lecture2 social self 24326

8/8/2019 Lecture2 Social Self 24326

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Social Psychology

Lecture 2, Week 2

The Social SelfSemester 2, 2008

Lecturer: James Neill


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Overview

What is the self?

What is the social

self? Self-constructs

Evolutionary functions

Adaptational functions

Self-complexity

Social comparison

Social feedback Strategic self-

presentation

Self-monitoring Self-regulation


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What is the self?


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What is self?

Describe yourselfe.g., I am statements What do I promote? What do I defend?

Usually includes socialroles e.g., Gender, ethnicity Social identity Group memberships


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Self

Groups

Culture

Environ-ment

Note:

Fuzzyboundaries


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What is the self?

Many, varied theories about

the purpose and functionof the self e.g., in arts, philosophy, science,

culture, religion, and throughhistory.


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What is the self?

Psychologically...

collection of cognitively-held beliefs that a personpossesses about

themselves.


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What is the self?

However

Self seems to extendbeyond the physical self(body), to include

psychologicallymeaningful personalpossessions and personals ace.


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What kinds of impressions arethese people trying to make,

using their clothing?


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What is the self?

The self is an importanttool with which thehuman organism makesits way through human

society and therebymanages to satisfy its

needs.


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What is the self?

Traditionally, selfwas seen asrepresentingstable, genetically

determinedcharacter orlater, personality.


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What is the self?

More recently, self

was understood toevolve during alifetime,

i.e.Partly stable, partly

changing.


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What is the self?Most recently, self has been further

complexified and increasingly seenas:Dynamic & changeable

Multiple / Plural Hierarchical

Situationally & cognitively influenced Culturally constructed


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What is the self?The psychological self includes: Attitudes Cognitions Emotions Group Memberships (Social Identity) Ideal / Imagined Selves Memories P

ossessions Self-Beliefs Self-Concepts Self-Images Social Roles


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What is the self?

To determine What is

self, use diagnostic clues: Who am I?

What are you prepared todefend?


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Fluctuating Image(s) of Self

Phenomenal self(Working self-concept)

Unusual aspects about youbecome prominent

Being lone member of some

category Heightens self-awareness

Can impair performance


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What is the social

self?Some argue that self is

entirely a function of theenvironment.e.g., Self as a construct of post-

industrial, capitalist society and politicalsystems which promote self-identity andchoice-making, and then markets to the

self.


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What is the social

self? Interpersonal selfor social self

part of self that engages face-to-face, in

relation with others. Social roles -> Social identity or

Societal self

can include ethnicity, gender, age, placeof residence or any other socialcategorization that helps characterize apersons identity.


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Purpose of the self

Gain social acceptance

Play social roles

Society creates anddefines roles

Individual seeks andadopts them


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SelfSelf--ConstructsConstructs(Operationalization)(Operationalization)

SelfSelf--EsteemEsteem

SelfSelf--ConceptConceptSelfSelf--EfficacyEfficacy

SelfSelf--CongruenceCongruenceillustrate how social psychologistsillustrate how social psychologistsstudy peoples selves, in cognitive,study peoples selves, in cognitive,

affective, and behavioral terms.affective, and behavioral terms.


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Self-esteem

Global feelings of self-worth Value placed in & degree of liking

of self. Often based on and closely related

to social comparisons. (e.g., toothin, too fat)

People are motivated to see theirself as worthy/worthwhile (Fiske,2004).


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Self-esteemHigh Self-Esteem

Positive views

Low Self-EsteemAbsence of strong positive

views


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Self-esteem Healthy to have a slightly

inflated sense of self value(Taylor).

Self-esteem serves as asociometer for ones standingin a group (Fiske, 2004).

Self-esteem has beenoveremphasized in Westernsociety, to the detriment ofactual skill (Baumeister)


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Basking and blasting

Group membership may enhancepositive feelings about self (Cialdini

et.al, 1976) Basking - Linking oneself to winners

Blasting - Criticizing a rival group

People show a stronger tendency toblast (negative) than bask (positive)


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Basking and blasting

Loyal fans experience changes in

their own confidence level basedon the success or failure of theirteam

Losing had a stronger effect thanwinning


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Low self-esteem Research on low self-esteem

Do not want to fail

Self-concept confusion Focus on self-protection

More prone to emotional highs and

lows

Myth of low-self esteem in UnitedStates


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Distorted perceptions of

nondepressed Positive illusions

Overestimate good qualities Underestimate faults

Overestimate control over events

Unrealistically optimistic


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Self-deception strategies

Self Serving Bias

More skeptical of bad feedback

Junk Mail Theory of Self-Deception Comparisons with those slightly

worse

Skew impressions of others tohighlight own good traits asunusual


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Benefits of high self-

esteem Initiative Confidence you can do the right

thing More adventurous in activities

Feels good

Helps one to overcome badfeelings

If they fail, more likely to try again


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Why do we care about

self-esteem?

Sociometer theory

Self-esteem is a measure of socialacceptability

Self-esteem feels good

Theory of terror management


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egative aspects of

high self-esteem Narcissism

Subset of high self-esteem Tend to be more aggressive and

violent

Higher prejudice Tend to think their group is better


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Pursuit of self-esteem

May have harmful consequences

Can compromise pursuit of competence

Impairs autonomy Pressure to meet expectations of others

Weakens individual intrinsic motivation

Impairs learning Can damage relationships

Can be harmful to health


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Self-presentation Behaviors that convey an image

to others

Public esteem More important than private self-

esteem

Public behaviourActing for the audience


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Functions of self-

presentation Social acceptance

Increase chance of acceptanceand maintain place within thegroup

Claiming identity Social validation of claims to

identity


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Good self-presentationDemonstrate positive traits

Behave with consideration ofaudience

Tradeoff Tendency toward favorable

presentation

Modesty More prevalent in long-term

relationships

Risky behaviors


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Self-concept Cognitive representations of the self. Now commonly seen as a set of multi-

dimensional and hierarchically organized

domains of self-concept, e.g., Physical Self-Concept Academic Self-Concept Social Self-Concept

Same-Sex Relations Opposite-Sex Relations Parent Relations, etc.

