section 2
The Self
the self has two parts:
self-concept: the content of the self, more objective
self-awareness: the act of thinking about ourselves, more subjective
Sense of Self
tested with the “red dot” self
develops around 18 months in humans
other animals have a sense of self
chimpanzees, orangutans, dolphins, possibly gorillas
The Self Concept
cultural differences in self-concept
Western cultures = independent view of the self
define self via own thoughts, feelings, actions
Eastern cultures = interdependent view of the self
define self via relationships with others and others’ (or group’s) thoughts, feelings, actions
generalized differences, much within culture availability
gender differences in self-concept (specific to Western cultures)
women = more focused on relationships as part of self
men = more focused on group memberships as part of self
MUCH within gender variability
Self-Esteem
overall positive or negative evaluation about the self
trait: enduring level of self-esteem
state: malleable feelings about the self
(can change from moment to moment)
contingencies of self-worth: aspect to which your self-esteem is closely tied
self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987)
actual self (who I am) vs. ideal self (who I want to be) vs. ought self (who should I be)
actual ≠ ideal: feel dejected
actual ≠ ought: feel anxiety
Impression Management
present our self to others how we want to be seen
many impression management strategies
ingratiation: using flattery or praise to be likable (compliments, agreement, commiseration, etc.)
intimidation: using fear to gain power by convincing others with your own accomplishments
self-promotion: attempting to impress others with your own accomplishments
supplication: advertising your own weaknesses or dependence on others to gain help or sympathy
Self-Monitoring
not all people engage in impression management to the same degree
self-monitoring: the tendency to change behavior in response to the self-presentation concerns of the situation
high self-monitors: have a repertoire of selves, “social chameleon”
low self-monitors: express same self in all situations, “character actors”
Self-Schemas
system of self-schemas
ideas about who we are in various settings
implies a complex self-concept
can affect our own behaviors
“bad at science” means not taking science courses
does not lead to confusions about who we are
working self-concept is accessible, other parts are not
use situational attributions to explain inconsistent behaviors
Social Comparison
evaluating the self (opinions, abilities, etc.) by comparing to others
when do we compare?
no objective standard
uncertainty
to whom do we compare?
initially, to anyone around
given time, look for appropriate comparison
upward social comparison
serves a motivational function
downward social comparison
serves a self-esteem maintenance function \
Introspection
a process of looking inward to examine the self
not as common as we think
introspection and mood (Wilson, Laser, & Stone, 1982)
students rates their daily mood for 5 weeks
also rated predictor variables that might affect mood
day of week, amount of sleep, relationships with friends
indicated how much each predictor was related to their mood from -3 (not at all) to +3 (very much)
Introspection Accuracy
researchers correlated what people thought influenced them and if it actually did
participants only modestly accurate
Participant relied on causal theories about mood
causal theories: ideas about what causes our own feelings, behaviors, etc; often learned from culture
unrelated people estimated cause of participants’ moods
EQUALLY ACCURATE - relied on the same causal theories
Observing the Self
self-perception theory
when attitudes or feelings are uncertain
can infer attitudes or feelings by looking at our behavior and the situation when behavior happens
two motivations for engaging in behaviors
intrinsic motivation = desire to do a behavior because we like it, find it interesting, etc.
extrinsic motivation: desire to do a behavior because of external rewards or pressures
adding extrinsic motivation for something that was intrinsically motivated can be negative → overjustification effect
overjustification in schools (Lepper, Greene & Nisbett, 1973)
preschoolers asked to do a fun activity, draw pictures with new “magic markers”
divided into three groups
no reward
expected reward
unexpected reward
extrinsic motivators (rewards) only negative if intrinsic interest was present to begin with
type of reward matters
task-contingent rewards most likely to backfire
performance-contingent rewards slightly less likely backfire
Schachter’s Two-Factor theory of emotion
experience physiological arousal
look for a reason for arousal
arousal + reason = emotion label
misattribution can occur, leading to misperception about the self
Dutton and Aron (1974)
men meet an attractive woman, get #
on a scary bridge
after crossing bridge, sitting on a bench
wondered which men would think they were more attracted to the woman
will they miss attribute their own emotions?
