Lecture2 Social Self

Slide 1: Social Psychology The Social Self 2007 Lecturer: James Neill

Slide 2: Lecture Web Page http://ucspace.canberra.edu.au/display/7125/Lecture+Social+Self Readings  Ch2 Culture & Nature  Ch3 The Self  Ch4 Behavior Control – The Self in Action

Slide 3: Overview Culture & Nature  What is the “Self”?  What is the “Social Self”?  Self-Constructs  Evolutionary Functions  Adaptational Functions  Self-Complexity  Social Comparison  Social Feedback  Strategic Self-Presentation  Self-Monitoring  Self-Regulation 

Slide 4: Culture & Nature

Slide 5: Overview Psyche Evolution Culture Social Brain Theory Individual vs. Culture

Slide 6: Psyche Broad term for mind, influenced by: –Nature – Genes, hormones, brain structure and other innate processes dictate how you will choose and act –Culture – Learned experiences; from parents, society and any experiences

Slide 7: Evolution Theory of evolution Natural selection –Survival until reproduction –Reproduction

Slide 8: Evolution Survival Mutation Reproduction

Slide 9: Culture  Info-based system of shared ideas and common ways of doing things  Ideas – mental representations that are abstract and that can be expressed in language  Cultural differences and underlying similarities

Slide 10: Social Animal Seek connections to others Work together Learn from one another Help kin Resolve conflict with aggression

Slide 11: Cultural Animal  Evolution shaped psyche to enable creating and taking part in culture  Division of labor  Deliberately share knowledge  Help strangers  Resolve conflict with many alternatives

Slide 12: Social Brain Theory Why only human brain evolved?  Larger brain is linked to complex social systems (Dunbar, 1993, 1996)

Slide 13: Advantages of Culture Human brain evolved to capitalize on culture – Language – Progress - to build on experience of others – Division of Labor – Exchange of Goods and Services Humans have evolved to participate in culture

Slide 14: The Duplex Mind Automatic system Outside of consciousness Simple operations Conscious system Complex operations

Slide 15: Changing Role of Consciousness Increased focus on role of automatic system Can learn, think, choose and respond   Has idea and emotions  Knows “self” and other people Consciousness focus on complex thinking and logic

Slide 16: Living in a Culture Working to gain social acceptance  Inner states help humans connect to others  Intelligent brain evolved to improve interpersonal relations

Slide 17: Nature Says Go, Culture Says No Nature – impulses, wishes, automatic responses Culture – teaches self-control and restraint Exceptions – Nature’s disgust reactions (No) – Cultural timetable for meals (Go)

Slide 18: Selfish Impulse vs. Social Conscience Nature makes us selfish  Preservation of self Culture helps us resist selfish impulses Consideration of what is best for society – Moral Code – Laws

Slide 19: Putting People First People get most of what they need from other people Culture as a “general store” of information People look to and rely on each other

Slide 20: What Makes Us Human? Behavior results from mix of nature and culture Human life is enmeshed in culture Humans think with language and meaning

Slide 21: What Makes Us Human?  What makes us special? – Self-Awareness – Self-Concept  Self is a human tool for – Gaining social acceptance – Participating in culture

Slide 22: What is the ‘Self’?

Slide 24: What is “self”? Describe yourself e.g., – “I am…” statements – Blog description – What do I promote? – What do I defend? Usually includes social roles (e.g., gender, social identity, group memberships, and ethnicity)

Slide 26: Environment Culture Self Groups

Slide 27: What is the “self”? Many, varied theories about the purpose and function of the ‘self’ – e.g., in arts, philosophy, science, culture, religion, and through history.

Slide 28: What is the “self”? Psychologically... collection of cognitively-held beliefs that a person possesses about themselves.

Slide 29: What is the “self”? However… “Self” seems to extend beyond the physical self (body), to include psychologically meaningful personal possessions and personal space.

Slide 31: What is the “self”? “The self is an important tool with which the human organism makes its way through human society and thereby manages to satisfy its needs.”

Slide 32: What is the “self”? Traditionally, “self” was seen as representing stable, genetically determined “character” – or later, “personality”.

Slide 33: What is the “self”? More recently, “self” was understood to evolve during a lifetime, i.e. Partly stable, partly changing.

Slide 34: What is the “self”? Most recently, “self” has been further complexified and increasingly seen as: – Dynamic & changeable – Multiple / Plural – Hierarchical – Situationally & cognitively influenced – Culturally constructed

Slide 35: What is the “self”? The psychological self includes:  Attitudes  Cognitions  Emotions  Group Memberships (Social Identity)  Ideal / Imagined Selves  Memories  Possessions  Self-Beliefs  Self-Concepts  Self-Images  Social Roles

Slide 36: What is the “self”? To determine “What is self”, use diagnostic clues: Who am I? What are you prepared to defend?

