1. Chapter 5: The Social Self

2. Study Smarter: Student Website http://www.wwnorton.com/socialpsych Chapter Reviews Diagnostic Quizzes Vocabulary Flashcards Apply It! Exercises

3. Is Self-Awareness Uniquely Human? Mirror Self-Recognition (video clip) The “rouge test”:

4. Outline 1. Origins of the self Environmental influences Heredity 2. Self-evaluation and self-esteem Self-enhancement Self-acceptance

5. The origins of the self Environmental: Culture—individualism vs. collectivism Family—birth order Genetic heritability

7. Birth Order and Personality Effect of birth order on personality first noted by Alfred Adler, student of Freud Sibling rivalries more than sexual conflict, shape personality First borns: receive attention & resources, later “dethroned” by later borns Later borns: receive less attention & resources, jealous of privileges of first borns

8. Birth Order and Personality First borns: preservers of the order Later borns: destroyers of the order

9. Birth Order and Personality First borns: Dominant/assertive, conformist, conscientious Supporters of status quo overrepresented among Prime Ministers, US Prez, US Senate, prominent scientists Later borns: rebellious, creative, manipulative, open to new ideas Supporters of revolutionary movements overrepresented among creative artists, scientists with novel views, political revolutionaries

10. Birth Order and Personality Pro vs anti-establishment achievements for first vs. later borns

11. Birth Order and Personality Similar pattern with daughters Statistical pattern, with many exceptions –not destiny (one of many factors) Criticism: Unclear exactly how b-o has its effect Frank Sulloway’s book, Born to Rebel

12. Two kinds of evidence for heritability of personality Adoption studies Compare one’s personality to adopted parents (low) vs. biological parents (high) Twin studies Compare personality of identical twins (100%) vs. fraternal twins (50%)

13. Heritability of Personality Traits

14. Critique of heritability studies Robust evidence of some heritability, but:

15. How Does Personality Affect Behaviour? Little evidence of cross-situational stability of behaviour But good evidence of reliable situation- specific personality in IF-THEN form (Mischel & Shoda, 1995) Mary: In situation x more shy, in situation y less shy, etc. Rajiv: In situation x less agreeable, in situation y more agreeable, etc.

16. Mary Roberto Rajiv Izumi When rejected With new people When praised Shyness Person-Situation Interactions, Mischel & Shoda, 1995

17. The Multiple Origins of Self and Personality “Nature proposes, culture disposes” Heritable biases to act in certain ways Family, peers, larger culture shape, elaborate, change these biases No one factor is deterministic— orchestra metaphor

18. Self-Evaluation Varieties of Self-Esteem self-esteem – trait self-esteem – state self-esteem – *implicit self-esteem -

19. Self-esteem Self-esteem as self-acceptance, valuing oneself (including one’s shortcomings) without conditions attached Self-esteem as self-enhancement: seeing oneself in a positive light; exaggerating one’s favorable attributes, minimizing unfavorable ones

20. Self-enhancement Strategies Strategic social comparison Unrealistic optimism Exaggerated sense of control Better than average effect

21. Consequences of high self- enhancement and self-esteem Very low self-esteem is Risk factor for depression, anxiety, and drug abuse (in Western cultures at least)

22. Consequences of high self- enhancement and self-esteem But very high self-esteem (esp. manifested as self-enhancement): More difficulty accepting criticism Overconfidence derails self-improvement When ego is threatened, aggression and putting others down Narcissism and inflated egos—social difficulties, esp. when ego is threatened

24. Fragile vs secure high self- esteem Fragile high self-esteem: Contingent self-esteem Inconsistent self-esteem

25. Fragile vs secure high self- esteem Secure high self-esteem: is unconditional acceptance of an individual by another person or oneself Unconditional positive regard (Rogers, Maslow) Self-acceptance--the healthiest form of self esteem Encouraged in many wisdom traditions

26. Summary The self is shaped by Culture (individualism-collectivism) Family (birth order) Heritability Personality as person x situation interaction Self-esteem Self-acceptance vs self-enhancement Strategies of self-enhancement Fragile vs. secure high self-esteem