Self

1. The Development of the Self

2. Evaluating the Self

3. Picking an Occupation

• How we see & evaluate ourselves over the lifespan.

• How we go about choosing our life’s work.• Developing positive & negative self-view.• Social comparison & self-view.• Work & identity.• Why we work.• Choosing a career.• Problems of work & self.

1. The Development of the Self

• We are not born with a sense of self it is a learned concept.

• self-awareness- knowledge of oneself.

• Rouge Test: red makeup on a baby’s forehead, placed in front of a mirror.

• 17-24 months onset of recognition of self. (Gallup, 1977).

• Culture affects age of self-recognition.

• Greece- autonomy emphasized, early onset.

• Cameroon- interdependent, later onset (Keller et al., 2004).

• Theory of Mind• An infant’s perspective of the mental lives of

others—and themselves.• First distinction is that other people are capable of

compliance to one’s desires.

• Infants begin to realize• Intentionality & causality (meaning in the actions

of others).OTHERS AS COMPLIANT AGENTS

• By 2 years old infants demonstrate empathy.• At 24 months, infants can show concern &

comfort others.

• 1 year-olds can identify emotional cues of person on TV.

• When pre-school age children are asked what makes them different from others they give physical answers,”I’m a good runner”.

• Children’s self-concept are unrealistic, they overestimate their skills & knowledge. They expect to win every game they play, view the future as a great success.

• Culture & Self-Concept

• Collectivist orientation of the self- responsibility to others

• Identity based on fitting in.

• Individualistic orientation of the self- competitive & self-concerned

• Identity based on standing out.

• captivation-in-an-acceptedness- not overtly learned, but absorbed through the structure of the culture (Husserl).

• Self-concept, attitude toward gender, race, & ethnicity

• gender- sense of maleness or femaleness

• Established by the preschool years.

• Personal & academic self-view

• Personal self-view• 1. looks• 2. peer relations• 3. physical ability

• Academic self-view• 1. English • 2. Math• 3. nonacademic (music & art)

• ADOLESCENCE

• Erikson: Identity versus role confusion

• Adolescents typically describe how they think others view them (Harter, 1990).

• Struggle between ideal self & real self (Adler).

• racial awareness in pre-school age. 3-4 years

• meaning attribution to physical features comes later. (arbitrary good/bad, us/them)

• race dissonance- preferring characteristics of centralized other.

• Minority/Majority –versus- centralized/marginalized

• 90% of African-American children showed preference for lighter skinned images (Holland, 1994).

• Ethnic Identity emerges later than racial identity (Bernal, 1994).

• MIDDLE CHILDHOOD & ADOLESCENCE• Middle childhood actively seeking, “who am I?”• Erikson Industry vs. Inferiority• self-view shifts from physical characteristics to

psychological sense.

• Personal & academic self-view

• Personal self-view• 1. looks• 2. peer relations• 3. physical ability

• Academic self-view• 1. English • 2. Math• 3. nonacademic (music & art)

• ADOLESCENCE• Erikson: Identity versus role confusion• Adolescents typically describe how they think

others view them (Harter, 1990).

• Struggle between ideal self & real self (Adler).

• Friends & peers become increasingly important.

• psychological moratorium- (Erikson) taking time off to explore and find oneself.

• Marcia’s elaboration on Erikson’s Identity versus Role Confusion

• An adolescent can be focused on crisis (choosing between) or commitment (investing in an ideology).

• Marcia views commitment as healthful.

• Marcia’s 4 categoris of identity• 1. identity achievement -decided on a self, passed

through alternatives.• 2. identity foreclosure- committed to an identity

without crisis of alternatives.• 3. moratorium- not decided on a self• 4. identity diffusion- not exploring or committing

to a sense of self.

• ADULTHOODLife events shape & reshape sense of self in adulthood

• marriage, love, hate, divorce, health, death, economy, profession, education, regret, children

• social clock- culture-specific, sense of “should” in adult life.

• milestones measured against others & cultural norms.

• 20s, middle class: education, career, marriage, family.

• Women’s social clocks- family social clock, career social clock, or individualistic social clock. (Helson, 1960s-2006)

• Women assessed at 21, 27, & 43 (Helson) become more disciplined & committed to their pursuits. Greater independence, & cope with stress and adversity more effectively.

• Traditional feminine behavior (21-27) find a spouse, have a child (Helson).

• For women, it is not which path is pursued, but rather, how dedicated to their pursuit that determines contentedness in adulthood.

• Work & adult sense of self.• Career consolidation (Valliant, 1930s)- (20-40

years) centered on careers.• 20s influenced by parent’s authority• 30s greater autonomy with own family & career• Typically hard workers, rule-followers,

conforming to professional norms.

• Erikson- Intimacy versus isolation

• 2. Evaluating the Self

• Self-esteem- overall positive & negative self-evaluation

• Emotionally oriented

• How do I measure up to others & the standards of society?

• Internal standard of success (ideal self) Adler.

• Middle childhood & adolescence- different self-esteems (academic, physical, social, athletic, musical).

• Adult self-esteem- how we manage the transition from being cared for to being caretakers.

• Race & self esteem

• Clark & Clark (1947) lower self-esteem amongst minority groups.

• A shift in adulthood with a sense of pride in ethnicity.

• Social Identity Theory- members of a minority group will only accept negative views if they have a sense that it is impossible to change the situation.

• Gender differences & self-esteem• Adolescence- girls have lower self esteem

than boys (Watkins et al., 1997)• Girls more concerned with physical

appearance at this age.• Boys focus on rejection from females &

athletic prowess.

• Socio Economic Status & self-esteem

• Typically lower SES is correlated with lower self-esteem in adolescents.

• Social Comparison- comparing our abilities to that of others (Leon Festinger, 1954)

• We compare ourselves mostly to those who share our qualities (age, gender, etc…)

• Downward Social Comparison- self-esteem enhanced through comparing to those less competent in an area.

Erich Fromm

To Have or To Be?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7GpHrdXOFI