Chapter 2

• The concept of self refers to the characteristic ways in which we define our existence and the ways in which our experiences are organised and show up in our behaviour.
• Different people hold different ideas about themselves, representing the self of a person.
• Different people behave in different ways in a given situation, but the behaviour of a particular person from one situation to another generally remains fairly stable, representing the “personality” of that person.
• Different persons seem to possess different personalities, which are reflected in the diverse behaviour of persons.
• Psychologists use the notion of self to understand and evaluate behaviour.
• The notion of personality comes into play when questions are asked about variations in behaviour.
• Both self and personality are intimately related, with self lying at the core of personality.
• Arihant's family shows attitudes of rationalisation towards his career choice.
• Projective techniques assess personality by presenting stimuli to the subject and observing their responses.
• The most widely used projective tests of personality are the Rorschach Inkblot Test, the Thematic Apperception Test, and the House-Tree-Person Drawing Test.
• The study of self and personality helps us understand not only who we are, but also our uniqueness as well as our similarities with others.
• Understanding self and personality can help us understand our own as well as others’ behaviour in diverse settings.
• When someone says that s/he is a Hindu or a Muslim, a Brahmin or an adivasi or a North Indian or a South Indian, or something like these, s/he is trying to indicate her/his social identity.
• There are several kinds of self, which get formed as a result of our interactions with our physical and socio-cultural environments.
• When you say, “I know who I am”, the self is being described as a ‘knower’ as well as something that can be ‘known’.
• Psychologists from all parts of the world have shown interest in the study of self.
• These experiences and ideas define the existence of an individual both at the personal and at social levels.
• As a subject (actor) the self actively engages in the process of knowing itself.
• Social self emerges in relation with others and emphasises aspects of life as cooperation, unity, affiliation, sacrifice, support or sharing.
• Personal identity refers to those attributes of a person that make her/him different from others.
• The attributes used for identification tell us about personal as well as social or cultural identities.
• Understanding the Self can be done by completing sentences starting with “I am”.
• As an object (consequence) the self gets observed and comes to be known.
• Self can be understood as a subject as well as an object.
• Social identity refers to those aspects of a person that link her/him to a social or cultural group or are derived from it.
• This self values family and social relationships and is also referred to as familial or relational self.
• Self refers to the totality of an individual’s conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings with regard to herself or himself.
• Will power is a key aspect of self-control, which allows humans to control their behaviour the way they want.
• The term 'personality' is derived from the Latin word 'persona', the mask used by actors in the Roman theatre for changing their facial make-up.
• Personality refers to unique and relatively stable qualities that characterise an individual’s behaviour across different situations over a period of time.
• People do show variations in their behaviour, but personality characterises individuals as they appear in most circumstances.
• Delaying or deferring the gratification of needs is known as self-control.
• Self-control plays a key role in the fulfilment of long-term goals.
• Indian cultural tradition provides effective mechanisms for developing self-control, such as fasting in vrata or roza and non-attachment with worldly things.
• The boundary between the self and the other is drawn differently in the Western and Indian cultural perspectives.
• In psychological terms, personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to individuals and situations.
• Certain catchwords are often used to describe personalities, which refer to different components of personality.
• People can easily describe the way in which they respond to various situations.
• In the Western culture, the self and the group exist as two different entities with clearly defined boundaries, while in the Indian culture, both remain in a state of harmonious co-existence.
• In the Western view, the self-other boundary appears to be relatively fixed, while in the Indian view, it is characterised by the shifting nature of this boundary.