Reading Guide Part 3 Self and Identity Symbols Selves and Social Reality 5 The Nature and Significance of the Self 1 What is the self Pg 127 A process of reflexive activity that includes our subjective stream of consciousness perceptions thoughts feelings plans and choices as well as our conception of self as a physical social and moral being In essence the self is a reflexive process that enables us to formulate monitor control and react to our own behavior 2 What are the two main ways that the self is a social process also referred to as a communicative process Pg 128 First the self is characterized by a continuous process of inner conversation a conversation between the I or initiating subject and the me or self as social object These two aspects of the self are intimately connected and can only be understood only in terms of one another 3 How does the twenty statements test work In what ways does it categorize the self What is identity salience Pg 132 134 Test works by taking out paper and numbering 1 20 Each line write a different answer to the question who am I and answer as if no one will read it except you Write responses quickly and in the order they occur to you Place A physical being B social roles statuses or groups C characteristic styles of action style habit mood and D don t seem relevant to social action or contexts The letter with the highest number is your primary mode of anchorage The answers illustrate important things about who you are They indicate the social groups and statuses with which you identify A reveals the physical self B reveals the social self C reveals the reflective self D reveals the oceanic self Identity salience The rank or prominence of a specific identity in your personal hierarchy of identities The more prominent or important a given identity the more often we will draw on it as we interact with others and coordinate our actions with them 4 What is the self concept Self efficacy Self esteem Self indication Self concept Pg 131 the overarching image that one has of oneself as a physical social spiritual or moral being Self efficacy Pg 140 our sense of being competent or in control as we act in the environment and interact with others Self esteem Pg 136 the positive or negative feelings we attach to ourselves and the judgments we make of our own worth We typically judge ourselves as good or bad better or worse respectable or unrespectable Self indication Pg 129 the process through which we define and make sense of things in the world around and inside us The process of thinking is based on self indication 5 What are reflective appraisals and social comparisons How do they shape self esteem What are possible selves Reflective appraisals Pg 136 are the idea that our self evaluations reflect the responses and reflected appraisals of others Self appraisals are based on our selective interpretations of others views and judgments Social comparisons Pg 138 means that we asses ourselves and our relative merits by invariably using reference points as a base of comparison Self esteem is not strongly associated with the actual appraisals of others Not everyone has the same significance to us so we give greater weight to assessments of our significant others such as close friends or family Social comparison has our self esteem dependent on three comparison levels the past self our personal goals and aspirations and our comparison to others Possible selves Pg 138 139 are thoughts that people have that they can obtain or avoid through weight loss the degree and the type of transformation they expect matters a great deal Possible selves that are specific and reflect personal experience and knowledge are more likely to be validated than more dramatic vague stereotypical expectations 6 What is impression management With what do people do it What regions are used in it Pg 143 Impression management is our efforts to talk and act in certain ways or to avoid talking and acting in certain ways so that others will form desired views of us and our situation People must depend on signs and symbols to assess the realty of who we are They must rely on the information that we communicate to them about ourselves particularly through presentations of a person front Our personal front consists of the expressive resources we consciously or unconsciously draw on in our everyday interactions and performances The setting appearance and manner are used in it Adler Patricia A Peter Adler 1989 The Gloried Self Social Psychology Quarterly 52 299 310 1 How did Adler Adler conduct their study Data collection 5 years of participant observation and possibly researcher roles 2 What is the gloried self Greedy self ascends salience hierarchy experienced as intoxicating violates norms against big egos 3 How does the reflected self and the media self play into the development of the gloried self The reflected self is seen as a hero with many people cheering on and the media self is the self portrayed in a certain manner in front of the media 4 What were the inhibiting and enhancing factors that shaped athletes self aggrandizement Inhibiting factors is like when the coach is yelling at you and telling you what to do and the enhancing factors is when the crowd is cheering you on 5 What are the three ways there is often a price of glory or a personal cost to those who adopt a gloried self Self immediacy diminished awareness self detachment Wilkins Amy Becoming Black Women Intimate Stories and Intersectional Identities Social Psychology Quarterly 1 What are intersectional identities How does Wilkins study how they are achieved What are controlling images and how are they involved on constructing intersectional identities 2 How does Wilkins collect and analyze her data How does she minimize her racial difference when conducting interviews 3 In what was do race and class shape the women s transition into college Hint think about the relative importance of race and class in high school and after beginning college 4 How did they negotiate meaning through interracial stories 5 What contributions does this study make with regard to understanding identities intersectionality and storytelling Symbols Selves and Social Reality 6 Role Taking Role Making and the Coordination of Action 1 What is the definition of the situation Do people always share it Why or why not How is the definition of the situation reciprocally linked to social interaction and social roles 2 What are roles How are social roles