5.2 The Self 1

Question 1

What is a measure used for self-concept?

Answer 1

20 statement test
May refer to the traits you have, close relationships you have, collective group memberships
Many diff ways to answer the question = multi-faceted

Question 2

Describe the self as a psychological process

Answer 2

Multifaceted construct
V broad and general
Encompasses multiple processes

Question 3

How did James distinguish between 2 elements with the self?

Answer 3

Duality of the self:

Object that can be observed - thoughts and beliefs about ourselves, self-concept

Agent doing the observed - active processor of information, the perceiver, self-awareness

Question 4

What were Brewer & Gardner’s levels of the self?

Answer 4

Personal
Relational
Collective

Question 5

Discuss the personal level of the self

Answer 5

Beliefs about what makes you YOU
Characteristics about what makes you distinct from other people
Eg. I am honest = individual level

Question 6

Discuss the relational level of the self

Answer 6

Self in the context of interpersonal relationships

Eg. Intimate relationships

Question 7

Discuss the collective level of the self

Answer 7

Talking about the self in relation to group membership
Social identity theory = derive our identity not just from individual self but also from group memberships
Eg. I am an Edinburgh student = collective level

Question 8

Give examples of cultural differences in defining the self

Answer 8

American = “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”
Shout out to get what you need
Be unique

Japanese: “the nail that stands out gets pounded down”
If you are diff to other people, you will get knocked down
Don’t be unique

Question 9

What do Western cultures tend to value?

Answer 9

independence and uniqueness
Individualistic culture = independent view of the self
Define ourselves as quite separate from other people

Question 10

What do Asian and non-Western cultures tend to value?

Answer 10

Interdependence and connectedness
What is it about you that makes you part of a bigger social web
Collectivistic culture = interdependent view of the self
Define themselves in terms of their relationships to others

Question 11

What did the 20 statement test find regarding culture?

Answer 11

Responses differ depending on the cultural values
Asian cultures list more relational and collective self
Western cultures list more individual self

Question 12

What are gender differences in defining the interdependent self?

Answer 12

Women = more relational interdependence emphasis
Focus more on their close relationships when they get together to talk

Men = more collective interdependence emphasis
Focusing more on their membership of larger groups

Question 13

Discuss the study involving bicultural individuals

Answer 13

Bicultural individuals = people who have experienced Western and non-Western cultures
Study looked at how these individuals define themselves
Looked at students living in Hong Kong who spoke both English and Cantonese
Presented 20 statements in English and in Cantonese

Question 14

What did the bicultural study find?

Answer 14

The language it was presented in influenced the likelihood of how they would respond at diff levels of the self
Chinese = more collective, relational
English = more individual

Showed your perception of yourself can be shaped by contextual factors

Question 15

What is self-knowledge?

Answer 15

How it is that we know who we are

Question 16

What is introspection?

Answer 16

Looking inward to examine thoughts and feelings

Can try to construct an understanding of your self-concept

Question 17

What is a problem with introspection?

Answer 17

We don’t always have access to our internalised states

We don’t always know what our thoughts and feelings are

Question 18

What did Nisbett and Wilson suggest regarding self-knowledge?

Answer 18

We don’t have access to the knowledge about the causes of our internal judgements and behaviours

Question 19

What did Nisbett and Wilson have Ps do in their study?

Answer 19

Had students come into the lab and told them they were taking part in a product evaluation study
Rate how much you like the products - which ones they liked?
Faced with a display of stockings which were all identical but Ps did not know
In choosing, there was a right-hand bias = most chose the stockings on the right-hand side
Right-hand bias = most of us are right handed we have a tendency to be drawn to things on the RH side

Question 20

What did Nisbett and Wilson find?

Answer 20

When asked why they picked the stockings, no one said it was because it was on the RH side
People came up with all sort of explanations
No one can tell the diff between these stockings so making it up

Shows we do not know why we make the decisions that we make

Question 21

What did Wilson, Laser and Stone want to investigate?

Answer 21

Whether or not people could figure out the reasons for their moods
If introspection is a reliable indicator, you would expect introspection group to come up with accurate estimations

Question 22

What did Wilson, Laser and Stone get Ps to do in their study?

Answer 22

1 group = introspection
Asked to record in a diary various factors that could influence their mood and their actual mood
Estimate the extent the factors affect their mood
Created a dataset of the extent that these factors correlated with their mood

Other group = observer group
Didn’t keep a diary but estimated the extent that factors influenced mood

Question 23

What did Wilson, Laser and Stone find?

Answer 23

Result = both groups were just as accurate as each other
Both groups rely on general causal theories to make their predictions
Introspection doesn’t lead to insight about the cause of our moods

Question 24

What is self-perception theory?

Answer 24

Infer who we are from what we do in
Our behaviours allow us to derive self knowledge
More likely to occur under some circumstances

Question 25

When is self-perception theory more likely to occur?

Answer 25

Unsure of attitudes and feelings

Our internal cues (attitudes and feelings) are weak:
We don’t look to our behaviour if these are strong

No clear situational influence on behaviour:
If you can explain behaviour because of a situation means we have not chosen our behaviour and so we do not infer who we are from it

Chosen the behaviour freely

Question 26

What do we do when we examine the behaviour and the circumstances in which it is occurring?

Answer 26

Is the situation sufficient enough to explain our behaviour?

Yes - due to external factors
No - reveals something about the self

Question 27

How do we work out whether the situation is sufficient enough to explain our behaviour?

Answer 27

Attribution as to whether or not we did freely choose that behaviour:
Intrinsic motivation = desire to engage because of internal reasons
External motivation = desire to engage because of external rewards or pressures

Comes down to whether the behaviour is intrinsically or externally motivated

Question 28

What did Lepper, Green and Nisbett find?

Answer 28

Rewards decrease motivation:

Kids who were promised and received a reward for drawing later showed less interest in drawing