Social Lectures 3-4 the Social Self

self concept

A person’s beliefs about their roles, traits, abilities, experiences.

self-schema

represents people’s beliefs and feelings about themselves, both in general and in specific situations.

◦ Beliefs and feelings are based on our conscious experiences

situationism

Aspects of the self may change depending on the situation

◦ This notion that the social self changes across different contexts is consistent with the principle of situationism

Working self-concept

subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context

◦ What aspect of myself is most accessible now?

◦ What aspects make me unique?

Distinctiveness

We highlight what makes us unique in a given situation.

We’re more likely to mention aspects of our self-concept that make us different from those around us

complexity

Self-complexity: Our self-concept has many facets.

◦ Easier to cope with threats to any particular aspect

Continuity

Our sense of self shifts according to context… but we also feel like we have a stable, core self. How is this possible?

Core aspects whenever you think about the self.

◦ E.g., shy at work, outgoing with friends… but always a good listener!

Self-Concept Clarity

Self-concept clarity: We prefer when our self-concept feels clearly defined, internally consistent, and consistent across time.

A person’s overall pool of self-knowledge remains relatively stable over time, providing a sense of self-continuity even as different pieces of self-knowledge come to the forefront of different contexts.

◦ Shifts across contexts are likely to conform to a predictable, stable pattern

Social self is defined by 2 aspects

1) It is malleable, shifting from one context to another

2) At the same time, a person’s social self has core components that persist across context

can come from:

• socializing agents= parents, siblings, teachers, peers etc. (Modeling appropriate behavior of others)

• looking glass self= Peoples’ reactions to us serve as a mirror of sorts (Reflected Self-Appraisal)

Origins of Self-Knowledge

Direct feedback- The information received from others about our traits and abilities.

Reflected appraisals- Our perception of how others perceive and evaluate us.

• Highly subjective, subject to error

• Particularly important in adolescence

Social comparison- The act of comparing our traits and abilities with the traits and abilities of others

• Self-perception: Learning about ourselves by “observing” our own behavior

• Facial feedback hypothesis: Facial expressions influence internal states through self-perception.

Overjustification effect: External rewards for behavior can undermine sense of internal commitment.

Self narratives: We continually “write” our own story or narrative

A major source of self-understanding? Well, its ourselves!

• Introspection : When people focus their attention on themselves in a deliberate attempt to enhance self-understanding.

Can even develop our own stories about ourselves!

• Dan McAdams (2008) – the Narrative Self.

• Redemptive narratives

Festinger (1954): Theory of social comparison

People want to know where they stand

• Prefer objective standards of comparison

No objective standard available, use a social standard

• Typically compare ourselves to similar others

Social Comparison

Upward social comparison: Comparing to better.

• Motivating IF you assimilate (feel similar)

Downward social comparison: Comparing to worse.

• Boosts self-esteem IF you contrast (feel separate)

Judgement

We are better judges of our internal traits.

Other people have better information for judging our external traits

influence of culture of sense of self

◦Interdependent self-concept: Defined primarily in relation to other people

◦Independent self-concept: Defined primarily by unique characteristics, abilities, thoughts, and feeling

Interdependent self

• Prevalent in many Asian, Eastern European, African, and Latin American cultures.

• Encourages an outward focus on the social situation

• The self is fundamentally connected to others

Independent self

• An independent self-construal includes much of the west, Australia, and New Zealand

• Self = autonomous entity that is distinct and separate from others.

Gender

Women tend to focus on relationships when describing themselves (i.e., I am a friend of X)

• Attend to situational cues (e.g., other peoples’ reaction)

Men tend to focus on what makes them distinct

• Attend to internal responses (e.g., increased heart rate)

Influence of Gender

How different are men and women really?

• Hyde (2005) –Differences are few and small

• Mehlet al. (2007) –Stereotype that women talk more is bogus!

Social role theory: Gender differences in self-concepts arise from historical and cultural pressures, less from biological ones

self- esteem

The global or overall evaluation that one has of oneself (positive or negative)

Self-Esteem

Trait vs. state self-esteem:

• Most people have high self-esteem overall (TRAIT)

• Self-esteem also fluctuates over time (STATE)

Contingencies of self-worth: Sources of self esteem, which differ from person to person and across time.

• Approval, physical attractiveness, fitness, intelligence…

Sociometer theory (Leary)

Self-esteem is an evolutionary metric for how we’re doing socially.

• System monitors social inclusion, activates social pain if inclusion is low, motivates restoration of inclusion

• Evidence: Self-esteem is particularly sensitive to rejection.

consequences of self esteem

What are the problems with self-esteem?

• Hard to control – Partly genetic, partly reflects successes and failures (especially social one)

• Not beneficial in all forms – High but unstable self-esteem causes interpersonal problems

• Defending self-esteem can be detrimental

Self-compassion:

Self-kindness, recognition of shared experience, and mindfulness

Self Enhancement

The desire to maintain, increase, or protect one’s positive views.

