Social Psychology

1. Social Psychology Unit 3 Relation of the Self and Society

2. Key Concepts • Self-concept • Self-knowledge • Social comparison theory • Self-presentation

3. The Transformative Conversation

4. What is the Self? Self-Concept is the set of beliefs we hold about who we are. So, who are we?

5. What do most people see as their truths? afraid incredible lonely happy awesome fat stupid amazing worthwhile unorganized trouble lazy confused jealous angry messed up BUT, WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

6. Three Questions First, what do you say (to yourself) about yourself? Third, what is the truth? Second, what do others say to you about who you are?

7. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”

8. Stages of Awakening to Your True Self Stage Four We are devoted Stage Three We get steady Stage Two We are interested Stage One We are limited

9. The self (or self-concept) is first and foremost a collection of beliefs that we hold about ourselves. With the above statement in mind, considerthe following questions: • What are your important characteristics? • What are you good at? • What do you do poorly? • What kind of situations do you prefer or avoid? • Finally, how would you describe your sense of self-esteem?

10. Consider also: • How did your family describe your cultural identity to you as you were growing up? • How did this ethnic identity influence the way you and your family related to your community and friends? • What is the impact of your racial or ethnic identity on your self-definition, personality style, and relationships with others?

11. Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy is the extent or strength of one's belief in one's own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. • Activity

12. Self-Esteem The evaluation we make about ourselves —how we value the qualities and abilities we have. • Activity

13. Self-Esteem Based on accurate self-appraisal of strengths and weaknesses Regarding oneself as a worthwhile person

14. Self-esteem

15. People with high self-esteem (power) • Have a good awareness of their personal qualities • Think positively about themselves • Set appropriate goals • Use feedback in a self-enhancing manner • Savor their positive experiences

16. Low Self-Esteem People with low self-esteem tend to • Have less clear self conceptions • Think poorly of themselves • Choose unrealistic goals or avoid • Be pessimistic about the future • Remember the past negatively • Wallow in poor moods • React poorly to criticism • Be more prone to depression

17. Self-Esteem (cont.) We have an overall sense of self-esteem as well as self-esteem in more specific domains • Example: One might feel good about themselves in general, but not as a writer or a vocalist We also have implicit self-esteem, which we are less consciously aware of

18. Self-Concept

19. Social Context DISCUSSION FACT: Our nonverbal behavior determines how other people think and feel about us.

20. Social Context DISCUSSION Question: Do our nonverbal behaviors determine how we think and feel about ourselves? • [ + Testosterone – Cortisol ]

21. Development of the Self • Infancy: one recognizes that he or she is a separate individual from others • Childhood: one labels personal qualities and abilities • Adolescence: the self becomes critically important as a basis for making life decisions • Middle & Late Adulthood: the self continues to change, though generally not as extensively

22. Persuasion and Attitude Change • Let’s watch some television commercials. 2. Describe the process of attitude change as a result of the persuasion of marketing.

23. Persuasive Ads[humorous arguments] • Lynx airlines – Lynx • Monsters in love - Hummer • No bad dancing – Bacardi • BBQ- Carl’s Jr.

24. Independent vs. Interdependent Views of Self • Independent Self: the sense of oneself as bounded, unitary, and separate from social context • Interdependent Self: the sense of self as flexible, variable, and connected to the social context

25. Self-Schemas • Describe how people think about their personal qualities in a particular domain • They guide behavior in relevant situations • Also, aid memory for relevant information • And influence inferences, decisions, and judgments

26. Possible Selves Schemas that people hold concerning what they could become in the future • represent hopes and fears for the future • help people focus and organize plans for pursuing goals

27. More Aspects of Self-Knowledge • Self-Discrepancies: discrepancies between how we perceive ourselves and how we would ideally like to be or believe others think we could be • Ideal Self: the personal attributes one would like to have • Ought Self: the personal attributes one believes one should possess

28. Self-Regulation • Self-regulation refers to the way in which people control and direct their own actions.

29. Working Self-Concept Refers to those aspects of the self-concept that are used in a particular situation: • Example : • a tennis player is focused on his “athlete self” while playing • He may be focused on his “student self” the next day in the classroom. The particular self one is focused on will influence their thoughts and feelings at that time

