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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
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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