SELF- CONCEPT, SELF-ESTEEM & SELF-PRESENTATION

SELF IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS

Reported by Sheila Auman

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SELF-CONCEPT

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SELF-CONCEPT

The sum total of a persons thoughts and feelings that defines the self as an object (Snodgrass & Thompson, 1997) Our theory of our personal behavior, abilities and social relationships that we construct through social interaction (Epstein, 1973; Oyserman & Packer, 1996) Has no precise location or boundaries, but rather, is framed through identification (Burris & Rempel, 2004) Are like grand self-portraits we paint and repaint throughout our lives.

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Self-awareness and SelfRegulation

The ability to define ourselves, and the ability to consciously strive to become what we desire involve these two essential human characteristics. Through self-awareness, we develop a self-concept, which helps us regulate our behavior and adapt to our surroundings (Higgins, 1996).

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Self-Schemas

Are the ingredients of self-concept. A cognitive structure that represents how you think about yourself in a particular domain and how you organize your experiences in that domain. A person may be highly self-schematic, less selfschematic or aschematic for a particular trait or social role. Ex: Daughter, Creative, Musician
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Gender Identity and Gender Schema

Gender Identity the knowledge that one is a male or a female and the internalization of this fact into ones selfconcept. Gender Schema a cognitive structure for processing information based on its perceived female or male qualities.

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Are you gender schematic? Do you habitually organize things in your mind according to gender categories? Do you try to keep your own behavior consistent with traditional gender categories?

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Culture Shapes the Structure of Self-Concept

INDIVIDUALIST-COLLECTIVIST COMPARISONS Independent Self a way of conceiving the self in terms of unique, personal attributes and as a being that is separate and autonomous from the group. Interdependent Self A way of conceiving the self in terms of social roles and as a being that is embedded in and dependent on the group.
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How About Biculturalists?

Based on studies of Pueblo, Navajo, Latino, Iranian American, Indian American, and Asia American/Canadian children and adults, neither abandoning ones ancestral collectivist culture nor isolating oneself from the dominant individualist culture is good for mental health.

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Cultural Frame Switching the process by which biculturalists switch between different culturally appropriate behaviors depending on the context.

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SELF-ESTEEM

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SELF-ESTEEM
The evaluative aspect of the me A persons evaluation of his or her selfconcept An internal meter (sociometer) of our sense of exclusion and inclusion of social groups

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Development of self-esteem

Self-esteem develops during middle childhood and is most stable during young adulthood. Research conducted in more than 200 cultures indicates that children with high self-esteem usually have authoritative parents. This research indicates that children need love combined with a set of boundaries to structure their behavior.

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Authoritative parents are parents who exert control not merely by imposing rules and consistently enforcing them, but also by allowing their children a fair amount of freedom within the rules and by discussing the rationale behind their decisions. In contrast, parents who impose many rules and expect strict obedience (authoritarian parents) and those who make few demands and submit to their childrens desires (permissive parents) tend to raise children who are less confident in their abilities and have lower self-esteem.

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Two Principal Self-motivators

Self- enhancement the process of seeking out and interpreting situations so as to attain a positive view of oneself. Self- verification the process of seeking out and interpreting situations so as to confirm ones self-concept.

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The Interplay Between Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification Motives Social feedback presented to the person => STEP 1 Emotional assessment (Selfenhancement) => STEP 2 Reflective cognitive assessment (Self-verification) =>STEP 3 If major self-concept change is required . . . (Self-verification overrides self-enhancement)
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Explicit Self-esteem a persons conscious and deliberate evaluation of his or her self-concept Example: What people report when they are asked directly how they feel about themselves on self-report measures. Implicit Self-esteem a persons unconscious and unintentional evaluation of his or her selfconcept Example: Persons with low implicit selfesteems will find it more difficult and slower to respond to many negative associations

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Low self-esteem persons take fewer risks than high self-esteem persons. Unstable high self-esteem persons become angry and hostile when their selfworth is challenged.

