VL5 - The Self

The Origins and Nature of the Self-Concept Studies show that great apes such as chimpanzees and orangutans have a rudimentary sense of self because they pass the mirror self-recognition test, whereas lesser apes do not. In humans, self-recognition develops at around 18 to 24 months of age, and by adolescence the self-concept becomes much more complex. As people grow older, their sense of self develops into a full-blown self-concept, defined as the overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes. In adulthood, people view morality is viewed as central to the self-concept, more so than cognitive processes or desires.

The self serves four functions:

• self-knowledge, our beliefs about who we are and the way in which we formulate and organize this information; Introspection, Observing

• self-control, the way in which we make plans and execute decisions; exerting energy on one task limits people’s ability to exert self-control

• impression management, how we present ourselves to other people; Ingratitation and self handcapping)

• self-esteem, the way we feel about ourselves: terror management theory and narcissm

Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection One way we attempt to learn about our own feelings, motives, and emotions is with introspection, which is looking inward to examine the “inside information” that we—and we alone—have about our thoughts, feelings, and motives.

• Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory When people focus on themselves, they evaluate and compare their current behavior to their internal standards and values.

• Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do: Telling More Than We Can Know When people intro- spect about why they feel the way they do, they often use causal theories, many of which are learned from one’s culture.

• The Consequences of Introspecting About Reasons When people think about the reasons for their attitudes, they assume that their attitudes match the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalize, leading to reasons-generated attitude change.

Knowing Ourselves by Observing Our Own Behavior People also gain self-knowledge by observing their own behavior. Self-perception theory argues that when our attitudes and feelings are uncer- tain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our own behavior and the situation in which it occurs.

• Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation An over- justification effect occurs when people focus on the extrinsic reasons for their behavior and under- estimate their intrinsic reasons.

• Mindsets and Motivation Some people have a fixed mindset about their abilities, which is the idea that they have a set amount of the ability that cannot change. Others have a growth mindset, the idea that their abilities are malleable qualities that they can cultivate and grow. People with a fixed mindset are more likely to give up after setbacks and are less likely to work on and hone their skills, whereas people with a growth mindset view setbacks as opportunities to improve through hard work.

• Understanding Our Emotions: The Two-Factor Theory of Emotion Emotional experience is often the result of a two-step self-perception process in which people first experience arousal and then seek an appropriate explanation for it.

• Finding the Wrong Cause: Misattribution of Arousal Sometimes people make mistaken infer- ences about what is causing them to be aroused.

Using Other People to Know Ourselves Our self-concepts are shaped by the people around us.

• Knowing Ourselves by Comparing Ourselves to Others According to social comparison theory, we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people.

• Knowing Ourselves by Adopting Other People’s Views In addition, people tend to automatically adopt the attitudes of those they like and want to interact with.

• Knowing Our Future Feelings by Consulting Other People When making affective forecasts, which are people’s predictions about how they will feel in response to a future emotional event, it is useful to know how other people reacted to that event.

Self-Control: The Executive Function of the Self In general, exerting energy on one task limits people’s ability to exert self-control on a subsequent task. However, simply believing that willpower is an unlimited resource can help people exert more self-control, as can praying in advance of a task and forming implementation intentions.

 Impression Management: All the World’s a Stage People try to get others to see them as they want to be seen.

• Ingratiation and Self-Handicapping People have many different impression management strate- gies. One is ingratiation—using flattery or praise to make yourself likable to another, often a person of higher status. Another is self-handicapping, whereby people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves.

• Culture, Impression Management, and Self- Enhancement The desire to manage the image we present to others is strong in all cultures, although the kinds of images we want to present depend on the culture in which we live.

Self-Esteem: How We Feel About Ourselves Most of us have high self-esteem, which has the benefits of avoiding depression, allowing us to persevere in the face of failure, and, as shown by research on of terror management theory, protecting us from thoughts about our own mortality. There is a form of high self-esteem, however, that is quite problematic namely, narcissism—which is extreme high self-regard combined with a lack of empathy toward others. The best combination is to feel good about ours elves but also to look out for and care about others.