social and cultural groups
Chapter 3- The Social Self **Continuation of written notes* Are There Gender and Race Differences? -
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social and cultural groups differ in their self-esteem males showed higher self esteem than females but it was not a significant difference E. Tory Higgins: our self-esteem is defined by the match or mismatch between how we see ourselves and how we want to see ourselves o Actual self, ought self, and ideal self Lists of traits can be used to predict self esteem in individuals Self guides (ought list) are the traits that an individual believes they must possess If you fall short of these standards you experience low self esteem and by even develop and affective disorder Discrepancy between your actual self and you ought self leads to guilt, feeling ashamed, and resentful o You may suffer from anxiety-related disorders Mismatch between your actual self and your ideal self may lead to disappointment, frustration, unfulfilledment and sadness o May even lead to depression We all have some degree of self discrepancy The more importance you place on a specific discrepancy the worse you feel Self-awareness theory- the theory that self-focused attention leads people to notice selfdiscrepancies, thereby motivating either an escape from self-awareness or a change in behaviour The more self-focused people are the more they find themselves in a bad mood or depressed o May also be more prone to suffer from alcoholism, anxiety, and other clinical disorders Self-awareness theory suggest two ways of coping: 1. Shape up by behaving in ways that reduce our self-discrepancies 2. Ship out by withdrawing from self-awareness When people are self-focused they are more likely to behave in ways that are consistent with personal values or socially accepted ideals Escaping from self awareness may involve drug abuse, excessive drinking, sexual masochism, spiritual ecstacy, binge eating and suicide Watching TV is also a way to escape self awareness Some individual tend to be more self aware than others Private self-consciousness- a personality characteristic of individuals who are introspective, often attending to their own inner states Public self-consciousness- a personality characteristic of individuals who focus on themselves as social objects, as seen by others
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Self-control is something we do all the time; may become depleted once it is used and therefore you have to let it renew to be able to use it again (it consumes energy to use self control) Ironic processes occur when you deliberately try not to think about something and then you end up thinking about it anyway Those who are least competent are the most likely to overrate their own performance Implicit egotism- a non conscious form of self-enhancement Four methods that people use to rationalize or enhance their self esteem: o Self-serving cognitions- people think highly of themselves and tend to attribute good performance to themselves and bad performance on someone/something else o Self-handicapping- behaviours designed to sabotage one’s own performance in order to provide a subsequent excuse for failure o Basking in the glory of others- bask in reflected glory (BIRG) to increase selfesteem by associating with others who are successful o Downward social comparison- the defensive tendency to compare ourselves with others who are worse off than we are People that have an inflated view of themselves may not always be liked as much because of their way of thinking that they are better than everyone else Positive illusions make you feel better about yourself by risking the way people see you Spotlight effect- the tendency to believe that the social spotlight shines more brightly on you than it really does Self-presentation- strategies people use to shape what others think of them Two types of self-presentation: strategic self-presentation (shaping others’ impressions in specific ways to gain influence, power, sympathy, or approval) and self-verification (the desire to have others perceive us as we truly perceive ourselves) Strategic self-presentation goals: ingratiation (motivated by the desire to be liked and get along with people) and self-promotion (motivated by a desire to get ahead and gain respect for one’s competence) Self-monitoring- the tendency to change behaviour in response to the self-presentation concerns of the situation
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social and cultural groups differ in their self-esteem males showed higher self esteem than females but it was not a significant difference E. Tory Higgins: our self-esteem is defined by the match or mismatch between how we see ourselves and how we want to see ourselves o Actual self, ought self, and ideal self Lists of traits can be used to predict self esteem in individuals Self guides (ought list) are the traits that an individual believes they must possess If you fall short of these standards you experience low self esteem and by even develop and affective disorder Discrepancy between your actual self and you ought self leads to guilt, feeling ashamed, and resentful o You may suffer from anxiety-related disorders Mismatch between your actual self and your ideal self may lead to disappointment, frustration, unfulfilledment and sadness o May even lead to depression We all have some degree of self discrepancy The more importance you place on a specific discrepancy the worse you feel Self-awareness theory- the theory that self-focused attention leads people to notice selfdiscrepancies, thereby motivating either an escape from self-awareness or a change in behaviour The more self-focused people are the more they find themselves in a bad mood or depressed o May also be more prone to suffer from alcoholism, anxiety, and other clinical disorders Self-awareness theory suggest two ways of coping: 1. Shape up by behaving in ways that reduce our self-discrepancies 2. Ship out by withdrawing from self-awareness When people are self-focused they are more likely to behave in ways that are consistent with personal values or socially accepted ideals Escaping from self awareness may involve drug abuse, excessive drinking, sexual masochism, spiritual ecstacy, binge eating and suicide Watching TV is also a way to escape self awareness Some individual tend to be more self aware than others Private self-consciousness- a personality characteristic of individuals who are introspective, often attending to their own inner states Public self-consciousness- a personality characteristic of individuals who focus on themselves as social objects, as seen by others
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Self-control is something we do all the time; may become depleted once it is used and therefore you have to let it renew to be able to use it again (it consumes energy to use self control) Ironic processes occur when you deliberately try not to think about something and then you end up thinking about it anyway Those who are least competent are the most likely to overrate their own performance Implicit egotism- a non conscious form of self-enhancement Four methods that people use to rationalize or enhance their self esteem: o Self-serving cognitions- people think highly of themselves and tend to attribute good performance to themselves and bad performance on someone/something else o Self-handicapping- behaviours designed to sabotage one’s own performance in order to provide a subsequent excuse for failure o Basking in the glory of others- bask in reflected glory (BIRG) to increase selfesteem by associating with others who are successful o Downward social comparison- the defensive tendency to compare ourselves with others who are worse off than we are People that have an inflated view of themselves may not always be liked as much because of their way of thinking that they are better than everyone else Positive illusions make you feel better about yourself by risking the way people see you Spotlight effect- the tendency to believe that the social spotlight shines more brightly on you than it really does Self-presentation- strategies people use to shape what others think of them Two types of self-presentation: strategic self-presentation (shaping others’ impressions in specific ways to gain influence, power, sympathy, or approval) and self-verification (the desire to have others perceive us as we truly perceive ourselves) Strategic self-presentation goals: ingratiation (motivated by the desire to be liked and get along with people) and self-promotion (motivated by a desire to get ahead and gain respect for one’s competence) Self-monitoring- the tendency to change behaviour in response to the self-presentation concerns of the situation
