Social Psychology of Self-Referent Behavior

Social Psychology of Self-Referent Behavior

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

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.K19 1986 302.5 86-25371 ISBN 978-1-4899-2235-9 ISBN 978-1-4899-2235-9 ISBN 978-1-4899-2233-5 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-2233-5 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

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

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

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

Contents Chapter 1 Introduction................................................ 1 The Social Nature of Self-Referent Behavior.................. 1 Structure of Self-Referent Behavior... 2 Self-Referent Behaviors as Undifferentiated Stimulus- Response... 2 Self-Referent Behaviors and the Self......................... 5 Self-Referent Behaviors as Active Forces................... 6 Conceptual Confusion... 6 Formulation and Testing of Theoretical Statements... 8 Operational Definitions of the Self... 9 Purpose and Organization.................................. 11 Summary... 13 Chapter 2 Social Antecedents and Consequences of Self-Referent Cognition..................... 17 Social Antecedents of Self-Conceiving Responses... 18 Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences................ 18 Perceived Situational Context............................. 37 Personal Conceptual Systems............................. 43 Self-Enhancing Motivation... 47 Social Consequences of Self-Conceiving Responses... 53 Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences................ 53 ix

x CONTENTS Self-Evaluative Responses... 54 Self-Enhancing Responses................................ 54 Summary... 55 Chapter 3 Social Antecedents and Consequences of Self-Evaluation....... 57 Social Antecedents of Self-Evaluation........................ 57 Self-Evaluation as Motivated Behavior... 58 Self-Evaluative Standards... 61 Empirical Findings....................................... 68 Social Consequences of Self-Evaluation...................... 81 Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences................ 81 Self-Feelings... 81 Summary... 82 Chapter 4 Social Antecedents and Consequences of Self-Feelings... 85 Self-Evaluation and Self-Feelings............................ 85 Self-Values and Needs................................... 85 Self-Evaluation and Stimulation of Need................... 87 Self-Feelings as Responses to Self-Evaluation............... 88 Research Findings... 92 Social Consequences of Self-Feelings... 98 Personal Traits, Behaviors, and Experiences................ 98 Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses.................. 99 Summary... 99 Chapter 5 Nature and Antecedents of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses.................................................. 101 Nature, Form, and Function................................ 101 Definition, Origins, and Continuity... 102 Forms of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses......... 105 Deviant Modes.......................................... 125 Determinants of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses... 129 Self-Feelings... 130 Self-Referent Cognitions... 162

CONTENTS xi Evaluation of Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Patterns... 169 Summary................................................. 174 Chapter 6 Toward A General Theory of Self-Referent Behavior... 177 Self-Referent Behavior in Social Psychological Context... 177 The Person as Social Product... 178 The Person as Social Force... 178 Intervening Influences of Self-Referent Behaviors... 179 Social Psychological Antecedents and Consequences of Self- Referent Behaviors... 179 The Person in Social Context as Influencing Self-Referent Behaviors............................................... 180 Self-Protective-Self-Enhancing Responses as Influencing the Social System... 183 Conclusion: Theory and Research in the Study of Self-Referent Behavior.................................................. 188 References.................................................. 191 Author Index... 205 Subject Index............................................... 209