PSY 439 - Chapter 2. The self in a social world

PSY 439 - Chapter 2. The self in a social world Chapter 2: The Self in a Social World SPOTLIGHTS AND ILLUSIONS: WHAT DO THEY TEACH US ABOUT OURSELVES? • Spotlight effect – The belief that others are paying more attention to our appearance and behavior than they really are. • Illusion of transparency – The illusion that our concealed emotions leak out and can easily be read by others. Interplay between sense of self and our social worlds: - Social surroundings affect our awareness – we notice how we differ and how others react to our difference. - Self-interest color our judgment – when things go bad, we blame other; when things go well, we attribute it to ourselves. - Self-concern motivates our social behavior – we adjust our appearances to please others. - Social relationships help define our sense of self – we have varying selves per relationship. When relationships change, we change as well. - Self – most heavily researched topic in psychology. Our sense of self: - Organizes our thoughts, feelings, and actions and - Enables us to remember our past, assess our present, and project our future - = and thus to behave adaptively. • Mysticism (Jonathan Haidt, 2006) – “… everywhere and always, is about losing the self, transcending the self, and merging with something larger than the self.” SELF-CONCEPT: WHO AM I? At the Center of Our Worlds: Our Sense of Self • Self-concept – what we know and believe about ourselves. • Medial prefrontal cortex – neuron path located in the cleft of our brain, just behind the eyes, that becomes more active when we think about ourselves. • Self-schemas – beliefs about the self that organize and guide the processing of self- relevant information. o Schemas – mental templates by which we organize our world. o Is a part of the self-concept (from sir)