SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MID

THE SOCIAL SELF: Self-Esteem & Self-Serving Bias TERMS

BS Psychology 3B | Prof. Norma Baluca | SEM 2 2024 TRANSES

Important Elements in Social (i.e., perceiving yourself

Psychology: as smart; this influences
★ Person (Personality) how you look at
★ Situation (Person as yourself, others, and
contextual being) your social
★ Interaction of P and S (Person environment)
as interpretive) ★ Self-Reference Effect
B = f (P, S) by Kurt Lewin ○ When information is

HINDSIGHT BIAS relevant to our

self-concepts, we
process it quickly and
the tendency to exaggerate, after
remember it well. Our
learning an outcome, one’s ability
sense of self is the
to have foresoon how something
center of our
turned out; known as
individual worlds.
“i-knew-it-all-along phenomenon”
★ Possible Selves
SELF-CONCEPT: WHO AM I? ○ Not one self but many
selves (ie., self at-home

This is our sense of self. bs self in-school)

★ Self-Concept
○ Your answer regarding
who you are
★ Self-Schemas
○ Beliefs about the self
that organize and
guide the processing of
relevant information
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MID
THE SOCIAL SELF: Self-Esteem & Self-Serving Bias TERMS
BS Psychology 3B | Prof. Norma Baluca | SEM 2 2024 TRANSES

ILLUSION OF TRANSPARENCY relationships with others

whereas the
interdependent self is
Due to self-consciousness, people
more deeply connected
tend to believe that others are
to others.
noticing and evaluating them.
People tend to believe that they are SELF KNOWLEDGE: KNOW

transparent to others. When they THYSELF

are not.

SELF AND CULTURE Self-knowledge is often inaccurate

when:
➢ Explaining our behavior
➢ Predicting our behavior
➢ Predicting feelings
We think we know ourselves.
Research has shown, however, that
we actually often don’t.
When causes are subtle, our self
explanations are often wrong. We
tend to dismiss factors that matter
and inflate others that don’t.
E.g. people routinely deny being
influence by media, which, they
acknowledge, affects others

➔ Self-Construal
◆ an independent self
acknowledges
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MID
THE SOCIAL SELF: Self-Esteem & Self-Serving Bias TERMS
BS Psychology 3B | Prof. Norma Baluca | SEM 2 2024 TRANSES

★ Self Serving Bias

○ our tendency to
perceive ourselves more
favorably than we
actually deserve
○ We may be motivated to
have a positive

SELF-SERVING BIAS self-concept and high

self-esteem, as a result,
Our intuitions are often dead wrong
we may be biased in
about what has influenced us and
how we perceive
what we feel and do. However, when
ourselves
the causes of our behavior are
○ e.g., You get an A for an
conspicuous and the correct
essay and you attribute
explanation fits our intuitions, our
it to your own greatness
self-perceptions tend to be accurate.
(internal attribution);
Dual Attitude System: our
You get a C on an essay
automatic implicit attitudes
and you attribute it to
regarding someone or something
your professor not
often differ from our consciously
having explained what
controlled explicit attitudes (e.g.,
they wanted well
from childhood, we may retain a
enough (external
habitual dislike of people for whom
attribution)
we now verbalize respect and
★ Better than Average Effect
appreciation)
○ When comparing with
others, most people see
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MID
THE SOCIAL SELF: Self-Esteem & Self-Serving Bias TERMS
BS Psychology 3B | Prof. Norma Baluca | SEM 2 2024 TRANSES

themselves as better ★ Strategic Impression

than the average person Management
○ People would often see ○ Although people may
themselves as more not believe the content
ethical, competent, of a self-serving
intelligent, friendly, less utterance, they may
biased, less prejuidiced, nevertheless offer it to
healthier, etc. others to create a
favorable impression
★ Basic Mechanisms of
Memory
○ People might make
successes more
available in memory for

REASONS FOR SELF-SERVING internally-based reasons

BIAS rather than for

externally-based
reasons
★ Motivational
○ People are motivated to ADAPTIVE VS MALADAPTIVE

protect their
self-esteem, so they Adaptive
create causal ➔ SSB helps protect people from
explanations that serve depression and the biological
to make them feel costs of stress
better ➔ It may be strategic for us to
believe we are smarter,
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MID
THE SOCIAL SELF: Self-Esteem & Self-Serving Bias TERMS
BS Psychology 3B | Prof. Norma Baluca | SEM 2 2024 TRANSES

stronger, and more socially DARK SIDE OF SELF-ESTEEM

success than we really are
Maladaptive
➔ SSB can create false
evaluations of the self, which
could potentially lead to
unhappiness and anxiety
➔ Can inflate people’s
judgements of their groups
which could lead to negative
When threatened, people with high
consequences
SE became increasingly
SSB AND SELF-ESTEEM antagonistic (rude, arrogant, and
unfriendly)

Self-Esteem: Overall ★ Feeling good about ourselves

Self-Evaluation of Self-Worth make us less open to criticism,

★ Self-esteem motivation can more likely to blame than

help SSB through self esteem empathize

maintenance motive ★ Having a secured self-esteem

★ Most people are believed to appears to be better than

suffer from low SE and thus, having a high or low SE

need help LOCUS OF CONTROL

★ However, research show that
in general people have a good
evaluation of themselves
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MID
THE SOCIAL SELF: Self-Esteem & Self-Serving Bias TERMS
BS Psychology 3B | Prof. Norma Baluca | SEM 2 2024 TRANSES

Locus of Control is a belief about subsequent encounter with

whether the outcomes of our actions those stimuli, even if they are
are contingent on what we do escapable
(internal control orientation) or on ○ conceptualized and
events outside our personal control developed by Martin
(external control orientation). E.P Seligman at
★ Internal Locus of Control University of
○ one believe that one Pennsylvania in the
controls own destiny late 1960s-1970s
★ External Locus of Control
○ when one believes that
outside forces
determines one’s fate
NOTE: People who saw themselves
internally controlled were more likely
to do well in school and work, IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL
successfully quit smoking, and were CONTROL
able to deal with marital problems
and earned more money.
While external factors influence our
LEARNED HELPLESSNESS lives, research emphasizes the
crucial role of personal control in

★ A mental state in which an shaping morale and well-being.

organism is forced to bear Studies conducted by Miller and

aversive stimuli, or stimuli that Monger (1986), Timko and Moos

are unpleasant, becomes (1989), and Burn (1992) demonstrate

unable or unwilling to avoid this connection. Workers with

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MID
THE SOCIAL SELF: Self-Esteem & Self-Serving Bias TERMS
BS Psychology 3B | Prof. Norma Baluca | SEM 2 2024 TRANSES

greater autonomy over tasks and

decisions, institutionalized residents
empowered by daily choices, and
even homeless individuals granted
control over routines like meals and
sleep all displayed improved morale,
greater well-being, and a more
proactive approach to challenges.
These findings suggest that
fostering a sense of control, from
making simple choices to
managing daily routines,
empowers individuals, cultivates
confidence, and fuels a positive
outlook on life, ultimately driving
improved morale and well-being.