Chapter 5- The Self: Understanding Ourselves in a Social Context Flashcards
Who has self concept
Rudimentary self-concept
–Some primates
–Humans at 18 to 24 months
Child’s self-concept
–Concrete
–References to characteristics like age, sex,
neighborhood, and hobbies
Maturing self-concept
–Less emphasis on physical characteristics
–More emphasis on psychological states and
how other people judge us
The Study - Participants were to imagine seeing a friend
they had not seen in 40 years.
Given a list of ways their friend had changed, they were
asked to rate each change as to how much the change
would alter their view of the friend’s true self.
* Ranking scale: 0% (no change on true self) to 100%
(completely alter true self).
* Result: Changes in morality (e.g., cruelty to others) would
alter the true self more than other changes. Changes in
perceptual ability (e.g., vision) would have little impact..
Independent view of the self
–Defines self through own internal thoughts,
feelings, and actions and not other people’s
–Independence and uniqueness valued
–Held in many Western cultures
Interdependent view of the self
–Defines self through relationships to other
people
–Recognizes that others’ thoughts, feelings,
and actions affect one’s behavior
–Connectedness and interdependence valued
–Uniqueness frowned on
–Held in many Asian and non-Western cultures
*Four main functions of self control
– Self-knowledge:
▪The way we understand who we are and organize
this information
– Self-control:
▪The way we make plans and execute decisions
Impression management:
▪The way we present ourselves to others and get
them to see us as we want to be seen
– Self-esteem:
▪The way we maintain positive views of ourselves
Introspection
–The process whereby people look inward and
examine their own thoughts, feelings, and
motives
*People do not rely on introspection very
often.
*Why not?
–Not always pleasant to think about ourselves
–Reasons for our feelings and behavior can be
outside conscious awareness
Focusing on the Self:
Self-Awareness Theory
*The idea that when people focus their
attention on themselves, they evaluate and
compare their behavior to their internal
standards and values
Ways to turn off “internal spotlight” on oneself:
▪Alcohol abuse
▪Binge eating
▪Sexual masochism
*Not all means of escaping the self are
damaging.
–Religious expression
–Spirituality
Self-focus is not always damaging or
aversive.
–Example: If you have experienced a major
success
–Can also remind you of your sense of right
and wrong
It can be difficult to know why we feel the
way we do.
–What is it about your sweetheart that made
you fall in love?
–How much does sleep affect your state of
mind?
–What really determines what mood you’re in?
Causal theories
–Theories about the causes of one’s own
feelings and behaviors; often we learn such
theories from our culture
Problem
–Schemas and theories are not always correct.
Can lead to incorrect judgments about the
causes of our actions
Self-perception theory
–The theory that when our attitudes and
feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer
these states by observing our behavior and
the situation in which it occurs
*Infer inner feelings from behavior
–Only when not sure how we feel
*People judge whether their behavior
–Really reflects how they feel
–Or is the result of a situation that made them
act that way
*Stanley Schachter (1964)
–Experience of emotion is similar to other types
of self-perception
–Infer our emotions by observing our behavior
–We experience emotions in a two-step self-
perception process:
1. Experience physiological arousal
2. Seek an appropriate explanation for it
Research question
–Given the same degree of physiological
arousal, will people feel different emotions
depending on their environment?
Cover story: Injection of Suproxin, test of
vision
–IV 1: Physiological arousal
▪Epinephrine informed
–(shake, heart pound, face flush)
▪Epinephrine ignorant
–(mild, harmless, no side effects)
▪Placebo
–(saline, mild, harmless, no side effects)
–IV 2: Environmental cues (mood of “stooge”)
▪Euphoric/happy (playing games)
▪Angry (insulting questionnaire)
–DV: Participant’s mood
–Epinephrine-informed group
▪Did not become angry when exposed to angry
stooge
–Had alternate explanation for their arousal (the drug)
–Epinephrine-ignorant group
▪Became euphoric
–Joined stooge in playing game
Focusing on the Self:
Self-Awareness Theory
The idea that when people focus their
attention on themselves, they evaluate and
compare their behavior to their internal
standards and values
Schachter’s theory
–We experience emotions in a two-step self-
perception process:
1. Experience physiological arousal
2. Seek an appropriate explanation for it
Implications
–Emotions are somewhat arbitrary.
