topic 7 - the self

topic 7

self-concept

how we see ourselves based on how others see us and our own beliefs

Michael Lewis’s (1990) explanation of the self and self-concept

he split the self into two parts:

the existential self

the categorical self

existential self

awareness that we have an existence that is separate from others

categorical self

awareness that we are seen by others by means of categories, such as age

evidence supporting Lewis’s concept of self and self-concept

Lewis and Jeanne Brooks-Gun (1979)’s red nose test

it found that children under the age of 18 months would reach for the nose in the mirror

it found that children above the age of 18 months would reach for their own nose instead of the one in the mirror

Carl Rogers’s (1959) explanation of the self and self-concept

he split self-concept into three parts:

self-image

self-esteem

ideal self

self-image

how we see ourselves

self-esteem

how we value ourselves

ideal self

how we would like to be

congruence

when self-image and ideal self match

incongruence

when self-image and ideal self don’t match

self-actualisation

when someone achieves their full potential in life

Erik Erikson’s (1959) theory of the role of identity in self development

his theory is known as the ‘eight stages of man’

it states that we develop through eight challenges or opportunities, each of which occurs at a particular age

the individual needs to resolve each crisis to successfully complete a stage

strengths of Erikson’s (1959) theory

it has practical applications and can be applied to people throughout their life (a lifespan theory)

Goodcase and Love (2016) suggest using Erikson’s ideas that older people are still developing and can benefit from examining their own beliefs

weaknesses of Erikson’s (1959) theory

cultures have wide differences in the age that a specific developmental stage might occur

Gilligan (1982) criticised this theory for using gender stereotyping, such as intimacy and isolation being about women more than men

free will

the ability to choose exactly what kind of behaviour we want to show (opposite of determinism)

determinism

belief that our actions come from what we are born with and what we experience (opposite of free will)

Roy Baumeister’s (2008) theory of the role of free will in self development

he states that self-control and making choices is ‘biologically expensive’ because it can deplete our sources by using up a lot of glucose in the brain

consequences of belief in free will

our justice system - if nobody is responsible for their behaviour, then punishment will not prevent a repeat of that behaviour

improves prosocial behaviour - people feel more empowered and in control of their actions and emotions and are more likely to help others

improves a person’s control over their emotions and impulses - it takes energy to make choices so being less impulsive saves up that energy

helps someone learn from the challenges they encounter - people are more likely to reflect on negative feeling associated with event and this can help them avoid similar events in the future

strengths of Baumeister’s (2008) views

focuses on our everyday understanding of what it means to act from free will and is therefore, a more useful approach

scientific experiments can be carried out to advance understanding of free will and decision-making (eg. Vohs and Schooler)

weaknesses of Baumeister’s (2008) views

reducing free will to specific measurable behaviours (reductionism) can be said to not take the ‘whole’ of a person’s decision-making into account (holism)

Ebert and Wegner (2011) found that actions that are randomly displayed can be mistaken as coming from free will

Carl Rogers’ (1951) humanistic theory of the self and self-esteem

humans are good by nature

all individuals naturally aim for personal growth in order to reach self-actualisation

to become the best we can be, we must have a positive sense of self-concept and be in a state of congruence

childhood is an important time in our development

self-esteem reflects our idea of self-worth

he aimed to help individuals raise their self-worth and self-esteem to achieve a state of congruence and move towards self-actualisation

conditional positive regard

being valued but only according to certain conditions, which can lower a person’s overall self-esteem

unconditional positive regard

being valued for who you are regardless of any conditions, which can improve a person’s overall self-esteem

conditions of worth

conditions people feel that they must meet in order to be worthy of being loved

strengths of Carl Rogers’ (1951) humanistic theory of the self and self-esteem

it is a form of positive psychology

focuses on improving a person’s mental health which can save society’s health costs and build a stronger work force

it has a wide application in therapy (CBT)

weaknesses of Carl Rogers’ (1951) humanistic theory of the self and self-esteem

it is hard to measure which makes it less scientific

it does not suit all medical conditions as Eyessen et al. (2013) found that client-centred therapy did not help those with multiple sclerosis compared with occupational therapy

Abraham Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs diagram

strengths of Abraham Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs

it is a form of positive psychology

weaknesses of Abraham Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs

tends to focus more on Western culture

the concepts cannot be measured so it cannot be tested scientifically to show universality

claims that humans are inherently good but this needs evidence

Ijzendoorn et al. (2010) found that 7-year-old children did not show moral behaviour because of inborn temperament

what is the internal influence on the self and self-esteem?

temperament

temperament

a biological aspect of a person that relates to emotions and controlling oneself which affects their behaviour

aspects of temperament

effortful control

negative emotions

persistence

effortful control

an aspect of temperament that refers to self-regulation and using reasoned effort to control actions and thoughts

Richard Robins et al. (2010) found that young adolescents who had a high self-esteem also had high levels of effortful control

negative emotions

Robins et al. (2010) found that another aspect of temperament is a tendency to have negative feelings, giving a person low self-esteem

persistence

an aspect of temperament is how task-oriented a person is

Windle et al. (1986) found that persistence goes hand-in-hand with high self-esteem

what is the external influence on the self and self-esteem?

experiences

what are aspects of experience as an external influence on the self and self-esteem?

self-efficacy

factors affecting self-image

perceptions of others

self-efficacy

how strongly we believe we can succeed in a certain situation or achieve a task

factors affecting self-image

Michael Argyle (2008) found that an important influence on our self-esteem is the reaction of others

a positive self-image comes from praise and attention

a negative self-image comes from criticism

perceptions of others

how the propel perceive us can change, which affects our self-esteem

Rina Bajaj (2008) discussed the effects of the London bombings in 2005 and found that the young men had the same internal beliefs as before but the way others perceived them had changed

how can personality be measured?

personality scales

personality types

personality scales

scales can measure someone’s personality using a particular trait

involves classifying information using numbers that represent certain characteristics

focuses on the Big Five (OCEAN): openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism

personality types

a theory of personality can be a type theory or a trait theory

type theory

suggests that a person’s personality can fit into a category or type

trait theory

suggests that personalities have characteristics that are on a continuum

covers wider aspects of behaviour

what are the two trait theories?

