Value Attainment and Self-Image

Dr. S. Dandapani

Former Professor, Regional College of Education, Mysore

Introduction

Much of what we witness today as imponderables could be resolved satisfactorily if only we learn to cultivate three cardinal principles of living:

Understand yourself

Accept yourself

Be yourself.

This may look deceptively simple. But, we could discern a wealth of meaning. I would analyse them in the reverse order.

Be yourself. Yes; How many of us are proud of being ourselves? Don't some of us very much wish to be someone else than ourselves? When we witness a movie and marvel at the histrionic talents of a famous actor and the accolades he receives we tend to condemn our lack-lustre life. Every time we come across a distinguished person - a writer, a politician, a sportsman, we tend to indulge in a sort of self-recrimination. We begin to lose interest in the job we hold (Teaching, perhaps!), the emoluments we receive, the house we dwell in, the simple food we eat, the dress we wear and perhaps the poor country wherein we are forced to live! (Quit-India Movement is re-enacted as most youngsters yearn to quit India soon after graduation in search of greener pastures abroad!). Unwittingly we pave the way for our SELF-destruction. We fail to perceive reality. We mistake the "make-believe world" before the camera as reality.

It is one thing to 'act' and altogether different to be oneself. The film-maker would not allow the actor to be his/her real self. He would insist on becoming a 'self' as portrayed in the story-script. In other words the actor is anything but himself. When the actor himself is not his 'self' whey do you want to be like him rather than yourself?

How often do we strain ourselves to behave like somebody else - at a friend's place, at a function or social gathering! We go through elaborate effort and pains to be anything but ourselves! Are we ashamed of being ourselves? How do we expect others to think high of us if we denounce ourselves? When we look into a mirror we may be a little unhappy with our looks - the shape of the nostrils, the eyebrows or complexion. We might wish we had the looks of some one else! Being your-self is far easier than being somebody else! Every creation of God is unique and individualistic. If only we had learnt this truth we would be taking the first step toward self-image!

It leads us to the second proposition - ACCEPT YOURSELF. Do not reconcile. Because, that would be tantamount to rejecting yourself. That way you might get rejected and dejected. Acceptance involves tolerance - tolerance of one's shortcomings as well as appreciation of strengths. Everyone cannot be and need not be smart. May be you are less fluent, less persuasive, less capable of making friendship with many though you could be intimate with a select few. You may not be all that extroverted to be lively and spirited. But, one should not, on that score, develop a negative self-image. Comparison can cause damage to one's self-concept.

A cow or a cat or a camel accepts itself as it is and does not want to be a better cow or cat or camel and never aspires to be a tiger or a lion or an elephant. Though animals of the jungle are far more strong and agile the domesticated ones accept their nature and lead a quiet, useful life. Why not we, for a change, learn to draw some lessons from those in the lower rungs of evolution. It pays. Try.

That brings us to the last of the trichotomy - UNDERSTAND YOURSELF. Let us understand ourselves. If you understand yourself you will have little difficulty in understanding others. Everyone has prejudices just as you have. Everyone has some praiseworthy traits too just as you have. We need to strike a balance and see that it gets a little tilted toward the positive pole. Perhaps we could be a little tolerant of the minor lapses of others as we are more than tolerant of our own shortcomings. Would it not make life and living far more pleasant? While it is within our powers to make our lives more constructive and enjoyable and make it so for others too, why do we attempt the opposite and sink ourselves and others in a slush of despondency?

Self - As Perceived by Allport

Allport is of the view that personality-development is ultimately related to the concept of SELF. He uses the term PROPRIUM to refer to SELF. He outlines EIGHT STEPS or STAGES in the development of the PROPRIUM or SELF from infancy to Adulthood.

During Infancy, the first aspect of Self-hood, Sensations provide the anchor. It is the feeling or awareness of the 'Body'. It is confined to one's own body. After about 18 months the child is able to recognise himself as a distinct PERSON and not merely the BODY. He is aware of his likes and dislikes and his relationships with others in the immediate surroundings.

From the second through the third year of life emerges a sense of AUTONOMY. He is no more dependent upon mother or father. He experiences PRIDE over his accomplishments and HUMILIATION over his failure. He also develops NEGATIVISM - refusal to receive orders from others. This results in the development of SELF-ESTEEM.

