Self Concept: Who Am I?

Aspects

1. The perceived self

2. The ideal self

3. The presenting self

1. The Perceived Self

• How we see ourselves

• Hard to be objective and subjective

• Somewhat inaccurate

2. The Ideal Self

• How we ideally want to be

• “I should…:”

• The goals we have for ourselves

3. The Presenting Self

• How we want others to perceive us

• Tends to be kinder, funnier, etc.

• “Impression Management” (The way we present ourselves to others for our benefit)

Self Concept

• What people know and believe about themselves

• Not all equal, some are not permanent and some go to the core of who we are

Schema and Self Schema

Schema:

• Mental templates in which people organize their worlds

Self Schema:

• Beliefs about self that organize/guide the processing of self-relevant information

• Powerfully effects how people perceive, remember, and evaluate other people/themselves

Self and Culture

Individualism:

• Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Collectivism

• Giving priority to one’s groups and defining one’s identity accordingly

Individualism-Collectivism

• Varies from person to person

Individualism

Independent Identity:

• Personal, defined by traits and goals

What Matters:

• Me, personal achievement, my rights and liberties

Disapproves of:

• Conformity

Cultures that Support

• Individualistic western

Collectivism

Interdependent Identity:

• Social, defined by connections with others

What Matters:

• We, group goals, our responsibilities

Disapproves of:

• Egotism

Cultures that Support:

• Collectivistic Asian and third world

Collectivist Cultures

• Self esteem tends to be malleable rather than stable

• Happiness comes with positive social engagement

• Conflict takes place between groups

Individualistic Cultures

• Self esteem is more personal and less relational

• Happiness comes from disengaged emotions

• Conflict breeds between individuals

Planning Fallacy

• Tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a task

• We always think we have more time than we do

Strategies to Improve Self-Predictions

• Being realistic about how long tasks took in the past

• Estimating how long each step in the project will take

Predicting One’s Feelings

• Studies of affective forecasting reveal that people have greatest difficulty predicting the intensity and duration of their future emotions

• Individuals are especially prone to impact bias after negative events

• People neglect the speed and the power of their coping mechanisms which include rationalization, discounting, forgiving, and limiting emotional trauma

• “How would you feel if you were dying?”

Research on the Limits of Self-Knowledge

Practical Implications

• Errors in self-understanding limit the scientific usefulness of subjective personal reports

• People can report and interpret their experiences with complete honesty, but that does not mean they are true

• “You can’t really know yourself alone”

• We see ourselves in the mirrors of others

Self Serving Bias

• Tendency to perceive oneself favorably

Faces of Self Serving Bias

• Ethics

• Professional competence

• Virtues

• Voting

• Intelligence

• Parental support

• Health

• Attractiveness

• Driving

• People even judge themselves as LESS self serving than others

Explaining Positive and Negative Effects of Self Serving Bias

• Self serving explanations contribute to marital discord, worker dissatisfaction, and bargaining impasses

• People help maintain their positive self image by associating themselves with success and distancing themselves from failure

• On subjective, socially desirable, and common dimensions, most people see themselves as better than the average person

• The bias actually makes ourselves feel better

Unrealistic Optimism

Illusory optimism increases individual’s vulnerability

• believing themselves immune to misfortune, they do not take sensible precautions

Optimism beats pessimism in promoting:

• Self-efficacy

• Health

• Well-being

Defensive Pessimism

• Saves people from the perils of unrealistic optimism

• Anticipates problems and motivates effective coping

False Consensus

False Consensus Effect:

• Tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors

• “I’m not that bad, everybody lies — no expections”

False Uniqueness

False Uniqueness Effect

• Tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and one’s desirable or successful behaviors

Self-Esteem Motivation

• Individuals are motivated to assess their competence, verify their self-conceptions, and enhance their self-image while questing for self-knowledge, self-confirmation, and self-affirmation

• Trying to increase self-esteem helps power individuals’ self-serving bias

• Most people extremely motivated to maintain their self-esteem

• People with high self-esteem react to a self-esteem threat by compensating for it

• People with low self-esteem react to a self-esteem threat by blaming themselves or giving up

• Social rejection lowers self-esteem ad makes people more eager for approval