Lecture 6: The Self and Personality

The Self

the way we think/ behave is influenced by how we think about ourselves + our place in (social) world

Who Am I?

twenty-statements test, free format, encourage people to think about themselves, their personalities, attitudes, descriptions, roles/relationships, connections, differences

Superficial Attributes

preferences in sports, music, etc… depends on the culture around you

Preference Attributes

content of preferences, more specifics; ex. DotATer → gaming

Descriptive Attributes

who we are within, abstract, behaviours/attitudes, not dependent on others; ex. funny

Relationship Attributes

role in terms of family, society; group-membership, in-group, defining roles

Self-Descriptions Study

American and Nairobi undergrads, Nairobi workers, Masai and Samburu traditional groups self-described themselves; both American and Nairobi undergrads described themselves using more personal characteristics, while Nairobi workers, Masai and Samburu, used roles and membership descriptions;

Self-Descriptions Study Reasoning

American and Nairobi undergrads have similar WEIRD experiences

Self-Description Study Trends

trends are not absolute, most cultures do consider both descriptions

Views of the Self

independent view and interdependent views

Independent View of Self

individual is self-contained, stable, distinct, unique, does not overlap with others; borders of close relationships don’t cross, impermeable, no flux/change; focus is on the independent individual, identity is grounded in internal components; ingroup is fluid, easy to fall in and out of

Interdependent View of Self

relationship entity, sustained by close relationships in one’s social world; individual overlaps with relationships, fluid, permeable, changes depending on interactions; importance in connections in relationships; ingroup is stable and distinct, not easy to enter and leave

Neurological Rep of the Self

self - mother; participants listed adjectives to evaluate themselves + mother; Westerners showed activation of diff regions → mother and self are different; Chinese shown activation in same regions (linked to self-representations) → no diff in brain activation in ACC and medial pFC

Self-Concept

cultural practices (individualism/collectivism), what individuals pay attention to, value, believe

Individualism

independent, distinct, self-sufficient; ex. Sleep separate from children, merit-based promotion

Collectivism

interdependent, culture → self, roles/relationships; ex. Co-sleep, loyalty-based promotion

Collectivistic Countries

Asia, Africa, Latin American; 80% of world pop, but study mainly WEIRD

Japan Individual vs. Collect

Japan not really collectivistic; individualism is higher than in non-individualistic

Japanese Students - Within-Culture Variation

Japan considered more collectivistic than Westerners, but most Japanese university students are individualistic (75%)

Within-Culture Variation - Japan

American vs Japan students rated on independent vs. interdependent views of self; subjective self-report, rated separateness vs connectedness on scale of 1-7; U.S. rated more interdependent than Japan due to reference group effect; U.S. and Japan rated same for independent;

Reference Group Effect

people evaluate themselves based on comparisons to their reference group and not an absolute standard; Japan rated lower on interdependence as they see themselves as less interdependent than other Japanese people (baseline is high so they think they are low); U.S. rate high on interdependence because they think they are more interdependent than their peers (baseline is low, therefore rate themselves high)

Within-Culture Variation - Generations

give first-generation (collectivistic) and continuing-generation (individualistic) students either independent or interdependent message; did cognitive tests to solve puzzles in which increase in anagrams solved = better performance/motivation

Generation Study Results

first generation students more motivated by interdependent message, continuing-generation students more motivated by independent message

Self-Consistency

independent → consistent view; interdependent → fluid view of self (low in consistency)

Marketing and Consistency

marking exploits need for consistency; less effective for interdependent cultures

Culture Variability in Consistency Motivation

Poland vs America, given survey than assignment tasks, either told that peers complied or that they complied with requires previously; Poland more influenced when peers complied → motivated to be consistent for interpersonal relations; U.S. more influenced by own self-performance, wanted to consistent with self

Independent Self-Awareness

less concerned w/ others, subjective self-awareness, concerns directed inside out

Interdependent Self-Awareness

more concerned w/others (sense of belonging), objective self-awareness, concerns directed in from out; value the perception of themselves by others

