The Self Notes

CONSTRUCTING THE SELF-CONSTRUCT

Self-construct = all of an individual’s knowledge about his or her personal qualities

Sources of the self-construct

People construct the self-concept in a similar way to how they form impressions of others by interpreting various types of cues

We piece together our self-concept over time due to many different cues

SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY (Bem, 1967)

= we make inferences about our personal characs on the basis of our overt behaviours when internal cues are weak and ambiguous

we learn about ourselves by observing our own behaviours

• Observe our own behaviours

• Intrinsic motivation = self-inference more likely when behaviour is freely chosen

Eg we recycle cans and so see ourselves as more environmentally aware

Valins, 1966: when Ps were made to believe their heartbeat had increased whilst viewing a photo of a person, they came to believe that person was more attractive

Lepper et al., 1973:

Providing external rewards often undermines intrinsic motivation

• Introduced children to a new activity (drawing)

• After drawing, some children received a previously promised ‘good player’ certificate, others unexpectedly received the same certificate, and others received nothing

• Intrinsic motivation was measured by amount of free time each children spent playing after this

• Those who had not been rewarded and those who received the unexpected reward retained their motivation inferred that the game was fun and so played for pleasure

• Those who expected and received an award showed half the motivation initially played for the reward rather than for the pleasure

self-perception explains this drop in motivation

Campbell & Fairey, 1985:

Did well in a puzzle see self as possessing relevant traits to puzzle solving boosts performance of task

THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

More accessible and important for knowing the self than knowing others

Anderson, 1984:

Observers heard Ps talk about their thoughts and feelings in different everyday situations

Others heard Ps describe only their behaviours in those situations

Observers who listened to thoughts formed more accurate impressions that matched the Ps’ self-concepts

thoughts and feelings play a bigger role than behaviours in our inferences about what we are like

OTHER PEOPLE’S REACTIONS

Looking-glass self

Felson, 1989: Reactions serve as a ‘mirror’

Miller, 1975:

Compared behaviours of 3 schoolchildren groups

Teachers told kids they were tidy, should be tidy, or told nothing

Tidiest children were those in the first group

followed their labels and began to see themselves in this light

COMPARISON WITH OTHERS: SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY: Festinger, 1954

= the self-concept is shaped by comparisons between ourselves and others

People gain the most accurate info about themselves by seeking out similar others for comparison

We use others to evaluate our own traits, abilities, personal charac

Contrast effect = when we compare our own average skills to those who are extremely good or bad, we often see ourselves in the opposite way

leads to inaccurate self-views

Comparison with similar others more accurate – ie not someone world class in a skill if you are mediocre:

Assimilation effect = when comparing our skills to an average player (moderately good or bad) our self-views move slightly in that same direction we judge our ability relative to the other player

Comparing to others = biased

Social comparisons help us to gain a sense of our uniqueness

McGuire & McGuire, 1981:

Children writing self-descriptions are likely to mention characs, eg being LH/having red hair that mark themselves are being unusual relative to others

Wheeler, 2002: Proxy Model: Expect to perform at level of an experienced other (proxy) on a new task if one’s history of performance on some initial relevant task is similar to the proxy’s history of performance – so long as effort of proxy was maximal

Self-enhancement:

Downward-comparison theory:

1. Threatened people are more likely to compare with those worse off than them

2. Exposure to a less fortunate person boosts subjective well-being

Wood et al., 1985: breast-cancer patients benefit from comparing to those worse off = coping strategy

Recent studies show being happy and having high self-esteem (not low) predicts downward comparison

BUT Collins, 2000 Self-improvement motive: people compare themselves to superior others to make views more positive and count themselves within the lucky group– ‘they are one of the lucky ones’

Assimilation and contrast:

Assimilation = belief that one can obtain the same status as a target by closeness, by having similar attributes

Learning about the self and others

Self-knowledge is more detailed than knowledge about others can observe more about themselves and have access to private thoughts

Differences in cues and knowledge:

We have a greater quantity and variety of cues about ourselves than we have about others

• We see ourselves (and close friend/family) in more situations, and so see ourselves as flexible, and others as more set in their ways

• We have access to our own true thoughts thoughts and behaviours do not always align

Differences in attributions for self and others:

ACTOR-OBSERVER EFFECT: Jones & Nisbett, 1972

= we attribute our own behaviours to situational causes while seeing others’ acts as due to their inner charac

Based on salience or accessibility?

• When looking at another person’s behaviour, the action stands out

• For your own behaviour, the situation is salient

different perspective taken

Malle, 1999:

This effect is much smaller than once assumed and only occurs in certain circumstances

Actor-observer effect emerges reliably for negative actions but may be the reverse of positive behaviours

Effect is more likely when a behaviours is seen as deviating from typical behaviour in that circumstance

More is not always better:

Knowing more about ourselves does not mean we have more insightful self-impressions

Wilson, Laser & Stone, 1982:

• Ps wrote a mood diary and stated what...

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