Understanding the Self: Development and Self-Awareness

1. Chapter 5 Self-Understanding: How We Come to Understand Ourselves

2. Chapter Outline I. The Nature of the Self

3. The Nature of the Self • William James defined a basic duality of the self: it is both the known, “Me,” or self-concept (our knowledge of who we are), and the knower, “I.” or self-awareness (the act of thinking about ourselves).

4. The Nature of the Self • Tests of human infants suggest that self-recognition develops at about two years of age.

5. The Nature of the Self • Other developmental studies show that the concept of self evolves from being concrete and focused on observable characteristics to being more abstract and focused on psychological characteristics during the course of childhood and adolescence.

6. The Nature of the Self • The Functions of the Self Researchers have pointed to three important functions served by the self. The self has an organizational function, an emotional function, and an executive function.

7. The Nature of the Self • Cultural Differences in the Definition of the Self. In many Western cultures, people have an independent view of the self, while in many Asian and other non-Western cultures, people have an interdependent view of the self.

8. The Nature of the Self • Gender Differences in the Definition of Self There does appear to be a difference in the way women and men define themselves in the United States, with women having more of an interdependent sense of self than men.

9. The Nature of the Self • Despite cultural differences, people are similar in having some basic self-motives: self-assessment, self-verification, and self-enhancement.

10. Chapter Outline II. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection

11. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Intuitively, we recognize that introspection, the process of looking inward and examining one’s own thoughts, feelings, and motives, is one basis of self-knowledge.

12. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory According to self-awareness theory, when we do focus on ourselves, we compare our current behavior against internal standards and values.

13. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory When we become aware of a discrepancy, we attempt to reduce it by changing our behavior to match.

14. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory Baumeister (1991) has postulated that, because self-awareness can be unpleasant, we will be motivated to “escape the self” by engaging in destructive practices or spiritual practices.

15. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory Self-awareness will be pleasant when we meet or exceed our standards and the state can motivate us to do so.

16. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do: Telling More Than We Know Many of our mental processes occur outside of awareness -- we are aware of the final result of our thoughts, but not of the process by which we got there.

17. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do: Telling More Than We Know Introspection may not lead us to the true causes of our feelings and behavior, but we’ll manage to convince ourselves it did.

18. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do: Telling More Than We Know Diary studies have shown that, although people have strong causal theories about factors that influence their moods, these theories are generally wrong.

19. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • The Consequences of Introspecting About Reasons There may be a downside to introspecting about reasons when making decisions -- namely, we may come up with inaccurate reasons.

20. Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection • The Consequences of Introspecting About Reasons We may convince ourselves that these incorrect reasons are correct, thereby changing our attitudes about how we feel to match our reasons -- an effect known as reasons-generated attitude change.

21. Chapter Outline III. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior

22. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Inferring Who We Are From How We Behave: Self-Perception Theory According to Bem’s self-perception theory, we find out how we feel by observing what we do.

23. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Inferring Who We Are From How We Behave: Self-Perception Theory We are likely to infer our feelings from our behavior when our initial feelings are weak or unclear. And, we use our behavior to tell us about ourselves when we decide that we freely chose the behavior.

24. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation is the desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it interesting; extrinsic motivation is the desire to engage in an activity because of external rewards or pressures.

25. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation When we are rewarded for engaging in an intrinsically motivating activity, we may underestimate the extent to which our behavior was caused by intrinsic motivation. This is known as the overjustification effect.

26. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation Recent research reveals that there are conditions under which the overjustification effect can be avoided: If initial interest in the task is low, as opposed to high; if the reward is performance-contingent (based on quality) rather than task-contingent (based simply on performance); and by reminding people that they can do tasks for intrinsic reasons even if they are also extrinsically rewarded for engaging in them.

27. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Understanding Our Emotions: The Two-Factor Theory of Emotion The two-factor theory of emotion states that emotion results from first perceiving physiological arousal and then finding an explanation or label for that arousal.

28. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Finding the Wrong Cause: Misattribution of Arousal Studies have demonstrated that misattribution of arousal can occur. When this happens, we attribute our arousal to the wrong source and we experience mistaken or exaggerated emotions.

29. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Our Own Behavior • Interpreting the Social World: Cognitive Appraisal Theories of Emotion. Cognitive appraisal theories of emotion hold that emotions result from people’s interpretations of events, even in the absence of any physiological arousal. The appraisals of the implications of the event and of the cause of the event are especially important.

30. Chapter Outline IV. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Other People

31. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Other People • What others tell us about ourselves is a very important source of self-knowledge.

32. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Other People • Knowing Ourselves by Comparing Ourselves to Others According to social comparison theory, when our goal is to find out information about ourselves, we are likely to engage in upward social comparison; but when our goal is to feel good about ourselves, we are likely to engage in downward social comparison.

33. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Other People • Impression Management: All the World’s A Stage Through self-presentation we attempt to present who we are, or who we want people to believe we are, to other people.

34. Knowing Ourselves Through Observations of Other People • Impression Management: All the World’s A Stage Impression management occurs when we consciously or unconsciously orchestrate a carefully designed presentation of self to fit a particular goal or need in a social interaction.

35. Impression Management • Impression Management: All the World’s A Stage Ingratiation is the process whereby people flatter, praise, and try to make themselves likable to a person who has higher status.

36. Impression Management • Impression Management: All the World’s A Stage Self-handicapping is creating obstacles for ourselves so that if we do poorly on a task, we can blame circumstances and not our abilities.

37. Study Questions What is a self-concept and how does it change from childhood to adulthood?

38. Study Questions What are the functions of the self? How successful are people’s attempts at self-control? What factors influence self-control?

39. Study Questions How do self-concepts differ in Western cultures compared to Eastern cultures?

40. Study Questions How do self-concepts differ in according to gender?

41. Study Questions What is similar about self-concepts across cultures and gender?

42. Study Questions How often do people rely on introspection for self-knowledge?

43. Study Questions According to self-awareness theory, what are the consequences of becoming self-aware? What are strategies people use to become less self-aware?

44. Study Questions When is self-knowledge difficult to obtain? Why do causal theories fall short of explaining why we feel or did something? Why can it be a problem to introspect about the causes of our feelings? What is reasons-generated attitude change?

45. Study Questions According to self-perception theory, what besides introspection is a source of self-knowledge? When are we most likely to seek out this source of self-knowledge?

46. Study Questions What is the overjustification effect? What type of motivation is adversely affected by the overjustification effect? Which type of reward is less likely to lead to the overjustification effect?

47. Study Questions According to the two-factor theory of emotion, how do we understand our emotional states? What is the significance of the main findings of the Schacter and Singer (1962) experiment? What is misattribution of arousal?

48. Study Questions What is the main difference between the two-factor theory of emotion and cognitive appraisal theories of emotion?

49. Study Questions Why do we engage in social comparison? What are the consequences of making upward and downward social comparisons? What are motives underlying each type of comparison?

50. Study Questions How is impression management different from self-presentation? How do we manage our impressions?