Better-than-average effect (Self-Enhancement Strategies)

The tendency to perceive ourselves as better than the average person.

• Why? “Unskilled and unaware”

• Exception: (in part) Worse-than-average effect for difficult tasks.

Self-affirmation theory (Self-Enhancement Strategies)

people can maintain an overall sense of self worth following psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat

Minimize defensive/harmful behaviors

• Self-attributional bias

Self-evaluation maintenance model (SEM)

Others’ successes can threaten our self esteem (or not) (Tesser)

• Basking in reflected glory: Associating with someone who is succeeding in a domain that doesn’t affect us

SEM: Comparison

What if someone is doing better than us in our domain?

• Improve our performance

• Reduce closeness

• Reduce the importance of the domain

Comparisons hurt more when the comparison target is close to us or when a domain is relevant ◦ Should I sabotage my bestie?

• Should I improve myself?

• Should I say goodbye to my bestie?

• Do I really care about the domain they beat me in?

Positive Illusions

Taylor et al., (2003)

• Participants high in the tendency to self-enhance vs those low in that tendency

Self-Verification

We strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about the self because such self-views give a sense of coherence

Self-Enhancement vs. Self-Verification

Self-enhancement seems to be most relevant to our emotional responses to feedback about the self, whereas self-verification determines our more cognitive assessment of the accuracy of the feedback.

Self-presentation

Public self: the person we would like others to believe we are

Face: the public image of ourselves that we want others to believe

Controlling, regulating, and monitoring the information we provide about ourselves to create a desired impression

Multiple audience problem

Arises when desired identity differs for two audiences present at the same time

Self-monitoring

The tendency to monitor one’s behavior to fit the demands of the current situation

High vs Low Self-monitors

High

• Scrutinize situations

• Shift self-presentation to fit the context

• “Actors”

• Change behavior according the the situation

Low

Behave according to their own traits and preferences

Social context doesn’t influence behavior as much

Handicapping

Tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready

online self

People tend to present themselves fairly accurately!

Offline self = Online self.

• But its our personality that’s accurate… our physical appearance? Not so much

Self-regulation

Refers to the processes by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior in pursuit of their goals

Self-discrepancy theory

Self-discrepancy theory: People hold beliefs about both that they are actually they ought like, what they would ideally to be like. be like, and what they think

Self Standards

Ideal self standards -> promotion focus: a motivational state where individuals are driven to achieve positive results, such as gains and advancement, and focus on the potential for success and growth

• westerners

Ought self standards -> prevention focus: a mindset where the primary motivation is to avoid negative outcomes, fulfill responsibilities, and maintain stability and security

• east asians

Delay gratification

Forgoing a desirable outcome now for a more desirable outcome later

Ego Depletion

A state where people lack the energy/resources to engage in further acts of self-control. Ego Depletion

• Occurs because of acts of self-control

• that self-control is a finite resource, much like a muscle that can be fatigued

Radishes and cookies study (Baumeister et al., 1998)

◦First, kept all participants in a room that smelled like fresh baked cookies, then showed them cookies and chocolates

◦Experimental group had to eat radishes instead (control group got to eat the treats)

• Radish-eaters “exhibit[ed] clear interest in the chocolates, to the point of looking longingly at the chocolate display and in a few cases even picking up the cookies to sniff at them.”

◦Puzzle task: Radish group made far fewer attempts and spent less than half the time solving the puzzle compared to treat-eaters and a control group (no eating task)

Radishes and cookies study, Replication Crisis: Ego Depletion

Recent attempts to replicate this theory has failed to find differences between condition groups, or have found smaller differences than originally reported

• Roy Baumeister, the original researcher who found ego depletion, defends the theory and argues the methodologies are the problem

One possibility is the Baumeister observed a real phenomenon, but the theory still needs to be refined to find consistent results

• Is self-control a muscle that gets tired? Or is it a feeling, like a signal, that we should move on to a different activity?

Counteracting depletion

Long-term goals (healthy diet) vs temptation (cookies)

• Fishbach, Friedman, and Kruglanski (2003)

Improving self control

How can you improve your self-control?

◦ Set up appropriate incentives

◦ Implementation intentions: If-then plans to engage in some behavior (THEN) in response to some cue (IF)

Consider altering your perception of the goal

• Action identification theory: Goals can be construed in abstract or concrete ways.

• Abstract is motivating, concrete is manageable

◦ Sometimes it’s good to let go! (goal disengagement)

Self-determination theory

People function best when needs for connectedness, autonomy, and competence are met

Maximizing self-growth

◦ Pursue goals that meet your fundamental needs

• self-determination theory

◦ Find your flow (Csikszentmihalyi): A Feeling of being completely absorbed in a challenging activity.

◦ Practice mindfulness ◦ Engage in self-affirmation

◦ Reinterpret threats as challenges

◦ Be curious

◦ Travel! ☺