THE SELF
Chapter 5
SELF
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All the Characteristics of the Person
Self-concept: everything the person believes to be
true about him/herself
Includes traits, preferences, social roles, values,
beliefs, interests, self-categorization
Self-understanding develops throughout the lifespan
Components of Identity:
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Ultimately also become part of the self-concept.
Career
Political views
Religious beliefs
Relationships
Ethnic identity
Personality
Body image
Who (what) could you be?
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If you wanted to (motivation)
Opportunity (time, practice, challenge)
Possible selves
Growth and ability
Self-Awareness in Infancy
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Dot-of-rouge experiment
Recognize selves in mirror at 15-18 months
15-23 months
 Personal
pronoun use
 Picture recognition
 Self-referencing, ownership, self-monitoring
Self in Early Childhood
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Confusion of self, mind, and body
Concrete descriptions
Physical descriptions
Activities – what they do
Overestimation of abilities
Self – Middle & Late Childhood
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Shift to internal traits and abilities
Social role descriptions
Real and ideal selves
More realistic about abilities
Self in Adulthood
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Self-awareness (emotional intelligence)
 Accept
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own good and bad qualities
Possible selves become more realistic
Life review – evaluation of successes & failures;
more likely as you get older
Classroom Exercise
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Who am I?
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Homework Exercise: Do the Try It on page 108.
What are the origins of self-concept?
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We appear to come into the world with a predisposition for self-awareness.
What other people tell us about ourselves and how
they react or respond to us becomes part of our
picture of who we are.
Our beliefs and ideologies help us to define or
understand who we are. Are you temporal or
eternal?
Comparing ourselves to standards and to other
people adds information.
Defining Ourselves through Comparison
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Past self – comparing current & past performance
Adopting other people’s views – see things through
the eyes of others
Social tuning – adopting another person’s attitudes;
We subconsciously accept the views of those we like
and reject the views of those we do not.
4 Components of the Self
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Self-knowledge
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Self-control
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Impression management
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Self-esteem
Self-knowledge
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Are you independent or interdependent?
If you are independent, who determines what you
are?
 You
 Circumstance
 Ideology
Gender Differences
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Women have more relational interdependence.
 Intimate
friendships
 Small groups
 Cooperation
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Men focus more on larger social group memberships
such as sports.
Tendencies, not major differences.
Self-awareness Theory
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Introspection – looking inward and examining one’s own
thoughts, feelings, and motives
Self-Awareness Theory: When people think about
themselves, they compare their behavior to their
internal standards and values.
Encourages you to follow own moral standards.
Self-awareness can be aversive, making you want to
escape.
Telling More than We Can Know
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Why do I feel this way?
Causal theories about what should make us feel a
certain way
Reasons-generated attitude change.
Introspection: Thinking about Yourself
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True reasons for behavior can be hidden from
conscious reality
Self-awareness Theory
 The
idea that when people focus their attention on
themselves they evaluate and compare their behavior
to their internal standards and values
Self-consciousness
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Objective and judgmental
People say that when thinking about themselves,
they are more apt to be in a bad mood (Mor, et al.,
2010)
What happens next?
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When self-awareness makes us conscious of our
internal standards:
 It
can cause behavioral change.
 We may try to escape ourselves.
 Get
drunk
 Binge eat
 Sexual masochism
 Religious expressions of spirituality
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Sometimes self-awareness is positive
Self-Control
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Executive function of the self
How do you do it?
 Thought
suppression (difficult)
 Need plenty of energy
 Eat sugar
 Practice (learn)
Impression Management
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Attempt to get others to see you as you would have
them to see you
Ingratiation
Self-handicapping – making excuses beforehand
Saving face – arranging circumstances to your
benefit
Self Esteem
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Evaluation of your own self-worth and the extent to
which you are good, competent, and decent
 Low
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self-esteem – ineffective, out of control, depressed
Terror Management Theory
 Self-esteem
is a buffer that protects us from thoughts
about our own mortality
 It assures us that we live in a meaningful world
Self-esteem
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May give us moderate optimism leading to
perseverance
Narcissism excessive self-love, accompanied by a
lack of empathy for others
Self-Esteem: What is it?
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Evaluative part of the self-concept
 emotional
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Difference between the real and ideal self
 Have
you realized your potential?
