Lecture 2 - The self

what is the self

it has two aspects - the ‘I’ and the ‘me’

• the ‘I’ refers to the fact that I can be reflexively aware of myself

• the ‘me’ is the knowledge I have about myself, or the self-concept

what is our self-concept

our self-concept is shaped in important ways by other people

• how we imagine ourself in their eyes

• what we think they see

• how they treat us

cross cultural differences in viewing the self

there is different emphasis

• american - creative, successful, intelligent

• chinese - mother/father, brother/sister, employee

study on cross-cultural differences in viewing the self

ROSS et al

• chinese born students in canada who completed an ‘I am …’ task in either chinese or english

study on cross-cultural differences in viewing the self findings

suggests for bicultural individuals, different identities are stored in separate knowledge structures that can be activated by using different languages

• subsequent replications suggest language may prime cultural schemas rather than activate entirely separate self concepts

study on effect of language on self descriptions

chinese students participated in a diary study - at regular intervals reported feelings and what language that was spoken most in the past two hours

• eastern cultures - more likely to report experiencing different emotions at the same time as those speaking chinese were more likely to admit feeling both positive and negative emotions

• western cultures - more likely to report feeling one emotion

imperfect introspection definition

are we able to understand who we are?

imperfect introspection study

NISBETT & WILSON

• participants were women visiting a shopping centre and were asked to pick which of four sets of (identical) tights they liked the most

• authors’ argument was that right handed people veer towards the right

imperfect introspection study findings

• shows we dont have much access to what lies behind our own decisions

  • there is no real reason why to select that pair

• BUT the ‘right-hand side preference’ is not a replicated assumption

social comparison theory

FESTINGER

• where things cannot be measured objectively (ie the self, personality) people look to others for cues about how things should be judged

• these judgements are made relative to available comparison standards

  • ie people in your current environment rather than celebrities

• whether something is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ depends on whether it is ‘better’ or ‘worse’

SCT study

KLEIN

• US college students were told they had scored 40% or 60% on a judgement task and given information regarding the average score (ie worse or better)