Self and Identity

Question 1

Is there a core self?

Answer 1

Reid, 1700s - conscious experience and an essential self that is the agent/subject
Hume, 1700s - there is no separate self beyond our conscious experiences
James, 1890 - we have a stream of consciousness but is not necessarily related to the underlying self
Dennett - narratives or representations of the self create a sense there is a self separate from conscious experience

Self can refer to any aspect of who or what the individual is or is considered to be
Identity refers to anything that can be considered a representation of the self

Question 2

Ego theory

Answer 2

Reid, 1700s
there is some essence beyond our conscious experience - this is the self

Criticism

• no related empirical research to support this
• endorses notion of core self but is this merely endorsing a cultural presupposition?

Question 3

Bundle theory

Answer 3

Hume, 1700s
we are the total of our conscious stream of experiences
there is no essential self beyond the stream of consciousness

Criticism

• goes against notion that we have an underlying core self
• not related to empirical research

Question 4

Social creation of identity?

Answer 4

Cooley, 1922
- the self is essentially linked to the society one lives in

Mead, 1934

• sense of self is partly dependent on how interaction with others create experiences of others’ conceptions of us
• so our self is both malleable and social

Shrauger and Schoeneman, 1979

• people don’t view themselves as others actually see them
• people see themselves as they think others see them
• idea that our self is dependent on social factors

Question 5

Schemas and self

Answer 5

encompasses idea that we have different conceptions of the self
conceptions are dynamic (constantly changing)
cultural factors affect and alter conceptions of the self too

Question 6

Self-schema and continuity

Answer 6

self-schema - provides sense of continuity - framework for understanding past/present and guiding future - new info slots into what is already known for consistency
we see ourselves different to how others see us - schema could be wrong and our self-concept isn’t necessarily true

Question 7

Schematic and aschematic dimensions

Answer 7

schematic dimensions
- issues/topics relevant to our self-schema
- these are what we draw upon to help define our self
Druian and Catrambrone, 1986
- schematic information is much quicker to process than aschematic information

aschematic dimensions
- issues/topics irrelevant to our self-schema

Question 8

Dynamic self-concept

self-concept is an important determinant of cognition and behaviour

Answer 8

Markus and Wurf, 1987

• the self can change and develop
• we shouldn’t look at it as a static entity rather a multidimensional structure that is implicated in all aspects of social information processing
• model to some extent influenced by intrapersonal and interpersonal behaviours (i.e. negative mood state may bring to surface negative self-concepts)

Question 9

Higgins, 1987

Answer 9

3 types of self

• actual self (one posses)
• ideal self (one wishes to posses)
• ought self (one should possess)

ideal and ought selves are self-guides - represent standards a person uses to organise information and motivate appropriate behaviour

actual and ideal often mismatch

Question 10

Culturally located schema

Answer 10

Markus and Kitayama, 1991

• extended dynamic self-concept to allow for more culturally accountable one
• big cultural divide between Eastern and Western cultures
• Eastern cultures focus on the collective self
• Western cultures focus on the individual self
• this involves a difference in self-schema developments - including the self in relation to others or not

Question 11

Critical reflection on schemas and self
Markus and Kitayama, 1991
Interactional work

Answer 11

Markus and Kitayama, 1991

• importantly they challenge previous research stating that individuals all have independent views of the self
• key in showing culture plays a role in defining the self

Interactional work challenges schema theories

• schema representations don’t tell us much about cognition
• instead they are used for specific sorts of interactional work

Question 12

3 issues in assessing self and affect

Answer 12

• self-awareness
• self-comparison
• self-regulation issues
  schema theory sometimes seen as too focused on information-processing parts of self-representations
  ignores emotional context

Question 13

Self-awareness and affective state

Duval and Wicklund model

Answer 13

research suggests negative affective state links to heightened self-awareness
Duval and Wicklund, 1972
- suggest humans can become aware of themselves as a object
- heightened self-focus can increase awareness of how the self may fail to meet set standards
- this may lead to negative affect
- positive or negative affect can lead to inward or outward focus

Question 14

Self-comparison and the self

Answer 14

Duval and Wicklund’s model of self-awareness also includes the comparison between the self and some ideal standard
the negative affect could be due to increased awareness of discrepancies between the self and ideal standard

Question 15

Research into self-comparison

Higgins, 1987

Answer 15

Higgins, 1987

• seek to refine this observation by Duval and Wicklund by distinguishing between two types of discrepancy
• • actual self compared to ought-to-self (leads to social anxiety)
• • actual-self compared to ideal-self (leads to depression)

Question 16

Research into self-comparison

Sedikides, 1993

Answer 16

Sedikides, 1993

• series of experiments to clarify relative importance of some of different purposes that reflections on the self may serve
• people are particularly motivated by self-enhancement concerns, then self-verification, and then self-assessment
• but how can we maintain a positive self-image if always concerned with comparing?

