Lecture 4

The Self

Outline Introduction The Self Concept

Self-concept and self-construals Sources of Self-Knowledge

Self-Observation and Social Comparison Interpersonal Relations Group Membership and Social Identity

Self-Presentation Self-Esteem

Self-Enhancement Theories Self-Verification Theory

Exercise Boring Worthwhile Full Discouraging Interesting Friendly Disappointing Green Round Angry Cautious Honest

Agreeable Normal Burgundy Foreign Patriotic Ill Sociable Immoral Valuable Sad Active Right

The Self Concept Self-schemata are cognitive

generalizations about the self, derived from past experience, that organize and the processing of self-related information contained in the individual’s social experiences.

(Markus, 1977, p. 64)

Functions of the Self Organizational function

Helps us organize and interpret information

Managerial function regulates behaviour and plans for future

Emotional function Helps us to determine our emotional

responses

The Self Concept, continued Independent self-construals Interdependent self-construals

Independent and Interdependent Self-Construals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)

SELF SELF

MotherCoworker

Friend Neighbour

Mother Coworker

FriendNeighbour

Independent Interdependent

Independent and Interdependent Self-Construals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)

Independent Separate from social

context Bounded, unitary, stable Internal, private

(feelings, thoughts) Life tasks: Be unique,

express self, self-actualization

Direct communication Self-esteem depends on

ability to express self, validate internal attributes

Interdependent Connected with social

context Flexible, variable External, public (roles,

statuses, relationships) Life tasks: belong, fit-in,

engage in appropriate action, promote others’ goals

Indirect communication Self esteem depends on

ability to adjust, maintain harmony, restrain self

Cousins (1989)

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

General Format ContextualizedFormat

AmericanJapanese

Proportion ofattributes inself-description

Self-Construals and Motivation (Iyengar & Lepper, 1999)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Personal Choice ExperimenterChoice

Mother Choice

Anglo-AmericanAsian American

Secondsspent on anagramsduring free play

Sources of Self-Knowledge Self-Observation

Self-Perception (Bem, 1967, 1972) Intrinsic motivation and the

Overjustification Effect Social Comparison Theory

Self-Perception Theory Individuals come to “know” their

own attitudes, emotions, and other internal states partially by inferring them from observations of their own overt behavior and/or the circumstances in which this behaviour occurs (Bem, 1972)

Intrinsic Motivation and the Overjustification Effect Intrinsic Motivation

Desire to perform an activity because were enjoy it.

Extrinsic Motivation Desire to perform an activity because of

external pressures or rewards Overjustification Effect

People view their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons, and underestimate the extent to which the behaviour was caused by intrinsic reasons

Sources of Self-Knowledge: Social Comparison Theory Social Comparison (Festinger, 1954)

We have an innate drive to evaluate our opinions and abilities

If there is no objective index, then we compare ourselves with others

We generally want and accurate evaluation We compare ourselves to similar others with

regards to opinions. We compare ourselves to similar (but

slightly better) others with regards to abilities.

Social Comparison Theory, continued Wood (1989)

Self-Evalutation (self-assessment) Accurate assessment Compare with similar other

Self-Improvement Learn how to improve Compare with others in better circumstances

Self-enhancement Enhance or protect self-esteem Compare with others in worse circumstances

Sources of Self-Knowledge: Interpersonal Relations Direct Interpersonal Influence Indirect Interpersonal Influence

Reflected self-appraisals Rejected Interpersonal Influence

Reflected Self-Appraisals(adapted from Schafer & Keith, 1985)

.05

.39 .77

.46 .71

.00

Wife’sEvaluation

Of Husband’sSelf-Esteem

Husband’sEvaluationOf Wife’s

Self-Esteem

Husband’sPerceptionOf Wife’s

Evaluation

Wife’sPerception

Of Husband’sEvaluation

Husband’sSelf-Esteem

Wife’sSelf-Esteem

Group Membership and Social Identity

Social Identity That part of the individual’s self-

concept which derives from knowledge of his or her membership in a social group, together with the value and emotional significance associated to that membership. (Tajfel, 1972)

Group Membership and Social Identity, continued

Self-Categorization Theory (Turner et al., 1989)

Human

Social (Group)

Personal

Self-Presentation and Impression Management Strategic Self Presentation

Ingratiation Intimidation Self-promotion Exemplification Supplication

Self-Presentation and Self-Disclosure Self-disclosure: The act of

revealing personal information about oneself to others. Quantity of information Depth of information Reciprocity

Self-Esteem Self-esteem refers to affective

evaluations of one’s worth, value or importance. Synonymous with self-worth, self-regard, self-respect, self-acceptance.

Various theories have been proposed to explain how people work to maintain a stable, positive self-concept.

Self-Discrepancy Theory (Higgins, 1987, 1989, 1996) Feel distressed when our “actual” self is

different from our “ideal” (the type of person we desire to be) or “ought” (the type of person we feel we should be) self, on a criterion that is important to us.

“Actual-ideal” discrepancies are associated with dejection, sadness, dissatisfaction, and depression-related emotions.

“Actual-ought” discrepancies are associated with fear, worry, tension and anxiety-related emotions.

Self-Completion Theory (Gollwitzer & Wicklund, 1985) When people experience a threat to

a valued aspect of their self-concept, they become highly motivated to seek social recognition of that aspect of the self.

When an important identity has been challenged, we behave in ways to legitimate our claim to that identity.

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory (Tesser et al., 1995) Aspects of our self-concept can be

threatened by another person’s behaviour.

Two factors are important: The immediacy of the other person The personal importance of the

behaviour

Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRGing) We take pride in the achievements

of certain people and groups, even when we had nothing to do with attaining them.

Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification Self-enhancement is the tendency

to hold unrealistically positive views about ourselves

Self-verification is the tendency to seek veridical information about the self, whether positive or negative.

Self-Verification Theory (Swann 1990, 1996) We are motivated to have stable,

coherent self-concepts. Information from others (both

positive and negative) that is contrary to our self-concept threatens the stability of the self-

concept. makes it comfortable to interact with

someone who doesn’t share our self-concept

Self-Verification Theory, continued When do we self-verify

In close relationships When we are highly certain of our

self-concept Consequences of being “discovered”

are high