Self-awareness and physical aggression

A theory of self-awareness was applied to aggression. In Experiment I, men were given an opportunity to aggress against women in the presence of a mirror, an audience, or neither. The mirror significantly inhibited aggression, but the audience did not. In Experiment II, an audience inhibited aggression, but only when there was frequent eye contact between the aggressor and the audience. These results were consistent with the predictions derived from the theory.     

Facilitation of physical aggression through objective self-awareness

Based on a theory of self-awareness it was hypothesized that induced attention to the self would facilitate aggression if the salient standard of behavior was one in which high aggression was positively valued. Female subjects were given an opportunity to shock a male confederate of the experimenter in a presumed learning experiment. Self-awareness was induced in half the subjects by the presence of a mirror. The Mirror group delivered significantly higher shocks to the confederate than did the No-Mirror control group.     

Physical aggression as a function of objective self-awareness and attitudes toward punishment

Based on a theory of self-awareness, it was hypothesized that subjects would use their attitudes to determine their behaviors when (a) that attitude was salient and (b) their attention was directed toward themselves. Subjects, who on questionnaires had indicated that they opposed or condoned the use of punishment, were given the opportunity to shock a male confederate in two (bogus) learning experiments. Each subject was instructed to use his own attitude in choosing shocks to punish incorrect responses. Self-awareness was increased among half the subjects by the presence of a mirror. In each experiment a Punitiveness by self-awareness interaction resulted: High Punitive-Mirror subjects shocked higher than Low Punitive-Mirror subjects, but their respective No Mirror controls did not differ from each other.     

Situational changes in self-awareness influence 3- and 4-year-olds’ self-regulation

In adults, heightened self-awareness leads to adherence to socially valued norms, whereas lowered self-awareness is associated with antinormative behavior. Levels of self-awareness are influenced by environmental cues such as mirrors. Do situational changes in self-awareness also have an impact on preschoolers’ self-regulation? Adherence to a socially valued standard was observed under different conditions of self-focus. In Experiment 1 the standard was prescribed (“don’t look in the box”), and in Experiment 2 children had the opportunity to be altruistic. Heightened self-focus was induced using a large mirror. In a neutral condition, the nonreflective side of the mirror was shown. To lower self-focus, children wore a disguise. Preschoolers peeked less and showed more altruism when the mirror image was present. As found for adults, it appears that self-awareness leads 3- and 4-year-olds to adhere to salient social standards. These results suggest that self-focus has a socially adaptive regulatory function from an early age.     

The self-attention-induced feedback loop and social facilitation

It has been proposed that self-directed attention leads to the engagement of a cybernetic feedback loop, by which discrepancies between present behavior and a standard of comparison are reduced. This analysis is applied to performance facilitation effects, which are more typically explained in terms of drive theories. Though these two approaches to motivation make similar behavioral predictions in this context, they assume different mediating states. Support is noted for the assumptions that mirror presence and audience presence induce self-focus, and that they lead to comparison with salient behavioral standards. Support for the assumption that these manipulations increase arousal is also reviewed, and is challenged on methodological grounds. The attentional analysis is used to derive predictions regarding changes in physiological state over the course of a typical social facilitation procedure. An experiment is reported which confirmed these predictions. Discussion centers on how to interpret physiological changes in terms that are compatible with control theory, how to account for social impairment phenomena in terms of the present model, and the conceptual relationship between mirror presence and audience presence as experimental manipulations.     

When the Self Stands Out: Figure?-?Ground Effects on Self-Focused Attention

When do people focus attention on the self? Based on Gestalt notions of figure?-?ground assignment, two experiments demonstrated that making self figural against a background induces self-focused attention. In Experiment 1, perceiving figural self-symbols increased self-awareness relative to perceiving background self-symbols. In Experiment 2, making self figural against the background of a six-person decision-making group increased self-awareness. These experiments clarify the antecedents of self-awareness and connect objective self-awareness theory to research on interpersonal deviancy.     

