Chapter 2 Notes | Self and Self-Esteem

• William James divided the ME (empirical self) into three subcategories:

  • Material self: includes our bodies and extended selves
  • Social self: consists of the various roles we play in social life and how we are recognized and regarded by others
  • Spiritual self: encompasses our inner or psychological self, including our traits, abilities, values, habits, and how it feels to be us
• Contemporary researchers have expanded James's scheme to include the collective self (social categories like racial, religious, and ethnic identities) and the relational self (specific individuals who are part of our self-concept)
• People in Western cultures emphasize personal identities and differences from others, while people in Eastern cultures focus on collective and relational identities
• William James identified a class of emotions that involve the self as a reference point:

  • Positive emotions: self-complacency
  • Negative emotions: self-dissatisfaction
  • People are motivated to experience positive emotions and avoid negative ones
• Other people can influence self-feelings:

  • People can feel pride and euphoria from other people's accomplishments
  • People derive self-worth from the social groups they belong to
• The problem of personal identity:

  • Early philosophers believed in a soul uniting perceptions and sensations
  • John Locke tied personal identity to memory
  • David Hume argued personal identities are an illusion
  • William James suggested identity involves continuous memory for how it feels to be us