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

2. 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 Prof. Chen

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

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

5. 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 Prof. Chen

6. 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, “Affective-cognitive consistency and the effect of salient behavioral information on the self-perception of attitudes.”
Psych Prof. Chen

7. 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 Prof. Chen

8. 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 Prof. Chen

9. 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 Prof. Chen

10. 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 Prof. Chen

11. 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, “Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation.”
Psych Prof. Chen