Conditioned suppression, punishment, and aversion

Three experiments were conducted to assess the aversive properties of a visual stimulus in the presence of which one group of birds received response-contingent shock (discriminated punishment) while a yoked group of birds received non-contingent shocks (conditioned suppression). In Experiment 1, presentation of the visual stimulus contingent on key pecking reduced the response rate (conditioned punishment effect) for birds under the conditioned suppression procedure but did not reduce the response rate of birds under the discriminative punishment procedure. Non-contingent shocks also produced greater suppression of responding maintained by positive reinforcement in the presence of a visual stimulus than did response-contingent shocks. In Experiment 2, a greater shock intensity (2 mA) was used. All the differences between the two groups found in Experiment 1 were also found in Experiment 2. Experiment 3 demonstrated that response-contingent shock did not result in a conditioned punishment effect even when positive reinforcers were unavailable during the discriminative punishment schedule. The exteroceptive stimulus that was paired with shock in the conditioned suppression procedure acquired the ability to punish behavior. The exteroceptive stimulus in the discriminative punishment schedule did not acquire this ability.     

A neurocognitive and socioecological model of self-awareness

In the past, researchers have focused mainly on the effects and consequences of self-awareness; however, they have neglected a more basic issue pertaining to the specific mechanisms that initiate and sustain self-perception. The author presents a model of self-awareness that proposes the existence of 3 sources of self-information. First, the social milieu includes early face-to-face interactions, self-relevant feedback, a social comparison mechanism that leads to perspective taking, and audiences. Second, contacts with objects and structures in the physical environment foster self-world differentiation in infants; this environment also contains self-focusing and reflecting stimuli, such as mirrors and video cameras. Third, the self can develop bodily awareness through proprioception and can reflect on itself using imagery and inner speech. Furthermore, self-awareness is mainly mediated by the prefrontal lobes. The author establishes various links among these different neurological, social, ecological, and cognitive elements of the model.     

Development and validation of the situational self-awareness scale.

This article discusses the manipulation and measurement of levels of situational self-focus, which is generally labeled "self-awareness." A new scale was developed to quantify levels of public and private self-awareness. Five studies were conducted to assess the psychometric properties, reliability, and validity of the Situational Self-Awareness Scale (SSAS). The SSAS was found to have a reliable factor structure, to detect differences in public and private self-awareness produced by laboratory manipulations, and to be sensitive to changes in self-awareness within individuals over time and across situations. The SSAS can be used as a manipulation check of laboratory self-awareness manipulations and as a means of assessing naturally occurring fluctuations in public and private self-awareness in order to clarify the relation between self-awareness and other variables (e.g., mood and memory).     

Perceived distance of targets in convex mirrors

We investigated the perceived distance of targets in convex and plane mirrors. In Experiment 1, 20 subjects matched the distance of targets in a real scene to the distance of a virtual target in different mirrors. The matched distances were much larger for convex mirrors than for a plane mirror. In Experiment 2, 20 subjects viewed two targets in a mirror and adjusted their own positions so that the distance to the closer target was perceived to equal the distance between the targets. The mean distance to the closer target was smaller for the convex mirrors than for the plane mirror. In Experiment 3, 20 subjects adjusted the position of a target so that the distance to it in a mirror was perceived to equal the distance designated by the experimenter. The best-fitting power functions showed that the scaling factors were larger for the convex mirrors than for the plane mirror, but the exponents were smaller for the convex mirrors than for the plane mirror. It is suggested that distance in the convex mirrors was perceived to be larger than in the plane mirror, and that the growth of perceived distance in the convex mirrors was slower than in the plane mirror.     

Origins of Self-Perception in Infancy

Most accounts of the origins of the self-concept in humans rely on the mirror self-recognition (rouge removal) task whereby the infant is credited with self-awareness at about 15 months, once it is able to use the mirror reflection to locate a dab of rouge on the nose. But mirror self- recognition may require relatively advanced cognitive abilities and may reveal relatively little about the ontogenetic origins of self-knowledge. The aim of this article is to consider the antecedents of self-knowledge in processes of sensory perception during infancy. J. J. Gibson' s ecological approach to sensory perception asserts that there is information for the distinction between self and nonself inherent in perception. Evidence from human infants who are too young to recognize themselves in mirrors is reviewed for a sensory perceptual basis for the existential self (the I) and for the categorical self (the me) in William James' s terminology. Studies of the visual proprioceptive control of posture in babies may be interpreted to support an inherent distinction between self and nonself in infantperception, rather than the traditional account of an "adualistic confusion." Similarly, various aspects of bodily self-awareness manifested even by fetuses demonstrate some basis for a categorical self as an original aspect of experience. Self-specification in perception is also indicated in recent research on imitation in very young infants, a possible mechanism for the essentially social component of self-concept development. Although a case for early self-specification in perception can readily be made, it is much more difficult to explain how self-perception gives rise to self-conception. One possibility briefly discussed is that a process of representation and re-representation of information originally obtained through interaction with physical and social objects gives rise to reflective self- awareness and the particularly autobiographical knowledge of self which we take to be species- typical of humans.     

