Overview
This lecture explores the self-concept in social psychology, including its development, structure, influence on behavior, and differences across cultures and individuals.
The Self-Concept and Its Development
- The self-concept is our knowledge representation about ourselves, including traits, roles, values, and our existence as individuals.
- It develops from basic self-recognition in infancy to complex self-schemas through childhood and adolescence.
- Self-schemas are specific cognitive aspects of the self, such as beliefs about abilities and group memberships.
- Cultural and gender differences shape the content of self-concept, emphasizing uniqueness or group identity.
Self-Complexity and Self-Concept Clarity
- Self-complexity is the number of distinct, relatively independent aspects in one's self-concept.
- High self-complexity can buffer stress and promote self-esteem by separating positive/negative feelings across life domains.
- Self-concept clarity refers to how clearly and consistently one's self-concept is defined.
- Greater clarity is linked to higher self-esteem and better relationship satisfaction.
Self-Awareness and Self-Consciousness
- Self-awareness is focusing attention on our self-concept, which can be heightened by mirrors or being observed.
- Self-consciousness refers to chronic tendencies to think about oneself, divided into private (inner thoughts/feelings) and public (others' perceptions).
- Cultural differences exist; public self-consciousness is higher in collectivist cultures.
- Deindividuation is the loss of individual self-awareness in groups, increasing conformity to group norms.
- Self-awareness leads to self-evaluation against internal standards, sometimes resulting in distress if self-discrepancy is perceived.
Self-Discrepancy, Self-Affirmation, and Coping
- Self-discrepancy theory states discrepancies between actual and ideal self cause discomfort.
- Self-affirmation theory involves affirming worth in unrelated domains to reduce threats to self-concept.
- Strategies to reduce self-discrepancy include realigning behavior, shifting ideals, or reducing self-awareness.
Overestimating Others' Attention
- People often overestimate how much others notice or judge them, known as the spotlight effect and illusion of transparency.
- This is especially pronounced in teenagers and those high in self-consciousness.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Self-concept — Knowledge representation of oneself, including traits, roles, and self-knowledge.
- Self-schema — Cognitive framework about a specific domain of the self.
- Self-complexity — Degree of multiplicity and independence among self-aspects.
- Self-concept clarity — How clearly and stably the self-concept is defined.
- Self-awareness — Focusing attention on one's self-concept.
- Self-consciousness — Chronic tendency to think about oneself; can be private or public.
- Deindividuation — Loss of individuality and self-awareness in groups, leading to group norm behavior.
- Self-discrepancy theory — Emotional distress arises from mismatches between actual and ideal self.
- Self-affirmation theory — Affirming worth in another domain to reduce threat to self-concept.
- Spotlight effect — Overestimating how much others notice us.
- Illusion of transparency — Overestimating how clearly others perceive our internal states.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Reflect on the most important aspects of your self-concept and how they affect your behavior.
- Consider examples from your life of self-complexity, clarity, and experiences of self-discrepancy.
- Apply the self-reference effect by relating study material to your own experiences.
- Observe and note any situations where you've overestimated others' attention to you.