The social self

Self-concept

A person’s beliefs about their roles, traits, abilities, experiences

Working self-concept:

The aspects of your self concept that are more noticeable at a given time

Self-concept clarity

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

Self-verification

Seeking out feedback that is consistent with our existing self-beliefs

Self complexity

A self concept that has many facets

Direct feedback

information received from others about our traits and abilities

Reflected appraisals

our perception of how others perceive and evaluate us: higher subjective and subject to error

Social comparison

the act of comparing our traits and abilities with the traits and abilities of others

Festinger (1954) - Theory of social comparison

people inherently compare their own abilities, opinions, and achievements to those of others to gauge their own self-worth and understand themselves

Upward social comparison

Comparing to better, motivating if you assimilate (feel similar)

downward social comparison

Comparing to worse, boosts self-esteem if you contrastq

Better-than-average effect

The tendency to perceive ourselves as better than the average person.

Why do we experience the better-than-average effect

Being unskilled and unaware

What’s an exception to the better than average effect

Worse than average effect for difficult tasks

Self perception

Learning about ourselves by observing our own behavior

Facial feedback hypothesis

Facial expressions influence internal states through self-perception

Over-justification effect

External rewards for behavior can undermine sense of internal commitment

Self narratives

We continually “write” our own story or narrative

what sense of self concepts can culture affect

Interdependent self-concept and independent self-concept

Interdependent self-concept

defined primarily in relation to other people

Independent self concept

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

Introspection

the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.

Social role theory

Gender differences in self-concepts arise from historical and cultural pressure, less than biological ones

Self-esteem

The global or overall evaluation that one has of oneself (positive or negative)

Contingencies of self-worth

Sources of self-esteem, which differ from person to person and across time.

Sociometer theory (Leary)

Self-esteem is an evolutionary metric for how we’re doing socially

Self-evaluation maintenance model (Tesser)

Others’ successes can threaten our self-esteem (or not)

Basking in reflected glory

Associating with someone who is succeeding in a domain that doesn’t affect us

Consequences of self-esteem

Hard to control, not beneficial and unstable self-esteem causes interpersonal problems, defending self-esteem can be detrimental

Self-compassion

Self-kindness, recognition of shared experience and mindfulness

Self-regulation

process by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior to pursue goals

Delay of gratification

forgoing a desirable outcome now for a more desirable outcome later

ego depletion

Like a muscle, self-control resources can be exhausted through use

Implementation intentions

If-then plans to engage in some behavior (then) in response to some (if)

Action identification theory

Goals can be constructed in abstract or concrete ways

Self-presenting

Controlling, regulating and monitoring the information we provide about ourselves to create a desired impression

Multiple audience problem

Arises when desired identity differs for two audiences present at the same time

Self-handicapping

Protecting one’s self-presentation ( and self-image) by creating a handy excuse for failure

Self - determination theory

People function best when needs for connectedness, autonomy and competence are met.