Social Psychology

Tenth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 5
The Self: Understanding
Ourselves in a Social
Context

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 Who are you?
• A. PHYSICAL SELF-DESCRIPTIONS: Physical qualities that do
not imply social interaction; “identity card”–type information. For
example: “I am female.” “I am nineteen.”
• B. SOCIAL SELF-DESCRIPTIONS: Relationships, group
memberships, social roles, and attitudes that are socially defined
and validated. For example: “I am a son.” “I am a worker in the
Admissions Office.”
• C. PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF-DESCRIPTIONS: Psychological
traits and states, and attitudes, that do not refer to particular
social referents. For example: “I am shy.” “I am happy.”
• D. HOLISTIC SELF-DESCRIPTIONS: Characteristics so
comprehensive or vague that they do not distinguish one person
from another. For example: “I am me.” “I am a human being.”
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Origins of the Self (1 of 2)
•Rudimentary self-concept
–Some primates
–Humans at 18 to 24 months

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Origins of the Self (2 of 2) WHO AM I?
•Child’s self-concept
–Concrete
–References to characteristics like age, sex,
neighborhood, and hobbies
•Maturing self-concept
–Less emphasis on physical characteristics
–More emphasis on psychological states and
how other people judge us

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 as we grow older,
•this rudimentary sense of self develops into
a full-blown self-concept, defined as the
overall set of beliefs that people have
about their personal attributes.
•morality is viewed as central to the self-
concept, more so than cognitive processes
or desires.

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Cultural Influences on the Self-Concept
(1 of 3)

•The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

–American proverb
•The nail that stands out gets pounded
down.
–Japanese proverb

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Cultural Influences on the Self-Concept
(2 of 3)

•Independent view of the self

–Defines self through own internal thoughts,
feelings, and actions and not other people’s
–Independence and uniqueness valued
–Held in many Western cultures

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Cultural Influences on the Self-Concept
(3 of 3)

•Interdependent view of the self

–Defines self through relationships to other
people
–Recognizes that others’ thoughts, feelings,
and actions affect one’s behavior
–Connectedness and interdependence valued
–Uniqueness frowned on
–Held in many Asian and non-Western cultures

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Copyright © 2021 Pearson Education Ltd.
Functions of the Self (1 of 2)

•Four main functions

– Self-knowledge:
▪The way we understand who we are and organize
this information
– Self-control:
▪ The way we make plans and execute decisions

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Functions of the Self (2 of 2)
•Four main functions
– Impression management:
▪ The way we present ourselves to others and get
them to see us as we want to be seen
– Self-esteem:
▪ The way we maintain positive views of ourselves

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HOW DO WE KNOW OURSELVES?

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Self-Knowledge

•Introspection
–The process whereby people look inward and
examine their own thoughts, feelings, and
motives
•However, there are consequences and limits

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The Way of Introspection

•People do not rely on introspection very

often.
•Why not?
–Not always pleasant to think about ourselves
–Reasons for our feelings and behavior can be
outside conscious awareness

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Focusing on the Self:
Self-Awareness Theory (1 of 4)

•The idea that when people focus their

attention on themselves, they evaluate and
compare their behavior to their internal
standards and values
•We become self-conscious in the sense
that we become objective, judgmental
observers of ourselves,

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Focusing on the Self:
Self-Awareness Theory (2 of 4)

•Sometimes people go far in their attempt to

escape the self.
–Focusing on the self can be very aversive.
–Ways to turn off “internal spotlight” on oneself:
▪ Alcohol abuse
▪ Binge eating
▪ Sexual masochism

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 Self-Awareness Theory: The Consequences of Self-Focused Attention
When people focus on themselves, they compare their behavior to their internal standards.

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Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do:
Telling More Than We Can Know

•It can be difficult to know why we feel the

way we do.
–What is it about your sweetheart that made
you fall in love?
–What really determines what mood you’re in?

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• I have a bad mood because it is Monday…

• I am happy because ..Thanks God it is Friday !!!!

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Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do:
Telling More Than We Can Know

•Causal theories
–Theories about the causes of one’s own
feelings and behaviors; often we learn such
theories from our culture
•Problem
–Schemas and theories are not always correct.
Can lead to incorrect judgments about the
causes of our actions

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Understanding Our Emotions: The
Two-Factor Theory of Emotion (1 of 3)

•Example
–Consider how happy, angry, or afraid you feel
at any given time.
▪ How do you know which emotion you are
experiencing?
▪ Don’t we know how we feel without having to think
about it?

