The Self...

Wherever you go, there you are

Chapter 3
Overview…
• This chapter should give you an opportunity to reflect upon
yourself.

• Think about how you became the person you are today, and
perhaps start to consider how the people around you became
the people they are today…
– What factors play a role?
– Are some more powerful than others?
William James on “the self”…
• “In its widest possible sense, however, a man's self is the sum total
of all that he can call his, not only his body and his psychic powers,
but his clothes and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors
and friends, his reputation and works, his lands and horses, and
yacht and bank account. All these things give him the same
emotions.”
What is the Self?
Early theorists:
• William James (1891)
• The “I” and the “Me”

• Cooley (1902)
• The “looking glass self”

• Mead and Vygotsky

• Emphasized society’s role
What is Self
Self Concept
Our Self
“Who am I”

Public Self
Other Self
“Who was that masked man”

Agent Self
Motivated Self
“Who broke the lamp”
Elements contributing to the self…
Development of the Self
• First year (infancy):
• very basic sense of agency (control)
• fear of separating

• By 18 months:
• recognize own mirror reflection

• Around 2-2 ½ :
• distinguish self in photo with others
• also, more complex emotions

Siegler, Deloache, & Eisenberg, 2005

Development of the Self
• 3-4 years:
• factual self-descriptions

• Elementary school:
• increasing social comparisons
• increasing evaluative descriptions

• Adolescence:
• abstract, rich descriptions include “possible selves”
• recognition of the importance of context

Siegler, Deloache, & Eisenberg, 2005

Self Concept – Where does it come
from
• Self-Schemas
• Beliefs about the self that organize and guide the processing of
self relevant information

• Self Schemas come from….

• Genetics Culture

• What if you grew up alone without seeing another person?

Would you still have a Self?
Culture and Self-Construals
• Self-Construal:
• “…the degree to which an individual
perceives others as an extension of the
self or the self as distinct from others.”

Wang, Bristol, Mowen, & Chakraborty, 2000

Cultural and Self-Construals
• Interdependent:
• Uniqueness and
individual differences are
impediments to self-
growth
• Self-descriptions are
more social
Franzoi, 2009
• Independent:
• Individuality is
nurtured; a sign of
maturity
• Self-descriptions are
more personal, less
social
Culture and Self-Construals
• Caution: Do not interpret too rigidly; situations are still powerful
 (Markus &
Kitayama, 1991)
Cultural and Self-Construals
• Interdependent: • Independent:
• China, Mexico, Japan, • U.S., Australia,
India, Kenya Canada, W. Europe

• Somewhat more • Somewhat more

common among women common among men
across cultures across cultures

• Today, 70% of world’s • Historically, a very

population recent philosophy

Franzoi, 2009; Wang, Bristol, Mowen, & Chakraborty, 2000

Self Concept
• Independent Self • Interdependent Self
• Self contained identity
• Focus on uniqueness
• Focus on abilities
• Higher need for positive
self regard
• More conflict
• More understanding of
personal choice
• View self as stable
• Group contained
identity
• Focus on relationships
• More self-critical
• Says “I” less often
• More harmonious
• More understanding of
situational influence
• View self as changing
Culture and Self-Construals
• What does an interdependent self-construal predict?

• higher need for affiliation

• higher relationship commitment and
involvement
• better memory for relationship-related stimuli
• fewer superficial friendships
• stronger consideration of others’ needs and
opinions in decision-making

Hofstede, 1980; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Wang, 2006

Culture and Self-Construals
 Real-world application: Could self-construals be
related to pilot errors?

Gladwell, 2008
Self-Esteem
• Caution: SE is a western construct, value
Self-Esteem
• In Western countries, self-esteem is
defined as the evaluation of one’s worth
• Development of SE is related to general
“self” development
What is self-esteem?
• A person’s overall
evaluation or
appraisal of his or her
own worth
• Beliefs & emotions
• AKA: self-worth, self-
regard, self-respect
• Distinct from self-
efficacy, self-
confidence, & self-
concept
Self-Esteem…What’s it made of?

