Chapter 4
The Self Learning
about the Self
What is the Self?
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The set of beliefs we hold about who
we are is called the self-concept.
What is the Self?
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Infancy: one recognizes that one is a
separate individual
Childhood: one labels personal qualities and
abilities
Adolescence: the self becomes critically
important as a basis for making life
decisions
Middle & Late Adulthood: the self
continues to change, though generally not
as extensively
What is the Self?
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Self-esteem is the evaluation we make of
ourselves.
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People who are high in self-concept clarity are
more likely to be high in self-esteem.
We have an overall sense of self-esteem as
well as self-esteem in more specific
domains.
We also have implicit or less conscious
self-esteem as well as explicit self-esteem.
Sources of Self-Knowledge
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Socialization
Reflected Appraisal
Feedback from Others
Self-Perception and Labeling Arousal
States
Environmental Distinctiveness
Comparison of Self and Others
Social Identity
Sources of Self-Knowledge
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Labeling Arousal States
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Schachter (1964) suggested that
perception of our own emotions depends
on two factors:
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the degree of physiological arousal we have
the cognitive label we apply to that arousal
(e.g., angry or happy).
Sources of Self-Knowledge
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Schachter & Singer (1962) gave
participants an injection of epinephrine
(adrenaline).
Half of the injected participants were
correctly informed of the arousing effects
of the drug; half were misled. A control
group received no injection.
Participants who were physiologically
aroused but not sure why (the misinformed
group) “took on” the emotions of a
confederate (angry or euphoric).
Sources of Self-Knowledge
Conceptions of the self vary greatly
depending on the culture one lives in.
Western
Eastern/Latin
Independent
Interdependent
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Emphasizes uniqueness Emphasizes shared
attributes
Separate from others Emphasizes social
relationships
Stable across
Changing across
situations
situations
Sources of Self-Knowledge
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Those with an independent self frequently
experience ego-focused emotions such as
pride or frustration
Those with an interdependent self
experience other-focused emotions such as
amae
Self-esteem is more highly related to life
satisfaction in individualistic cultures than
in collectivist ones.
Aspects of Self-Knowledge
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Self-schemas describe the
dimensions along which you think
about yourself.
Self-schemas:
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Guide behavior in relevant situations.
Aid memory for relevant information
Influence inferences, decisions, &
judgments
Aspects of Self-Knowledge
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Possible selves are conceptions of
potential future selves.
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represent hopes and fears for the
future
help people focus and organize plans for
pursuing goals.
Aspects of Self-Knowledge
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Self-Discrepancies
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Discrepancies between one’s actual selfconcept and one’s hoped for ideal selves
produce dejection-related emotions.
Discrepancies between the actual self
and our ought selves produce agitationrelated emotions.
Aspects of Self-Knowledge
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People who are more concerned with
becoming their ideal selves recall
having been raised by their parents in
a warm and supportive way
Those who are more concerned with
their ought selves recall a more
rejecting parenting style.
Aspects of Self-Knowledge
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Those with an independent self are
more motivated by self-ideal
discrepancies
Those with an interdependent self
are more motivated by actual selfother “ought” discrepancies.
Self-Regulation
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Self-regulations refers to the way in
which people control and direct their
own actions.
Self-Regulation
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The working self-concept is the
aspect of the self-concept that is
accessed for a particular situation.
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Provides a basis for moment-to-moment
fluctuations in the sense of self
Provides a mechanism through which
long-term self-concept change can occur.
Self-Regulation
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Self-Complexity
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Some people think of themselves in one or two
predominant ways; others have more of a
variety of qualities they focus on.
Those with more simple self-conceptions are
more vulnerable to failures in their critical
domains.
Self-complexity can buffer against the effects
of failure, as long as the self-conceptions are
also positive.
Self-Regulation
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Self-efficacy beliefs are the
expectations we have about our
ability to accomplish certain tasks.
They are highly specific perceptions
of control and competence.
Self-Regulation
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People have two independent motivational
systems
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A behavioral activation system (BAS) that
fosters approach
A behavioral inhibition system (BIS) that
fosters avoidance.
People who are high in actual-ideal selfdiscrepancies may be more BAS-oriented,
while those who are high in actual-ought
self-discrepancies may be more BISoriented.
Self-Regulation
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Self-awareness is the state of being
aware of oneself as an object of our
own and others’ attention (as opposed
to having our attention focused
outwardly towards the environment).
Self-Regulation
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Cybernetic theory of self-regulation:
Self-awareness leads people to
evaluate their behavior against a
standard and to adjust their behavior
until it either meets the standard or
they give up.
Self-Regulation
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Public self-consciousness involves concern with
how other people think about you, while private
self-consciousness involves attention to inner
feelings and self-analysis.
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The two are independent of each other.
Those high in public self-consciousness are
concerned with autonomy & identity and are
more likely to adjust their behavior to external
standards of others
Those high in private self-consciousness have
better articulated self-schemas and are more
focused on internal goals and standards.
Motivation and the Self
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People generally seek an accurate,
stable, and positive self-concept.
Motivation and the Self
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The Need for an Accurate SelfConcept
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People will be motivated to seek
information that is most informative
about their abilities
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especially when their knowledge of that
ability is uncertain, and when factors that
induce people to try to save face are absent.
Motivation and the Self
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The Need for a Consistent SelfConcept
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People tend to seek out situations that
confirm their already-existing selfconceptions and avoid or resist
situations and feedback that disconfirm
their existing self-beliefs. This process
is known as self-verification.
