UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTORY QUESTION:
•How does completely understanding
yourself help you to build better
relationship with others and gain self-
confidence?

INTRODUCTORY QUESTION:
•If you were asked the question, what is
your ideal self, what would you answer?
•How would you describe your actual
self? Is it similar to your ideal self?

WHAT IS SELF?
•Refers to the study of a person’s
cognitive, experience as a single, unitary,
autonomous being that is separate from
others, experienced with continuity
through time and place.

WHAT IS SELF? (ACCORDING TO CARL JUNG)
•The archetype of the psychical totality or
the wholeness.
•Actually a conjunction (union) of the
consciousness and unconscious.

SELF-DISCREPANCY THEORY
ACCORDING TO EDWARD TONY HIGGINS

EDWARD TONY HIGGINS
•Graduated with the doctoral degree of
Psychology from Columbia University
•Proponent of the Self-Discrepancy Theory

SELF-DISCREPANCY THEORY
ACTUAL SELF
• Representation of
attributes that you
believe you actually
possess
IDEAL SELF
• Representation of
attributes that you
hope you actually
possess

SELF-DISCREPANCY THEORY
ACTUAL SELF
•“It is who we
actually are”
IDEAL SELF
•“It is the self that
you aspire to be”

SELF-DISCREPANCY THEORY
ACTUAL SELF
• It is one's perception
of their own
attributes
IDEAL SELF
• It is an idealized image
that we have
developed over time
based on our learnings
and experiences