoholic. He experienced body aches and headaches that prolonged
for days after he concerned a lot of alcohol during the fiesta. Since then, he stopped
drinking. What behavior variable is described above?
a. modeling
b. learning
c. socializing
d. operant conditioning

10. What Nora sees in front of the mirror in her visual perception of her self. Along with
what she sees in the mirror are her physical assets, personality and her belief of a divine
being. What concept is described in the above statements?
a. shadow
b. self
c. beauty
d. dimension

B. Answer comprehensively the following questions.

1. What do you think are your best physical assets? Why do you consider them your best?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. What do your friends like about you in terms of attitude and behavior?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. How do you enrich your spiritual life? your relationship with God?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

4. What makes you sad? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

5. What makes you happy? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

6. Do you consider yourself shy or confident type of person? Why do you say so?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

7. How do the following social factors shape your personality?

7.1 family
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

7.2 school
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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 7.3 community / friends
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

7.3 church
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

7.4 social media

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

C. MY JOURNAL:

1. Write a journal entry that tells your unique characteristics, habits, and experiences.
Share this to the class.
2. Write a journal entry about how you have come to know yourself better and how you
expect this to help you become a better person.

Focus question: How can knowing oneself make someone a better person?