4PAHPSOP Psychology and Society Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
THE SELF
4.1. EXPLAIN HOW CULTURE, GENDER, AND SHIFTING SOCIAL
CONTEXTS SHAPE THE SELF-CONCEPT, AND DESCRIBE THE
SOCIAL SELF AND ITS EMBEDDEDNESS IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
THE SELF
• The self is a dynamic entity throughout our lives, changing through live events and social interactions
• William James (1890) distinguished between two aspects of the self:
o The “Me” (self-concept): Represents the objective understanding of our characteristics,
traits, and experiences—the “known”
o The “I” (Freud’s ego): Represents the subjective experiencer and decision-maker, often
referred to as the “knower”
• Developing a sense of self involves both external and internal processes:
o External feedback: The “Me” incorporates input and observations from others to shape the
self-concept
o Introspection: The “I” engages in introspection, examining personal beliefs, experiences,
and behaviours gain a deeper understanding of the self
CULTURE AND SELF-CONCEPT
• In collectivist cultures, self-concept tends to centre more around relation to others, viewing
themselves as interdependent (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)
o Conversely, those from individualistic cultures who centre themselves more around their
own attributes, independent from others
• For multiracial individuals, it can be difficult to balance multiple identities, and they often feel
pressure to choose one group
o However, this ability to switch between multiple racial identities can increase sensitivity to
social cues and help one to adapt to their surroundings (Gaither, 2015)
GENDER AND SELF-CONCEPT
• Women rate themselves as more trusting, anxious, and slightly more conscientious, whereas men
rate themselves as more assertive and a little more open to new experiences
o However, these differences are not significant, and men and women are more similar than
different (Hyde, 2005)
• Stereotypes often hold that women talk more than men, but contrarily, men and women talk
effectively the same amount (Mehl et al., 2007)
• Differences between men and women are often based on biology or genetics (Hyde, 2005);
however, people also learn about what behaviours and self-views are appropriate for their gender
through their culture
1
,4PAHPSOP Psychology and Society Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987)
• Suggests that biological differences in body type and childbearing ability have meant that, across
history and culture, men have traditionally taken on physically demanding tasks while women have
had more control over child-rearing and managing communal relationships
o This division of roles has contributed to the assumption that such behaviours are inherent
strengths of each gender
CONTEXT AND SELF-CONCEPT
• Some aspects of self-concept are relatively stable and central to who a person is, whereas others
can be descriptive but less self-defining
• The people around us can influence how we define ourselves
o Individuals often identify themselves based on attributes that set them apart from others in
their surroundings
• Solo status is the sense that one is unique from those in the current environment
o For example, children are more likely to highlight attributes like age, gender, or ethnicity
when these traits differ from the majority of their classmates (McGuire et al., 1978)
Self-Schema’s
• Markus (1977) posits that knowledge about self-defining attributes is mentally organised as a self-
schema—an integrated set of memories, beliefs, and generalisations about an attribute that is
central to one’s self-concept
• Shifting social contexts can change how we think and act
o A working self-concept refers to the part of a self-schema that is currently activated in an
individual’s behaviour (Markus & Kunda, 1986)
4.2. APPLY THE CONCEPTS OF REFLECTED APPRAISALS AND
SOCIAL COMPARISONS (UPWARD AND DOWNWARD) TO
UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE EVALUATE AND PERCEIVE
THEMSELVES.
