PSYC 1004: Introduction to Social Psychology

Lecture 2 Notes – The Self

Learning objectives
At the end of this lecture you will be able to:
 Define the concept of self
 Identify and explain theoretical perspectives of self
 Explain the concept of self-knowledge and how it is formed.
 Explain important concepts in understanding the self, including:
o Personal vs Social Identity
o Self-esteem
o The self-concept
o Self-presentation
o Consequences – emotional, cognitive and behavioural

Definitions of Self
 The Self is the cognitive and affective representation of one's identity or the subject of experience.
 The Self helps to organize our social thinking and energize our social behaviour.
 Self = our impressions + thoughts + feelings

Functions of the Self

Managerial (behaviour)
 Helps to define our relationships to the physical and social world.
 Helps us to engage in long-term planning

Organizational (Cognitive)
 Self-Schemas
 The information we notice, think about and remember is organized around our self-view.

Emotions (Affect)
 Helps to determine our emotional response

Theoretical Perspectives of the Self

William James (1842- 1910)
 The founder of American psychology, William James (1842–1910), described the basic duality of our perception of
self.
 The self is composed of our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves, or what James (1890) called the “known,” or, more
simply, the “me.”
 The self is also the active processor of information, the “knower,” or “I.”
 These two aspects of the self combine to create a coherent sense of identity.

Charles Cooley (1902)

 Charles Cooley (1902) saw the self as a looking-glass or reflective self.
 People form concepts of themselves based on the opinions held by others about them. Our knowledge about
ourselves comes from the reaction of other people.
 Self-concepts are formed from the reflective images that comes from social relationships
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George Herbert Mead (1934)

 George Herbert Mead (1934) saw the self as emerging within in a social context and the self as a social process
(symbolic interactionism).
 Mead stated that we should not take the self as a given, but consider the formation of the I and Me.
 Mead argues that the Self emerges during the following stages:
1. Play stage (assume the role of one person)
2. Game stage (assume the role of more than one person)

How do we know who we are?

Studies suggest that chimps and orangutans, and possibly dolphins, have a rudimentary self-concept. They realize that the
image in the mirror is themselves and not another animal. When someone alters their appearance, they recognize that they
look different from how they looked before.
Self-recognition develops at around age 2. However, as we grow older, self-concept becomes more complex.

What is Self-Knowledge?
The cognitive and affective representation of one's identity or the subject of experience. To gain knowledge of ourselves we
either
1. try to directly analyze our self,
2. or try to see ourselves as we think others see us.

Where does the self come from?

Introspection
The process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives.
 Who am I?
 Why do I do the things I do?
However, research suggest that people spend little time reflecting on themselves (Figuriski et al. 1982).
Introspection about reasons behind one’s attitudes, behaviour and feelings is likely to produce inaccurate self-knowledge.
For example, when people introspect about reasons behind their feelings, they sometimes change their feelings to match the
reasons they generated, which can lead them to make decisions that they regret later.

Feedback from others

As Cooley (1902): “looking glass self” states, we come to know ourselves by observing others’ reactions to us.

Self-Perception
When internal cues are difficult to interpret, people gain self-insight by observing their own behavior (Bem, 1972)
 “I am what I do”

The Social Environment

 People tend to describe themselves in ways that set themselves apart from others in their immediate environment.
 Boys from predominantly female families are more likely to cite their gender as a salient identity.
 Racial minorities in classrooms more likely to mention race, (McGuire et al., 1978)

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The Self from other’s standpoint

Taking the “observer” perspective (Situational v. Dispositional)
 Whether the behavior is attributed to characteristics of the person who performed it (dispositional) or to the
surrounding situation (situational).
 For example: Suppose your neighbor is unemployed. You might judge that he is lazy, irresponsible or unable
(dispositional attribution).
 Or you might attribute his unemployment to racial discrimination, evils of capitalism or the poor state of the economy
(situational).
Depending on the situation
 People see themselves differently depending on which relationships and which contexts are salient. Salience is when
something stands out from its background or is the focus of attention.
 For example: You might characterize yourself as particularly liberal in comparison to other Trinidadians. But in
comparison to other college students, you might say that you are rather conservative.

The Self Across Time: Past & Future Selves

 Who I am depends on how I view myself by means of:
1. Autobiographical memory - a memory of oneself from the past, as compared to the present view of oneself.
Comparing our present selves (more praiseworthy) with the past selves (more blameworthy), we feel good
about ourselves to the extent that we perceive improvement over time. Less critical of present self as against
past self.
2. Possible selves. Image of how the self might be in the future “dreaded” or “desired”

Other’s Treatment
 How people are treated by others and how they believe they will be treated in the future impacts the ways in which
they think about themselves. “Mainstream” vs. “Not Mainstream” identity selection.

Social Comparisons
 Social comparison is the process through which people come to know themselves by evaluating their own attitudes,
abilities, and beliefs in comparison with others.
 We compare ourselves to others because there is no other objective yardstick to evaluate ourselves against.
 Festinger (1954) suggested that people compare themselves to others to evaluate the self. The method of
comparison depends on people’s motives for comparison:
1. to feel good
2. to be accurate
 Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model – Suggests that to maintain a positive view of the personal self people distance
themselves from others who perform better than they do on valued dimensions, but move closer to others who
perform worse than they do.
 Therefore, referring to the Upward and Downward Social Comparison Process.
o Upward social comparison (when we compare ourselves with those who we believe are better than us). It is
a means of gaining self-knowledge
o Downward social comparison (we compare themselves to others who are worse off that ourselves). It is a
means to boost our egos or maintain our self-esteem
 Self-Serving Biases – The above average effect is the tendency to rate self as above the average on most positive
social attributes. Positive illusions are beliefs we hold about ourselves that are not entirely accurate.

