The Concept of Self

1. The Concept of Self

2. William James • During the period between 1842 and 1910 • Transition from agriculture to industry • Transition from community to individuality • James introduced the concept of self • A fit with individuality conceptions

3. William James: The Self • Recognizing both the affect of the group and the individual • The “I” and the “Me” • The Me is the part of the self that is known • Body, family, ability • Pride, self-esteem, depression • Self preservation • The I is the thinker/philosopher of self • Original • Different at each expression

4. George Herbert Mead • Followed the work of James • 1863-1931 • Written work published post-humus • The I and Me are engaged in an ongoing interplay in each particular act • The I is the initiated, the Me completed the act • Think of your signature……

5. Mead: SYMBOLIC INTERACTION • George Herbert Mead - Human interaction is completely symbolic. • Mead believed that all communication takes place through a symbolic language. • An interaction of gestures that communicates meaning to the “other.” • Specific words are without meaning, except for the meaning people attribute to the words (i.e. Cool!).

6. GESTURES- A gesture is the phase of the act that causes a response from the other. Two types of gestures: Sign - gesture with one meaning. All other animals communicate with signs ONLY. Symbol - infinite meaning. Humans communication almost exclusively with symbols.

7. Role-Taking is an ability to put the self into the other, to interpret the meaning of a gesture. • Two Types of Role-Taking: • Projection - project a meaning onto the “other’s” gesture. • Stereotyping - using one characteristic of the “other” to interpret the meaning of a gesture.

8. Socialization: The Process of Becoming and Changing the Self • All socialization takes place through a three stage process. • Both infants and adults are socialized in the same stages.

9. Socialization Stages 1. Imitation (Preparatory) - imitate the “other’s” gestures only. • Play - role-take only one “other” at a time. • Significant Others (SO) • Game - role-take multiple “others” simultaneously. • Generalized Other (GO)

10. Self-Concept • Who am I? • Manford Kuhn (1960) • Twenty Statements Test • Take a sheet of paper and number from 1-20 • List 20 self attributes • Would your list change over time? • Does your sex influence attributes on the list? • How different is your list from what your grandparents would have put down? • Link between self-concept and society

11. Self-Identity • The social part of self concept • The abstract non-physical part • Self identity is divided into two parts • Role identity • Social category • Group membership • Social roles • Dispositional identity • Characteristics • Behavioral tendencies

12. Identity Salience • Which of your list of self attributes is most important to you? • Salience is a measure of both the importance and the commitment placed on each self attribute • Some attributes are important ALL the time • Student • Sister/brother • Daughter/son • Other attributes are important only some of the time • Employee • Team member

13. Self-Esteem • The affective component of self • How you feel about the self • Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) • The Looking Glass Self • Our self worth is measured by the actions of “significant others” toward us • Our image is reflected in their reactions

14. Self-Esteem • A three part process • How we look to significant others • How we think they judge us • Our feelings about that judgment • For many years the connection between self esteem and positive or negative consequences seemed clear • The Self Fulfilling Prophecy • High self esteem leads to positive consequences • Low self esteem leads to negative consequences • Today the relationship is not so clear….

15. Self-Efficacy • Self efficacy refers to the level of belief that your behavior makes a difference. • The belief that you are effective and competent is high self efficacy. • The belief that your behavior does not make any difference is low self efficacy. • Why does primary socialization play a role in boys having high self efficacy, but girls having lower self efficacy? • Social training • Storybooks • Movies • Role models

16. Herbert Blumer: Society as Symbolic Interaction • Symbolic Interaction- refers to the peculiar and distinct interaction that takes place between humans. • Responses are not made directly to the actions of one another but instead to the meaning that is attached to those actions • Blumer’s central thesis – the conscious life of a human being is a continual flow of self indications • Notations of things with which s/he deals and takes into account

17. Self Indications Important for Two Reasons: • To indicate something is to extricate it from the setting and give meaning to the object. • Different than stimulus • Something that has been indicated does not have intrinsic meaning, but rather has meaning conferred onto it by the individual. • The proper picture is that the individual constructs his objects on the basis of ongoing activity- dressing or career planning. • The individual designates different objects to the self giving them meaning, judging their suitability to his action, and making decisions on the basis of the judgment.

18. The Construction of Human Behavior • A human beings actions are constructed instead of being mere releases! • Self indication is a process where the individual notes things, assesses them, gives them meaning, and decides to act on the basis of the meaning. • Behavior is not the result of environmental pressures, stimuli, or motives, etc., but arises instead from: • How the individual interprets and handles the self indications the self has constructed.

19. Group Action • The fitting together of individual lines of action. • Each individual aligns his/her action to the action of others, by ascertaining what they are doing or what they intend to do- by getting the meaning of their actions. • Getting the meaning is done by taking the role of the other. • Either a specific person or a group (Generalized other). • By taking the role the individual hopes to discover the intentions or direction of the acts of others. • The individual then forms and aligns his own action on the basis of the interpretation of the acts of others.

20. Symbolic Interactions Basic Tenets • Society is made up of individuals who have selves • Individual action is constructed and not released, being built up by the individual through noting and interpreting features of the situation in which he acts! • Group or collective actions consists of the aligning of individual acts – brought about by interpreting and noting the actions of others.

21. Conventional View v. Symbolic Interaction • Conventional view of human behavior • Difference lies perception of the origins of social action. • Individual action is rooted in societal action or its units. • Human actions is an expression of a system or subsystem either in balance or seeking to achieve balance. • Group action is seen as lodged in society or the group such as cultural demands, societal processes, social values or institutional stresses.

