7125/6666 Social Psychology - Lecture 1: Introduction, Sem 2, 2007

Social Psychology

Lecture 2, Week 2

The Social Self

Semester 2, 2008

Lecturer: James Neill

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Oberlin-Famille.jpg (Public domain)

29 July, 2008, 11:30-13:30, 2B11

7125-6666 Social Psychology / G

Centre for Applied Psyhology

Faculty of Health

University of Canberra

Bruce, ACT 2601, Australia

ph: +61 2 6201 2536

james.neill@canberra.edu.au

http://ucspace.canberra.edu.au/display/7125/Lecture+Social+Self

The aim of this lecture is to provide an overview of social aspects and functions of the human self.

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

What is the self?

Image sources: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Serov_Self.jpg (left; Public domain)http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Self_portrait.jpg (right; GFDL)

Baumeister & Bushman (2008, p. 71)

What is self?

Describe yourself e.g.,

I am statements

What do I promote?

What do I defend?

Usually includes social roles e.g.,

Gender, ethnicity

Social identity

Group memberships

To determine What is self, use diagnostic clues, such as questions above (Fiske, 2004).

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Soviet_Child_Soldier.JPG (Public domain; disputed)Image description:A "son of the regiment" wearing the Red Star for bravery, surrounded by his admirers. "Sons of the regiment" were orphans adopted by Soviet regiments, and were looked after like the soldiers' own sons. They lived with the soldiers and fought alongside them in front-line actions. After the war, they found it difficult to adjust to civilian life, the company of other children and to children's activities.

Self

GroupsCultureEnviron-ment

Note:
Fuzzyboundaries

Image source: Self-created (Public domain)

What is the self?

Many, varied theories about the purpose and function of the self

e.g., in arts, philosophy, science, culture, religion, and through history.

What is the self?

Psychologically...

collection of cognitively-held beliefs that a person possesses about themselves.

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Thinking_man.png (GFDL)

What is the self?

However

Self seems to extend beyond the physical self (body), to include psychologically meaningful personal possessions and personal space.

e.g., in a car accident, people are inclined to refer to another person ran into me, when its actually the cars that ran into each other, not the selves

What kinds of impressions are these people trying to make, using their clothing?

Imgae source: Baumeister & Bushman (2008)

What is the self?

The self is an important tool with which the human organism makes its way through human society and thereby manages to satisfy its needs.

Image source: Cropped, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Buchenwald_Children_Zionism_80273.jpg (Public domain)Quote is from p. 71, Baumeister & Bushman, 2008

What is the self?

Traditionally, self was seen as representing stable, genetically determined character or later, personality.

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Brighton_Pavilion_stables_edited.jpg(Public domain)

What is the self?

More recently, self was understood to evolve during a lifetime,

i.e.

Partly stable, partly changing.

Developmental Psychology illustrates how self evolves and develops during a lifetime, and how this development is influenced by both personality (e.g., temperament) and social environment (e.g., touch, parenting styles, etc.)

What is the self?

Most recently, self has been further complexified and increasingly seen as:

Dynamic & changeable

Multiple / Plural

Hierarchical

Situationally & cognitively influenced

Culturally constructed

Most recently, self has been further complexified and increasingly seen as:

Dynamic & changeable (organic, alive, responsive)

Multiple / Plural (many selves)

Situationally & cognitively influenced

Hierarchical (top-down? bottom-up?)

Multi-faceted (many dimensions)

Culturally constructed

What is the self?

The psychological self includes:

Attitudes

Cognitions

Emotions

Group Memberships (Social Identity)

Ideal / Imagined Selves

Memories

Possessions

Self-Beliefs

Self-Concepts

Self-Images

Social Roles

What is the self?

To determine What is self, use diagnostic clues:

Who am I?

What are you prepared to defend?

Fiske (2004)

Fluctuating Image(s) of Self

Phenomenal self
(Working self-concept)

Unusual aspects about you become prominent

Being lone member of some category

Heightens self-awareness

Can impair performance

Which ones are most aware of their own race?

What is the social self?

Humans are gregarious, group-based creatures.

A significant portion of our self and its behaviour is socially directed and influenced.

What is the social self?

