The Self Flashcards
The Search for the Self
- Some argue that reflexive thought (ie our ability to think about who we are, who we would like to be, and how we would like others to see us) is a key difference between humans and other living beings
- Other than human beings, great apes, elephants and dolphins (and even some birds like ravens) are seemingly capable of self-recognition although this is more present in humans (they have some form of self)
- Self-recognition is an important first step in the development of a self-concept
William James and The Self
Came up with the I-self and the Me-self
I-self
- It is the first domain, more philosophical, and is a narrative equated with flow of consciousness
- The Knower, Experiencer, Present-tense, Story-teller
- Consciousness (the Homunculus)
Me-Self
- It’s not what MAKES the story, it IS the story
- The Known, Experienced, Past-tense, the Story
- It is the story about the self we like to tell ourselves which is essentially the self-concept
Cocktail Party Effect
- In a party, there are many noises but we are able to drown out some of it and zone in on one aspect or conversation (ability to zoom in attention and ignore other stimuli)
- If someone in another conversation says our name however, our attention immediately shifts to that as it is WAY more important
- This demonstrates that while selecting what to pay attention to, we are constantly monitoring (even if unconsciously) for any stimuli directly related to ourselves and if this happens (like our name being mentioned), it almost creates tunnel vision
The Self-Concept and the Cocktail Party
- Self is an extremely important object of our attention (it dominates our attention, so very accessible and salient)
The Self Concept
- Our knowledge about who we are, including traits (personality), social identities, and experiences
- Self-concept is made up of self-schemas
Self-schemas
- Beliefs about oneself that guide processing or self-relevant information
- People tend to be more self-schematic especially when operating dimensions important to them, on which they are extreme, and on which they strongly believe the opposite is not true
- When faced with knowledge that is completely contradictory to our schemas, beliefs or values, we will rely more on self-schemas that build who we are
How do we know ourselves
Outmoded Projective tests, Intuitions/Introspection about the self, Predicting our feelings and behaviours, Self-perception theory, social context, social comparison
Projective Methods
- There is the association method where the unconscious self can be probed via lateral methods
- Using lateral non-obvious methods is necessary as a lot of the self is very difficult to get to, so we need methods to go around these protective defences and trigger the unconscious in coming out
Association Methods Examples
- Saying the first word that comes to mind when reading a list of words and fixations are revealed by aberrant reactions
- Asking “if you could be any animal, what would you be?” although there is the problem of not knowing whether the answer is an accurate reflection or a deep-seated wish
Introspection
- Asked to think about ourselves, creating the process of looking inward and assessing our ABCs (thoughts, feelings, and motives)
- We have this idea that this introspection ability makes us better than others at knowing ourselves, but is that really true?
- We tend to stick to narratives rather than what is true & relate to experience which is where we interpret ourselves wrong
Nisbett & Wilson (1977) on Introspection
- They suggested that we cannot look inside and know why we do something or how we reached a certain decision because the reasons that we often provide for thoughts and feelings may be wrong and based on common naive theories related to these experiences
- When asking shoppers to consider 5 different socks and picking the best one (which would be randomly ordered and switched around), 71% picked the last one (recency effect) and when told about the trick of the study, they would continue to argue they picked the best one and why
Vazire (2010)
- When considering whether we really know ourselves best, stated it depends on the extent of two factors to which the traits are being judged:
- Whether they are observable
- And evaluative (both positive and negative) and this will be more based on self-esteem
Affective Forecasting
Ability to predict how you will feel based on a given situation
How effective is Affective Forecasting
- People are often bad at predicting their own feelings
- We will inaccurately judge the intensity and duration of our emotional experience
- Oftentimes, we overemphasize the intensity and the length of these emotions and will not account for the ability and tendency to return back to a baseline quickly
Why are we such bad predictors of our feelings?