 Do you value the trait, but have little potential?
 Ideal self includes the “ought” and the “wish” selves
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Measure of our sense of meaning in life
 This
includes purpose
 Self-respect (Have you lived up to who you are?)
Self-Esteem: What is it?
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Influenced by the reactions of others
 Generalized
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other, great ubiquitous “they”
People are susceptible to flattery
It is tougher to accept criticism
Basis for conformity
Self-Esteem: What is it?
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Self-serving bias
 Overrate
ourselves
 Blame our failures
 Claim our victories
 As a rule, only depressed people truly have low self-esteem
The Self-Esteem Movement
Thank you to Dr. Tracey Zinn, on whose conference
presentation this section is based.
What’s the problem?
“Why is being wrong so socially traumatic to
students?”
The Self-Esteem Movement
Propagated primarily in the educational system
Curricula aimed at increasing students’ self-esteem
Everyone born after 1970…
Focus has been on increasing self-esteem that is not rooted in reality
Researchers now suggesting that students need to be able to identify
their talents
The Psychology of Self-Esteem Branden (1969)
What Was Taught
“Keep your head up, feel good about yourself” vs. “take responsibility
for your work”.
Forsyth et al (2007)
“You can do anything!”
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No use of the word “failure”
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Everyone got all As in HS, doing little work
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Unrealistic expectations of success
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Students report being bored in class
Problems Created
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False images to maintain
Concern over not having high self-esteem
Sense of entitlement
Anti-work/study ethic
Inflated and delicate egos
What Resulted
What Resulted: Attitudes
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“Being happy is the most important thing”
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We should always feel good about ourselves
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Increase in narcissism (debated)
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Don’t say “I’m a good soccer player” (Just say “I’m
good.”)
What Resulted: Attitudes
Carol Dweck’s research
Effort is considered a sign of stupidity
When children are told that they are smart, they choose an
easier task.
Panic when they are challenged or
think they are engaging in “a lot of effort”.
Result – Confused Parents
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Encouraged delicate handling of children
Shielded them from negative emotions, criticism
Praised kids regardless of what they did
Carol Dweck’s research
Parents often think that helping their kids build self-esteem is
done by shielding them from criticism and praising their
talents
Protecting kids from hurt, failure, criticism, & disappointment
has made them more vulnerable
What Resulted - Behaviors
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Thin skinned undergraduates, defensive when they miss questions or are
challenged
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Generation X Goes to College (Peter Sacks)
Students seem to be incapable of handling negative feedback.
New hires are asking for raises and promotions almost immediately
after being hired.
When students with high SE are criticized
 Unfriendly, rude, and uncooperative.
Entitlement regularly cited as an issue in college.
What Failed to Result
[High self-esteem] Isn’t associated with improved grades,
career achievement, reduced alcohol usage, lower violent
behavior, etc.
Baumeister and colleagues (2003)
What Self-esteem Cannot Do?
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Improve school performance
Improve social relationships
Guarantee good leadership
Prevent risky behavior such as drinking
Promote health
It is defined in more than one way.
It may simply be a marker or indicator variable.
Educational Outcomes of the Self-Esteem Movement
Susan Jacoby The Age of American Unreason
Are our students (people) hostile to knowledge?
Self-esteem movement = I’m the smartest kid!
“I’m supposed to be happy!”
Backlash against Self-Esteem
John Hewitt’s
The Myth of Self-Esteem: Finding Happiness and Solving
Problems in America
“Why do you feel good about yourself?”
“Because of self-esteem”
Backlash against Self-Esteem
Generation Me
Risk of depression & anxiety higher for young people today
“Our growing tendency to put the self first leads to
unparalleled freedom, but it also creates an enormous
amount of pressure on us to stand alone.”
Are Negative Emotions Normal?
Against happiness: In praise of melancholy
Eric Wilson
Loss of sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into
Depressive Disorder
Alan Horwitz & James Wakefield
The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of
Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders
Peter Conrad
Correlates of Self-Esteem
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More initiative
Happier, less depressed
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long as things are going well.
Related to physical appearance
Can become narcissistic
Fluctuates across the lifespan
Self-Worth
 Meaning
 Purpose
 Living
up to your identity & your destiny