## Several concepts about *Self* :bearded_person: ### Self-motives, self-presentation, self-esteem, personal and social identity <!-- Put the link to this slide here so people can follow --> **Rizqy Amelia Zein** Department of Personality and Social Psychology Universitas Airlangga Slides: https://hackmd.io/@ameliazein/kogsos-8-9 ---  To download the slides (.pdf), swipe down and click :printer: icon. --- ## Self motives :monkey_face: <div style="text-align: left"> Social psychologists have identified **==:three: classes of motive==** that interact to influence self-construction and the search for self-knowledge: * **==Self-assessment==** motivates pursuit of **valid information** about self; * **==Self-verification==** motivates pursuit of information that is **consistent** with our own self-image; * **==Self-enhancement==** motivates pursuit of information that **makes us look good**. </div> --- ## Self motives :monkey_face: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Self-assessment==** :point_right: The motivation to seek out new information about ourselves in order to find out what sort of person we really are. * **==Self-verification==** :point_right: Seeking out information that verifies and confirms what we already know about ourselves. * **==Self-enhancement==** :point_right: The motivation to develop and promote a favourable image of self. </div> --- ## Self motives :monkey_face: <div style="text-align: left"> * One manifestation of the self-enhancement motive is described by **==self-affirmation theory==** ([Sherman & Cohen, 2006](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260106380045)). - People **==reduce the impact of threat==** to their self-concept by focusing on and **==affirming their competence==** in some other area. - e.g. I'm really bad at math, but I'm an excellent driver </div> --- ## Self motives :monkey_face: <div style="text-align: left"> * Which motive is **more fundamental** and more likely to prevail in the pursuit of self-knowledge - self-assessment, self-verification or self-enhancement? </div> --- ## Self motives :monkey_face: <div style="text-align: left"> * In a series of :six: experiments, [Constantine Sedikides (1993)](https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.317) pitted the :three: motives against one another. * The focus of self-reflection differs **==depending on what self-motive is operating==**. * Sedikides found that **==self-enhancement was strongest==**, with self-verification a distant second and self-assessment an even more remote third. </div> --- ## Self motives :monkey_face: <div style="text-align: left"> * Because self-enhancement is so important, people have developed a formidable repertoire of **==strategies and techniques to pursue it==**. * People engage in elaborate self-deceptions to enhance or protect the positivity of their self-concepts ([Baumeister, 1998](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-11906-005)). </div> --- ## Self-enhancement bias :zap: <div style="text-align: left"> * Why we are so motivated to self-enhance? * People who are threatened or distracted often display **==automatic egotism==** – a widely favourable self-image. * The **==above-average effect==** ([Harré, Foster, & O'Neill, 2005](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/000712605X36019)) </div> ---  --- ## Threats to self-concepts :fearful: <div style="text-align: left"> * There are :three: major sources of threat to our self-concept; *==failures, inconsistencies, and stressors==*. * But there are several ways to cope with it. Many of them are; *==escaping, denial, downplaying the threat, self-expression, and attacking the threat==*. </div> --- ## Threats to self-concepts :fearful: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Self-handicapping==** :point_right: publicly making advance external attributions for our anticipated failure or poor performance in a forthcoming event. </div> --- ## Self-presentation :warning: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Self-presentation==** :point_right: a deliberate effort to act in ways that create a particular impression, usually favourable, of ourselves. - There are :two: classes of motive for self-presentation: **==strategic and expressive==**. * **==Impression management==** :point_right: people’s use of various strategies to get other people to view them in a positive light. </div> --- ## Self-presentation :warning: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Self-monitoring==** :point_right: carefully controlling how we present ourselves. * There are situational differences and individual differences in self-monitoring. - **==High self-monitors==** adopt strategic self-presentation strategies because they typically shape their behaviour to project the **impression** they feel their audience or the situation demands. </div> --- ## Self-presentation :warning: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Low self-monitors==** adopt expressive self-presentation strategies because their behaviour is **less responsive** to changing contextual demands. </div> --- ### Strategic self-presentation :microphone: <div style="text-align: left"> :five: strategic motives: * **==Self-promotion==** – trying to persuade others that you are competent; * **==Ingratiation==** – trying to get others to like you; * **==Intimidation==** – trying to get others to think you are dangerous; </div> --- ### Strategic self-presentation :microphone: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Exemplification==** – trying to get others to regard you as a morally respectable individual; and * **==Supplication==** – trying to get others to take pity on you as helpless and needy </div> --- ### Expressive self-presentation :100: <div style="text-align: left"> * Strategic