2.1 - The Self in the Social World

Benjamin Franklin

“There are three things extremely hard, Steel, a Diamond, and to know one’s self.” by?

Self-schema

specific beliefs by which you define yourself.

Schema

are mental templates by which we organize our worlds

Self-schema

________ powerfully affect how we perceive, remember, and evaluate other people and ourselves.

self-concepts

The self-schemas that make up our ______ help us organize and retrieve our experiences

Possible selves

Our self-concepts include not only our self-schemas about who we currently are but also who we might become

• our _______ ____

Possible selves

are images of what we dream of or dread becoming in the future

• motivate us with a vision of the life we long for.

• Self-concept

• Self-esteem

• Self-knowledge

• Social Self

Development of the Social Self: (4)

Self-concept

Who am I?

Self-esteem

My Sense of Worth

Self-knowledge

How can i explain & predict myself?

Social Self

My roles as a student, family member, friend

• my group identity

• Roles

• Social Identities

• Comparisons

• Successes & Failures

• How other people Judge us

• Surrounding Culture

INFLUENCES in the Development of the Social Self: (6)

King Charles I

“MAKE NO COMPARISONS!” by?

Self-esteem

______ comes not only from telling children how wonderful they are but also from hard-earned achievements.

• Feelings follow reality.

The Looking-glass Self

described our use of how we think of others perceive us

• as a mirror for perceiving ourselves.

Charles H. Cooley

The Looking-glass Self by?

The Looking-glass Self

In class

You answer a question and classmates smile or say “Good job.”

→ You think: “They think I’m smart.”

→ You feel more confident and participate more.

• Individualism

• Collectivisim

• Interdependent Self

Surrounding Culture:

Interdependent Self

construing one’s identity in relation to others

Interdependent Self

You choose a college course your family prefers, not just what you want.

→ Because family opinion matters in your identity.

We know more about ourselves than anyone else

EXPLAIN:

“There is one thing, and only one in the whole universe which we know more about than we could learn from external observation, that one thing is [ourselves]. We have, so to speak, inside information; we are in the know.”

Daniel Gilbert

“We are remarkably bad predictors of what will make us happy”

• by who?

Planning Fallacy

One of the most common errors in behavior prediction is underestimating how long it will take to complete a task

Planning Fallacy

You think cleaning your room will take 15 minutes → it actually takes 45 minutes.

Be more REALISTIC

How to IMPROVE predictions?

Impact bias

Many of life’s big decisions involve predicting our future feelings.

• Sometimes, we know how we will feel.

• Other times, we may mispredict our responses.

• Moreover, we are especially prone to ____ ___ after negative events.

Impact bias

overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing events

Impact bias

You fear failing an exam will make you devastated forever → you feel upset for a short time, then move on.

Immune neglect

human tendency to underestimate the speed and strength of the “psychological immune system”

• which enables emotional recovery and resilience after bad things happen

Immune neglect

You worry about losing a friendship → you imagine it will crush you → but you adjust and feel okay after some time.

Self-esteem

A person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth

LOW self-esteem

People with _________ often have problems in life.

LOW self-esteem

But _______ is not the cause of young adult’s problems.

• Instead, many could not escape their tough childhoods.

HIGH self-esteem

does have some benefits but it is also a factor why people commit violent crimes.

Narcissism

having an inflated sense of self

Narcissism

Conceited sister of self-esteem

HIGH in both self-esteem & narcissism

Researchers have found that people ______________ are the most aggressive.

aggressive

Someone with a big ego who is threatened or deflated by social rejection is potentially ______

Perceived Self-control

The Self in Action

Self-efficacy

A sense that one is competent and effective

Self-esteem

one’s sense of self-worth

Self-efficacy

leads us to set challenging goals and to persist

• self-efficacy

• self-esteem

• If you believe you can do something, that’s ______

• If you like yourself overall, that’s ____

Locus of Control

The extent to which people perceive outcomes

• how much people believe they control what happens to them.

• Internal

• External

2 Types of Locus of Control

Internal locus of control

→ You believe your own effort and choices determine outcomes.

External locus of control

→ You believe luck, fate, or other people control what happens.

Learned Helplessness

the sense of hopelessness and resignation learned when a human or an animal perceives no control over repeated bad events

Learned Helplessness

Student: Fails many tests despite studying → stops trying → thinks “It’s useless to study.”

Uncontrollable bad events → Perceived lack of control

______ → _____ → Learned Helplessness