scary bridge group called more
Self-Esteem Maintenance
Self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988)
when self is threatened, we can
deal directly with the threat
affirm the self in an unrelated domain to feel good
Self-Affirmation Theory
study to test affirming the self in a different domain
participants: science majors or business majors
asked to wear a “white lab coat” or regular coats
procedure → post-decisional dissonance
rated record albums, pick one to go home, rate albums again
expected to see dissonance unless people were affirmed in another domain
found dissonance for all participants EXCEPT those who felt good about themselves in another domain
wearing a “white lab coat” was self-affirming for the science majors
street clothes | lab coat | |
science | dissonance | no dissonance |
business | dissonance | dissonance |
Do we prefer to affirm in a different domain?
sexually active college students wrote a speech about safe sex, paid for study
3 conditions
no dissonance: write speech, donate money, or buy condoms
dissonance +1 choice: write speech and think about when you did not have safe sex, can donate money
dissonance +2 choices: write speech and think about when you did not have safe sex, can donate money or buy condoms
when reducing dissonance, we prefer
to deal directly with the threat
affirm in another domain if direct reduction not possible
Balance Theory
another way to look at cognitive consistency
also assumes that we are motivated to reduce inconsistencies in our thoughts
can address relationships among the self and other people/objects/thoughts
how to regain balance?
must change one of the relationships in questions
from previous slide
Arden can change relationship with Alex
Arden can change relationship toward Fluffy
Arden can make Alex change relationship toward Fluffy
Terror Management Theory
ultimate self threat = knowledge of our mortality (Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1997)
Reminders of mortality increase how much we care about and follow own world view
world view: religion, politics, core personal values, cultural norms
affects world view
judges and students were asked to recommend a fine for a minor crime
two conditions
mortality salience - write about your own death
control condition - write about what would it be like to get a tooth extraction
Attitudes
3 sources and/or types of attitude
cognitions (beliefs)
affect (emotions)
behavior
Attitude Types
cognitive → beliefs about the properties of the “attitude object”
cognitive attitudes function as object appraisal
thing that helps me = good
things that hurts me = bad
affective → feelings and values associated with the “attitude object”
affectively based attitudes function as “value-expressive”
thing that makes me happy/is cool = good
thing that makes me said/is gross = bad
can be the result of sensory reaction or conditioning
affective attitudes can come from either type of conditioning
classical conditioning
neutral object paired with something that evokes a response
eventually, neutral object takes on the same emotional response
operant conditioning
reinforcement and punishment are used to increase or decrease behaviors
behavioral → observe our behavior toward the “attitude object”
behaviorally based attitudes emerge when…
we have nor or minimal cognitive or affective attitude
no external reason for our behavior
self-perception theory
Mental Acrobatics
cognitive dissonance (Festinger): a drive or feeling of discomfort, caused by holding two or more inconsistent cognitions
Aronson's revision to dissonance: dissonance caused by performing an action that is discrepant from one's (typically positive) self-concept
reducing dissonance maintains our self-esteem
Reducing Dissonance
change your behavior: bring your behavior in line with your thoughts
change your cognitions: bring your cognitions in line with your behavior
add new cognitions: think of new things that support your behavior.
Classic Dissonance #1:
choice justification (Brehm, 1956): dissonance occurs after an important decision between two similar things
reduce dissonance by enhancing what you chose and devaluing what you didn't choose.
Happens AFTER decision
Classic Dissonance #2:
justification of effort (Aronson & Mills, 1959)
increasing liking for something you have worked hard to get
people must feel like they had a choice over their behavior.
- July 2002: Person who could touch a 1999 Ford Taurus the longest wins the car.
- Winner stood for 58.5 hours
- Michael Payne (19 years) dropped out after 19 hours.
Passed out from dehydration and was hospitalized.
Classic Dissonance #3:
- Insufficient justification (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959)
- Threats to self-esteem
- Illusion of choice
- Low external justification - lots of dissonance
- High external justification = minimal dissonance
Classic Dissonance #4
- Insufficient punishment (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963)
- Kids do not play with favorite toy after:
- Mild threat of punishment = lots of dissonance
- Severe threat of punishment = minimal dissonance
Dissonance and Relationships:
reducing relationship dissonance:
focus on other person by reducing closeness.
focus on activity by making it less central to your self-esteem
focus on own behavior by outperforming the other person.
