Psychology of the Self

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Psychology of the Self
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Historical Background

• William James (1890)
• The material self body, clothes, wife and
  children, home
• The social self recognition which a man gets
  from others
• The spiritual self a man's inner or subjective
  being, his psychic faculties or dispositions

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What is the Self?

• Self-concept The set of beliefs we hold about
  who we are
• Self-esteem The evaluation we make of ourselves
• High vs. low self-esteem
• Global vs. domain specific self-esteem
• Explicit vs. implicit self-esteem

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What is the Self? (contd)

• People w/ high self-esteem
• think well of themselves, set appropriate goals,
  use feedback in a self-enhancing manner
• cope successfully w/ difficult situations
• remember their daily experiences more favorably
• People w/ low self-esteem
• think poorly of themselves, select unrealistic
  goals, or shy away from goals, experience
  negative emotions in case of (-) feedback
• Are more vulnerable to depression when they
  encounter stress
• Remember their past more negatively

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What is the Self? (contd)

• Measuring self-esteem
• Explicit self-esteem Questionnaires (e.g.
  Rosenberg (1965), I feel that I have a number of
  good qualities)
• Implicit self-esteem E.g., Implicit Association
  Tests

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Development of the Self

• Visual self-concept develops bw 15 24 months
• During early childhood, children categorize
  themselves on concrete dimensions
• Around age 8, children begin to define themselves
  on psychological attributes
• Adolescence Identity formation

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Sources of Self-Knowledge

• Socialization
• Reflected Appraisal self-evaluation based on the
  perceptions evaluations of others
• Feedback from others
• Self-perception
• Labeling arousal states
• Environmental distinctiveness
• Social comparison
• Social identity self concept derived from
  group-membership

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Culture and the Self

• Independent self the sense of oneself as
  bounded, unitary, separate from the social
  context
• Interdependent self the sense of self as
  flexible, variable, connected to the social
  context

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A New Approach Balanced Integration
Differentiation Model (BID)

• Imamoglu (2003)
• Are independence (individualism, individuation)
  and interdependence (collectivism, relatedness)
  opposite?
• Intrapersonal differentiation orientation a
  basic psychological need to actualize ones
  unique potentials
• Interpersonal integration orientation a basic
  psychological need to be connected to others

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A New Approach BID (contd)
Intrapersonal differentiation
Normative patterning
Individuation
Relatedness
Interpersonal integration
Separatedness
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A New Approach BID (contd)

• Related individuated people reported
• Higher self-satisfaction
• Higher family satisfaction
• Higher perceived parental acceptance
• Lower perceived parental control
• Higher need for cognition

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Aspects of Self-Knowledge

• Self schemas How one thinks about ones personal
  qualities in a particular life domain
• People are schematic on dimension that are
  important to them
• Schemas help identify situations that are
  relevant and guide ones behavior
• They help remember schema-relevant info
• Not always positive!

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Aspects of Self-Knowledge (contd)

• Possible selves schemas that people hold what
  they may or could become in the future
• They help people to articulate goals and develop
  goal-directed behaviors
• They may be positive or negative!

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Aspects of Self-Knowledge (contd)

• Self-discrepancies discrepancies bw how we
  perceive ourselves how we would ideally like to
  be or believe others think we should be
• Ideal self the personal attributes one would
  like to have
• Ought self the personal attributes one believes
  one should possess
• Actual-ideal discrepancy -gt dejection-related
  emotions (e.g., disappointment, dissatisfaction,
  or sadness)
• Actual-ought discrepancy -gt agitation-related
  emotions (e.g., fear, anxiety)

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Self-Regulation

• The ways people control and direct their own
  actions
• Working self-concept the aspect of the
  self-concept that is salient in a particular
  situation
• Threats to working self-concept may decrease
  self-esteem but stable self usually wins out
• If working self-concept is stable over time, it
  may become part of the stable self

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Self-Regulation (contd)

• Self-complexity The number of dimensions that
  people use to think about themselves
• Low self-complexity may lead to negative emotions
  in case of failure
• Self-complexity may act as a buffer against
  stressful life events

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Self-Regulation (contd)

• Self-efficacy Specific expectation about our
  abilities to accomplish certain tasks
• Self-efficacy beliefs are highly specific
• Enable people to plan, cope w/ setbacks, engage
  in goal-directed behavior

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Self-Regulation (contd)

• Two independent motivational systems
• Behavioral activation system (BAS) an appetitive
  system, when activated people tend to approach
  people and activities in the environment
• Behavioral inhibition system (BIS) an aversive
  system, when activated people are more likely to
  avoid others and activities
• BAS, ideal self, promotion focus
• BIS, ought self, prevention focus

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Self-Awareness

• Self-awareness experiencing oneself as an object
  of ones own attention
• Cybernetic Theory of Self-Regulation People
  compare their behavior to a standard, decide that
  it matches the standard or does not, continue
  adjusting their behavior until a match is made or
  the goal is abandoned

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Motivation and The Self

• Need for an accurate self-concept
• Need for a consistent self-concept
• Self-verification seeking out interpreting
  situations that confirms ones self-concept
• We selectively interact w/ others who see us as
  we see ourselves
• We like people who see us positively on the
  attributes that we are confident to hold

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Motivation and The Self (contd)

• Self-improvement
• Remember possible selves?
• Comparing ones self with others
• Self-enhancement the need to hold a positive
  view of oneself
• Positive illusions mild, falsely positive
  self-enhancing perceptions of ones personal
  qualities
• People see themselves more positively
• They have more control over the events
• They are unrealistically optimistic about the
  future

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Motivation and The Self (contd)

• Self-Affirmation People cope w/ specific threats
  to their self-worth by reaffirming unrelated
  aspects of themselves
• High self-esteem people are more likely to use
  this strategy
• It may eliminate the need for defensive
  strategies against threats

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Motivation and The Self (contd)

• Terror Management Theory The terror of mortality
  is kept under control by two factors a cultural
  worldview and self-esteem
• People act in accordance with cultural norms when
  mortality is salient
• They aggress against others who challenge their
  worldviews
• Affiliate w/ close others
• High self-esteem is a buffer against death anxiety

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Motivation and The Self (contd)

• Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory Reacting to
  the success of others with pride or discontent
  consequent efforts to restore a sense of self
• The comparison effect the more important the
  domain, the better others performance and the
  closer the relationship, the greater is the
  threat to self-evaluation (envy, frustration,
  anger)
• The reflection effect the less important the
  domain, the better others performance and the
  closer the relationship, the greater is the pride
  people derive from others success

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Social Comparison Theory

• People are driven to evaluate themselves through
  comparisons w/ other people
• The goals of social comparison
• Accurate self-evaluation
• Self-enhancement
• Self-improvement
• Sense of communion
• Direction upward vs. downward
• Consequences positive vs. negative

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Self-Presentation

• Deliberate efforts to act in ways that create a
  particular impression of the self
• Self-handicapping engaging in actions that
  provide obstacles to success, so that failure can
  later be attributed to these obstacles
• Claimed vs. behavioral self-handicapping

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Self-handicapping, Self-Concept Clarity,
Self-Esteem

• Study 1
• Self-concept clarity explicit self-esteem were
  negatively associated w/ claimed
  self-handicapping
• Study 2
• Implicit self-esteem was positively associated w/
  behavioral self-handicapping only when
  self-concept clarity was low

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Self-handicapping, Self-Concept Clarity,
Self-Esteem (contd)