PSY 1410 Week 6
The Self: Understanding Ourselves in a
Understanding Social Social Context
Behavior Leman Korkmaz
lemank@[Link]
Some Questions
How do you come to know yourselves? What are the
❖
sources of knowledge that you use?
❖ What makes you “you”?
What’s on the Agenda for this Week?
❖ Self-Concept: What is the self-concept, and how does it develop?
To what extent do people know themselves through introspection, and
❖
what are the consequences of introspection?
In what ways do people come to know themselves by observing their
❖
behavior?
❖ In what ways do people use others to know themselves?
❖ Self-Control: When are people likely to succeed at self-control, and when are
they likely to fail?
❖ Impression Management: How do people portray themselves so that others
will see them as they want to be seen?
Take-Home Assignment: Self-Discovery Exercise
Assignment: Due Date 13th of November, 23:59.
❖ 1- Introspection: Take time to re ect on yourself through
introspection. Record your primary thoughts, feelings,
and motivations as you explore your sense of self.
Alternatively, you may choose to complete a Twenty
Statements Test (TST). After this re ection, write a brief
description of you.
❖ 2- External Perception: Ask two people who know you
well—such as close friends, parents, or siblings—to
write a brief description of you.
❖ 3- Comparison and Evaluation: Compare these external
perceptions with your own self-re ection. Identify
similarities and differences, then discuss what you
learned from this exercise. What aspects did you nd
most surprising or interesting? Summarize your insights
in a written evaluation and submit your ndings.
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The Self
How did you come to be this person you call
“myself”?
The Origins of the Self
❖ Children’s self-concept
❖ Concrete
❖ References to characteristics like age,
sex, neighborhood, and hobbies
❖ Maturing self-concept
❖ Less emphasis on physical
characteristics
❖ More emphasis on psychological
states and how other people judge us
Cultural In uences on Self-Concept
❖ Cultural In uences on Self-Concept: An important in uence on our self-
concept is the culture in which we grew up.
Independent View of the Self
De nes self through own internal
thoughts, feelings, and actions and not
other people’s
Independence and uniqueness valued
Held in many Western cultures
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Self-Concept
❖ Cultural In uences on Self-Concept
Interdependent View of the Self
De nes self through relationships to other
people
Recognizes that others’ thoughts, feelings,
and actions affect one’s behavior
Connectedness and interdependence valued
Uniqueness is disapproved
Held in many Asian and non-Western
cultures
But there are also differences within cultures!
Not all Westerners are independent, and not all Easterners are interdependent.
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Cultural In uences on Self-Concept
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Cultural In uences on Self-Concept
❖ Olcay İmamoğlu's Balanced Integration-Differentiation
Model explains self-de nition through two key
dimensions:
❖ Individuation (Differentiation): The need for personal
autonomy and uniqueness.
❖ Relatedness (Integration): The need for connection
and close relationships.
❖ A balanced self-concept emerges when individuals are
high in both individuation and relatedness. An
imbalance (low in either or both) may lead to
psychological distress.
Marilynn Brewer’s Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT): People have two competing needs: the need for belonging
(identifying with a group) and the need for distinctiveness (maintaining individuality). Example: A student joining a
university club may feel a sense of belonging but still seek a unique role (e.g., becoming the social media manager) to
maintain individuality.
İmamoğlu, O. (1998). Individualism and collectivism in a model and scale of balanced differentiation and integration. The Journal of Social
Psychology, 132(1), 95-105.
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Functions of the Self
❖ What exactly does the self do? Four main functions:
1. Self-knowledge
❖ The way we understand who we are and organize this information
2. Self Control
❖ The way we make plans and execute decisions such as your
decision to read this book
3. Impression management
❖ The way we present ourselves to others and get them to see us as
we want to be seen
4. Self-esteem
❖ The way we maintain positive views of ourselves
Self-Knowledge
How exactly do we come to
know who we are and why
we do what we do? How
do you de ne who you are?
❖ Knowing ourselves
through introspection
❖ Knowing ourselves by
observing our behavior
❖ Using other people to
know ourselves
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How Do We Acquire Self Knowledge?
❖ Knowing Ourselves through Introspection
❖ Introspection: The process whereby people look inward and examine
their own thoughts, feelings, and motives.
❖ “inside information”
I did the right
thing today…
How Do We Acquire Self Knowledge?
Knowing Ourselves through
Introspection
❖ People do not rely on introspection
very often.
❖ Not always pleasant to think
about ourselves
❖ Reasons for our feelings and
behavior can be outside conscious
awareness
Introspection
❖ Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory
❖ When people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and
compare their behavior to their internal standards and values
❖ Sometimes we become conscious of ourselves; environmental cues trigger self-
awareness.
e.g., seeing ourselves on
videotape or staring at
ourselves in a mirror.
Introspection
❖ Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory
Introspection
❖ Self-Awareness Theory
❖ When we are self-conscious, we may become objective, judgmental
observers of ourselves, seeing ourselves as an outside observer
would.