self-presentation focuses on **manipulating others’ perceptions** of you. * In contrast, ==expressive self-presentation== involves demonstrating and validating our self-concept **==through our actions==** – the focus is more on oneself than on others. </div> --- ### Expressive self-presentation :100: <div style="text-align: left"> * We usually seek out people whom we believe are likely to validate who we are. * But, a particular identity or self-concept is **==worthless unless it is recognised==** and validated by others. * Identity requires **==social validation==** for it to persist and serve a useful function. </div> --- ### Social and personal identities :dancers: <div style="text-align: left"> Social identity theorists have argued that there are :two: broad classes of identity that define different types of self: * **==Social identity==**, which defines self in terms of group memberships; * **==Personal identity==**, which defines self in terms of idiosyncratic traits and close personal relationships. </div> ---  --- ### Social and personal identities :dancers: <div style="text-align: left"> [Brewer and Gardner (1996)](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-01782-006) asked the question **==‘Who is this “We”?’==** and distinguished three forms of self: * **==Individual self==** – based on personal traits that differentiate the self from all others. * **==Relational self==** – based on connections and role relationships with significant others. * **==Collective self==** – based on group membership that differentiates ‘us’ from ‘them’. </div> --- ### Social and personal identities :dancers: <div style="text-align: left"> More recently it has been proposed that there are :four: types of identity ([Chen, Boucher, & Tapias, 2006](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-03023-001)): * **==Person-based social identities==** – emphasising the internalisation of group properties by individual group members as part of their self-concept. * **==Relational social identities==** – defining the self in relation to specific other people with whom one interacts in a group context. </div> --- ### Social and personal identities :dancers: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Group-based social identities==** – equivalent to social identity as defined above. * **==Collective identities==** – referring to a process whereby group members not only share self-defining attributes but also engage in social action to forge an image of what the group stands for and how it is represented and viewed by others. </div> --- ## Social Identity Theory :ocean: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Social identity theory==** :point_right: theory of group membership and intergroup relations based on self-categorization, social comparison and the construction of a shared self-definition in terms of ingroup-defining properties. * **==Self-categorization==** :point_right: Turner’s theory of how the process of categorizing oneself as a group member **produces social identity** and group and intergroup behaviours. </div> --- ### Social identity salience :person_climbing: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Meta-contrast principle==** :point_right: The prototype of a group is that position within the group that has the largest ratio of ‘differences to ingroup positions’ to ‘differences to outgroup positions’. * e.g. when living abroad, an Indonesian would feel their ethnic identity is less salient than their national identity. * [Minimal group paradigm](https://www.jove.com/v/10310/creating-the-minimal-group-paradigm) :point_right: a minimal condition required to lead to ingroup biases. </div> ---  --- ## Self-esteem :muscle: <div style="text-align: left"> * **==Self-esteem==** :point_right: feelings about and evaluations of oneself. * Self-esteem is closely associated with **==social identity==** – by identifying with a group, that group’s **==prestige and status==** in society attaches to one’s self-concept. </div> --- ## Self-esteem :muscle: <div style="text-align: left"> * e.g. being identified as belonging to the group of homeless is less likely to generate *==positive self-esteem==* than being identified as belonging to the group of Ivy-league graduates. </div> --- ## Why self-esteem:question: <div style="text-align: left"> * [Terror management theory](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1088868309352321?casa_token=Rt7TZU1TtIMAAAAA:CTjkNRCzdoRhCowrhFbxzEiRQf_idi2sO4X02B9v8cOoB-d0HMS-s5qxNINzKbHeDrHuGL0gdl3O) (or **==mortality salience==**) :point_right: the notion that the most fundamental human motivation is **==to reduce==** the terror of the **==inevitability of death==**. - Self-esteem may be centrally implicated in effective terror management. * However, mortality salience is [**unable to replicate**](https://psyarxiv.com/vef2c). </div> --- ## Why self-esteem:question: <div style="text-align: left"> * Self-esteem is that it is a reliable index, or internal monitor, of social acceptance and belonging (**==sociometer==**). </div> ---  --- ## Cultural differences :japan: <div style="text-align: left"> [Markus and Kitayama (1991)](https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224) describe how people in individualistic cultures have **==an independent self==**, whereas people in collectivist cultures have **==an interdependent self==** (see [week 7](https://hackmd.io/@ameliazein/kogsos-7)). </div>  ---  --- ### Thank you! :tada: Should you have any questions, drop them in: - [Spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LqcvLnfamGoE3rxKFg9eVtttMbmkPfcF7OxMY1yVGYM/edit?usp=sharing); or - [Drop-in session (every Friday at 11-12)](https://meet.google.com/iis-oxiz-emc); or - [Email](mailto:amelia.zein@psikologi.unair.ac.id)