Physical self

• Physical Self


  The body, this marvelous container and complex, finely tuned, machine with which we interface with our environment and fellow beings
• William James on the physical self


  • Body as the initial source of sensation and necessary for the origin and maintenance of personality
• Sigmund Freud on the physical self


  • The ego is first and foremost a body ego
• Erik Erikson on the physical self


  • Experience is anchored in the ground-plan of body, the role of bodily organs is especially important in early developmental stages
• Carl Gustav Jung on the physical self


  • Physical processes are relevant to us only to the extent they are represented in the psyche, the physical body and the external world can be known only as psychological experiences
• B.F. Skinner on the physical self


  • The role of body is of primary importance, personality and self are mere explanatory fictions and all there is, is the body
• Vital organs essential for survival


  • Brain
  • Heart
  • Kidneys
  • Liver
  • Lungs
• Brain


  Body's control center, receiving and sending signals to other organs through the nervous system and through secreted hormones, responsible for our thoughts, feelings, memory storage and general perception of the world
• Heart


  Responsible for pumping blood throughout our body
• Kidneys


  Remove waste and extra fluid from the blood, take urea out of the blood and combine it with water and other substances to make urine
• Liver


  Detoxify harmful chemicals, breakdown of drugs, filter blood, secrete bile and produce blood-clotting proteins
• Lungs


  Remove oxygen from the air we breathe and transfer it to our blood, remove carbon dioxide which we exhale
• The human body contains nearly 100 trillion cells
• There are at least 10 times as many bacteria in the human body as cells
• The average adult takes over 20,000 breaths a day
• Each day, the kidneys process about 200 quarts (50 gallons) of blood to filter out about 2 quarts of waste and water
• Adults excrete about a quarter and a half (1.42 liters) of urine each day
• The human brain contains about 100 billion nerve cells
• Water makes up more than 50 percent of the average adult's body weight
• Most body parts are far more complicated than just their basic functions
• Body image


  Our perception of ourselves and our own body and the manner in which we feel about our body
• Factors influencing body image


  Environment, biological makeup, genetic predisposition
• Cultural traditions


  Can help or hurt body image and self-esteem
• Western culture


  Tends to hyper-focus on dieting and body appearance, digitally retouched photos are the norm
• Other cultures


  Celebrate and uphold a person's body and whose traditions uphold what a person is capable of doing rather than their appearance
• Culture alone is not responsible for a poor or negative body image, but it can substantially impact how a person feels about themselves and their body
• Attractiveness


  Judged more favorably, treated better, and cut more slack, attractive people have better success in dating, mating, and career
• Factors contributing to attractiveness


  Way you dress, act, carry yourself, social status, wealth, race, body size and shape, face
• Facial attractiveness


  Reflects underlying good qualities indicative of a person's quality as a romantic partner and as a mate, such as health and genes
• Sex-typical facial features


  Prominent cheekbones and eyebrow ridges, long lower face for men, prominent cheekbones, large eyes, small nose, taller forehead, smooth skin, and an overall young or even childlike appearance for women
• Facial symmetry


  Sign of having stood up better to life's challenges, perceived as more attractive, dominant, sexy, and healthy
• Metrical face


  A particularly masculine or feminine face that is a sign of having stood up better to life's figurative schoolyard beatings
• Symmetrical faces


  • Garner significantly higher ratings of attractiveness, dominance, sexiness, and health
  • Perceived to be more desirable as potential mates
• People prefer symmetrical faces even when they can't actually perceive the symmetry
• Symmetry


  Covaries with other desirable characteristics that reflect the same genetic endowment and overall health
• Averageness


  • Reflects a favorable genetic endowment
  • Those with average features are less likely to be carrying harmful mutations
  • Reflects greater heterozygosity - having both a dominant and a recessive allele for given traits
• Besides faces, people show a preference for average-looking dogs, average-looking birds, and average-looking watches
• Prototypes


  • More familiar-looking than less typical examples of a given class of objects
  • Easier to process
• Men's preferences for physical beauty tend to be more pronounced than women's
• A woman's own attractiveness


  Preference for masculine and symmetrical features is higher for women who regard themselves as more attractive