Slide 37: Fluctuating Image(s) of Self Phenomenal Self (Working Self- Concept) – Unusual aspects about you become prominent – Being lone member of some category  Heightens self-awareness  Can impair performance

Slide 40: What is the “social self”? Humans are gregarious, group-based creatures. A significant portion of our ‘self’ and its ‘behaviour’ is socially directed and influenced.

Slide 41: What is the “social self”? Some argue that ‘self’ is entirely a function of the environment. e.g., “Self” as a construct of post- industrial, capitalist society and political systems which promote self-identity and choice-making, and then markets to the “self”.

Slide 42: What is the “social self”?  Interpersonal Self or Social Self part of self that engages face-to- face, in relation with others.  Social Roles -> Social Identity or Societal Self can include ethnicity, gender, age, place of residence or any other social categorization that helps characterize a person’s identity.

Slide 43: Purpose of the Self Gain social acceptance Play social roles –Society creates and defines roles –Individual seeks and adopts them

Slide 44: Self-Constructs (Operationalization) Self-Esteem Self-Concept Self-Efficacy Self-Congruence Self-Awareness illustrate how social psychologists study people’s selves, in cognitive, affective, and

Slide 45: Self-Esteem  Global feelings of self-worth  Value placed in & degree of liking of self.  Often based on and closely related to social comparisons. (e.g., too thin, too fat)  People are motivated to see their self as worthy/worthwhile (Fiske, 2004).

Slide 46: Self-Esteem  High Self-Esteem – Positive views  Low Self-Esteem – Absence of strong positive views

Slide 47: Self-Esteem  Healthy to have a slightly inflated sense of self value (Taylor).  Self-esteem serves as a sociometer for one’s standing in a group (Fiske, 2004).  Self-esteem has been overemphasized in Western society, to the detriment of actual skill (Baumeister)

Slide 48: Basking and Blasting  Group membership may enhance positive feelings about self (Cialdini et.al, 1976) – Basking - Linking oneself to winners – Blasting - Criticizing a rival group  People show a stronger tendency to blast (negative) than bask (positive)

Slide 49: Basking and Blasting  Loyal fans experience changes in their own confidence level based on the success or failure of their team – Losing had a stronger effect than winning

Slide 50: Low Self-Esteem  Research on Low Self-Esteem – Do not want to fail – Self-concept confusion – Focus on self-protection – More prone to emotional highs and lows  Mythof Low-Self Esteem in United States

Slide 51: Distorted Perceptions of Nondepressed  Positive Illusions – Overestimate good qualities – Underestimate faults – Overestimate control over events – Unrealistically optimistic

Slide 52: Self-Deception Strategies  Self Serving Bias  More skeptical of bad feedback  Junk Mail Theory of Self-Deception  Comparisons with those slightly worse  Skew impressions of others to highlight own good traits as unusual

Slide 53: Benefits of High Self- Esteem  Initiative – Confidence you can do the right thing – More adventurous in activities  Feels Good – Helps one to overcome bad feelings – If they fail, more likely to try again

Slide 54: Why Do We Care About Self-Esteem?  Sociometer Theory – Self-esteem is a measure of social acceptability  Self-esteem feels good – Theory of terror management

Slide 55: Negative Aspects of High Self-Esteem  Narcissism – Subset of high self-esteem – Tend to be more aggressive and violent  Higher Prejudice – Tend to think their group is better

Slide 56: Pursuit of Self-Esteem  May have harmful consequences – Can compromise pursuit of competence – Impairs autonomy – Pressure to meet expectations of others – Weakens individual intrinsic motivation – Impairs learning – Can damage relationships – Can be harmful to health

Slide 57: Self-Presentation  Behaviors that convey an image to others  Public Esteem – More important than private self- esteem  Public Behavior – Acting for the audience

Slide 58: Functions of Self- Presentation  Social Acceptance – Increase chance of acceptance and maintain place within the group  Claiming Identity – Social validation of claims to identity

Slide 59: Good Self-Presentation  Demonstrate Positive Traits  Behavewith Consideration of Audience  Tradeoff – Tendency toward favorable presentation  Modesty – More prevalent in long-term relationships  Risky Behaviors

Slide 60: Self-Concept  Cognitiverepresentations of the self.  Now commonly seen as a set of multi- dimensional and hierarchically organized domains of self-concept, e.g., – Physical Self-Concept – Academic Self-Concept – Social Self-Concept  Same-Sex Relations  Opposite-Sex Relations  Parent Relations, etc.  Top-down vs. bottom-up debate

Slide 61: Self-Efficacy Beliefin one’s capacity to succeed at a given task. e.g. Public Speaking Self-Efficacy Bandura recommended specific rather than general measures of Self-Efficacy.