From the age of FOUR to SIX years there is a gradual EXTENSION of self. He meets more people, develops new interests, habits. This is the stage where he develops a 'SELF-IMAGE'. He develops a CONSCIENCE. He learns to conform to the EXPECTATIONS of others, to do what others expect of him and to avoid what is disapproved. He is able to distinguish the GOOD SELF from the NAUGHTY SELF. He is vaguely aware of what he should be in future. Allport speaks of two kinds of CONSCIENCE, namely "MUST" conscience and "OUGHT" conscience. The former is an authoritarian one, based on fear and punishment. The latter is humanistic, based on internal, self-regulated rules. The shift from MUST to OUGHT is not automatic but deliberate, slow and gradual.

From the age of SIX to TWELVE the individual develops his reasoning power and uses problem-solving approach. Allport calls this RATIONAL COPER. As one approaches the period of adolescence an individual is able to distinguish PERIPHERAL from PROPRIATE motives. PERIPHERAL motives are our impulses, drives and strivings toward immediate gratification of our needs. On the other hand PROPRIATE motives are our attempts to increase or maintain rather than decrease tensions. It is a striving for important goals in life. For example, a student strives hard to do well in an examination, abandoning games and relaxation. Even though he has to put up with a good deal of tension, his long-range goal of passing an examination makes him enjoy the tension. One is able to face challenges and difficulties in life to accomplish and succeed. Freedom fighters courted imprisonment and harassment so as to liberate the country from foreign rule. Allport uses the term FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY to refer to the conversion of peripheral motives to propriate motives.

FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY refers to any acquired system of motivation in which the tensions involved are not of the same kind as the antecedent tensions from which the acquired system developed. For example, a student first undertakes a field of study in a college because it is required, because it pleases his parents and secures him a job after graduation. Gradually he discovers an intrinsic interest in the activity and pursues it to aim at perfection even in the absence of any stimulation as reward. He begins to function autonomously or spontaneously. Hard work, once a means to an end, becomes an end in itself.

Self-Actualisation According to Maslow

Human beings have multiplicity of needs. Each need, in its own way, is vital and unavoidable. Is it possible to categories the human needs as LOWER and HIGHER? We should bear in mind that just because some needs are termed 'lower' and placed at the bottom these are in no way less significant. Deprivation of any need is likely to cause discomfort. The ascent of man from the lower to the higher level explains the realisation of values that ennoble life. It was ABRAHAM MASLOW - a HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGIST - who attempted a HIERARCHY OF HUMAN NEEDS.

At the bottom of the Pyramidal structure are placed PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS - namely healthy air, uncontaminated water, appropriate vitamins and minerals. Living organisms need rest as well as work. These are the vital needs of a baby for healthy growth. When the basic physiological needs are met, a baby craves for physical and psychological security. Only mother can provide this need. Homeless children reveal signs of insecurity. Interpersonal relationships among family members create an atmosphere of BELONGINGNESS.

Starvation of LOVE can be harmful for the mental health of children. Inherent in human nature is a feeling of self-worth and importance. By assigning tasks to children that would be challenging but not overwhelming, parents can build their SELF-ESTEEM. They realise that hard work and perseverance would pay in the long run. They also come to know the value of social approval. They refrain from actions that are likely to lower their self-image and lose their identity in society.

Need for self-actualisation

According to Maslow SELF ACTUALISATION is the summit of human motivation. It transcends all the needs listed below. It refers to the desire of an individual to "become everything that one is capable of becoming". Though an individual lives in society and interacts with others he is able to detach himself and have a PEAK EXPERIENCE. It is a mystical spiritual state in which a person feels he or she has attained insight into a great truth.

Feeling that he should explain what he meant by the SELF-ACTUALISED person, Maslow undertook a detailed study of thirty-eight Historical and contemporary personalities whom he felt were examples of this type of individual. Among Historical figures he chose were, THOMAS JEFFERSON and ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The contemporary personalities included ALBERT EINSTEIN, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, ALBERT SCHWEITZER, ALDOUS HUXLEY, ADLAI STEVENSON. Historical figures were studied via autobiographies and living persons via personal interviews and contacts with their friends and relatives.

