Class 10: Identity and Self-Concept
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Class Notes
Self-concept (or self-schema) is the organized structure of cognitions or thoughts that we have about ourselves. It includes the perceptions we have of our social identities and personal qualities, as well as our generalizations about the self based on experience (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers 2004: 79).
The self is reflexive, meaning a person can perceive herself as both the individual doing the acting as well as the object on which action occurs. G.H. Mead (1934) discussed this in terms of the active "I" and the passive "me".
Role-taking is a process of imaginatively occupying the position of another person and viewing the self and the situation from that person's perspective (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers 2004:83). This is crucial to the development of the self. Children learn to imagine others' responses, and are then able to imagine themselves from the outside. Seeing that others can see them as objects, children are able to become objects ("me") to themselves (Mead 1934). Young children are only able to take one position at a time, which Mead called the "play stage." Children at this age typically play "house" or "school," taking on the role of Mother or Teacher and holding to that role. Older children and adults are able to take multiple perspectives at a time. Mead (1934) uses the example of older children playing baseball. They can recognize that if they hit the ball, someone else will try to catch it and throw it to the first baseman. This is called the "game stage." During the game stage, we take the perspective of the generalized other, which is the conception of the attitudes and expectations held in common by the members f the organized groups with whom one interacts (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers 2004:85).
How do we decide which aspects of the self to enact?
- Conventional role expectations- what is expected of us in a given situation?
- Personal characteristics or competencies- what are we capable or knowledgeable about doing?
- Audience- who are we around? What are their expectations?
- Consistency- how do we maintain a consistent self over situations?
Identities are the meanings attached to the self by one's self and others (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers 2004: 85).
Role identities are an individual's concept of self in a specific social role, which are related to the perceived role expectations that are linked to the role.
Social identity is the definition of the self in terms of the defining characteristics of a social group.
How do we decide which identities to enact? (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers 2004: 91-2).
- Situational opportunities- the identity we choose depends on whether the situation allows an opportunity to enact the identity in a positive way. For example, perhaps I identity myself strongly as an academic, but if I enter a biker bar, I may not get positive returns by touting that identity.
- Network of social relationships- the more numerous and more important relationships you have through a given identity, the more committed you are to the identity.
- Need for identity support- if an identity that is important to you has recently been challenged, that identity is in need of support and is likely to be enacted to gain such support. We want to enact identities that can grant us intrinsic gratification (such as a sense of accomplishment) or external rewards (such as a compliment).
- Hierarchy of identities- the identities most important to us are on the top of our hierarchy. Those identities on the top of the hierarchy are most likely to be enacted.
- Resources invested in the identity- if you have spent a lot of time or money on that identity-- for example, years of ballet training to be a dancer-- you are more invested in that identity and it tends to go to the top of your hierarchy.
- Extrinsic rewards enacting identity has brought in the past- if you have received a lot of praise or awards for the identity in the past-- for example, if you won a lot of academic awards in high school-- you are more likely to be invested in that identity than an identity that you have not received extrinsic rewards.
- Intrinsic gratification- if you have felt a lot of intrinsic gratification, including a sense of accomplishment or achievement, from a given identity, it is more likely to rank highly on your hierarchy.
- Amount of self-esteem staked on that identity- if you put a lot of your self-evaluation based on your skill as a basketball player, you will rank that identity high on the hierarchy.
Activity
Take out a sheet of paper and write "I Am..." on the top. Then list 20 things that would fit after "I Am." Don't worry about logic or importance, just list them in order of how they occur to you. This list can be seen as a proxy for one's hierarchy of identities-- the identity that is the most salient, or the first in our minds, will be the one that is often mentioned first. This is altered by the fact that the most salient identity while sitting in class may be that of "student" whereas while you are at home it may be that of "daughter" or "son" (the situated self), but this is a method by which researchers study people's self-concepts.
Works Cited
Mead, George H. 1934. Mind, Self, and Society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Michener, H. Andrew, John D. DeLamater, and Daniel J. Myers. 2004. Social Psychology. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning.
