Self identity
overhead
I. What is an Identity
II. How do we create
and process Identities
III.A.
Measuring the affective component of Identities
III.B.
Measuring Importance of Identities
IV. Problems with
Identities
1
1. Pathological cases
2
2. Social Class
3
3. Locus of Control
4. Impression
Management
Self-identities
1.
Role identities: beliefs about
ourselves in relation to
a) social
categories
b) group
membership
c) social roles
2.
Dispositional Identities: beliefs about ourselves in relation to
a)
character traits (optimistic, brave)
b)
behavioral tendencies (conservative)
Alternative:
Trait + Role Identity (brave
student)
Belief and Affect Component
Just as attitudes in general, identities
have both, a belief and a feeling component.
overhead
II. How do we create and process
Identities (self-attitudes)?
1. self-reflection
2. social comparison
3. social influence
1. Self-Reflection
Bem: Self Perception Theory
Individuals come to know their internal
states partially by inferring from observation of their own behavior and/or
circumstances in which this behavior occurs.
We observe external cues and internal cues of behavior, thoughts or emotions.
2. Social Comparison
Content:
Amongst the blind, the one eyed is the king (Chinese or German saying).
Affect:
Self-esteem is an important affective determinant of an identity.
overhead
3. Social Influence
a)
Actual appraisals: how others think about us or react to us
b)
Reflected appraisals: how we think others think about us or react to us
Impression Management
(Erving Goffman)
Erving
Goffman, a link for the interested student
Impression management
People
are sensitive to how they are seen by others.
We
tailor our impression to different audiences.
Doing
so we manipulate other's
impressions of us.
To
maintain the role identity they want to play they engage in impression
management.
Here
they try to manipulate the other's impression of their role identities.
What
can a person try to persuade others that he is
a)
a student
b)
a sports buff
Front
and back regions
Sometimes
we get tired of playing our official roles and retire off stage for a while.
Overhead
Disclosure of oneself implies a radical
shift
☻from a discreditable person into a discredited person
☻from information management to the management of uneasy situations.
New methods available to life with the
stigma.
☻coming out, serve as an example
☻organize the stigmatized group
☻educate others
☻turn the stigma symbol into a status symbol
Role Distance
Example:
As
a four year old we embrace the role of a rider on the merry-go-round.
If
we indeed use the role of a rider
on the merry-go-round again as adults we keep role distance.
We
might distance ourselves form stressful roles. Sometimes we do not want to play
our official roles, e.g. of a surgeon.
Just as retreating to a backstage role
distancing can be used to cope with stress.
overhead
In summary:
Techniques
of Impression Management
Information
control
·
Covering
·
We can
manipulate the visibility
·
Personal
biography
·
Teamwork
Information
control and tension
management
·
Front
and back regions
·
Retreat
into subculture
Tension management
·
Role distancing
Overhead
Self-Presentation Strategies
·
Self-promotion
·
Exemplification
·
Modesty
·
Intimidation
·
Supplication
·
Sandbagging
·
Ingratiation
Franzoi (2006) pp. 99
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Attribution Sought |
Negative
Attributions Risked |
Emotions Aroused |
Typical Actions |
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Self-promotion |
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Exemplification |
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Modesty |
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Intimidation |
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Supplication |
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Sandbagging |
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Ingratiation
(flattering) |
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Measuring the affective component of Identities: EPA
Measuring Importance of Identities
Twenty Statement Test
(TST): Ranking of Social Identities
What
do we measure?
·
we measure centrality
of an identity.
· If
we measure how frequently a specific identity is
used, we might actually measure identity salience.
remember:
Sheldon
Stryker
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Social Structure
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=>
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Structural Commitment
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=>
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Identity Salience
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=>
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Role Performance
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Interaction History
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=> |
Affective Commitment
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How
do we measure?
·
TST is an open-ended
measuring device.
·
Alternatively:
you receive a list of social identities then you will be asked which one
describes you best.
Problems with Identities
1.
Pathological cases
2.
Social Class
3.
Locus of Control
1. Pathological cases:
a single salient identity becomes dominant.
2. Social Class and Global Self-Esteem
Morris Rosenberg:
Members of the lower class have negative experiences because of their
lower education, income, and occupational prestige.
This should result in lower global
self-esteem for members of the lower classes.
3. Locus of Control
Internals and Externals
Most likely we engage in a self-serving
attribution bias:
"We
tend to see ourselves responsible for our success but attribute our failures
to our environment" (Wiggins
et al 212) => first
specification of the fundamental attribution error
In most of the cases we are a mixture of
externals and internals. However sometimes people have schematic tendencies:
Internals: The good and bad things are
attributed internally.
Externals: Good and bad things are
attributed externally.
Interesting
implications:
Pescosolido,
Bernice and Beth Rubin. 2000. the Web of Group Affiliations Revisited: Social
Life, Postmodernism, and Sociology. American Sociological Review 65:
52-76
Network
theory can be combined with Stryker’s
identity theory:
Society is a web of communication. We
have identities in very different social places where they are networked with
others.
“The lack of overlap
among social circles means that individuals can contain the effect of spoiled
identities” (p.64).
=> The lack of overlap allows for information
control
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@Copyright 2007 Andreas Schneider