• All the experiences

and interpersonal
relationships you’ve
had in your life.
Everyone you’ve ever
met has added to or
taken away from how
you see yourself!
Development of Self-Esteem
• 3-6:
• SE is very high (due to children’s
cognitive limitations, and high parental
support)

Harter, 2006
Development of Self-Esteem
• Elementary school:
• Perspective-taking and
social comparisons
improve
• Parental expectations
change

As a result…
• General decline in SE
• Individual differences
start to emerge

Harter, 2006
Development of Self-Esteem
• Early teens:
• Individual differences
here seem particularly
related to Cooley’s
“looking glass self”
concept (more focus
on others’ evaluations
is associated with
lower SE), and a
gender difference
becomes significant

Harter, 2006
Development of Self-Esteem
• Adulthood:
• Can be consciously
acted upon to increase
or decrease

Contexts which can

effect SE
• Romantic relationships
• Peer relationships
• Family relationships
Self-Esteem, Narcissism, & Aggression: Does Violence
Result from Low Self-Esteem or from Threatened
Egotism

• Does research support the idea that aggression & violence are a
result of low self-esteem?
• NO
• Avoid risk & loss
• Submit to influence
Self-Esteem, Narcissism, & Aggression: Does Violence
Result from Low Self-Esteem or from Threatened
Egotism

• Is narcissism the cause of aggression?

• NO
• Risk factor

• What has narcissism been linked to?

• High, unstable SE
Self-Esteem, Narcissism, & Aggression: Does Violence
Result from Low Self-Esteem or from Threatened
Egotism

• What do the authors mean by ‘threatened egotism?’

• Favorable opinions are disputed or questioned by other people
• Link between threatened egotism & aggression

high narcissism + threatened egotism = high aggression

Narcissism…

• If interested in taking the NPI.. Go to:

http://psychcentral.com/quizzes/narcissistic.htm
Self-Esteem
• Along with higher SE, what other characteristic
of SE contributes to the likelihood of
aggressive B?
• Unstable or fragile SE

Baumeister, 1996
Self Perception - Self Esteem
• Explicit Self Esteem
• Conscious awareness
• Questionnaires

• Implicit Self Esteem

• Not in Conscious Awareness
• IAT
Self Perception - Self Efficacy
• Self Efficacy
• How competent and effective we feel globally and specifically
• High Self Efficacy
• More persistent, more academic success, , more productive workers,
healthier
• Less anxious, less depressed

• Does believing you can do something necessarily result in

success?
Self-Presentation

• Any B, conscious or
unconscious, that
intends to convey
some message about
oneself to others

• This is one reason

public and private B
differ so much
▫ The hand-washing study
Baumeister, 2008; Munger & Harris, 1989
Self-Presentation
• Is it dishonest, manipulative, hypocritical?
▫ Not necessarily - social psychologists believe it’s a
basic component of life
• What function does it serve?
▫ Social acceptance, which is a powerful motive
▫ Self-protection
▫ Self-enhancement, which feels good
▫ Confirmation of identity

Baumeister, 2008
Self-Presentation
• Does everyone do it?
▫ Yep, but to varying degrees

• Is it important to people?

▫ Often, yes
 Depends on the person and the audience
 Some people engage in very risky B in order to make a certain
impression; especially true in adolescence, but it doesn’t stop there

Baumeister, 2008
Learned Helplessness
• Learned Helplessness
• The hopeless resignation learned when a human or animal
perceives no control over repeated bad events
• Leads to: self handicapping
Self Attributions
• Self Attributions
• Private explanations for why something happens to us
• May be Internal or External
• Internal – cause is something within our personal control, ability, effort,
intention, desire, etc.
• External – cause is outside of our personal control in the realm of fate,
luck, Deities, co-workers, etc.
• About specific past behaviors
• When do we make internal or external attributions?
Self Comparison
• Social Comparison (Festinger, 1954)
• Upward Comparison
• Comparing yourself to people better than you

• Downward Comparison
• Comparing yourself to people worse off than you

• Perceived Competence
• How competent you believe yourself to be in comparison to others
Presenting the Self
• Spotlight Effect
• Belief that others are paying more attention to us than they
really are

• Illusion of Transparency
• Illusion that our concealed emotions leak out and can be easily
read by others
The Public Self – Impression
Management
• Self Presentation
• Expressing & behaving in ways designed to create a favorable
impression
• False Modesty
• Downplaying our strengths so that if we fail we are faultless & if
we succeed we are special
• Self-Handicapping
• Protecting one’s self-image with behaviors that create a ready
excuse for a later failure
Impression Management
• Self Monitoring
• Individual differences in attention to impression management

• Collectivistic cultures have apparent different attributions

• Internal for negative; External for Positive
Self Concluded
• Self Serving Bias
• The tendency to perceive oneself favorably in distorting ways
that promote our self-esteem
• The unifying concept of self
• Each of these contributes to SSB