Lecture 4
The Self
Outline
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Introduction
The Self Concept
 Self-concept and self-construals
Sources of Self-Knowledge
 Self-Observation and Social Comparison
 Interpersonal Relations
 Group Membership and Social Identity
Self-Presentation
Self-Esteem
 Self-Enhancement Theories
 Self-Verification Theory
Exercise
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Boring
Worthwhile
Full
Discouraging
Interesting
Friendly
Disappointing
Green
Round
Angry
Cautious
Honest
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Agreeable
Normal
Burgundy
Foreign
Patriotic
Ill
Sociable
Immoral
Valuable
Sad
Active
Right
The Self Concept
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Self-schemata are cognitive
generalizations about the self, derived
from past experience, that organize and
the processing of self-related
information contained in the individual’s
social experiences.
(Markus, 1977, p. 64)
Functions of the Self
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Organizational function
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Managerial function
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Helps us organize and interpret information
regulates behaviour and plans for future
Emotional function
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Helps us to determine our emotional
responses
The Self Concept, continued
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Independent self-construals
Interdependent self-construals
Independent and Interdependent SelfConstruals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)
Mother
Coworker
SELF
Friend
Mother
Coworker
SELF
Neighbour
Neighbour
Independent
Interdependent
Friend
Independent and Interdependent SelfConstruals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)
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Independent
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Separate from social
context
Bounded, unitary, stable
Internal, private
(feelings, thoughts)
Life tasks: Be unique,
express self, selfactualization
Direct communication
Self-esteem depends on
ability to express self,
validate internal
attributes
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Interdependent
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Connected with social
context
Flexible, variable
External, public (roles,
statuses, relationships)
Life tasks: belong, fit-in,
engage in appropriate
action, promote others’
goals
Indirect communication
Self esteem depends on
ability to adjust, maintain
harmony, restrain self
Cousins (1989)
0.6
Proportion of 0.5
attributes in
self-description 0.4
0.3
American
Japanese
0.2
0.1
0
General Format
Contextualized
Format
Self-Construals and Motivation
(Iyengar & Lepper, 1999)
350
300
Seconds
spent on
anagrams
during
free play
250
200
Anglo-American
Asian American
150
100
50
0
Personal Choice
Experimenter
Choice
Mother Choice
Sources of Self-Knowledge
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Self-Observation
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Self-Perception (Bem, 1967, 1972)
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Intrinsic motivation and the Overjustification
Effect
Social Comparison Theory
Self-Perception Theory
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Individuals come to “know” their own
attitudes, emotions, and other internal
states partially by inferring them from
observations of their own overt
behavior and/or the circumstances in
which this behaviour occurs (Bem,
1972)
Intrinsic Motivation and the
Overjustification Effect
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Intrinsic Motivation
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Extrinsic Motivation
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Desire to perform an activity because were enjoy
it.
Desire to perform an activity because of external
pressures or rewards
Overjustification Effect
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People view their behavior as caused by
compelling extrinsic reasons, and underestimate
the extent to which the behaviour was caused by
intrinsic reasons
Sources of Self-Knowledge:
Social Comparison Theory
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Social Comparison (Festinger, 1954)
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We have an innate drive to evaluate our opinions
and abilities
If there is no objective index, then we compare
ourselves with others
We generally want and accurate evaluation
We compare ourselves to similar others with
regards to opinions.
We compare ourselves to similar (but slightly
better) others with regards to abilities.
Social Comparison Theory,
continued
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Wood (1989)
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Self-Evalutation (self-assessment)
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Self-Improvement
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Accurate assessment
Compare with similar other
Learn how to improve
Compare with others in better circumstances
Self-enhancement
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Enhance or protect self-esteem
Compare with others in worse circumstances
Sources of Self-Knowledge:
Interpersonal Relations
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Direct Interpersonal Influence
Indirect Interpersonal Influence
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Reflected self-appraisals
Rejected Interpersonal Influence
Reflected Self-Appraisals
(adapted from Schafer & Keith, 1985)
.05
Wife’s
Evaluation
Of Husband’s
Self-Esteem
.46
Husband’s
Perception
Of Wife’s
Evaluation
.71
Husband’s
Self-Esteem
.00
Husband’s
Evaluation
Of Wife’s
Self-Esteem
.39
Wife’s
Perception
Of Husband’s
Evaluation
.77
Wife’s
Self-Esteem
Group Membership and Social
Identity
Social Identity
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That part of the individual’s self-concept
which derives from knowledge of his or her
membership in a social group, together
with the value and emotional significance
associated to that membership. (Tajfel,
1972)
Group Membership and Social
Identity, continued
Self-Categorization Theory (Turner et al.,
1989)
Human
Social (Group)
Personal
Self-Presentation and
Impression Management
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Strategic Self Presentation
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Ingratiation
Intimidation
Self-promotion
Exemplification
Supplication
Self-Presentation and SelfDisclosure
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Self-disclosure: The act of revealing
personal information about oneself to
others.
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Quantity of information
Depth of information
Reciprocity
Self-Esteem
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Self-esteem refers to affective
evaluations of one’s worth, value or
importance. Synonymous with selfworth, self-regard, self-respect, selfacceptance.
Various theories have been proposed to
explain how people work to maintain a
stable, positive self-concept.
Self-Discrepancy Theory
(Higgins, 1987, 1989, 1996)
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Feel distressed when our “actual” self is
different from our “ideal” (the type of person
we desire to be) or “ought” (the type of
person we feel we should be) self, on a
criterion that is important to us.
“Actual-ideal” discrepancies are associated
with dejection, sadness, dissatisfaction, and
depression-related emotions.
“Actual-ought” discrepancies are associated
with fear, worry, tension and anxiety-related
emotions.
Self-Completion Theory
(Gollwitzer & Wicklund, 1985)
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When people experience a threat to a
valued aspect of their self-concept, they
become highly motivated to seek social
recognition of that aspect of the self.
When an important identity has been
challenged, we behave in ways to
legitimate our claim to that identity.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance
Theory (Tesser et al., 1995)
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Aspects of our self-concept can be
threatened by another person’s
behaviour.
Two factors are important:
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The immediacy of the other person
The personal importance of the behaviour
Basking in Reflected Glory
(BIRGing)
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We take pride in the achievements of
certain people and groups, even when
we had nothing to do with attaining
them.
Self-Enhancement and SelfVerification
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Self-enhancement is the tendency to
hold unrealistically positive views about
ourselves
Self-verification is the tendency to seek
veridical information about the self,
whether positive or negative.
Self-Verification Theory
(Swann 1990, 1996)
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We are motivated to have stable,
coherent self-concepts.
Information from others (both positive
and negative) that is contrary to our
self-concept
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threatens the stability of the self-concept.
makes it comfortable to interact with
someone who doesn’t share our selfconcept
Self-Verification Theory,
continued
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When do we self-verify
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In close relationships
When we are highly certain of our selfconcept
Consequences of being “discovered” are
high