–Emotions depend on our explanations for
arousal.
To what extent do the results found by
Schachter and Singer (1962) generalize to
everyday life?
–Do people form mistaken emotions in the
same way as participants in that study did?
–In everyday life, one might argue, people
usually know why they are aroused.
Misattribution of arousal
–Making mistaken inferences about what is
causing them to feel the way they do
Finding the Wrong Cause:
Misattribution of Arousal
Arousal from one source (e.g., caffeine,
exercise, a fright) can enhance the
intensity of how the person interprets other
feelings (e.g., attraction to someone).
Intrinsic motivation
–Engage in an activity because of enjoyment
and interest, not external rewards or
pressures
*Extrinsic motivation
–Engage in an activity because of external
reasons, not because of enjoyment and
interest
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
*Many teachers or parents reward kids for
good grades with compliments, candy, gold
stars, or toys.
*Other programs reward kids for reading
books.
*But do these programs increase or
decrease a child’s love of reading?
We have to consider the effects of rewards
on people’s thoughts about:
–Themselves
–Their self-concept
–Their motivation to read in the future
Danger of reward programs
–Reading for rewards, not because it’s actually
enjoyable
Overjustification effect:
–The tendency of people to view their behavior
as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons,
making them underestimate the extent to
which it was caused by intrinsic reasons
Task-contingent rewards:
–Rewards that are given for performing a task,
regardless of how well the task is done
*Performance-contingent rewards:
–Rewards that are based on how well we
perform a task
Avoiding over-justification when using
rewards
. Rewards will undermine interest only if
interest was initially high.
2. The type of reward makes a difference.
▪Performance-contingent rewards are less
damaging to intrinsic interest
Fixed mindset:
–The idea that we have a set amount of an
ability that cannot change
Growth mindset:
The idea that our abilities are malleable
qualities that we can cultivate and grow
Mindset affects motivation
–Fixed mindset more likely to give up and do
poorly on subsequent tasks after failure
Self-Concept Does Not Develop in
a Solitary Context
Self-concept shaped by people around us
How do we use others to define ourselves?
–Measure our own abilities and attitudes by
comparing to other people
▪If you donate $50 to charity and find out your friend
donates $10, you can feel generous.
▪If you find out your friend donated $100, you might
not feel as generous!
Social Comparison Theory
–The idea that we learn about our own abilities and
attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people
The theory revolves around two important
questions:
–When do you engage in social comparison?
–With whom do you choose to compare yourself?
When do you engage in social
comparison?
–No objective standard exists to measure
against
–When we experience uncertainty
–Example: New office donation program, not
sure what amount would be generous, you
are especially likely to compare yourself to
others
With whom do you choose to compare
yourself?
–Initial impulse: anyone who is around
▪Occurs quickly and automatically
Goal: know the furthest level to which we
can aspire
–Upward social comparison:
▪Comparing to people who are better on a particular
ability
Goal: feel better about yourself
–Downward social comparison:
▪Comparing to people who are worse on a
particular trait or ability
–Downward social comparison:
▪Comparing to people who are worse on a
particular trait or ability
We adopt other people’s views in some
circumstances
–“Looking glass self” (Cooley, 1902)
▪We see ourselves and the social world through the
eyes of other people
Social tuning:
The process whereby people adopt another
person’s attitudes
Self-control:
–The ability to subdue immediate desires to
achieve long-term goals
Strategies to Improve Self-Control
*Form implementation impression
*Arrange environments
*Ensure well-rested
–Depletion effect
Impression Management:
–The attempt by people to get others to see
them as they want to be seen
Ingratiation:
–Flattering, praising, and generally trying to
make ourselves likable to another person,
often of higher status
Self-handicapping:
–Creating obstacles and excuses for ourselves
–If we do poorly on a task, we can avoid
blaming ourselves.
Behavioral self-handicapping
People act in ways that reduce the likelihood of
success so that if they fail, they can blame it on
obstacles rather than ability.
▪Example: pulling an all-nighter before a test
Reported self-handicapping
▪Rather than creating obstacles to success, people
devise ready-made excuses in case they fail.
▪Example: Complaining about not feeling well when
you take a test
Culturally universal
–Desire to manage image we present
Cultural differences
–Kinds of images we want to present
▪e.g., “saving face” is important in Asian cultures
