Lecture 8 - the social self Flashcards
William James’ (1980) Model of the Self
- Subjective self
2. Objective self
The subjective self
o The “I”
o The active self
o The intentional part of the self
The objective self
o The “me” o How the self is perceived by others o There is no “me” at birth - formed through social processes - deeply social construct
Aspects of the self
- Self-concept
- Self-esteem
- Self-presentation
Self-concept
- The cognitive representation of the self
- All knowledge and thoughts pertaining to the self
Self-esteem
- A self-attitude/evaluation - An evaluative component of the self
- How you feel about yourself (positive/negative)
Self-presentation
- How people convey their identities to others
- Because selfhood is social, there is a presentation component
Self-motives
Fundamental psychological processes that cause thoughts and behaviors regarding the self
Processes in self-motives
o Self-Knowledge
o Self-Enhancement
o Self-Belonging
Self-knowledge
→ The desire to understand the self
Self-enhancement
→ The desire to be viewed positively
Self-belonging
→ The desire to belong to/identify with social groups
Self-perception theory (Bem, 1972)
- People learn about themselves from their own behavior
- Tends to occur for domains that are not important to the self
Introspection
- People learn about themselves from their own thoughts and feelings
But - - may not be accurate
- may be guided by self-enhancement motives
Social comparison theory
- People compare themselves to others to assess how they are doing (Festinger, 1954)
- Compare self to similar others
- Upward social comparison
- Downward social comparison
The Looking-Glass Self Theory (Cooley, 1902)
The self as derived from how others interact with us
Reflected appraisals
The Looking-Glass Self Theory (Cooley, 1902)
- Information about the self obtained from viewing how others act and react to us
- In a way this is a behavioral model
Types of reflected appraisals
- Actual
2. Perceived
Actual appraisals
How other people actually perceive us
Perceived appraisals
How we think that others perceive us
- matters more
The spotlight effect
We tend to think that others notice and evaluate us more than they actually do
The transparency effect
We tend to think that our inner thoughts and feelings “leak out” and are detected by others
Acquiring self-knowledge
- Self-Perception (according to Bem)
- Introspection (flawed)
- Social Comparison (via reflective appraisals)
- Reflected Appraisals
Self-serving bias
The tendency to take credit for positive events and to dismiss negative events
The better-than-average effect
The tendency for people to view themselves as being better than average
Implicit egoism
The automatic tendency to prefer things that are associated with the self
Mere ownership effect
People value objects more when they are associated with the self
Name letter effect
People like the letters of their own name (particularly their initials) more than others do
Birthday effect
People like the numbers associated with their birthday more than others do
- The effect is more pronounced the higher your self-esteem is
Self-enhancement: Basking in reflected glory
- Occurs when one publicizes the connection with another person or group who has been successful
- Thought to allow you to share in the success of another person or group
- Thought to enhance self-esteem
Self-maintenance theory (SEM)
We cannot/do not always enhance our self-esteem when others do well
- A theory of how and when our self-esteem is either bolstered or negatively affected by the success of others
Two factors are important to how your self-esteem is affected:
- Relevance to one’s own self-concept
2. How close the other group/person is to you
The dark side of self-enhancement theory
People with high self-esteem react aggressively when their self-esteem is threatened
- A defensive reaction to avoid any loos of self-esteem
- Particularly likely for people who have unstable high self-esteem
Self-belonging
- The desire to belong to and/or identify with social groups
- People survive better in groups by knowing how to present themselves effectively, without provoking undue costs
Self-monitoring
An individual difference in the extent to which a person focuses on his or her behavior in a social situation
High self-monitor
o Social chameleons
o Change their behavior to suit others
o Attend to social cues
o Socially skilled
Low self-monitor
o Principled
o May be seen as aloof
o Act based on their attitudes
Self-Discrepancy Theory
- Actual self
- Ought self
- Ideal self
- typically in conflict
Actual self
The view of one’s current self-concept
Ought self
The view of what one’s self should be
Based on morals or views of important others
Ideal self
The view of the self one would like to have
Actual-ideal discrepancy
o Experience disappointment
o May lead to depression
Actual-ought discrepancy
o Fail at obligations
o May lead to anxiety disorders