30. Positive Illusions Refer to when we are somewhat falsely positive or exaggerated with respect to our actual abilities, talents & social skills • Three types: • People see themselves more positively than they are • People believe they have more control than they really do • Overly optimistic about the future

31. Motivation and the Self • People are more likely to be more realistic than self-enhancing when they are… • About to receive feedback from others • Making decisions about goals • Depressed or have low self-esteem

32. Culture & Motivation • People from Western cultures are more likely to self-enhance • Those from collectivist / interdependent cultures* are often more likely to engage in self-criticism

33. Collectivist/Independent Cultures Collectivism is any philosophic, political, religious, economic, or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human. Some examples of collectivist cultures include Pakistan, India and Japan.

34. Self-Affirmation Theory Predicts that people will cope with threats to self-worth by affirming unrelated aspects of themselves • Example: “I may not be good at painting; that’s okay because I’m a great cook” • People high in self-esteem may be more likely to use self-affirmation • Self-affirming may help people be less defensive and more accepting of criticism

35. Terror Management Theory Suggests that people are fearful of their own mortality and seek to minimize their anxiety by: • holding a cultural world-view that makes sense of an otherwise threatening world • having personal self-esteem that leads to the sense that one is an object of value in a meaningful universe.

36. Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory • states that other people’s performance reflects on our feelings about ourselves • This affects how we react to others’ successes (pride or discontent) • Our feelings are a function of • our closeness to the other person (e.g., friend) • the personal relevance to our self concept

37. Motivation and the Self • When people we are close to outperform us in a domain that is personally relevant, we compare ourselves to them and feel envious • However, if the domain is not personally relevant, we will “bask in the reflected glory” of the other.

38. Social Comparison Theory • Social Comparison Theory contends that: • people have a drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities accurately • in the absence of objective standards, people compare themselves with others • in general, people prefer comparisons with similar others

39. Social Comparisons Whom do you choose as targets of social comparison? Consider the consequences of social comparisons and: • How do you feel after making social comparisons? • How does the comparison affect your future performance at a given task? • How does it change your self-evaluation?

40. The Goals of Social Comparison include: • Accurate Self-Evaluation • Self-Enhancement • leads to downward social comparisons • Self-Improvement • leads to upward social comparisons • Sense of Communion (bonding) • Example: Plane in turbulence; look to others to see their reactions – possibly to share a sense of solidarity and comfort

41. Self-Presentation • Self-presentation involves attempting to control the impressions we convey to others to obtain desired outcomes • Example: Making a good impression in an interview • To be successful, we need to be able to “take the role of the other” • This helps us visualize how others will view and respond to our behavior

42. Self-Presentation • People generally try to make a good impression. They do this by: • Conforming to the norms of the situation • Self-promotion = conveying positive information about themselves • Ingratiation = flattering or doing favors

43. Self-Presentation • Self-promotion can be tricky because it is easy to appear egotistical • Modesty is also a tricky self-presentation strategy and is most effective when the person has a success that is well-known to others

44. Ineffective Self-Presentation • Embarrassment occurs when there are disruptions, lapses, or flaws in self-presentation • In the face of an ineffective presentation, one can make excuses • Excuses that attribute blame to external, uncontrollable causes are more effective than internal and controllable ones

45. Self-Handicapping Refers to engaging in actions that provide obstacles to success, so that failure can later be attributed to those obstacles • Example: Staying up too late the night before an exam By arranging an excuse for failure beforehand, people preserve their self-esteem in case of a later failure

46. Self-Handicapping (cont.) • Self-handicapping can be done through either behaviors or verbal claims • Men are much more likely than women to use behavioral self-handicaps • while both sexes use verbal ones • Self-handicapping may work in the short term but has negative long-term consequences for performance and psychological adjustment

47. Cognitive Dissonance Social psychologists refer to cognitive dissonance as the presence of incongruent relations among cognitions that frequently results in mental discomfort. Ultimately, individuals who hold two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas and/or values frequently experience cognitive dissonance.

48. This discomfort may also arise within an individual who holds a belief and performs a contradictory action or reaction. For example, an individual is likely to experience dissonance if he or she recognizes that smoking is unhealthy while continuing to purchase and smoke cigarettes.

49. Homework • See handout Assignment 2 Unit 3 • TEST two next week on Units 1, 2 and 3