FACTORS AFFECTING SELF: BIOLOGICAL FACTORS, PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTOR

BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

 Factors affecting your self pertaining to your body components/composition.

 (physical and sexual self)
 (e.g. nervous system, glandular system, hormones, genes, hereditary factors, physical appearance, physique and
rate of maturation.
 Temperament, mental characteristics, special ability, and physical character.
 Different studies show the evidence that traits such as shyness, fear and distress are more likely caused by
inherited genetics.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

Factors affecting our self in terms of the following:

 Motives, interest, attitudes, will power, intelligence, reasoning capacities, perception, imagination, a level of
understanding etc.
 A person with strong will power can make a quick decision which is needed for better adjustment.
 Similarly- an intelligent person will be able to make a more quick adjustment and development of
understanding.
 Cognition (way of thinking, understanding, remembering, imagination, perception.)

COGNITION

- Important part of an individual development process.

- It is how information is being taken in and analyzed.

TYPES OF COGNITIVE PROCESSES

1. attention: cognition process that allows people to focus on a specific stimulus in the environment.

2. language/language development – involves the ability to understand and express thought through spoken and
written words.

3. perception – allows people to take an information through the senses and utilize this information to respond and
interact with the world. (different from sensation)

4. thought – essential part of cognitive process

5. memory – how we remember and utilize the gained information.

JOHN B. WATSON “THE FOUNDER OF BEHAVIORISM”

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS

 Characteristics that defines the quality of life in a society.

 Education, income, social status and occupation are the main parameter of socio-economic status.
 Socialization, knowledge skill and language are acquired (environment) by a person and can be termed as
learned modification of behavior. They influence the behaviors attitudes, trends and lifestyles of individuals.
 Material possessions

Elon Musk’s net worth as of 2022 is a whopping $219 billion, making him the richest person in the world.

 It is important to know your physical traits, characteristics and other factors because they help you
shape/understand yourself.
THE PHYSICAL SELF – BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM

PHYSICAL SELF

 Refers to the body that includes basic parts such as head, neck, arms and legs.
 made up of other internal organs such as brain, heart, lungs, stomach and intestine.
 In general, the body performs its function least well during

a. Infancy

b. Old age

 Physical efficiency generally peaks in early adulthood and declines into the middle age/ old age.

BODY IMAGE

 Refers to how individuals perceive, think and feel about their body and physical appearance.
 Appearance: Everything about a person that others can observe such as height, weight, skin color and hairstyle.

SELF- ESTEEM

 A person’s overall evaluation of his/her own worth.

 How person’s value himself/herself
 Affects how you take care of yourself, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

CAUSE OF POOR BODY IMAGE

 Emphasis on thin ideal body

 Bullying and peer pressure
 Media

EFFECTS OF POOR BODY IMAGE

1.Body dissatisfaction

2. Depression

3. Low self-esteem

4. Eating disorder

Bulimia – case where a person induces purging after eating large quantity of food.

Anorexia nervosa – person would refuse to eat, out of fear of gaining weight.

5. Body modifications

FORMS OF BODY MODIFICATION

 Tattooing
 Permanent make up
 Body piercing
 Cosmetic surgery

Personal Branding is the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands.

THE MATERIAL/ECONOMIC SELF

William James:
“If they wax and prosper, he feels triumphant, if they dwindle and die anyway, he feels cast down – not necessarily in
the same degree for each thing, but in much the same way for all”

MATERIAL SELF/ECONOMIC SELF

 Basically, refers to our possessions.

 Likes/wants in terms of material aspects.
 All of the physical elements that reflect who you are.
 Possessions, car, home, body, clothes.

Economic self-sufficiency is the ability of individuals and families to maintain sufficient income to consistently meet their
basic needs.

Two Categories:

1. The Bodily Part: The Parts of the body

2. Extracorporal/External Self: Any material possessions

which extends us.

