Dominant Theories: Social Learning and Self-Concept Flashcards
Explain the distinction between Coherence of self and coherent self-concepts.
The self is a coherent entity overall.
Most people generally have a strong sense of self (who you are) but self-concept is multifaceted, you can have many types of self-concepts.
What makes up a self-concept is a description you have of yourself.
So you could be ‘dedicated’ - that’s one self-concept - or you could also be ‘intelligent’ - that’s a different self-concept.
Your self-concepts come together to form your self, but each self-concept isn’t necessarily strong or coherent.
For example, you make have a stronger ‘dedicated’ self concept than an ‘intelligent’ self concept.
What is the Self?
The self is “the entire system of an individual’s knowledge, evaluation, and regulation of themselves”
Self vs Personality
Ongoing debate regarding how much these constructs overlap.
- Self: System that represents the questions that individuals have of themselves - knowledge, evaluation and regulation
- Personality usual patterns of behaviours, feeling, and thoughts
- Can form a part of the self
They are different, but likely highly related
Define Self-Concept
“A person’s image of themselves”
How we think about who we are
Knowledge part of the system of the self (who am i?)
Largely comes from our thoughts of who we are.
Thoughts of ourselves often are not the same as how others see us
Because of this assumption, many now see the self-concept as containing multiple fuzzy/fluid cognitive representations of the self (aka self schemas)
From a Personality Perspective there are 4 parts of the self:
Material Self, Social Self, Spiritual Self, & True Self
Self Schemas
4 Parts of Self-Concept
Abstract construct
Collection the thoughts about who you think you are, can be divided into four parts
Define Self-Esteem
“A person’s attitude toward (or evaluation of) themselves”
The evaluation part of the system of self
Previously it was argued that having a positive evaluation of oneself = high self-esteem. Yet the story of self-esteem is not that simple.
Benefits and Costs of Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem
Self-Enhancement
As “feeling good” is psychologically adaptive, we all have a desire to maintain and increase a positive self-concept (aka self-enhancement)
Self-Evaluation Maintenance (SEM) Model
- Outlines the key variables in self-enhancement, and how this contributes to self-esteem
- How well you do on a tak (performance)
- How important the performance is to your sense of self (relevance)
- How you are to another individual performing the same task (closeness)
Self Esteem
Self-Regulation
Actions we can take to help regulate/maintain and increase a positive self-concept
What actions can we take? (I.e. types of self-exteem regulation)
- Form close and meaningful relationships
- Belong to many social groups (to reduce your feeling of loneliness)
- Succeed at something meaningful
- Engage in self-serving biased (tendency to take credit got success and deny responsibility for failure)
Self-Compassion
The idea that you treat yourself with kindness
Those high in this trait are less likely to be reactive, defensive, or depressed
Correlates positively and strongly with self-esteem
Self-Efficacy
The belief that one will be effective and successfully work towards goals
Unlike self-esteem, self-efficacy is positively correlated with performance
But usually the correlation is higher for basic skills than complex skills
Narcissism
Very positive grandiose view of the self
(A continuous scale measure)
Those who score highly on narcissism tend to have a positive self-concept, and high self-esteem
When self-esteem is high, they (narcissists) are less likely to be depressed
Also engage in a high level of self-serving bias
Self-Regulation
The process of guiding and directing yourself to a desired state.
- The goals you have regarding who you want to be
- The “regulation” part of the system of self (can i maintain or change who i am)
Self-regulation relies on two key aspects:
- Self Control
- Possible selves
Self-Control
“The ability to control one’s own behaviour”
Individual difference variable
- Especially, willpower to ignore/minimise short-term goals in favour for more rewarding long-term goals
- Self-Control predicts a range of positive behaviors (relationships, workplace, productivity)
- If you lack self-control, you can no attain long-term goals
Previously argued self-control is like a “muscle”, and that individuals can experience a state of exhausted self-control (i.e. ego depletion). Yet the story of ego depletion is not that simple
Possible Selves
“The selves you imagine yourself can be”
Self-Discrepancy Theory
- Possible selves contribute to our emotion and motivation
- Actual Self = Howe we currently are
- Ideal Self = how we would like to be
- Ought Self = how we think we should be
Self Discrepancy Theory
Possible selves contribute to our emotion and motivation. These spur us into self-regulation
- Failure to reduce discrepancies between actual and & ideal self results on “dejection-related emotions” e.g. disappointment, dissatisfaction, sadness
- Failure to reduce discrepancies between actual and ought self results in “agitation-related emotions” e.g. Anxiety, threat, fear
Social Learning And Personality
Behavior underpins personality (“usual pattern of behaviour, feelings, and thoughts”)
Behaviourism
- “Simple explanations for outward behaviour”, unconcerned about “inner processes” of the mind
- Seek rewards, avoid punishments
Social Learning
- “Learning how to behave from watching other people’s behaviour”
- Individual differences in personality comes from social learning
Operant Conditioning
“Shaping behaviour through rewards and punishments”
Rewarded when trying new things = increase openness to experience
Punished when talking back = increase agreeableness
Reinforced behaviors help shape aspects of personality
Types of reinforcement
Positive and Negative do not refer to Good or Bad
They refer to the addition(Positive) of something, or the removal(negative) of something
Socialisation
“how one learns how to become a member of society and learn culture’s rules”
- Assumes that the self-concept and behaviour is not innate but learned
- This learning can be direct, via out own personal experiences
- But it is often vicarious, through the observation (especially of appropriate role models), interaction, and influence of other (modelling, imitation of others)
Reciprocal Determinism
“a person’s behaviour causes the environment as well as the environment causing behaviour”
Suggests that personality arises from the environment’s effect on behaviour, behaviour’s effect on the environment, and the way people process their experiences (via their self-concept)
They are mutually reinforcing
Behavioural Modification
Using social learning principles to improve or modify your own or others behaviours
What we know so far:
- Only reward acceptable behaviour, usually via tokens than can be exchanged for privileges
- Do not reward other behaviour (neutral or unacceptable), and actively ignore bad behaviour
- Do not confuse compassion with reward