- Focus differs between forecasting (you/Me-self) and the actual experience (not you/I-self)
- We often forget about our ‘psychological immune system’, which is our ability to rationalize, discount, forgive and limit emotional trauma, due to a cognitive system that is good at bringing us back to baseline and help us get over the good and bad quickly
Self-Perception Theory
- When internal cues are difficult to interpret, people gain insight by observing their own behaviour (we’ll look at what we’re doing and base our insights on that when we don’t know our feelings)
- This only happens in the absence of compelling situational pressures or strong pre-existing thoughts or feelings about something (people with poorly defined views on environment made to feel pro or anti environmental based on the things they have done in the past)
Self-Perceptions of Emotion (Laird, 1974)
- Found the facial feedback hypothesis where changes in facial expression can lead to changes in the subjective experience of emotions
- Basically our faces and what we do with them is a behaviour telling us how we feel
Strack, Martin, & Stepper (1988) Simulated Smile vs Frown
- Had participants in 2 conditions, one where they used a pencil to activate their frowning muscles and the other where they used a pencil to activate the smiling muscles
- Unaware of true study, they rated cartoons and the ones ‘smiling’ more often rated them as funny, showing that facial muscles influenced how they felt
Why does this Facial Feedback Hypothesis Happen
- Facial expressions affect emotion through (engaging in) process of self-perception
- An alternative explanation is that facial movements evoke physiological changes that produce an emotional experience; in other words, there is direct feedback from face to brain that shows a physiological stimulus linked to brain arousal
Self-perceptions of Motivation
- Example is programs offer incentives for tasks like reading, relying on extrinsic motivation (reading certain amount of books to get tokens for a pizza at end of month)
Types of motivation
- Intrinsic (originates in factors within a person)
- Extrinsic (originates in factors outside the person)
When the scale tips between the two motivations
- Enormous reward or fearsome penalty can decrease intrinsic motivation by leading to external attributions (“why are you reading?” easiest explanation: “for pizza tokens”)
- However, in the absence of external explanations, behaviour is attributed internally
Lepper et al. (1973)
- Participants were kids who liked to draw, therefore being intrinsically motivated to do so, then randomly assigned to three reward condition (no reward, unexpected reward and expected reward), and measured the amount of drawing they did a week later
- Those who expected a reward (extrinsically motivated) drew the least, and those with unexpected rewards drew the most although no reward group was not far behind
- They came up with the over-justification effect and a later study (Greene et al., 1976) showed this decrease tended to last (longitudinal effects)
Over-justification effect
The tendency for intrinsic motivation to diminish for activities that have become associated with rewards or other extrinsic factors
Should rewards not be offered?
- Not necessarily, rewards are good when unexpected
- Effects of praising can also vary, with better results following a praise for effort (“you worked so hard”) vs a praise for ability (“you are so smart”)
- Rewards are better for good performance rather than conditional for fulfilling task alone
Social Context
- The self concept changes in response to personal and situational factors (HUGE associative method, with the Me idea and stuff connected to Me)
- We also identify with what makes us unique in a given situation, with aspects of ourselves that stand out as unusual becoming important to the self
- We like to identify as unique, but not TOO much, opting for an optimal distinctiveness where we are still part of the group, but unique enough to be ourselves
Social Comparison Theory
- Process of evaluating ourselves through comparisons with other people (people we are around influence how we think of ourselves)
- We turn to others for comparative information most often when uncertain about our self-evaluation and tend to compare ourselves with similar others
- Think Lazarus’ (1991) Cognitive Appraisal Theory of Emotions
- Based on the Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
- There are 2 factors necessary to feel a specific emotion: experiencing physiological arousal and making a cognitive interpretation that explains the source of the arousal
- Major Conclusion: When unclear about our emotional state, we sometimes interpret how we feel by watching others
Schachter and Singer (1962)
- Looked into whether we can use other people as a source of information for determining our emotions