Some argue that self is entirely a function of the environment.
e.g., Self as a construct of post-industrial, capitalist society and political systems which promote self-identity and choice-making, and then markets to the self.

What is the social self?

Interpersonal self or 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, place of residence or any other social categorization that helps characterize a persons identity.

Purpose of the self

Gain social acceptance

Play social roles

Society creates and defines roles

Individual seeks and adopts them

Teaching Tip: Ask students to imagine how their behavior differs when interacting with a professor, a coworker, a parent, or a friend. These differences can be attributed to the different social roles involved in each interaction.

Self-Constructs
(Operationalization)

Self-EsteemSelf-ConceptSelf-EfficacySelf-Congruence

illustrate how social psychologists study peoples selves, in cognitive, affective, and behavioral terms.

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., too thin, too fat)

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

Self-esteem

High Self-Esteem

Positive views

Low Self-Esteem

Absence of strong positive views

Self-esteem

Healthy to have a slightly inflated sense of self value (Taylor).

Self-esteem serves as a sociometer for ones standing in a group (Fiske, 2004).

Self-esteem has been overemphasized in Western society, to the detriment of actual skill (Baumeister)

Basking and blasting

Group membership may enhance positive feelings about self (Cialdini et.al, 1976)

Basking - Linking oneself to winners

Blasting - Criticizing a rival group

People show a stronger tendency to blast (negative) than bask (positive)

Basking and blasting

Loyal fans experience changes in their own confidence level based on the success or failure of their team

Losing had a stronger effect than winning

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 United States

Distorted perceptions of nondepressed

Positive illusions

Overestimate good qualities

Underestimate faults

Overestimate control over events

Unrealistically optimistic

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 to highlight own good traits as unusual

Benefits of high self-esteem

Initiative

Confidence you can do the right thing

More adventurous in activities

Feels good

Helps one to overcome bad feelings

If they fail, more likely to try again

Why do we care about self-esteem?

Sociometer theory

Self-esteem is a measure of social acceptability

Self-esteem feels good

Theory of terror management

Negative 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

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

Self-presentation

Behaviors that convey an image to others

Public esteem

More important than private self-esteem

Public behaviour

Acting for the audience

Functions of self-presentation

Social acceptance

Increase chance of acceptance and maintain place within the group

Claiming identity

Social validation of claims to identity

Good self-presentation

Demonstrate positive traits

Behave with consideration of audience

Tradeoff

Tendency toward favorable presentation

Modesty

More prevalent in long-term relationships

Risky behaviors

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

Self-efficacy

Belief in ones capacity to succeed at a given task.
e.g. Public Speaking Self-Efficacy

Bandura recommended specific rather than general measures of Self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy

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

1. I can get along with most of my teachers.

2. I can go and talk with most of my teachers.

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 my teachers.

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

(Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005)

Rogers: Self-congruence

ACTUALIDEALEXPERIENCEIncongruence Anxiety Defense

Also see Self-Discrepancy and Ideal vs. Ought Self (Fiske, 2004, p. 200).

Self has evolutionary functions

Self-bias
e.g., access to resources

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

Self-promotion
e.g., for increased likelihood of mating

Social comparison
e.g., motivation to improve

Social control
e.g., storage of social norms and rules

Self has evolutionary functions

Self-bias
e.g., access to resources

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

Self-promotion
e.g., for increased likelihood of mating

Social comparison
e.g., motivation to improve

Social control
e.g., storage of social norms and rules

Self has adaptational functions

Peoples selves allow them to regulate their own behavior, an advantage for both self and group.

Self has adaptational functions

The self can serve various social psychological functions; having a self is not only knowing where your skin ends, but also how to get along in a group.
(Fiske, 2004, p. 176)

Self-complexity

People generally see themselves as more complex and others as less complex.

Self-complexity

There are individual variations in self-complexity, with self-complexity being advantageous

e.g., less depressed, better able to handle stress, etc.

Self-complexity

includes having multiple possible selves.

Social comparison

Everyone uses social comparison to:

Understand how they are doing
(through comparison with similar others)

Feel better
(through downward comparison)

To improve
(through upward comparison)

Fiske (2004, p. 186)

Social feedback

Symbolic interactionism: All self perceptions are based on ones history of social interactions.

