Building Self-Knowledge Flashcards
Sasha recently ended a long-term relationship and has embraced their newfound independence, feeling excited about their personal growth and new opportunities. According to research on self-concept clarity, how is Sasha most likely to feel about their self-concept?
Unlikely to feel self concept confusion because they feel positively about the change
What are Intrapersonal Sources we use to build our Self-Knowledge? (2 ways)
- Self-perception: We observe our overt behaviours and use these observations to infer what we’re like
*Similar to how we infer what other people are like - Introspection: We direct our attention inwards to our internal states (thoughts and feelings) and use this self-awareness to draw conclusions about what we are like
What is an example of Self-Perception?
“I pursue my goals until I achieve them. Even when I fail, I keep going until I succeed. I must be determined”
What is an example of Introspection?
“I often think about what’s right and wrong . I must have a strong conscience.”
Do people value self-perception or introspection more?
People report that knowing their internal states is better for understanding what they’re really like compared to knowing their behaviour or interviewing close on
How does access to internal states vs. behaviour shape others’ impressions? (STUDY: Interviews)
Listen to strangers interviews and report what you think of them:
Interviewee’s reported themselves on OCEAN
Three conditions:
* Cognitive/affective: Interviewee describing past thoughts and feelings
- Behavioural: Interviewee describing past behaviour
- Control: Interviewee describing mix of past thoughts, feelings, and behaviour
FIND:
Cognitive interviews produced impressions that are most in line with interviewee’s self-rating on OCEAN
Highest correlation = With internal thoughts and feelings (Cogntitive/affective)
Why do people value internal states the most?
Recognize that actions can be influenced by external factors so think that thoughts and feelings are more revealing of inner self
What are implications of people valuing internal states so much?
Self-perception may be more useful for forming self-knowledge when people are unclear about their internal states
*Assumption that introspection is useful source of self-knowledge is shared by much of psychology research which relies on self-report
Is introspection accurate?
(Study on Are people aware of what impacts their mood?)
Daily diary study of undergrads for 5 weeks
- Every evening rated (1=very bad, 7 = very good):
*Overall mood
*Several predictors of mood: The weather, relationships with friends, workload, sleep, exercise
Participants estimated the relationship between their mood and each predictor
*E.g. how do you think sleep affected your mood
Then:
22 additional observers reported on what they thought the average relationship is between mood and each predicton
and Researchers calculated actual correlation between mood and each predictor
FOUND:
- People were accurate but observers were just as accurate as judges as the participants
Study on Are people aware of what impacts their mood?
What are the implications?
people don’t have real, unique understanding of their mood, but instead rely on shared theories about predictors of mood
Introspection may be more useful for describing internal states, but not very useful for explaining why we have these in the first place
*Wilson (2002): suggests that people should take psychology courses if they want to understand themselves rather than relying on introspection
(Interpersonal Sources)
What is Symbolic interactionism?
the self-concept depends on our social interactions
*There is no self without others
(Interpersonal Sources)
What is Social Comparison?
We compare ourselves with others to form conclusions about our relative standing on attributes, abilities, opinions, etc.
*E.g. you can only conclude that you’re introverted by comparing yourself to others on introversion
*Introspection and self-perception often rely on comparison
What is the Social Comparison harry potter example?
I’m better at flying and my reflexes are quicker. I always get the Snitch. I must be good at Quidditch.
(Interpersonal Sources)
What are the two directions of comparison that influence self-esteem?
*Upward: comparing ourselves to people that are better than us which leads to a decrease in self-esteem
*Downward: comparing ourselves to people that are worse than us which leads to an increase in self-esteem
(Interpersonal Sources)
What is the Looking-Glass Self?
We construct our self-concept based on how others see us
*Infer how others see us using:
*Their direct feedback
*Their behaviours towards us (e.g. facial expression, sighs, etc.)
*Not just close others, but also how others generally see us
(Interpersonal Sources)
What is the looking glass self harry potter example?
Ppl tell harry, or act in a way to make him assume they think he’s competitive
“They’re telling me I’m competitive. I must be competitive”
(Interpersonal Sources)
Evaluating Looking-Glass Self (Study: self report VS other report)
Get people to self report on personality / behaviour
Observers (strangers / someone they know) report participants personailty / behaviour
If the looking glass self is true: Should be a high match with how people see themselves and how others see them
FIND: No correlation
- There is a strong relationship with how ppl see themselves and how they think that other people see them (espc with ppl important to us)
(Interpersonal Sources)
Why do we find an inconsistency with the looking glass self?