- Injected half of the participants with adrenaline (arousal condition) and the other half with a placebo (non-arousal condition)
- They then interacted with a fun or angry confederate and arousal condition had more fun or were more angry than non-arousal condition
- When not knowing why they felt so aroused, they had to interpret it and used other person’s emotion to understand
Conditional bounds required for others to influence our emotions
- Our level of physiological arousal cannot be too intense
- Other people must be present as a possible explanation for arousal before its onset
Self concept and social identities
- Social identities are the part of our answer to “Who am I” that comes from our group memberships
- Some categories that we belong to and for which we have relevant social identities are race, age, sex, job, SES, height, weight, attractiveness, nationality, intelligence
The Cultural Self
- Culture is a set of beliefs, attitudes, values, norms, morals, customs, roles, statuses, symbols, and rituals shared by a self-identified group, a group whose members think of themselves as a group
- The self is determined in part by the culture that we live in
Individualistic vs Collectivistic on Who am I? test
- Had to answer 5 fill in the blanks (“I am…”)
- More individualistic cultures tend to provide a more personal answer (I am short, smart, outgoing)
- More collectivistic cultures tend to provide more group-oriented answers (I am a Kawakami, Buddhist, my father’s daughter)
- Prominent, bicutural (North American and Asian) psych did the test and answered twice, flipping between her two cultural backgrounds
North American/Western Cultures - Individualism
- Promote the concept of giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications
- Promote individual traits and goals, personal achievement and rights and reject conformity
North American/Western Cultures - Independent Selves
Self-schema in which others are not represented as part of the self (I am me and other people are other people independently from me)
North American/Western Cultures - Context Independent
Attend to focal object and not gestalt (focus on detail rather than bigger picture)
North American/Western Cultures - Analytic Reasoning
Emphasis is on the proper use of rules and that contradictory statements cannot be true (rely more on rational/logical sets of rules and ways without paradox or contradictions)
North American/Western Cultures - Internal Attributions
- Assume behaviour of others correspond to their traits
- If someone lies, they are a liar
- When looking at a picture with a group of fish and one fish is separate from the group:
- If he is ahead, he is the leader or a strong swimmer
- If he is behind, he is slow or guarding the rest
Eastern Cultures - Collectivism
- Promote the concept of giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly
- Not only a part of Asian cultures, but also African and South American cultures
- Promotes connections with others (and finding yourself in terms of these connections), group goals and solidarity, and rejection of egoism
Eastern Cultures - Interdependent Selves
Self-schema in which others are represented as part of the self (you include representations of others in the self: I am me, but I am also my mother, father, friend, etc.)
Eastern Cultures - Context Dependent
Attend to surroundings and gestalt (more of a bigger picture perspective)
Eastern Cultures - Holistic Reasoning
Emphasis is on considering all possible influences and balancing competing forces; contradictions are okay (balance competing perspectives, there can be 2 truths even if opposing they are opposing, they do not need to be solved)
Eastern Cultures - External Attributes
- Assume behaviour of others correspond to the situation more than people from a Western Culture
- If a person lied, they are not necessarily a liar if the situation promoted this behaviour
- When looking at a picture with a group of fish and one fish is separate from the group:
- If he is ahead, the other fish are chasing him
- If he is behind, the other fish are swimming too fast or don’t like him
Effectance Motivation
The most basic and positive motivation (can use this for anything we want, makes us self driven and we need this to be alive)
The Joy of Personal Power and Ego Fuel
- Provides effectance Motivation
- Goal Effiacy and Well-being (tend to have easier time getting what they want, are more positive)
- Power and Approach feels positive, energizing, helps to get resources and status
- It’s good because it feels good
Too much Personal Power and Ego Fuel
- Can become an addiction with bad side-effects
- Prioritize ‘Me and Mine’ over ‘You and Yours’
- Become insensitive, callous, etc.
Narcissism
Aggrandized sense of self which leads one to engage in more ego-driven goal pursuits (pursuing constant social approval)
Is Narcissism on the rise?
