The Self
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How do you know what sort of person you
are?
Does your identity distinguish you as a
unique person, apart from all others?
Are there cultural differences in one’s
sense of self?
Do we have different selves? Or are we
presenting ourself differently?
No coherent psychology of self
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Body
Social identity
Active agent
Functions that self serves
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an interpersonal tool
makes choices
self-regulation
stores & organises information
self-reference effect – role of self in
information processing
Identity
Question:Why some people do certain
things?
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Cognitive psychology- thought processes,
personality characteristics, and their
changes across the life-cycle.
Discursive & critical psychology - social
settings and individuals' roles therein.
Individual vs. relational self
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Psychology atomizes the human condition,
focusing on the self and its inner workings.
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Discursive/critical psychology interested in
human connections: change the social
connections and you change the essence
of the self.
Sociological social psychologists
study how our perceptions, belief systems,
moralities, identities, and behaviors are
determined by our positions in social space:
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the culture of our primary socializations;
our social history;
gender, age, race, & social class;
roles within the institutional orders of religion, work, community,
& family;
geographic context of our childhoods;
memberships in and relative identifications with various social
groups.
Identity - product of culture,
society
Nature of self varies as function of social
context in which it evolved:
Public, private, collective aspects of self
(Triandis 1989)
Collectivistic vs. individualistic:
“Tight” vs. complex
Cultural differences in relations among aspects of
self (e.g., congruence vs. behave properly)
(Cognitive dissonance?)
(Markus & Kitayama 1991)
Interdependence vs. independence
Western: autonomous, separate
Eastern: interconnected, interdependent.
Historical changes in selfhood
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Identity part of self increasingly elaborate
Self now source of problem, conflict
Modern self based on changing, unstable matters,
subject to renegotiation
Expansion of conception of inner self
Modern self = Inner/outer self - cultural metaphor
 Problem of meaning in modern life – value
 Powerful new value = individual self
Self- knowledge
(self as cognitive structure)
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Particular beliefs about self = self schemas
Total organized body of information = self
concept
Unified articulated self-concept ?
or
Loosely interrelated information ?
Myth of true, inner self with stable traits,
qualities
Importance of reflected appraisal
Rosenberg 1979
 Symbolic interactionists Mead 1934 looking glass self
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Accuracy of self – knowledge
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Privileged access, Introspection
Greenwald 1980, 1988, self = totalitarian regime
Self-deception, positive illusions
Identity crisis – Erikson 1940s
Problem of consistency not located inside self but at
interface of person and social environment
MOTIVATIONAL ASPECTS of
SELF
Drive for favourability
 Drive for consistency
Tesser 1988 - Model to determine impact of events
on self-esteem
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Self-evaluation maintenance model
2 processes: self-reflection & comparison
3 variables: closeness, relevance and performance
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Self Esteem
Protection against anxiety
Trait and state, Greenwald et al 1988
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2 main roots
 direct experiences of competence/ efficacy
 social feedback
Positivistic approach to
personhood distorting
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Self – not an already existing object or naturally
occurring entity awaiting scientific discovery
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Our ‘selves’ are constantly being created,
developed, negotiated
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Ways in which we think about ourselves not
natural, timeless, normal
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Theories reify the self
e.g., Eysenck 1952, 1967 theory of personality
introvert – extrovert, presume existence of stable &
universal dimensions of personality
 Social psychological experiments employing
different conditions do not test ‘theories’ but
create the ‘conditions’ for different ‘situated
identities’
 Harré 1986 to be a self is to be in possession of a
theory
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Reading
Hogg & Vaughan
Mogghadam, F.M. (2005) Great Ideas in
Psychology. One World Press. Chapter 14. June’s
office.
Stainton Rogers, W. (2003) Social Psychology:
Experimental & Critical Approaches. OUP. Chapter 8.
(Lecky 301.15p34 multiple copies). June’s office.