The Self in a Social World

1. The Self in a Social World Chapter 2

2. Self-Concept: Who Am I? • I am • I am • I am • I am • I am

3. At the Center of Our Worlds: Our Sense of Self • Self-schemas • Affect our memory: self-reference effect • Affect our perception/interpretation of others • “Spotlight effect” • Our “possible self-schemas” motivate us • Positive AND negative

4. I Am Me; I Am OKWhat is Self-Esteem? • Our overall self-evaluation • What makes it high or low? • “Top down” - Which schemas are most important to you? • “Bottom up” - Do you already have high self-esteem?

5. Development of the Social Self • Genetic influences • Our roles: Playing to becoming • Social identity = identity that comes from group memberships • Small group surrounded by large group = more consciousness of that social identity

6. Development of the Social Self (cont.) • Social Comparisons • How do we know we are smart, dumb, handsome, etc.? • The pitfalls of comparison • Successes and failures • Other people’s judgments

7. Self and Culture:Individualism vs. Collectivism • Individualism and Western culture • Priority is given to self-goals and identity over group goals and identity; the independent self • Collectivism - the interdependent self • There are variations w/in cultures • Self-esteem in different cultures

8. Self-Knowledge • How well do you really know yourself? • On one level, very well • On another level, not very well at all • Is it obvious or subtle? • Predicting our behavior • Predicting our feelings • The bottom line: often we are dead wrong, sometimes we are right on

9. Perceived Self-Control • “Self-control operates like muscular strength…both are weaker after exertion, replenished with rest, and strengthened by exercise” (p. 53)

10. Self-Efficacy • Sense of competence and effectiveness • The benefits of self-efficacy (correlations): • More persistence • Less anxiousness, depression • Healthier lives • More academic success • Higher worker productivity

11. Locus of Control • To what do you attribute outcomes? • Internal versus external • Which one is more likely to • Do well in school? • Successfully stop smoking? • Wear seat belts? • Use birth control? • Deal directly w/ marital problems? • Make more money?

12. Learned Helplessness Versus Self-Determination • Learned helplessness - “I am helpless because I have no control over the bad things that happen to me” • Langer and Rodin (1976) • Personal control can affect the health of the psyche • The “Tyranny of Freedom”

13. Self-Serving Bias • The “culture of low self-esteem” fallacy • Self-serving bias = • The tendency to perceive oneself favorably

14. Explaining Positive and Negative Events • People tend to accept credit for their successes • esp. in situations that combine skill & chance • They also tend to attribute failure to external factors • The marital version…the student version…the employee version… the driver’s version...

15. Can We All Be Better Than Average? • The self-serving bias tends to be esp. pronounced when comparing ourselves to people in general • Subjective dimensions also elicit greater s-s bias than objective behavioral dimensions • We tend to place greater importance on the things we feel good at

16. Unrealistic Optimism • Pervades our thinking • Increases our vulnerability • Unsafe sex • Smoking • Seat belt use • Marriage! • BUT… it promotes self-efficacy, health, and well-being. • We need a bit of “defensive pessimism”

17. False Consensus and Uniqueness • False consensus effect: the tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors • False uniqueness effect: the tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and one’s desirable or successful behaviors.

18. Self-Esteem Motivation • Why the self-serving bias? • Multiple motives • Cognitions are influenced by motivations to protect and/or enhance self-esteem

19. The Dark Side of Self-Esteem • Low SE is associated w/ higher risk of depression, drug abuse, and some types of delinquency • Teen gang leaders, extreme ethnocentrists, and terrorists tend to have higher than average SE. • Does ego really = low self-esteem?

20. Impression Management • Self-presentation is how we act or behave to create a desired impression on another • Consciously or unconsciously • Self-handicapping • False modesty • Self-monitoring is the cycle of monitoring one’s behavior, noting how others react, and adjusting one’s behavior accordingly.

21. Janet Swim and Lauri Hyers (1997) • Participants were presented with this hypothetical situation: You and 3 others are discussing whom to select for survival on a private island. One man in this group makes a series of sexist comments such as “I think we need more women on the island to keep the men satisfied.” How did the student participants react to his remark? 5% said they would ignore his comments or wait to see how the others reacted. Then, the experimenters engaged others in discussions where a male confederate made such comments. What percent actually said nothing? 56%

22. “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go so I ran over him.” • “A truck backed through my windshield and into my wife’s face.” • “The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.” • “I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.” • “To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front, I hit the pedestrian.” • “The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it hit my front end.” :-)

23. On a sheet of paper write down 10 antonym pairs such as good - bad Rain - sun Circle the pairs where the positive antonym was listed first The Polyanna Principle:In perception, language, memory, and thought, the pleasant predominates over the unpleasant.