Mirror Study

forced people to have objective self-awareness using mirrors, evaluate current self to ideal self; Americans → self-aware/critical w/ mirror, Japanese same, unaffected by mirror, always objective, self-critical

In vs. Interdependent Summary 1) view of self varies by culture, 2) view of self influences many processes

Self & Culture

varies by culture, not absolute (within-culture variation); every person is both in and inter

Self & Influences

self influences process → representation in brain, motivation factors (do things as individuals vs groups + be consistent in behaviour); tendency to view self from subjective vs. objective view

William Simon

the most important decision we make in the morning is what to wear; has implications to roles

Universal Stereotypes

cross-cultural consensus in adjectives that apply to most men and most women

Pancultural Adjective Study

categorized 300 adjectives, consistent endorsement by ⅔ of 30 countries; people have general ideas or personality traits that are typical of specific genders

Indigenous - Gender Equality

Natives had relatively greater gender equality, women had rights/sovereignty

Origins of Gender Inequality

Esther Bowcera, historical agriculture practices, distal cause;

1) Digging Up Earth

shifting cultivation, women involved → planting, weeding, children near, no strength

2) Plough Cultivation

muscle mass, energy, dangerous for children, labour dependent men, women domestic

Plough Countries

North America, Europe, Asian Countries → historial plough predicts gender roles

Plough Use Consequences

indicator of modern-day gender inequality, heavy plough use = decrease in females in labour, ownership/firms, politics; passed down when women migrate to US→ less labour jobs today

Essentialism

idea that characteristics are inborn and cannot be changed; they are fixed

Essentialism - Western Culture

males more essentialized, people more accepting of females engaging in masculine activities than the reverse; males have more power = more restrictions that define gender norms

Western Male Gender Norms

gender ideas are arbitrary (culture-based), than lead to believe, biology-based

Essentialism Challenge - Albania

sworn virgins of Albania; honor culture → sons killed + daughters take responsibility, take on male identity → sworn virgins → more restrictions for higher power regardless of sex

Essentialism - Wodaabe

men take multiple wives + dress up, attract women, women can get a new husband

Personality

notion that individuals show diff sets of stable behaviours, dispositions, attitudes across situations; vary among individuals and vary across cultures

Big Five

OCEAN; openness to experience (intelligence, curiosity), conscientiousness (responsible, dependable), extraversion (active, dominant), agreeableness (warm, pleasant), neuroticism (emotionally unstable, unpredictable)

Regional US Diffs

North Central (Friendly, Conventional)→ extraverted, agreeable, conscientious; West (Relaxed, Creative) → openness, low neuroticism; East + Texas (Temperament, Uninhibited) → neuroticism, low conscientiousness

Italy

isolated island, more people in main cities, maybe islands and city have different personalities; maybe certain environments have societies with certain personalities

Mainlanders

highly extraverted, openness to experience; fast-pace style,

Islanders

highly consciousness (connected, take care of e/o)

Culture Personalities - Big 5

extroversion vs. neuroticism; individualistic cultures → extreme extraversion, somewhat high neuroticism; collectivistic cultures → less extraversion, some high some low in neuroticism

Big 5 - Culture Application

can be applied to different cultures but tends to be ethnocentric → used English terms + doesn’t capture culture-specific personality traits

Chinese Personalities

dependability (neuroticism), interpersonal relatedness, social potency (extraversion), individualism (agreeableness)

Dependability

responsibility, optimism, trustworthiness (neuroticism)

Interpersonal Relatedness

harmony, thrift, relational orientation, tradition; culture-specific

Social Potency

leadership, adventurousness, extraversion (extraversion)

P - Individualism

logical orientation, defensiveness, self-orientation (agreeableness)

HEXACO

solution to limits of Big 5; H-factor, emotionality (neuroticism), extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, openness

H-Factor

honesty-humility; high = sincere, modest; low score = deceitful, pretentious