Chapter 2: The Self - Understanding "Who Am I"
The self-concept is the sum of beliefs about one's attributes, influenced by self-schemas. Self-schemas guide how we process self-relevant information and impact our behavior, including gender, body image, race, ethnicity, and affiliations.
We develop our self-concept by:
Comparing ourselves with others.
Imagining how others see us (the looking-glass self).
Considering our possible selves.
Responding to cultural influences.
Self-awareness includes:
Subjective self-awareness: Basic awareness of one's body.
Objective self-awareness: Recognizing oneself as an object of attention.
Symbolic self-awareness: Understanding the past and future, which brings both benefits and awareness of mortality (Terror Management Theory).
Memories are often positively biased (rose-colored). Autobiographical memories shape our self-concept by placing us in time and space. Self-perception theory suggests we gain self-insight from our behavior when internal cues are ambiguous. This doesn't apply with external justification.
Facial expressions and body posture influence our emotions (facial-feedback hypothesis). Social comparison theory states that we evaluate ourselves by comparing to others, especially when uncertain. We typically compare to similar others, and the black-sheep effect can occur when someone threatens a group's positive image.
Individual and cultural factors also affect our self-concept:
Personal Identity vs. Social Identity Continuum: Comparing within (intra-group) or between (inter-group) groups.
Cultural perspectives: Individualistic cultures value independence, while collectivistic cultures value interdependence.
Self-esteem is an affective component of self-evaluation, differing in level and stability. Self-complexity relates to t he number of aspects in one's self-concept; more complexity aids resilience. Self-discrepancy is the mismatch between actual and ought selves; greater discrepancy leads to negative feelings.
Self-focusing situations (public vs. private) can increase self-awareness. Self-enhancement involves seeing more positive than negative traits and overestimating control. The self-reference effect connects personal associations (e.g., name) to unrelated things.
Self-serving biases attribute positive outcomes to internal causes and negative ones to external factors. Mechanisms include over-optimism, blaming others, and believing we are above average.
Cognitive models suggest biases occur when we expect success. Motivational models include the false uniqueness and false consensus effects. Defensive motivations also play a role. Egocentric thought, fear of failure, self-handicapping, learned helplessness, basking in reflected glory, and social comparisons all influence self-serving biases.