Caritas Francis Hsu CollegeGeneral Education 2009-2010

PHI1011 Individual and Society

Lecture 2: Self

Review (lecture 1) Course Info Learning resources Basic thinking skills Context Culture –What, how?

– Individualism-Collectivism (IC)– Power Distance (PD)– Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)– Masculinity-Femininity (MAS)

Web resources Be aware of false information Be selective Watch out for accidental plagiarism Dictionary Answers on the Web Chinese Search engines (google + yahoo)

In depth discussions in tutorial 1

e.g. Email Etiquette: http://www.fabjob.com/tips116.html http://email.about.com/od/emailnetiquett

e/tp/core_netiquette.htm http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~davidt/email_

etiquette.htm

Who am I?

Assignment 1 ???

Personal Statement

In the beginning…

Learning effective interaction begins with self exploration.

The Twenty Statements Test– I am __________– I am __________– I am __________– I am __________– .– .

20

What is “self”?

SELF (p. 34) is the sum total of who and what we are, both consciously and unconsciously.– Self varies from person to person and

changes with experience and efforts.

What is the framework?

Three basic psychological frameworks to understand self:– Self-concept– Self-esteem– Self-efficacy

What is Self-Concept?

SELF-CONCEPT (p. 34) is the relatively stable set of perceptions you have about yourself.

Describing Me to Me!

Self-concept is the cognitive component of self.

– What words used to describe “self” typically reflect self-concept?

Functions of Self-Concept

Self-concept serves as interpreter and organizer of information about self in two ways:

– Self-verification– Self-enhancement

What is Self-Verification?

SELF-VERIFICATION (p. 35) is the human tendency to seek out and retain information that confirms or verifies our self concept.

What is Self-Enhancement?

SELF-ENHANCEMENT (p. 35) is the basic human need to feel good about ourselves.

What do you want to be “when you grow up?”

Possible Selves

POSSIBLE SELVES (p. 35) refer to visions, both positive and negative, of who and what we might become someday (Markus & Nurius, 1986).

Critical Thinking Questions

What are some of your possible selves? Identify at least one positive possible

self and one negative possible self. How do these possible selves influence

your behavior?

(See page 36)

How is Culture Related to Self-Concept? Culture has significant impact on self-

concept. Cultural differences play a role in the

actual function of self-concept. Self-concept functions to improve self

for collectivists and to enhance self for individualists.

Can you think of specific examples?

The Self-Esteem Continuum

What Are the Functions of Self-Esteem? Self-esteem provides feedback about

two things:– Sense of belonging– Sense of meaningfulness

What About a Sense of Belonging?SOCIOMETER THEORY (p. 38) posits that self-e

steem acts as a gauge that measures the level of acceptance a person feels from his or her social environment (Leary et al., 1995).

People have a set of sociometers that provide feedback (in form of self-esteem) about effectiveness of social group relationships.

How Is Self-Esteem Related to Meaningfulness?

Meaning is gained when a person is fully immersed in and enjoying a life task.

Task outcome (specifically if it is successful or not) is less relevant than positive feelings engendered within the process.

How Does Self-Esteem Develop?

Self-esteem is strongly influenced by feedback from others.

Signals about a person’s goodness or badness received very early in life.

Carl Rogers called this positive regard.

With Best Regards…

POSITIVE REGARD (p. 39) refers to positive feedback, good feelings, and acceptance.

– UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD (p. 39) refers to giving positive regard and acceptance at all times and in all situations.

– CONDITIONAL POSTIVE REGARD (p. 39) refers to giving positive regard and acceptance only in certain conditions.

What Happens As People Age?

Significant others continue to contribute to self-esteem through “Ego boosters” and “ego busters.”

So What Does This Tell Us?

Self-esteem can promote happiness, increase persistence, and facilitate speaking in a group.

Self-esteem does not automatically lead to better school performance, influence relationship success, or cause violence.

How Is Culture Related to Self-Esteem? Values dictate what is personally important.

– For individualists, the path to self-esteem is related to personal achievement, independent thinking, and being true to oneself.

– For collectivists, self-esteem is achieved by thinking and acting in ways that support one’s social group.

For both cultures, positive self-esteem is derived from behavior that supports cultural norms.

Self-Efficacy: Where Self-Concept and Self-Esteem Intersect

SELF-EFFICACY (p. 42) is the extent to which we believe we are capable of achieving our goals.

And so…

Self-concept = how we think about ourselves (cognitive)

Self-esteem = how we feel about ourselves (emotional)

Self-efficacy = bridge between self-concept and self-esteem by influencing both cognition and emotion

What Are the Benefits of Self-Efficacy? High self-efficacy contributes to:

– better grades and achievement of academic goals (Multon et al., 1997).