- Self-esteem movement saw every social problem tied back to low self esteem and heightening it is like a vaccination against stress/life problems, but did it backfire?
- Rising Narcissism rates were seen with Millennials who were described as more confident, tolerant, engaged, wealth focused (but in debt), entitled, dissatisfied with advancement, burned out, stressed and job hopping more
- However, depression and anxiety were also seen as rising although causes are still being debated (decreases in social connection or increases in economic and vocational uncertainty?)
- Fingers have been pointing at Gen Z (Generation Me) as being more self-centred, egotistical, lazy, and narcissistic, but not only have rates of narcissism been decreasing, there is also a potential generational bias that has been present for a long time, where older generations and news reporters blame upcoming generations
Is there a link between Online Behaviour and Narcissism?
- The online world provides a social approval with a larger audience, ability to project an idealistic image of the self, ease for fishing for compliments and no downside of managing a real relationship
- This is perfect hunting ground for narcissists as they can tailor themselves to others and have more relationships with less consequences (no need to deal with when the relationship inevitably goes sour)
- They are more likely to use facebook and twitter and use it more often
Narcissism and the Selfie
- Narcissists driven by social approval, superiority but also mask an insecure core
- Questioned whether social approval notably following posting a selfie fit right in there
- Idea was that narcissists should feel particular anxiety to rejection and that posting a selfie and receiving likes on it should decrease this anxiety and we should be able to see this using an EEG
Narcissism and the Selfie Study
- ## First used a questionnaire (Narcissistic Inventory) to determine who had high traits
What is Stress
- The process involves a stressor stimulus which threatens an animal’s physiological homeostasis, then leading to a psychological or physical response (predicted vs real) to balance this threat/stressor
- It activates the maintenance of physiological homeostasis as the brain is trying to return to that balanced state, which is enacted in two responses: Sympathetic and HPA systems
Sympathetic System
- Fight or Flight (or Freeze) automatic system
- Typically for more short term stressors/ a more short term stress response and is a faster process to be activated and deactivated
- Its process involves detecting (ABCs) a stressor which causes a physical or psychological arousal activating the sympathetic nervous system and catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine)
- This response activates the body to act whether to freeze, fight, or run away and everything not necessary is put on hold (digestive system slowed down)
HPA Axis
- Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocorticol system
- More for longterm stressors/response
- Slower process to activate and deactivate
- The Brain Stem and Limbic System detect stress
- Hypothalamus is activated and releases CRH (Corticotropin Releasing Hormone)
- CRH activates Anterior Pituitary which releases ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone)
- ACTH activates the Adrenal Cortex which releases Cortisol
- There is then supposedly a negative feedback loop, where cortisol in your body signals your hypothalamus to inhibit CRH release, deactivating the Anterior Pituitary and inhibiting ACTH release, which in turn deactivates the Adrenal cortex, putting an end to cortisol release
What happens in Chronically stressed animals
- Prolonged and/or repeated exposure to stressor (prolonged increase in corticosteroids) can have maladaptive consequences, as it ruins the negative feedback loop
- These consequences include hypertension, type II diabetes, ulcers, etc.
- Chronic stress, as it changes the brain’s response to a stressor, can also lead to neuroendocrine change which produces a stress-typology
So is stress bad?
