baron_chapter5_the self_ how we answer the question “who am i”

7/29/2019 Baron_Chapter5_The Self_ How We Answer the Question Who Am I

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Chapter 5

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The Self: How We Answer the

Question Who Am I?

Copyright 2006, Allyn and Bacon


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The Self

Thinking About the Self: Personal versus

Social Identity

Self-Esteem: Attitudes Toward the Self Social Comparison: Knowing the Self

The Self as Target of Prejudice


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Thinking About the Self

Personal-Social I denti ty Continuumsignifies

the two distinct ways that the self can be

categorized

Personal level

Self can be thought of as a unique individual

How its described depends on in tragroup comparisons.

Social identity level Self can be thought of as a member of a group

How its described is a result ofintergroup comparisons.

Situational factors impact how people define themselves.


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Who I Am Depends on the Situation

People see themselves differently depending on

which relationships and which contexts are

considered.

Self-Complexityrefers to how the self-concept is

organized

High complexity: Aspects of the self are distinct from oneanother

Failure in one domain has less impact on ones overall feelings

about ones self

Low complexity: Aspects of the self overlap each other


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Culture affects how the self is perceived.

I ndependent Self-Conceptin individualistic cultures,

people develop a self -concept as separate from or

independent of others. I nterdependent Self-Conceptin collectivist cultures,

people develop a self -concept in terms of ones

connections or relationships with others.

Group membership, like being a member of a gendergroup, influences how one sees ones self.


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7/32Copyright 2006, Allyn and Bacon


Which aspect of the self has influence depends on

Context and its features that make an aspect of the self

distinctive

Importance of the aspect to the self

References other people make about ones self




Who I Am Depends on Others Treatment

How people are treated by others and how they

believe they will be treated in the future affects

how they think about themselves.People may try to hide an aspect of the self that they

think will result in rejection from others.

Or, they may choose to emphasize this feature.




Self-Awareness: Terror Management

Subjective Self-Awarenessthought to be the f irst

level of the self to emerge and is the recogni tion

that the self is separate from other objects in onesphysical environment

Objective Self-Awarenessorganisms capacity to

be the object of its own attention




Symbolic Self-Awarenessuniquely human

capacity to form an abstract representation of the

self through language and is connected with

knowing that death is inevitable Terror Management Theoryhumans confront

existential terrordue to their awareness of the

inevitabil i ty of their own death

People attempt to deal with this threat to the self when theirown mortali ty is salient

Self-esteem can act as a buffer against the anxiety that is a

result of the awareness of their own inevitable death.




Possible Selves: The Self Over Time

Possible Selfimage of how the self might be in

the future

Could be avoided or desired

Can motivate people to change behavior

Awareness that one is failing to live up to ones standards

can result in distraction as a way to reduce uncomfortable

self-awareness

People may be overly optimistic about their ability to

become the self that they desire.




Successful change is more likely when feelings ofself-

efficacy, believing that one can achieve a goal,are

present.

Other changes to the self occur due to changes insituational factors.

For example, age, relocation, new job, and major life events




What are your thoughts?

What are factors that influence how people think

about themselves?

What are the benefits of increased self-

awareness?

What are the costs of becoming more self-aware?



Self-Esteem

Measurement of Self-Esteem

Self-Esteemdegree to which the self is perceived

positively or negatively; ones overall attitude

toward the self

Self-esteem can change readily in response to

social situations.

It easily can be enhanced or decreased in laboratorysettings.


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Self-Esteem

Rosenbergs (1965) scale is the most common

method to measure self-esteem.


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Self-Esteem

Unconscious measurement procedures also are

used to measure self-esteem.

Self-Reference Effectpeople seem to orient

themselves toward stimuli that are associated with theself and show preferences for objects owned by and

ref lective of the self

Suggests that strategies to improve self-esteem may be more

successful if implemented below conscious awareness


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Self-Esteem

Self-Serving Biases

Above Average Effecttendency for people to rate

themselves as above the average on most positive

social attr ibutes

People do not tend to take responsibility for negative

outcomes, but do so for positive outcomes.

People may do this for both personal and group outcomes.

Culture affects likelihood that people will engage in this process

However, when people attribute negative outcomes to

internal factors they receive more positive evaluations from

others than do people who blame external circumstances.


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Self-Esteem

Is High Self-Esteem Always Positive?

