THE SELF Sources of Self-Knowledge Aspects of Self-Knowledge Presenting the Self Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Who Am I? Please describe who you are by completing 8 “I am…” sentence stems with a predicate that reflects something about who you are. 1. I am... ________________________________ 2. I am... ________________________________ … 8. I am... ________________________________ Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Examples of Content of the Self-Concept traits likes/dislikes wishes/hopes social identities social roles evaluations emotional states physical descriptions Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Sources of Self Knowledge #1: Introspection e.g., Who Am I? #2: Attributions e.g., self-serving attributional bias Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Sources of Self Knowledge #3: Inferences from Observations of Own Behavior Bem’s (1972) self-perception theory When we are uncertain about our attitudes & feelings, we infer them by observing our own behaviors Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Self-Perception Theory Chaiken & Baldwin (1981) Ps had strong or weak attitudes about environment Manipulated Ps’ perceptions of their env.-related behaviors e.g., Have you ever recycled? e.g., Do you always recycle? Ask Ps to indicate attitudes on env. Only Ps w/weak attitudes engaged in self-perception processes Source: Chaiken & Baldwin, 1981. “Affective-cognitive consistency and the effect of salient behavioral information on the self-perception of attitudes.” http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/41/1/1/ Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Sources of Self Knowledge #4: Feedback and Reactions from Others Socialization e.g., how parents treat you Looking-glass self seeing the self through others’ eyes Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Sources of Self Knowledge #5: Social Comparisons e.g., Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954) Socially compare when no objective standards Most informative to compare w/similar others Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Sources of Self Knowledge #6: Social Group Memberships e.g., Kennedy, Cal student, Democrat, woman Social identities refer to those aspects of the self-concept derived from group memberships Self-stereotyping: perceiving stereotypic attributes associated with the group as part of one’s self-concept Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Sources of Self Knowledge #7: Context 2 ways that context influences self Focus on self aspects that are distinctive in a given context Focus on self aspects that are relevant in a given context Working Self-Concept Refers to the subset of knowledge about the self that is active at a given moment in a given context Psych 160 Prof. Chen

Cultural Differences in the Self-Concept Markus & Kitayama (1991) Independent View of the Self defining oneself in terms of own internal feelings, thoughts, & actions Interdependent View of the Self defining oneself in terms of relationships with others Source: Markus & Kitayama, 1991. “Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation.” http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/rev/98/2/224/ Psych 160 Prof. Chen