S2 L2 - Self And Identity Flashcards
What is the self?
Symbolic construct reflecting consciousness of our own identity and awareness that we exist as a being, separate from other beings
What are the different types of self and forms? (Brewer and Gardner)
(CIR)
Collective self
Individual self
Relational self
What is the collective self?
Attributes shared with ingroup members and distinct from our own group members
What is the individual self?
Attributes that make us unique relative/compared to other people
What is the relational self?
Relationships one has w other specific people
What do Abrams and Hogg 2011 say about people experience about themselves?
People experience different selves depending on situational factors, yet also feel they have a coherent self-concept that integrates all their selves together
What is self-awareness?
A psychological state in which people are aware of their traits, feelings, and behaviours
When do we become self aware?
A spot of rouge on the nose of babies and then put them in front of a mirror
Babies between 9-12 months treated mirror image as another child, showing no interest in the spot on their nose
Around 18 months, children recognised that the reflection was themselves
What is public awareness?
I know that others are aware of me
Evoked when -
Giving a presentation
Being photographed or filmed
What is private self awareness
I’m aware of me
Evoked when
Looking in a mirror
Experiencing physiological arousal
What are the consequences of private self awareness and public self awareness?
The consequences are different
What is the consequence of private self awareness?
ICA
Intensified emotional response
Clarification of knowledge
Adherence to personal standards of behaviour
What is intensified emotional response? Plus the study done to show this as evidence?
A consequence of private self awareness
Focusing on our self also makes us focus on our state of mind, intensifying our emotions
Scheier and Carver 1977
Ps read aloud positive or negative statements (I feel lighthearted / everything is empty) whilst looking in a mirror nor not
Ps who looked in the mirror during task (making them privately self aware) became more extreme in their emotional responses. Positive feelings get more positive, negative feelings get even more negative
What is clarification of knowledge? Plus evidence to show this?
Focusing on internal events means we can report them with greater accuracy
Gibbons et al
Ps given a placebo and told it is a drug that would increase arousal, whilst looking in a mirror or not
Those in front of a mirror experienced less arousal and side effects than those who couldn’t see themselves
Shows mirror induced self-awareness - ignore the placebo and focus on their feelings leading to more accurate knowledge
What is adherence to personal standards of behaviour?
Plus study that show this?
True beliefs become emphasised and less susceptible to external forces
Asked to write an essay that goes against their attitude/beliefs whilst looking in a mirror or not
Induces cognitive dissonance (the discomfort a person feels when their behaviour does not align with their values or beliefs)
Writing the essay in front of the mirror > less attitude change
Private self-awareness may increase adherence to one’s true beliefs
What are two consequences of public self awareness?
Evaluation apprehension
Adherence to social standards of behaviour
What is evaluation apprehension?
A consequence of public self awareness
Public self awareness makes us realise that we are being observed by others
Fear of negative evaluation causes nervousness and reduced self esteem (larger audiences increases anxiety during public speaking)
What is adherence to social standards of behaviour?
More likely to conform to group norms even if this goes against personal opinions
Bateson examined the effect of an image of a pair of eyes on contributions to an honesty box used to collect money for drink in a uni coffee room
People paid nearly 3x as much for their drinks when eyes were displayed compared to a control image
What is self consciousness?
Individual differences in chronic self-awareness is referred to as self-consciousness
It’s the extent to which an individual is chronically aware of their traits, feelings and behaviour
What are the two types of self-consciousness?
Privately self-consciousness
Publicly self-consciousness
What is privately self-consciousness?
Experience more intense emotions - greater tendency to suffer from depression and neuroticism, due to rumination on feelings of unhappiness/discomfort
•Act in line with personal beliefs
•Less likely to suffer ill-health due to noticing symptoms earlier (Mullen & Suls, 1982)
What is publicly self-consciousness?
Concerned with others’ perceptions of them, and so adhere to group norms
•Avoid embarrassing situations (Froming et al., 1990)
•More concerned with their appearance, and judge others according to appearance
What is self-concept?
The complete set of beliefs that people have about themselves, which form their understanding of who they are
What are self-schemas?
How we expect ourselves to think, feel and behave in a particular situation
What do self-schemas consist of?
Perception of ourselves eg I am talkative
Our experiences on this dimension “I know I’m likely to be talkative at a party”
We each hold a complex self-concept made up of a number of discrete self-schemes
Having a complex and varied self schemas is beneficial
How do some schemas vary in their importance?
To the self such as in relation to a particular trait we may be self schematic, somewhat schematic or A-schematic .
Through self-schemas people tend to have clear conceptions of themselves
Some self schemas are more important than others
What are the 3 self schemas?
Self Schematic - traits that are highly important aspects of the self
Somewhat schematic - traits that describe the self to some extent
Aschematic - traits which are irrelevant to the self
We are self-schematic on a particular self-schema if it is highly embedded in our self-concept (Markus, 1977)
Why are multiple self schemas important for our psychological well being?
Buffer against the impacts of negative self-schemas with more positive self-schemas (Linville, 1985; 1987)
Expands opportunities for social interaction, pleasure and personal growth (MultipleRole Theory, Powell & Greenhouse, 2010)
But with multiple schemas conflict can arise between self-schemas leading to distress (Meyer, 2003)
E.g. self-schema of being a world leading athlete and a mother
How do we maintain our sense of self?
Theories of self-comparison(comparing self to self)
Self-discrepancy theory
Theories of social comparison(comparing self to others)
Social comparison theory
Theories of group comparison(comparing my group to other groups)
Social identity theory
Inter-dependence theories(how others shape us)
Michelangelo Phenomenon
What does the self consist of according to Higgins?
Higgins, 1987
The self consists of
Actual self – how we are at present
Ideal self – how we would like to be
Ought self – how we think we should be
Individuals compare their “actual” self tointernalisedstandards of the ideal and ought self.
We are motivated to ensure match between actual, ideal and ought self (Higgins, 1987)
What is the self discrepancy theory?
People are motivated to try to ensure that their actual self matches their ideal and ought self
Discrepancies lead to psychological discomfort…
Higgins et al. (1987) had participants think about the discrepancy between their actual and ideal self, vs their actual and ought self, and report on their emotions after thinking about the discrepancy.
Actual-idealdiscrepancy related todejection
Actual-oughtdiscrepancy is related toagitation
