The self schema organizes information, memories, impressions and defines what is important. People develop their sense of self primarily from self-perception, gender-role socialization and comparison with other people. They adopt identities that are traditionally masculine or feminine, or may manifest features of both genders (psychological androgyny). Self-evaluation has important consequences, although not as crucial as commonly assumed. The self-concept is compared to self-guides, the ideal self and the ought self, with discrepancies related to emotional difficulties. To protect self-esteem, people may attribute failure to a self-imposed handicap. Self-regulation involves awareness of one’s actions, recognizing threats to well-being and then acting constructively to rectify the situation.  When people exercise self-control in a given situation, they subsequently show less capacity for self-control (ego-depletion).  Cultures vary along the dimension of individualism–collectivism correlated to the extent to which self is tied to personal uniqueness or to social roles and relationships. Individuals seek to manage the impression that others have of them, using tactics such as ingratiation, supplication, and intimidation. People have conflicting motives, to have others see them in a positive light, and to have others accept them as they are.

KEYWORDS: ego depletion, gender identity, impression management, self-discrepancy theory, self-evaluation, self-handicap, self-regulation, self-schema, social comparison

1. A lack of self-esteem is assumed to be the source of many personal and social problems.

2. Individuals characterized by traditional sex-typed thinking tend to be better liked and more satisfied with their relationships.

3. In the study in which seniors were given positive and negative stereotypes of aging, those given positive stereotypes performed better on tests of memory.

4. Chronically lonely people have a negative self-schema that causes them to pay selective attention to negative information about themselves.

5. The ‘ought self’ embodies hopes and aspirations about the future.

6. Men tend to self-handicap more than women and to use alcohol and drugs for this purpose.

7. People in nations such as the United States tend to express emotions such as indebtedness and love, whereas those in nations such as Japan express emotions such as jealousy and pride more often.

8. The use of self-presentation strategies is conscious and deliberate rather than automatic.

9. The expression of resentment associated with relative deprivation is influenced by impression management strategies.

10. Low self-monitors are characterized by particularly rich social schemata and stereotypes.

1. T

2. F

3. T

4. T

5. F

6. T

7. F

8. F

9. T

10. F 

MCQ's for Chapter 3

1. What are the premises of social comparison theory? How is social comparison used to gain information about the self?

2. What are the implications of self-perception theory for self-knowledge?

3. How does gender identity influence self-concept?

4. Describe some research findings that demonstrate the effects of self-schemata.

5. What is the main premise underlying self-discrepancy theory? What are the implications of self-discrepancy theory for self-esteem?

6. Outline strategies used to maintain a positive self-evaluation.

7. How does culture influence self-concept and self-esteem?

8. Describe four impression management strategies.

9. How do high and low self-monitors differ? What are the implications of these differences?

10. Contrast self-enhancement with self-verification.

1. In what sense is the construct, the social self, the attitude we have about ourselves?

2. How does motivation for self-enhancement conflict with motivation for self-verification? When does each of these types of motivation predominate and why? How do these motives influence our actions?

3. How do societal values of individualism and collectivism influence how we experience and express ourselves?