Slide 62: Self-Efficacy  e.g. Social Self-Efficacy for Relating to Teachers 1. I can get along with most of my teachers.  2. I can go and talk with most of my teachers. 3. I can get my teachers to help me if I have problems with other students. 4. I can explain what I think to most of my teachers. 5. I ask the teacher to tell me how well I'm doing in class. (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005)

Slide 63: Rogers: Self Congruence ACTUAL IDEAL EXPERIENCE Incongruence  Anxiety  Defense

Slide 64: Self has Evolutionary Functions Self-bias  e.g., access to resources Self-organization / Self-complexity  e.g., adaptability & self-insight/self-control Self-promotion  e.g., for increased likelihood of mating Social comparison  e.g., motivation to improve Social control  e.g., storage of social norms and rules

Slide 65: Self has Adaptational Functions “People’s selves allow them to regulate their own behavior, an advantage for both self and group.”

Slide 66: Self has Adaptational Functions “The self can serve various social psychological functions; having a self is not only knowing where your skin ends, but also how to get along in a group.” (Fiske, 2004, p. 176)

Slide 67: Self-Complexity People generally see themselves as more complex and others as less complex.

Slide 68: Self-Complexity There are individual variations in self-complexity, with self- complexity being advantageous e.g., less depressed, better able to handle stress, etc.

Slide 69: Self-Complexity …includes having multiple possible selves.

Slide 70: Social Comparison Everyone uses social comparison to:  Understand how they are doing (through comparison with similar others)  Feel better (through downward comparison)  To improve (through upward comparison)

Slide 71: Social Feedback Symbolic Interactionism: All self perceptions are based on one’s history of social interactions.

Slide 72: Social Feedback Reflected Appraisal: One’s sense of self is based on how one perceives that others perceives one.

Slide 73: Social Feedback Spotlight Effect: People tend to think other people notice and evaluate them more than they actually do.

Slide 74: Social Feedback Transparency Effect: People tend to think that their inner self ‘leaks out’ and is more obvious than it really is.

Slide 75: Self Discrepancies Actual-Ideal -> Promotion Focus (failure -> Depression)

Slide 76: Self Discrepancies Ideal-Ought -> Prevention Focus (failure -> Anxiety)

Slide 77: Self Discrepancies Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory –More relevant the comparison, the more threat –Closer the person is, the more emotion (+ve or –ve)

Slide 78: Strategic Self Presentation  Ingratiation (being liked)  Self-Promotion (being competent)  Intimidation (being in control)  Exemplification (Worthy, saintly)  Supplication (Helpless)

Slide 81: Self-Monitoring High Self-Monitoring (adjusts behavior to situation; monitors situation) Low Self-Monitoring (principled attitudes guide behavior)

Slide 82: Self-Regulation  Monitoringand controlling self- presentation and behavior uses up valuable self-regulatory resources.

Slide 83: Self-Awareness  Attention directed at the self – Private self-awareness – Public self-awareness  Usually involves evaluative comparison

Slide 85: Self-Awareness In general, people spend little time actually thinking about themselves. (but a lot of time is spent thinking about self-presentation and self- preservation)

Slide 86: Self-Awareness Certain situations (e.g., mirrors, cameras, audiences, self- development exercises, increase self- awareness) Individualdifferences in self- consciousness

Slide 87: Self Compared to Standards  Concepts of how things might possibly be – Ideals, norms, expectations, moral principles, laws, past experiences  Aroundage 2, begin use of standards – Beginning of self-awareness

Slide 88: Self-Awareness and Behavior Self-awareness –improves behavior –enables people to be more socially desirable

Slide 89: Self-Awareness Causes us to notice self- discrepancies and can produce temporary reductions in self-esteem.

Slide 90: Self-Awareness To cope, we either adjust our behavior to meet our standards or withdraw from self-focusing situations. e.g., watch TV, play sport, alcohol, suicide.

Slide 92: Purpose of Self-Awareness Self-regulation Adopt the perspective of other people Manage behavior in pursuit of goals

Slide 93: Why People Seek Self- Knowledge  Appraisal Motive – Looking for the truth about oneself  Self-Enhancement Motive – Looking for flattering things about self  Consistency Motive – Looking for confirmation about current belief about self

Slide 94: When Motives Compete  Appraisal Motive – Weakest motive  Self-Enhancement Motive – Strongest motive (emotional appeal)  Consistency Motive – Second preference (cognitive appeal)

Slide 95: Self-Knowledge and the Duplex Mind  Automatic Egotism – Automatic, self-enhancing  Modesty – Conscious, deliberate control

Slide 96: Self and Information Processing  Self-Reference Effect – Information bearing on self is processed more deeply and remembered better  Endowment Effect – Items gain in value to the person who owns them

Slide 97: Can Self-Concept Change?  Self-Concept is consistent with public self – People expect you to stay the same – Changing social environment may change inner self – Convince others that you have changed – Allow others to see your changed behavior

Slide 98: Environment Culture Self Groups

Slide 99: References Fiske, S. T. (2004). The self: Social to the  core. In S. T. Fiske (2004). Social beings: A core motives approach to social psychology. (Ch 5, pp. 169 – 214). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M.  (2005). Final Performance Report for OERI Grant # R305T010673: The Social Context of Parental Involvement: A Path to Enhanced Achievement. Presented to Project Monitor, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, March 22, 2005.