The Self
- Created by: Sess
- Created on: 17-05-15 06:23
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- The Self
- Self Concept
- 20 Statements Test
- Kuhn + McPartland (1954)
- Attempts to measure self concept
- Assumes that language is the key to understanding the base of it
- Ppts are asked to complete 20 'I am...' statements about themselves
- Your answers reveal aspects of your self concept
- Types of responses
- Physical Appearance
- e.g. I have brown hair
- Social Roles
- e.g. I am a footballer, mum (Collectivist cultures favour these)
- Personal Traits
- e.g. I am smart, kind (Individualistic cultures favour these)
- Existential Statements
- e.g. I am a child of the universe
- Physical Appearance
- Self-schemas
- Markus (1977)
- Suggested that the self is full of multifaceted schemas
- We have clear schemas on some aspects of ourselves but not on everything
- Schemas include possible selves/ current selves
- Markus et al (1989)
- The more separate these schemas are, the greater the mood swings
- e.g. if being an athlete is important to you, you will..
- Notice other people's bodies/ athletic abilities
- Remember many sporting events
- Cantor et al (1984)
- It's Development
- The roles we play
- We initially feel self conscious but then we grow into a role that becomes reality
- Social Identity
- eg. Religion, Gender, Nationality
- Surrounding culture
- Markus (1995)
- Individualistic cultures result in people seeing themselves as a personal independent self
- Collectivist cultures result in interdependent selves based on group norms
- Social comparison
- Festinger (1954)
- We build a sense of self from comparing others and how we fit in
- eg. we may determine where we fit on an economic scale by comparing others
- Daily experiece
- Our failures and successes
- e.g. if we win a tennis game, we think we are good at tennis
- The roles we play
- Self Reference Effect
- Refers to the notion that information relevant to our self concept is processed faster
- Kahan + Johnson (1992)
- 48 female pairs were asked to say things about themselves and others
- In a surprise mem test, people remembered what their pair said about them best
- Suggests that our self is the center of our world
- Definition
- The set of beliefs that people have about themselves
- 20 Statements Test
- Illusions of the Self
- Spotlight Effect
- Savitsky et al (2000)
- The belief that others pay more attention to us than they actually do
- Ppts were asked to change shirts halfway through a lecture.
- They thought that 40% of peers would notice when only 10% did
- Lawson et al (2010)
- Illusion of Transparency
- The belief that our concealed emotions leak out + can be read by others
- Gilovitch (1998)
- In a study, ppts rated themselves as being more nervous than they appear, did better after being told about illusion of transparency
- Savitsky + Gilovitch (2003)
- Linked to self reference
- Spotlight Effect
- Self-knowledge
- Electric Pill
- Nisbett + Schacter (1966)
- Some ppts were given a pill to reduce the effect of an electric shock
- They therefore withstood greater shocks
- But when asked to explain why, they didnt think the pill had an effect on them
- Therefore plastic surgeons have to psychologically analyse people first
- Implications
- Mcdonald + Ross (1997)
- Couples are usually overly optimistic about the relationship's longevity
- Plastic Surgery
- Hilson & Gilbert (2005)
- Over-estimating the duration + intensity of forecasted pleasure can lead to bad decisions
- We use this to explain/predict behaviour + feelings
- Our explanations & predictions are often inaccurate
- We tend to ignore relevant factors & focus on irrelevant ones
- eg. We may attribute our gloom to life's emptiness as opposed to the rainy day
- Schwartz + Clore (1983)
- Electric Pill
- Self Esteem
- Narcissism
- High self esteem but lack of care for others
- Campbell et al (2002)
- Bushman + Baumeister (1998)
- Students with high self esteem + narcissism blasted those who criticsed them with loud noises
- Maladaptive Self Esteem
- Low self esteem can lead to drug abuse
- High self esteem can lead to committing violent crimes (Hitler)
- What is it?
- Bottom Up Approach
- Crocker _ Wolfe (2001)
- Self esteem is made from our self schemas
- if our schemas are that we are attractive and smart, we have high self esteem
- Top Down Approach
- Brown + Dutton (1994)
- If you have high self esteem, you develop schemas for things you are good at as you notice them
- Bottom Up Approach
- One's overal positive/ negative self evaluation or sense of self eworth
- Narcissism
- Sense of Control
- Self control is like physical energy, it depletes when used
- Our perceived sense of control is how much control we believe we have over our actions
- Its influenced by:
- Self efficacy
- How competant we feel in a particular task
- Locus of control
- Whether we feel we can control our futures or outside forces do
- Self efficacy
- Self-serving Bias
- Taking credit for our successes + denying responsibility for failures
- We see ourselves as better than the average joe
- A sense of false uniqueness
- Self Concept
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