Gordon Allport (1936) cardinal, central and secondary personality traits

Raymond Cattle (1946) 16PF personality factor assessment

Gordon Allport (1936)

he classified traits into three levels:

cardinal traits - rare traits that govern us very strongly, tending to dominate someone’s life

central traits - traits that are less strong and more common

secondary traits - traits we do not always show but still have

he identified around 4,000 traits that characterise each personality

Raymond Cattle (1946)

aimed to reduce Allport’s list of traits to something that would be easier to use to measure personality

he ended up reducing it to 171 traits

then he suggested that someone’s personality could be measured by how far they display certain traits

to measure personality, he looked at:

life data about a person’s everyday behaviour

data that assessed people’s reactions in certain situations

data to get people’s self-ratings about their behaviour and feelings

then, he used factor analysis on this data which reduced his list to 16 dimensions

strengths of trait theory as a measure of personality

Allport chose traits that were observable

the use of self-reporting scales left no interpretation from anyone else and this added to the validity of the findings

weaknesses of trait theory as a measure of personality

it is hard to predict someone’s behaviour because they may behave differently in different situations

people need to be self-aware in order to give self-ratings to represent their characteristics

does not explain why we have those characteristics which limits the theory

aim of Vohs and Schooler’s (2008) study

to see if encouraging a belief in determinism would encourage cheating

procedure of Vohs and Schooler’s (2008) study

13 female and 17 male university students were tested individually and were randomly allocated to the control or experimental group

experimental group read Francis Crick’s ‘anti-free will’ book and the control group read a book about consciousness but not about the issue of free will

participants were then put in a position that would allow them to cheat by using a computer program to give answers to maths problems they were supposed to solve themselves

to measure cheating, the number of presses on the space bar of a computer were recorded because it avoided the answer being revealed

dependent variable was the number of presses on the space bar and the independent variable was the passage that was read

results of Vohs and Schooler’s (2008) study

the experimental group showed lower belief in free will than those own the control group

participants showed more cheating if they read the anti-free will passage than if they did not

the higher the cheating score, the lower the free will and determinism score (negative correlation)

conclusions of Vohs and Schooler’s (2008) study

when determinism is put forward and free will is challenged, behaviour becomes less moral

weakening someone’s belief in free will increases the likelihood of cheating

Fred Schab (1991) found that self-reports of cheating have increased over time

strengths of Vohs and Schooler’s (2008) study

ethical strengths because they protected the anonymity of the participants and debriefed them after the experiment

practical application of the idea that behaviour comes from our genes and the environment

weaknesses of Vohs and Schooler’s (2008) study

it was thought that pressing the space bar meant not cheating but it could simply mean nothing

the moral behaviour that was measured was mildly unethical

the experiment was artificial, causing it to lack validity

aims of Van Houtte and Jarvis’s (1995) study

to find out how pets affect children's development

how having pets or not having pets affects affected children’s self-esteem, self-concept, sense of autonomy and attachment to animals

procedure of Van Houtte and Jarvis’s (1995) study

130 children aged between 8 and 11 years old were used

of the 130 children, 65 were pet owners and 65 were not pet owners

participants were informed of their rights before the study

interviews were conducted to gather background information about the child, their family, etc.

the pet-owning children were match to the non-pet owning children based in this information

independent variables was whether the child owned a pet or not

dependent variable was the autonomy, self-concept, self-esteem and attachment to animals that was all measured by questionnaires

what were the four measures taken in Van Houtte and Jarvis’s (1995) study?

measure of autonomy - the child’s perception of their parents

measure of self-concept - to find out the children's views of themselves

measure of self-esteem - how much the child agreed with the statements that they were asked about things regarding their self-esteem

measure of attachment to animals - a questionnaire was given to the pet-owning children to measure this

results of Van Houtte and Jarvis’s (1995) study

self-concept - 11-year-old pet owners had higher self-concept than non-pet owners of the same age

self-esteem – 9-year-old pet owners had lower self-esteem than 11-year-old pet owners; 10 and 11-year-old pet owners had noticeably higher self-esteem than non-pet owners

attachment to animals – the results for pet owners and non-pet owners were very similar so attachment to animals was taken as not relating to owning a pet

autonomy – pet owners were more likely than non-pet owners to see their parents as people and pet owners could see their parents in roles other than the parental role (both suggest autonomy)

conclusions of Van Houtte and Jarvis’s (1995) study

some support for the idea that pet owners showed higher autonomy, but it only focused on the aspect of how parents were perceived, not on all measures of autonomy

attachment to pets does not seem to relate to whether a pet is owned or not

pet ownership had the most positive impact on development just before the move into adolescence

strengths of Van Houtte and Jarvis’s (1995) study

results can be applied to real life

Judith Siegel (1990) found that pet support for the elderly helped to reduce stress

there was control over possible extraneous variables

weaknesses of Van Houtte and Jarvis’s (1995) study

children classified as non-pet owners may have had a pet that wasn’t a cat or a dog

used a specific age range of children in one school which could make generalising the results difficult