Lecture 2: The Social Self

1
Lecture 2 The Social Self

• Outline
• 1. Introduction What is the self?
• A. 20 Statement Test
• B. Definition
• 2. The Self is Necessarily Social
• A. No Self Without Society
• B. Self is Viewed in Relation to Others
• i. Symbolic Interaction
• ii. Social Comparison
• 3. But, the Self is Self-Serving (Pleasure
  seeking)
• A. Average Self-Esteem
• B. Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model
• 4. Therefore, the Self has to Balance its Desire
  for Pleasure with the Reality of Social
  Relations

c.w.Leach oct 2004
2
Lecture 2 The Social Self
Outline 1. Introduction What is the self? A.
20 Statement Test I am B. Definition 2.
The Self is Necessarily Social A. No Self
Without Society B. Self is Viewed in Relation to
Others i. Symbolic Interaction ii. Social
Comparison 3. But, the Self is Self-Serving
(Pleasure seeking) A. Average Self-Esteem B.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model 4. Therefore,
the Self has to Balance its Desire for Pleasure
with the Reality of Social Relations
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
The Self is often assessed with the 20
Statements Test I am
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
1B. Definition The Self is Ones (subjective)
experience of ones (objective) existence in the
world
I am ME is a reasonable response to
20 Statements Test
(subjective) I am (objective) ME
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
Outline 1. Introduction What is the self? A.
20 Statement Test I am B. Definition 2.
The Self is Necessarily Social A. No Self
Without Society B. Self is Viewed in Relation to
Others i. Symbolic Interaction ii. Social
Comparison 3. But, the Self is Self-Serving
(Pleasure seeking) A. Average Self-Esteem B.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model 4. Therefore,
the Self has to Balance its Desire for Pleasure
with the Reality of Social Relations
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
2. The Self is Necessarily Social A. No Self
Without Society Question What kind of
person would an Infant be if they lived their
whole life alone on a desert island?
Answer not a person at all
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
2B. Self is Viewed in Relation to Others
Symbolic Interaction
I am
me
The Looking-Glass Self (Cooley, 1902)
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
the Symbolic Interaction
him
him
him
him
me
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
the Social Self
him
him
him
him
ME
Imputed sentiment
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
2B. Self is Viewed in Relation to Others
Social Comparison
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
2B. Self is Viewed in Relation to Others
Social Comparison
The American Soldier (Stouffer and
colleagues, 1949) - Who was more satisfied with
their rank? Air Corps Fast Promotions
Military Police Slow Promotions
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
Outline 1. Introduction What is the self? A.
20 Statement Test I am B. Definition 2.
The Self is Necessarily Social A. No Self
Without Society B. Self is Viewed in Relation to
Others i. Symbolic Interaction ii. Social
Comparison 3. But, the Self is Self-Serving
(Pleasure seeking) A. Average Self-Esteem B.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model 4. Therefore,
the Self has to Balance its Desire for Pleasure
with the Reality of Social Relations
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving A. Average
Self-Esteem
Psychologists often use the Rosenberg (1965)
scale to assess self-esteem
- 10 questions I am a person of worth, at
least on an equal basis with others strongly
disagree somewhat disagree neither somewhat
agree strongly agree 1 2
3 4 5
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving A. Average
Self-Esteem
Scale Mid-point
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving A. Average
Self-Esteem (Heine and colleagues, 1999)
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving A. Average
Self-Esteem (Heine and colleagues, 1999)
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving B.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model (Tesser, 1991)
People like to think well of themselves
evaluate themselves positively Other people,
and how well they do relative to us, affect our
ability to maintain this positive
self-evaluation - Thus, we look for ways to
attain positive self- evaluation in our
relations with others
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving B.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model (Tesser, 1991)
3 aspects of inter-personal situation determine
self-evaluation i. Performance better-worse
than you? ii. Closeness close-distant to you?
iii. Relevance relevant-irrelevant to you?
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
Tesser Collins (1988) When 3 variables
combined experimentally design 2 x 2 x 2
relevant
irrelevant
relevant
irrelevant
Close Distant
irrelevant
relevant
irrelevant
relevant
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
3. But, the Self is Self-Serving B.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model
Implications of Tesser Collins (1988) -
People are self-serving - Comparison Process -
But, people are also communal - Reflection
Process - But, people are also realistic -
Feel bad when outperformance is relevant
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
Outline 1. Introduction What is the self? A.
20 Statement Test I am B. Definition 2.
The Self is Necessarily Social A. No Self
Without Society B. Self is Viewed in Relation to
Others i. Symbolic Interaction ii. Social
Comparison 3. But, the Self is Self-Serving
(Pleasure seeking) A. Average Self-Esteem B.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model 4. Therefore,
the Self has to Balance its Desire for Pleasure
with the Reality of Social Relations
c.w.Leach oct 2004
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
4. Therefore, the Self has to Balance its Desire
for Pleasure with the Reality of Social
Relations
We want to be good, but we must also be true
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Lecture 2 The Social Self
Freud Pleasure Principles vs. Reality
Principles
him
him
him
him
me
Imputed sentiment
c.w.Leach oct 2004