Attitudes
3 sources and/or types of attitude
cognitions (beliefs)
affect (emotions)
behavior
Attitude Types
cognitive → beliefs about the properties of the “attitude object”
cognitive attitudes function as object appraisal
thing that helps me = good
things that hurts me = bad
affective → feelings and values associated with the “attitude object”
affectively based attitudes function as “value-expressive”
thing that makes me happy/is cool = good
thing that makes me said/is gross = bad
can be the result of sensory reaction or conditioning
affective attitudes can come from either type of conditioning
classical conditioning
neutral object paired with something that evokes a response
eventually, neutral object takes on the same emotional response
operant conditioning
reinforcement and punishment are used to increase or decrease behaviors
behavioral → observe our behavior toward the “attitude object”
behaviorally based attitudes emerge when…
we have nor or minimal cognitive or affective attitude
no external reason for our behavior
self-perception theory
Changing Attitude
how do we change attitudes?
cognitive dissonance → behavioral attitudes
fear arousing communications → affective attitudes
Yale Attitude Change Approach → cognitive attitudes
collection of variables that impact attitudes
Elaboration Likelihood Model
peripheral route → affective attitudes
central route → cognitive attitudes
dual process model: the person and the situation jointly determine persuasion
the person
individual differences (need for cognition)
the situation
time pressures, resources
Yale Attitude Change Approach
who says what to whom
who: the source of the communication
what: the nature of the communication
whom: the nature of the audience
WHO
expertise: experts persuade better than non-experts
attractiveness: attractive people persuade more than unattractive people
WHAT
a 2-sided argument more persuasive (gives the appearance of “fairness”)
inoculation theory
expose audience to small dose of arguments against your position and then refute them
increase immunity to later persuasive attempts
primacy: people influenced by what they hear first
more of an effect when decision is made long after persuasion (first argument frames the debate)
recency: people influenced by what they hear last
more of an affect when decision is made immediately after persuasion (second argument is fresh in people’s minds)
WHOM
audience characteristics
distraction
self-esteem, intelligence
age - young adults more flexible in attitudes
brand loyalty and attitudes shaped as young adults
Elaboration Likelihood Model: two routes to change attitudes
peripheral route - good for affective attitudes
people who do not have ability or motivation to pay attention do not elaborate
pay more attention to peripheral cues
central route - good for cognitive attitudes
need ability and motivation to listen carefully
paying attention to arguments leads to elaborating on the persuasive messages
length of attitude change varies
LONG lasting change if…
central route of ELM was used
SHORT term change if…
peripheral route of ELM was used
Advertising
average american exposed to 300-400 ads per day
goal: change attitudes to increase buying/using a product
people think ads do not influence attitudes & behavior → IT DOES
Changing Attitudes
TV ads often focus on affective attitudes
easier to manipulate
people do no have to pay as much attention (peripheral route of ELM)
targeting affective attitudes in ads
fear arousing communications
classical conditioning
associate good feeling with the attitude object
Subliminal Advertising
subliminal = below threshold of awareness
public opinion is that subliminal advertising works
George & Jennings (1975)
flashed “Hershey’s Chocolate” at subliminal levels during a film in one class, not in another
measured percent of students buying chocolate
fewer students bought chocolate compared to message vs. no message
affecting preference for ads (not affecting behavior)
Gable, Wilkens, harris, and Feinburg (1987)
hid sexual images in prints ads
asked people about which ad they preferred
sexual ads and normals ads were preferred equally
Subliminal Perception
subliminal perception does occur
can change behavior or attitudes in highly controlled conditions and for a short period of time
Murphy & Zsjonc (1993): asked people to rate a symbol
liked the symbol more when flashed a happy face, least when flashed an angry face
More Advertising Effects
advertising can also
create brand new attitudes
increase purchasing via accessibility
mere exposure: the more we see something, the more we like it
Advertising Summary
people think:
regular ads DO NOT affect them
subliminal as DO affect them
the reality:
regular ads DO affect people
subliminal ads DO NOT affect people
Attitude Behavior Gap
ads assume attitudes and behaviors match
sometimes but sometimes not at all
when do attitudes and behaviors match
compare specific attitudes and matching behavior
averaging across behaviors shows greater match with attitudes
if attitudes are accessible in the moment
Explicit vs. Implicit Attitudes
explicit attitudes
reportable, conscious
correlated with controlled behaviors (e.g. verbal)
usually measured by survey or verbal responses
implicit attitudes
un-reportable, unconscious
correlated with uncontrolled behaviors (e.g. nonverbal)
usually measured by response latency
study to measure racial attitudes
participants responded to explicit and implicit measures
spoke with a Black or White confederate
Naïve observers coded theri verbal and nonverbal behaviors