Psychology Chapter 5: Self-Knowledge and Self-Evaluation

Chapter 5: Self-Knowledge and Self-Evaluation

• This chapter explores the nature of the self, including self-knowledge and self-evaluation.
• Self-knowledge is examined through various perspectives, including introspection, observing one's own behaviour, social interaction, and comparing oneself to others.
• The importance of needing to feel good about oneself is considered.
• Self-evaluation is discussed in terms of accuracy and potential biases.

Self-Concept

• Self-concept is the knowledge about who we are.
• Self-awareness is the act of thinking about ourselves.
• The combination of self-concept and self-awareness creates a coherent sense of identity.
• Self-concept is a psychological structure or process involved in attending to, thinking about, evaluating, and regulating the individual.

Self-Recognition

• Self-recognition is explored.
• Rouge test methods are described as being useful in assessing self-recognition.
• It is discussed if humans are unique in the way they view themselves.

The Content of the Self: Self-Schemas

• Self-schemas are knowledge about the self that includes attitudes, preferences, and traits.
• These schemas influence what people notice, think about, and remember about themselves.

Self-Concept Clarity

• Self-concept clarity is the extent to which knowledge about the self is clearly and consistently defined.
• Increased neuroticism and decreased self-esteem are associated with low self-concept clarity.
• Increased rumination is also linked, along with celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying.
• Empty self theory and absorption addiction model are mentioned.

Cultural Differences

• Western cultures generally have an independent view of the self.
• Collectivist cultures generally have an interdependent view of the self.
• Self-concept clarity and self-esteem are positively related in Western cultures.
• Self-concept clarity and self-esteem are related in collectivist cultures.

Self: The I and the Me

• According to William James (1890), the self is composed of two parts: "I" and "Me".
• The "I" is the thinking subject that observes and describes the self (the knower).
• The "Me" is the object of thinking; what can be known and observed (the known).
• The self develops within the interpersonal, socio-cultural context.

Culture & Self (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)

• Independent self-construal: circles don't overlap, solid boundaries, Xs not shared, boundary between ingroup and outgroup is dotted.
• Interdependent self-construal: circles overlap, dotted boundary, Xs shared, solid boundary between outgroup and ingroup.

Gender Differences

• In individualistic cultures, men often adopt an independent view of self, while women have a more relational, interdependent view.
• In collectivist cultures, both genders tend to have a relational view of the self that emphasizes interdependence.
• However, even in individualistic cultures, men demonstrate some collective interdependence, but it is typically less emphasized than individual interdependence.

Self-Knowledge: Telling More Than We Can Know

• Verbal reports on mental processes might be inaccurate.
• People often explain their feelings and behaviour more than they truly understand.
• Casual theories that people create to explain their actions may not always reflect the underlying reasons for their behaviour.

Self-Awareness Theory

• Self-awareness theory proposes that when people focus on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behaviour to their internal standards and values.
• Congruence between behaviour and internal standards leads to positive self-evaluations and self-regulation.
• Discrepancies between behaviour and standards can lead to negative emotions and motivational strategies like escape. This escape could be, in positive ways, religious experiences or spirituality or negative ways through substance abuse.

Cultural Differences in Self-Awareness

• Eastern cultures tend to emphasize an outside perspective, viewing themselves through the eyes of others.
• Western cultures emphasize an inside perspective, focusing on private experiences.

Perspective Taking

• Participants from Chinese backgrounds are more attentive to their partner's perspective compared with American participants.
• Interdependence often causes better perspective taking abilities in Chinese people compared to Americans.

Self-Perception Theory

• This theory suggests we determine our own attitudes by observing our own behaviour.
• People infer their internal attitudes from their own behaviours, particularly in situations where their initial attitudes are unclear or ambiguous.

Over Justification Effect

• When extrinsic rewards are introduced for activities that were initially intrinsically motivated, people experience a reduction in their intrinsic motivation.

Knowing Ourselves Through Other People

• Looking-glass self: we see ourselves through the eyes of others and incorporate their views into our self-concept.
• Social comparison theory: we learn about ourselves by comparing ourselves to others, particularly to similar others.

Self-Esteem

• Downward social comparison: comparing ourselves to those who are worse than us in a particular trait or ability, which helps improve self-esteem.
• Upward social comparison: comparing ourselves to those who are better than us in a particular trait or ability; it is a valuable tool for motivation, but can lead to negative feelings of inadequacy.

Social Comparison and Culture

• European-Canadians are more motivated by positive role models, while Asian-Canadians are more motivated by negative role models.

Self-Esteem: Social Acceptance

• Sociometer theory suggests that self-esteem acts as a gauge of social acceptance and belonging.
• Self-esteem is partly a function of anticipated or actual social inclusion.

Self-Evaluation: Biased

• Self-enhancement: unrealistically positive views about oneself, which is associated with self-esteem and life satisfaction.
• False uniqueness effect: tendency to see our own characteristics as more unique or exceptional than they actually are.
• Cultural differences exist, with Western cultures showing a bias toward self-enhancement, while Asian cultures tend to exhibit self-effacement (negative view).

Self-Evaluation: Accurate

• Self-verification theory: people seek out and maintain feedback that confirms their self-concept.
• Consistency and congruence in self-concept are important.
• There are needs for truth, dimension, and relationships.

Who Am I? Coding

• Physical Self-Descriptions: refer to physical qualities.
• Social Self-Descriptions: refer to relationships, group memberships, social roles.
• Psychological Self-Descriptions: refer to psychological traits, states and attitudes.
• Holistic Self-Descriptions: refer to comprehensive or vague characteristics.

Self-Control

• Executive function and self-regulation are crucial for self-control.
• Cognitive depletion: Suggests that exerting self-control is like using up a limited resource.
• Implementation intentions can strengthen self-regulation.