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Introduction
Over time, social psychologists have grown increasingly interested in the subject of the
self. The self is a person's fundamental set of beliefs that can be impacted both during the process
of formation and when it changes by both internal and external factors. Because of its complexity
and diversity, the self is an essential subject of research (Kassin, 2021). There is much to learn
about how one's thoughts and actions influence social behavior. To understand the social self, we
must examine the numerous ways it is formed and shaped into self-concept, social perception,
and social comparison.
Summary Points
The following summary discusses aspects of the social self is formed - including self-
concept, self-esteem, and self-presentation, self-perception, and a deeper look into social
comparison theory.
Self-Concept
Understanding the social self can help us better understand emotions and social behavior
patterns. The path to self-understanding starts within, but social circumstances also have an
impact. The totality of your views about who you are as a person—your character characteristics,
skills, drive, —makes up your self-concept. According to Kassim (2021), one's self-concept is
made up of their self-schemas and consists of the beliefs they have about themselves. Self-
schemas are the notions of oneself that direct how pertinent information is processed and can be
useful or harmful. Social psychologists have provided several explanations for where self-
concept originates to comprehend it, including introspection, views of our conduct, other people,
autobiographical experiences, and the cultures in which we live. (Kassim, 2021)
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Introspection entails reflection within. Taking the time to become aware of one's feelings
in a circumstance to learn about oneself. On the other hand, overthinking during introspection
often confuses individuals. People frequently discover things about themselves not through
introspection but rather from monitoring their conduct and making comparisons to others. Self-
perception entails assessing one's actions and the surrounding circumstances. Self-perception is
frequently skewed since people typically emphasize their good traits while discussing
themselves. (Kassin, 2021)
As researchers look for connections between self-perception and behavior, self-
perception theory has been put to the test in numerous studies on emotions, intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation, the two-factor theory, and the effect on other people. Social comparison has an
impact on one's self-concept as well. According to Festinger's social comparison theory, people
will evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to others they perceive to be similar when
they are unsure of who they are. Depending on the situation, these descriptions of oneself can
vary. Because they include the details of our lives and our feeling of identity, autobiographical
memories are crucial to our sense of self (Kassin, 2021).
Everywhere in the globe, there is a great desire for people to have high self-esteem and
perceive themselves favorably. Self-esteem is a valuable component of the self as it refers to our
positive and negative evaluations of ourselves. Whether it is based on appearance, athletic
ability, knowledge, or accomplishments, self-esteem is needed to help filter the world around us.
People experience a brief decline in self-esteem when they become self-aware, which can happen
while they are performing in front of an audience or when they are staring in the mirror.
Individuals also frequently engage in self-regulation—trying to regulate our thoughts, urges, and
behaviors—in the pursuit of our individual goals, which can be physically tiring (Kassin, 2021).
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Despite our flaws and self-critical inclinations, most people have positive self-
perceptions because of numerous adaptive self-enhancement techniques. The self-discrepancy
theory, which contrasts how we view ourselves with how we desire to see ourselves, and the self-
awareness theory, which involves turning inward and becoming the center of our attention, are
two theories related to self-esteem.
The process through which we attempt to mold both what we and others believe of us is
known as self-presentation. According to this idea, self-focused attention causes people to
become aware of their self-discrepancies, which either inspires them to flee from self-awareness
or changes their conduct (Kassin, 2021). Self-awareness theory states that if a successful
decrease in self-discrepancy appears improbable, people will opt to avoid it. According to
Baumeister's 1991 thesis, drug abuse, sexual masochism, spiritual ecstasy, binge eating, and
suicide, all serve this escapist role (Kassin, 2021).
Social-Perception
The method through which people comprehend one another is known as social
perception. How we view ourselves and others is influenced by a variety of circumstances. It is
common for people to make snap judgments about other people based on invisible cues including
behavior, nonverbal body language, previous assumptions, and physical appearance. According
to one idea, these responses occur quickly and largely automatically. Another viewpoint suggests
that for certain people who like to hold off on making decisions until after fully analyzing the
target person, behavior, and circumstance, the process may be more mindful and observant.
Research shows that even though we frequently make accurate assumptions about other people
based on their behavior, we are not particularly good at figuring out whether someone is telling
the truth or lying. (Kassin, 2021)
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Though we frequently develop first impressions of people rapidly, there are moments
when we are more analytical, monitoring behavior and attributing personal or situational causes
to it per the logic of attribution theory. (Kassin, 2021) The term "attribution" has two main
implications in social psychology. The first concerns behavior explanations and the second
concerns inferences or ascriptions. The process of assigning is what unites the two
interpretations: in attribution as an explanation, a behavior is attributed to its cause; in attribution
as inference, an agent's quality or attribute is inferred from observed behavior. Although these
events are related, they each have unique psychological traits. (Chadee, 2022)
In a study on bad word-of-mouth (WOMC) communication in general or the way it
affects consumers' opinions of brands, the attribution theory was utilized to describe how clients
respond to negative WOMC. The findings of the trials suggest that recipients' attributions depend
on how the negative WOMC is conveyed, causal attributions affect the association between the
negative WOMC and brand appraisal, and brand name modulates attributions. The results also
suggest that when recipients attribute the negativity of the WOMC message to the brand, brand
evaluations decrease; however, when recipients attribute the negativity of the message to the
communicator, brand evaluations (Laczniak, 2001).
