Lecture 9: The Self

Question 1

Lewis and Brooks (1978)

Answer 1

*develops over time, not immediately born with it
Ð Babies between 9 months and 2 years
Ð 18 months tried to touch their nose
Ð red dot on nose, look in mirror, only from 18 months tried to rub it off their nose

Question 2

Neurology of self awareness

Answer 2

• at 18 months rapid growth of spindle cells in anterior cingulate
• frontal lobes involved with intention behaviour, so damage impairs self control

Question 3

Kjaer et al 2002

Answer 3

Differential activation when reflecting on one’s own personality and physical traits compared to thinking about someone else

Question 4

The frontal lobes and self-control

Answer 4

¥ The dysexecutive syndrome: often associated with frontal lobe damage.
¥ Patients often have difficulty in planning, organizing, & controlling action.
¥ utilization behaviour (Lhermitte, 1983): patients will grasp and utilize any object that is presented, even if this behaviour is inappropriate.

Question 5

The ego and self control

Answer 5

¥ The ego develops to control and channel the instinctual desires of the id.
¥ Requires expenditure of psychological energy.
¥ Fraud: Initially full of unconscious desires and impulses, many of these, cannot act on may be inappropriate/socially unacceptable. Have to develop ego control instinctual processes

Question 6

Ego

Answer 6

=Ego depletion refers to the idea that self-control or willpower draws upon a limited pool of mental resources that can be used up. When the energy for mental activity is low, self-control is typically impaired, which would be considered a state of ego depletion.

Question 7

Baumeister et al (1998)

Answer 7

Told study on taste perception
Hungry participants were split into 2
groups
¥ Eat only radishes: going to have to have self-control to resist temptation of cookies
¥ Eat only chocolate cookies
¥ Subsequent problem solving task
¥ Exertion of self-control = less persistent in task
= limited cognitive resource to self-regulate

Question 8

Control theory of self-regulation

Carver & Scheier, 1981

Answer 8

we examine the self to assess whether we are meeting out personal goals

Question 9

Social comparison theory

Festinger, 1954

Answer 9

• learn how to define the self by comparing ourselves to others
• make two different sorts of comparisons
  1. upward comparisons
  2. downward comparisons
• typically try to see ourselves in a good light

Question 10

Self-evaluation maintenance model (Tesser, 1988)

Answer 10

• when someone is more successful than us, it can have a negative effect on our self-esteem
• deal with this through self-reflection, upward social comparison

Question 11

Self esteem

Answer 11

= a persons subjective appraisal of himself or herself as intrinsically positive or negative to some degree

Question 12

Self esteem

Answer 12

= a persons subjective appraisal of himself or herself as intrinsically positive or negative to some degree (Sedikides & Gregg, 2003)

Question 13

Consequences of high self-esteem: Narcissism

Answer 13

Ð Extremely high self-esteem
Ð Self-esteem is unstable / fragile
Ð Reliant on validation from others
Ð Positive characteristics: Initially likeable, extraverted, unlikely to suffer from depression, perform well in public
Ð Negative characteristics: Crave attention, overconfident, lack empathy (Young and Pinksy, 2006)

Question 14

Consequences of narcissism: Baumeister 1996

Answer 14

Ð High self-esteem Ego threat Aggression

Question 15

Consequences of narcissism: Baumeister 1998

Answer 15

Ð Participant wrote an essay
¥ Praise condition: “Great essay!”
¥ Threat condition: “One of worst essays I have ever read!”
¥ Competitive task – intensity of blast of noise = aggression