Approaching Self

Week 4

Definition of Self

Your self is your basic personality or nature, meaning what you are really like as a person. It’s the essential part of their nature which makes you different from everyone and everything else.

Self also consists of all characteristic attributes, conscious and unconscious, mental and physical.

According to the people below (shown in the table) Self is defined differently.

Name of person	How they define Self
William James	Who we are at our core. William James believes that the minds functions help a person adapt to their environment.
Carl Jung	Self slowly develops by a process of individuation which isn’t achieved until late maturity is reached.
Alfred Adler	Alfred Adler defines self with the individuals lifestyle, the way in which we (humans) seek fulfilment.
Karen D. Horney	The “real self” and the “ideal self”. The real self is who and what we actually are. The ideal self is the type of person we feel we should be.
Gordon W. Allport	Self as object of knowledge. A Person’s sense of self, and this awareness contributes to lifelong personality development.