• Three sources of self-knowledge have been identified to help people figure out what defines them
and distinguishes them from others
o The appraisals people get from others, their social comparisons, and their self-perceptions
APPRAISALS
Symbolic Interactionism
• Cooley (1902) and Mead (1934) suggested that people observe
and use others’ appraisals (views) of them to incorporate into
their self-concept—the ‘looking-glass self’
• The appraisals are used to understand one’s own attributes as
well as to judge their own actions
• The self-concept is more likely to change in response to the
appraisals of those who are close to or admired by them (Cooley, 1902)
o Even at an unconscious level, people consider how others view them and use this to judge
themselves (Baldwin et al., 1990)
2
,4PAHPSOP Psychology and Society Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
The Generalised Other
• Mead (1934) also suggested that people also form a mental image of the ‘generalised other’ (most
people in society) and consider how the collective also views them
o For example, overweight people are less happy if they live in a society that stigmatises
obesity and values thinness where obesity is common and accepted (Pinhey et al., 1997)
Gaps Between Reflected and Actual Appraisals
Misjudging Appraisals
• Appraisals can be incorrectly judged, causing us to have inaccurate self-knowledge
o We can often base our views on reflected appraisals—what we think others think about
us—which can be different from actual appraisals (Ichiyama, 1993)
• External characteristics are easily observed by others, meaning that they may have a more accurate
view of ourselves than we do (Vazire, 2010)
o This is particularly the case when there is a judgement placed on those characteristics, as
we may be biased when interpreting these characteristics for ourselves
o Internal characteristics, however, are not as easily readable by others, which makes us
often more accurate at judging these characteristics for ourselves (Vazire & Carlson, 2011)
Misreading Social Cues
• We can also misread how much people like us, underestimating how much new conversation
partners like us (Boothby et al., 2018)
o This is because the other person does not have access to information about previous
interactions and insecurities we have about ourselves
• We often falsely assume that other people will make sweeping judgements based on one or two
actions, but research suggests that people rarely go as far and will only make judgements about one
or two actions
Reducing the Gap
• Recognising that one holds unrealistic perceptions of their personality, both positive and negative,
can help reduce the gap between reflected appraisals and actual appraisals (Bollich et al., 2015)
• Perceiving moment-to-moment personality changes can also help
• Sometimes, others can be responsible for the gap by not recognising when someone has changed
o Between 14 to 29, people show large increases in emotional stability, and others often do
not recognise these changes, possibly because they are gradual (Rohrer et al., 2018)
SOCIAL COMPARISONS
The Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954)
• Suggests that people compare themselves with others to figure out who they are
• People often look to those who are similar to compare to as it provides the most informative
indication of their own traits, skills, and abilities
o One is particularly likely to make these comparisons in ambiguous situations where they do
not have objective indicators about where they stand (Morse & Gergen, 1970)
Upward Comparisons
• Upward comparisons are comparisons with those who are perceived to be better off than us,
making us feel inferior and inadequate
• This can lead to people feeling discouraged and giving up on goals
3
, 4PAHPSOP Psychology and Society Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
o For example, students given example excellent essays were more likely to quit an online
course than those who looked at lower-quality essays (Rogers & Feller)
• Diel et al. (2021) found that in university athletes, moderate upward comparison (to those slightly
better) led to increased motivation, whereas extreme upward comparison (to those significantly
better) led to decreased motivation
Downward Comparisons
• Downward comparisons are those with others who are worse off than us, which leads us to feel
better about ourselves, providing a sense of relief
• However, this can lead to a lack of motivation to improve
o Diel et al. (2021) found that downward comparisons led to ‘coasting’ and was associated
with less improvement in performance
Errors in Social Comparison
• People make errors when judging their own attributes through social comparison
The Better-Than-Average Effect
• This is a cognitive bias describing people’s tendency to rank themselves higher than most other
people on positive attributes (Alicke, 1985) to help us inflate our self-concept
o For example, Zenger (1992) found that 42% of engineers believed they ranked in the top 5%
of their peers, and Sedikides et al. (2014) found that prison inmates thought they were
kinder and more normal than the average person
• Often, those who rate themselves as above average are the worst performers (Dunning et al., 2003)
o This is because of a double curse: “The skills needed to produce correct responses are
virtually identical to those needed to evaluate the accuracy of one’s responses.”
• Sometimes, people can be so confident about a topic that they claim knowledge they can’t have
o People who claimed to be experts in areas claimed to know about concepts that, unknown
to them, were made up (Atir et al., 2015)
• Individuals from individualistic cultures tend to see themselves as superior in traits valued by their
culture, such as self-reliance, while those from collectivist cultures see themselves as better in
traits valued by collectivism, such as loyalty
Ignorance of Ignorance
• A lack of awareness about one’s own lack of knowledge can lead to overconfidence, as people may
mistakenly believe they are well-informed or skilled in areas where they are not
• As people learn and become aware of their ignorance, they tend to become more accurate about
themselves
4.3. DESCRIBE HOW SELF-PERCEPTION GUIDES INDIVIDUALS TO
USE THEIR OWN BEHAVIOUR AND BODILY EXPERIENCES TO FORM
THEIR SELF-CONCEPT.
SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY
• Bem (1972) suggests that we develop our sense of self through observations of our own behaviour,
particularly when our internal cues are unclear or weak
• We act as our own observers, forming impressions in the same way we do of others, to gain
explanations of why we act certain ways
4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
THE SELF
4.1. EXPLAIN HOW CULTURE, GENDER, AND SHIFTING SOCIAL
CONTEXTS SHAPE THE SELF-CONCEPT, AND DESCRIBE THE
SOCIAL SELF AND ITS EMBEDDEDNESS IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
THE SELF
• The self is a dynamic entity throughout our lives, changing through live events and social interactions
• William James (1890) distinguished between two aspects of the self:
o The “Me” (self-concept): Represents the objective understanding of our characteristics,
traits, and experiences—the “known”
o The “I” (Freud’s ego): Represents the subjective experiencer and decision-maker, often
referred to as the “knower”
• Developing a sense of self involves both external and internal processes:
o External feedback: The “Me” incorporates input and observations from others to shape the
self-concept
o Introspection: The “I” engages in introspection, examining personal beliefs, experiences,
and behaviours gain a deeper understanding of the self
CULTURE AND SELF-CONCEPT
• In collectivist cultures, self-concept tends to centre more around relation to others, viewing
themselves as interdependent (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)
o Conversely, those from individualistic cultures who centre themselves more around their
own attributes, independent from others
• For multiracial individuals, it can be difficult to balance multiple identities, and they often feel
pressure to choose one group
o However, this ability to switch between multiple racial identities can increase sensitivity to
social cues and help one to adapt to their surroundings (Gaither, 2015)
GENDER AND SELF-CONCEPT
• Women rate themselves as more trusting, anxious, and slightly more conscientious, whereas men
rate themselves as more assertive and a little more open to new experiences
o However, these differences are not significant, and men and women are more similar than
different (Hyde, 2005)
• Stereotypes often hold that women talk more than men, but contrarily, men and women talk
effectively the same amount (Mehl et al., 2007)
• Differences between men and women are often based on biology or genetics (Hyde, 2005);
however, people also learn about what behaviours and self-views are appropriate for their gender
through their culture
1
,4PAHPSOP Psychology and Society Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987)
• Suggests that biological differences in body type and childbearing ability have meant that, across
history and culture, men have traditionally taken on physically demanding tasks while women have
had more control over child-rearing and managing communal relationships
o This division of roles has contributed to the assumption that such behaviours are inherent
strengths of each gender
CONTEXT AND SELF-CONCEPT
• Some aspects of self-concept are relatively stable and central to who a person is, whereas others
can be descriptive but less self-defining
• The people around us can influence how we define ourselves
o Individuals often identify themselves based on attributes that set them apart from others in
their surroundings
• Solo status is the sense that one is unique from those in the current environment
o For example, children are more likely to highlight attributes like age, gender, or ethnicity
when these traits differ from the majority of their classmates (McGuire et al., 1978)
Self-Schema’s
• Markus (1977) posits that knowledge about self-defining attributes is mentally organised as a self-
schema—an integrated set of memories, beliefs, and generalisations about an attribute that is
central to one’s self-concept
• Shifting social contexts can change how we think and act
o A working self-concept refers to the part of a self-schema that is currently activated in an
individual’s behaviour (Markus & Kunda, 1986)
4.2. APPLY THE CONCEPTS OF REFLECTED APPRAISALS AND
SOCIAL COMPARISONS (UPWARD AND DOWNWARD) TO
UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE EVALUATE AND PERCEIVE
THEMSELVES.
