Self-concept, self-awareness, and the acting self in social psychology

Self and Social Psychology

Social psychology is a relatively new field of study in modern science. Its focus is on the identity of the "Self" -- the sense of individuality: the component parts that make up who one "is" and the meaning of the "whole" Self. This paper acts as a referenced for individuals unfamiliar with the general principles of social psychology. It aims to provide the reader with a basic overview of the field and to define key principles often used by social psychologists.

Discovering the Self

Self-Concept, Awareness, and Self-Schemas

Discovering the Self in social psychology can seem as simple as posing the question, "Who am I?" (Myers, 2010, p. 13). But answering the question is where the discovery of Self really begins. One's sense of identity, sense of self, sense of gender, race, categorical social grouping all factor into the answer. "Who am I?" raises the issue of self-concept, the totality of self-schemas -- individual facets of an individual's projection of self. For example, a student might project a "student" schema. An actor might project an "actor" schema. A politician might project a "politician" schema. Self-schemas act as basic normative or "type" roles. Most people have more than one self-schema, which allows them to perform various roles throughout the day: for example, one may be a student by night and a teacher by day. Overall one's self-concept is determined by how one perceives oneself based on externalities.

One's self-concept/self-schema is different from one's self-awareness. Self-awareness is based on the ability of the individual to be introspective. Self-awareness is the opposite of self-concept in that it is based on internalities. Introspection is the action of looking inward, of analyzing one's self, one's attitudes, beliefs, actions, etc. While one might adopt various self-schemas throughout the day, contributing to a total self-concept, one may or may not be self-aware. Self-awareness is something quite independent of self-concept. The most famously self-aware individual in literature is Shakespeare's Hamlet, who is intensely introspective: he is conscious of an inner self, which he can reveal and/or hide at will; yet he is conscious of an inner self which he also does not entirely know or understand -- as though his "self" consisted of competing wills or urges.

The Acting Self

One's self-awareness and self-concept contribute to one's "acting self" -- but so, too, does one's body (Tsakiris, Haggard, 2005, p. 387). The acting self is part of a response to various factors, both conscious and sensory. In other words, one "acts" on various levels, which may be understood as "automatic" in a sense and as "pre-arranged." The acting self is a composite of one's intellectual beliefs, physical attributes, and will to power.

Self-Esteem and Self-efficacy

If one's self-concept is how one views oneself on an intellectual/role-playing plane, and self-awareness is how one interprets one's self (actions, beliefs, etc.), self-esteem is how one views one's emotional self -- whether one feels positive or negative about one's self. In simple terms, one who has good self-esteem generally feels "good" about oneself: he or she is confident and secure. One who has low self-esteem generally feels less confident and more insecure. Self-esteem generally generates such feelings as pride or shame, exultation or despair (Hewitt, 2009, p. 217).

Self-efficacy is determined by analyzing how well one is able to achieve one's objectives. If one has high self-efficacy in a particular subject of study or area of activity, he is likely to perform well. If one's self-efficacy is low, one's desire to tend to a particular subject's demands will also likely be low and the outcome negative overall. Various factors affect one's self-efficacy, ranging from past events to positive role models and the obstacles in one's environment and in one's own psyche.

Thinking about Others

How we think about others also affects and is a consequence of how we think about ourselves. Fritz Heider in the early 20th century helped to develop the theory of attribution, or how we perceive others, based on our subjective sensory perceptions rather than on the objective person. Heider focused on individual motives as factors in explaining behavior.

Attributions: Internal, External, Explanatory Style

Heider held that individuals will attempt to "explain" others' behavior by using "common sense." He further broke down common sense psychology into two main explanatory categories of attribution: "internal" and "external." Internal attribution relates to personal attributes, such as an individual's character, habits, mood, etc. External attribution relates to an individual's situation, such as the person's environment, job, surroundings (those around him), circumstances, etc. Both categories of attribution lead to differing explanations of behavior (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, 2012, p. 106).

Attitudes and Behavior

Attitude contributes to the way individuals think about one another: attitude may be comprised of one's past and present, one's personal emotions and beliefs, and one's behavior and disposition. Carl Jung (1921) defined attitude as the "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way" (par. 687). Thus, attitude is intimately linked to behavior, which is the overall, fundamental pattern of one's actions.

Prejudice, Stereotypes and Discrimination

One's sense of "Self" may also be informed by prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. Each of these may be instilled in an individual's psyche without any conscious effort on the part of the individual. What is required is a passive participation on the individual's behalf when prejudicial ideas are expressed. Prejudice is any set of pre-determined negative beliefs about a certain group of people often informed and reinforced by negative stereotypes. Prejudice often goes hand in hand with discrimination -- prejudice being the intellectual or psychological basis for the behavioral treatment of others, which results in discrimination.

