the self flashcards

what is reflexive thought

allows us to think about who we are and how we are perceived by others

what is self-awareness

it is a psychological state in which people are aware of their traits, feelings and behaviour.

what is the development of self awareness

1. infants are not born with self-awareness

2. lewis and Brooks (1978) spot of rogue on the nose of babies and then put them in front of a mirror. babies aged between 9-12 months did not show interest of spot on nose (because lacked self-awareness). by 18 months could recognize themselves (show self-awareness)

neurological basis of self-awareness

research shows around 18 months old that children show a rapid growth of spindle cells, specialized neurons in the anterior cingulate, an area of the frontal lobe thought to be responsible for monitoring and controlling intentional behaviour. 

evidence shows this area of the brain is activated when people are self-aware. 

biological correlates of self-perception and perspective taking

the pre-frontal cortex area of the brain is thought to have a role in a wide range of complex social-cog behaviours such as making inferences about what other people are thinking and processing info about the self. 

same area of the brain produces thoughts about understanding other people and the self = we might make inferences about the thoughts and feelings of other people by imagining what our own thoughts are feelings would be in their situation. 

Mitchel (2005)- p. did an FMRI scan and made judgements about the mental state and non-mental state of the target person- p. showed mental activity in the prefrontal cortex when making inferences about mental state but not for non-mental state = shows pre-frontal cortex is specifically used when trying to understand the attributes that other people possess. 

private self-awareness

refers to when an individual temporarily becomes aware of private, personal aspects of the self. e.g. looking at yourself in the mirror

can lead to 3 different responses:

1. an intensified emotional response - e.g. reflecting on a negative feeling can lead them to dwell and have a more negative state of mind

2. experience clarification of knowledge- by focusing on internal events, able to report them with greater accuracy

3. adhere to personal standards of behaviours- as they are more aware of their true beliefs, less likely to be influenced by normative pressures.

public self-awareness

arises when a person is aware of public aspects of themselves that can be seen and evaluated by others e.g. being watched by others

associated with evaluation apprehension- when people are the focus of other’s attention, they realize they are being appraised by others. the fear of a negative evaluation can lead to nervousness and loss of self-esteem, particularly if a persons perceived actual image does not match their desired public image

adherence to social standards - more likely to conform to group norms of a social group

public and private self-consciousness

some people are chronically more likely to experience self-awareness

public and private self-consciousness are not mutually exclusive- an individual can be high in one of these traits or both or neither.

private self-consciousness : experience chronically heightened private self-awareness therefore more intense emotions, more likely to remain true to own beliefs, more accurate self-perceptions. less likely to suffer from ill health as a result of paying more attention to physiological state but a greater tendency to suffer from depression and neuroticism.

public: particularly concerned with how they are perceived by those around them. more likely to conform to group norms, avoid embarrassing situations and are more focused on own physical appearance and judging others.

schemas and self-schemas

cognitive structures that represent the knowledge we have about a particular concept or type of stimulus 

each schema is developed through our experiences with a stimulus and holds all the info we have about it

self-schema- reflects how we expect ourselves to think, feel and behave in a particular situation. each consists of our perception of our self and incorporates our experience on this dimension. 

self-schematic- if a particular aspect of the self is perceived as particularly important, they are extreme on that dimension and are certain that the opposite is not true for them e..g i am a student 

future self-schema- schemas that reflect how we would like to be in the future or how we think we will turn out

having varied self-schemas is beneficial as if we have negative schemas which have an impact on us, we have positive schemas which allow us to be seen in a positive light.

theories of self-comparison

people form a sense of self from a comparison process

first starts with comparing themselves with different versions of themselves e.g. who they would like to be

1. control theory of self-regulation

2. self-discrepancy theory

these theories argue when people are self-aware, they may think about whether they are the sort of person they want to be or whether there are ways in which they would like to change

control theory of self-regulation

through self-awareness, we are able to assess whether or not we are meeting our goals

cognitive feedback loop- 4 steps involved in self regulation test (privately self-aware - compare yourself against a private standard e.g. the values we believe to be important, Public- compare yourself against a public standard e.g. values held by friends or family) = if fail to meet this standard put in operation (a change in behaviour to meet this standard), then re-test themselves, if standard met = exit)

self-discrepancy theory

argues that people compare the self with a relevant standard and also focuses and focuses on the emotional responses to discrepancies. 

