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Social Psychology
Lecture 2, Week 2
The Social SelfSemester 2, 2008
Lecturer: James Neill
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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
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What is the self?
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What is self?
Describe yourselfe.g., I am statements What do I promote? What do I defend?
Usually includes socialroles e.g., Gender, ethnicity Social identity Group memberships
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Self
Groups
Culture
Environ-ment
Note:
Fuzzyboundaries
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What is the self?
Many, varied theories about
the purpose and functionof the self e.g., in arts, philosophy, science,
culture, religion, and throughhistory.
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What is the self?
Psychologically...
collection of cognitively-held beliefs that a personpossesses about
themselves.
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What is the self?
However
Self seems to extendbeyond the physical self(body), to include
psychologicallymeaningful personalpossessions and personals ace.
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What kinds of impressions arethese people trying to make,
using their clothing?
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What is the self?
The self is an importanttool with which thehuman organism makesits way through human
society and therebymanages to satisfy its
needs.
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What is the self?
Traditionally, selfwas seen asrepresentingstable, genetically
determinedcharacter orlater, personality.
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What is the self?
More recently, self
was understood toevolve during alifetime,
i.e.Partly stable, partly
changing.
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What is the self?Most recently, self has been further
complexified and increasingly seenas:Dynamic & changeable
Multiple / Plural Hierarchical
Situationally & cognitively influenced Culturally constructed
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What is the self?The psychological self includes: Attitudes Cognitions Emotions Group Memberships (Social Identity) Ideal / Imagined Selves Memories P
ossessions Self-Beliefs Self-Concepts Self-Images Social Roles
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What is the self?
To determine What is
self, use diagnostic clues: Who am I?
What are you prepared todefend?
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Fluctuating Image(s) of Self
Phenomenal self(Working self-concept)
Unusual aspects about youbecome prominent
Being lone member of some
category Heightens self-awareness
Can impair performance
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What is the social
self?Some argue that self is
entirely a function of theenvironment.e.g., Self as a construct of post-
industrial, capitalist society and politicalsystems which promote self-identity andchoice-making, and then markets to the
self.
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What is the social
self? Interpersonal selfor 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, placeof residence or any other socialcategorization that helps characterize apersons identity.
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Purpose of the self
Gain social acceptance
Play social roles
Society creates anddefines roles
Individual seeks andadopts them
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SelfSelf--ConstructsConstructs(Operationalization)(Operationalization)
SelfSelf--EsteemEsteem
SelfSelf--ConceptConceptSelfSelf--EfficacyEfficacy
SelfSelf--CongruenceCongruenceillustrate how social psychologistsillustrate how social psychologistsstudy peoples selves, in cognitive,study peoples selves, in cognitive,
affective, and behavioral terms.affective, and behavioral terms.
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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., toothin, too fat)
People are motivated to see theirself as worthy/worthwhile (Fiske,2004).
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Self-esteemHigh Self-Esteem
Positive views
Low Self-EsteemAbsence of strong positive
views
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Self-esteem Healthy to have a slightly
inflated sense of self value(Taylor).
Self-esteem serves as asociometer for ones standingin a group (Fiske, 2004).
Self-esteem has beenoveremphasized in Westernsociety, to the detriment ofactual skill (Baumeister)
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Basking and blasting
Group membership may enhancepositive feelings about self (Cialdini
et.al, 1976) Basking - Linking oneself to winners
Blasting - Criticizing a rival group
People show a stronger tendency toblast (negative) than bask (positive)
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Basking and blasting
Loyal fans experience changes in
their own confidence level basedon the success or failure of theirteam
Losing had a stronger effect thanwinning
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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 UnitedStates
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Distorted perceptions of
nondepressed Positive illusions
Overestimate good qualities Underestimate faults
Overestimate control over events
Unrealistically optimistic
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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 tohighlight own good traits asunusual
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Benefits of high self-
esteem Initiative Confidence you can do the right
thing More adventurous in activities
Feels good
Helps one to overcome badfeelings
If they fail, more likely to try again
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Why do we care about
self-esteem?
Sociometer theory
Self-esteem is a measure of socialacceptability
Self-esteem feels good
Theory of terror management
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egative 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
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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
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Self-presentation Behaviors that convey an image
to others
Public esteem More important than private self-
esteem
Public behaviourActing for the audience
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Functions of self-
presentation Social acceptance
Increase chance of acceptanceand maintain place within thegroup
Claiming identity Social validation of claims to
identity
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Good self-presentationDemonstrate positive traits
Behave with consideration ofaudience
Tradeoff Tendency toward favorable
presentation
Modesty More prevalent in long-term
relationships
Risky behaviors
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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
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Self-efficacy e.g. Social Self-Efficacy for Relating to
Teachers1. I can get along with most of my
teachers.
