PSY415 Psychology of the Self

1. PSY415Psychology of the Self Week 2 Nature of the Self

2. What is the Self? “In its widest possible sense, ..., a man’s self is the sum total of all that he CAN call his, not only his body and psychic powers, but his clothes and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands and horses, and yacht and bank account.” (James, 1890, p. 291) Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

3. The Constituents of the Self Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

4. The Material Self • Two categories • The bodily self • The parts of our body • Is there a difference b/w sayin my or mine ? • Extracorporeal self • Any material possession which extends our body • It is our psychological ownership of these materials which constitute the material self Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

5. The Material Self • What makes something a part of the extended self? • Do we respond in an emotional way? • Do we invest effort in enhancing or maintaining this posession? Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

6. The Material Self • The extended self has a positive valence not by virtue of possessing material per se; these possessions become a part of us • They serve symbolic functions • Express who we are and how we want to be regarded • Extend ourselves in time - immortality Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

7. The Material Self • Mere Ownership Effect (Beggan, 1992) • Having the opportunity to own an object induces positive valence to this object • Following failure, people evaluate these objects more favorably • Name Letter Effect (Nuttin, 1985) • Individuals have a tendency that they like the letters which constitute their names more than the rest of the letters in the alphabet Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

8. The Social Self • How we are regarded and recognized by others (social identities) • “... a man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him and and carry an image of him in their mind.” (James, 1890, p. 294) Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

9. The Social Self • The Five Types of Social Identities • Personal Relationships (e.g.; son, daughter) • Ethnic/Religious (e.g.; Turkish, Muslim) • Political Affiliation (e.g.; nationalist, social democrat) • Stigmatized Groups (e.g.; criminal, addict) • Vocation/Avocation (e.g.; psychologist, anchorperson) • Ascribed vs. Attained Identities Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

10. The Social Self • How we think of ourselves depends on our social roles • We have different social selves for different situations • However, there is a stable core sense of self which encompass all social selves • The social self also include the way we think how others evaluate us Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

11. The Spiritual Self • The spiritual self is the inner or psychological self • Our perception of our own psychological qualities (personal identities) “By the spiritual self ... I mean a man’s inner or subjective being, his psychic faculties or dispositions. ...” (James, 1890, p.296) Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

12. The Spiritual Self • Two ways of thinking about the spiritual self • Abstract Way • Isolate each mental faculty from one another • Concrete Way • Unite each mental faculty with one another • Self is the stream of consciousness Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

13. Collective Self • Refers to an individual’s identification with a group • Can there be cultural differences in terms of relative importance of different identities? • Westerners place more emphasis on personal identities, whereas Easterners place more emphasis on social or collective identities Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

14. Personal Narrative • McAdams (1996) • Individuals organize various aspects of the empirical self into a single and coherent personal story • This story includes characters, events, turning-points in life, etc. Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

15. What Determines Self-Feelings? Self-Esteem = Success / Pretensions • Pretensions as Values • Domains of personal importance • Pretensions as Aspirations • Goals, wishes, desires, performance level for satisfaction • Medvec et al. (1995) • Silver medalists displayed less happiness than bronze medalists Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

16. Shame vs. Guilt • Shame • is a public emotion • results from public disapproval or humiliation • a generalized feeling that the self is entirely bad • leads individuals to hide their deficiencies from others • Guilt • more private emotion • evokes as individuals appraise that they could not have lived up to their values • an evaluation of particular behavior • leads individuals to correct for the misdeeds • Which particular self-component are feelings of shame and guilt related to? Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

17. Self-Feelings and Self-Views • The Attainable Self • A more or less realistic conception of a possible self that one can achieve • James’s Analysis suggests that the more the actual self is closer to the attainable self, the higher the self-esteem Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

18. Self-Feelings and Self-Views • The Ideal Self • An idealized self-image that an individual holds • If this idealization is rigid, a must, it may lead to disappointment • Actual self-ideal self discrepancy is related to sadness, unhappiness, depressive feelings, and loss of self-esteem (Higgins, 1987) Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

19. Self-Feelings and Self-Views • The Ought Self • The self-image which contains one’s obligations and how one should be • Actual self-ought self discrepancy is related to feelings of anxiety (Higgins, 1987) Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

20. Self-Feelings and Self-Views • The Undesired Self • A type of self-image which contains qualities that the individuals do not wish to possess • Undesired self can motivate individuals to avoid the negative behaviors such as delinquency (Oyserman & Markus, 1990) Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.

21. The Nature of the I • The problem of personal identity • Is there a unity in various individual experiences? • Substantialists: Immaterial sould binds the experiences together • Locke: Identity is a result of remembering • Hume: Identity is fictitious; we confuse temporal contiguity with unity • James: Identity is a continuous feeling Kürşad Demirutku, Ph.D.