The Social Self: Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, and Self-Knowledge

The Social Self Medial Prefrontal Cortex: “Stitches together the sense of self”  Self-Concept: Who am I? Self-concept: what we know and believe about ourselves Self-schemas: “I am___.” Possible Selves: “I wish to become ___.” “I fear becoming ___.” Fact...

The Social Self Medial Prefrontal Cortex: “Stitches together the sense of self”  Self-Concept: Who am I? Self-concept: what we know and believe about ourselves Self-schemas: “I am___.” Possible Selves: “I wish to become ___.” “I fear becoming ___.” Factors: Genetics Social Roles Social Comparisons Culture  Self-Concept: Who am I? Self-schema: Beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of self-relevant information. Schemas: Mental Templates for organizing our worlds Possible Selves: Images of what we dream of or dread becoming in the future.  Self-Concept: Who am I? Social Comparisons Evaluating one’s abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others. Upward Comparison Downward Comparison The Roles We Play New roles begin as playacting then become reality Self-esteem: a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth  Self-Concept: Who am I? The Factor of Culture: Collectivist cultures give rise to an interdependent self Self identity is defined by group membership Asia, Africa, Central America, South America Collectivism: group goals> self goals Known in cross-cultural research to give rise to a relational and interdependent self. “selves” are overlapping, boundaries are fluid Focus on roles, harmony, and belongingness “I am a Family loyal friend.” Self Friends “I am an obedient Teachers son.” “I am a hardworking student.”  Self-Concept: Who am I? The Factor of Culture: Individualist cultures Tend to perceive what stands out Tend to arrange things in terms of category Slanted towards choosing individual choices Language: for self-expression Known in cross-cultural research to give rise to a separated and independent self. ”selves” as self-contained, with distinct boundaries Focus on self-expression, and uniqueness  Family “I believe in ghosts.” Self “I like watching Friends foreign indie Teachers films.” “I am intelligent.”  Self-Concept: Who am I? Development Processes: Success and Failure Our daily experiences cause us to have empowerment or low self-esteem Other People’s Judgments Looking-glass self How we think others perceive us as a mirror for perceiving ourselves Linking Self-Concept with Self-Knowledge Biases in self-perception  Biases in self-perception Spotlight effect Belief that others are paying more attention to one’s appearance and behavior than they really are. Illusion of transparency Illusion that the depth our concealed emotions leak out and can be easily read by others Truth: Fewer people notice than we presume  Biases in self-perception We overestimate the visibility of our blunders Unless they have self-interest, most people are too preoccupied with their own overestimations. Social context affects self-awareness When we notice we are different, we become hyper-focused on our difference. Self-interest colors social judgement: Fundamental Attribution Error  Biases in self-perception Self-concern motivates our social behavior: We seek to make a positive surface-level impression The social relationships we have (help) define our sense of self: How we present ourselves is dependent on who we are with at the present moment How we think about ourselves is similarly dependent Changing relationships strongly change us Self-Knowledge: How do I describe, explain, predict, control myself? Often flawed and limited: (Extreme) Misattributions Logical fallacies (e.g. planning fallacy) Close friends are strangely more accurate Affective forecasts are often inaccurate  Self-Knowledge: How do I describe, explain, predict, control myself? Prediction of one’s emotions are skewed by a variety of factors Low/non-arousal Hunger Actual exposure to emotional triggers (vs. numbers) Extremity of event: Impact bias: Overestimating the lasting effects of serious events immune neglect: Underestimating our capacity to be resistant, to cope, and to solve  Self-Knowledge: How do I describe, explain, predict, control myself? Mental processes for control =/= mental processes for describing, explaining, predicting: Easily verbalized factors are often not the reasons for behavior Dual attitude system: Implicit attitudes: behavioral control Explicit attitudes: behavioral explanation  Self-Esteem: Am I worthy? A person’s overall evaluation of oneself. Theorized as a gauge for social rejection. High: Increased initiative, resilience, positive affect Not strongly related to academic achievement or morality Low: decreased life and relationship satisfaction Theorized to come from tough(er) childhoods Can be stable or unstable Terror management theory: Managing self-esteem as a means to manage our fear of death; “to feel our lives are not in vain.”  Self-Esteem: Am I worthy? Narcissism: Not self-esteem Narcissism does not have a ”caring” component more concerned about superiority and dominance Used to justify and/or moderate self-esteem evaluations Can exist on a collective level  Self-Esteem: Am I worthy? Cultural Factors: Collectivist Cultures: Lower self-esteem and narcissism related to what other’s think of one’s group. Upward Social Comparison motivates self-improvement. Failing increases persistence Individualist Cultures: higher self-esteem and narcissism Defined more personally; personal success and values Comparisons are made to boost self-esteem Success itself as a motivator for persistence  Social-Self: What is expected of me? Perceptions of Self-Control Self-Efficacy: a sense of one’s competence and effectiveness Locus of Control: One’s belief regarding source of control Self-Determination: the extent to which one believes he or she can exert his or her will.  Social-Self: What is expected of me? Self-Serving Biases: Tendency to see oneself in a favorable pattern Self-serving attributions: positive outcomes = disposition, negative outcomes = situation Unrealistic optimism: a bias on one’s future as comparatively positive Defensive pessimism: Adaptive value of anticipating problems and harnessing one’s anxiety to motivate proactive action  Social-Self: What is expected of me? Self-Serving Biases: Tendency to see oneself in a favorable pattern False consensus: Seeing one’s shortcomings and opinions as commonplace (i.e. normal, acceptable) False uniqueness: seeing one’s abilities and achievements as distinct  Social-Self: What is expected of me? Impression management: Self-Presentation: Managing behaviors to project a desired image to an audience Self-Monitoring: The extent that one observes and tailors his or her behavior towards a socially favorable impression. Self-Handicapping: Creating behaviors that serve as possible excuses in the case of failure.  Social-Self: What is expected of me? Impression management: Self-control: Consciously controlling our behavior (to hold societal expectations) ○ Requires both cognitive and physical resources ○ Can be treated/exercised similar to a muscle Strengthens with practice Needs some rest after use Results are transferable to other contexts