What is the self-concept?
hat we know and believe about ourselves
➢ “Who am I”
➢ Our attributes, abilities, values, goals
➢ Descriptive & evaluative components (how you feel about those attributes)
What is the looking-glass self?
(3 ways it works)
Develop self-concept through interactions with others
- Imagine how we appear to others (”How do others see me?”)
- Interpret others’ reactions (”How do they
judge/evaluate me”?) - Develop & revise self-concept based on these perceptions & judgments
How do people play an active role in their self concept?
(the looking glass self)
Ppl don’t just internalize whatever they see
They select and interpret perceived judgements and perceptions of others
- Ppl try manage other’s perceptions of them through self-presentation strategies
Classroom example of the looking glass self
How the teacher thinks:
- “How do my students see me?”
- “How are they judging the image they have of me?”
➢ Look to and interpret their reactions—are they nodding, smiling, frowning,
do they look bored, asleep?
- Shapes self-feeling (e.g., pride, mortification) and self-concept (“I’m funny”,
“I’m dull”) - Pay attention to some reactions and not others
What is Symbolic interactionism?
The self is a social construction
“Front Stage”
We have imagined and real audiences
Study on the social construction of self:
- Friend vs older family member
Part one: Visualize a friend or older family member
Filler task
Then rate the following passages:
- About eco conservation
- Suggestive
Found: Ppl enjoyed erotic passage more when thought of their friend
(Private beliefs shape our thoughts)
What is trait level self esteem?
➢ Enduring level of self-regard
➢ Fairly stable
What is state level self esteem?
➢ Dynamic, changing feelings about the self
➢ Vary moment to moment
What is sociometer theory?
Self-esteem as a “gauge” to assess the degree of acceptance by others
How accepted we think we are
Study on Sociometer theory:
How does rejection influence how accepted we think we are?
Exchange description of yourself with other group members, indicate which group members you want to work with
➢ Then told they had to work alone either
1) because of random assignment,
2) because other group members did not choose them (rejection condition)
➢ Rejected participants felt worse about themselves (inferior, worthless, etc)
Valuation of personal attributes
What is the Intrapersonal view of self-esteem?
private self-valuation
➢E.g., ratio of one’s successes to one’s failures
Valuation of personal attributes
What is the Interpersonal view of self-esteem?
These effect self esteem to the extent that one considers these attributes to be
judged positively or negatively by other people
Valuation of personal attributes
Interpersonal example:
(Study)
1) filled out global measure of self-esteem, 2) rated themselves in 5
domains (e.g., physical attractiveness, intelligence, morality),
3) indicated how
important those domains were for social approval or disapproval
If you think people around you really value attractiveness, you’ll tie it to self esteem more
What are traits that have high approval value?
These ppl really value attractiveness
What are traits that have low approval value?
Ppl around them don’t really care about attractiveness
Valuation of personal attributes:
- Grad student study
Phase one: Asked about research ideas (grad students will tie a lot of self esteem to their ideas - high approval value too)
Phase two: Primed with approving / disapproving face of someone high in their department
Phase three: Asked how good their idea was?
Approve condition: Felt good about idea: “i’m so clever”
Disapprove condition: My idea is stupid and I’m stupid
What happens when people have low trait self esteem?
How might they act in a relationship
(though the looking glass darkly)
See themselves negatively & believe that others do too
* May defend against relationship anxieties triggered by self-doubts by devaluing the relationship
Study on low self esteem people and how they handle self-doubts about intellectual abilities and what it triggers?
completed purported measure of intelligence
* Three conditions: failure feedback, success feedback, neutral (no feedback)
* For low SE individuals, self-doubts about intellectual abilities triggered:
1. Anxieties about partner rejection, lower confidence in partner’s regard
2. Lower valuation of the relationship, derogation of the partner
3. Failure feedback caused less confidence in their partners regard of them, which caused them to devalue relationship
What is the Dependency regulation model?
Core idea: people are willing to become emotionally dependent on a romantic
partner only when they feel confident that the relationship is stable and likely to endure
How does the Dependency regulation model change depending on cultural context?
Study
In collectivist cultures they might value
- Partners positive regard
- AND family approval
Western cultures: mostly just partners positive regard
FOUND:
Australia:
Higher self-esteem → higher relationship value, satisfaction, trust.
➢ Mediated only by reflected appraisals (partner’s perceived regard)
Indonesia:
Higher self-esteem → higher relationship value, but mediated by both
partner’s positive regard and family approval
*** Lack of confidence in either partner or family’s regard reduced willingness
to invest emotionally
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Class 114
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Class 261
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Class 315
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Class 433
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Class 529
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Class 619
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Class 724
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Class 823
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Class 915
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Class 1021
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Class 1133
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Class 1226
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Class 1322
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Class 14: Attachment 138
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Class 1526
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Class 1631
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Class 17: Sexuality 138
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Class 1842
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Class 19: Conflict 153
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Class 2041
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Class 21: Gaslighting8
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Class 22: Power, Influence, & Violence 132
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Class 2316
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Class 24: Relationship dissolution 17
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Class 2543
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Singlehood16
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Couples Therapy8
