lecture 3- self, identity, and the social self

self-concept

a person’s beliefs a/b their roles, traits, abilities, and experiences

• overall, comprehensive understanding of who you are

self-knowledge

is stored in our memory in cognitive structures called schemas

self-schema

represents people’s beliefs and feelings a/b themselves, both in general and in specific situations

• beliefs and feelings are based on our conscious experience

situationism

aspects of the self may change depending on situation

• notion that social self changes across different contexts is consistent w/ principle of situationism

working self-concept

refers to particular aspects of your self-knowledge that are actively being processed and used in a given situation

• subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context (more temporary, situation-specific part of self-concept)

  • what aspect of myself is most accessible now?

  • what aspects make me unique?

distinctiveness

how unusual or uncommon an individual’s behavior is compared to their usual behavior or the behavior of others in a similar situation

• we highlight what makes us unique in a given situation

  • more likely to mention aspects of our self-concept that makes us different from those around us

self-complexity

our self-concept has many facets

• makes it easier to cope w/ threats to any particular aspect

continuity

core aspects whenever you think a/b the self

• ex: shy at work, outgoing w/ friends, but always a good listener

self-concept clarity

we prefer when our self-concept feels clearly defined, internally consistent, and consistent across time

• overall pool of self-knowledge remains relatively stable over time

  • shifts across contexts likely to conform to a predictable, stable pattern

2 aspects of social self

1. it is malleable, shifting from one context to another

2. at the same time, a person’s social self has core components that persist across context

where does sense of self come from?

• socializing agents (parents, siblings, teachers, peers, etc)

  • modeling appropriate behavior of others

• the looking glass self (Cooley, 1902)

  • people’s reactions to us serve as a mirror of sorts

    • reflected self-appraisal

origins of self-knowledge

1. direct feedback

2. reflected appraisals

3. social comparison

4. self-perception

5. self narratives

direct feedback

the information received from others a/b our traits and our abilities

reflected appraisals

our perception of how others perceive and evaluate us

• highly subjective, subject to error

• particularly important in adolescence

social comparison

the act of comparing our traits and abilities w/ the traits and abilities of others

• Festinger (1954) → Theory of Social Comparison

• upward social comparison

• downward social comparison

theory of social comparison (Festinger, 1954)

people want to know where they stand (and prefer objective standards of comparison)

• if no objective standard available, use a social standard

  • typically compare ourselves to similar others

upward social comparison

comparing to better

• motivating only if you assimilate (feel similar)

downward social comparison

comparing to worse

• boosts self-esteem only if you contrast (feel separate)

self-perception

learning a/b ourselves by “observing” our own behavior

• facial feedback hypothesis

• overjustification effect

facial feedback hypothesis

facial expressions influence internal states through self-perception

overjustification effect

external rewards for behavior can undermine sense of internal commitment

• external reward/incentive undermines person’s intrinsic motivation to perform an activity

  • leads to attributing enjoyment to reward rather than the activity itself

self-narratives

we continually “write” our own story or narrative

• major source of self-understanding is ourselves → introspection

• can even develop our own stories a/b ourselves

  • Dan McAdams (2008) - the narrative self (redemptive narratives)

who is better judge of internal/external traits?

we are better judges of internal traits, other ppl are better judges of our external traits

introspection

when people focus their attention on themselves in a deliberate attempt to enhance self-understanding

Nisbet and Wilson (1977)

inaccurate explanations

• halo effect

Tenney, Vezire, and Mehl (2007)

accurate self-knowledge predicts higher quality relationships

Vazire and Mehl (2008)

other people are good source of knowledge a/b ourselves

interdependent self-concept

defined primarily in relation to other people

• prevalent in many asian, eastern european, african, and latin american cultures

• self is fundamentally connected to others

independent self-concept

defined primarily by unique characteristics, abilities, thoughts, and feelings

• western countries, australia, and new zealand

• self = autonomous entity distinct from others

how different are men and women?

Hyde (2005) → differences few and small

Mehl et al. (2007) → stereotype that women talk more is false

social role theory

gender differences in self-concepts arise from historical and cultural pressures, less from biological ones