Psy 352AB Social Psychology

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Psy 352A/BSocial Psychology
.the self.(cont.d.)
principles TO live by!!
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developing the self
what factors influence who we become/are?
reflected appraisal
self perception
self
culture
others/ surroundings
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the self in action
tear out a sheet of paper
do not put your name on the paper
List your
Complete the questionnaire
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developing the self
cultural differences in self development
interdependent self
independent self
defined by relationships with others eastern/colle
ctivist
contained in/defined by the individual western/ind
ividualistic
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developing the self
reflected appraisals
reflected appraisal
self
Looking-glass self reality versus
perception perception is reality
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developing the self
influence of others
others, surroundings
self
you are who you are not! social identity and
social roles
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developing the self
influence of self - an open book?
self perception
self
self perception theory infer own
beliefs/attitudes by observing behavior intended
to address attitude change limited to ambiguous
situations generalizing it to the self what
does it mean?
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self research results
whose reality is real?

• Dartmouth vs Princeton (Hastorf Cantril, 1951)
• Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups
• Basking in reflected glory (Cialdini et al ,
  1976)
• Actor-observer attributions the
  fundamental attribution error

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social psychology
an honest mistake?
an intentional act?
July 3, 1988 Iran Air 655 290 people
8/31/83 KAL 007 269 people (61 Americans)
NY Times editorial while horrifying, still an
accident Dan Rather ...
NY Times editorial Murder in the Air
wanton killing reckless aerial
murder Dan Rather (CBS) barbaric act
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what does this mean?

• Perception is related to perspective
• We like to identify with positive others
• Attributions are based on what we see
• Attributions are affected by our social roles
• Self-awareness influences our behaviors
• We compare ourselves to others for different
  reasons
• look to LESSERS to self-enhance
• look to GREATERS to self-improve

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where does this lead us?

• Self is implicated in many different behaviors.
  related by underlying goals
• To establish social ties
• To understand ourselves and others
• To gain and maintain social status
• To defend ourselves and those we value
• To attract and retain mates
• Try to find patterns between behaviors goals.

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what to make of these facts?

• Is the concept of Self necessary to study
  understand humankind?
• (Based on these findings) ...
• How reliable is anyones view of the world?
• What do you think the Self does?

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why Bask in Reflected Glory?

• To manage ones self-image
• To feel good about ones self
• gain positive esteem from association
• To form social ties
• To gain social status
• Is BiRGing good? healthy? fair?
• To what other behaviors does Self-interest lead?

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social psychology
the self goals in self related actions

• To feel good /protect self
• To manage self-image
• To achieve status and goods
• could be multiple goals in single acts
• could be other goals in all acts

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role of self in action (in general)

• Self-concept many self representations
• Possible selves
• specific future oriented self-representations
• reflecting specific hopes, aspirations, fears,
  dreams
• can have many possible selves
• each has valence attached to it
• the content of ones self-concept can lead to
  specific goal-directed behaviors
• different theories of how it works

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theory of self-motivated behavior

• Self-discrepancy theory
• affective states that motivate behavior due to
• differences between current and possible selves
  (Higgins, 1987, 1996)
• ideal selves -- what you want to be
• discrepancy leads to depression, anger
• people focus on reaching positive goals
• ought selves -- what you should be
• discrepancy leads to anxiety, guilt
• people focus on avoiding negative occurrences

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theory of self-motivated behavior
Self-discrepancy theory
IDEAL Self
OUGHT Self
life is good
ACTUAL Self
Positive motivation
Negative motivation
if discrepant
if discrepant
OUGHT Self
IDEAL Self
Increased depression anger
Increased anxiety guilt
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theory of self-motivated behavior
Carver, Lawrence, Scheier, 1999 similar idea
to Self-Discrepancy Theory somewhat analogous
to magnets
Actual Self
Ideal Self
Feared Self
Avoid
Approach
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A Purgatory Poll (1997)How likely are these
people to enter Heaven?

• Mother Teresa
• Princess Diana
• Oprah Winfrey
• Bill Clinton
• Michael Jordan
• Dennis Rodman
• O.J. Simpson
• Yourself

• Very Likely

Data from US News World Report March 31, 1997
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Self-serving Biases

• Self-serving bias -- tendency to view oneself
  favorably
• seen (to an extent) in most people
• seen in a variety of situations
• Seen when judgments are more subjective (rather
  than objective)
• Seen more when judgments are private (rather than
  public)
• Seen more when topic is of importance (rather
  than non-schematic)

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Faces of self-serving bias

• Social comparison --
• Unrealistic optimism --
• Affirmation of rightness/goodness
• false-consensus --
• false-uniqueness --
• Self-serving attributions --

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Attributing the world our way

• 3 demonstrations of self-serving attributions
• Self-enhancing --
• Self-effacing (self-defensive) --
• Counter-defensive --

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Why do we have Self-serving biases?

• See ourselves positively to
• Avoid depression
• easy to overestimate if hear/see no faults
• Avoid anxiety
• Motivates toward achievable goals
• Maintain self-esteem
• compare selves to others, positively view self
• But could lead to unhappiness, aggression,
  bad-image, unrealistic expectations

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Self-in-Action relating to others

• Self-presentation -- the process by which we try
  to control the impressions that others form of
  us
• Impression management an active conscious
  process
• Refers to
• What you do and dont reveal.
• How and when you reveal it to people.

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WHY SELF-PRESENT?

• To obtain resources
• to attract retain social support/mates
• to gain material goods
• to gain status (which enables other resources)
• Smooth interactions
• people know what to expect from one another
• all the world is a stage
• To manage self-image
• how others see you how you see yourself

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Instances of Self-presentation

• Goal
• Why
• How

• To appear/to be likable
• to belong (gain goods/status)
• to manage self-image

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Instances of Self-presentation

• Goal
• Why
• How

• To appear competent
• to gain goods/status
• to attract others (form ties/gain mates)

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Instances of Self-presentation

• Goal
• Why
• How

• To convey power
• to gain goods/status
• to manage self-image
• to belong to groups

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When you screw it up
good self-presentation bad impression

• Ingratiation
• Project modesty
• Claiming competence
• Stage performance
• Self-handicap
• Display success
• Intimidation

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After your failure

• Account giving
• claim innocence (deny, deny, deny)
• reinterpret events/status
• justify/excuse your position
• apologize
• Identity repair inflate other strengths