Social Psychology of Self-Referent Behavior

Transcription

1 Social Psychology of Self-Referent Behavior

2 Social Psychology of Self-Referent Behavior Howard B. Kaplan Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Teras Springer Science + Business Media, LLC

3 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kaplan, Howard B. Social psychology of self-referent behavior. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Self Social aspects. 2. Social psychology. 3. Interpersonal relations. I. Title. HM291.K ISBN ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Springer Science+Business Media New York 1986 Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1986 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1986 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

4 To my family: Diane Susan, Samuel Charles, Rachel Esther

5 Preface This book is about human behavior and, more particularly, about a class of human behaviors-those behaviors by people that have themselves as the object of their behaviors. These self-referent behaviors are social in nature in the sense that in large measure, they are the outcomes of pervasive social processes and are themselves major influences on social outcomes. As such, self-referent behaviors have the potential to be significant organizing constructs in the study of the broader field of social psychology. In any case, they are regarded here as of intrinsic interest and are the focus of this volume. Four broad categories of self-referent behaviors are considered with regard to their social bases and consequences as these are revealed in the social psychological and sociological literature. With appropriate discriminations made within each grouping, the four categories are: self-conceiving, self-evaluating, self-feeling, and self-protective-self-enhancing responses. Following a consideration of the social antecedents and consequences of each category of selfreferent behaviors, I present a final summary statement that outlines a theoretical model of the additive and interactive social influences on and consequences of the mutually influential self-referent behaviors. The outline of the theoretical model reflects my synthesis of the apparently relevant theoretical and empirical literature and is intended to function as a framework for the orderly incorporation of new theoretical assertions and more or less apparently relevant empirical associations. vii

6 Acknowledgments My intellectual debt is to many of the investigators I cite and to many more whose influence on me was never consciously recognized or has long since been forgotten. I do recall vividly, however, that the preparation of this volume was accomplished in the course of research supported by a grant (ROt DA02497) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a grant from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and a Research Scientist Award (K05 DAOO105) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. I thank Pamela K. Derrick for her efforts in the typing of the manuscript and my colleague, Robert J. Johnson, for his suggestions and other aid in the production of the final draft. viii

7 Contents Chapter 1 Introduction The Social Nature of Self-Referent Behavior Structure of Self-Referent Behavior... 2 Self-Referent Behaviors as Undifferentiated Stimulus- Response... 2 Self-Referent Behaviors and the Self Self-Referent Behaviors as Active Forces Conceptual Confusion... 6 Formulation and Testing of Theoretical Statements... 8 Operational Definitions of the Self... 9 Purpose and Organization Summary Chapter 2 Social Antecedents and Consequences of Self-Referent Cognition Social Antecedents of Self-Conceiving Responses Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences Perceived Situational Context Personal Conceptual Systems Self-Enhancing Motivation Social Consequences of Self-Conceiving Responses Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences ix

8 x CONTENTS Self-Evaluative Responses Self-Enhancing Responses Summary Chapter 3 Social Antecedents and Consequences of Self-Evaluation Social Antecedents of Self-Evaluation Self-Evaluation as Motivated Behavior Self-Evaluative Standards Empirical Findings Social Consequences of Self-Evaluation Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences Self-Feelings Summary Chapter 4 Social Antecedents and Consequences of Self-Feelings Self-Evaluation and Self-Feelings Self-Values and Needs Self-Evaluation and Stimulation of Need Self-Feelings as Responses to Self-Evaluation Research Findings Social Consequences of Self-Feelings Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses Summary Chapter 5 Nature and Antecedents of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses Nature, Form, and Function Definition, Origins, and Continuity Forms of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses Deviant Modes Determinants of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses Self-Feelings Self-Referent Cognitions

9 CONTENTS xi Evaluation of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Patterns Summary Chapter 6 Toward A General Theory of Self-Referent Behavior Self-Referent Behavior in Social Psychological Context The Person as Social Product The Person as Social Force Intervening Influences of Self-Referent Behaviors Social Psychological Antecedents and Consequences of Self- Referent Behaviors The Person in Social Context as Influencing Self-Referent Behaviors Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses as Influencing the Social System Conclusion: Theory and Research in the Study of Self-Referent Behavior References Author Index Subject Index