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Understanding Our Emotions: The
Two-Factor Theory of Emotion (3 of 3)

•Schachter’s theory
–We experience emotions in a two-step self-
perception process:
1. Experience physiological arousal
2. Seek an appropriate explanation for it

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Schachter and Singer, 1962
•Research question
–Given the same degree of physiological
arousal, will people feel different emotions
depending on their environment?

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•Emotions can be the result of a self-
perception process: People look for the
most plausible explanation for their
arousal.

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Implications of the Two-Factor
Theory of Emotion
• Implications
–Emotions are somewhat arbitrary.
–Emotions depend on our explanations for
arousal.

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 Is it the Bridge, or Are You in Love?
When people are aroused for one reason, such as occurs when they cross a scary bridge,
they often attribute this arousal to the wrong source—such as attraction to the person
they are with.

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Finding the Wrong Cause:
Misattribution of Arousal

•Misattribution of arousal
–Making mistaken inferences about what is
causing them to feel the way they do
•Arousal from one source (e.g., caffeine,
exercise, a fright) can enhance the
intensity of how the person interprets other
feelings (e.g., attraction to someone).

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Copyright © 2021 Pearson Education Ltd.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
(1 of 5)

•Intrinsic motivation
–Engage in an activity because of enjoyment
and interest, not external rewards or
pressures
•Extrinsic motivation
–Engage in an activity because of external
reasons, not because of enjoyment and
interest

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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
(2 of 5)

•Many teachers or parents reward kids for

good grades with compliments, candy, gold
stars, or toys.
•Other programs reward kids for reading
books.
•But do these programs increase or
decrease a child’s love of reading?

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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
(3 of 5)

•We have to consider the effects of rewards

on people’s thoughts about:
–Themselves
–Their self-concept
–Their motivation to read in the future

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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
(4 of 5)

•Danger of reward programs

–Reading for rewards, not because it’s actually
enjoyable

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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
(5 of 5)

•Overjustification effect:
– Rewards can make people lose interest
in activities they initially enjoyed. This is called
the overjustification effect, which results when
people view their behavior as caused by
extrinsic reasons, leading them to
underestimate the role of intrinsic reasons.

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Mindsets and Motivation (1 of 2)
•Fixed mindset:
–The idea that we have a set amount of an
ability that cannot change
•Growth mindset:
–The idea that our abilities are malleable
qualities that we can cultivate and grow

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Mindsets and Motivation (2 of 2)
•Mindset affects motivation
–Fixed mindset more likely to give up and do
poorly on subsequent tasks after failure

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Do we have to live in a society to develop a
sense of self?

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The socially experienced
chimps “passed” the mirror
test; after red dye was put on
their foreheads and they
looked at themselves in a
mirror, they immediately used
their mirrored image to
explore the red areas of their
heads
Research by Gordon Gallup (1997)
The socially isolated chimps
did not react to their
reflections at all—they did not
recognize themselves in the
mirror, suggesting that they
had not developed a sense of
self. Copyright © 2021 Pearson Education Ltd.
Self-Concept Does Not Develop in
a Solitary Context
•Self-concept shaped by people around us

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Knowing Ourselves by Comparing
Ourselves to Others

•How do we use others to define ourselves?

–Measure our own abilities and attitudes by
comparing to other people
▪ If you donate $50 to charity and find out your
friend donates $10, you can feel generous.
▪ If you find out your friend donated $100, you might
not feel as generous!

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Knowing Ourselves by Comparing
Ourselves to Others
• Social Comparison Theory
– The idea that we learn about our own abilities and
attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people
• The theory revolves around two important
questions:
– When do you engage in social comparison?
– With whom do you choose to compare yourself?

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Knowing Ourselves by Comparing
Ourselves to Others
1. When do you engage in social
comparison?
–No objective standard exists to measure
against
–When we experience uncertainty
–Example: New office donation program, not
sure what amount would be generous, you
are especially likely to compare yourself to
others
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Knowing Ourselves by Comparing
Ourselves to Others

2. With whom do you choose to compare

yourself?
–Initial impulse: anyone who is around
▪ Occurs quickly and automatically

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Knowing Ourselves by Comparing
Ourselves to Others

•Goal: know the furthest level to which we

can aspire
–Upward social comparison:
▪ Comparing to people who are better on a
particular ability

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Knowing Ourselves by Comparing
Ourselves to Others

•Goal: feel better about yourself

–Downward social comparison:
▪ Comparing to people who are worse on a
particular trait or ability
▪ Downward social comparison is a self-protective,
self-enhancing strategy

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