Identity list
• Number the lines on a sheet of paper from 1-15.
On each line, complete the statement “I am…”
with whatever aspects of yourself comes to
mind. Answer as if you were talking to yourself,
not to somebody else. Write the answers in the
order they occur to you.
• No one is going to see this list but you, so be
honest about what comes to your mind.
1
Self concept:
• Knowledge about who we are
• Beliefs and feelings about ourselves
2
• Status – position we occupy
• Assigned: given at birth
• Achieved: attained through individual
effort
• Look again at your identity list:
• Place a 1 after an assigned status
• Place a 2 after an ascribed status
3
• Sociological
• Role
• Collectivistic
Psychological
Dispositional
Individualistic
4
• Collectivistic – descriptions that refer to
the self in relation to others:
• Roles (student, boyfriend)
• Membership in groups (Smith family
member, UWM student)
• Social identities based on ethnicity, race,
sex
5
• Individualistic – qualities that apply to you
personally.
• Self assured
• Believe in free enterprise
• Bad singer
6
• Read each of your statements and classify
them into either a collective or an
individualist quality category.
• C = collectivistic
• I = individualistic
7
Did you tend to list individualistic qualities
earlier in the list than collectivistic ones?
69%
o
N
s
31%
Ye
1. Yes
2. No
8
Which qualities are more central to
your identity?
1. Collective
components
2. Individualistic
components
85%
du
a
iv
i
In
d
C
ol
le
ct
iv
lis
e
tic
co
co
m
po
ne
m
po
...
nt
s
15%
9
Would you expect people in western cultures to
identify self concept more in terms of ascribed or
achieved statuses?
87%
1. Ascribed
2. Achieved
ch
i
A
A
sc
r
ib
e
ev
ed
d
13%
10
Trait adjectives
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
aggressive
friendly
quiet
bold
persistent
sensitive
romantic
intelligent
superstitious
sentimental
athletic
trusting
energetic
shy
11
Self reference effect:
• We can process info relevant to ourselves
better than other types of info
• We spend more time thinking about
words/events if they are relevant to
ourselves
12
• Master identity/status: the status that
takes precedence over all other statuses
13
Which of the following is an
example of an achieved status?
Brother
Uncle
Father
Cousin
96%
4%
1%
in
ou
s
C
th
e
r
0%
Fa
U
nc
l
e
r
ro
th
e
B
1.
2.
3.
4.
14
nt
ity
id
e
is
tic
lis
ct
iv
ol
le
C
In
d
iv
i
du
a
tio
n
os
i
is
p
D
ti
de
nt
ity
al
id
e
nt
ity
li
de
ic
a
ol
og
yc
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Ps
nt
ity
One of my identities is “teacher.” Which of
the following concepts applies to that
identity?
1. Psychological
74%
identity
2. Dispositional
identity
3. Individualist
18%
8%
identity
1%
4. Collectivistic
identity
15
When I asked you to recall the names I mentioned
at the beginning of class I was demonstrating
which of the following?
1. Self-concept
2. Self efficacy
3. Self reference
effect
4. Self esteem
88%
9%
Se
lf
e
st
ee
ef
fe
ct
m
0%
ce
lf
re
fe
re
n
ffi
c
Se
lf
e
Se
Se
lfc
on
ce
pt
ac
y
3%
16
Self esteem:
• the way we evaluate our self identities
17
How do we assess ourselves?
• 1. Evaluate our good qualities vs our bad
qualities.
• 2. Evaluate ourselves by comparing our
self concepts with our concepts of our
ideal selves.
• 3. Evaluate ourselves in comparison with
a reference group.
18
• Downward social comparison: comparing
yourself to someone worse off than you
(may increase self esteem)
• Upward social comparison: comparing
yourself to someone who is better off than
you
• (may lower self esteem)
19
Roots of self-esteem
• Direct experiences of competence/self
efficacy
– Evaluation of ability to perform a task or reach
a goal
• Social feedback
– Especially the appraisals from significant
others.
20