Intrinsic motivation and the effects of self-consciousness, self-awareness, and ego-involvement: An investigation of internally controlling styles

This study explored the relationships among dispositional self-consciousness, situationally induced-states of self-awareness, ego-involvement, and intrinsic motivation Cognitive evaluation theory, as applied to both the interpersonal and intrapersonal spheres, was used as the basis for making predictions about the effects of various types of self-focus Public self-consciousness, social anxiety, video surveillance and mirror manipulations of self-awareness, and induced ego-involvement were predicted and found to have negative effects on intrinsic motivation since all were hypothesized to involve controlling forms of regulation In contrast, dispositional private self-consciousness and a no-self-focus condition were both found to be unrelated to intrinsic motivation The relationship among these constructs and manipulations was discussed in the context of both Carver and Scheier's (1981) control theory and Deci and Ryan's (1985) motivation theory     

Use of first person pronouns as a function of increased objective self-awareness and performance feedback

A recent integrating formalation in social psychology, the Duval-Wicklund theory of “objective self-awareness,” has the core assumption that attention focused on the self is always aversive and, hence, avoided. While faced with either a TV camera or a mirror, and after they had received false feedback concerning their creativity, 98 undergraduates guessed at the meaning of foreign language pronouns, the unobtrusive dependent measure of the direction of the focus of attention. The standard Duval-Wicklund effect was replicated—more attention to self, that is, more first-person pronouns—in the “camera” or “mirror” than in the “no camera” or “no mirror” conditions. However, within the camera or mirror conditions, avoidance of self-focused attention occurred only after negative feedback.     

Self-directed attention and taking the other's perspective

A series of experiments was conducted to assess the influence of self-directed attention on the ability to take another's perspective. In Experiment 1 subjects who listened to a recording of their own voice were better able to orient themselves to the perspective of another than were subjects in a control group. However, the presence of concern about a potentially negative aspect of the self eliminated the positive relationship between self-directed attention and other orientation. Experiment 2, with the same experimental conditions as in Experiment 1, investigated the relationship between self-focused attention and selfattribution for a group product. The results indicated that self-awareness lessened the tendency of subjects within a group to “overattribute” responsibility for the group product to oneself. Again, self-focused attention did not improve self-other differentiation when subjects were concerned about a potentially negative aspect of the self. A final experiment (3) was a conceptual replication of Experiment 1, using a different perspective-taking measure and a different method of inducing self-focus.     

Social exclusion and the deconstructed state: time perception, meaninglessness, lethargy, lack of emotion, and self-awareness

The authors hypothesize that socially excluded individuals enter a defensive state of cognitive deconstruction that avoids meaningful thought, emotion, and self-awareness, and is characterized by lethargy and altered time flow. Social rejection led to an overestimation of time intervals, a focus on the present rather than the future, and a failure to delay gratification (Experiment 1). Rejected participants were more likely to agree that "Life is meaningless" (Experiment 2). Excluded participants wrote fewer words and displayed slower reaction times (Experiments 3 and 4). They chose fewer emotion words in an implicit emotion task (Experiment 5), replicating the lack of emotion on explicit measures (Experiments 1-3 and 6). Excluded participants also tried to escape from self-awareness by facing away from a mirror (Experiment 6).     

