Organization of the Self Concept Flashcards
What are the two ways people’s self concepts differ? (how we organize)
- # of self-aspects
- Degree to which these self-aspects are distinct from each other (less overlap)
Explain what is means when a person has high, or low self complexity?
High self-complexity: many self-aspects that are relatively distinct from each other
Low self-complexity: few self-aspects that have a high degree of overlap with each other
What are the three Implications of Self-Complexity?
*Affective spillover
*Affective extremity for low self-complexity
*High self-complexity as a stress buffer
What is Affective (emotional) Spillover?
Because of links between self-aspects and spreading activation, emotions associated with one self-aspect will “spillover” to other self-aspects
*Thus, there will be more affective spillover for people with low self-complexity
What is an example of affective spillover?
Mike got a bad grade on his psyc exam, this upsets him. It then spills over to his other concepts
(his friends are all psyc students, so they are being assocaited with his bad grade and bad mood. His job is in a psyc lab, so that spills over)
Mike = Low self complexity, so he will experience more spillover
What is Affect Extremity?
A low self concept person will feel more extreme emotions
Does high self-complexity or low self complexity cause spillover?
(Affect Extremity)
*Low self-complexity: Greater spillover causes more extreme emotional reactions and changes in self-esteem (few diff concepts with much overlap)
*In response to both negative and positive life events
*High self-complexity: Less spillover allows for more emotional stability
How does self-complexity affect the relationship between failure and emotional reactions? (STUDY 1)
Participants were asked to sort cue cards of traits based on how they’d categorize themself
- (Ex. creative, quiet, lazy)
Experimental manipulation: Participants given fake fail/success result from analytic task
- Then assess mood/self esteem
FIND:
- people with low self complexity feel worse when fail,
- have low self esteem when fail AND
- when low self complexity people succeed, they feel just as happy as high self complexity people
Is low self-complexity also associated with more variation in mood over time? (Study 2)
Had people report on emotions for two weeks after the same trait organizing task in study 1.
- Found Similar results (low self-complexity people feel more variation with emotions)
i.e., more fluctuation in mood over time
How does Self-Complexity act as a Stress Buffer?
High self-complexity may serve as a buffer against negative consequences of stressful life events
*May explain why some people are more resilient in the face of stress
Does high self-complexity protect against the negative health effects of stress? (STUDY 3)
Did trait sorting task again
Measured them one day, then again two weeks later
They found:
High self complexity: Less depressed, less stress, and fewer cold symptoms
Important: No difference in # of stressful events experienced between low and high self-complexity people
- Just seems to be the apprach
Can we change our self complexity?
Yes!
Ex. Through new hobbies, roles, relationships
A company is designing a wellness program for employees and learns that many of them have low self-complexity, with their identities tied closely to their work. Based on self-complexity theory, how can we expand their self complexities?
Have them develop new hobbies / relationships outside of work
Is self complexity a full stress buffer? Why?
Review of 24 studies examining buffering effects of self-complexity:
*7 studies support stress-buffering hypothesis
*4 found reverse!
*Rest didn’t show any effect
*Why?
- There are probably probably some circumstances where it holds true, and some where it doesn’t (Class answer)
Why Mixed Evidence of Stress Buffering? (Three things)
- Differences in how they measure well-being (Dependent variable)
- Works when u measure mood, doesn’t when measure stress
- Some parts of a definition may matter more or less
*# of self-aspects = Positive effect on well-being
*Degree of distinction between self-aspects = No effect on well-being - Degree of integration matters
- If someone has many self-aspects BUT doesn’t know how to integrate these different self-aspects, then high self-complexity may lead to confusion about self
What is Self-Concept Clarity (SCC)?
Extent to which the contents of the self-concept are:
*clearly defined
*consistent with each other
*stable
- Reflects the extent to which you feel like you know who you are
What is the difference between Self-Complexity and SCC?
SCC is unrelated to self-complexity
*A person could be high in self-complexity but low in SCC
*Many different self-aspects but lacking in clarity, consistency, and coherence between these different self-aspect
A person could be low in self-complexity but high in SCC
*Few self-aspects but high degree of clarity, consistency and coherence between these self-aspects
How could you illustrate self concept clarity?
Connection / integration between nodes
Daniela is involved in various activities, such as playing in a band, volunteering at an animal shelter, and working as a graphic designer. Despite this, she often feels uncertain about who she truly is and struggles to describe herself consistently. Based on these characteristics,
High self complexity (she does many things)
Low self concept clarity (she does not integrate them)
What is self concept clarity associated with? What does this suggest?
*More emotional stability
*Less rumination about the self
*Less loneliness
*Lower feelings of depression and perceived stress
Etc.
Suggests that SCC is important for well-being
What did a study on SCC and COVID-19 find?
On average, high SCC people experienced fewer negative emotions compared to low SCC people at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
*High SCC appears to facilitate more adaptive responses during times of intense uncertainty/stress
What factors influence SCC?
Age
- Increase after 20 and plateau after 60 (retirement / kids leaving)
Changes to social roles?
*Academic/job changes
*Relationship changes
*Hobby change
Do role changes lead to lower SCC? (Reddit STUDY)
Collected writing samples from an online forum (reddit) for new parents
*Research assistants analyzed and rated writing for:
1. Self concept confusion
- % of self concept change
- Positivity of self change
FOUND:
SCC depends on
1. how much they feel their self-concept has changed and
- how positively they feel about that change
If people feel they have changed a lot, and not sure how they feel about it, how does this impact SCC?
More self concept confusion
Did they replicate the reddit study?
Yes! with other roles
- newlyweds
- divorced ppl
Shows: Role transitions (entering roles & exiting roles) effect SCC
