NCERT Class 11 Home Science What makes me

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF A. WHAT   MAKES ME ‘I’

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing sections A,B and C the learner is able to–

• discuss the importance of knowing oneself and the  significance of developing a positive sense of self.

• list the factors that influence the development of selfhood and  identity.

• analyse why the period of adolescence is critical for the  development of self and identity.

• describe the characteristics of self during infancy, childhood  and adolescence.

2A.1 INTRODUCTION

While we all have many things in common with our parents, siblings, other   relatives  and friends, each one of us is also a unique person, different from  all others. This sense of being unique gives us our sense of self — the   sense   of ‘I’ which is different from ‘you’, ‘them’ and ‘others’. How do we develop   this sense of  self ? What we think about ourselves and how we describe   ourselves — does it change over the years? What are the elements of  the  self? Why should we study about the self? Does our self influence the way   we interact with people? In this unit we will study about these and other interesting aspects of the self.  Related to the concept of the self are two other concepts — identity   and  personality. While psychologists distinguish between these  three  concepts  in terms of their definitions, the concepts are intricately related and we  often interchange these terms in common usage.

The Webster’s Third New International Dictionary contains 500 entries that begin with “self ”. The sense of self refers to the sense of who we are and what makes us different from everyone else. During adolescence – the period you are going through presently – we start thinking more than ever about who am I, what makes ‘me’ different from ‘others’. At this stage, more than at any other stage before this, we try to define our ‘self ’. Some of you may have given this question a lot of thought, while some others may not be aware that they have been thinking of these aspects.

Activity 1

Complete the following sentences starting with – I am.
1. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
2. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
3. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
4. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
5. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
6. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
7. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
8. I am…………………………………………………………………………………….....
9. I am……………………………………………………………………………..………...
10. I am……………….……………………………………………………………………....
Re-examine the statements you wrote to describe yourself, some of these described the physical aspects of yourself, you described your bodily self; in some you referred to your feelings and emotions; in some you described yourself in terms of your mental abilities; in some others you may have described yourself in relation to others, in terms of the roles you perform and the relationships you are involved in every day such as son/daughter, wife/sister, student, i. e., you defined yourself in terms of your social relationships in the family and community. Some of you may have described yourself in terms of your potential or capabilities and some others in terms of your beliefs. In some you described yourself as a doer, as a person performing actions, as an agent, while in others
you described yourself as a thinker. Thus, you can see that the self has several dimensions. Very broadly speaking we can think of these various dimensions of the self as the personal and the social. The personal self Understanding the Self 

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