Individuals often harbor some forms of prejudice, even if they do not know it. Prejudice allows one to measure himself against a preconceived notion of others and can be used as a way of distinguishing oneself from popular stereotypes. A Self which embraces prejudice rather than attempting to root it out often subscribes to a particular subset of beliefs within a cultural system -- such as a religion, a political party, or an ideological movement. Prejudice and discrimination are ways to separate and/or elevate the Self above Others, who are believed to be of inferior moral or mental or physical quality.

Stereotype is the application to the whole of general characteristics of individuals within a group. For instance, a racial stereotype may apply general, observable characteristics of individuals of a specific race or ethnicity to the whole race or ethnicity. An age stereotype works the same way. An individual who stereotypes elderly persons may assume that all old people are hard of hearing. A gender stereotype might be used to denote women as weaker than men. An individual who stereotypes women might say that they are all bad drivers. The usage of stereotypes may be done in jest or seriously -- but in either case it is a way by which one may distinguish his Self from the popular assessment of a group of individuals.

Influencing Others

a. Aggressive behavior and aggression cues

Aggressive behavior is related to aggression cues, in that the latter prepare one for the former. Aggression cues do not necessarily trigger aggressive behavior instantaneously, but they may prepare the individual for whom they are meant for later aggressive behavior. Aggressive cues are typically generated in a hostile environment or in an unstable situation -- such as when a society is on the verge of war and a group's leader is assassinated. Such a cue is likely to stimulate aggressive behavior in the group. Or aggressive cues may the result of stimuli dispersed by the media in regard to a national story, such as the controversial death of the member of one racial or gender group at the hands of a perceived antagonistic group. The accumulation of stimuli is likely to reinforce and/or inspire aggressive behavior on the parts of both groups as they react to one another's aggressive cues.

b. Prosocial behavior

Prosocial behavior is designed to benefit a group of persons or society as a whole. It is based on a spirit of benevolence that directs one's actions away from one's Self and focuses attention on how a group or other individual might best be served. It is the opposite of antisocial behavior, which is fostered in individuals who turn away from society and harbor negative feelings, thoughts, attitudes and/or beliefs about others within their social subset. Prosocial behavior is likened to altruism, unselfishness, benevolence, and charity. Prosocial behavior is typically rooted in conformity to a creed or ideology which has transcendental characteristics or which extols the value of the other over the Self, or which expresses fulfillment through selflessness.

c. Relationship building, love, and attraction

Prosocial behavior, conformity and obedience are generally viewed in societies as habits needed for fostering relationship building. However, love and attraction are so singular and subjective in most cases that it is difficult to pinpoint how they are fostered, except through a careful analysis of the Self.

Group Dynamics

The Prosocial Self values the whole over the sum of its parts, which serves as the basis for group dynamics in social psychology. A social group cannot be defined according to the same standards which define individuals. Group dynamics carry with them both negative and positive characteristics: negative characteristics tend to be found in "mob" mentality, in which a group's actions are based more on a spontaneous overflow of feeling than on reason and extended introspection. Positive characteristics tend to be found in the principle of unity, often associated with social groups which have a strong sense of identity. Unity is a powerful group dynamic -- however, it can also be used to negative ends -- especially if the problem of GroupThink begins to dominate.

Consequences of GroupThink

GroupThink can lead to cult-like thinking and behavior, which stems from a powerful unity or devotion to a group leader. Rather than thinking individually and for themselves, members of a group will allow the leader to think for them and will adopt whatever positions the leader maintains even if those positions are contradictory. Cognitive dissonance will likely be overcome by changing the perception of the contradictory positions rather than the positions themselves. GroupThink can lead individuals to "justify" positions which, ordinarily, the individual would regard as unjustifiable.

Conclusion

In the conclusion, discovering the Self depends upon asking the question, "Who am I?" But it also depends upon knowing all the various ways in which that question might be answered. The Self is more than the way in which one projects himself, or the way in which one fits into a certain role. It is more than the way one sees himself through introspection, or the way in which one conforms to a rule outside himself. The Self is a composite of all of these things -- and each factor is, moreover, made up of various influences which can be found in one's past experiences, one's environment, one's own will, one's habits, one's mood, one's beliefs and one's perception of one's Self. In the end, the Self is a concept that is continually influenced by both internal and external pressures, which are constantly being identified and studied by the social psychologist.

Reference List

Aronson, E., Wilson, T., Akert, R. (2012). Social Psychology. NY: Pearson.

Hewitt, J.P. (2009). Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology. Oxford University

Press.

Jung, C. (1921). Psychological Types. Zurich: Rascher Verlag.

Myers, D.G. (2010). Social Psychology. NY: McGraw-Hill.

Tsakiris, M., Haggard, P. (2005). Experimenting with the acting self. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22(3): 387-407.