Exploring the Self

August 17/18, 2015

Objectives:

• 1. Explain the spotlight effect. • 2. Discuss the difference between self-esteem

and self-efficacy. • 3. What evidence reveals self-serving bias, and

how do defensive and secure self-esteem differ? • 4. Explain the relationship between narcissism

and self-serving bias. • 5. How do individualist and collectivist cultures

influence people?

Exploring the Self, Viewing the Self

Research in personality includes the topic of a person’s sense of self.

Topics of research include self-talk, self-esteem, self-awareness, self-monitoring, self-control.

The field has refined a definition of “self” as the core of personality, the organizer and reservoir of our thoughts, feelings, actions, choices, attitudes.

Topics for our study of people’s sense of self:

The Spotlight Effect (self-consciousness)Self-esteem, low and high, benefits and risksSelf-Serving BiasNarcissismSelf-disparagementSecure self-esteem

Self-Consciousness: The Spotlight EffectExperiment: Students put on Barry Manilow T-shirts before entering a room with other students. (Manilow was not even cool “back in the day.”) Result: The students thought others would notice the T-shirt, assumed people were looking at them, when this was not the case; they greatly overestimated the extent to which the spotlight was on them.

The spotlight effect: assuming that people are have attention focused on you when they actually may not be noticing you.

Lesson: People don’t notice our errors, quirks, features, and shirts as much as we think they do.

Self-Esteem: High and Low, Good and Bad People who have normal or

high self-esteem, feeling confident and valuable, get some benefits: Increased resistance to

conformity pressure Decreased harm from

bullying Increased resilience and

efforts to improve their own mood

But maybe this “high” self-esteem is really realistic, and is a result, not a cause, of these successes.

Low self-esteem, even temporarily lowered by insults, leads to problems: prejudice, being critical of others

Self-Serving Bias

We all generally tend to think we are above average.

This bias can help defend our self-esteem, as it does for the people in this wheel.

Self-Focus and Narcissism

Since 1980, song lyrics have become more focused on the self, both gratification and self-praise.

Empathy scores and skills are decreasing, being lost; people increasingly don’t bother trying to see things from the perspective of others.

There is a rise in narcissism (self-absorption, self-gratification, inflated but fragile self-worth).

Narcissists see themselves as having a special place in the world.

Danger, especially in narcissism: When self-esteem is threatened, it can trigger defensive aggression.

Preventing this aggressive defense of self-esteem: not raising self-esteem, but reinforcing it, having people state their own values and qualities

Culture and the Self:Individualism and Collectivism Individualist cultures value independence. They promote personal

ideals, strengths, and goals, pursued in competition with others, leading to individual achievement and finding a unique identity.

Collectivist cultures value interdependence. They promote group and societal goals and duties, and blending in with group identity, with achievement attributed to mutual support. Individualist and Collectivist Cultures Compared

Thinking about the self:Cultural differences

People in collectivist cultures (those which emphasize group unity, allegiance, and purpose over the wishes of the individual) do not make the same kinds of attributions:

1. The behavior of others is attributed more to the situation; also,

2. Credit for successes is given more to others,

3. Blame for failures is taken on oneself.