Sneaking a peek: pigeons use peripheral vision (not mirrors) to find hidden food

A small number of species are capable of recognizing themselves in the mirror when tested with the mark-and-mirror test. This ability is often seen as evidence of self-recognition and possibly even self-awareness. Strangely, a number of species, for example monkeys, pigs and dogs, are unable to pass the mark test but can locate rewarding objects by using the reflective properties of a mirror. Thus, these species seem to understand how a visual reflection functions but cannot apply it to their own image. We tested this discrepancy in pigeons—a species that does not spontaneously pass the mark test. Indeed, we discovered that pigeons can successfully find a hidden food reward using only the reflection, suggesting that pigeons can also use and potentially understand the reflective properties of mirrors, even in the absence of self-recognition. However, tested under monocular conditions, the pigeons approached and attempted to walk through the mirror rather than approach the physical food, displaying similar behavior to patients with mirror agnosia. These findings clearly show that pigeons do not use the reflection of mirrors to locate reward, but actually see the food peripherally with their near-panoramic vision. A re-evaluation of our current understanding of mirror-mediated behavior might be necessary—especially taking more fully into account species differences in visual field. This study suggests that use of reflections in a mirrored surface as a tool may be less widespread than currently thought.     

Self-consciousness, self-awareness, and justice in reward allocation

To what extent can self-awareness affect behavior in justice-related situations? The present study investigated the impact of both chronic levels (public and private self-consciousness), and experimentally induced self-awareness on responsiveness to concurrently operative hut opposing standards of justice in an allocation of pay situation. Subjects were exposed to an externally based (equity) standard and an internally based (equality) standard before dividing pay between themselves and a coworker. The results indicated that high public, low private self-consciousness persons conformed to the external standard by allocating equitably; high private, low public individuals confirmed to the internal standard by allocating equally. Further, subjects who divided their pay in the presence of a mirror allocated most equitably, followed by those whose allocations were made public, while those allocating in private allocated most equally. These latter results were discussed in terms of Wicklund and Hormuth's (1981) vs. Hull and Levy's (1979) conception of self-awareness phenomena. Finally, the importance of the self as a source for evaluating differing criteria of justice was discussed.     

Self-awareness and the emotional consequences of self-discrepancies

Several self theories explore the effects of discrepant self-beliefs on motivation and emotion. This research intersected two self theories: self-discrepancy theory and objective self-awareness theory. Self-discrepancy theory predicts that ideal and ought discrepancies cause different negative emotions; objective self-awareness theory predicts that high self-awareness will strengthen the relationship between self-discrepancies and emotions. People (N =112) completed measures of self-discrepancies and emotions (dejection, agitation, positive affect, and negative affect). Self-focused attention was manipulated with a large mirror. When self-awareness was low, self-discrepancies had weak, nonsignificant relations to emotion. When self-awareness was high, however, self-discrepancies strongly predicted emotional experience. These effects were general-ideal and ought discrepancies affected emotions because of their substantial shared variance, not their unique variance. Implications for theories of self-discrepancies and emotions are considered.     

Changing the working self alters the emotions prompted by recall

Results from three studies indicated that emotional responses to memories can be changed by altering the working self. In particular, these results showed that emotional reactions to memories: (1) were especially positive when memories were perceived to be central to the working self (Experiment 1); (2) were muted when the working self was changed by adopting a third-person perspective during recall (Experiment 1); (3) of an event in the life of each participant's mother weakened when an individual was induced to experience a self that felt less close to their mother (Experiment 2) and (4) of a childhood event provoked especially positive emotional reactions after exposure to a mortality salience manipulation that increased perceived self-worth (Experiment 3). The extent to which mother was included in the self (Experiment 2) and self-worth (Experiment 3) plausibly mediated the effects of the manipulations on participants' emotional reactions to recalled events.     

A self-novelty manipulation of self-focused attention for internet and laboratory experiments.

Conventional manipulations of self-focused attention are poorly suited for Internet experiments and for group-based administration. The authors present a self-novelty manipulation that effectively induces self-awareness for such contexts. In the high self-focus condition, people write about how they differ from their family and friends and from people in general. In the control conditions, people write about neutral topics or do no writing. Three experiments using different measures of self-focus (the situational self-awareness scale, a pronoun selection task, and the private self-consciousness scale) showed that the self-novelty manipulation significantly increased self-focused attention. This effect appeared in Internet-based experiments (Experiment 1) and in laboratory experiments with groups (Experiments 2 and 3). The self-novelty manipulation appears promising for self-awareness research conducted outside of conventional laboratory contexts.