Fiske (2004, p. 186)

Social feedback

Reflected appraisal: Ones sense of self is based on how one perceives that others perceives one.

Fiske (2004, p. 186)

Social feedback

Spotlight effect: People tend to think other people notice and evaluate them more than they actually do.

Fiske (2004, p. 186)

Social feedback

Transparency Effect: People tend to think that their inner self leaks out and is more obvious than it really is.

Fiske (2004, p. 186)

Self-discrepancies

Actual-Ideal -> Promotion Focus
(failure -> Depression)

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

Fiske (2004, p. 200)

Self-discrepancies

Self-evaluation maintenance theory

More relevant the comparison, the more threat

Closer the person is, the more emotion
(+ve or ve)

Fiske (2004, p. 200)

Strategic self-presentation

Ingratiation
(being liked)

Self-Promotion
(being competent)

Intimidation
(being in control)

Exemplification
(Worthy, saintly)

Supplication
(Helpless)

Jones & Pittman, 1982 in Fiske (2004, p. 206)

Jones & Pittman, 1982 in Fiske (2004, p. 206)

Jones & Pittman, 1982 in Fiske (2004, p. 206)

Self-monitoring

High
(adjusts behavior to situation; monitors situation)

Low
(principled attitudes guide behaviour)

Fiske (2004, p. 212)

Self-regulation

Monitoring and controlling self-presentation and behavior uses up valuable self-regulatory resources.

Fiske (2004, p. 212)

Self-awareness

Attention directed at the self

Private self-awareness

Public self-awareness

Usually involves
evaluative
comparison.

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bael.jpg (Public domain)

Self-awareness

In general, people spend little time actually thinking about themselves.

(but a lot of time is spent thinking about self-presentation and self-preservation)

Brehm et al (2005), p. 92

Self-awareness

Certain situations
(e.g., mirrors, cameras, audiences, self-development exercises, increase self-awareness)

Individual differences in self-consciousness

Brehm et al (2005), p. 92

Self compared to standards

Concepts of how things might possibly be

Ideals, norms, expectations, moral principles, laws, past experiences

Around age 2, begin use of standards

Beginning of self-awareness

Self-awareness and behaviour

Self-awareness

Improves behaviour

Enables people to be more socially desirable

Self-awareness

Causes us to notice self-discrepancies and can produce temporary reductions in self-esteem.

Brehm et al (2005), p. 92Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:BB-Bea.jpg from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianboulos/12398041/ by Brian Bolos. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Self-awareness

To cope, we either adjust our behavior to meet our standards or withdraw from self-focusing situations.
e.g., watch TV, play sport, alcohol, suicide.

Brehm et al (2005), p. 92

Self-awareness

Baumeister & Bushman (2008, p. 76)

Purpose of self-awareness

Self-regulation

Adopt the perspective of other people

Manage behavior in pursuit of goals

Why people seek self-knowledge

Appraisal 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

Technology Tip: The website Hot or Not provides an interesting example of seeking self-knowledge. Individuals can post their own pictures to be rated by others or merely log on to the site and rate the attractiveness of those posted. (http://www.hotornot.com)Teaching Tip: An interesting prediction of the consistency motive is that those who hold negative views of themselves may resist information to the contrary.

When motives compete

Appraisal motive

Weakest motive

Self-enhancement motive

Strongest motive (emotional appeal)

Consistency motive

Second preference (cognitive appeal)

Self-knowledge and the duplex mind

Automatic egotism

Automatic, self-enhancing

Modesty

Conscious, deliberate control

Self and information processing

Self-reference Effect

Information bearing on self is processed more deeply and remembered better

Endowment effect

Items gain in value to the person who owns them

Can self-concept change?

Self-concept tends to be consistent with public self:

People expect you to stay the same

Changing social environment may change inner self

Convince others that you have changed

Allow others to see your changed behavior

Memory shifts to fit new self-concept.

References

Fiske, S. T. (2004). The self: Social to the core. In S. T. Fiske (2004). Social beings: A core motives approach to social psychology. (Ch 5, pp. 169 214). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (2005). Final Performance Report for OERI Grant # R305T010673: The Social Context of Parental Involvement: A Path to Enhanced Achievement. Presented to Project Monitor, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, March 22, 2005.

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