22. Symbolic Interaction • Social action begins in the acting individual. • Who constructs their self indications with respect to the actions of others. • Using a process of interpretation. • Group action is the collective action of individuals.

23. Blumer’s Conception of Symbolic Interaction • Society is seen as consisting of acting people, and the life of society is to be seen as consisting of their actions. • Action takes place in and with regard to a situation. • Any particular action is formed in light of the situation in which it takes place. • Action is formed by interpreting (defining) the situation. • The acting unit has to identify the things to take into account- tasks, rapport, obstacles, etc. • Usually situations are structured through previous interaction, and so we develop and acquire common understanding or definitions of howto act in this or that situation. • Enabling people to act alike in similar situations.

24. Blumer’s Symbolic Interaction (2) • To “catch” the process the student must take the role of the acting unit whose behavior he is studying. • The essential difference between conventional and symbolic interaction (SI) perspectives: • In SI, the organization of a society is the framework (Situation) inside which social action takes place, not the determinant of action. • In SI, organization and changes in situation are the product of the activity of acting units and not of social forces which leave such acting units out of account.

25. Social Comparison Theory • The main tenet of the theory is that humans form groups because they need information about themselves and their environment. • Information about the self and the environment can only be acquired from other people.

26. The Human Need for Information • Belief Confirmation • In some cases we form groups because we want to feel that the way we believe and our attitudes about things are right. • Reality Test • Sooner or later we must test the reality of our attitudes, in order for adult personality development. • The reality test can only be done through other people. • Self Esteem • Our attitudes are judged to be good if they correspond to the attitudes of significant others. • Social Comparison • People come together because they want information and we get that information through social comparison.

27. Social Comparison Propositions 1. Individuals will affiliate when their attitudes and beliefs are shaken. 2. Uninterruptible events provoke people to seek reality information. 3. Affiliation with others is the only successful method to satisfy the need for information.

28. Birth Order Effect • Those who are first born receive more close attention from parents. • First born and only children develop a greater need for social comparison cues. • The first born has stronger need for affiliation.

29. Erving Goffman’s Symbolic Interaction: Dramaturgical Theory • Social establishment is any place surrounded by fixed barriers in which a particular kind of activity takes place. • Any establishment can be studied from an impression management perspective. • A team of performers: • A team of performers who cooperate to present a given definition of the situation to an audience. • A team of audience: • A team of audience who cooperate to accept the definition given by the performers.

30. Impression Management • Expression given – what is said and meant to convey an “accurate” impression • Expression given off – the mannerisms and props used by others to develop the “real” impression. • Impression Management – controlling the definition of the situation so that the result is the desired impression of you • Practice types: • Defensive – Prior to the performance • Protective – During the performance

31. BACK STAGE Performance • Back stage is where the performance routine is prepared. • Access is controlled to prevent the audience from seeing back stage. • There is a tacit agreement between team members to act as if a certain degree of accord exists. • Agreement is stressed and opposition is played down. • Some acquired information about teammates (audience or outsiders) complicate the performance. • The performance is rehearsed and techniques are developed to save the “show.” • Team members must be loyal, disciplined, and discrete.

32. FRONT STAGE Performance • Front stage is where performance is presented. • Individual team members have two selves: • The character one performs. • Housed in the body. • Derived not just from the person, but from the whole scene of the performance. • A correctly performed scene leads the audience to impute a self to the performed character. • The character self is the product of the scene that comes off and not the cause of scene or performance.

33. FRONT STAGE (2) • The second self is the performer. • The performer has the capacity to learn. • To set the scene. • To shape the body. • To control the props. • The performer has the capacity for shame (the character does not). • Shame capacity is what makes the performer anxious about the performance. • Shame capacity causes the performer to minimize the character performance.

34. Personality, Interaction and Society • An individual who appears before others knowingly or unwittingly projects a definition of the situation. • If an event occurs which is incompatible with the fostered impression significant negative consequences are felt on three levels of social reality: 1. Interaction 2. Social Structure 3. Personality

35. Interaction Level • Dialog may come to a halt • The situation ceases to be defined and becomes awkward • Previous positions become untenable • Participants may find themselves without a charted course of action • Orderly social interaction becomes disorganization

36. Social Structural Level • Social Structurally performance disrupt may have more serious consequences. • The audience tends to accept the self projected by the performer as a responsible response of the social establishment. • The audience also accepts the performance as evidence of his capacity to perform the routine. • In a sense the larger social unit (team or establishment) is also responsible • The institution becomes committed every time the individual performs his routine • With each performance the units will be tested and their performance reputation put at stake. • Performance disruptions influence all units of the social structure • Ex. Surgeon whose patient falls off operating table

37. Personality • Performers involve their ego in his/her performance • Identifying the self with the establishment or team. • A performance disruption causes the individual to question the self around which his/her personality has been built • The self may be discredited or discreditable

38. STIGMA • Stigma is one of the negative outcomes of poor impression management or the inability to manage the impression others have of you. • A condition where there is a gap between the impression of the other and the actual characteristics Two kinds of Stigma 1.Discredited person – has little or no control over the information given off because the stigma is obvious. Physical handicap 2. Discreditable Person – has control over the information and can escape the effect of stigma. For example, Nixon’s “I am not a crook!” or Clinton’s “I did not have sex with that woman” when to conceal and when to be “up front.”