Self
10/15/10
Friday The October 15, 2010 - Outline IV. The Self
1. 2. Historic Perspective on the Self The Self-Concept
a. b. Working self-concept Cognitive Processing and the Self
The Self
Certainly, there are differences in the way we process information about the self as opposed to others
Actor/observer differences Self-serving bias
What is unique about the self that leads to these different types of processing?
"Who Am I"
1. I am _____. _____. 2. I am _____. _____. 3. I am _____. _____. 4. I am _____. _____. 7. I am 8. I am 9. I am 10. I am
Coding your "I am" statements
A. PHYSICAL SELF-DESCRIPTIONS Refer to physical qualities that do not imply social interaction; "identity card" type information examples: B. SOCIAL SELF-DESCRIPTIONS Refer to relationships, group memberships, social roles, and attitudes which are socially defined and validated examples: C. PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF-DESCRIPTIONS Refer to psychological traits and states and to attitudes which do not refer to particular social referents examples:
D. HOLISTIC SELF-DESCRIPTIONS Refer to characteristics so comprehensive or vague that they do not distinguish one person from another examples:
The Self-Concept
We have multiple, context-specific selves Available self-concept
Sum total of self-concept Relatively ________
Working self-concept
Currently __________ Shifting activation
The Working Self-Concept
UCSD ATHLETIC AMERICAN STUDENT ARTIST
KIND FRIEND
SELF
SON FUNNY BROTHER
DEMOCRAT
MALE
The Working Self-Concept
UCSD ATHLETIC AMERICAN STUDENT ARTIST
KIND FRIEND
SELF
SON FUNNY BROTHER
DEMOCRAT
MALE
Cognitive Processing and the Self
1) Self-schematicity (Markus)
Schematic = traits that we ___________________________ Aschematic = traits that are __________ Effects of Self-Schematicity Quicker judgments Better recall ________________
Self-Reference Effect (SRE)
Refers to the superior recall for words that are encoded with respect to the self Experiments on the SRE involve comparisons among 4 conditions: (1) ____________ encoding
Is the word printed in capital letters?
(2) _____________ encoding
Does the word rhyme with XXXX?
(3) ______________ encoding
Does the word mean the same as XXXX?
(4) _____________ encoding
Does the word describe you?
Self-reference effect
Past work in cognitive psychology has shown repeatedly that _________ encoding produces the best memory (greater depth of processing) These SRE studies demonstrated that selfreferent encoding produced significantly better memory than ___________ encoding Suggests that relating information to selfknowledge has tremendous benefit for memory Mnemonic devices/memory aids
Self-Schema
Work on the SRE effect led people to hypothesize that we have a self-schema, i.e., a representation of our self stored in memory Unique, derived from _____________ May consist of few or many ______________________
How do we measure or assess people's self-schemas? Hazel Markus (1977) Used a reaction time (RT) measure to me/not me task Subjects were to respond as quickly as possible whether a trait was selfdescriptive (describes me?) or not __________ RT indicates that a trait is part of our self-schema
What does this do for us?
Markus found that knowing what traits part are of one's self-schema has important implications Schematic traits _____________ and affect our perceptions of the social world around us
Independence/dependence Body image
Spotlight Effect
In a series of experiments, one of which subjected college students to the embarrassment of wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Barry Manilow, researchers conclude that people _________________ how much others pay attention to them. It's the spotlight effect, says psychologist Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University in New York. It's why you feel like a public failure if you stand in the corner or spill a drink at a party.
Cocktail Party Effect
Dichotic Listening Task ______________ directs our attention
Cognitive Processing and the Self
1) Self-schematicity (Markus) 2) Self-complexity (Linville)
High complexity = ________________ Low complexity = __________________
Low complexity
Self Me at work Me at home
High Complexity
Cognitive Processing and the Self
1) Self-schematicity (Markus) 2) Self-complexity (Linville)
Low complexity = interconnectedness High complexity = compartmentalized Effects of self-complexity:
Buffering Hypothesis
Linville finds that _______ complexity people tend to cope better with negative/stressful events in their lives "buffering hypothesis" High complexity people less prone to depression, better health outcomes overall Why? Have other things to fall back on _____________ for failures in one facet of one's life
Low complexity
Self Me at work Me at home
High Complexity
Self-Awareness
Certain situations lead our attention to be self-focused more than others
Mirror Camera Audience
In these situations, we evaluate our self in comparison to _____________ selfstandards
Higgins' Self-Discrepancy Theory
We compare our actual self against two different standards or self-guides
Perceived discrepancies from these standards results in different types of __________ affect Higher perceived discrepancy leads to more intense affective reactions
Ideal Discrepancies
Actual-own ideal discrepancies (where you don't match your own ideals for yourself) results in feelings of ____________________ __________________ Actual-other ideal discrepancies (not matching others' ideals for you) results in feelings of _________________________-
Ought Discrepancies
Actual-own ought discrepancies (where you don't live up to your own conscience) results in feelings of _________________________ Actual-other ought discrepancies (not matching others' oughts for you) results in feelings of ____________________________-
Self-Regulation
In recent years, Higgins has expanded his theory to encompass the general motives underlying social behavior Underlying premise: People are ___________ We all want to approach pleasure and avoid pain There are two major ways to achieve this outcome
Regulatory Focus
____________ focus
Goal is attainment "Moving toward" a desired end-state Meeting your ideals
____________ focus
Goal is safety and security "Moving away" from an undesired end-state Living up to your oughts
Where do promotion/prevention orientations come from?
Parenting styles/reinforcement history Promotion focus associated with
Prevention focus associated with