• Bulacan State University, Malolos

• UTS 101

UNPACKING THE SELF: PHYSICAL SELF 1 st Semester, A.Y. 2025-2026 • Physical Self - Refers to the physical body of an individual including basic body parts and organ systems. - It is the tangible aspect of a person that can be directly observed and examined • Our physical development begins the moment we become a zygote. During our prenatal period and infancy, our physical growth and development occurs at a rapid rate, and slows down as we grow older. • Generally, our physical body performs relatively least well during infancy and old age, whereas our physical capacity peaks in early adulthood and starts to decline during middle adulthood. • Science explains that our parents are instrumental in understanding why we look the way we do. • Gregor Mendel - Father of modern genetics - He discovered that traits are passed down from one generation to the next in a predictable way - It is through the genes that traits are passed down. ✓ we have 23 pairs of chromosomes ✓ in which we have 22 pairs of autosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosomes (XX or XY) Factors in the Development of the Physical Self • Heredity – the genetic transmission of heritable characteristics from parents to offspring ➢ Dominant Inheritance – only the dominant gene is expressed (RR or Rr/rR) ➢ Recessive Inheritance – the child receives identical recessive alleles, resulting in the expression of a nondominant trait (rr). Ex: red hair Nature vs. Nurture • Nature - in born traits & characteristics inherited from our biological parents • Nurture - totality of nonhereditary, or experiential, influence; starting w/ the prenatal environment in the womb & continuous throughout the lifespan. Cultural Standards of Beauty - reaching a consensus regarding the definition of beauty is difficult to do, this is because beauty is relative (it has no definite meaning, it depends on the person) and it is contextual (it differs from culture to culture) Different Cultural Standards of Beauty How a culture conceptualizes beauty significantly and strongly influences people, adolescents in particular, who are in a face-to-face encounter with their physical selves. Often, the members of a particular society are forced to adhere t