COMPOSITION OF MATERIAL SELF

 Body
- Innermost part of our self
- intentionally, we invest in our body
- We are directly attached to our own body
- (Preferential attachment to certain parts of our body)
- Example: vocal chords for singer/singers is really an important aspect of their body parts.
 Clothes
- The style on how we dress up becomes a symbolic significance of ourselves
- it includes books, our bed, money, car, house and other things that person can call his own possession.
- form of self-expression
 Immediate family
- These people are likely to shape and influence the development of self-identity.
- What they do or becomes, affects us.
- We see them as the nearest replica of our self.
- Pets could also symbolically define a person’s identity
 Home
- It is the earliest nest of our self-hood
- Our experiences inside our home were recorded and marked on a particular parts and things in our
house/home.
- Home is an extension of ourself

MATERIAL POSSESSION

- Can be used as status symbol

- Can be a reflection of our hard work and success
- Can make people more motivated to work harder to
- achieve goal and motives.
- Loss of material possessions can be disruptive

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF MATERIAL POSSESSION

  Materialism – the importance people give on material possessions which is not balanced/ which is not good
sometimes.
 Materialistic person – someone with high level of materialism.
 Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) – Psychological dysfunction or impairment caused by strong desire of
material possessions.

BRAND IMAGE
- Set of beliefs, ideas or impressions that a person holds regarding an object
Brand identity- how the person portrays itself to other people

SELF CONCEPT IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

 Actual self- how a person actually perceives himself

 Ideal Self- how a person would like to perceive himself
 Social self- how a person thinks others perceive him
 Ideal social self- how a person would like others to perceive him
 Expected self- an image of self somewhere in between the actual and ideal self
 Situational self- a person’s self image in a specific situation

SPIRITUAL SELF

- The most enduring and intimate part of the self.

- Your Spiritual Self is you in your most beautiful and powerful form. It is the authentic self, the unconditioned
part, the you without patterns.
- Search for meaning and purpose in life.
- process of developing beliefs around the meaning of life and connection with others.

Religion is a specific set of organized beliefs and practices, usually shared by a community or group.

Spirituality is more of an individual practice and has to do with having a sense of peace and purpose. It also relates to
the process of developing beliefs around the meaning of life and connection with others.

Theist

Atheistic- no God

Monotheistic – One God

Polytheistic – many Gods

Pantheism – all is God

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

 Spirituality Is Personal
 Religion is a group of people who worship the same God.

 Spirituality is a solo journey

 Religion is a group journey

 Spirituality is learned not taught.

  Religion is something that is taught.

 Spirituality is who you are.

 Religion is something that points toward who you are.

 Spirituality embraces different perspectives.

 Religion only accepts one truth.

 Spirituality focuses on the importance of being in the now.

 Religion focuses on the future.

 Spirituality is all about feeling good right now.

 Religion puts rules before feeling good.

 Spirituality does not judge anyone or anything

 Religion judges anyone or anything that is against its teachings (Note: Not generalizing, not on all
circumstances but there are some instances where you can observe this)

 Spirituality can peacefully co-exist with religion.

 Religion does not tolerate spirituality that contradicts its doctrine

SPIRITUAL SELF

1. The spiritual aspect of the self is the inner essence, the part of the self that connects the person to the sacred, the
supernatural and the universe.

2. There is something greater that connects all being to each other.

3. Develops the self through interaction, observation and imitation.

4. The family, school, and church play a very important role in a child’s spiritual development.

5. Spirituality generally refers to a meaning and purpose in life. (a search for wholeness)

6. To live a healthy life, we should be connected healthily and we must balance our connection.

SIGNS THAT YOU ARE A SPIRITUAL PERSON

 You are knowledgeable about the right things.

 You are loving and kind.
 You feel your life has a purpose.
 You take care of your mental and physical health.
 You have inner peace.
 You don't speak ill of others or gossip.

WHY SPIRITUALITY IS IMPORTANT?

  It is important for you to essentially know and realize the meaning of life and to establish a greater purpose in
life.

Why do people practice spirituality?

 Spirituality is a way of gaining perspective

Mental health practices that can help a person become more spiritual.

 Mindfulness
 Prayer
 JOURNALING

THE SEXUAL SELF (DEVELOPMENT OF SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS)

SEX VS. GENDER

Sex: label assigned at birth based on the reproductive organ

Gender: includes a person’s perception, understanding, and experience of themselves and roles in the society.