It has found to be related to bullying, narcissism,

and interpersonal aggression.

Men with high self-esteem rather than low self-esteem

are more likely to commit acts of violence toward those

who contest their positive self-view.


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Self-Esteem

Do Gender Differences in Self-Esteem Exist?

Women who are devalued (face gender

discrimination) and are aware of this inequality

have lower self-esteem compared to others.

Mens self-esteem tends to be higher than

womens self-esteem.

These differences are less in the professional class thanin middle-lower income classes.

Strongest gender difference has been observed among

white North Americans

No reliable difference was found among minority Americans


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Self-Esteem


What are successful strategies that people use to

maintain their overall self-esteem?

Why are members of high status groups more likely

to complain about unfair outcomes?

Why is high self-esteem associated with violence in

men?What are reasons why gender differences in self-

esteem are higher in white North Americans

compared to minority Americans?


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Social Comparison: Knowing the Self

Social Comparison TheoryFestinger (1954)

suggested that people compare themselves to

others when there is no objective yardstick to

evaluate the self against others performance

Downward Social Comparisoncomparing

oneself to others who do less well than the self

Upward Social Comparisoncomparing oneself toothers who do better than the self

Method of comparison affects how people think and feel

about themselves


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Method of comparison depends on peoples motives for

comparison: to feel good or to be accurate

To be accurate, it may be best to compare ones performance

with someone who is similar on various dimensions (e.g.,

gender, ethnicity, or proficiency in a specific domain). Also, comparison to similar others (those in ones in-

group) may result in a more positive result


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Contexts within which comparisons occur have

different consequences

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Modelsuggests that to

maintain a positive view of the personal self people distancethemselves from others who perform better than they do on

valued dimensions, but move closer to others who perform

worse than they do

Social I denti ty Theorysuggests that to maintain a positive

view of their group identi ty people wil l move closer to

positive others with whom they share an identi ty, but

distance from (or derogate) those who perform poorly or

somehow make social identi ty negative (black-sheep effect)


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Self-Presentation and Self-Regulation

Ingratiationwhen people try to make others

like them by conveying that they like them

And, people can attempt to present themselves to

others as possessing positive attributes

This tendency is affected by cultural norms.

American students are more likely to describe themselves in

terms of their strengths than are Japanese students who tend

to be more self-critical.


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Self-Monitoringrefers to how motivated and able

people are to monitor their behavior in response to

others expectancies

High self-monitors are concerned with the reactions ofothers and are very good at monitoring their behavior and

adjusting their actions in front of other people.

Use third person pronouns that show outward focus on others

Tend to have higher self-esteem due to social approval

Low self-monitors are not as adept at this and prefer to act

consistently with their personal views.

Use first person pronouns that show a focus on the self

Lose self-esteem when they violate own personal standards


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Another method to know the self, which is assumedto be useful, is introspectionthe process of

privately thinking about who one is.

However, looking inward may not be the best way to gainself-knowledge.

People often do not have conscious awareness of the reasons for

their actions.

Analyzing reasons for liking or choosing something can result in

attitude change that misleads people when making another choice.

People are not very good at predicting their future feelings.

The usefulness of introspection depends on which aspects of the

self are analyzed.


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Why do people make downward social

comparisons?

If someone close to you performs better than you

do on a task that is important to you, what may

happen according to the self-evaluation

maintenance model?

Who is likely to stay in relationships longer, a low

self-monitor or a high self-monitor?

Why?


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Emotional Consequences

It has been proposed that attributing negative

outcomes to prejudice may be a way to maintain

self-esteem However, perceived discrimination and self-esteem have

been found to be negatively correlated.

Discrimination against ones group may implicate the self

An attribution to prejudice may be self-protective whencompared to making attributions to other internal, stable

features of the self.

The pervasiveness of the prejudice is also a factor.


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Cognitive ConsequencesPerceived prejudice can hinder the ability to learn

new skills

Behavioral ConsequencesStereotype Threatcan occur when people believe

that they might be judged in light of a negative

stereotype about their group or that they may, because

of their performance, in some way confirm a negative

stereotype of their group

Effects appear hard to control and performance deficits

result from anxiety due to threat


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Why dont attributions to prejudice always serve a

self-protective function?

When is stereotype threat likely to be felt?

Is anyone immune to stereotype threat?

Why or why not?

What are potential consequences of stereotypethreat?

What are ways to decrease stereotype threat?

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