Exploring the Self

Module 4.6c

LEARNING TARGETS:

• Explain why psychology has generated so much research on the self.
• Explain the importance of self-esteem to our well-being.
• Explain how blindness to one’s own incompetence & self-serving bias reveal the costs of self-esteem.
• Explain the difference between defensive and secure self-esteem.
• Explain how individualistic & collectivist cultures shape values & goals.

The Self

• The self is now one of Western psychology’s most researched topics
• Self – in modern psychology, the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions
• Possible selves:
• visions of the self you dream of becoming
• (rich, successful, admired, etc.)
• self you fear becoming
• (unemployed, lonely, academically failed, etc.)
• Motivate us by giving us specific goals to work towards

Spotlight effect

• Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders
• (like a spotlight shining on us)
• Fewer people notice our clothing, nervousness, irritation, attraction, embarrassing moments, etc. than we think

In a study, people thought 50% of their classmates would notice their embarrassing shirt when only 23% noticed.

Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem – one’s feelings of high or low self-worth (beliefs about self-worth)
• High self-esteem = sleep better, are more persistent on difficult tasks, are less shy, anxious, and lonely, and are happier
• Low self-esteem = are more likely to be critical, oversensitive, and disparage others
• If self-esteem is threatened, people are more likely to be violent & excessively critical of others
• Two types:
• defensive self-esteem – focus is on keeping your image/esteem up so failure & criticism are seen as threatening
• secure self-esteem - not worried about external evaluations so enables us to focus on ourself & not other’s views of us.

Self-esteem continues to climb until our 50’s and 60’s.

Self-Efficacy

• Self-efficacy – one’s sense of competence and effectiveness in a specific situation (beliefs about capability)
• The sense that one can control the outcome of one’s environment
• High self-efficacy predicts achievement in school

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• Develops in childhood but it continues as a lifelong process.
• A person’s cognitive skills, abilities & attitudes create our self-system
• We develop new behaviors and strengthen our self-efficacy by observing others and through mastery experiences.
• Different from Self-Esteem which is more global – How you feel about yourself in overall.

• Rewards alone don’t produce efficacy or esteem if the reward is not earned.
• People who are down on themselves tend to be down on others.

• The perception that we control our own fate (leads to high self-efficacy)

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External Locus of Control

• The perception that chance, or forces beyond a person’s control, control one’s fate

Internal Locus of Control

Dunning-Kruger Effect

• “Unskilled & Unaware of it.”
• “Ignorance of one’s own incompetence.”
• “When the dumbest person in the room thinks they’re the smartest.”
• You need some competence to know if you are incompetent.
• Best way to avoid this is to ask others their honest opinion of how you are doing.

Self-Serving Bias

• Self-serving bias – a readiness to perceive oneself favorably
• We tend to see ourselves in a positive light
• Some examples:
• People accept more responsibility for good deeds than for bad, and for successes than failures
• Tend to praise ourselves for a good grade on a test or criticize the test if we do poorly
• Most people see themselves as better than average
• We overestimate ourselves and underestimate others

Group Serving Bias

• Our belief that our in-group is superior to others.
• In-group love feeds out-group hate.

Extreme Self-Serving Bias

• Narcissism – excessive self-love and self-absorption
• Narcissism is rising, just like self-serving perceptions
• Studies have found that agreement with narcissistic statements is correlated with materialism, desire to be famous, inflated expectations, more gambling, and more cheating
• Narcissists lash out when criticized or when they feel slighted.

Criticisms of Self-Serving Bias

• Critics of self-serving bias point out that some people feel worthless and unlovable.
• Why do people disparage themselves? This could be because:
• Self-Handicapping - Self-directed put-downs may be subtly strategic and contain some reassurance
• Before a big event, self-disparaging comments prepare us for possible failure
• Some self-disparaging comments can help us learn from our mistakes
• Sometime its false humility – a humblebrag – “I barely studied and got an A!”
• Self-disparagement often pertains to one’s old self

Culture and the Self

• Individualism – giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals
• Defines one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications
• Typically people from North America, Western Europe, Australia, or New Zealand
• Collectivism – giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group)
• Defining one’s identity according to the group
• Typically people in Asian cultures