Understanding the self Flashcards
What was WILLIAM JAMES’ View of the self?
There are multiple selves = the material ME, the social me, the spiritual ME
The “I” is different to the ME = it is the self as knower
Our thoughts, feelings etc coexist at the back of our minds = transitivity
Cite a modern view based on James’ ideas, explain and by who
Calvert-Minor (2014) talks about a MINIMAL SELF = everyone has a core self that underpins our sense of agency; but also
- the NARRATIVE SELF = our lives are storied, we are born into a narrative world, through narrativity we learn art the world
- the COMMITTED SELF = the WHY I am = the commitments we make create meaning, guide our sense of self.
Cite a huge influence in social constructionism/early sc model
MEAD 1930s -> theory of social self says that we learn about ourselves through our social interactions, The mind is created tabula rasa (blank).
Describe social constructionism and views
It is critical of taken for granted knowledge from mainstream psycho, emerged late 70s, for ex : critical of stable consistent personality traits
Questions how the world, people & things are divided into categories+ they are historically and culturally specifics.
Our knowledge of the world is only a reflection of the knowledge we have gained through various social actions and interactions.
Sees language as CRITICAL in this process = through language, reality is constructed = discourses ; our different identities and sense of selves are embedded in language, narratives, actions with others
Cite a theory about language in social constructionism and how it impacts the self
The grammatical self - Harre&Gillet 1994 = different grammatical languages construct our sense of self
ex pronouns English vs Japanese
What test proposes a measure of the self type a person has?
The 20 statement test = assesses personal self, social self and relational self
Has been shown to be culturally specifics ex : US are personal selves and Japan more relational but not a perfect measure
What critic can be made of the idea that we have an independent self and an interdependent self ? Cite one study / paper
It is a binary, rigid vision, can be seen reductionist, may be dangerous to simplify such complex concepts
Vignoles et al 2000
What are the two types of self awareness proposed and issue with it
The private self-awareness & the Public self-awareness
binary view again
Self-schemas definition
Cognitive structures we have abt ourselves, develop through our experiences, our sense of self can be made of any number of self schemas.
Self-esteem def
An affective component of the self consisting of a person’s positive and negative self-evaluations
Who proposed the positive illusions and what is it
Positive illusions leads people to overestimate their goof qualities, an unrealistic optimism - Taylor&Brown 1988
