Identity and the Self Aim: To begin exploring the codes that make us who we are and which we use to express identity

Consider these two points of view – which approach do you find yourself in most agreement with? “I am who I am because of the time and place I was born and the culture I was raised in. My family gave me a set of values and so has my town, my religion, my community and my country. Add these all up and that’s who I am” “I have got an identity – at least my friends seem to think so, but I’m not really sure who I am. I know that I’m more like some people than others, but this changes as I try out new identities. I don’t really want to take on an identity if it means I can’t be different when I want to be”

First Approach “I am who I am because of the time and place I was born and the culture I was raised in. My family gave me a set of values and so has my town, my religion, my community and my country. Add these all up and that’s who I am” This view sees identity as a product of culture – we are fashioned by social and cultural forces together with a sort of genetic blueprint which moulds us into the individuals we are.

Second Approach “I have got an identity – at least my friends seem to think so, but I’m not really sure who I am. I know that I’m more like some people than others, but this changes as I try out new identities. I don’t really want to take on an identity if it means I can’t be different when I want to be” This view has a different take on the relationship between culture and the individual. Here, culture provides a set of resources which we are free to use in the construction of our own identity. Rather than being fixed into place by powerful forces, identity is more like a butterfly.

The Debate Neither is right or wrong They represent two sides of a debate over the nature of identity

Components of Identity Career Political views Religious beliefs Relationships Ethnic identity Personality Body image

SELF All the Characteristics of the Person Self-concept: everything the person believes to be true about him/herself Includes traits, preferences, social roles, values, beliefs, interests, self-categorization Self-understanding develops throughout the lifespan

Self-Awareness in Infancy Dot-of-rouge experiment Recognize selves in mirror at 15-18 months 15-23 months Personal pronoun use Picture recognition Self-referencing, ownership, self-monitoring

Self in Early Childhood Confusion of self, mind, and body Concrete descriptions Physical descriptions Activities – what they do Overestimation of abilities

Self – Middle & Late Childhood Shift to internal traits and abilities Social role descriptions Real and ideal selves More realistic about abilities

Perspective Taking Opposite of egocentrism – the ability to assume another’s perspective Children who are good at this are popular Development progresses through stages (Selman)

Self in Adolescence Abstract-idealistic Self-conscious/ preoccupied Contradictions within self Fluctuating picture across time/situations Possible selves Self-integrations as they get older

Self in Adulthood Self-awareness (emotional intelligence) Accept own good and bad qualities Possible selves become more realistic Life review – evaluation of successes & failures; more likely as you get older

Self-Concept This is the idea we have of ourselves as individuals Consists of 3 elements - SELF IMAGE - IDEAL SELF - SELF-ESTEEM

Self-Worth/image Meaning Purpose Living up to your identity & your destiny

Activity – The Ideal Self The ideal self is the kind of person you would like to be Think about the 3 designations: - Intellectual Self- deals with your intelligence and your ability to make good decisions - Emotional Self- deals with your emotions and how you deal with them and also your self-esteem - Bodily Self- has to do with your body and how good you take care of it Sum up the ideal male or female according to society or the media. How far is your ideal self similar or different to these?

The Ideal Self An easier concept in theory that is in in practice Trying to probe the Ideal Self in any kind of public context results in gatekeeping: we filter out information that could cause negative perceptions Usually get role models and the ideal self confused

Activity – Role Models Who are your role models and heroes/heroines? What qualities do you admire in them? If you would like to be more like these people, what more than their success (money, fame, adulation etc) do you want?

Self-Esteem: What is it? Evaluative part of the self-concept emotional Difference between the real and ideal self Have you realized your potential? Do you value the trait, but have little potential? Ideal self includes the “ought” and the “wish” selves Measure of our sense of meaning in life This includes purpose Self-respect (Have you lived up to who you are?)