– positive physical and mental health.

How Does Self-Efficacy Develop?

Self-efficacy begins to develop in childhood and continues to be influenced by life experiences.

Self-efficacy can also be raised at any other point in life by setting high, but attainable goals.

Culture and Self-Efficacy

Cultural group self-efficacy differs.

Self-efficacy is more highly valued in individualistic cultures than in collectivistic cultures.

Does Uncertainty Avoidance Influence Self-Efficacy?

Low uncertainty avoidance cultures feel less threatened by change and more personally able to influence life outcomes.

High uncertainty avoidance cultures feel less control and optimism about academic abilities.

Key Elements of Self

See page 44

Assignment 2

The Twenty Statements Test– I am __________– I am __________– I am __________– I am __________– .– .

Interview Questions (examples)

What do you see yourself in 3 (5) years?

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are you going to do about them?

Self Efficacy

What is Self-Knowledge?

SELF-KNOWLEDGE (p. 45) is the conscious knowledge you have about your motivations, beliefs, expectations, values, strengths, and weaknesses.

Influences of Perceptions

Perceptions are influenced by many factors:

– social comparison– self-perception– discussion of observations and ideas with

others– the Johari Window

What is Social Comparison?

SOCIAL COMPARISON (p. 46) involves evaluating yourself based on how you think you compare to others.

– Social reality testing involves making social comparisons with others in order to learn about the world and about the self within it.

– Social reality testing creates conformity pressures because people seek to reduce disagreement between themselves and similar others.

Culture and Social Comparison

Collectivists engage in social comparison more often than individualists and are more likely to make upward comparisons to benefit the entire group.

Individualists engage in social comparisons less than collectivists, are more likely to make downward comparisons, and judge themselves favorably as they strive toward personal excellence.

What is Self-Perception Theory?

SELF-PERCEPTION (p. 47) refers to the assumptions about ourselves based on our observations of our behavior, thoughts, and feelings).

The Public Self and the Private Self

PRIVATE SELF (p. 51) refers to the part of our self that is known only to us.

PUBLIC SELF (p. 52) refers to the image we present to the world.

Summary

Self• Self-concept

• Self-esteem• Self-efficacy

What Then Is Self-Monitoring?

SELF-MONITORING (p. 52) occurs when we utilize different parts of our self, or different public selves, in different situations.

Erikson’s Three Stages of Adult Development

INTIMACY VS. ISOLATION

GENERATIVITY VS. STAGNATION

INTEGRITY VS. DESPAIR

Levinson’s Theory

Levinson and colleagues:– conducted the first empirical research in the area

of men’s adult development (see The Seasons of a Man’s Life, 1978).

– concluded that a man’s life was comprised of stable periods interspersed with transitional periods.

This theory is grounded in conflict or crisis and limited by its small, exclusively male sample.

What Are the Transitional Periods? In the transitional period, men contemplated

recent stable periods, explored what should come next, and prepared to move ahead.

– EARLY ADULT TRANSITION (p. 57): According to Levinson, completion of the major task of adolescence-forming an identity-and working toward becoming an independent, self-reliant person.

– AGE 30 TRANSTION (p. 58): According to Levinson a period of four to five years when a man questions the choices he has made so far, considering what modifications he might make to build a more stable and fulfilled life.

– MIDLIFE TRANSITION (p. 58) is a period of reflection and questioning regarding the life choices made so far.

Sheehy’s Theory

Recognizes the role of age in life stages.

Posits that cultural and societal environment interacts with age to produce unique goals and interests for different cohorts at the same chronological age.

What Is a Cohort?

COHORT (p. 59) is a group of people born about the same time in history, so that they share common experiences in society at about the same time and age.

How does a cohort influence development?

“The playing field is quite different for each generation why its young members start their journey into adulthood.” (p. 59)

Proliferation of technology, relative peace, and advances in medicine have produced revolutionary changes in the adult life cycle.

What Are Sheehy’s Stages?

See page 61

What Are Sheehy’s Stages of Early/First Adulthood?

TRYOUT TWENTIES

TURBULENT THIRTIES

FLOURISHING FORTIES

MIDDLESCENCE

What are Sheehy’s Stages of Middle/Second Adulthood?

AGE OF MASTERY

FLAMING FIFTIES

SERENE SIXTIES

What Are Sheehy’s Stages of Late Adulthood?

SAGE SEVENTIES

UNINHIBITED EIGHTIES

NOBLE NINETIES

CELEBRATORY CENTENARIANS

End of Session!

Thank You!