CHAPTER 3 The Social Self Social Psychology, 5th edition © 2019 by W. W. Norton & Company

The Nature of the Social Self The Principles of Psychology (1890) William James coined the term the social me to refer to the parts of self-knowledge that are derived from social relationships. As James articulated over a century ago, our sense of who we are is forged in large part by our interactions with others.

Introspection The ancient Greek admonition to “know thyself” seems to imply that self-knowledge can be acquired through introspection. People often go beyond such basic introspective efforts to weave full-fledged stories about themselves, which James referred to as the narrated self.

The Accuracy of Self-Knowledge The reliability of introspection as a method of assessment has been debated for decades Introspection can yield accurate self-knowledge, at least for certain aspects of the self, but for some aspects, other people can be a better source of information Sometimes we lack self-insight because of strong motives; there are certain things many of us would rather not know about ourselves

The Organization of Self-Knowledge Self-schema A cognitive structure, derived from past experience, that represents a person’s beliefs and feelings about the self in general and in specific situations Self-schemas serve as the basic units of organization for self-knowledge

Origins of Self-Knowledge Where does your sense of self come from? A social psychological answer focuses on specific ways in which the social situation shapes the nature of the self

Family and Other Socialization Agents Family influence and sibling dynamics Birth order may influence personality traits Older siblings are often more responsible and supportive of the status quo, whereas younger siblings are often more rebellious and open to new experiences Diversification Siblings may take on different roles in the family to minimize conflicts

Family and Other Socialization Agents(cont.) “The looking-glass self” (Cooley, 1902) Other people’s reactions to us (their approval or disapproval) can serve as a mirror Reflected self-appraisal A belief about what others think of one’s social self

Siblings and the Social Self SIBLING DIFFERENCES Firstborns like Prince William (top) are often more responsible and more likely to support the status quo than younger siblings like Prince Harry, who often are more mischievous, more open to novel experiences, and more likely to rebel against authority.

Situationism and the Social Self: 1 Aspects of the self may change depending on the situation The notion that the social self changes across different contexts is consistent with the principle of situationism

Situationism and the Social Self: 2 Working self-concept Subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context

Situationism and the Social Self: 3 Distinctiveness May highlight aspects of the self that make us feel most unique in a given context For instance, age may seem more important to self- definition if you are surrounded by much older people

Situationism and the Social Self: 4 FIGURE 3.1 DISTINCTIVENESS AND THE SENSE OF SELF

Situationism and the Social Self: 5 Social context Sense of self may shift dramatically depending on with whom we are interacting We may feel different about the self when interacting with authority figures than when interacting with subordinates

Culture and the Social Self: 1 Independent view of self The self seen as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from others and defined by individual traits and preferences

Culture and the Social Self: 2 Interdependent view of self The self seen as connected to others and defined by social duties and shared traits and preferences

Culture and the Social Self: 3 Independent views of the self are more prominent in North American and Western European cultures Interdependent views of the self are more prominent in many East Asian, South Asian, Mediterranean, Latin American, and African cultures

Culture and the Social Self: 4 FIGURE 3.2 VIEWS OF THE SELF (A) In the independent view of the self, the self is construed as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from others and defined by distinct traits and preferences. (B) In the interdependent view of the self, the self is construed as connected to others and defined by duties, roles, and shared preferences and traits.

Culture and the Social Self: 5 FIGURE 3.3 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN ATTENTION TO THE SOCIAL CONTEXT In this study, American and Japanese participants were shown a series of cartoons with either a Caucasian boy (for Americans) or an Asian boy (for Japanese) in the center, surrounded by four other people who were the same in all the pictures (Masuda et al., 2008). In some cartoons, the emotional expression of the boy (for example, happy) matched the emotional expressions on the faces of the surrounding people (happy). In other cases, as in the two pictures shown here, there was a mismatch in the emotional expressions of the boy (for example, angry) versus the others (happy). The researchers found that when judging an individual’s emotions, the Japanese are more likely to take into account the emotions of others in the surrounding social context.

Who Are You? The common belief among Westerners is that they are relatively more self-contained Traditional African tribes people are reputed to view themselves less as individuals Their sense of self is defined to a greater extent by family, property, and position in the community

Who Are You? (cont.) FIGURE 3.4 SELF-CHARACTERIZATION IN FOUR AFRICAN GROUPS The results from this study suggest that Westernization is associated with the development of a more independent self-construal.

Gender and the Social Self: 1 Across cultures, men generally have more independent views of the self and women have more interdependent views of the self Women are more likely then men to refer to relationships when describing the self Women are more attuned to external social cues, whereas men are more attuned to their internal responses

Gender and the Social Self: 2 Differences may be due to socialization Many agents of socialization guide women and men into different self-construals

Gender and the Social Self: 3 Evolution may contribute to gender differences Independent views of the self may advantage males in acts like physical competition and hunting Interdependent views of the self may advantage females in acts related to maintaining social bonds and care giving

Social Comparison: 1 Social comparison theory The hypothesis that people compare themselves to other people in order to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states

Social Comparison: 2 Downward social comparisons may boost self-esteem by making us feel better about the self Upward social comparisons may motivate self-improvement by making us feel worse about the self.

Social Comparison: 3 CLASS DIFFERENCES AND THE SOCIAL SELF Higher-and lower-class individuals often inhabit very different environments, as shown by these photos of an upper-class neighborhood on the left and a lower-class neighborhood on the right.

