Transcript Psychological factors that strongly influence our human

Write down two things that you really
feel you are good at doing
2. Write down two things that you have
achieved in the past two months
3. Write down two things that you admire
in your best friend
4. Write down two positive things that your
parents have said to you in the past few
weeks
1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
When answering question one you are
thinking in a ‘self ware’ statement of
mind
Question two you are analysing your
‘self esteem’
You are thinking about the ‘self image’
of another person
You are growing and being nurtured by
your parents, and this in turn, is helping
you develop a positive ‘self concept’
What is it to be Self-aware?
To be Self-aware is to know yourself
and, to understand that you exist as a
unique individual distinct from others.
What is the importance of being self-aware?
Knowing yourself brings clarity for
choosing what kind of person you aspire
to become, what kind of life you want
to live and how to best express your
potential and fulfill your desires. These
are the most important goals a human
Being can focus upon.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/
article-2018025/Amy-Winehouse-deadBefore-rise-fall-deeply-flawedprodigy.html
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Now discuss some of these statements
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With a friend to help you draw up a list of
questions to investigate the strength of a
person's self-concept. You can use the
following phrases to get you started:
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Physical attraction
Intelligence or cleverness
Athletic or sporting ability
Popularity
Fitness
Problem-solving
Decision-making
When you have completed the
list, devise a method of scoring,
say,
0-5 represents excellence. If you
have 9 questions, the 45 is the
top score.
35-45 is a positive self-concept
and
0-20 is a negative self concept.
Some will be positive in some
areas and negative in others
That’s me –
self
awareness
I can picture
myself playing
with others –
imagine self
through play
I belong with
this family – self
is influenced by
being in a
family group
I am
1…
2…
3…
Full adult sellconcept helps
people to be
successful in
work and love
A high self-esteem - This is the
regard individuals have for
themselves, which can influence
behaviour and moods. Having a
high self-esteem increases selfconfidence and makes an
individual more able to cope with
the difficulties he or she might
face. It also might mean that a
person is popular with peers and
more likely to be successful. A
child having high self-esteem is
more likely to be content and
happy in his or her adult life. It
would seem that a close, loving
relationship with his or her mother,
a fair, constant framework of
discipline and the ability to
express individuality provides a
good foundation for the
development of self-esteem
through childhood.
You may be wondering why some (and countless
others) have low self esteem. The answer usually lies
so far in a person’s past that they may not be aware
of it. Many people may have been given negative
messages about themselves during childhood.
Were you teased for years because you were
different from other kids?
Did your parents say things that led you to feel you
weren’t good enough?
Did you endure abuse of any kind?
Maybe you drew negative conclusions from a lack
of affection or emotional connection in your family?
There is no shortage of circumstances that can lead
to self esteem issues. Children pick up on
everything in their surroundings, including positive
and negative views of themselves. They often
internalize the messages received from others, thus it
begins to feel like their reality. In other words, if the
message you picked up as a child was “you’re
worthless,” you may spend your adult life feeling
that you are indeed worthless without realizing that
the message was never true.

Using your ‘home
made’ self
concept from the
first exercise,
explore the ways
in which self
concept has
been influenced
by the factors in
the images on
the previous two
slides.
AGE
Stage of Development
1 ½ years
Self-awareness develops – children may start to recognise themselves in a mirror
2 ½ years
Children say weather they are a boy or a girl
3-5 years
When asked to say what they are like, children can describe themselves in terms of
categories, such as big or small, tall or short, light or heavy.
5-8 years
If you ask children who they are, they can often describe themselves in detail.
Children will tell you their skin colour, eye colour, about their family and to which
school they belong.
8-10 years
Children start to show a general sense of ‘self-worth’, such as describing ho happy
they are in general, how good loift is for them, what is good about their family life,
school and friends.
10-12 years
Children start to analyse how they compare with others. When asked about their
life, children may explain without prompting how they compare with others. For
example: ‘I’m not as good as Zoe at running, but I’m better then Ali.’
12-16 years
Adolescents may develop a sense of self in terms of beliefs and belonging to
groups – being a vegetarian, believing in God, believing certain things are right or
wrong
16-25 years
People develop an adult self-concept that helps a great deal as they grow older
25 + years
People’s sense of self will be influenced by the things that happen in their lives.
Some people may change their self- concept a great deal as they grow older.
What do the experts say about self concept?
Baxter (1990) discovered that stressful life
events such as widowhood, bereavement,
divorce, unemployment and moving
home were associated with increased
morbidity (incidence of disease) and
mortality (death). She against reported
that people were protected or ‘buffered’
against these effects of stress when they
had a close social support network of
friends, family, partners and /or
community links.
As well as protecting against stress, support will
also maintain self-esteem, self concept and
identity when these may be threatened. Argyle
(1987) maintained that the quality of sup[ort
was important and that both sexes preferred to
have meaningful dialogue with females , who
are more pleasant and open to self-disclosure
than mean.
Task – social and emotional help and support that you have been given.
Media
Society
Teachers
Colleagues
Family
Self Concept
Environment
Officials
Local
neighbourhoods
Work roles
Friends
Comparing
self with
others
Relatives
Task – using these links, decide how your self concept has been influenced by the links.
Write up a personal mind map and illustrate using all of these headings
Mary Ainsworth has classified attachment systems in the following ways.
These systems help to identify why someone may in later life have a positive
or negative self concept.
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This is known as ‘insecure avoidant’
(the word ‘anxious’ and the word
‘insecure’ are used
interchangeably in this context)
and one might describe it as the
‘aloof’ strategy. The child doesn’t
show much distress on separation
from the carer and when she
returns the child ignores or avoids
her. The child does not seek out
physical contact and is watchful
and wary around her carer. Her
play is inhibited and she shows little
discrimination between her carer
and others., including strangers.
This pattern emerges when the
parent is insensitive to, or rejecting
of, the child's needs. The child has
therefore, learnt to minimise needs
for attachment (through defensive
exclusion) in order to avoid rebuff.
It is as if the child is saying ‘who
cares? I didn’t want it anyway.’
The child shows a clear
preference for the mother
(or other primary carer)
over others. The carer is
sensitive to , and responds
to, the child’s attempts to
communicate.