Question 17

Research into self-comparison

Tessler, 1988

Answer 17

Tessler, 1988

• model suggests that there are important factors determining whether people engage in social comparison or social reflection
• individual interest plays a role here
• certainty in our selves may lead to social reflection rather than social comparison
• but are these conscious and deliberate?

Question 18

Self-regulation issues
DeWall et al., 2001
Wirtz et al., 2006
Baumeister et al., 2005

Answer 18

• addresses how we manage ourselves
• also looks at how we try to change who we are to meet perceived idea standards better
  DeWall et al., 2001
• self-regulation alters responses to meet standards that are socially desirable
• model does not just focus on cognitive data/affective responses but actual or intended control over behaviour
  Wirtz et al., 2006
• people w/hypertension = higher incidence of low emotional self-regulation + low perceived social support
  Baumeister et al., 2005
• experiments - manipulated designs for feelings of social exclusion
• compared to control conditions, those with social exclusion = less able to keep healthy diets/frustration tasks
• affect linked to observable self-regulation
• implications –>we need to support people’s affective state more

Question 19

Critical reflection on the self and affect

Answer 19

sophisticated models of the self have been developed
issues with methodology
- use of questionnaires - demand characteristics
- research tends to individualise and de-contextualise ideas of the self
without the notion of an ideal self, many wider social forces would be at risk - i.e. beauty adverts

Question 20

Social identities

Answer 20

our sense of ourselves as a member of a group

- looks at how we develop a sense of ourselves as a member of a group and how this shapes our thoughts and actions

Question 21

Social identity theory

Answer 21

Tajfel, 1970
how being part of a group or not can shape and affect behaviour
most people show bias towards in-groups
develop a sense of ourselves as a member of a group - this is social identity and shapes our thoughts and actions
- people gain their sense of identity through their affiliation with social groups
- cognitive approach
perspective (humans will act consistently with social identity) impacted on understanding inter-group behaviour

Question 22

Research into social media suggests that social networks have a positivity bias

Answer 22

importance attached to being real self on Facebook
but bias to expressing positive aspects of yourself
people receive less likes/comments when expressing negative sides to your self

Question 23

Self-categorisation theory
Turner et al., 1987
Onorato and Turner, 2004
Livingstone and Haslam, 2008

Answer 23

Turner et al., 1987
- focus on how an individual can switch in self-categorisation
- contrast to self-schemas - says that self changes according to the situation
- contributes to understanding of how people switch from thinking about themselves in personal and in-group terms
Onorato and Turner, 2004
- pps instructed to think about themselves in personal terms - led to personal identities and salient attributes
- if instructed to think about themselves in group/social terms - responded consistently to salient social identity
Livingstone and Haslam, 2008
- the more important a social identity is to an individual, the more their attitudes and behavioural intentions reflect inter-group hostility

Question 24

Critical reflection on social identities

Answer 24

Hinkle and Brown, 1990
- too simplistic and not universally true
- SIT is context-dependent predictions for inter-group behaviour
Drury and Reicher, 2000
- provided illustration of SIT
- interviews showed social identity change their behaviour and behaviour also changed how individuals saw and thought about themselves
- directions of influence can be reversed
Billig, 1995
- SIT still presumes generic group processes even though it does attempt to draw upon real groups

Question 25

Critiques of individualised concepts of self

Answer 25

research into the self focuses on individualistic cultures - having a narrow conception of the self
Sampson, 1988
- investigated common assumptions about the self across different countries and communities
- in English speaking cultures = self-contained individualism as the dominant framework for thinking about the self
- other cultures embody the notion of ensembled individualism or the relational self

Question 26

Self-formation

Answer 26

Foucault’s work has been said to be important to the research into the conception of the self
Rabinow, 1984
- outlined three strands of Foucault’s thinking about the self as a subject
— dividing practices
— scientific classifications
— subjectification
lack of evidence to support this