Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Self:
Understanding Ourselves in a Social Context
•
5.2 To what extent do people know themselves through
introspection, and what are the consequences of
introspection?
•
5.3 In what ways do people come to know themselves by
observing their behavior?
•
5.5 When are people likely to succeed at self-control,
and when are they likely to fail?
•
5.6 How do people portray themselves so that others will
see them as they want to be seen?
•
5.7 What are the pros and cons of having high self-
esteem?
• Rudimentary Self-Concept
– Some primates
– Humans at 18 to 24 months
• Child’s self-concept
– Concrete
• Maturing self-concept
– Less emphasis on physical characteristics
But there are also differences within cultures! Not all Westerners
are independent and not all Easterners are interdependent.
• Why not?
Alcohol abuse
Binge eating
Sexual masochism
– Religious expression
– Spirituality
• Problem
• Intrinsic Motivation
• Extrinsic Motivation
– Their self-concept
• Overjustification Effect
• Task-contingent rewards
• Performance-contingent rewards
• Fixed mindset
– The idea that we have a set amount of an ability that
cannot change
• Growth mindset
– The idea that our abilities are malleable qualities that
we can cultivate and grow
• Example
• Schachter’s theory
• Research Question
epinephrine informed
epinephrine ignorant
Placebo
– DV = Participant’s mood
• Results
– Epinephrine-informed group
– Epinephrine-ignorant group
Became euphoric
Source: Omika/Fotolia
If you donate $50 to charity and find out your friend donates
$10, you can feel generous.
If you find out your friend donated $100, you might not feel as
generous!
– Prayer
• Self-handicapping
• Cultural differences
Source: SuperStock/Alamy
• The Self
– Functions and Definitions
• Sources of Self-Knowledge
– Introspection
– Self-Perception
– Social Interaction
• Self-Presentation
• Self-Esteem