Psy 102 The Social Self

the self

refers to a conceptual system made up of one’s thoughts and attitudes about oneself

an individual’s conceptions about the self can include thoughts about one’s own physical being, social roles and relationshpis, and “spiritual” or internal characteristics

introspection

observing oneself

can yield accurate self-knowledge, but for some aspects other people can be a better source of information

sometimes we lack self-insight because of strong motives; there are certain things many of us would rather not know about ourselves

self-schema

a cognitive structure, derived from past experience, that represents a person’s beliefs and feelings about the self in general and in specific situations

serve as the basic units of organization for self-knowledge

socialization

the process through which children acquire the values, standards, skills, knowledge, and behaviors that are regarded as appropriate to their present and future roles in their particular culture

socialization agents

parents, siblings, teachers, peers, etc.

direct (explicit instruction) and indirect (modeling) socialization

the looking-glass self

other people’s reactions to us (their approval or disapproval) can serve as a mirror

self-appraisal

how one sees themselves

reflected self-appraisal

how one thinks others see the self

working self-concept

subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context (usually the current situation)

independent view of self

the self seen as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from others and defined by individual traits and preferences

more prominent in North American and Western Europeans cultures

interdependent view of self

the self seen as connected to others and defined by social duties and shared traits and preferences

more prominent in many East Asian, South Asian, Mediterranean, Latin American, and African cultures

social comparison theory

the hypothesis that people compare themselves to other people in order to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states

downward social comparisons

may boost self-esteem by making us feel better about the self

upward social comparisons

may motivate self-improvement by making us feel worse about the self

social identities

the parts of a person’s sense of self that are derived from group memberships

people choose which social groups they see as part of their sense of self

• I dance vs I’m a “dancer”

self-stereotyping

characterizing the self in terms of the traits, norms, and values associated with an especially salient or meaningful social group

self-esteem

the overall positive or negative evaluation an individual has of themselves

trait self-esteem

a person’s enduring level of self-regard across time

state self-esteem

the dynamic, changeable self-evaluations a person experiences as momentary feelings about the self

contingencies of self-worth

a perspective maintaining that self-esteem is contingent on successes and failures in domains on which a person has based their self worth

sociometer hypothesis

the assertion that self-esteem is an internal, subjective index or marker of the extent to which a person is included or locked on favorably by others

self-enhancement

the desire to maintain, increase, or protect one’s positive self-views

better-than-average effect

the finding that most people think they are above average on various personality traits and ability dimensions

self-affirmation theory

the idea that people can maintain an overall sense of self-worth following psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat

self-verification theory

the theory that people strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about the self because such self-views give a sense of coherence

we selectively attend to, and recall, information that is consistent with (and therefore verifies) our self-views

self-regulation

process by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior in the pursuit of goals, including the ability to resist short-term rewards that thwart the attainment of long-term goals

actual self

the self that people believe they are

ideal self

the self that embodies an individual’s wishes and aspirations

ought self

the self that is concerned with the duties, obligations, and external demands and individual feels compelled to honor

self-discrepancy theory

a theory that behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves

falling short of these standards produces specific emotions: dejection-related emotions for actual-ideal discrepancies, and agitation-related emotions for actual-ought discrepancies

promotion focus

self-regulation of behavior with respect to standards of the ideal self standards; a focus on attaining positive outcomes and approach-related behaviors

prevention focus

self-regulation of behavior with respect to ought self standards; a focus on avoiding negative outcomes and avoidance-related behaviors

self-presentation

presenting the person that we would like others to believe we are

impression management

attempts to control how other people will view us

face

the public image of ourself that we want others to believe

self-monitoring

the tendency to monitor one’s behavior to fit the current situation

high self-monitors try to fit their behavior to the situation; low self-monitors are more likely to behave according to their internal preferences

self-handicapping

the tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready, should one perform poorly or fail

may be a strategy for protecting the public self

culture and self-esteem

members of independent cultures tend to report higher levels of self-esteem than members of collectivist cultures

members of interdependent cultures place more value on self-improvement: less emphasis on feeling good about the self and more emphasis on feeling good about one’s contribution to collective goals

gender and the social self

men generally have more independent views of the self while women have more interdependent views of the self

women are more likely than men to refer to relationships when describing the self

women are more attuned to external social cues, whereas men are more attuned to their internal responses