Self and Identity (VL 3) Flashcards
Different forms of self and identity
- Collective self: self defined in terms of attributes shared with ingroup members and distinct from outgroup members
- Individual self: self defined in terms of attributes that make one unique relative to other people
- Relational self: self defined in terms of relationships with specific other people
–> People experience different selves in different contexts, but feel they have a coherent (einheitlich) self-concept that integrates or interrelates all these selves
William James: Basic duality of the self
Both Me/Self-concept (our knowledge of who we are) and I/Self-awareness (the act of thinking about ourselves)
Self-awareness - Definition
people are not always aware of themselves, self-awareness can be uncomfortable and uplifting – depending on the situation
Self-Concept - Definition
set of beliefs we hold about who we are (can contribute to a good self-esteem but doesn´t have to)
Self-esteem - Definition
the evaluation we make of ourselves; exists of implicit/less conscious and explicit self-esteem
Sources of self-knowledge
- Socialization: How a person acquires the rules, standards and values of his/her family, group or culture
- Reflected appraisal: Self-evaluation based on the perceptions and evaluations of others
- Self-Perception: The theory assumes people sometimes infer their attitudes from their overt (offenkundig) behavior, rather than from their internal state
- Social comparison
- Social identity: Part from the individual´s self-concept that derives from his/her membership in a social group –> also ethnic identity: membership in an ethnic group and participation in the group´s valued activities
Self-schemas
- Describe how people think about their personal qualities in a particular domain
- Guide behavior in relevant situations
- Aid memory for relevant information
- Influence inferences, decisions and judgements
Possible selves
- Schemas people hold concerning that they may/could become in the future
- Represent hopes and fears for the future
- Help people focus and organize plans for pursuing goals
Ideal and Ought Self
Ideal self: The personal attributes one would like to have
Ought self: The personal attributes one believes one should possess (one believes others think one should possess)
Self-discrepancies
Differences in how we see ourselves and how we would like to be/believe others think we could be
Characteristics of People with a high self-esteem
- Persistent and resilient in the face of failure
- Emotionally and affectively stable
- Less flexible and malleable (formbar)
- Less easily persuaded and influenced
- No conflict between wanting and obtaining success and approval
- React positively to a happy and successful life
- Thorough (gründlich), consistent and stable self-concept
- Self-enhancement motivational orientation
- -> Clear and stable sense of self, a self-enhancement orientation
Characteristics of People with a low self-esteem
- Vulnerable to the impact of everyday events
- Wide swings in mood and affect
- Flexible and malleable (formbar)
- Easily persuaded and influenced
- Want success and approval but are skeptical of it
- React negatively to a happy and successful life
- Sketchy, inconsistent and unstable self-concept
- Self-protective motivational orientation
- -> less clear self-concept, a self-protective orientation
Self-motives
- People generally seek an accurate, stable, and positive self-concept; have a need for a consistent self-concept; are motivated towards self-improvement
- Self-verification: Seeking out and interpreting situations that confirm one´s self-concept
- Self-enhancement: Need to hold a positive view of oneself
- Positive illusions: Mild, falsely positive self-enhancing perceptions of one´s personal qualities
People are more realistic than self-enhancing when…
- They are about to receive feedback from others
- Making decisions about goals
- They are depressed or have a low self-esteem
Self-Affirmation theory
- Predicts people will cope with threats to self-worth by affirming unrelated aspects of themselves
- People with high self-esteem may be more likely to use self-affirmation
- Self-affirming people may help people be less defensive and more accepting of criticism
Terror Management Theory
Claims that people are fearful of their own mortality and seek to minimize their anxiety by
- Holding a cultural world-view that makes sense of an otherwise threatening world
- Having personal self-esteem that leads to the sense that one is an object of value in a meaningful universe
Social comparison Theory - Developer and what it states
Developed by Leon Festinger (1954)
States that:
- People have a drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities accurately
- In the absence of objective standards, people evaluate themselves by comparison with others
- In general, people prefer comparisons with similar others
Social comparison Theory - Goals of social comparison
- Accurate Self-Evaluation
- Self-enhancement –> leads to downward social comparisons
- Self-improvements –> leads to upward social comparisons
- Sense of communication
Social comparison Theory - Comparison process
- Social comparison affects self-evaluations, moods, and responses to others
- Ex. job interview, waiting with Mr. Clean and Mr. Dirty
Social comparison Theory - Related-Attributes Similarity
- We compare ourselves with others based on similar backgrounds and preparation
- In an unfamiliar dimension, people compare themselves to the best and worst attributes
Self-presentation
- Involves attempting to control the impressions we convey to others to obtain desired outcomes
- Public self-presentations can affect our private self-concepts
- Need to be able to “take the role of the other” in order to be successful in self-presentation
- People tend to make a good impression by:
o Conforming to the norms of the situation
o Self-promotion
o Ingratiation: flattering or doing favors (ex. complimenting nice office in job interview)
Self-presentation - Self-Promotion and Modesty
Self-promotion: Can be tricky because it´s easy to appear egoistic
Modesty: Tricky self-presentation strategy, most effective when the person´s success is well-known to others
Independent and Interdependent self-concepts
- Independent: more likely to engage in self-promotion (goal is to reduce actual-ideal discrepancies)
- Interdependent: more likely to engage in preventative self-presentations (goal is to reduce actual-ought discrepancies)
Self-handicapping
- Engaging in actions that provide obstacles to success, so failure can later be attributed to those obstacles
- Self-esteem is preserved beforehand in case of a later failure
- Can be done through behavior or verbal claims (men are more likely than women to use behavioral handicaps)
- Works short-term but has negative long-term consequences on performance and adjustment
Self-reference effect
Information relevant to our self-concepts is processed quickly and remembered well
Implicit Egotism – The name letter effect
- Tendency that people evaluate letters in their own name (especially initials) especially favorable
- Women like first name initials more, men like last name initials more
- Effect also significant for birthday numbers
- Clear preferences for brand names that start with one´s names initials
- -> people´s positive automatic associations about themselves may influence their feelings about almost anything associated with the self
- Also influences people´s behavior (ex. where to live, what career)
The Independent and Interdependent Self
Independent self: the sense of oneself as bounded, unitary and separate from social context
–> Be unique and self-expressing, true to your beliefs, promote your own goals and difference from others
Interdependent self: the sense of self as flexible, variable and connected to the social context
–> Fitting in, acting appropriately to roles and group norms, non-confrontational, promoting group goals and harmony
