The Self is a concept which is both hard to define and challenging to understand. Differing view points have been made through the ages, especially with the development of phenomenological psychology. Influential psychologist such as Rogers, Mead, Cooley and James would argue that yes, there is a self, and it is of quintessential value to understanding the behaviour of the individual. Furthermore, we find that the self is made up of not just the essence of that which makes us all unique, but a collective contribution from his social surroundings.

The concept of the Self has been grappled by many scholars, going back to the times of the ancient Greek philosophers. There is yet no real concrete solution to the question of the Self, in fact, it has been suggested that it is not definable in words (Moustakas,1956). Yet this elusive concept forms a major part of psychology, especially phenomenological approaches to therapy.

The ambiguity of the term seems to suggest its complexity. Maybe the Self is is better understood if you ask question, What am I? (Myers, 1969). Or to rephrase it yet again, if you classify your body as "mine", then who are you referring it belongs to? To this, one may answer "me". So we can take William James' definition of the global Self as anything we refer to as "me" or "I" (Burns, 1981). This explanation is very effective in trying to get the concept across in a concise manner. Studies done on young children show that they understand that "I" doesn't really mean body, but something else (Myers, 1969). But this doesn't completely define the Self, it merely puts the question in a simpler form.

A better a definition of the self is stated by Moustakas (1956, pg. 11) as "not its definition or description, but rather the central being of the individual person". Which ever decision one takes, perhaps producing a definition is irrelevant for psychological purposes. What is of importance is our understanding of how the self works, and of how the self affects behaviour. Of primary importance is understanding how individuals see themselves and what meaning they "attach to the perception of their experience" (Burns, 1981, pg 30).

Carl Rogers states that "the self is the basic factor in the formation of personality and in the determination of behaviour" (Rogers 1947 cited Burns). Rogers takes a phenomenological approach towards psychology. Broadly, what we mean by phenomenological is how an individual perceives reality, not reality as it is (Burns 1981). Given this, Rogers' chief goal is to see the world, not as it is (or how he sees it?), but as his client sees it. He called his methodology "the client centred therapy".(1947). This therapy places its focus on the client's own conscious perception of himself. This is an evident contrast with Freud's psychoanalytic methods, which place importance on the clients sub-conscious, or id. (Nye, 1981). Nye also argues that Rogers disagreed with the high importance that Freud placed on his concept of id.

Rogers therapeutic methods also introduce us to the notion of an organisation of the Self. He observes that you can perceive reality, but organise the perceptions of it in different ways. His therapy acts to reorganising these perceptions in such a way that there is no conflict (psychological maladjustment) between perception of reality and the organisation of the self concept (conscious awareness of the self). Rogers himself admits that his therapy, in most cases, doesn't really solve the original problem, but rather frees the person of tension by promoting a different perception of the self (Rogers, 1947).

The way that we see our selves is greatly influenced by society. James states that we have as many different social selves as there are individuals and groups about whose opinions we cares about (1890, cited Burns 1981). This theory that our idea of our Self is determined by what we think others think of us is very clearly metaphrased by Cooley's (1902, cited Hormuth, 1990) idea of a "looking glass self". Cooley suggests a very close and two-way interaction between the Self and society. G.H Mead also subscribes to the idea that the self develops by "mirroring society" (1937, cited Hormuth, 1990). But once again it is important to point out that social factors don't directly influence someone's behaviour, but rather ones perceptions of these elements (Rogers, 1947). "Perceptions from the external world are the basic ingredients from which the self concept is developed and maintained" (Burn, pg 30).

There are other factors that make up the self concept. A pioneer of the self concept in psychology, William James suggested that a man's "self is the sum total of all that can be labelled his"(1890, cited Hormuth, 1990). James later goes on to divide the Self into four distinct categories, spiritual Self, bodily Self, material Self and social self. With these divisions he implies that all of the "possession" that a person has have a relationship to his self. The material self can be seen as that which the person owns. The way that this ties up with our self image is obvious by the amount of importance that people put into their material possession. A great example of this is the way that teenagers place such high value on the type of clothing that they wear. This tells us that they want to build their Self image by what other people think of them.

One very clear distinction that must be made at this point is that the self is strongly influenced by society, but it is not completely determined by it. Skinner sees "man as the victim of his environment" (Snygg & Combs, 1949, cited Burns, 1981). Skinner's behaviouristic theories tend to put an emphasis on the role of society, and at the same time it under estimates the role of the individual having a unique self, that cannot be generalised or planned out.

The self is an important part of psychology, even though a concept of it is hard to crystallise. Burns argues that it is impossible to observe the Self, either your own or someone else (1981). As pointed out above, the Self and the Self concept are central ideas in what makes each of us individual. When we say "I" or "me", we refer to our Self, which we develop and organise according to all our phenomenological surroundings, including the social field in which we reside.

Burns, R.B., (1981). The Self Concept; Theory, measurement, development and behaviour. Essex, U.K : Longman Group Limited.

Hormuth, Stefan E., (1990). The ecology of the self; relocation and self-concept change. Cambridge, England : Press of the University of Cambridge.

Moustakas. Clark E., (1956). The self. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers Inc.

Myers, G.F., (1969) Self. An introduction to Philosophical Psychology. New York: Pegasus.

Nye, R.D., (1981) Three Psychologies. Monterey, Calif.: Broole/Cole.

Rogers, C.R., (1947) Some observations on the organisation of Personality. American Psychologist.