Self-Esteem: What is it? Influenced by the reactions of others Generalized other, great ubiquitous “they” People are susceptible to flattery It is tougher to accept criticism

Self-Esteem: What is it? Self-serving bias Overrate ourselves Blame our failures Claim our victories As a rule, only depressed people truly have low self- esteem

“Why is being wrong so socially traumatic to students?” What’s the problem? “Why is being wrong so socially traumatic to students?” This comment on a discussion list pretty much sums up why I’m interested in this topic. Why are students afraid of making mistakes and is being wrong, in classes or otherwise, socially traumatic? Organizations asking why their new college graduate employees fall apart at criticism There has been a lot of discussion in the past couple of years about new college graduates and feedback Many managers say that students get very defensive at criticism, can’t handle negative feedback, and expect to get raises and promotions immediately 22

The Self-Esteem Movement Propagated primarily in the educational system Curricula aimed at increasing students’ self-esteem Everyone born after 1970… Focus has been on increasing self-esteem that is not rooted in reality Researchers now suggesting that students need to be able to identify their talents The Psychology of Self-Esteem Branden (1969) Self-esteem was viewed as vital to success Journal articles on SE doubled in the 70s & 80s, increased another 50% in 90s, # books doubled Schools developed self-esteem enhancing curricula 23

What Was Taught “Keep your head up, feel good about yourself” vs. “take responsibility for your work”. Forsyth et al (2007) “You can do anything!” No use of the word “failure” Everyone got all good grades, doing little work Unrealistic expectations of success Students report being bored in class Researchers attempted a self-esteem manipulation with D & F students after a test and told them either to “keep your head up, feel good about yourself” vs. “take responsibility for your work”. Students who were told to feel good about themselves actually ended up doing worse 24

What Resulted: Attitudes “Being happy is the most important thing” We should always feel good about ourselves Generation Me discusses many of the changes that occurred during the self-esteem movement There is a debate about whether there has been an increase in the narcissism scores of kids who grew up in the self-esteem movement, but not a lot of debate about the fact that there were these changes One of the biggest issues was that kids were encouraged to not focus on their real skills, because that resulted in “contingent” self-esteem. Decrease in negative feedback in schools; some disallowed red pens for correcting mistakes, some stopped correcting certain mistakes Thought that any negative feedback would result in the crumbling of children’s self-esteem 25

What Resulted: Attitudes Carol Dweck’s research Effort is considered a sign of stupidity When children are told that they are smart, they choose an easier task. Panic when they are challenged or think they are engaging in “a lot of effort”. Effort vs. Ability When children are told that they are smart (brilliant), choose easier task Effort is a sign of stupidity Panic when they are challenged I’m supposed to be good at everything! Often think of effort as much less than what we would (Zinn et al, under review) This doesn’t hold across all cultures 26

Result – Confused Parents Encouraged delicate handling of children Shielded them from negative emotions, criticism Praised kids regardless of what they did Carol Dweck’s research Parents often think that helping their kids build self- esteem is done by shielding them from criticism and praising their talents Protecting kids from hurt, failure, criticism, & disappointment has made them more vulnerable Parents think SE is something you give to kids by shielding them from criticism and praising their talents “In the old days, the parents would be driving kids home from Little League saying ‘when you struck out, you didn’t keep your eye on the ball.’ Now they say, ‘the ref robbed you.’” Protecting kids from hurt, failure, criticism and disappointment has made them more vulnerable. 27

What Resulted - Behaviors “We’ve created college students who are woefully vulnerable to pinpricks” Students seem to be incapable of handling negative feedback. Being told that you can and will be able to do anything results in young adults who feel jipped when they discover that this may not be the case (no one has ever told them that this shouldn’t be the case) When students are confronted by something that may be difficult for them they are surprised and don’t know how to react 28

What Self-esteem Cannot Do? Improve school performance Improve social relationships Guarantee good leadership Prevent risky behavior such as drinking Promote health

References Wikipedia Google