people have 3 types of self-schemas:

1. the actual self- how we actually are

2. ideal self- how we would really like to be 

3. the ought self- traits/characterises they think they should posses based on a sense of duty, responsibility or obligation

people are motivated to ensure that their actual self matches their ideal and ought self- the greater the discrepancy = the more physiological discomfort 

discrepancies are associated with different emotional responses:

an actual-ideal: associated with absence of positive outcomes = disappointment, sadness

actual-ought: associated with the presence of negative outcomes = anger, fear, nervousness 

by generating negative arousal - discrepancies will motivate people to reduce the discomfort they are experiencing by making changes 

 

Theories of Individual comparison

we learn about the self by comparing ourselves with other individuals

social comparison theory

self-evaluation maintenance

self comparison theory

we learn how to define the self by comparing ourselves with those around us

comparing our selves with others provides an external, objective benchmark against which to compare our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, providing people with a sense of validation for the way they are.

upward comparisons- comparing yourself with someone who they believe is better than them

downward comparison- comparing yourself with someone who is worse than them

people who are motivated by a desire for an accurate self-evaluation may make both comparisons

self-evaluation maintenance model 

social reflection - when we derive our self-esteem from the accomplishments of those who are close to us, without considering our own achievements in that domain

engage in social reflection in two conditions:

1. the domain on which the individual is successful must be irrelevant to us (so it does not threaten our self-concept in any way)

2. must be certain of our abilities in that certain domain e.g. if we are also confident in that domain it is not a threat to us 

upward social comparison- comparing our own achievements with the achievements of the target person

when we compare ourselves with a successful person on domain that is relevant to our self-concept and we are uncertain about our own abilities = upward comparison and detrimental effect on our self-esteem

how do we maintain a positive self-concept during an upward social comparison?

1. we can exaggerate the ability of the person who is outer performing us

2. switch the target of comparison to someone whom we know to be less successful than us

3. downplay our similarity to the target of comparison or physically or emotionally distance ourselves from them

4. maintain a positive self esteem by devaluating the dimension of comparison e.g. argue that academic success isnt important but having a good social life is

theories of group comparison

the self-concept is thought to be made up of many self-schemas: individual ones and ones that reflect our relationships with friends/ family/ social groups.

we share aspects of our identity with others e.g. being a woman

brewer and Gardner- three types of self that reflect these shared and non-shared aspects

1. the individual self- personality traits that differentiate us from other individuals

2. the relational self- relationships with significant others

3. the collective self- our memberships in social groups

social identity approach, self-categorization theory

social identity approach

aspects of the self can be divided into those that reflect our personal identity (e.g., personality traits)and those that reflect out social identity (e.g. social group we belong in)

the organization of our self-schemas means that each identity we hold is linked with a range of associated concepts that guide our thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

our sense of self at any point in time depends on which identity we are currently most aware of (which is most psychologically salient) and this depends on the context.

each social identity is associated with a range of attributes and set of group norms.

self-categorization theory

an extension of social identity theory that focuses on the set of group norms that define collective identities

when an individuals social identity becomes salient, their perceptions of themselves and others become depersonalized. (rather than seeing themselves as a unique individual, they will perceive themselves more in terms of the shared features that define group membership, thinking and behaving more in line with norms of the group)

group members will obey the meta-contrast principle- they exaggerate similarities within the group and differences with other groups.

what is self-esteem

an individuals subjective appraisal of themselves as intrinsically positive or negative

can also have significant implications for psychological functioning

our level of self-esteem varies time to time depending on the context in which we find ourselves in