Social Comparisons: 4 SOCIAL COMPARISONS It’s not informative to compare your intelligence or athletic skill to someone renowned for brilliance, such as Neil DeGrasse Tyson, or celebrated for tennis-playing ability, like Serena Williams.

Self-Esteem Self-esteem People with low self-esteem are less satisfied with life, more hopeless, more depressed, and less able to cope with life’s challenges, according to findings of the 1987 California task force on self-esteem. However, much of the research that shows these links is correlational in nature, which means that there is no proof that self-esteem causes these outcomes

Trait and State Self-Esteem The overall positive or negative evaluation an individual has of him- or herself Trait self-esteem is a person’s enduring level of self-regard across time State self-esteem refers to the dynamic, changeable self- evaluations a person experiences as momentary feelings about the self

Self-Esteem Scale Table 3.1. Self-Esteem Scale

Contingencies of Self-Worth A perspective maintaining that self-esteem is contingent on successes and failures in domains on which a person has based his or her self-worth

Social Acceptance and Self-Esteem Sociometer hypothesis The assertion that self-esteem is an internal, subjective index or marker of the extent to which a person is included or looked on favorably by others

Culture and Self-Esteem: 1 Members of independent cultures tend to report higher levels of self-esteem than members of collectivistic cultures Feeling good about the self as an individual is more valued in Western cultures than Eastern cultures For instance, many Asian languages have no equivalent word for the concept of self-esteem

Culture and Self-Esteem: 2 Members of interdependent cultures place more value on self- improvement Less emphasis on feeling good about the self and more emphasis on feeling good about one’s contribution to collective goals

Culture and Self-Esteem: 3 Contact with other cultures can influence views of the self For instance, Asians with greater contact with Western cultures report higher levels of self-esteem than those with less contact

Culture and Self-Esteem: 4 FIGURE 3.5 CULTURAL CHANGE AND SHIFTS IN SELF-ESTEEM The graph represents a number of groups. Japanese are those who live in Japan. Been- abroad Japanese are those who have spent time in a Western culture. Recent Asian immigrants are those who moved to Canada within the last seven years (prior to the study). Long-term Asian immigrants have lived in Canada for more than seven years. Second-generation Asian-Canadians were born in Canada but their parents were born in Asia. Third-Generation Asian-Canadians were born in Canada, and their parents were born in Canada, but their grandparents were born in Asia. European-Canadians are Canadians whose ancestors were Europeans.

Motives Driving Self-Evaluation People are motivated to view themselves positively This motive is known as self-enhancement

Self-Enhancement: 1 Self-enhancement The desire to maintain, increase, or protect one’s positive self-views

Self-Enhancement: 2 Better-than-average effect The finding that most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions

Self-Enhancement: 3 Better-than-average effect Most Westerners tend to have a positive view of the self Tend to rate the self as better than average on most traits Weight abilities we excel at as more valuable

Self-Enhancement: 4 Self-affirmation theory The idea that people can maintain an overall sense of self- worth following psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat

Self-Enhancement: 5 Positive illusions and mental health Most people assume that proper mental health is marked by realistic views of the world However, research suggests that most well-adjusted people tend to have slightly unrealistic views about themselves

Self-Enhancement: 6

Self-Verification Self-verification theory The theory that people strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about the self because such self-views give a sense of coherence We selectively attend to, and recall, information that is consistent with (and therefore verifies) our self-views

Self-Regulation: Motivating and Controlling Behavior Processes by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior in the pursuit of goals, including the ability to resist short-term rewards that thwart the attainment of long-term goals

Self-Discrepancy Theory: 1 Types of self Actual self: The self that people believe they are Ideal self: The self that embodies an individual’s wishes and aspirations Ought self: The self that is concerned with the duties, obligations, and external demands an individual feels compelled to honor

Self-Discrepancy Theory: 2 A theory that behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves. Falling short of these standards produces specific emotions: dejection-related emotions for actual-ideal discrepancies, and agitation-related emotions for actual-ought discrepancies

Self-Discrepancy Theory: 3 Promotion focus Self-regulation of behavior with respect to standards of the ideal self standards; a focus on attaining positive outcomes and approach-related behaviors Prevention focus Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ought self standards; a focus on avoiding negative outcomes and avoidance-related behaviors

Automatic Self-Control Strategies Many such strategies can be deployed automatically, operating without our even realizing it These strategies influence behavior as well as thoughts, leading people to approach goals and avoid temptations

Self-Presentation Self-presentation Presenting the person that we would like others to believe we are Impression management Attempts to control how other people will view us Face The public image of ourself that we want others to believe

Self-Monitoring Self-monitoring The tendency to monitor one’s behavior to fit the current situation High self-monitors try to fit their behavior to the situation; low self-monitors are more likely to behave according to their internal preferences

Self-Handicapping Self-handicapping The tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready should one perform poorly or fail

Self-Handicapping (cont.) Self-handicapping may be a strategy for protecting the public self Self-handicapping provides an excuse for poor performance and emphasizes good performance

Presenting the Self Online Do people tend to present themselves authentically online, posting accurate information about who they are, what they have accomplished, and the nature of their beliefs? We may present our personality and other attributes (such as our occupation) fairly accurately online but may be less likely to do so for our physical attributes, perhaps because of the vital role that physical appearance plays in attraction