Psychology has worked hard to explore the inner self. Modem psychology was born in Wundt's laboratory and Freud's consulting room, where the inner self was pressed to reveal some of its secrets. Freud, in particular, devoted most of his life to explor ing the hidden recesses inside the self-hidden even from the conscious mind, he said. From Freud's work right down to the latest journal article on self-schemata or self-esteem, psychologists have continued to tell us about the inner self. More recently, psychology has turned some of its attention to the outer self, that is, the self that is seen and known by other people. Various psychologists have studied how the outer self is formed (impression formation), how people control their outer selves (impression management), and so forth. But how is the outer self related to the inner self? There is an easy answer, but it is wrong. The easy answer is that the outer self is mostly the same as the inner self. Put another way, it is that people reveal their true selves to others in a honest and straightforward fashion, and that others accurately perceive the individual as he or she really is. Sometimes it works out that way, but often it does not. The issue is far too complex for the easy answer.

Autorentext
Roy Baumeister ist Francis Eppes Eminent Professor of Psychology an der Florida State University. Er ist einer der international bekanntesten Psychologen und Autor zahlreicher Bücher.

Inhalt

1. Private and Public Experiences and the Self.- Public and Private Psychological Events: Definitions.- The Self as Object: The Impact of Public Behavior on Self-Theory.- Self as Agent: The Relationship of Private Cognitions to Public behavior.- Private and Public Manipulations in Laboratory Experiments.- Conclusions and Implications.- 2. Self-Identification: Toward an Integration of the Private and Public Self.- Self-Identification.- Motives Reconsidered: Desired Identity Images.- Private and Public Behavior Reconsidered: Audiences.- The Influence of the Private Self on Self-Presentations.- The Influence of Self-Presentations on the Self-Concept.- Summary.- 3. Four Selves, Two Motives, and a Substitute Process Self-Regulation Model.- Two Motives.- Four Selves.- Self-Regulation and Substitute Process.- 4. Self-Presentation and Self-Evaluation: Processes of Self-Control and Social Control.- Social Control and Personal Control.- An Organizational Schema.- Self-Promotion and Self-Concept.- Summary and Conclusions.- 5. On the Convergence of Public and Private Aspects of Self.- The Self-Evaluation Maintenance (SEM) Model.- Public Versus Private Self-Evaluation Maintenance.- On the Convergence of the Public Self and the Self-Concept.- The Dilemma in Creating a Positive Impression.- Cognitive Loads and Convergence on Public Self and Self-Concept.- The Self-Concept Constrains the Public Self.- The Public Self Constrains the Self-Concept.- External Constraints on the Public Self and the Self-Concept.- Summary.- 6. Self-Presentation and the Phenomenal Self: On the Stability and Malleability of Self-Conceptions.- A Process Model of Self-Presentation and the Phenomenal Self.- The Phenomenal Self in Social Interaction.- Individual Differences in the Effects of Self-Presentation on the Phenomenal Self.- Conclusion.- 7. Striving for Specific Identities: The Social Reality of Self-Symbolizing.- The Subjective Conceptions of Identity Goals.- The Motivational Basis of Identity-Related Striving.- Social Implications of the Unique Motivational Basis of Self-Symbolizing.- Conclusion.- 8. Competence and Excuse-Making as Self-Presentational Strategies.- Self-image-Maintaining Strategies in Public and Private.- Maintaining Self-image Through Judgments of Similarity and Social Comparison.- Maintaining Self-image Through Beneffectance.- Maintaining Self-image Through Projection.- Gender.- Conclusion.- 9. A Socioanalytic Interpretation of the Public and the Private Selves.- Socioanalytic Theory.- Research Problems.- Caveats.- 10. The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem: A Terror Management Theory.- Empirical Support for a Need for Self-Esteem.- A Terror Management Theory of the Need for Self-Esteem.- Conclusion.- 11. Depression: A Self-Presentation Formulation.- Overview of Contemporary Cognitive and Interpersonal Models of Depression.- Depressive Self-Presentation.- Empirical Evidence for Self-Presentation in Depression.- Depressive Self-Presentation and the Reactions of Others.- Summary and Conclusions.- 12. Epilogue: The Next Decade of Self-Presentation Research.- Effects of Self-Presentation on the Inner Self.- Audiences and Relationships.- Cognition and Self-Presentation.- Convergence of Public and Private Selves.- Control.- Multiple Forms of Self-Presentation.- Conclusion.- Author Index.