According to Maslow the bottom four needs of the Pyramidal structure are

DEFICIENCY NEEDS, deprivation of which would result is maladjustment. Hence he terms them as - D-needs. We are governed by META MOTIVATION that contributes toward growth and well-being of humanity. Maslow terms it as B - or BEING or GROWTH NEEDS. Only such needs are reflected in man's quest for Values, Aesthetics, Fine Arts and Philosophy.

Einstein observes, "It is essential that the student acquire an understanding of and a lively feeling for values. He must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful and of the morally good. Otherwise he - with his specialised knowledge - more closely resembles a well-trained dog than a harmoniously developed person". A sense of values will enable one to find happiness within oneself and joy in most ordinary things we often pass by unseeing. As Robert Louis Stevenson said in "The Celestial Surgeon":

"If beams from happy human eyes

Have moved me not;

If morning skies, books and my food

And Summer rain knocked on my sullen heart in vain;

Lord, Thy most pointed pleasure take

And stab my spirit broad awake".

Peak Experience

Maslow uses the term PEAK EXPERIENCE to refer to those joyous and exciting moments in the lives of every individual. These are often triggered by intense feelings of love, exposure to great art or music, or experiencing the overwhelming beauty of nature. Peak experiences produce a mystical or spiritual state in which a person feels he on she has attained insight into a great truth. The B-values - Truth, Beauty, Goodness and Unity are intensified in states of "Peak Experience". The person feels:

_ More integrated and unified

_ More at one with the world

_ Graceful without strain

_ Creative, active, responsible and self-controlled

_ Free of inhibitions, blocks and doubts.

_ Spontaneous, expressive, innocent

_ Self-confident

_ Free of past and future limits

_ Poetic

_ Playful and childlike

Intellectual Needs and Aesthetic Needs

Self-actualised persons can choose either of the two paths: INTELLECTUAL or AESTHETIC. Those who choose the intellectual path strive to explore the meaning of Truth, Justice and so on. Philosophers, Scientists and Mathematicians belong to this category. They remain discontented with their output. They are always in search of New Truths.

Aesthetically inclined individuals choose areas like Beauty, order, simplicity and so on. WE have playwrights, artists and poets in this category. They would strive for novelty, symmetry and structure. In their own ways they also experience "Self-Actualisation".

Self-Theory of CARL Rogers

Humanistic School of which CARL and Abraham Maslow are the chief

exponents, rose against the Freudian School of Psycho-analysis. Humanistic school firmly believed in the inherent capability of every human being to reconstruct his life. While Psychoanalysis considers man as being irrational and unsocial Rogers Self-theory views' man as a socialised forward moving, rational and realistic individual.

Personality-growth results from interaction of the child with his environment which is largely social. The interpersonal relations lead to a positive or negative experience which help in projection of values in perceiving other people either as friendly and valuable or in a distorted manner such that others are perceived negatively as a threat to oneself. Experiences which are consistent with one's perception are accepted and those that are perceived as inconsistent are rejected and denied. Thus the self or personality progressively grows to integrate all experiences perceived positively. The experiences that are perceived as inconsistent add up to form that part of personality which is "not self". The positive and satisfying experiences are sought and the negative experiences are avoided. All experiences are integrated into the self-concept of the individual which seek to secure satisfaction of the need for self-regard. The positive regard by a number of other persons leads to a positive regard of oneself. From the sense of self-regard develops a sense of self-growth.

What Swami Vivekananda said long ago is found in the pronouncement of Rogers. Swamiji said: "Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man". What did Rogers say?

"The individual has within himself the capacity and tendency, latent, if not evident, to move forward toward maturity. In a suitable psychological climate this tendency is released. This tendency may become deeply buried under layer after layer of encrusted psychological defenses. It may be hidden behind elaborate facades which deny its existence. But, it is my belief that it exists in every individual and awaits only the proper conditions to be released and expressed".

Dangers of Self-analysis

Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth-living. Upto a point it is healthy and has a salutary effect. Beyond a limit it can become an obsession. Dr. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES issues a warning:

"Perpetual self-inspection leads to spiritual hypochondria. If a man insists on counting his pulse 20 times a day, on looking at his tongue every hour or two, on taking his temperature morning and evening, he will soon find himself in a doubtful state of bodily health. It is just so with those who are perpetually counting their spiritual pulse taking the temperature of their feelings, weighing their human and necessarily imperfect characters against the infinite perfections placed in the other scale of the balance."

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