The Physical Self

• Physical Self refers to the body. It is the concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly observed and examined.
• According to William James, Physical Body is an initial source of sensation and necessary for the origin and maintenance of Personality
• Human Development is the scientific study of the changes that occur in people as they age, from conception until death.
• Erick Erickson Psychosocial development

  From womb to tomb

  Change of energy and capabilities
• Debate in psychology regarding self development:

  The factors the affect Human Development are HEREDITARY (Nature) and ENVIRONMENT (Nurture).
• Two most debated views about BEAUTY:

  1. Beauty is objective.

  • St. Augustine – asked whether things were beautiful because it gave delight; or whether it gave delight because it was beautiful.
  • Plato – connected beauty as a response to love and desire.
  • Aristotle – asserted that the chief forms of beauty are order, symmetry, and definiteness that can be demonstrated by mathematical sciences.
• Two most debated views about BEAUTY:

  1. Beauty is subjective.

  • David Hume – “Beauty is no quality in things themselves. It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.
  • Immanuel Kant – “The judgment of taste is therefore not a judgment of cognition, and is consequently not logical but aesthetical.”
  • Francis Hutchenson – “The perception of beauty does depend on the external sense of sight; however, the internal sense of beauty operates as an internal or reflex sense.
• Physiognomy is the theory based upon the idea that the assessment of a person's outer appearance (primarily the face) may give insights into their character or personality.
• The term physiognomy can also refer to the general appearance of a thing, without reference to its scientific characteristics.
• The theory of Physiognomy states that there are some certain facial features that may represents certain personality traits.
• A popular practice of physiognomy involved comparing human faces to animal faces in the belief that people who had facial features similar to those of an animal would have personality traits similar to that animal as well.
• According to Chinese beliefs, your face is like your autobiography that is open to everyone to read. So, your face can reveal your destiny or your fate.
• Avid Chinese face reading followers will observe facial features and the markings on your face correspond to your mental, emotional and physical state.
• Physiognomy is somewhat like face reading
• The theory of FOUR HUMORS (Hippocartes) suggests that an excess or deficiency in any of the 4 bodily fluids (or humors) in a person influences their personality, temperament and well-being.
• The Four Temperaments (Hippocrates & Galen)

  • Sanguine- Happy
  • Choleric- Easily angry
  • Melancholic- Tendencies of to be depressed and pessimistic
  • Phlegm- sluggish, dull and slow
• The BODY-TYPE THEORY (William Sheldon, 1942) a.k.a SOMATOTYPE
• The BODY-TYPE THEORY (William Sheldon, 1942) argues that an individual’s body shape was correlated with their personality.
• The BODY-TYPE THEORY (William Sheldon, 1942)

  From a study of 300 male body types he characterised three main body types:

  • The Ectomorph
  • The Endomorph
  • The Mesomorph
• Sheldon’s Body Types. Three major body types are associated with different personality traits.
• Endomorphs tend to have a relaxed, loving nature and enjoy the company of other people.
• Ectomorphs are more solitary, introverted and self conscious individuals.
• Mesomorphs are characterised as criminals, being aggressive, callous and mindless of other people’s feelings.
• Sheldon stated that it was rare for people to be pure somatotypes; instead, each individual would display a combination of each of the three personality traits according to their own somatotype.
• IMPACT OF CULTURE ON BODY IMAGE

  Body image is both internal (personal) and external (society)
• People undergo human development which is influenced by both heredity and environment.
• Environment has its influence in how people perceive their body.