Module 3: The Self Understanding Ourselves In A Social Context PDF

Module 3: The Self: Understanding Ourselves in a Social Context GROUP 2 || 4C-BA COMM SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY NEW ERA UNIVERSITY Members of the GROUP BALILING, Erika Mae ESTRELLADO, Mark Dave FAJARDO, Jan Alfonce GAPUZ, John Peterson NAGAYO, Ashee Phullen LESSON 1: The Origins and Nature of...

Module 3: The Self: Understanding Ourselves in a Social Context GROUP 2 || 4C-BA COMM SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY NEW ERA UNIVERSITY Members of the GROUP BALILING, Erika Mae ESTRELLADO, Mark Dave FAJARDO, Jan Alfonce GAPUZ, John Peterson NAGAYO, Ashee Phullen LESSON 1: The Origins and Nature of the Self-Concept SELF-CONCEPT overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes For children, self- concept is concrete. As people mature, emphasis is placed more on psychological states and other people’s judgments. Morality viewed as central to the self-concept, more so than cognitive processes or desires. Cultural Influences on the Self-Concept Independent View of the Self Focus Areas: to define oneself in terms of one’s own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other people Interdependent View of the Self defining oneself in terms of one’s relationships to other people and recognizing that one’s behavior is often determined by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others.  FUNCTIONS OF THE SELF SELF-KOWLEDGE: the way we understand who we are and formulate and organize this information SELF-CONTROL: the way we make plans and execute decisions SELF-MANAGEMENT: the way we present ourselves to other people and get them to see us the way we want to be seen SELF-ESTEEM: the way in which we try to maintain positive views of ourselves LESSON 2 Knowing Ourselves Through Instrospection  Introspection looking inward to examine the “inside information” that we—and we alone—have about our thoughts, feelings, and motives. it is by no means perfect. it is not always pleasant to be thinking about ourselves, and for another, the reasons for our feelings and behavior can be hidden from conscious awareness.  Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory Self-Awareness Theory: we evaluate and compare our current behavior to our internal standards and values. Self-awareness makes us conscious of our internal standards and directs our subsequent behavior.  Judging why we feel the way we do: Telling more than we can know We are usually aware of the final result of our thought processes but often unaware of the cognitive processing that led to the result. Richard Nisbett and Tim Wilson referred to this phenomenon as “telling more than we can know” because people’s explanations of their feelings and behavior often go beyond what they can reasonably know. Explanations: causal theories - theories about the causes of one’s own feelings and behaviors; often we learn such theories from our culture The Consequences Of Introspecting About Reasons Reasons-Generated Attitude Change an attitude change resulting from thinking about the reasons for one’s attitudes; people assume that their attitudes match the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalize. LESSON 3 Knowing Ourselves by Observing Our Own Behavior  Self-Perception Theory when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs Attribution the way in which people infer someone else’s attitudes and feelings by observing that person’s behavior According to self-perception theory, people use the same attributional principles to infer their own attitudes and feelings.  INTRINSIC VS EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation the desire to engage in an activity the desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it because of external rewards or interesting. pressures. Two Kinds of Rewards Ask-Contingent: given for performing a task, regardless of how well the task is done. Performance-Contingent Rewards: rewards that are based on how well we perform a task. MINDSETS AND MOTIVATION Two Types of Mindsets: (Carol Dweck) Fixed Mindset: the idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change Growth Mindset: the idea that our abilities are malleable qualities that we can cultivate and grow UNDERSTANDING OUR EMOTIONS: THE TWO- FACTOR THEORY OF EMOTION Theory of Emotion: we infer what our emotions are in the same way we infer what kind of person we are or what we like which we observe our behavior and then explain to ourselves why we are behaving that way. Schachter says we observe our internal behaviors—how physiologically aroused we feel. Schachter’s theory is called the two-factor theory of emotion. Understanding our emotional states requires two steps: We must first experience physiological arousal, and then we must seek an appropriate explanation or label for it. FINDING THE WRONG CAUSE: MISATTRIBUTION OF AROUSAL Misattribution of Arousal the process whereby people make mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do. One way that people learn about themselves— including their attitudes, motives, and emotions —is to observe their behavior and the conditions under which that behavior occurs. LESSON 4: Using Other People to Know Ourselves  Self-Concept shaped by the people around us Social Contact crucial to the development of a self-concept  KNOWING OURSELVES BY COMPARING OURSELVES TO OTHERS SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY: PEOPLE LEARN ABOUT THEIR OWN ABILITIES AND ATTITUDES BY COMPARING THEMSELVES TO OTHERS. Two important Questions: When do people engage in social comparison? And with whom do they choose to compare themselves? Upward Social Comparison: comparing yourself to people who are better than you are with regard to a particular trait or ability. Downward Social Comparison: comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability KNOWING OURSELVES BY ADOPTING OTHER PEOPLE’S VIEWS Sometimes we use other people as a measuring stick to assess our own abilities. We often adopt the views our friends hold. “Birds of a feather flock together”—people who have similar views are attracted to each other and are more likely to become friends than are people who have dissimilar views. Social Tuning - people adopt another person’s attitudes KNOWING OUR FUTURE FEELINGS BY CONSULTING OTHER PEOPLE Affective Forecasts people’s predictions about how they will feel in response to a future emotional event Lesson 5 Self Control: The Executing Functions of the Self Important function of the self -- to be the chief executive who makes choices about what to do, both in the present and in the future. Thought Suppression -- whereby we try to push thoughts out of our minds. To increase self-control -- it helps to form specific implementation intentions in advance of a situation in which you will need to exert self-control. LESSON 6 Impression Management: All the World's a Stage Impression Management - the attempt by people to get others to see them the way they want to be seen. Erving Goffman (1959) pointed out, we are all like stage actors who are trying our best to convince the “audience” (the people around us) that we are a certain way, even if we really are not. INGRATIATION AND SELF-HANDICAPPING People have many different impression management strategies (Jones & Pittman, 1982) Ingratiation —using flattery or praise to make yourself likable to another, often a person of higher status. is a powerful technique because we all enjoy having someone be nice to us—which is what the ingratiator is good at. Self-Handicapping—people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves. Two Major Ways in Self-Handicap: (1) behavioral self-handicapping (more extreme) and (2) reported self-handicapping (less extreme)  Two Major Ways in Self- Handicap: Behavioral Self-Handicapping Reported Self-Handicapping People act in ways that reduce the Rather than creating obstacles to likelihood that they will succeed on a task success, people devise ready-made so that if they fail, they can blame it on excuses in case they fail. the obstacles they created rather than on their lack of ability. CULTURE, IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT, AND SELF-ENHANCEMENT People in all cultures are concerned with the impression they make on others, but the nature of this concern and the impression management strategies people use differ considerably from culture to culture (Lalwani & Shavitt, 2009). Lesson 7: How we feel about Ourselves Self-Esteem -- peoples evaluations of their own self-worth—that is, the extent to which they view themselves as good, competent, and decent. Low Self-Esteem -- very unpleasant state that is associated with depression and the feelings that we are ineffective and not in control of our lives. High Self-Esteem-- protects us against thoughts about our own mortality. Self-Esteem as Buffer-- protecting people from terrifying thoughts about death. Narcissism -- extreme high self-regard combined with a lack of empathy toward others Thank You