Motivation and the Self
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Self-Improvement
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People are also motivated by the desire
to improve themselves. This may lead to
“upward comparisons” with others who
possess desired attributes.
Motivation and the Self
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Self-enhancement needs may predominate
over needs for accuracy, consistency, and
improvement much of the time—especially
following threat, failure, and blows to selfesteem.
Positive illusions are overly positive
perceptions of oneself, one’s future, and
one’s control over events.
Motivation and the Self
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People are often self-enhancing.
When are people likely to be
realistic? When:
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they are about to receive feedback from
others
when they make decisions about goals
(if they are depressed or low in selfesteem.)
Motivation and the Self
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Taylor and Brown (1988) argue that
positive illusions are adaptive and
promote a sense of well-being,
positive social relationships, and the
ability to engage in creative,
productive work.
Motivation and the Self
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People from Western cultures are
more likely to self-enhance, while
those from interdependent cultures
may be more likely to engage in selfcriticism.
Motivation and the Self
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Self-affirmation theory predicts
that people will cope with threats to
self-worth by affirming unrelated
aspects of themselves.
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People high in self-esteem may be more likely
to use self-affirmation.
Self-affirming may help people be less
defensive and more accepting of criticism.
Motivation and the Self
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According to terror management
theory, people are fearful of their
own mortality. They seek to minimize
this anxiety
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by holding a cultural world-view that makes
sense of an otherwise threatening world
by having personal self-esteem that leads to
the sense that one is an object of value in a
meaningful universe.
Motivation and the Self
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Tesser’s self-evaluation maintenance
model states that other people’s
performance reflects on our feelings
about ourselves.
Our feelings are a function of
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our own relative performance,
our closeness to the other,
the personal relevance of the domain.
Motivation and the Self
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When other people we are close to
outperform us in a domain that is
personally relevant, we compare
ourselves to them and feel envious.
However, if the domain is not
personally relevant, we will “bask in
the reflected glory” of the other
Motivation and the Self
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Culture and Self-Enhancement
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Self-enhancement biases appear
stronger in cultures with an independent
self-concept than in those with an
interdependent self-concept.
Social Comparison Theory
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Leon Festinger (1954) developed
social comparison theory:
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people have a drive to evaluate their
opinions and abilities accurately;
in the absence of objective standards,
people evaluate themselves by
comparison with others
in general, people prefer comparisons
with similar others.
Social Comparison Theory
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The Goals of Social Comparison
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Accurate Self-Evaluation
Self-Enhancement
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Self-Improvement
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leads to downward social comparisons
leads to upward social comparisons
Sense of Communion
Social Comparison Theory
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The Comparison Process
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Social comparison affects self-evaluations,
moods, and responses to others.
For example, Morse and Gergen (1970) placed
an ad for a research assistant. Prospective
candidates found themselves waiting in a room
with either “Mr. Clean” or “Mr. Dirty.”
Those who found themselves in a room with Mr.
Clean experienced a drop in self-esteem, while
those who found themselves with Mr. Dirty
experienced an increase.
Social Comparison Theory
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Which dimensions do we compare
ourselves on?
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Related attributes similarity: We
compare ourselves with others based on
a similarity of backgrounds and
preparation.
When a dimension is completely
unfamiliar, people compare themselves to
both the best and the worst cases
Social Comparison Theory
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Social comparison can lead us to see
ourselves as similar to others
(assimilation) or different from them
(contrast).
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Contrast tends to occur when the
information comes from the other and
when the other is very different
Assimilation occurs when we compare
similar others to ourselves.
Self-Presentation
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Self-presentation involves attempting
to control the impressions we convey
to others to obtain desired outcomes.
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Public self-presentations can affect our
private self-concepts.
To be successful in self-presentation, we
need to be able to “take the role of the
other.”
Self-Presentation
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People generally intend to make a
good impression. They do this by
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conforming to the norms of the situation
self-promotion
ingratiation or flattery
Self-Presentation
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Self-promotion can be tricky, as one
tries to avoid appearing egotistical.
Modesty is another tricky selfpresentation strategy
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it is most effective when the person has
a success that is well-known to others.
Self-Presentation
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Ineffective Self-Presentation
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Embarrassment occurs when there are
disruptions, lapses, or flaws in selfpresentation.
In the face of an ineffective
presentation, one can make excuses.
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Excuses that attribute blame to external,
uncontrollable causes are more effective
than those to internal and controllable ones.
Self-Presentation
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Self-handicapping is a strategy for
dealing with prospective failure in
which a person engages in actions
that produce obstacles to success.
By arranging an excuse for failure
beforehand, people preserve their
self-esteem in case of a later failure.
Self-Presentation
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Self-handicapping can be done through
either behaviors or verbal claims.
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Men are much more likely than women to use
behavioral self-handicaps, while both sexes use
verbal ones.
Self-handicapping may work in the short
term but has negative long-term
consequences for performance and
adjustment.
Self-Presentation
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Sandbagging is another preventative
strategy that involves feigning
inability or making false predictions
of lack of success. It reduces
performance pressures.
Self-Presentation
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People with independent self-concepts are
more likely to engage in self-promotion
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since their goal is to reduce actual-ideal
discrepancies
People with interdependent selfconceptions are more likely to engage in
preventative self-presentations
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since their goal is to reduce actual-ought
discrepancies
Culture and the Self: A Note
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The coverage of the self in this
chapter has disproportionately
emphasized the independent self.
Many of the processes discussed may
take a different form or be
nonexistent in cultures with an
interdependent self.