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Important Concepts in Understand the Self

Social Identity
 The Social Identity Theory addresses how we respond when our group identity is salient.
 Social identity theory proposes that the membership of social groups and categories forms an important part of our
self-concept.
 Therefore, when an individual is interacting with another person, they will not act as a single individual but as a
representative of a whole group or category of people

Personal versus Social Identity

 One of the fundamental principles of social identity perspective is that individuals can perceive themselves differently
depending on where they are at a particular moment in time.
 This is known as the Personal-versus-Social Identity continuum which signifies the two distinct ways that we can
categorize ourselves:
o Personal Identity - We think of ourselves primarily as individuals.
 Intragroup (comparison between individuals who are members of the same group)
 How I am different from the group?
 Examples: “I am fun”, “I am liberal”
o Social Identity We think of ourselves as members of specific social groups
 Intergroup comparison (comparison between our group and another group)
 How I am similar to the group?
 Examples: “I am a member of φχ”, “I’m an American”

Self Esteem: Attitudes Towards Ourselves

The degree to which the self is perceived positively or negatively. One’s overall attitude toward the self
Implicit self-esteem – feelings about the self of which we are not consciously aware.
 Self-esteem can change readily in response to social situations.
 It easily can be enhanced or decreased in laboratory settings
Self-esteem measures
 Rosenberg (1965) scale
 1 item scale
 Specific areas
 Implicit assessments
Social scientists have suggested that the lack of high self-esteem is the root of many social ills, including: depression, drug
abuse, poor academic performance, violence.
Research indicates that many socially disadvantaged groups do have, on average, somewhat lower self-esteem than groups
that are socially advantaged. To the extent that self-esteem reflects how we believe others appraise us, high self-esteem can
be difficult to achieve for those who are excluded from valued social roles.
 Men’s self-esteem tends to be higher than women’s self-esteem. Knowing that self-esteem is responsive to the
treatment received from others, why is this the case?
 Women who are devalued through gender discrimination are aware of this inequality and have lower self-esteem
compared to others
 Gender differences in self-esteem are less in the professional class than in middle-lower income classes

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The Self Concept

 Self-concept is made up cognitive component (given collection of identities) as well as affective component including
self-esteem. It is referred to as the composite ideas, feelings and attitudes that a person has about his own identity,
worth, capabilities and limitations
 When we enter the world we are thrown into a number of roles- male/females, members of religious groups,
geographical areas, nationality, ethnic group.
o These groups exist in relations to other groups
o We develop a number of identities
o The self-concept consists of these various identities
 Three different self concepts
o Actual self - your representation of the attributes that yourself or another believes you actually possess
o Ought self - your representation of the attributes that yourself or another believes you should or ought to
possess (sense of duty)
o Ideal self - your representation of the attributes that yourself or another would like you ideally to possess
(hopes, aspirations, wishes)

Self-Concept: Culture affects how the self is perceived

Independent
 Individualistic cultures
 Separate from others
 Independent Self-Concept
 In individualistic cultures, people develop a self-concept as separate from or independent of others.

Interdependent
 Collectivist cultures
 Connected to others
 Interdependent Self-Concept
 In collectivist cultures, people develop a self-concept in terms of one’s connections or relationships with others.

Self-Presentation: Managing the Self in Different Social Contexts

 Self-presentation is defined as the attempt to control self-relevant images before real or imagined others.
 A person’s self-presentations represent the choice of the most desirable images from sets of mutually exclusive
alternative images.
 Self-Presentation Tactics
o Ingratiation When we try to make others like us by conveying that we like them
 e.g. Using flattery, gratifying, doing favors
 When will we ingratiate?
 when it’s important to be liked
 when it’s likely to work
 when we think the strategy is legitimate
o Intimidation
 When will we intimidate?
 when we can follow through with our threats
 when the other person cannot get revenge
 when we’re willing to give up approval or affection
o Self-promotion
 When will we self-promote?

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 when objective data are not available to contradict us

 when we know that we won’t contradict what others already know about us
o Exemplification
 When will we exemplify?
 when we can behave in ways that back-up our claims
 when we know that others will not see us offstage
o Supplication
 When will we supplicate?
 when we are not responsible for our relative powerlessness
 when we are interdependently vulnerable

o Self-verification perspective
 Present ourselves in ways that induce others to agree with our own self views
o Self-depreciating
 Put the self down, or imply one is not as good as the other

Consequences to the Self

Emotional Consequences
 Emotional responses to a negative outcome depend on the attribution made for it. Belief that prejudice is rare
opposed to the belief that prejudice happens frequently.
 It has been proposed that attributing negative outcomes to prejudice may be a way to maintain self-esteem.
However, perceived discrimination and self-esteem have been found to be negatively correlated. Discrimination
against one’s group may implicate the self.
 An attribution to prejudice may be self-protective when compared to making attributions to other internal, stable
features of the self. The pervasiveness of the prejudice is also a factor.
Cognitive Consequences
 Prejudice can interfere with our ability to learn and acquire new skills
 Feeling we need to hide our identity can be distracting and impair cognitive abilities, causing performance to suffer
 Cognitive deficits stemming from concerns about a given social identity are only found when it is an identity that is
devalued by the larger culture
Behaviour Consequences
 Stereotype threat occurs when people believe that they might be judged in light of a negative stereotype about their
group
 When those who are vulnerable to stereotype threat are reminded in some overt or subtle way that the stereotype
might apply to them, performance in that domain may be undermined

Required Reading
Social Psychology
Robert A. Baron * Nyla R. Branscombe
Chapter FOUR
The Self: Answering the Question “Who am I”
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