- Others rarely provide full, honest feedback to us
*Feedback is often ambiguous (e.g., facial expression- We’re probably exposed to more honest feedback in childhood and less in adulthood which may be part of self-beliefs formed in childhood endure into adulthood
- We often dismiss or rationalize away negative feedback
*Healthy that we don’t incorporate all feedback because this would lead us to constantly change our self-conceptand this would be confusing
(Interpersonal Sources)
What is the Implication with the looking glass self?
Looking-glass self means that the self-concept is shaped by how we think others see us, not by how they actually see us
(Interpersonal Sources)
- Social Groups We Belong To
What is Social identity theory?
we place ourselves and others into social groups and this process shapes our self-concepts
*E.g., race, ethnicity, gender
Social groups provide members with a shared identity that prescribes standards for what members should be like, believe, and behave
Social identity theory
What is Self-stereotyping?
we take on and conform to the shared identity of a social group in order to be accepted as part of that group by others *More likely to do this with groups that are important to u
Characteristics of group (apply them to yourself) and are validated by the group
What is the Harry Potter example of Self-Stereotyping?
Gryffindors are brave. I want to be a good Gryffindor so I must be brave
Evidence for Social Identity Theory (Me not me study)
Got arts an engineering majors
- had them rate in group and outgroup majors
(me not me task)
- Trait pops up (ex. creative)
Compare ppls performance on task with in group traits
- Should be faster when see word that aligns with stereotype of ingroup
Faster RTs for traits on which a person sees themselves as matching the ingroup than for traits in which there is a mismatch
Implications of me-not-me study?
perception of self is linked with perception of ingroup
How can the self concept be considered a reaction to outgroup? (+ harry potter example)
Group membership is also often defined in contrast to outgroups
*Means that the formation of some self-knowledge is a rejection of elements that are associated with an outgroup
Example: Slytherins are so strategic. I’m going to be more spontaneous because I’m not a Slytherin
Flexibility in Social Identity
Self-description/ behaviour in a social identity is determined by:
(2 factors)
*Expectations/ standards for that identity
*People’s unique strengths and preference
Meaning: people don’t just rigidly adhere to an identity, but figure out how to make it their own
Harry Potter example of Flexibility in Role Identity?
Ron: Gryffindors are loyal. I want to be a good Gryffindor so I must be a loyal friend.
Harry: Gryffindors are brave. I want to be a good Gryffindor so I must be brave
(Don’t have to have ALL the same traits)
How do we , we incorporate the others’ characteristics into our own self-concepts?
Ex. taking on a close others’ perspectives and characteristic
Ron really likes chess. Maybe I like chess too?
(Exposure)
Including others in the self (Study: Married graduate students)
Do people confuse their partners’ traits for their own?
Rated traits for how descriptive they are of:
*Self
*Spouse
Me not me task
Greater self-other confusion indicated by:
*Longer Reaction times for traits that are different between self and spouse
*More errors
FOUND: Participants were slower and made more mistakes on traits that differed between self and spouse
(Incorporate partners characteristics into self concept)
Sally sees herself as a generous person. According to research on the looking-glass self, which of the following is most likely true about how Sally’s self-perception was formed
Sally believes that others see her as a generous person
What can determine a self concept change?
*Social role changes
*Changing the looking-glass
*Changes to who one is close to
How can social role changes alter your self concept?
Gains and losses of social roles trigger changes to the self-concept
*Initially comes with a period of self-concept confusion (low SCC) if perceiving a lot of change and feeling less positively about it
*Gains (new social roles) particularly likely in early adulthood and losses particularly likely in late adulthood
Eventually new social role becomes part of our self concept
How can Changing the Looking-Glass impact our self concept?
People can purposely initiate a change to their self-concept if they believe they are perceived by others in an undesirable way
*Focus is on changing perception of self by behaving differently until person thinks that others see the self in the desired way
*Consistent with idea that desired reputation is most important self
EX: “I think my friends don’t see me as a good friend” (Might reflect on this and change)
How can Changes to Who One is Close to effect our self concept?
Since self-concept is partially a result of who a person is close to, means that the self-concept will change when we become closer to new people