Development of self esteem

how positive our self-concept is in later life appears to somewhat depend on the parenting style of our primary caregivers

depends on two dimensions : how demanding (controlling, imposing rules and punishments) and how responsive (warm and supportive) the parent is towards the child

authoritative parents: typically children with the highest levels of self esteem. has a style high on both of the dimensions- place a lot of demand on the child e.g. discipling them for obedience however they are also responsive, supportive and warm.

authoritarian parents: children with lower self-esteem. overly strict and failing to be responsive of child’s needs

permissive parents: children with lower self-esteem responsive but not strict enough

a meta-analysis of 50 self-esteem studies showed that over the course of people’s lifespan general tendencies to have either high or low self-esteem can vary. self-esteem between 6-11 was relatively unstable, and most stable among people in their 20s- mid-adulthood. by 60 it declines.

mood regulation

research indicates that people with lower-self esteem are less likely to make the effort to feel good than people with higher self-esteem. studies have shown how people with higher and lower self-esteem differ in their reactions to positive and negative life events. found people with lower-self esteem were more likely to ‘dampen’ the good feelings they experienced. p. with lower self esteem were also less likely to express goals to improve their mood = people with lower-self esteem make less effort to regulate their mood- do not try and maintain a positive mood after a positive life event and are not motivated to elevate their mood after a negative life event.

Narcissism 

higher self-esteem is also associated with higher levels of aggression and violence under certain circumstances

people with higher self-esteem who have their ego threatened will react aggressively to defend their higher self-esteem. 

individuals who respond with aggression to an ego threat are narcissistic- as a result they are reliant on validation from others in order to maintain their fragile positive self-concept.  

self-motives

self-assessment- a desire to know who we truly are, regardless of whether the truth is positive or negative. we are motivated to have an accurate self-perception to reduce uncertainty about our abilities or personal characteristics

self-verification- we want to confirm what we already believe to be true about our self-concept, even if we see ourselves in a negative light. if our search for info confirms what we believe = sense of stability.

self-enhancement- a desire to seek out info about ourselves that allows us to see the self in positive light.

strategies to enhance the personal self

self-affirmation theory

self-serving attribution bias 

self-affirmation theory

when self-esteem has been damaged or threatened in some way, people often compensate by focusing on and publicly affirming positive aspects of themselves, allowing them to maintain a positive self-concept.

self-serving attribution bias

when we are successful, we tend to show a self-enhancing bias, attributing our success to internal characteristics e.g. i got an A grade because i am cleaver

when we fail= show a self-protecting bias, attributing our failure to external characteristics e.g. i got a D because i wasn’t feeling well

research has shown people also have a memory bias in favour of self-enhancing information

strategies to enhance the social self

people also derive a positive self-image from their group memberships

social identity approach- when people’s social self is salient, they incorporate in their self-concept any traits that are thought to be part of the group, regardless whether those traits and positive or negative = important to group members that the group is evaluated positively 

group members are also motivated to hold a positive social or collective identity- they do so by comparing themselves favourably with members of other groups. 

high status groups can easily compare themselves with low status groups

low status groups may attempt:

a social change strategy- compete with the high status group to improve their status 

social creativity strategy- finding new dimensions on which they compare more favourably

dis-identification strategy- 

basking in reflected glory- people derive a positive self-concept from the achievements of other group members even if they were not personally involved in those achievements

cutting off reflected failure- when group has not done so well

individualist v collectivist cultures

individualist- e.g. USA and Europe: children are encouraged to think of themselves as unique individuals

collectivist- children are encouraged to be obedient and respectful of their family and to conform to societal norms

people in collectivist cultures have a more collective sense of self whereas people in individual cultures have a more individual sense of self.

research shows that North American students wrote down a significantly greater proportion of individual self-descriptions than Chinese students

Biculturalism

bicultural- deal with both cultures, have multiple identities

the alternation model- suggests that it is impossible for an individual to deal with multiple identities. argues that by alternating one’s cultural orientation depending on the situation, it is impossible for an individual to have a sense of belonging in two cultures without compromising the individuals sense of cultural identity

the ability to hold two identities benefits- bicultural individuals felt more at ease interacting with individuals outside of their ethic minority and had better problem-solving strategies and interpersonal skills