1. The Self in a Social World
Chapter 2

2. Self-Concept: Who Am I?
I am

3. At the Center of Our Worlds: Our Sense of Self
Self-schemas
Affect our memory: self-reference effect
Affect our perception/interpretation of others
“Spotlight effect”
Our “possible self-schemas” motivate us
Positive AND negative

4. I Am Me; I Am OK What is Self-Esteem?
Our overall self-evaluation
What makes it high or low?
“Top down” - Which schemas are most important to you?
“Bottom up” - Do you already have high self-esteem?

5. Development of the Social Self
Genetic influences
Our roles: Playing to becoming
Social identity = identity that comes from group memberships
Small group surrounded by large group = more consciousness of that social identity

6. Development of the Social Self (cont.)
Social Comparisons
How do we know we are smart, dumb, handsome, etc.?
The pitfalls of comparison
Successes and failures
Other people’s judgments

7. Self and Culture: Individualism vs. Collectivism
Individualism and Western culture
Priority is given to self-goals and identity over group goals and identity; the independent self
Collectivism - the interdependent self
There are variations w/in cultures
Self-esteem in different cultures

8. Self-Knowledge How well do you really know yourself?
On one level, very well
On another level, not very well at all
Is it obvious or subtle?
Predicting our behavior
Predicting our feelings
The bottom line: often we are dead wrong, sometimes we are right on

9. Perceived Self-Control
“Self-control operates like muscular strength…both are weaker after exertion, replenished with rest, and strengthened by exercise” (p. 53)

10. Self-Efficacy Sense of competence and effectiveness
The benefits of self-efficacy (correlations):
More persistence
Less anxiousness, depression
Healthier lives
More academic success
Higher worker productivity

11. Locus of Control To what do you attribute outcomes?
Internal versus external
Which one is more likely to
Do well in school?
Successfully stop smoking?
Wear seat belts?
Use birth control?
Deal directly w/ marital problems?
Make more money?

12. Learned Helplessness Versus Self-Determination
Learned helplessness - “I am helpless because I have no control over the bad things that happen to me”
Langer and Rodin (1976)
Personal control can affect the health of the psyche
The “Tyranny of Freedom”

13. Self-Serving Bias The “culture of low self-esteem” fallacy
The tendency to perceive oneself favorably ”

14. Explaining Positive and Negative Events
People tend to accept credit for their successes
esp. in situations that combine skill & chance
They also tend to attribute failure to external factors
The marital version…the student version…the employee version… the driver’s version...

15. Can We All Be Better Than Average?
The self-serving bias tends to be esp. pronounced when comparing ourselves to people in general
Subjective dimensions also elicit greater s-s bias than objective behavioral dimensions
We tend to place greater importance on the things we feel good at

16. Unrealistic Optimism Pervades our thinking Increases our vulnerability
Unsafe sex
Smoking
Seat belt use
Marriage!
BUT… it promotes self-efficacy, health, and well-being.
We need a bit of “defensive pessimism”

17. False Consensus and Uniqueness
False consensus effect: the tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors
False uniqueness effect: the tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and one’s desirable or successful behaviors.

18. Self-Esteem Motivation
Why the self-serving bias?
Multiple motives
Cognitions are influenced by motivations to protect and/or enhance self-esteem

19. The Dark Side of Self-Esteem
Low SE is associated w/ higher risk of depression, drug abuse, and some types of delinquency
Teen gang leaders, extreme ethnocentrists, and terrorists tend to have higher than average SE.
Does ego really = low self-esteem?

20. Impression Management
Self-presentation is how we act or behave to create a desired impression on another
Consciously or unconsciously
Self-handicapping
False modesty
Self-monitoring is the cycle of monitoring one’s behavior, noting how others react, and adjusting one’s behavior accordingly.

21. 56% Janet Swim and Lauri Hyers (1997)
Participants were presented with this hypothetical situation: You and 3 others are discussing whom to select for survival on a private island. One man in this group makes a series of sexist comments such as “I think we need more women on the island to keep the men satisfied.” How did the student participants react to his remark? 5% said they would ignore his comments or wait to see how the others reacted. Then, the experimenters engaged others in discussions where a male confederate made such comments. What percent actually said nothing?
56%

22. “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go so I ran over him.”
“A truck backed through my windshield and into my wife’s face.”
“The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”
“I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.”
“To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front, I hit the pedestrian.”
“The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it hit my front end.” :-)

23. On a sheet of paper write down 10 antonym pairs such as good - bad
Rain - sun
Circle the pairs where the positive antonym was listed first
The Polyanna Principle: In perception, language, memory, and thought, the pleasant predominates over the unpleasant.