Understanding Self-Concept

• The self-concept is being discussed

Review of William James' Concept of Self

• William James conceptualized the self as having two parts: the "I" and the "Me".
• "I" represents the self-as-subject.
• The self that thinks, experiences, perceives, and decides refers to "I".
• "Me" is the self-as-object.
• "Me" includes the ways one describes oneself, encompassing material possessions, social roles, and personal inner qualities.

Outline

• The topics to be covered are the definition of the self-concept, the question of multiple selves versus one self, and the concept of a true self.

Who Am I Exercise

• Describe yourself by completing the phrase "I am..." multiple times.

Self-Concept Defined

• The self-concept is a cognitive representation of the knowledge and beliefs individuals have about themselves.
• These beliefs include personality traits, abilities, social roles, values, goals, desires, and physical characteristics.
• Essentially, the self-concept encompasses everything a person claims as "me" or "mine."
• The self-concept is important because it shapes how individuals think about the world, how they feel, and how they behave.

Self-Concept as an Associative Network

• Knowledge is organized as a metaphorical network of cognitive concepts interconnected by links.
• Some concepts are more central within the network.
• Links between concepts vary in strength.

Associative Networks

• "Dog" associates with the nodes/concepts of bone, cute, corgi, shimmy, pet, animal, mammal, dog house, cat, and yogi.

Self-Concept Exercise

• Consider how you would describe yourself to someone you meet at a party, starting with "I am...”
• Reflect on how your self-description would differ in a job interview, again beginning with "I am..."

Unitary Self-Concept

• The traditional view of the self-concept implies a unitary, fixed, and integrated idea about the self.
• People have lots of ideas about themselves; some are in contradiction with each other.

Working Self-Concept

• The working self-concept is the subset of self-knowledge that is the current focus of awareness.
• In contrast, the self-concept encompasses the entirety of self-knowledge.
• The working self-concept is created moment-to-moment.
• This concept was defined by Markus & Wurf in 1987.

Contents of the Working Self-Concept

• Situational activation: Different situations can activate different pieces of self-knowledge, creating different working self-concepts.

Self-Concept as an Associative Network

• The self-concept is organized in an associative network.
• Spreading activation happens when a specific self-aspect is activated, and the activation of other self-aspects are linked with it.
• Strongly linked self-aspects will be activated more quickly.

Spreading Activation

• The following would be activated with the name Sonia: Polish, Canadian, Female, Short, Impatient, Artistic, Agreeable, Dancer, Partner, Daughter, Extroverted, Mississauga, Patient, Professor, Empathy, Montreal, Psychologist, Dog Owner, and McGill.

Contents of the Working Self-Concept

• The contents of the working self-concept include self-knowledge most accessible or salient at the moment.
• Accessibility of self-knowledge is determined by distinctiveness to the situation.

Distinctiveness Theory

• A person's unique, distinctive characteristics are more salient than characteristics in common.
• Distinctive characteristics are valuable for distinguishing oneself from others.
• In a study, 6th graders completed the "Who Am I?" exercise.

Distinctiveness Theory Findings

• Students with distinctive features mentioned these more often.
• Situational context influences describing the self.

Contents of the Working Self-Concept Additional Aspects

• Distinctiveness is important of the situation.
• Relevance is to the situation or activity.
• Frequency is of activation.

Implications of Working Self-Concept

• The self-concept is malleable and dependent on context.
• We have different versions of ourselves.
• Non-central self-aspects can enter the working self-concept.
• The working self-concept enables contradictory self-aspects to simultaneously exist but are not usually activated in the same situation.
• The working self-concept influences how we behave.
• This explains why we behave differently in different situations.

Working Self-Concept and Behavior Study

• A study examined whether the working self-concept influences behavior, presented as validating a new questionnaire to "reveal elements of personality."
• The working self-concept was experimentally manipulated through extroversion and introversion.

Study Results

• Participants in the extroverted condition described themselves as more extroverted.
• They also acted more extroverted in a subsequent situation.
• These individuals spoke longer to the confederate and sat closer to the confederate
• The results show that the working self-concept influences behaviour.

Summary of Key Points

• The self-concept is organized as an associative network of various self-aspects and is highly malleable.
• Only a small subset of our self-concept is accessible.
• Working self-concept is made up of situationally activated self-knowledge and frequently activated self-knowledge.

Examining the Idea of a True Self

• Is there a true self?

Elements Common to Theories of the True Self

• Natural endowment already exits, which is the true-self.
• Feelings of authenticity
• Desires to be true to their "true self."
• Competition with external influences.

The Case for a True Self Study

• A study explored if people believe in and use a true self as a guide for decisions.
• 60 online community participants were instructed to think about occasions when making important decisions
• Rated (1-7 scale) decision-making strategies, including "True self as guide" and “let fate decide".

The Case for a True Self

• People believe that following one's true self is an important strategy for making satisfying decisions.

Results Regarding True/Actual Self Ratings

• Participants were randomly assigned to describe true or actual and rate how easy it was to do this
• True self rating: "who you really are".
• Actual self: "who you are in everyday life."
• Subjective ease related to decision satisfaction in the true self condition, but not in the actual self condition.
• Difficulties accessing true self related to less satisfaction with decisions

Implications

• The idea of a true self resonates with people, who are more satisfied when decisions align with it.

Conceptual Problems with a True Self

• There are several conceptual problems with the idea of a true self.

Problem 1: Natural Endowment?

• Natural endowment of a true self is not provable.
• It is difficult to assess a baby's potential accurately, and it suggests babies are born with specific destinies for adult life, which is unlikely.

Problem 2: Self-Beliefs are Inaccurate

• The idea of a true self requires that people have accurate self-knowledge about what their true self is.
• Research suggests that self-concepts are full of inaccuracies and distortions, such as the better-than-average effect.
• Suggests that no self-concept is fully “true”.

Problem 3: True Self = What is "Good"

• The "true self" often reflects social desirability rather than unique characteristics.
• People report feeling most authentic when accepting external influence when making personal decisions.

Authenticity and the Big Five Study

• It was examined the point at which people felt most authentic.
• 97 participants self-reported on "Trait" Big Five.
• Each lab setting had one to two activities.
• There was self-reporting on state of "Big Five".
• Self-reporting on state authenticity.

Results Regarding Big Five

• Evidence was provided for a desirable-trait hypothesis.
• Authenticity was positively associated with acting extroverted, agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable regardless of typical personality.
• Results show people feel more authentic when they behave in socially desirable ways regardless of personality.

"True self" is social desirability

• The "true self” seems to be about social desirability, rather than acting in line with one's unique characteristics.
• People report feeling most authentic when accepting external influence when making personal decisions.
• People report feeling most authentic when behaving in desirable ways
• People assume that others are being their “true selves" when they are behaving in a morally good way

True Self as Desired Reputation

• The true self is more of a guide than a reality.
• Desired reputation is what is valued by society, which includes what one's abilities and traits are best suited.
• People feel most authentic when actions are consistent with a desired reputation, which differs with different people.

Summary

• The self-concept is organized as an associative network of various, it is malleable.
• Only a small subset of our self-concept is accessible at any given moment.
• Working self-concept is made up of situationally activated self-knowledge and frequently activated self-knowledge
• The idea of a true self resonates with people.
• There are conceptual issues that make this unworkable.
• The “true self" reflects desired reputation.