Week 3 Identity

Question 1

Who are we?

Answer 1

• When introducing oneself, we talk about the individual and the collective self

Question 2

Birth of the concept of self

Answer 2

• Secularisation : Personal fulfilment > afterlife fulfilment
• Industrialisation : Rise of personal identity
• Enlightenment : People realise they can live better without oppressive regimes
• Psychoanalysis : First understanding of the relationship between unconscious and conscious

Question 3

Self-schemas

Answer 3

representation of themselves about characteristics that matter for them (ex : hobbies)

Question 4

Types of self-schemas

Answer 4

• Actual self (how we currently are)
• Ideal self (how we would like to be)
• ‘ought” self (how we think we should be)

–> If there is a discrepancy between the actual self and the ideal or ought selves, this produces negative feelings

Question 5

People seek to reduce harsh feelings by pursuing what

Answer 5

2 goals

• The promotion system : Reaching one’s ideal and achieving positive outcomes (taking challenges)
• The prevention system : reaching one’s “oughts”, avoiding negative outcomes (avoiding dangerous sistuations and risky behaviours)

To protect our perception of self : we also use downwards comparison (exemple study Olympics where silver medals looked less happy than bronze)

Question 6

personal identity (the two self)

Answer 6

• Individual self: personal traits that differentiate the self from others (warm, generous)
• Relational self: Relationships with significant others (friend, partner)

Question 7

Social identity

Answer 7

• Collective self: groups membership that differentiate “us” to “them” (ESCP London students and ESCP Paris students)

Question 8

How people avoid uncertainty and seek to understand the world around them (STEPS)

Answer 8

1) People use perceptual cues to categorise others (ex: a biker based on his physical look)
2) When a category is activated, we list information related to this category
3) Categories increase: we identity common characteristics or oppositions

Question 9

Group status (high and low)

Answer 9

• People from a high-status group will seek to keep or increase the distinction between their group and other groups

People from a low status group will seek to

• join the high status group
• decrease the difference between their group and the high status group
• compare their group with another group which has an even lower status

Question 10

Self-esteem

Answer 10

extent to which we like ourselves or how much we value ourselves (can be positive or negative)

–> People like to learn things about themselves, and even more when it’s positive

–> They will therefore use self-enhancement trick to affirm their competence in some area (ex : job interview) or overestimate their skills