The self develops through social interactions and seeing oneself through the eyes of others. Children learn to differentiate themselves from others and see their own actions from different perspectives through play, games, and role-taking. They internalize the views of specific others and the "generalized other" of social groups. Culture also shapes the self, with independent cultures viewing the self as a bounded individual and interdependent cultures seeing the self as more context-dependent and relational.

1. SCY2400-SCY3400Week 3 – The Self & Others Debbie McCormick

2. This Week Housekeeping Recap Week 2 Conclusion of Week 2 The Self and Identity Learn something Fun

3. Housekeeping Unit Reader

5. Official notifications posted to Blackboard

7. Chat

8. Calendar

9. Assignment uploading

11. What is Social Psychology What is Social Psychology Study of relationships between people with respect to: Individual ‘mental processes’ (psychodynamics) and; Meaning given to experience as it derives from social values/norms Social psychologists are interested in the impact that social environment and interaction has on attitudes and behaviors

13. What do people get; what do they give?

17. Activity

18. Schemas When we enter a situation we need to: Attend to some things in the environment Store some information Retrieve information from long-term memory Info is used to make social inferences Decisions Judgements of probability Evaluations Attributions of causality or assessments of the characteristics of others

19. Schemas Social Schemas Organised, abstract frameworks of information Repeated experience with people, social roles, or situations allow us to develop expectations of ‘typical’ behaviour We develop schemas about: People and ourselves Social position (gender or race stereotypes) Social roles (parent, student, teacher) Social situations (going to the movies, queuing)

20. Schemas The schemas we develop are informed and influenced by existing schemas People in different social positions and with different social experiences may develop systematically different schemas Variations lead to systematic differences in the evaluations and judgements

21. Symbolic Interaction Emphasises the everyday interactions and negotiations that constitute social life Meaning is not inherent in the people or objects a person encounters but is created by the person perceiving them This implies that one of the main tasks of social interaction is to come to a shared definition or common perspective that facilitates the accomplishment of their mutual goals

22. Symbolic Interaction Symbolic Interaction refers to the nuances of an interaction Symbolic gestures used in interactions include: Sitting or standing Tone of voice Non verbal indications

23. Summary Social Cognition Theory Actors perceptions, thoughts and Expectations about self and others behaviour Symbolic Interaction Addresses actual negotiations between actors What symbolic gestures are used in the interaction

24. The Self and Others What is the Self? How does the Self develop? The Social Self Significance of the Social Self

25. What is The Self? Many different ideas of what constitutes ‘the self’ Definition we will use is ‘Individual’s consciousness of his/her own identity’ Major theorists of the self Sigmund Freud William James George Herbert Mead Charles Cooley

26. http://www.jfkukarentownsendpandp.us/class_2_discussion Sigmund Freud Psyche Id, Ego, Super Ego Id –pleasure I want it and I want it NOW! Ego –reality What do I have to do to get what I want Ego develops through socialisation Superego –morality How does what I do affect others

27. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU7nG3KvZDA

28. Activity

29. The Social Origins of Self Self-schema is produced in our social relationships We seek to understand what others think of us by interpreting their feedback We incorporate these imagined views into our self-schema

30. Charles Cooley We use others as a kind of mirror in order to construct a self-image Three stages We imagine how we appear to others We observe how others react to what they see in us We develop feelings about ourselves based on the judgements we believe others have made about us http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_looking_glass_self.png Jureidini, R. & Poole, M. (2000) Sociology: Australian Connections, Allen & Unwin St. Leonards

31. The Development of Self We are born without boundaries We don’t recognise ourselves as being separate from our environment A name becomes an important reference point for distinguishing from others Action is guided by an internal dialogue To facilitate this dialogue, babies need to: Develop an ability to differentiate themselves from other persons Learn to see themselves and their own actions as if through others’ eyes Learn to use a symbol system or language for inner thought

32. The Self as Source and Object of Action The self is the individual viewed as both the source and the object of reflexive behaviour Reflexive behaviour = behaviour in which the individual who acts and the individual toward whom the action is directed are the same. i.e. plan observe guide respond to our own behaviour

33. Role Taking Imagining yourself in someone else's shoes Viewing situations from others’ perspectives Role taking facilitates reflexive action – seeing ourselves through others eyes When children are able to understand that others see them as objects they are able to see themselves as objects

34. Play and the Game Forms of role taking involved in development of self: Play Children imitate the activities of people around them Limited or no concept of actors playing any other roles Game Conceive differentiated roles Requires children to imagine the viewpoint of several others at the same time

35. The Generalised Other A conception of the attitudes and expectations held in common by the members of the organised groups with whom they interact Imagining what is expected of us as part of a larger group i.e. a football supporter; a gang; ‘society’ Children internalise the attitudes and expectations of the generalised other

37. Societal expectations don’t strictly dictate our role identities

39. Actual Self-Descriptions Responses to ‘Who am I?’ activity reveal three general types of self-description: Role identities Personal qualities Self-evaluations Personal qualities and self-evaluations affect the way we express our role identities

40. The Situated Self The aspects of the self that enter our awareness and matter to us most depend on the situation Self concepts most likely to enter the situated self are those distinctive in the setting and relevant to the ongoing activities Self concepts that are distinctive or peculiar in the social setting tend to enter into the situated self

41. Culture and the Self Independent and Collectivist cultures Independent Self View themselves as independent functioning units Define independence as a fundamental task of socialisation Interdependent Self Not a bounded whole Changes its structure with the nature of the social context Internal qualities i.e. abilities or opinions are thought to be situation-specific and unstable, rather than defining characteristics of the self

42. Culture and the Self Markus, H. R., & Kitayama. S. (1999) Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224-253.

43. Culture and the Self Markus, H. R., & Kitayama. S. (1999) Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224-253.

44. Summary Development of self Imitation, recognition of separateness Self as a source and object of action (‘I’ and ‘me’) Play and game stage How we construct self-image ‘Looking Glass’, reflexivity Role taking Role Identities The role of ‘the other’ The Situated Self Culture and Self