building self knowledge (4)

intrapersonal sources of self-knowledge

self-perception & introspection

self-perception

we observe our behaviors + use these observations to infer what we’re like

introspection

draw conclusions from our internal states (thoughts/emotions) about what we are like

ex self-perception

knows he pursues goals until they’re achieved —> so I must be determined

ex introspection

i often think about right vs wrong —> i must have a strong conscience

do ppl think they’re internal states or behavior are generally a more important source of self knowledge

having access to someone’s internal states was significantly more informative than observing their behaviors or hearing others’ impression of them

access to others’ internal states study conditions

cognitive/affective

behavioral

control (describes mis of both)

access to others’ internal states results

prioritized cognitive/affective info as most accurate, and those in control were less accurate - behavior distracted)

implications of intrapersonal self

Introspection is more useful than self-perception, but self-perception can be useful to understand how you feel about something when you’re unclear

how accurate is our introspection on our mood study

daily diary of overall mood + predictors of mood (weather, relationships, work, sleep..) + estimate their mood based on each predictor

accuracy of introspection results

compared participants judgements to outside observer judgement

observers were jsut as accurate at estimating participants mood

—> the only reason why participants were kinda accurate on what impacted their mood was bc they were blaming it on these general theories we blame mood changes on

implications of introspection

may be more useful for describing internal states but not explaining why we feel what we do (ppl don’t have a genuine/unique understanding of why we think/feel the way we do)

interpersonal sources

1. social comparison

2. looking-glass self

3. social group identity

4. including close others in our self

symbolic interactionism

our self-concept depends on our social interactions (there is no self w/o others)

social comparison

automatically compare yourself to others to determine where you stant on attributes/abilities/opinions (introspection + self-perception rely on comparison)

upward social comparison on self-esteem

comparing to ppl better than us decreases self-esteem

downward social comparison on self-esteem

comparing to ppl worse than us increases self-esteem

the looking-glass self

we construct our self-concept based on how others see us

infer how others see us thru

their direct feedback + behaviors towards us

+how others generally see us

cycle of looking-glass self

observe others reactions to us (feedback + behavior)—> infer their perception of us —> internalize their perception into self-concept —> self-concept guides behavior

research on looking-glass self

participants’ self-report of their own personality/behavior is correlated to observer reports of the participants —> NO CONSISTENT RELATIONSHIP

if looking-glass theory is true

there should be a high correlation btwn how we see ourselves + how others see us

looking-glass self has a strong positive relationship

btwn ppl’s self-reports of their own personality + how they THINK they are perceived by others

the looking-glass perception of ourselves is false bc

we rarely get honest feedback (ammbiguous or contradictory)

we dismiss/rationalize away negative feedback (is good bc it would decrease SCC)

social identity theory

the social groups we belong to shape our self-concepts (chosen + unchosen)

(provide us with shared identity that guides our beliefs/behaviors)

self-stereotyping in social groups

behave with the characteristics the group values + gaining validation that i’m being a good member of that group

evidence for social identity theory study

liberal arts + eng students rated their in-group + out-group on 90 traits

me-not me reaction time task of if the traits were descriptive of them or not (arts should be faster at reacting to “creative”)

results social identity study

• faster RT for traits that describe their in-group and themselves (+ opposite no/no)

• slower for a word that describes themself but not their in-group

*our perception of ourself is related to our perception of our social group

self-concept as a reaction to outgroup

adopts a characteristic that is the opposite/rejection of the outgroup to be less like them (not necessariliy more like ingroup)

self-description/behavior in a social identity is flexible as it is determined by

expectations/standards for that identity & your own unique strengths + preferences to adhere to those

including close others in our self

we incorporate close others’ characteristics into our own self-concept (perspectives, characteristics, interests)

study to find if they are confused on the overlap btwn our self-concept and our close others'

me-not me RT task

• unique traits will have a longer RT

• more errors btwn what describes them vs partner

—> faster when the trait described both of them (match) than on traits that described one of them

—> also made more mistakes when differed

**close others’ characteristics become incorporated into the self-concept

do we gain self-knowledge more from introspection or self-perception

introspection

most of our self-knowledge depends on

social interactions

changes in interpersonal sources of self-knowledge can cause

our self-concept to change in diff ways

changing social context of comparison

changing point of comparison from unathletic ppl to athletic ppl may make you feel more athletic (without changes to your behavior)

social role changes influence on self-concept

gain/loss of social roles triggers decrease in SCC (if not positive abt it)

*gains more early in adulthood + loses more late

changing the looking-glass

ppl can purposely initiate a change to their self-concept if they believe they are perceived by others in an undersirable way —> change perception of self by behaving diff until person thinks that others see them in the desired way

changes to who one is close to

self-concept will change when we become closer to new ppl