the social self: lecture #2 topics who am i? how do we know who we are? how do we see ourselves? ...
TRANSCRIPT
The Social Self:Lecture #2 topics
Who am I? How do we know who we are? How do we see ourselves? How do we want to be seen? How do we feel about ourselves?
Who am I?
self-concept:
sum total of beliefs we have of ourselves answers to “_________ ?” composed of self-schemas: mental templates
that guide how we process _________ information
Who am I?
“Korean”
“female”
“short”
“Ph.D. student”
“dog lover”
“psychology”
Who am I?
the self-reference effect:
enhanced _________ & _________ of self-
relevant information
How do we know who we are?
introspection:
looking _________ to our own thoughts & feelings
can be inaccurate when causes of our own behaviour are not _________ e.g., Nisbett & Schachter’s (1966) fake pill study
How do we know who we are?
RESULTS (Nisbett & Schachter, 1966):
HIGH
LOW
No pill Fake pill
Sh
ock
to
lera
nce
How do we know who we are?
self-perception theory (Bem, 1972):
observing our own _________ to infer our thoughts & feelings
occurs when internal states are _________ / _________ can’t account for our behaviour
How do we know who we are?
facial feedback hypothesis:
changes in _________ can trigger changes
in subjective emotions e.g., Strack’s (1988) & Laird’s (1974, 1984) studies
How do we know who we are?
(courtesy of Gary Larsen)
How do we know who we are?
social identities:
_________ memberships; the “_________” part of our self-concepts
our self-concepts are defined in relation to other people
How do we know who we are?
social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954):
we compare ourselves to _________ when we
can’t _________ assess our own abilities,
opinions, or emotions e.g., Schachter & Singer’s (1962) vitamin shot study
How do we know who we are?
RESULTS (Schachter & Singer, 1962):
placebo drug-informed
drug-uninformed
happy
confederate
angry
confederate
How do I see myself?
private self-
consciousness:
focus on _________ thoughts & feelings
more likely to act according to _________ standards
public self-consciousness:
focus on _________
more likely to _________ behaviour to _________ social situation
How do I see myself?
self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1989):
discrepancy between how we are & how we want
to be determines how we feel about ourselves
actual self:who you are _________
ought self:how you _________ be
ideal self:how you _________ to be
How do I see myself?
an unfortunate victim of “choking”…?
How do I see myself?
How do I see myself?
How do I see myself?
dealing with excessive self-awareness:
act _________ with personal values/ socially accepted ideals to reduce self-discrepancies
withdraw from self-awareness completely e.g., _________ , _________ , _________ ,
_________ , _________ , _________
How do I want to be seen?
self-presentation:shaping what others think of us
_________
_________ _________- _________
How do I want to be seen?
How do I want to be seen?
How do I want to be seen?
self-presentation:shaping what others think of us
strategic
ingratiation self-promotion
_________ - _________
How do I want to be seen?
self-monitoring:
controlling one’s behaviour to meet social
expectations
How do I want to be seen?
high self-monitors: _________ behaviour
according to social expectations
behaviour _________ across situations
more likely to engage in _________
low self-monitors: less concerned about
adjusting actions to fit social expectations
behaviour _________ across situations
more likely to be _________
How do I feel about myself?
self-esteem:
_________ component of the self consisting of _________ & _________ self-evaluations
trait & state (context-dependent) self-esteem individual differences in stability
How do I feel about myself?
sociometer hypothesis
(Leary & Baumeister,
2000): based on evolutionary
perspectives self-esteem = barometer of
social _________ / _________
social inclusion = _________ self-esteem
terror management
theory (Greenberg et
al., 1997): self-preservation vs.
death awareness “_________ _________ ”
help us cope with mortality
high self-esteem = _________ adherence to worldviews
How do I feel about myself?
Heine (1999):
Canadian self-esteem scores:
Low High
Japanese self-esteem scores:
Low High
How do I feel about myself?
East Asian cultures: _________ interdependence emphasis on the
_________ individual needs are
_________ ego enhancement is
_________
Western cultures: _________ independence emphasis on the
_________ individual needs are
_________ ego enhancement is
_________
How do I feel about myself?
To what extent are you:
(1) …happy?
(2) …friendly?
(3) …smart?
(4) …funny?
(5) …friendly?
(6) …hard-working?
(7) …tidy?
(8) …creative?
(9) …confident?
(10) …easy-going?
1 2 3 4 5
not at all a little moderately very extremely
How do I feel about myself?
We’re all better than average:
50% of business people rate their morals as “90” on a scale from 1 to 100
86% of Australians rate their job performance as “above average”
most university students believe they will live 10 years longer than their statistically predicted age of death
How do I feel about myself?
false uniqueness effect: we’re more unique than we really are belief that our _________ are _________
common than they really are
false consensus effect:
_________ people support our opinions than they really do
belief that our _________ are _________ common than they really are
How do I feel about myself?
implicit egotism:
_________ preference for the letters in our _________ over other letters in the alphabet
influences preferences, career choice, residence, & other major life decisions
How do I feel about myself?
St. John’s, NFLD Saskatoon, SK
gin
kangaroosSo-Jin Kang
surgeon
How do I feel about myself?
taking credit for success, but not for failure:
we make _________ attributions for
_________ outcomes & _________ attributions
for _________ outcomes
unrealistic optimism:
we’re more likely to experience _________
events & less likely to experience _________ ones
How do I feel about myself?
self-handicapping: making excuses for past & future performance
e.g., “_________”
sandbagging e.g., “_________!”
self-sabotage e.g., “_________”
BIRG-ing: “basking in the _________ glory” of others
How do I feel about myself?
self-evaluation maintenance:
when a significant other outperforms us,
self-esteem threatened?
response
unimportant domain no
important domain yes
How do I feel about myself?
downward social comparisons: comparing ourselves to people who are
_________ off than us
most likely to occur after a _________ event self-sabotage
downward temporal comparisons: we’re better today than we were in the past
How do I feel about myself?
self-esteem is beneficial:
optimism & other positive illusions help us cope with adversity
promotes happiness, caring, & productivity
high self-esteem people: _________ adjusted on personality tests
How do I feel about myself?
self-esteem has a dark side:
people with extremely _________ self-esteem
can be _________ : excessive self-love,
unjustified positive & grandiose self-views e.g., Bushman & Baumeister (1998) noise blast study
How do I feel about myself?
RESULTS (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998):
HIGH
LOW
Low narcissism High narcissism
No
ise
bla
st i
nte
nsi
ty
Essay praised
Essay criticized