University of Antique

Hamtic Campus
Guintas, Hamtic, Antique

LESSON 5: THE PHYSICAL SELF

Learning Objectives:
After finishing this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Explore the different aspect of physical self.
2. Explain the importance of physical self and its development.
3. Compare self-identity, self-image, self-concept and self-esteem.
4. Discuss in detail the factors that influence the development of physical self
5. Assess himself/herself against the different aspect of physical self.

ASPECT OF PHYSICAL SELF

Within a day, how many times do you stand before a mirror and ask yourself, Am I
beautiful? Am I satisfied with how I look?
Stare sometime in the mirror and meticulously examine the image before you – front, side
and back.
Did you like what you saw?
The image you are gazing at the mirror is your physical self - the body, the concrete and
tangible part of your ‘self’ that can be directly seen and examined.
As you intently examine the details of yourself, you notice the color of your hair, the skin
tone, your body figure, your height and many other features.
All these make up your personal appearance or personal characteristic.
✓ Only you have these particular features
✓ No one else but you, and you are identified as “you” because of them.
✓ They make you different from all others.
Our physical self is the first aspect that is noticed in a person.
As such, many would like to enhance their physical appearance, their God-given looks.
✓ That is commendable
✓ They are entitled to that.
However, beyond the looks, we also need to respect and pay particular attention to our whole
body and being, it is God’s gift to us, with all its natural features.
We give values to our physical self because it is the seat of all other selves:
• Material/Economic self
• Spiritual Self
• Political Self
• Sexual Self
• Digital Self
As such, we keep it physically healthy, clean, neat and beautiful inside out.

In the story of creation, God himself marveled at the goodness and beauty of His creation. And to
man, whom He created last, was given the authority to subdue the earth.
 For all that God has given us, we manifest our gratitude and respect to God’s work by
preserving and sustaining continually all the gifts through proper care of ourselves and our
environment including the right attitude.
As we mature, our idea of what is good and beautiful changes as we interact with our
surrounding, with what we see in others and what we observe in Western culture.
We tend to compare ourselves with others, most particularly, in style and fashion.
Now, we are more inclined to imitate others.
We have the tendency to prefer imported products over the locally-made ones.
Our standard for what is good and beautiful has also changed, partly because of the influence
of Western culture.
To many, a beautiful woman has a long nose, lighter, fairer skin, blonde or colored hair and
slim body figure and other features commonly seen among Western women.
✓ So, our preference for the ‘mestiza’ type
Our standard of beauty and goodness is further elevated by the flooding of beauty products
and the rising of beauty salons, gyms for physical fitness and sometimes and to a certain
extent, of technology.
Speaking of technology, Manny Calayan’s and Vicky Belo’s names have become by-words in
the beauty industry.
✓ Belo’s billboard is covered with pictures of exquisitely beautiful and handsome, well-
carved and muscled models.
Of course, many submit themselves to enhancement procedure.
Today, undergoing the procedures, especially when performed by the famous names in the
industry, has become a status symbol.
While there is nothing wrong with enhancing one’s appearance, the alterations in the
physical self will have life-altering consequences in the personality of the person.
✓ Usually, these consequences are negative.
The following practices are popular among many health enthusiasts in keeping themselves
physically fit, youthful, and naturally glowing.
1) Improving sleeping habit
o As the saying goes, early to bed, early to rise makes Juan healthy, wealthy and wise.
o Sleeping early makes one healthier, wrinkle free, more active, able to maintain a positive
disposition and more productive.
2) Observe correct eating habit.
o Valuable suggestions are, eat the right food and avoid junk foods and soda.
o This practice is proven to be good in attaining healthy skin, ideal body weight and
sustained youthfulness.
3) Do regular exercise
o Regular toning of muscles provides stamina, energy and strength and keeps one
physically fit and well-shaped.
o It helps in achieving a healthy core and correct waistline.
4) Maintain a healthy lifestyle.
o Sustaining a healthy lifestyle requires discipline in terms of food intake and other habits.
o For example, doing away with drinking and smoking is a prevention against illness and
diseases.
 o Eating good food contributes to having a stronger immune system, like, preference for
fresh vegetables and fruits, rather than canned foods and processed meat products.
5) Practice right hygiene
o Taking a bath daily keeps the skin clean and healthy.
✓ It adds glow to the skin.
o Applying body lotion, preferably one that has a higher SPF, or derma tested, protects
yourself from radiation of the sun.
o Apply a good quality deodorant.
o Cup with a dub favorite scent.
6) Feel confident
o Looking good and feeling clean inside out and smelling good daily, will make you feel
naturally beautiful and proud of yourself.
As part of the natural course of nature, physical changes become evident at the onset of
puberty.
During this period, some changes noticed among the boys are their voice gets deeper, as they
progress into adulthood.
✓ At this period, they experienced rapid growth in a span of two to three years.
✓ This is referred as growth spurt.
On the other hand, maturity of the body among the girls is attained when girls experience
their first menstruation.
✓ It is at this stage when they become capable of reproduction.
More noticeable changes occur when the individual reaches adolescence, the transition
between childhood and adulthood.
o This period is divided into three stages:
✓ Early adolescence stage is between 11 – 14 years old.
 It has been observed that during this period, adolescents would rather tell their
stories to their peers rather than to their family.
✓ The middle adolescence stage is between 15 – 17 years old.
 The children demonstrate consistency to achieve their goals in life.
✓ The late adolescence stage is between 18-24 years old.
 They become more concerned of others rather than, mainly, of themselves.
Related to the study of the Self, it is during the late adolescence stage when children notice
further changes in their physical self.
They become more conscious of how they look, rather than the other aspect of the Self.
Sometimes, they are able to adapt to the changes, but there are others who find these
changes hard to accept.
As discussed earlier, the changes in the Self are affected by the surrounding.
Thus, their perception of themselves is not only affected by these changes in their body, but
also by what people say about them, the culture and the environment where they grew up.
Because of those factors, children at this period would need guidance from their significant
others to realize that they should not only concerned of their physical self, as they should
value a much higher goal that last and that is, the formation of their positive self-identity,
self-image, self-concept and self-esteem.
SELF-IDENTITY, SELF-IMAGE, SELF-CONCEPT, AND SELF-ESTEEM

