the self in a social world chapter 2. self-concept: who am i? i am

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The Self in a Social World Chapter 2

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Page 1: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

The Self in a Social World

Chapter 2

Page 2: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Self-Concept: Who Am I?

• I am

• I am

• I am

• I am

• I am

Page 3: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

At the Center of Our Worlds: Our Sense of Self

• Self-schemas– Affect our memory: self-reference effect– Affect our perception/interpretation of others– “Spotlight effect”– Our “possible self-schemas” motivate us

• Positive AND negative

Page 4: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

I Am Me; I Am OKWhat is Self-Esteem?

• Our overall self-evaluation

• What makes it high or low?– “Top down” - Which schemas are most

important to you? – “Bottom up” - Do you already have high self-

esteem?

Page 5: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Development of the Social Self

• Genetic influences

• Our roles: Playing to becoming

• Social identity = identity that comes from group memberships– Small group surrounded by large group = more

consciousness of that social identity

Page 6: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

• Social Comparisons– How do we know we are smart, dumb,

handsome, etc.?– The pitfalls of comparison

• Successes and failures

• Other people’s judgments

Development of the Social Self (cont.)

Page 7: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Self and Culture:Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Individualism and Western culture– Priority is given to self-goals and identity over

group goals and identity; the independent self

• Collectivism - the interdependent self

• There are variations w/in cultures

• Self-esteem in different cultures

Page 8: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Self-Knowledge• How well do you really know yourself?

– On one level, very well– On another level, not very well at all

• Is it obvious or subtle?

• Predicting our behavior

• Predicting our feelings

• The bottom line: often we are dead wrong, sometimes we are right on

Page 9: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Perceived Self-Control

• “Self-control operates like muscular strength…both are weaker after exertion, replenished with rest, and strengthened by exercise” (p. 53)

Page 10: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Self-Efficacy

• Sense of competence and effectiveness

• The benefits of self-efficacy (correlations):– More persistence– Less anxiousness, depression– Healthier lives– More academic success– Higher worker productivity

Page 11: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Locus of Control

• To what do you attribute outcomes?

• Internal versus external

• Which one is more likely to– Do well in school?– Successfully stop smoking?– Wear seat belts?– Use birth control?– Deal directly w/ marital problems?– Make more money?

Page 12: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Learned Helplessness Versus Self-Determination

• Learned helplessness - “I am helpless because I have no control over the bad things that happen to me”

• Langer and Rodin (1976)

• Personal control can affect the health of the psyche

• The “Tyranny of Freedom”

Page 13: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Self-Serving Bias

• The “culture of low self-esteem” fallacy

• Self-serving bias =– The tendency to perceive oneself favorably

Page 14: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Explaining Positive and Negative Events

• People tend to accept credit for their successes– esp. in situations that combine skill & chance

• They also tend to attribute failure to external factors

• The marital version…the student version…the employee version… the driver’s version...

Page 15: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Can We All Be Better Than Average?

• The self-serving bias tends to be esp. pronounced when comparing ourselves to people in general

• Subjective dimensions also elicit greater s-s bias than objective behavioral dimensions

• We tend to place greater importance on the things we feel good at

Page 16: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Unrealistic Optimism• Pervades our thinking• Increases our vulnerability

– Unsafe sex– Smoking– Seat belt use– Marriage!

• BUT… it promotes self-efficacy, health, and well-being.

• We need a bit of “defensive pessimism”

Page 17: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

False Consensus and Uniqueness

• False consensus effect: the tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors

• False uniqueness effect: the tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and one’s desirable or successful behaviors.

Page 18: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Self-Esteem Motivation

• Why the self-serving bias?– Multiple motives– Cognitions are influenced by motivations to

protect and/or enhance self-esteem

Page 19: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

The Dark Side of Self-Esteem

• Low SE is associated w/ higher risk of depression, drug abuse, and some types of delinquency

• Teen gang leaders, extreme ethnocentrists, and terrorists tend to have higher than average SE.

• Does ego really = low self-esteem?

Page 20: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

Impression Management

• Self-presentation is how we act or behave to create a desired impression on another– Consciously or unconsciously– Self-handicapping– False modesty

• Self-monitoring is the cycle of monitoring one’s behavior, noting how others react, and adjusting one’s behavior accordingly.

Page 21: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

• Janet Swim and Lauri Hyers (1997)– Participants were presented with this hypothetical

situation: You and 3 others are discussing whom to select for survival on a private island. One man in this group makes a series of sexist comments such as “I think we need more women on the island to keep the men satisfied.” How did the student participants react to his remark? 5% said they would ignore his comments or wait to see how the others reacted. Then, the experimenters engaged others in discussions where a male confederate made such comments. What percent actually said nothing?

56%

Page 22: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

• “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go so I ran over him.”• “A truck backed through my windshield and into my wife’s face.”• “The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”• “I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.”• “To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front, I hit the pedestrian.”• “The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it hit my front end.” :-)

Page 23: The Self in a Social World Chapter 2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? I am

On a sheet of paper write down 10 antonym pairs such as

good - badRain - sun

Circle the pairs where the positive antonym was listed first

The Polyanna Principle: In perception, language, memory, and thought, the pleasant predominates over the unpleasant.