The Emotional and

Social Self
Module 6
 Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, students should be able to:

1. Gain an appreciation of the importance of emotion in human

life.
2. Explain how social psychology has defined self-awareness and
the self-concept.
3. Appreciate its importance to one-self
The Emotional Self
• Emotions – is a complex reaction
pattern, involving experiential,
behavioral, and physiological
elements.
⚬ Verbal
⚬ Nonverbal
 6 Basic Emotions (Paul Ekman)
● Happiness - a pleasant emotional state that elicits feelings of joy,
contentment, and satisfaction.
● Sadness - an emotional state characterized by feelings of
disappointment, grief or hopelessness.
● Fear - a primal emotion that is important to survival and triggers a
fight or flight response
● Anger- an emotional state leading to feelings of hostility and
frustration.
● Surprise - a brief emotional state, either positive or negative,
following something unexpected
● Disgust - a strong emotion that results in the feeling of being
repulsed.
The Function of Emotions

• Emotions Communicate to and

Influence Others
• Emotions Organize and Motivate
Action
• Emotions Can be Self - validating
 Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

A combines cognitive and behavioral therapy,

incorporating methodologies from various practices
including Eastern mindfulness techniques that until we
begin to understand the functions of emotions, why we
have them, what their effect is on others, we cannot
expect ourselves to change them.
9 Simple Tips to Help You Manage Your Emotions
1. Use your emotions and bodily responses to recognize when you are stressed.
2. Write down your thoughts and feelings about what is stressing you.
3. Control whatever aspect of the stress that you can
4. Don’t make mountains out of molehills.
5. Redefine the Problem
6. Develop behaviors that distract you from stress.
7. Reach out to a friend or family member.
8. Exercise Regularly
9. Meditate and Relax
 The Social Self
• Self-concept - the personal summary of who we believe we are; it is how
we answer the question, “Who am I?” It includes our assessment of our
positive and negative qualities, our relationships with others, our beliefs
and opinions, and more.
 Social Comparison Theory
We use social comparisons to construct our self-
concept, especially when we have no other objective
standard available to us.

Upward Social Comparisons - we relate ourselves to

someone who is better than us.
Downward Social Comparisons- we compare
ourselves to someone who is worse than we are.
 Self-Perception Theory

We try to understand our own

motivations, attitudes, values, and
core traits based on observing our
own.
 Self-Discrepancy Theory
The Actual Self - is simply who we think we are, right
now. It includes both our good and bad qualities, as well as
the qualities we think other people see in us.

The Ideal Self - is the person we would like to become in

the future. It includes enhancing or adding positive qualities
that we don’t think are maximized in the actual self, and it
means eliminating or at least reducing negative qualities we
have right now.
 Self-Discrepancy Theory
The Ought Self - is what we think other
people expect of us. The ought self is based
on our perception of what our social world
hopes for us, perhaps what our parents want
us to do or be, what our friends believe
would be good for us, or even what our
culture tells us is proper and correct.
 Self-Presentation Theory

The tendency to present a positive

self-image to others with goal of
increasing our social status
 Self-Presentation Theory

Impression Management to Get What We Want

1.Ingratiation - intended to increase liking and attraction by
complimenting the other person and seeming to admire him or her.
• Other-enhancement- praising the interviewer
• Opinion conformity- endorsing the interviewer’s perceived
attitudes or values.
 Self-Presentation Theory

2. Self-Promotion- customs positive statements about the self to convey

competence.
• Self-enhancements- suggest that your actual accomplishments are
more significant than they first appear to be.
• Entitlements- take praise for positive events even if you had nothing
to do with them.
 Self-Presentation Theory

3. Conspicuous Consumption- Publicly displaying the

use of expensive products in an effort to impress others.
 Self-Awareness
»noticing ourselves and our
behavior lead us to judge our
behavior according to our
internal standards.
 Collective Self-esteem
• is our assessment of the value of the social groups in which we
are members.
• It is defined as “that aspect of an individual’s self-concept which
comes from his knowledge of his membership in a social group
(or groups) together with the value and emotional significance
attached to that membership”.