What is Self? Social Identity and its Functions

• Self


  Our daily actions are centred on the self, and each of us have a unique set of perceptions and beliefs about who we are
• Self-concept


  Crucial for driving us and structuring our actions, begins to change at a young age, we develop a sense of self-awareness as we age
• Self


  Both subject (the "I" involved when I feel angry or consider the concept of freedom) and object (the other person's perception of the "me")
• Self and non-self


  Categorised based on the cultural environment, autonomous self-construal in individualistic societies, interdependent self-construal in collectivist civilisations
• Levels of Self


  • Ecological self (embodied version of the self that can be physically located)
  • Interpersonal self (social self exhibited when interacting with others)
  • Expanded self (self that is in our memory, private and individualised)
  • Conceptual self (idea of self that a person possesses)
• Self-concept


  The way a person views himself, forms the basis of their self-image, offers a more thorough assessment of the self, heavily influenced by how individual views, value, thinks, and feels about themselves
• Factors influencing self-concept


  Motivating factors, needs, attitudes, temperaments, significant persons (e.g. parents, siblings, relatives)
• Aspects of Self-concept


  • Actual self (what we truly are)
  • Ideal self (what we aspire to be)
• Actual self


  Who we are, crucial for maintaining psychological well-being
• Ideal self


  Our flexible aspirations and objectives
• Congruence between actual self and ideal self

  Promotes self-worth and a healthy, fruitful existence, maladjustment happens when there is a significant gap or incongruence between them
• Self-presentation


  People's attempts to manipulate or control how others perceive them, expressing oneself and acting in a way that leaves the impression one wants to leave
• Impression management


  Broader range of actions, including self-presentation, the controlled display of information about many topics, including information about other persons or events
• Self-presentation


  Goal-directed, individuals choose to project particular images because they gain something from doing so
• Social identity


  The sense of self that a person has, depending on their membership in a community(s)
• Stages of the Social Identity Theory

  • Categorisation (comprehending and recognising items, including people and ourselves)
  • Social identification (taking on the identity of the group to which we have assigned ourselves)
  • Social comparison (comparing one group to other groups)
• Social comparison


  Crucial to comprehending bias, once two groups decide they are rivals, they are compelled to compete so that the participants can continue to feel good about themselves