The Social Self

Question 1

Where does our self-concept come from?

Answer 1

Self-perception

Social comparison

Question 2

Self-Perception Theory?

Answer 2

people gain self-insight by observing their own behaviour - I am what I do.

Question 3

Social Comparison Theory?

Answer 3

we tend to compare ourselves to others to assess our own traits and abilities

Question 4

The emotional consequences of social comparison?

Answer 4

Upward - makes us feel worse.

Downwards - makes us feel better (breast cancer study)

Question 5

Social comparison - art study?

Answer 5

• Participants asked to make judgments of artwork
• Given absolute scores (60% vs. 40%) AND comparative scores (20% higher vs. 20% lower than average)
• Later asked to rate their own ability on the task
• Those with 40% score who were 20% higher comparatively rated selves better than those with 60% score who were 20% lower than average

Question 6

Self Presentation Theory?

Answer 6

• If I’m looking to others to see how I measure up, then they must be looking at me
• Kids don’t do it :)
• Self monitoring (strategic self-presentation)
• It is my feeling that if everyone else in a group is behaving in a certain manner, this must be the proper way to behave.
• In different situations, with different people, I often act like very different persons.
• I’m not always the person I appear to be.

Question 7

The “Spotlight Effect” ?

Answer 7

• the tendency to think that more people notice something about you than they do.
• people considerably overestimate how much attention other people are paying to them.

Question 8

Illusion of transparency?

Answer 8

• tendency for people to overestimate the degree to which their personal mental state is known by others.

Question 9

Self-Enhancement?

Answer 9

• we have a self-enhanced view of our self.
• More likely to recognise their attractively morphed face as their own out of the lineup
• Faster to identify their attractively morphed photo out of a lineup of distractor faces
• 93% of drivers think they’re better than average
• Only 1% of people rate their marriage as worse than most
• Jailed criminals think they are kinder, more trustworthy, and honest than the general public !?!