Top-down vs. bottom-up debate


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Self-efficacy e.g. Social Self-Efficacy for Relating to

Teachers1. I can get along with most of my

teachers.

2. I can go and talk with most of myteachers.3. I can get my teachers to help me if I

have problems with other students.

4. I can explain what I think to most of myteachers.

5. I ask the teacher to tell me how well I'mdoing in class.

(Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005)


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Rogers: Self-congruence

ACTUAL

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

Incongruence Anxiety Defense


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Self has evolutionary

functions Self-biase.g., access to resources

Self-organization / Self-complexitye.g., adaptability & self-insight/self-control

Self-promotion

e.g., for increased likelihood of mating Social comparison

e.g., motivation to improve

Social controle.g., storage of social norms and rules


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Self has evolutionary

functions Self-biase.g., access to resources

Self-organization / Self-complexitye.g., adaptability & self-insight/self-control

Self-promotion

e.g., for increased likelihood of mating Social comparison

e.g., motivation to improve

Social controle.g., storage of social norms and rules


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S f


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Self has adaptational

functionsThe self can serve various

social psychologicalfunctions; having a self is notonly knowing where your

skin ends, but also how toget along in a group.(Fiske, 2004, p. 176)


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Self-complexity

People generally see

themselves as morecomplex and others as

less complex.


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Self-complexity

There are individual variations

in self-complexity, with self-complexity beingadvantageous

e.g., less depressed, better able tohandle stress, etc.


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Self-complexity

includes having

multiple possibleselves.


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Social comparisonEveryone uses social comparison to:

Understand how they are doing

(through comparison withsimilar others)

Feel better

(through downwardcomparison)

To improve

(through upward comparison)


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Social feedback

Symbolic interactionism:

All self perceptions arebased on ones history

of social interactions.


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Social feedback

Reflected appraisal:

Ones sense of self isbased on how one

perceives that othersperceives one.


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Social feedback

Spotlight effect: People

tend to think otherpeople notice and

evaluate them morethan they actually do.


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Social feedback

Transparency Effect:

People tend to thinkthat their inner self

leaks out and is moreobvious than it really is.


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Self-discrepancies

Actual-Ideal -> Promotion Focus

(failure -> Depression)Ideal-Ought -> Prevention Focus

(failure -> Anxiety)


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Self-discrepancies

Self-evaluation maintenance theory

More relevant the comparison,the more threat

Closer the person is, the more

emotion(+ve or ve)


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Self-monitoring

High(adjusts behavior to situation;monitors situation)

Low(principled attitudes guidebehaviour)


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Self-regulation

Monitoring and controlling self-

presentation and behavior usesup valuable self-regulatoryresources.

S lf


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Self-awareness

Attention directed at the self Private self-awareness

Public self-awareness

Usually involvesevaluativecomparison.


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Self-awareness

In general, people spend

little time actually thinkingabout themselves.

(but a lot of time is spentthinking about self-presentationand self-preservation)


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Self-awareness

Certain situations

(e.g., mirrors, cameras,audiences, self-developmentexercises, increase self-

awareness) Individual differences in self-

consciousness


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Self compared to standards

Concepts of how things mightpossibly be

Ideals, norms, expectations, moralprinciples, laws, past experiences

Around age 2, begin use of

standards Beginning of self-awareness


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Self-awareness and

behaviourSelf-awareness

Improves behaviour

Enables people to be

more socially desirable

S f


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Self-awareness

Causes us to notice self-discrepancies and can

produce temporaryreductions in self-esteem.


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Self-awareness

To cope, we either adjust

our behavior to meet ourstandards or withdrawfrom self-focusing

situations.e.g., watch TV, play sport,alcohol, suicide.


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Self-awareness


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Purpose of self-awareness

Self-regulation

Adopt the perspective ofother people

Manage behavior in pursuitof goals

Wh l k lf


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Why people seek self-

knowledgeAppraisal motive Looking for the truth about oneself

Self-enhancement Motive Looking for flattering things about

self

Consistency motive Looking for confirmation about

current belief about self


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When motives competeAppraisal motive

Weakest motive

Self-enhancement motive Strongest motive (emotional

appeal)

Consistency motive Second preference (cognitive

appeal)


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Self-knowledge and the

duplex mind

Automatic egotism

Automatic, self-enhancing

Modesty

Conscious, deliberate control

Self and information


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Self and informationprocessing

Self-reference Effect

Information bearing on self is

processed more deeply andremembered better

Endowment effect

Items gain in value to the personwho owns them

C lf t h ?


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Can self-concept change? Self-concept tends to be consistent

with public self:

People expect you to stay the same

Changing social environment maychange inner self

Convince others that you have

changedAllow others to see your changed

behavior

Memory shifts to fit new self-concept.


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References

Fiske, S. T. (2004). The self: Social to thecore. In S. T. Fiske (2004). Social beings: Acore motives approach to social psychology.

(Ch 5, pp. 169 214). Hoboken, NJ: JohnWiley.

Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M.(2005). Final Performance Report for OERIGrant # R305T010673: The Social Context of

Parental Involvement: A Path to EnhancedAchievement. Presented to Project Monitor,Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.Department of Education, March 22, 2005.

O Offi I


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