Jan 18 2010
The Self: A Social Thing
Both my post title and title to a recent news-release strike me as a tad oxymoronic.
Self-control is contagious, study finds
But yes, it is so: the self is a largely social phenomenon, in terms of its development and function.
In a just-published series of studies involving hundreds of volunteers, researchers have found that watching or even thinking about someone with good self-control makes others more likely exert self-control.
I guess one could say that self-control here refers to the control of the self, vs. the self in control. So maybe it isn’t oxymoronic. Still, the point is the same. The self doesn’t exist and function in isolation.
As to the study results, the lead author speculates about the mechanisms involved.
VanDellen said this finding suggests that self-control is contagious because being exposed to people with either good or bad self-control influences how accessible thoughts about self-control are.
“Contagious” . . . I don’t know about that. Anyway, might a person say, then, that being exposed to controlled others “primes” the parts of our brains that help us practice restraint? Might a person further say that the self is a dynamic thing, that both acts on and influences the world (particularly social environments), just as the world acts on and influences it?
Back to the title — In a universe of perfect linguistics, I wouldn’t use “thing” to describe the self. But then, what is it? Damn the limits of vocabulary!
It works the other way as well; if you’re surrounded by drunk friends you tend to start acting like an idiot. I think in this case it’s less to do with interactions of the Self than it is to do with people wanting to fit in with the people around them.