- No, because experiencing stress can lead to learning methods of coping and resiliency
- This can depend on your genetic background and stress experience
- But in case of a successful stress regulation, it produces a resilient typology which can last longterm
Vulnerable Typology
Learned helplessness that generalizes a behaviour to new stressful situations (outcome is not contingent on behaviour)
Learned Resilience
- ‘Good’ twin of learned helplessness
- Produced in mice who were able to escape stressor and had control
- They were not as stressed, their ventromedial PFC inhibited the behavioural expression of stress and the vmPFC learned controllability unless if it was knocked out during learning/stressor
Can you learn resiliency even during IS condition
If vmPFC is turned on even in a inescapable stressor condition, there is still a reduced stress response and even if there is no actual control, there is a feeling of control, leading to learning from stressed experience
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex
- Neural Mechanism of stressor control-resilience
- Inhibits stress response via inhibition of dorsal raphe nucleus and 5-HT output
- Has direct connection to amygdala and can reduce its response, playing a key role in stress regulation
- Can lead to stress immunization, with learned resilience in perceived control
vmPFC in non-depressed and depressed individuals
- In non-depressed individuals, they regulate their negative affect, activating the vmPFC which reduces amygdala response, but in depressed people however, there is the opposite effect
- Their vmPFC learns that whatever they do, nothing goes well, leading to a positive response between vmPFC and amygdala
- In other words, when the vmPFC is activated, there is an increased activation in the amygdala
- Sign of disrupted control over emotions
Abstract Control
- Humans can perceive control abstractly as well
- You may either think you have primary control (I have control)
- OR you focus on secondary control, where you see the situation as under control through a powerful agent (institution) whom you can appeal/talk to
- In natural disasters or major situations that elicit a major stressor or lack of control, people affected will often turn to Religious Faith or political party
Resilient Typology
- Same idea as attachment style
- Secure people expect to find support, have reduced stress and better abilities to deal with that stress, have increased vmPFC activation to stress, built resiliency
- Similar to Perceived Control Typology
Extreme Resilience
- Tom Wolfe was a famous journalist and novelist covered the last Apollo (17) mission and was wondering what it was that makes a makes a man willing to go in a rocket ship, in a highly stressful environment, facing potential death
- Named them “single combat warriors”, as when facing death, intense physical and mental strain, and pressure to perform at high levels they must perform as good or better than they would without these stressors, going beyond the average person who would normally have their performance affected
- It is part of an idealism of masculinity (maybe Machismo) representing bravery, strength, honour-bound, protective behaviour, with hints of restraint of pride although it is a little negative now
Grit
- Extreme resilience seems to be related to having an ideal which motivates them to get through anything
- Machismo is probably not the least prideful idea but having an ideal can tether you future goals and end states
- Weather storms, persevere, and continue pursuit
- Unlike without a long term goal
Duckworth et al., 2007 and Grit
Grit is predictive of performance, perseverance and passion for longterm goals
Self-Regulation via Action
- Active (Approach) strategies (confrontative coping, seeking social support, planful problem solving, positive reappraisal); about h=going forward/attaining
- Passive (Avoidant) strategies (distancing, self-controlling, accepting responsibility, escape-avoidance); avoidance/withdrawal
- Both have differentpathways
Confrontive Coping
Describes aggressive effort to alter the situation and suggests some degree of hostility and risk-taking
Seeking Social Support
Describes efforts to seek informational support, tangible support, and emotional support
Plantful Problem Solving
Describes deliberate problem-focused efforts to alter the situation, coupled with an analytic approach to solving the problem
Positive Reappraisal
Describes efforts to create positive meaning by focusing on personal growth; it also has a religious dimension
Distancing
Describes cognitive efforts to detach oneself and to minimize the significance of the situation
Self-Controlling
Describes efforts to regulate one’s feelings and actions
Accepting Responsibility
Acknowledges one’s own role in the problem with a concomitant theme of trying to put things right
Escape-Avoidance
Describes wishful thinking and behavioural efforts to escape or avoid the problem; items on this scale contrast with those on the Distancing scale, which suggest detachment
Process of Self-Regulation via Action
- Fear-Arousing Stimulus -> Lateral Nucleus
- Central Nucleus -> Periaqueductal gray region (immobility) / Lateral Hypothalamus (autonomic responses) / Paraventricular Hypothalamus (HPA responses) -> Passive Fear Reaction (aroused, stressed, and despondent)
- Basal Nucleus -> Striatum -> Active Coping Reaction (getting on with life)