2. I can go and talk with most of myteachers.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 myteachers.
5. I ask the teacher to tell me how well I'mdoing in class.
(Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005)
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Rogers: Self-congruence
ACTUAL
IDEAL EXPERIENCE
Incongruence Anxiety Defense
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Self has evolutionary
functions Self-biase.g., access to resources
Self-organization / Self-complexitye.g., adaptability & self-insight/self-control
Self-promotion
e.g., for increased likelihood of mating Social comparison
e.g., motivation to improve
Social controle.g., storage of social norms and rules
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Self has evolutionary
functions Self-biase.g., access to resources
Self-organization / Self-complexitye.g., adaptability & self-insight/self-control
Self-promotion
e.g., for increased likelihood of mating Social comparison
e.g., motivation to improve
Social controle.g., storage of social norms and rules
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S f
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Self has adaptational
functionsThe self can serve various
social psychologicalfunctions; having a self is notonly knowing where your
skin ends, but also how toget along in a group.(Fiske, 2004, p. 176)
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Self-complexity
People generally see
themselves as morecomplex and others as
less complex.
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Self-complexity
There are individual variations
in self-complexity, with self-complexity beingadvantageous
e.g., less depressed, better able tohandle stress, etc.
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Self-complexity
includes having
multiple possibleselves.
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Social comparisonEveryone uses social comparison to:
Understand how they are doing
(through comparison withsimilar others)
Feel better
(through downwardcomparison)
To improve
(through upward comparison)
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Social feedback
Symbolic interactionism:
All self perceptions arebased on ones history
of social interactions.
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Social feedback
Reflected appraisal:
Ones sense of self isbased on how one
perceives that othersperceives one.
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Social feedback
Spotlight effect: People
tend to think otherpeople notice and
evaluate them morethan they actually do.
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Social feedback
Transparency Effect:
People tend to thinkthat their inner self
leaks out and is moreobvious than it really is.
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Self-discrepancies
Actual-Ideal -> Promotion Focus
(failure -> Depression)Ideal-Ought -> Prevention Focus
(failure -> Anxiety)
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Self-discrepancies
Self-evaluation maintenance theory
More relevant the comparison,the more threat
Closer the person is, the more
emotion(+ve or ve)
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Self-monitoring
High(adjusts behavior to situation;monitors situation)
Low(principled attitudes guidebehaviour)
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Self-regulation
Monitoring and controlling self-
presentation and behavior usesup valuable self-regulatoryresources.
S lf
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Self-awareness
Attention directed at the self Private self-awareness
Public self-awareness
Usually involvesevaluativecomparison.
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Self-awareness
In general, people spend
little time actually thinkingabout themselves.
(but a lot of time is spentthinking about self-presentationand self-preservation)
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Self-awareness
Certain situations
(e.g., mirrors, cameras,audiences, self-developmentexercises, increase self-
awareness) Individual differences in self-
consciousness
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Self compared to standards
Concepts of how things mightpossibly be
Ideals, norms, expectations, moralprinciples, laws, past experiences
Around age 2, begin use of
standards Beginning of self-awareness
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Self-awareness and
behaviourSelf-awareness
Improves behaviour
Enables people to be
more socially desirable
S f
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Self-awareness
Causes us to notice self-discrepancies and can
produce temporaryreductions in self-esteem.
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Self-awareness
To cope, we either adjust
our behavior to meet ourstandards or withdrawfrom self-focusing
situations.e.g., watch TV, play sport,alcohol, suicide.
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Self-awareness
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Purpose of self-awareness
Self-regulation
Adopt the perspective ofother people
Manage behavior in pursuitof goals
Wh l k lf
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Why people seek self-
knowledgeAppraisal 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
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When motives competeAppraisal motive
Weakest motive
Self-enhancement motive Strongest motive (emotional
appeal)
Consistency motive Second preference (cognitive
appeal)
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Self-knowledge and the
duplex mind
Automatic egotism
Automatic, self-enhancing
Modesty
Conscious, deliberate control
Self and information
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Self and informationprocessing
Self-reference Effect
Information bearing on self is
processed more deeply andremembered better
Endowment effect
Items gain in value to the personwho owns them
C lf t h ?
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Can self-concept change? Self-concept tends to be consistent
with public self:
People expect you to stay the same
Changing social environment maychange inner self
Convince others that you have
changedAllow others to see your changed
behavior
Memory shifts to fit new self-concept.
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References
Fiske, S. T. (2004). The self: Social to thecore. In S. T. Fiske (2004). Social beings: Acore motives approach to social psychology.
(Ch 5, pp. 169 214). Hoboken, NJ: JohnWiley.
Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M.(2005). Final Performance Report for OERIGrant # R305T010673: The Social Context of
Parental Involvement: A Path to EnhancedAchievement. Presented to Project Monitor,Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.Department of Education, March 22, 2005.
O Offi I
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