The child is confident that
the carer is available to
give support and takes
pleasure in the presence of
the carer.
The child shows distress on
separation from the carer.
On reunion she seeks some
reassurance, but then
settles again.
This is a normal
attachment
process
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Also called ‘insecure ambivalent’
or ‘resistant’, this might be
described as the ‘clingy strategy.
Here a child is distressed on
separation but does not settle
down on reunion. The return of
the carer is longed for, but when
it comes it is nor reassuring: the
separation anxiety continues. The
anxious-ambivalent child is
frightened to go off and explore
the world, because she is
uncertain about whether the
carer will be there when needed.
This pattern is the result of
parenting style that is not
consistently hostile or rejecting,
but is not consistent, and where
parents are lacking in empathy
for the child's needs. Not
surprisingly, separations from
parents, and threats of
abandonment, are also
associated with this strategy.
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Anxious (Avoidant) Personality Disorder is a condition characterised
by extreme shyness, feelings of inadequacy, and sensitivity to
rejection. These individuals feel inferior to others. This disorder is only
diagnosed when these behaviors become persistent and very
disabling or distressing. This diagnosis should be used with great
caution in children and adolescents for whom shy and avoidant
behavior may be appropriate (e.g., new immigrants).
Complications:
Loss and rejection may be so painful that the individual with this
disorder will choose loneliness rather than risk trying to connect with
others.
 The individual with this disorder has few close friends, but often is
very dependent on them.
 Individuals with this disorder are described by others as being "shy",
"timid," "lonely," and "isolated".
 Their occupational functioning may also suffer because they avoid
the social situations that are important for job advancement
Now referring back to the two case studies, do you recognise any of these
attachment classifications in the studies?
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Is how we see
ourselves as
individuals, which is
important to good
psychological health.
At a simple level this
might see you
perceive yourself as a
good or a bad person,
beautiful or ugly. Selfimage, and how it
comes about (see
self), has an effect on
how we as individuals
think, feel, ...
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Addiction to anything at all is only a symptom of a much deeper issue, though it is a
particularly nasty symptom at that. Amy was no different and her addictions spoke of an
even more intense battle with mental illness. She was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder –
(I or II, i’m not really sure but I suspect I) and refused to be compliant with her
medication. This mental illness is categorized as a mood disorder with the
person experiencing phases of mania- racing thoughts and speech, aggression,
grandiose ideas, hyperactivity, insomnia interspersed with equally dramatic phases of
deep depression- not bathing, staying in bed all day, withdrawal, tearfulness, feelings of
self-hatred, hopelessness and despair.
This disorder can see you starting 4 businesses, giving away all your possessions and
marrying a stranger in one month and then cleaving to your bed in a hapless, hopeless,
broke and bleak state for another 3 months. The swinging of mood affects ones ability to
function socially as well as occupationally and as such Bipolar Disorder has the highest
rate of completed suicides of all diagnosed Mental illnesses.
This is not to say Amy committed suicide, but if she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder,
chances are it may have crossed her mind. Its a terrible disease and withstanding its
ravages is a tremendous lifelong feat.
That being said Bipolar disorder is said to be responsible for immense bouts of
imagination and creativity in such persons as Sinead O’Connor, Virginia Woolf, Robin
Williams, Vincent Van Gogh, Tim Burton, and Ted Turner. Amy Winehouse will surely be
added to these annals. For many people with this disorder there is a way back, and
Sinead credited staying on her medications and having children to stabilize her as her
anchor; unfortunately for some people, like Amy, there is no way back.