Chapter 3 The Social Self William Thompson impaired short term memory of recent events confused lacked inter continuity uncomfortable in social changes kept changing his personality There is a biological element of the self ABCs of the self affect behavior cognition The Self Concept The cocktail party effect shows that humans are selective in attention Self concept refers to the total of beliefs that people have about themselves Hazel Markus believed the self concept is made up of cognitive molecules called self schemas beliefs about oneself that guide the processing of self relevant info We are affected by self schemas through the perception and evaluation of others Information about ourselves is processed quickly and is likely to be remembered Certain parts of the brain are more active when we process self relevant info Gordon Gallup only humans and apes are capable of full self recognition Recent studies included dolphins and elephants that show some self recognition Collectivist cultures didn t question it because of their sense for compliance First step in development of self concept recognize oneself as a distinct entity Second step in self concept development involves social factors Charles Cooley s looking glass effect other people serve as a mirror in which we see ourselves George Mead we imagine what significant others think of us and then incorporate these perceptions into our self concept Our self concepts match our perceptions of what others think of us However what we think of ourselves does not often match what others 1 actually think of us Introspection Self knowledge is derived from introspection looking inward at your own thoughts and feelings research says otherwise Wilson argued that introspection can impair self knowledge humans are so busy processing info that we fail to understand our own thoughts feelings and behaviors being overly analytical Dunning showed that people tend to overestimate the positives most people think they are better than average People have difficulty with affective forecasting projecting forward and predicting how they would feel in response to future emotional events o Impact bias shows people overestimate the strength and duration of their future emotional reactions Ex Losing your school s football game a breakup o When it comes to negative events people do not fully appreciate the extent of our coping mechanisms resiliency o People are even more likely to overlook coping mechanisms of others we tend to think others suffer longer than we do 2 Perceptions of Our Own Behavior Daryl Bem s self perception theory states people can learn about themselves the same way observers do by watching their own behavior Ex I just ate my dinner very fast I must have been hungry However people do not infer their own internal states from behavior that occurred during the presence of a reward or punishment Ex I just ate my dinner very fast because I was paid I wasn t that hungry Current research by Goldstein and Cialdini demonstrates that people make inferences about themselves based on behavior of others they identify with Vazire s SOKA Self Other Knowledge Asymmetry Internal traits we know ourselves better than others know us o o External Evaluative traits socialness no self other difference o External Non evaluative traits creativity others know us better Facial Feedback Hypothesis by Laird states that changes in facial expression can trigger corresponding changes in the subjective experience of emotion evokes and magnifies certain emotional states Ex If I am smiling I must be happy Zajonc maintained that facial movements spark emotion by producing physiological changes in the brain smiling actually increases flow of air cooled blood to the brain lowering brain temperature and making you happy Intrinsic motivation factors within a person own interests spark motivation Extrinsic motivation factors outside a person money or recognition spark motivation Over justification effect is the tendency for intrinsic motivation to diminish for activities that have been associated with reward or other extrinsic factors People are likely to be more creative when intrinsically motivated rather than extrinsically motivated However compliments competitions bonus for superior performance can all show reward can enhance intrinsic motivation 3 Influences of Other People Change one s social surroundings and you can change their spontaneous self description self is a relative social construct Leon Festinger s Social Comparison Theory when objective info is not readily available people evaluate their own abilities opinions by comparing themselves to other similar people Schachter and Singer s Two Factor Theory of Emotion experience of emotion is based on both physiological arousal and a cognitive interpretation of that arousal o This interpretation of emotional state is determined by the reactions of others around them Misery loves miserable company Why do I feel weird right now o o Drug uninformed group felt happy or angry depending on confederate s behavior showed uncertainty about own emotions When people are unclear about their emotional states they sometimes interpret how they feel by watching other people 4 Autobiographical Memories Recollections of the sequences of events that have touched your life We typically recall more events from recent past than distant past o Older adults remember more from adolescence early adulthood o People remember their firsts Flashbulb memories are enduring detailed high resolution recollections that are not necessarily accurate or consistent over time People are motivated to distort the past in ways that are self inflated self concept with inflation When past memories contradict the present we tend not to linger on the past events 5 Culture and the Self Concept Individualism o o o Industrialized Western cultures Identity is self contained Independent Self I AM statements come first o Goal of social life is to enhance individual self o Value uniqueness o Stable self esteem enduring across different situations that is more personal and less relational Collectivism I AM statements come last Identity is defined more in relation to others Interdependent Self o Asia Africa Central and South America o o More self critical less need for positive self regard o o Greater sense of belonging many different selves o Self embedded in social memberships o Conversation is less direct more polite o Goal of social life is to support the community o