❖ More often people are thinking about themselves when they are in
a bad mood
❖ Focusing on the self can be aversive.
❖ People may try to escape negative self-awareness.
Alcohol abuse
Binge eating
Sexual masochism
Introspection
❖ Focusing on the Self: Self-Awareness Theory
❖ Self-focus is not always damaging or aversive.
❖ If you have just experienced a major success, focusing on yourself
can be pleasant.
❖ Self-focus can also be a way of keeping you out of trouble, by
reminding you of your sense of right and wrong.
Increased self awareness ➔ increased probability of following moral
standards
Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do:
Telling More Than We Can Know
❖ Even with self-awareness,
we often don’t know why
we feel as we do.
❖ It’s hard to identify what
makes us fall in love or
what shapes our mood.
Judging Why We Feel the Way We Do:
Telling More Than We Can Know
Causal Theories
Theories about the causes of one’s own feelings and behaviors;
often we learn such theories from our culture.
The problem is that our schemas and
causal theories are not always correct
and thus can lead to incorrect
judgments about the causes of our
actions.
Self-Knowledge
How exactly do we come to
know who we are and why
we do what we do? How do
you de ne who you are?
❖ Knowing ourselves
through introspection
❖ Knowing ourselves by
observing our behavior
❖ Using other people to
know ourselves
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Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
❖ Self-Perception Theory
❖ The theory that when our
attitudes and feelings are
uncertain or ambiguous, we
infer these states by observing
our behavior and the situation in
which it occurs
❖ If I am doing something, then I
must like it!
Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
❖ Self-Perception Theory
❖ A friend asks: “Do you like classical music?”
If you are not sure about the
answer, you think about your past
behavior about classical music
“You know what, I think I do, my
girlfriend asked if we could go to
the symphony and I said OK and I
like it, so I must like classical
music”
❖ Your Examples? Can you provide a personal example of a time
when you inferred what your attitude was from your behavior?
Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
❖ Self-Perception Theory
❖ People infer inner feelings from
behavior
❖ Only when not sure how we feel
❖ People judge whether their behavior
❖ Really re ects how they feel
❖ Or the situation that made them
act that way
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Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
❖ Knowing ourselves through our attributions about our motivation
❖ Do people think they are performing an activity because they are intrinsically
interested in it or because they stand to gain something (e.g. money) by doing it?
❖ Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic Motivation Intrinsic Motivation
Engage in an activity because Engage in an activity
of external reasons, not because of enjoyment and
because of enjoyment and interest, not external
interest rewards or pressures
Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
❖ Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
Many teachers or parents reward kids for
good grades with compliments, candy,
gold stars, or toys.
Other programs reward kids for reading
books.
But do these programs increase or
decrease a child’s love of reading?
Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
At the beginning of the semester, I asked you...
Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
❖ Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
Overjusti cation Effect
❖ External rewards make people see
behavior as driven by extrinsic reasons.
❖ Leads to underestimating intrinsic
motivation.
• Danger of reward programs
• Reading for rewards, not because
it’s actually enjoyable
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Knowing Ourselves through Observing Our Own
Behavior
❖ How to avoid overjusti cation effects?
1. Reward only when initial interest is low.
Task-Contingent Rewards
(e.g., No harm in rewarding a child who Rewards that are given for performing a
doesn't like reading.) task, regardless of how well the task is
done.
2. Performance-contingent rewards are less
damaging to intrinsic interest. But they too can Performance-Contingent Rewards
back re (if they put pressure on people by Rewards that are based on how well we
making them feel evaluated). perform a task.
3. Expected rewards used to control behavior
can hurt intrinsic motivation. Unexpected
rewards or performance feedback are less
harmful.
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Self-Knowledge
How exactly do we come to
know who we are and why
we do what we do? How
do you de ne who you are?
❖ Knowing ourselves
through introspection
❖ Knowing ourselves by
observing our behavior
❖ Using other people to
know ourselves
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Knowing Ourselves through Other People
❖ The self-concept does not develop in a solitary context but is
shaped by the people around us.
❖ Social contact is crucial to the development of a self-concept.
Knowing Ourselves through Other People
❖ How do we use others to de ne
ourselves?
❖ Measure our own abilities and
attitudes by comparing to other
people.
❖ If you donate $50 to charity and nd out
your friend donates $10, you can feel
generous.
❖ If you nd out your friend donated $100,
you might not feel as generous!
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Knowing Ourselves through Other People
❖ Social Comparison Theory
❖ The idea that we learn about our
own abilities and attitudes by
comparing ourselves to other people
❖ The theory revolves around two
important questions:
1. When do you engage in social
comparison?
2. With whom do you choose to
compare yourself?
Knowing Ourselves through Other People
Social Comparison Discussion
Students are highly interested in social
comparison: When and with whom we
compare ourselves? Consider the following
scenario:
1. You score 75 on an important test, but
don’t know the class average. You can
ask classmates about their scores. Who
would you ask—your friend, someone
who did much better, slightly better, the
same, slightly worse, much worse, or no
one at all? Why?
