Defining “Self”

Take a few minutes and write down twenty statements that start with “I am________”

ss_embracing_myself ss_embracing_myself

Our self concept strongly influences the ways we perceive and interact with our social worlds The “I am” statements reflect culture’s influence on our identities in two ways Superficially: culturally shaped statements (eg I am a Reynolds student) Deeper level: the structure of the statement “I am creative” shows that this trait is abstract, stable, and can exist by itself. It is an attribute, whereas “I am a younger brother” shows a role and a relationship as part of defining self.

People all over the world think of themselves both through attributes and roles & relationships, but the degree to which they view themselves in these two ways varies across cultures. Some cultures encourage people to focus on enduring inner attributes, but others might emphasize roles, relationships, and group memberships. Kenya vs USA twenty statement comparison:

Others countries that use attributes in tests more often to describe themselves: Australia, Britain, Sweden, and Canada Countries that use roles to describe themselves in tests: Malaysia, China, First Nations, Puerto Rico, India, Japan, Korea

Independent View The self is derived from its inner attributes Stable across situations and lifespan Unique Arise from the individual and not from interactions with others Advertised in ways consistent with these attributes Other people are also similarly independent entities

Interdependent view of self Self is a relational entity that is fundamentally connected to a number of relationships Behaviour is recognized as contingent upon perceptions of others thoughts, feelings, and actions Organize their experiences in response to what others are thinking and doing Selves are not separate entities, but participants in a larger social unit

Self concepts are shaped by the cultural practices that direct what individuals attend to, value, believe, and are able to attain But self-concepts of cultural members shape the culture!

What kind of self would develop in a culture where children have their own bedrooms, pay for their own tuition, and employees are paid on how much profit they help a company to earn? In individualistic cultures, people feel distinct and emphasize self sufficiency and independent aspects of themselves. What kind of self would develop in a culture where children co- sleep with parents, education is decided on by the family, and marriages are arranged? People in collectivistic cultures usually have interdependent aspects of their self-concepts

Most individualistic regions: USA, English speaking countries, Western European nations Most collectivist regions: Latin America and Asia A little less collectivist (but still collectivist): Africa, Southern Europe, South Pacific Collectivist countries encompass 80% of the world’s population, but most research about “self” comes from individualistic countries!

Men and women of 25 countries were asked how they felt men and women differed on 300 trait adjectives. A large number of items revealed a consistent cross-cultural consensus regarding which traits characterized men and women NOTE: these are people’s perceptions of what genders are like, not actual measures of how different genders behave, aka these are consensual stereotypes about men and women

Averaged across all cultures, “male” traits were viewed as more admirable than “female” ones particularly in Japan, Nigeria and South Africa. In Austria, Italy and Peru, “female” traits were viewed more positively In general, “male” traits were seen as more active and strong Despite some variations, there are striking similarities across cultures in gender stereotypes that transcend cultural explanations. Cultures do differ significantly, however, on gender equality beliefs.

MalesFemales Netherlands Finland Germany England Italy Venezuela USA Canada Malaysia Singapore Japan India Pakistan Nigeria Higher numbers represent more egalitarian gender attitudes; lower numbers represent more traditional gender attitude Scale ranged from 1-7

Regardless of where the data was from, men and women tended to share fairly similar views about gender equality Usually, men had more traditional gender views that women Religion seems to effect view of gender roles, as did geography and urban/suburban population composition More individualist countries tended to be more egalitarian about gender roles

Self concept can also be shaped by how permanent gender is seen to be In North America, it is not unusual for women to dress or act like “men” and so that gender is not essentialized Usually, the gender that has more power in a society is seen as more essentialized Hindu’s in India, though, see men as less essentialized than women.

Culture can shape how much people’s behaviour changes in different situations Japanese and American students were asked to answer the twenty “I am” statements in different settings The Japanese students answers varied much more in different settings than the American students AuthorityPeerGroupSolitary American Japanese Ratio of Positive to Negative Statements Which is the “true” self?

The “me” – the object that is observed and interacted with. This is objective self awareness and it is the self that considers how they appear to others. Concerns are directed specifically at themselves. Conscious of being evaluated and compared The “I” – the subject that observes and interacts with the world. Subjective self- awareness. Concerns are with the world outside themselves and attention is directed away. “Free to escape self”

People cannot be both at the same time, but they can oscillate between each state of self awareness quite easily. Stimuli that can affect the objective state would be mirrors, hearing your recorded voice, knowing you are being taped etc. Stimuli that can affect the subjective state would be physical exercise, or watching tv. Experiments have been done with two groups of students, and those with stimuli that trigger an objective state have much more self-critical responses.

Take a moment and remember the last time you were the centre of attention – maybe a performance or graduation. 1 st person memory: imagery experienced first hand 3 rd person memory: imagery from the view of the “audience.” In this case, it suggests you were attending to how others were viewing you. In a study of Asian and Euro Canadians, the first group tended to have much more 3 rd person memory style – this is in line with what we would expect in collectivist cultures.

If those from collectivist cultures spend more time concerned with others, and in a 3-person, objective state, the presence of a mirror should have little impact on one’s self-perception For those from individualist cultures are usually in a subjective state, the presence of a mirror should have more of an effect of self-perception.

Americans and Japanese were also asked to take pictures that captured their self-identity. The Japanese presented themselves more impeccably – formal poses, dressed nicely, belongings arranged nicely (collectivist, aware of audience) Americans used spontaneous scenes, items unarranged, “warts and all” style (individualist, subjective awareness) How do you think Facebook and social media effects self- awareness?

Choose a culture that interests you and explore how that cultures shapes an individual in terms of their self and personality!