What is self-identity?
✓ When asked to do a self-introduction, what usually would you tell people about you?
✓ In all probability, you would state your name, status, profession, place of origin, rank
in the family.
✓ That is how you are known.
✓ That is your personal self-identity.
What is self-image?
✓ Self-image refers to the idea one has of his/her abilities, appearance and personality.
✓ For example, as you stand before the mirror, what do you see?
✓ How do you look?
✓ What skills are you capable of doing?
✓ All these tell of your self-image, the idea that you have about yourself.
What is self-concept?
✓ It is a collection and construction of an individual’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs that
he/she holds about himself/herself and the responses of others about him/her.
✓ It is active, dynamic, and adaptive.
What is self-esteem?
✓ It refers to how much you appreciate, value and like yourself.
✓ Your self-concept affects your self-esteem.
✓ If one’s attitude towards his/her physical self is positive, his/her self-esteem is also
positive.
✓ Thus, people with high self-esteem can established better work relationship than those
with low self-esteem, or none at all.
✓ What he/she thinks of himself/herself is much more important than what others think
of him/her/

FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Heredity
✓ It is the transmission of the physical characteristic from parents to children through
their genes.
✓ It influences all aspects of physical appearance such as height, weight, body
structures, the color of the eye, the texture of the hair and even intelligence and
aptitudes.
✓ Diseases are also passed through the genes, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity
and more.
✓ The genetic factors can adversely affect the growth of a child.
❖ There are two biological factors that contribute to a child’s growth and development.
▪ Nutrition – It becomes a vital factor in a child’s overall development.
– Prior to birth, a mother’s diet and overall health plays a role in the
child’s development.
▪ Gender – It plays a factor in cognitive maturation in that the boys tend to develop
and learn differently from girls.
 – Research suggest that boys have lower level of school readiness than
girls.
Intelligence
✓ It, specifically in emotion, means honestly evaluating and paying attention to how
you feel.
✓ When you feel a certain emotion, you do your best to understand and explain it.
✓ You are aware of how your actions and emotion impact not only yourself, but, other
people, as well.
Environment
✓ It is observed that a well-nurtured child does better than a deprived one and the
environment that they are constantly immersed in contributes to this.
✓ For instance, a good school and a loving family, build in them strong social and
interpersonal skills, while excelling in academics and extracurricular activities.
✓ It is different for children who are raised in stressful environment, such as poverty
and broken families.
❖ Geographical Influence
▪ Living in an exciting community that has parks, libraries and community centres for
group activities and sports, all play a role in how much a child is involved.
▪ Unlike those who have nowhere to go to play, nor have the opportunity to be with
some other children to go outside often and spend time playing video games at home,
instead of being with other children and interacting with them.
▪ The world one lives has cultural factors that help shape the child’s thought, attitudes
and behavior.
▪ Like, in a happy family where the father and the mother are loving and nurturing and
showing good role modelling, raising a well-adjusted child is not far behind.
❖ Socio-economic Status
▪ It can determine many things about the child’s early development, like, how he views
the world, what, how much and how often he eats in a day, the type of early
childhood education he went to, his overall health, or how he views him.
▪ What happens in a child’s life between the ages of two through five, impacts his later
success or failure in life.
❖ Accidents and Incidents
▪ Accidents and incidents that children experienced may also affect their physical
development.
▪ Print and social media show that kids who have been exposed to repeated trauma
could become hypersensitive to physical contact, developing in them sensorimotor
problems.
▪ Shown in movies and television programs, physical and sexual abuse could lead to
many physical health problems.
▪ Teachers in schools heard sad stories of kids who have been traumatized, causing
them to suffer from headaches, stomach aches and other somatic symptoms.
▪ All these have bearing on human growth and development.