• Three sources of self-knowledge have been identified to help people figure out what defines them
and distinguishes them from others
o The appraisals people get from others, their social comparisons, and their self-perceptions
APPRAISALS
Symbolic Interactionism
• Cooley (1902) and Mead (1934) suggested that people observe
and use others’ appraisals (views) of them to incorporate into
their self-concept—the ‘looking-glass self’
• The appraisals are used to understand one’s own attributes as
well as to judge their own actions
• The self-concept is more likely to change in response to the
appraisals of those who are close to or admired by them (Cooley, 1902)
o Even at an unconscious level, people consider how others view them and use this to judge
themselves (Baldwin et al., 1990)
2
,4PAHPSOP Psychology and Society Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
The Generalised Other
• Mead (1934) also suggested that people also form a mental image of the ‘generalised other’ (most
people in society) and consider how the collective also views them
o For example, overweight people are less happy if they live in a society that stigmatises
obesity and values thinness where obesity is common and accepted (Pinhey et al., 1997)
Gaps Between Reflected and Actual Appraisals
Misjudging Appraisals
• Appraisals can be incorrectly judged, causing us to have inaccurate self-knowledge
o We can often base our views on reflected appraisals—what we think others think about
us—which can be different from actual appraisals (Ichiyama, 1993)
• External characteristics are easily observed by others, meaning that they may have a more accurate
view of ourselves than we do (Vazire, 2010)
o This is particularly the case when there is a judgement placed on those characteristics, as
we may be biased when interpreting these characteristics for ourselves
o Internal characteristics, however, are not as easily readable by others, which makes us
often more accurate at judging these characteristics for ourselves (Vazire & Carlson, 2011)
Misreading Social Cues
• We can also misread how much people like us, underestimating how much new conversation
partners like us (Boothby et al., 2018)
o This is because the other person does not have access to information about previous
interactions and insecurities we have about ourselves
• We often falsely assume that other people will make sweeping judgements based on one or two
actions, but research suggests that people rarely go as far and will only make judgements about one
or two actions
Reducing the Gap
• Recognising that one holds unrealistic perceptions of their personality, both positive and negative,
can help reduce the gap between reflected appraisals and actual appraisals (Bollich et al., 2015)
• Perceiving moment-to-moment personality changes can also help
• Sometimes, others can be responsible for the gap by not recognising when someone has changed
o Between 14 to 29, people show large increases in emotional stability, and others often do
not recognise these changes, possibly because they are gradual (Rohrer et al., 2018)
SOCIAL COMPARISONS
The Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954)
• Suggests that people compare themselves with others to figure out who they are
• People often look to those who are similar to compare to as it provides the most informative
indication of their own traits, skills, and abilities
o One is particularly likely to make these comparisons in ambiguous situations where they do
not have objective indicators about where they stand (Morse & Gergen, 1970)
Upward Comparisons
• Upward comparisons are comparisons with those who are perceived to be better off than us,
making us feel inferior and inadequate
• This can lead to people feeling discouraged and giving up on goals
3
, 4PAHPSOP Psychology and Society Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 The Self
o For example, students given example excellent essays were more likely to quit an online
course than those who looked at lower-quality essays (Rogers & Feller)
• Diel et al. (2021) found that in university athletes, moderate upward comparison (to those slightly
better) led to increased motivation, whereas extreme upward comparison (to those significantly
better) led to decreased motivation
Downward Comparisons
• Downward comparisons are those with others who are worse off than us, which leads us to feel
better about ourselves, providing a sense of relief
• However, this can lead to a lack of motivation to improve
o Diel et al. (2021) found that downward comparisons led to ‘coasting’ and was associated
with less improvement in performance
Errors in Social Comparison
• People make errors when judging their own attributes through social comparison
The Better-Than-Average Effect
• This is a cognitive bias describing people’s tendency to rank themselves higher than most other
people on positive attributes (Alicke, 1985) to help us inflate our self-concept
o For example, Zenger (1992) found that 42% of engineers believed they ranked in the top 5%
of their peers, and Sedikides et al. (2014) found that prison inmates thought they were
kinder and more normal than the average person
• Often, those who rate themselves as above average are the worst performers (Dunning et al., 2003)
o This is because of a double curse: “The skills needed to produce correct responses are
virtually identical to those needed to evaluate the accuracy of one’s responses.”
• Sometimes, people can be so confident about a topic that they claim knowledge they can’t have
o People who claimed to be experts in areas claimed to know about concepts that, unknown
to them, were made up (Atir et al., 2015)
• Individuals from individualistic cultures tend to see themselves as superior in traits valued by their
culture, such as self-reliance, while those from collectivist cultures see themselves as better in
traits valued by collectivism, such as loyalty
Ignorance of Ignorance
• A lack of awareness about one’s own lack of knowledge can lead to overconfidence, as people may
mistakenly believe they are well-informed or skilled in areas where they are not
• As people learn and become aware of their ignorance, they tend to become more accurate about
themselves
4.3. DESCRIBE HOW SELF-PERCEPTION GUIDES INDIVIDUALS TO
USE THEIR OWN BEHAVIOUR AND BODILY EXPERIENCES TO FORM
THEIR SELF-CONCEPT.
SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY
• Bem (1972) suggests that we develop our sense of self through observations of our own behaviour,
particularly when our internal cues are unclear or weak
• We act as our own observers, forming impressions in the same way we do of others, to gain
explanations of why we act certain ways
4