As a result of Heider's profound insights into how society views human behavior,
attribution phenomena have taken center stage in social psychology. Numerous findings in the
areas of social impact, self-regulation, relationships, and health have been produced because of
the fundamental premise that people spontaneously explain behavioral and social occurrences
(Chadee, 2022). A folk-conceptual theory of behavior explanations develops after we pinpoint
the conceptual framework within which people see, interpret, and assess behavior. It describes
and anticipates a variety of explanatory phenomena that were previously ignored or
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misinterpreted. This folk-conceptual theory contends that categorizing explanations of behavior
as "person" or "situation" reasons prevent them from being adequately understood. Instead, they
fall into a variety of unique modes (reasons and causes for purposeful and unintentional activity,
causal histories, and enabling elements), and within modes, into types. (Kassin, 2021)
Regarding impressions, three characteristics stand out as particularly significant for
developing opinions of other people: the person's competence, warmth, and morality. People are
susceptible to a variety of confirmation biases, which are inclinations to interpret, seek for, and
create information in ways that verify current ideas, even though we often build impressions of
others by mentally averaging their numerous features. Once we form an impression of someone,
we become slow to change that impression when faced with new information that is non-
supportive or even contradictory (Kassin, 2021).
Social Comparison Theory: A Deeper Look
It may not come as a surprise that social comparison is a hotly debated subject in social
psychology because it is such a fundamental human inclination. Social comparison is a
remarkably pervasive phenomenon that affects how people perceive themselves, feel, act, and
think about themselves. Thus, the effects of social comparisons cut across all major spheres of
psychological functioning in people. There is substantial evidence to suggest that social
comparisons are influenced by cognitive, affective, and motivational aspects in addition to those
that affect cognition, affect, emotions, motivation, and action. (Chadee, 2022)
Social media, for instance, is a breeding ground for social comparison. A study about
adolescents and social media use discovered that there were significant differences among
adolescents in the connections of passive (but not active) social media use with well-being, with
impact sizes ranging from extremely positive to moderately negative. While 44.26 percent of
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teenagers did not feel better or worse after passively using social media, 45.90 percent did, and a
small percentage (9.84%) felt worse. (Ine, 2020) The writers agree that more in-depth studies are
needed to analyze this matter.
Festinger expanded on his theory of social comparison to include the concept of
capacities. He highlighted that people should pay attention to others to satisfy their desire to
learn about themselves. This includes learning how their views relate to those of others as well as
learning what their capacities allow them to do. He proposed that people have a fundamental
urge to keep their self-perceptions steady and true. They should therefore be more likely to look
for insightful comments regarding their traits and skills. When discussing why people make
social comparisons, Festinger suggested that for these evaluations, people should primarily rely
on objective norms. However, it is not always possible to find objective criteria, and making
comparisons to them might be challenging. People should rely on social comparisons with others
in this situation. (Chadee, 2022)
In the course of our evolutionary history, it may have been crucial to understand how we
stack up against our closest social rivals. In a broader sense, these ideas are consistent with
evolutionary theory, which contends that humans have a strong inclination to carefully track
social rank as a crucial component of their pursuit of social status. In any event, even while
attempting to get such insights about oneself can be biased, one important reason for social
comparisons is the desire for accurate self-evaluations. Together, several explanations for why
people compare themselves to others seem to exist. People may wish to meet important needs
including self-evaluation, self-enhancement, and self-improvement. On the other hand, making
use of comparison standards may be required to interact with people effectively. Finally, social
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comparisons may be a useful cognitive tool for self-knowledge without requiring a lot of
cognitive resources. (Chadee, 2023)
Conclusion
Emotions and social behavioral patterns can be understood by having a better
understanding of the social self. As social psychologists study the self, looking at the numerous
ways that the social self is formed and constructed into self-concept, social perception, and social
comparison are essential if we are to comprehend it. Learning more about how one's ideas and
deeds affect social behavior is important. The social self is a crucial area of study due to its
complexity and diversity.
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References
Chadee, D. (2022). Theories in social psychology (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN:
9781119627883.
Ine, B., Loes, P. J., van Driel Irene, I., Loes, K., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). The effect of social
media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent. Scientific Reports (Nature
Publisher Group), 10(1)https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67727-7
Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2021). Social psychology (11th ed). Cengage Learning.
ISBN: 9780357122846
Laczniak, R. N., DeCarlo, T. E., & Ramaswami, S. N. (2001). Consumers’ Responses to
Negative Word-of-Mouth Communication: An Attribution Theory Perspective. Journal of
Consumer Psychology, 11(1), 57–73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1480311
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