Self & Identity

Self & identity is a shorthand expression for …

An ensemble of psychological experiences (thoughts, feelings, motives, etc.) that reflect & contribute to a person’s understanding of their place in a social world

How do Myers & Twenge (2018) define “the self”?

A social being, symbol user, & reflection of own behavior (self-awareness)

What is the self-awareness theory?

In a state of self-awareness, people tend to evaluate on-going behavior, physical appearance, or other personal attributes against internalized standards/norms & feel discomfort when there are discrepancies

How can one reduce discomfort related to self awareness?

• Withdraw/ship out awareness

• Shape up/try to match standards

How do private & public self-consciousness differ?

• The private self: derived from internal body sensations, emotions, feelings & thoughts

• The public self: reflected in one’s behavior, speech, & physical appearance & other attributes visible to others

High in self-consciousness → align behavior w/ _____ _____

High in public self-consciousness → present self to others in _____ _____

Internal standards; favorable light

Self-consciousness is necessary for the development of ______.

Self-concept

Define self-concept.

One’s knowledge of & thoughts about the set of qualities attributed to the self

How does William James define “I” v. “Me”?

“I” is internal self (subjective, thinker, & inner self), “Me” is external self (material, social, spiritual, objective, & known self)

Mead says human consciousness is _____ of _____ in relation to others.

Awareness; self

According to Mead, the “reflexive self” is …

Able to plan, organize, & respond to one’s behavior bc “I” & “Me” are in dialogue w/ one another

How does George H. Mead define “I” v. “Me”?

“I” is self that responds directly/impulsively to the outside world, “Me” is self that has internalized the standpoints & group standards of a person’s culture

What is Charles Cooley’s looking glass self?

Learning to see ourselves as we think others see us (self is product of social interactions, self-image comes from self reflection & what others think of us)

What are the three components of the looking glass self?

• We image how we must appear to others

• We imagine & react to what we feel their judgement of that appearance must be

• We develop ourselves through the judgements of others

Freud says ____ is the center & reality-tester to balance ____ & ____.

Ego; superego; id

What does Jung say makes up the conscious & unconscious self?

Ego & shadow/anima-animus

What is self-schema?

Mental template by which we organize our worlds

What is the self-reference effect?

When info is relevant to our self-concept, we process it quickly & remember it well

What makes up self-concept?

• Self-schema

• Self-reference

• Self-complexity

• Self as agent/self-regulatory process

• Possible selves

The self discrepancy theory looks at these 3 things:

• Actual self

• Ought self-guide

• Ideal self-guide

What are the biases in self-concept?

• Spotlight effect (overestimating the extent that others are noticing/evaluating us)

• Illusion of transparency (tendency for people to overestimate the extend others can recognize their internal thoughts, feelings, attitudes, & intentions)

• Impact bias (tendency for people to overestimate the length/intensity of future feeling states)

• Self-serving bias (tendency to gather/process info in a manner as to advance self interest & support preexisting views)

Memory is highly interrelated to ______.

Self continuity

What is the main function of autobiographical memories?

To generate personal meaning that allow us to make sense of the world & operate on it adaptively

What are memories not always accurate?

• Transient mental construct

• Distort our history to protect our self esteem

• To some degree false

Autobiographical memory includes info from….

Semantic memory (knowledge of general facts/concept → give meaning to info) & episodic memory (events experienced at a particular time/place)

What is autonoetic consciousness?

The human ability to mentally place ourselves in the past, future, or in counterfactual situations, & thus be able to examine our own thoughts

What is the narrative self?

Sense of self based on our life story, can lead to recollection based on sense of self