Social Psychology – Chapter 4 – The Self
Self-Presentatonn Managing the Self in Diferent Social Contexts
Social capital – the number of social tes each person has to others; typically, these are
connectons to people that can dra on for nno ledge, or other social goods
Self-Presentaton Tactcs
Self-promotoo – attemptng to present ourselves to others as having positve attributes
Self-verificatoo perspectve – theory that addresses the process by hich e lead others to
agree ith our vie s of ourselves; antng others to agree ith ho e see ourselves
Even if it means potentally receiving informaton that is negatve about ourselves,
e may stll ish to have other people see us as ourselves
Researchn e prefer being ith people ho verify our vie s about ourselves
Iogratatoo – hen e try to mane others line us by conveying that e line them, praising
others to flatter them
Self-deprecatog – putting ourselves do n or implying that e are not as good as somebody
else
Sometmes e´re less honest ith other people, and this is ofen re arded ith greater
popularity. Online e may present ourselves in terms of our “ideal” rather than “actual” self
Self-Kno ledgen Determining Who We Are
Introspectonn Looning In ard to Discover the Causes of Our O n Behavior
Iotrospectoo- to privately contemplate “ ho e are”. It is a method for attemptng to gain
self-nno ledge
Can be Rather misleading
Researchn e don´t al ays nno the reasons for our actons generatng reasons
can lead to false conclusions
Researchn afer introspectng about reasons for feelings people changed their
attitudes (temporarily) to match their stated reasons (can lead to regrettable
inferences and choices)
When not in specifc circumstances unable to accurately predict ho e ould
respond hen e are in these circumstances (both negatve and positve future
circumstances)
Personal spending is unrelated to happiness; but spending on others predicts great
happiness (true for any income) ho e choose to spend money is more
important for happiness than ho much money e mane
e ofen don´t nno ho events ill afect us and simply introspectng about it ill not
help
, The Self from the Other´s Standpoint
Observers focus their attenton directly on the actors and tend to attribute more
dispositonal causes for behavior (described in dispositonalltrait terms)
Gaining Accurate Self-Knowledge
When trying to learn about the self from the vantage point of another e´re more
linely to see ourselves as observes do – in terms of consistent behavioral tendencies
Accuracy depends on hat e introspect aboutn
o hen behavior in queston is actually based on a conscious decision-maning
process accurate self-judgment
o hen failing to tane into account factors that influence ho e feel
introspecton inaccurate
Who Am I?n Personal versus Social Identty
Social ideottt theort – addresses ho e respond hen our group identty is salient.
Suggests that e move closer to positve others ith hom e share an identty but
distance from other intergroup members ho perform poorly or other ise mane our social
identty negatve
depends on here e are on then
persooal-versus-social ideottt cootouum – at the personal level, the self is thought of as a
unique individual, hereas at the social identty level, the self is seen as a member of group
Salieoce – hen someone or some object stands out from its bacnground or is the focus of
attenton (afects ho e perceive ourselves and respond to others)
When the personal identty is salient e thinn of ourselves as unique individuals, resultng
in self-descriptons and an emphasis ho e difer from others
Personal identty self-descripton can be thought of asn
o Iotragroup comparisoo – judgements that result from comparison bet een
individuals ho are members of the same group
When the social identty is salient e perceive us as members of a group and emphasize
hat e share ith them
Descriptons of the self at the social identty leveln
o Iotergroup comparisoo – judgements that result from comparison bet een
our group and another group – they involve contrast bet een groups
content of self-descripton hen thinning of oneself as an individual is diferent from
hen thinning of oneself as member of a category to share ith others
Who I Thinn I Am Depends on the Social Context
Self-descriptons
Self-Presentatonn Managing the Self in Diferent Social Contexts
Social capital – the number of social tes each person has to others; typically, these are
connectons to people that can dra on for nno ledge, or other social goods
Self-Presentaton Tactcs
Self-promotoo – attemptng to present ourselves to others as having positve attributes
Self-verificatoo perspectve – theory that addresses the process by hich e lead others to
agree ith our vie s of ourselves; antng others to agree ith ho e see ourselves
Even if it means potentally receiving informaton that is negatve about ourselves,
e may stll ish to have other people see us as ourselves
Researchn e prefer being ith people ho verify our vie s about ourselves
Iogratatoo – hen e try to mane others line us by conveying that e line them, praising
others to flatter them
Self-deprecatog – putting ourselves do n or implying that e are not as good as somebody
else
Sometmes e´re less honest ith other people, and this is ofen re arded ith greater
popularity. Online e may present ourselves in terms of our “ideal” rather than “actual” self
Self-Kno ledgen Determining Who We Are
Introspectonn Looning In ard to Discover the Causes of Our O n Behavior
Iotrospectoo- to privately contemplate “ ho e are”. It is a method for attemptng to gain
self-nno ledge
Can be Rather misleading
Researchn e don´t al ays nno the reasons for our actons generatng reasons
can lead to false conclusions
Researchn afer introspectng about reasons for feelings people changed their
attitudes (temporarily) to match their stated reasons (can lead to regrettable
inferences and choices)
When not in specifc circumstances unable to accurately predict ho e ould
respond hen e are in these circumstances (both negatve and positve future
circumstances)
Personal spending is unrelated to happiness; but spending on others predicts great
happiness (true for any income) ho e choose to spend money is more
important for happiness than ho much money e mane
e ofen don´t nno ho events ill afect us and simply introspectng about it ill not
help
, The Self from the Other´s Standpoint
Observers focus their attenton directly on the actors and tend to attribute more
dispositonal causes for behavior (described in dispositonalltrait terms)
Gaining Accurate Self-Knowledge
When trying to learn about the self from the vantage point of another e´re more
linely to see ourselves as observes do – in terms of consistent behavioral tendencies
Accuracy depends on hat e introspect aboutn
o hen behavior in queston is actually based on a conscious decision-maning
process accurate self-judgment
o hen failing to tane into account factors that influence ho e feel
introspecton inaccurate
Who Am I?n Personal versus Social Identty
Social ideottt theort – addresses ho e respond hen our group identty is salient.
Suggests that e move closer to positve others ith hom e share an identty but
distance from other intergroup members ho perform poorly or other ise mane our social
identty negatve
depends on here e are on then
persooal-versus-social ideottt cootouum – at the personal level, the self is thought of as a
unique individual, hereas at the social identty level, the self is seen as a member of group
Salieoce – hen someone or some object stands out from its bacnground or is the focus of
attenton (afects ho e perceive ourselves and respond to others)
When the personal identty is salient e thinn of ourselves as unique individuals, resultng
in self-descriptons and an emphasis ho e difer from others
Personal identty self-descripton can be thought of asn
o Iotragroup comparisoo – judgements that result from comparison bet een
individuals ho are members of the same group
When the social identty is salient e perceive us as members of a group and emphasize
hat e share ith them
Descriptons of the self at the social identty leveln
o Iotergroup comparisoo – judgements that result from comparison bet een
our group and another group – they involve contrast bet een groups
content of self-descripton hen thinning of oneself as an individual is diferent from
hen thinning of oneself as member of a category to share ith others
Who I Thinn I Am Depends on the Social Context
Self-descriptons