Knowing Ourselves through Other People
1. When do you engage in social
comparison?
❖ No objective standard exists to
measure against
❖ When we experience uncertainty
Example: New of ce donation
program, not sure what amount
would be generous, you are especially
likely to compare yourself to others.
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Knowing Ourselves through Other People
2. With whom do you choose to
compare yourself?
❖ Initial impulse: anyone who
is around
❖ Occurs quickly and
automatically
❖ Depends on the nature of
our goal
Knowing Ourselves through Other People
❖ If the goal is to feel better about yourself
❖ Downward social comparison:
❖ Comparing yourself with people who
are worse on a particular trait or
ability
❖ Comparing your current performance
with your own past performance.
Knowing Ourselves through Other People
❖ If your goal is to know what excellence is—the top
level to which you can aspire— you are likely to
engage in upward social comparison
❖ Upward social comparison:
❖ Comparing ourselves to people who are better
than we are with regard to a particular trait
or ability
Knowing Ourselves through Other People
❖ If the goal is to get the most accurate assessment of your abilities, it
makes sense to compare yourself to the one with the most similar
background
Question: How does social media use shape social comparison and self-evaluation?
Knowing Ourselves through Other People
Effects of Reducing Facebook Use: One group spent normal time (control), second
group reduced time (experimental). As seen in the graphs, participants in the
intervention group, relative to the control group, showed an increase in life satisfaction
and a decrease in depression.
(Based on Brailovskaia et al., 2020)
Self-Control as The Executive Function of the Self
• Self-Control: The ability to subdue immediate desires to achieve long-term
goals. It is related to making choices about present and plans for the future
❖ So that our resources are allocated ef ciently (SURVIVAL)
❖ But easier said than done!!
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Self-Control as The Executive Function of the Self
❖ What doesn’t work: Thought suppression
❖ Avoiding temptations just by trying not
to think about them
❖ Not that ef cient!
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Self-Control as The Executive Function of the Self
❖ What works: Implementation Intentions
❖ Make speci c plans about where, when, and how to
reach goals and resist temptations.
❖ Structure your environment and stay well rested:
Offset potential depletion
❖ Use if–then plans: Instead of saying to yourself, “I
really want to get a good grade in my psychology
class,” make speci c “if–then” plans that specify
how and when you will study and how you will
avoid temptations. For example, you might make
these plans: “I’m going to the library on Thursday
after dinner, and if my roommate texts me and says
I should join her at a party that night, I’ll tell her
that I’ll meet up with her after I’m done studying.”
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Impression Management as The Executive Function of
the Self: All the World’s a Stage
• Impression Management: The attempt by people to get others to see them
as they want to be seen
People have
many impression
management
strategies.
Impression Management as The Executive Function of
the Self: All the World’s a Stage
• Ingratiation
• Flattering (pohpohlama), praising, and generally trying to make ourselves likable
to another person, often of higher status. We can ingratiate through compliments,
by agreeing with another’s ideas
• It can back re if the recipient of your ingratiation senses that you’re being
insincere
•
I’m praising everyone
and waiting for my turn!
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Impression Management as The Executive Function of
the Self: All the World’s a Stage
The following strategies for self-presentation were identi ed by Jones and Pittman (1982,
“Toward a general theory of self-presentation,” in J. Suls, ed., Psychological Perspectives on the
Self, Vol. 1, pp. 231–262. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum).
I'm not sure how to do this—I could really use your help.
I led the entire project on my own and delivered it ahead of schedule.
If you mess this up, there will be serious consequences.
I really admire your work—you always have the best ideas!
I stayed late all weekend to make sure everything was ethically handled.
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Impression Management as The Executive Function of
the Self: All the World’s a Stage
Impression Management Example Sentence
Strategy
Ingratiation I really admire your work—you always have the best ideas!
Intimidation If you mess this up, there will be serious consequences.
Self-promotion I led the entire project on my own and delivered it ahead of schedule.
Exempli cation I stayed late all weekend to make sure everything was ethically handled.
Supplication I'm not sure how to do this—I could really use your help.
• Which strategies are used in different situations?
• Which strategies are used by those who have more power and which by those who have less
power?
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Impression Management: All the World’s a Stage
• Self-handicapping (Kendini Engelleme)
• The strategy whereby people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so that if
they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves
Impression Management as The Executive Function of
the Self: All the World’s a Stage
• Behavioral self-handicapping
• People act in ways that reduce the likelihood of success so that if they fail, they
can blame it on obstacles rather than the ability
• Example: studying during the night time before a test
So bright, but just doesn’t study/work.
• Reported self-handicapping
• Rather than creating obstacles to success, people devise ready-made excuses in
case they fail
• Example: complaining about not feeling well when you take a test
I didn’t do well on the exam because the classroom was too cold and noisy.