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SELFPRESENTATION

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SELF-PRESENTATION
Manage the impression we make on others Involve both automatic and deliberate thinking with well-learned self-presentations often operating on auto-pilot

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Strategic Self-presentation
The process of constructing and presenting the self in order to shape other peoples impressions and achieve ulterior goals Includes: Self-promotion Supplication Exemplification Sandbagging Modesty Ingratiation Intimidation

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Self-Promotion: a strategy which strives to convey positive information about the self either through ones behavior or by telling others about ones positive assets and accomplishments. Exemplification: a self-presentation designed to elicit perceptions of integrity and oral worthiness, at the same time that it arouses guilt and emulation in others.

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Modesty: A strategy that underrepresent ones positive traits, contributions, or accomplishments. Intimidation: A self-presentation tactic of arousing fear and gaining power by convincing others that they are powerful and/or dangerous.

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Supplication: In this technique, people advertise their weakness or their dependence on others, hoping to solicit help or sympathy out of a sense of social obligation. Sandbagging: Here, people falsely claim or demonstrate to onlookers that they have poorer skills or abilities than they actually possess. This initially appears to be supplication and commonly used in competitive situations.

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Ingratiation: This strategy is used to describe behaviors that are motivated to be liked, just like in flattery. Because flattery does indeed increase recipients self-esteem, and hence increase their liking for the flatterer.

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Common SelfPresentation Strategies

Self-promotion
Exemplification

Attributions Sought

Negative Attributions Risked

Emotions to be Aroused

Typical Actions

Competent

Conceited
Hypocrite
Nonassertive

Respect

Performance Claims

Worthy
Likable and competent

Guilt
Affection and Respect

Self-denial
Understatement of achievements

Modesty
Intimidation Supplication Sandbagging Ingratiation
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Dangerous

Blowhard Stigmatized Con Artist Brownnoser

Fear
Nurturance
Complacency

Threats
Selfdeprecation Feigned inability Compliments and favors
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Helpless Unskilled Likable

Affection

Failed self-presentation cause embarrassment which is associated with sympathetic nervous system arousal. Self-handicapping creates performance obstacles to provide excuses for failure or enhanced success. Example: Complaining about illness or stress-induced ailments before performing a task

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Behavioral self-handicapping is more destructive than self-reported handicapping. Example: By not adequately preparing for task or by using drugs or alcohol beforehand to inhibit their performance. Although both women and men equally use selfreported handicaps, numerous studies indicate that men are more likely to behaviorally selfhandicap, especially when they are publicly selfaware.

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SELF IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS

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Social Identities Establish What and

Where We Are as Social Beings

Social identities: Aspects of a persons self-concept based on his or her group membership Ethnic Identity : An individuals sense of personal identification with a particular ethnic group.

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Stages in Ethnic Identity Formation

Stage 1: Unexamined ethnic identity: Lack of exploration of ethnicity, due to lack of interest or due to having merely adopted other peoples opinions of ethnicity. Stage 2: Ethnic identity search: Involvement in exploring & seeking to understand the meaning of ethnicity for oneself, often sparked by some incident that focused attention on ones minority status in the dominant culture

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Stage 3: Achieved ethnic identity: Clear and confident sense of ones own ethnicity; able to identify and internalize those aspects of the dominant culture that are acceptable and stand against those that are oppressive.

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Ingroup: A group to which we belong and that forms a part of our social identity.
Outgroup: Any group with which we do not share membership.

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In social relationships, self-esteem is maintained through social reflection and social comparison Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model: A theory predicting under what conditions people are likely to react to the success of others with either pride or jealousy. Social Reflection: a process in which selfesteem is reinforced by identifying ourselves with the outstanding accomplishments of those close to us.
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Social comparison: a process in which our accomplishments are evaluated by comparing them with those close to us, and our self-esteem suffers if we are outperformed.

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What determines whether you engage in reflection or comparison following someone elses success?

Relevance of the task to your self-concept Certainty about your abilities in the domain under question

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How can you try to recover lost selfesteem after social comparison?
1. Exaggerate the ability of those who outperform you. By seeing your victor as truly outstanding, you can still perceive yourself as well above average. Compare yourself with those who are even less capable, a process known as downward comparison.
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2. Reduce your closeness to someone who has outperformed you (emotional distancing). 3. Change your beliefs so that the task is no longer important to your self-concept (emotional disidentification). Upward comparison- we compare our performance with others who are doing much better to improve ourselves in some important areas of our lives.
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