TYPES OF GENDER

 Feminine gender – female subtype

 Masculine gender – male subtype
 Neuter gender –neither male nor female
 Common gender- either male or female
 Agender- does not have a gender
 Cisgender –you believe that that your assigned sex at birth corresponds to your gender
 Genderfluid –one or the other (m or f) depending on the day

The beginning of adolescence is marked by rapid physical changes:

 Maturation of reproductive system

 Development of sex characteristics

SEX CHARACTERISTICS:

 Primary sex characteristics

- sex characteristics that are present at birth.
- In women, these characteristics include the vagina, uterus, and ovaries.
- In men, the primary sex characteristics include penis, testes or testicles, scrotum and prostate gland.
 Secondary sex characteristics
- sex characteristics developed during the onset puberty.
- For women, the earliest evidences of puberty are the enlargement of the breasts, buttocks, menstrual cycle,
widening of hips, and growth of pubic hair.
- For male, testicular growth, sperm production, appearance of facial hair, deepening of voice.

HUMAN SEXUAL AROUSAL

- may be produced by direct stimulation of the body’s erogenous zones (are areas of the body that provides
pleasure)

EROGENOUS ZONES
  Genitals
 Mouth
 Breast
 Ear
 Anus
 Entire surface of the body (lesser degree)

(Note: one of the basic sexual stimulation is masturbation of self-stimulation that causes pleasure or orgasm.

In many species, sexual arousal is closely tied to variations in hormonal levels. In humans, however,

hormones play less of a role. In one sense, the brain is where sexual desire originates and where sexual behaviour is
controlled.

SEXUAL RESPONSE CYCLE

 Excitement phase
- Beginning of sexual arousal
- Can last a minute to several hours
- pulse rate increase, blood pressure rises, skin shows a rosy flush, nipple hardens.
- In men, penis becomes erect, testes increase in size
- In women, the clitoris swells, vagina moistens in preparation of sexual intercourse.
 Plateau phase
- The changes in the body are continued
- breathing becomes more rapid, faster breathing, heart rate increases, body temperature rises.
- In men, the penis becomes more erect, its head increase fluid.
 Orgasmic phase
Orgasmic contractions of the muscles happen in the release of the semen which contains the sperm cells.
- Peak of the sexual cycle
- Men usually achieve one intense orgasm.
- In women orgasm can happen multiple times.
 Resolution phase
- The body turns to its normal state.
- In men the erection is lost and the testes decrease in size.
- In women, the clitoris return to its normal state.

THE SEXUAL SELF (BASIC BIOLOGY OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR)

TRIANGULAR THEORY OF LOVE

Robert Sternberg

- American psychologist known for his theories of love, intelligence and creativity.
- Proposed triangular theory of love

3 components of love (represents triangle)

 Passion
- Refers to the drive that leads to romance, physical attraction and sexual consummation.
- You are physically attracted to someone and you would want to have sexual relationship/connection with
someone.
- Intimacy
- Refers to the feeling of closeness, connectedness and bondedness with the person.
- There’s a certain level of connection between the two of you.
 - Level of comfort being with them
 Commitment
- Refers to the decision to love and the commitment to maintain that love.
- A conscious decision to love and to stay in a relationship with the person.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF LOVE

1. Non-love
- In this case, it is the absence of 3 components of love.
- Ex. 1. simple casual interaction
2. acquaintances/someone you are not particularly attached with.
2. Liking/friendship
- Characterized when intimacy is only the present. (connectedness/bondedness is highlighted)
3. Infatuation
- Only the passion is present.
- You are infatuated.
- no intimacy and no commitment.
- example: celebrity crush
4. Empty love
- Only the commitment is present
- You are only dedicated in being committed to each otherbut you don’t love/like each other.
- Example: unhappy marriage, arranged marriage (no passion and intimacy at all)
5. Romantic love
- Both passion and intimacy are present but lacks commitment
- Physically attracted at the same time there is emotional closeness.
6. Compassionate love
- Intimacy and commitment are present
- It can be observed in long-term marriages
7. Fatuous love
- Passion and commitment are present. Lacks intimacy
- type of whirlwind romances that end up in our television sets.
- you are committed to each other but you there is no much connections or bondedness
8. Consummate love
- Ideal kind of love
- 3 components are present (passion, intimacy, commitment)

CHEMISTRY OF LUST, ATTRACTION AND ATTACHMENT

LUST- you feel physically attracted and drawn to the object of your affection

ATTRACTION- you begin to obsess about your love and crave his presence

ATTACHMENT- it involves wanting to make a more lasting commitment to your love one.