Social Lecture 7 - Self and Identity

types of self

• individual self (you alone)

• relational self (you with another)

• collective self (you with others)

development of the self

the rouge test - a measure of self concept - the child who touches the rouge on themselves once looking at the mirror demonstrates basic understanding of self-awareness (18-24 months).

self-concept becomes more complex with age.

personal identity

a sense of self that a person develops over their life. it is a mix of how you see yourself and how others perceive you.

collection of unique identifying factors that make up who you are. no one has the same mix of features, memories, habits, or emotional dispositions.

self concept

who we think we are - comes from self recognition.

also goes by: -

• self-construction

• self-identity

• self-perspective

• self-structure

• self-image

it refers to physical attributes, social roles, personal traits and existential views.

self-awareness (Self-Awareness Theory, 1972)

the ability to think about yourself and compare and evaluate your behaviour to your internal standards and values.

self-awareness involves: -

• understanding who we are and what we want

• identifying our strengths and weaknesses

• controlling how we present ourselves to others

• having better decision making which leads to more positivity and productivity

• fostering empathy

self-esteem

one’s evaluation of one’s self-concept.

high self-esteem = optimistic, set high goals for selves, cope well with negative events. more accepting of others.

low self-esteem = pessimistic, underachievers, handle adversity badly.

types of self-esteem

trait self esteem = long-term, stable conceptions of self in general

state self esteem = momentary fluctuations in self-feelings in the moment. changes in response to self-related events. can be manipulated in research by giving feedback.

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

self-report scale of 0-30, where a score lower than 15 indicates problematically low self-esteem.

Self Identity Theory (SIT)

purpose is to understand the psychological basis of intergroup discrimination.

three mental concepts: -

• social categorisation (us vs them)

• social identification (emotional attachment with our group)

• social comparison (individual assessment on other groups)

SIT - Social Conflict

the in-group undermining the social status of the out-group.

SIT - social creativity

the in-group emphasising group features which they flourish on, by way of advertising these strengths.

Haslam - when the in-group does not feel threatened and feels largely secure, they engage in social creativity rather than conflict.

SIT - uncertainty

according to SIT, individuals are more inclined to identify with a certain social group if they feel incertain.

people show an intergroup distinction to feel good about themselves and the social group they identify with.