Download Origins of Self-Knowledge: Section Summary

Chapter 3: Origins of Self-Knowledge Section Summary
Origins of Self-Knowledge
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The social self has several foundations, including socialization by family
members and other important people. Reflected self-appraisals, our beliefs
about what others think of us, help us gain self-knowledge. The social self is
shaped by construal processes.
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The social self is shaped by the current situation in many ways. For example,
people in Western cultures tend to define themselves according to what is
unique about themselves compared with others in the social context.
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The self is profoundly shaped by whether people live in independent or
interdependent cultures.
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Women generally emphasize their relationships and define themselves in an
interdependent way, and men generally emphasize their uniqueness and
construe themselves in an independent way.
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People rely on social comparison to learn about their own abilities, attitudes,
and personal traits.
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The social self can also be thought of as a narrative, or story, that we tell to
make sense of our goals, conflicts, and changing identities.
When individuals operate under positive illusions, self-serving biases, and other
biases about their “self,” are they doing themselves (and others) a disservice? Why
or why not? How are such tendencies adaptive? If these illusions are adaptive, why
do people in collectivist cultures not show these tendencies? How do our possible
selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) influence whom we choose for friends and romantic
partners? Much research suggests that the selves we may be (be they good or bad
views of oneself, for example, successful businessperson living in a penthouse or
motivational speaker living in a van down by the river) can prompt our short-term
and long-term goal-directed behavior. Our understanding of our “selves” is an
important anchor from which one can relate in a stable fashion to others.