The Self
September 18th, 2009 : Lecture 3

The Self
An individual consciousness of one’s own identity
Feelings, observations, and thoughts

Self Awareness
Awareness of the Self as an entity that is distinct from others and the environment
Tested with the Mark Test
AKA “Rouge Test”

Mark Test
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Levels of the Self
Minimal Self
Objectified Self
Symbolic Self (also called “Narrative Self”)

Minimal Self
Conscious experience of the Self as distinct from the environment

Objectified Self
Cognitive capacity to serve as the object of one’s own (or others’) attention

Symbolic Self
Ability to form an abstract mental representation of oneself through language
Creative
Efficient
Anxious
Funny
Socially Phobic
Listless

Inherently Social
•
“My thought of self is … filled up with my thought of others … and my thoughts of others
… [are] mainly filled up with myself.”
• - James Mark Baldwin

The Self-Concept
Everything you know about yourself

Self-Schema
Cognitive representation of the Self
Derived from past experience
Guides processing of self-related information

Measuring the Self-
Concept
Twenty Statements Test (TST)
1.
I am
2.
I am
3.
I am
4.
I am
•
…
• 20. I am
.

Measuring the Self-
Concept
Twenty Statements Test (TST)
1.
I am
2.
I am messy studious
3.
I am an athlete
4.
I am a best friend
•
…
• 20. I am a parent

Measuring the Self-
Concept
Twenty Statements Test (TST)
1.
I am
2.
I am messy studious
3.
I am an athlete
4.
I am a best friend
•
…
• 20. I am a parent
Personality Descriptors
Social Roles

Self-Complexity
Number of distinct aspects used to define the self-concept

Measuring the
Self-Schema
“Implicit Personality Test”
Me Not Me
Personality Trait

Self-Schema
Markus (1977)
Participants: 101 female college students
Method:

Self-Schema
Markus (1977)
Results: Focus on trait, “Independent”

Global Versus
Contextualized Self
Global Self-concept
I am
Contexualized Self-concept
I am when
.
Buffers negative feelings after failure

Working Self-Concept
A subset of your self-concept that is presently accessible
What goes in the working self-concept?
Recently primed aspects of Self
Contextually distinctive aspects
“Central” aspects of Self

Self-Concept Centrality
Some aspects of the Self-Concept are more personally important to you than others
“Central” aspects are chronically accessible

Measuring Self-Concept
Centrality
Calculating
Reliable
Caring
Funny
Kind
Conscientious
Me
Nerd
Fun Loving
Adventurous

Self-Concept Centrality
Interesting consequences:
Self-Evaluative Maintenance
Self-Handicapping
Self-Verification

Self-Evaluative
Maintenance
People tend to be threatened when someone close to them outperforms them on a task that is central to the Self-Concept

Self-Evaluative
Maintenance
Typical responses:
Distance Self from relationship
Distance Self from task domain
If task is not central to Self-Concept:
Vicarious self-esteem boost
Magnitude of self-esteem boost proportional to closeness of relationship

Self-Handicapping
Strategy to buffer the self from an anticipated failure or embarrassment by undermining one’s own performance

Which is Worse?
1.
You study really hard for a test, get lots of sleep, eat a good breakfast, and then take your test and get a C on it
2.
You go to a bar with friends and drink until 2 am, study drunkenly from 2 to 4 am, sleep from 4 to 10 am, and then take your test and get a C on it.

Self-Handicapping
Shepperd & Arkin (1989)
Participants: 100 college students
Method:

Self-Handicapping
Shepperd & Arkin (1989)
Results: Average choice of tapes

Self-Verification
The need to seek confirmation of one’s Selfconcept
Motivated by desire to be understood
Holds true even if Self-View is negative
Only for Central traits

Self-Verification
Giesler, Josephs, & Swann (1996)
Background: Depression involves negative view of self, world, and future
Method:

Self-Verification
Giesler, Josephs, & Swann (1996)
Results:

Multiple Selves
Do we have just one view of the Self?
No
How many Selves in the Self?
Hazel Markus
Independent & Interdependent Selves
Possible Selves
Tory Higgins
Self-Discrepancy Theory

Independent &
Interdependent Selves
Independent Self
View of Self as distinct from others
Interdependent Self
Self as inherently linked with others
Includes other people in one’s view of self

Possible Selves
Type of self-knowledge that pertains to how we think about our potential and our future
Ideal selves we want to become
Neutral selves we could become
Selves we are afraid of becoming

Self-Discrepancy Theory
Actual Self
Who you are now
Depression
Anxiety
Ideal Self
Who you would ideally like to be
Ought Self
Who other people think you should be

Self-Esteem
Self-evaluative component of the Self-Concept
Global Self-Esteem
State Self-Esteem
Implicit Self-Esteem

Global Self-Esteem
Typical level of self-esteem
Some example items:
On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others.
I wish I could have more respect for myself (reverse)
I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure (reverse).

State Self-Esteem
Self-esteem that fluctuates based on situation/context
Some example items:
I feel good about myself right now
I feel inferior to others at this moment
(reverse)

Sociometer Theory
The need to belong is evolutionarily adaptive and selfesteem monitors the likelihood of social exclusion
Sociometer
An internal monitor of social acceptance/rejection

Perceived Regard
How we believe we are viewed by others
Tend to underestimate how much close others like us

Perceived Regard
Method:
Participants bring a friend with them to the lab
Participant and friend fill out a personality survey 3 times:
How you view yourself (Self View)
How you see your friend (Other View)
How you think your friend sees you (Perceived
Regard)

Perceived Regard
Results:
Friend’s Other View significantly more positive than Participant’s Self View
Participant’s Perceived Regard significantly more positive than Self View
Participant’s Perceived Regard significantly lower than Friend’s Other View

Self-Serving Biases
Self-Enhancement
Positive Illusions
Social Comparisons

Self-Enhancement
Tendency to see oneself as better-than-average on favourable characteristics
Some examples:
90% of US adults classify themselves as above average drivers
1,000,000 High School seniors applying to college were asked to assess their leadership abilities: 70% said they were above average
94% of University Professors think they are better at their jobs than their colleagues

Social Comparisons
Evaluation of oneself by comparing the Self to others
Upward Comparison
Comparison of the Self to someone who is better off than oneself
Downward Comparison
Comparison of the Self to someone who is worse off tan oneself

Where Does the Self
Reside?
The Brain has it
Prefrontal Cortex
Medial Prefrontal Lobes
Self-referential information processing
Right Prefrontal Lobe
Self-recognition

Right Prefrontal Cortex &
Self-Recognition

I am happy when it is
Friday
Next Lecture (9/23):
Self-regulation
Relevant websites:
Improving Self-Esteem: http://www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/booklets/selfesteem/selfest.h
tml
Detailed site about the Self: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Ebfmalle/410/handouts_new.html