Psych 301 9 17 3 SELF Self The nature of self Self The mental representation of personal experience including thought processes a physical body and conscious experience of individuality Minimal self Consciousness of self in here and now but separate from the environment Objectified self The cognitive capacity to be the object of one s own attention Symbolic or narrative self Capacity to form a mental representation of oneself through language Unique to humans Self awareness develops in infancy Self awareness The state in which the sense of self is the object of attention Reflected appraisals Views we believe others have of us Contribute to self awareness Self recognition Develops between 18 months and 2 years Only shown in a few species Age 2 Children recognize themselves in mirrors Begin to use personal pronouns to refer to themselves Age 3 Emergence of social emotions of embarrassment shame and guilt Age 4 Develop episodic memory of personal experiences Frontal lobes self awareness Executive functions of frontal lobes Selection and use of controllable mental operations Right frontal lobe is involved in recognition of our own image Wada test study Frontal lobes also involved in Memory storage Interpreting ongoing events Self concept is a knowledge structure Self concept The full store of knowledge that people have about themselves Self schema The cognitive aspect of the self concept An integrated set of memories beliefs and generalizations Working self concept The part of the self concept being processed at a given time Affects people s descriptions of themselves Self complexity The number of distinct perspectives a person uses in self definition Affects stability of self esteem Culture and self concept Interdependent self construals Self concept determined by social roles and personal relationships Characteristic of collectivist societies Independent self construals Self concept based on distinctions from others and personal accomplishments Characteristic of individualist societies What is the function of self esteem Self esteem and perceived social regard Self esteem The evaluative aspect of self concept Whether people perceive themselves in positive or negative ways Sociometer theory Self esteem serves as a monitor of social acceptance or rejection Helps people manage their public image Positive views of self Self enhancement motive People are motivated to seek out information that confirms their positive self view Better than average effect Most people describe themselves as better than average in most areas Automatic favoritism for things we associate with ourselves Positive illusions People tend to overestimate their own skills and abilities Self defeating when people set unrealistic goals People tend to have unrealistic perceptions of personal control Basis for aspects of gambling and superstitious behaviors People tend to be unrealistically optimistic about their own futures Strategies to maintain self esteem Social comparison Evaluating one s own actions or accomplishments by contrasting them with those of others Upward comparison Downward comparison Self serving bias Tendency to take credit for our successes and to blame circumstances for our failures
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