The Self Concept Flashcards
What is our self concept?
A cognitive representation of the knowledge and beliefs we have about ourselves, including our:
*personality traits
*abilities
*social roles
Essentially, everything a person claims as “me” or “mine” (Ex. my skills)
Why is our self concept important?
shapes how we think about the world, feel, and behave
Explain the following: “Self-Concept as an Associative Network”?
Associative network: Knowledge is organized as a metaphorical network of cognitive concepts interconnected by links
*Some concepts are more central
*Links between concepts vary in strength
What is the other word for concepts when graphing associative networks?
Nodes
Is the self concept fixed?
Self-concept implies a unitary, fixed, and integrated idea about the self
*BUT, people have lots of ideas about themselves, sometimes in contradiction with each other
(ex. might be lazy at work, but a really motivated writer)
What is the Working self-concept?
The subset of self-knowledge that is the current focus of awareness
*Self-concept: the entirety of our self-knowledge
*Created moment-to-moment
(Basically a stage is our self concept (all we know) while a spotlight is on currently relevant self concept information)
How can we determine what is in our self concept?
Situational activation:
Different situations can activate different pieces of self-knowledge thus creating different working self-concepts
How can we determine what is in our self concept?
Spreading Activation:
when specific self-aspect is activated, other self-aspects that are linked with it are also activated
*Self-aspects that are strongly linked will be activated more quickly
Contents of the working self-concept is?
self-knowledge that’s most accessible/salient at that moment
Accessibility of self-knowledge is determined by:
- Distinctive
A person’s unique, distinctive characteristics are more salient to them than characteristics that they have in common with others
Based on the situation, ex I might think myself as more creative in a room full of math students
Explain the study on distinctiveness theory with 6th graders :
6th graders completed “Who am I?” exercise
*“I am…”
FOUND: *Students with distinctive features mentioned these more often than those with more typical features (ex. eye colour, race)
*Shows that the situational context influences what spontaneously comes to mind when describing the self
Accessibility of self-knowledge is determined by:
- Relevance
Situational activation (recency effect)
Is this relevant to the situation/activity
*Job interview vs. party
Accessibility of self-knowledge is determined by:
- Frequency
Frequencyof activation
*Very important self-aspects
*Self-aspects that we engage in often
What are some implications for having a working self concept?
The self-concept is malleable and is highly dependent on the context *We have different versions of ourselves
Non-central self-aspects can enter the working self-concept
Allows for contradictory self-aspects to simultaneously exist
*Usually not activated in the same situation
Working self-concept influences how we behave
*Explains why we behave differently in different situation
Does the working self-concept influence behaviour? (explain the study on introversion / extraversion)
Experimentally manipulated working self-concept:
*Extroversion: “what would you do if you wanted to liven things up at a party?”
*Introversion: “what things do you dislike about loud parties?
RESULTS:
Those in the extroverted (vs. introverted) condition:
*Describedthemselves as more extroverted
*Acted more extroverted in a subsequent situation!
*Spoke longer to confederate
*Sat closer to confederate
*Rated by confederate and judges as more extroverted
This shows: working self-concept depends on situational activation and that it influences behaviour
What are the four common elements to theories about the true self?
- Natural endowment: already born with a true self
*Often in the form of potential - Feels authentic
*Actions consistent with internal states (feelings, needs, desires) that are subjectively experienced as one’s own
3.People naturally want to be true to themselves
*Living in accordance with true self leads to a satisfying and fulfilling life
- Competes with external influences
*Reason why it is difficult to be in tune with true self and to follow it
Do people believe in a true self and use it as a guide to make decisions?
(explain the study on decision-making strategies)
“Please take a few moments to think about occasions when you had to make an important decision.”
*Rated (1-7 scale) potential decision-making strategies on how important they are for making a satisfying decision,
Results: PPL said their true self helped guide them
People believe that following one’s true self is an important strategy for making satisfying decision
Explain the study about how easy it feels to use the true self?
Participants randomly assigned to describe true or actual self and rate how easy it was to do this
*True self: “who you really are”
*Actual self: “who you are in everyday life”
*Rated satisfaction with recent big life decision
Ppl who found it hard to describe true self = less satisfaction with their life decisions
Ppl were more satisfied when they had ease describing their true self
What is the implication of a true self on ppls choices?
*Idea of a true self resonates with people
*People are more satisfied with their decisions when these are in accord with the true self than when they are not
Several conceptual problems with idea of a true self
Problem 1: Natural Endowment
Natural endowment of a true self is not a provable idea
*How to assess a baby’s potential?
*Suggests that babies are born with specific destiny/ motivations for adult life which seems unlikely
More likely: babies have many potentials that can lead to satisfying lives
Several conceptual problems with idea of a true self
Problem 2: Self-Beliefs are Inaccurate
Idea of true self requires that people have accurate self-knowledge about what their true self is like
*BUT,lots of research suggests that our self-concepts are full of inaccuracies and are distorted
*E.g. better-than-average effect
*Suggests that no self-concept is fully “true”
Several conceptual problems with idea of a true self
Problem 3: True Self = What is “Good”
True self seems to be about social desirability, rather than acting in line with one’s unique characteristics
*In daily diary study, people report feeling most authentic when accepting external influence when making personal decision
Explain the study: When do people feel the most authentic?
97 participants in a lab study
*Rated themselves on “Trait” Big Five: what are they generally like?
Each lab session consisted of 1-2 activities
*E.g. Playing Twister
During activities, self-reported on:
*“State” Big Five: how extroverted, aggregable, open to new experience, conscientious, emotionally stable are you right now?
*“State” authenticity: how authentic do you feel right now
RESULTS: People felt most authentic when behaving in socially desirable ways
Explain the idea of the True Self as Desired Reputation?
The true self is more of a guide, than a reality
*Desired reputation = what is valued by society (ideals)+ what distinctive role one’s own abilities and traits are best suited to (actual self)
*People will feel most authentic when actions are consistent with desired reputation
*Slightly different with different people
