Published by uPublish.info Culture The concept of culture is among the most widely used notions in sociology. Normally, one can presume culture to be equivalent to higher things of the mind such as art, literature, music and painting. However, in the perspective of sociologist it goes beyond such activities. Culture refers to the ways of life of the members of society, or of groups within a society. It includes how they dress, their marriage customs, language and family life, their patterns of work, religious ceremonies and leisure pursuits (Giddens, 2005). Cultural sociology is one of the main major and most popular areas of the American Sociological Association. The sociology of culture developed from the intersection between sociology, as shaped by early theorists like Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, and with the rising specialization of anthropology where researchers lead the way of ethnographic approach for unfolding and examining different diversity of cultures around the world (Macionis and Gerber, 2010). Culture can be conceptually distinguished from society but there are very close connections between these notions. A Society is a system of interrelationships which connects individuals together. All societies are united by the fact that their members are organized in structured social relationships according to a unique culture. No cultures could exist without societies. But equally, no society could exist without culture. Without culture, we would not be 'human' at all, in the sense in which we usually understand that term. We would have no language in which to express ourselves, no sense of self-consciousness, and our ability to think or reason would be severely limited (Giddens, 2005; Itulua-Abumere, 2013). Elements of culture --Symbols: Symbols are those illustrations that are used to represent a particular meaning of something that people who share the same culture can easily recognize (Lawley, 1994) --Language: A system of symbols that permits people to communicate with one another (Swartz, 1997) --Values: Culturally defined principles of desirability, goodness, beauty and many other things that serves as broad guidelines for social living (Griswold, 2004) --Beliefs: Certain words that people hold to be true (Swidler, 1986) --Norms: Rules and expectations by which a society directs the conducts of its members. The two types of norms are mores and folkways. Mores are norms that are widely observed and have a great moral significance. Folkways are norms for routine, casual interaction (Corchia, 2010 quoted in Wikipedia, 2013) Cultural diversity Cultural beliefs are one of the things that differ among cultures. However they are other things that differ among cultures. The diversity of human behavior and practices is also remarkable. Acceptable forms of behavior vary extensively from culture to culture and often contrast considerably with what people form Western societies believe is 'normal'. For example, in the modern West we regard children aged twelve or thirteen to be too young for marriage. But in some cultures, marriages and arranged between children of that age as a matter of course. Jews do not eat pork, while Hindus eat Page 1

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Sociological concepts of culture and identity

by: Flourish Itulua-Abumere

Published by uPublish.info

Culture

The concept of culture is among the most widely used notions in sociology. Normally, one can

presume culture to be equivalent to higher things of the mind such as art, literature, music and

painting. However, in the perspective of sociologist it goes beyond such activities. Culture refers to

the ways of life of the members of society, or of groups within a society. It includes how they dress,

their marriage customs, language and family life, their patterns of work, religious ceremonies and

leisure pursuits (Giddens, 2005). Cultural sociology is one of the main major and most popular areas

of the American Sociological Association. The sociology of culture developed from the intersection

between sociology, as shaped by early theorists like Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, and with the rising

specialization of anthropology where researchers lead the way of ethnographic approach for

unfolding and examining different diversity of cultures around the world (Macionis and Gerber,

2010). Culture can be conceptually distinguished from society but there are very close connections

between these notions. A Society is a system of interrelationships which connects individuals

together. All societies are united by the fact that their members are organized in structured social

relationships according to a unique culture. No cultures could exist without societies. But equally, no

society could exist without culture. Without culture, we would not be 'human' at all, in the sense in

which we usually understand that term. We would have no language in which to express ourselves,

no sense of self-consciousness, and our ability to think or reason would be severely limited

(Giddens, 2005; Itulua-Abumere, 2013).

Elements of culture

-Symbols: Symbols are those illustrations that are used to represent a particular meaning of

something that people who share the same culture can easily recognize (Lawley, 1994)

-Language: A system of symbols that permits people to communicate with one another (Swartz,

1997)

-Values: Culturally defined principles of desirability, goodness, beauty and many other things that

serves as broad guidelines for social living (Griswold, 2004)

-Beliefs: Certain words that people hold to be true (Swidler, 1986)

-Norms: Rules and expectations by which a society directs the conducts of its members. The two

types of norms are mores and folkways. Mores are norms that are widely observed and have a great

moral significance. Folkways are norms for routine, casual interaction (Corchia, 2010 quoted in

Wikipedia, 2013)

Cultural diversity

Cultural beliefs are one of the things that differ among cultures. However they are other things that

differ among cultures. The diversity of human behavior and practices is also remarkable. Acceptable

forms of behavior vary extensively from culture to culture and often contrast considerably with what

people form Western societies believe is 'normal'. For example, in the modern West we regard

children aged twelve or thirteen to be too young for marriage. But in some cultures, marriages and

arranged between children of that age as a matter of course. Jews do not eat pork, while Hindus eat

Page 1

pork but avoid beef. Westerners regard kissing as a normal part of sexual behavior, but in many

other cultures the practice is either unknown or regarded as disgusting. All these different traits of

behavior are aspects of broad cultural differences that distinguish societies from one another

(Giddens, 2005)

Culture plays an important role in perpetuating the values and norms of a society; however it also

offers significant opportunities for resourcefulness and change. Subcultures and countercultures

groups which largely discard the widespread values and norms of society can promote views which

show alternatives to the leading culture. Social movements or groups of people sharing common

lifestyles are powerful forces of change within societies. In this way subcultures allow freedom for

people to express and act on their opinions, hopes and beliefs. (Giddens, 2005)

Every culture has its own unique patterns of behavior, which seem alien to people from other

cultural backgrounds. When you travel to a different country, you usually get different sensation and

feeling because most of what you see, hear and even eats can be very different from what you do in

your own country. Aspect of your daily life style which you unconsciously take for granted in your

own culture may not be part of everyday life in other parts of the world. Even in countries which

share the same language, everyday habits, customs and behaviors may be quite different. The

expression culture shock is an apt one. Some times people feel disoriented when they become

immersed in a new culture. This is because they have lost the familiar reference points which help

them understand the world around them and have not yet learned how to navigate in the new

culture. (Giddens, 2005)

Identity

The concept of identity in sociology is a multifaceted one, and can be approached in a number of

ways. Broadly speaking, identity relates to the understandings people hold about 'who they are' and

what is meaningful to them. These understandings are formed in relation to certain attributes that

hold priority over other sources of meaning. Some of the main sources of identity include gender,

sexual orientation, nationality, or ethnicity and social class. They are two types of identity often

spoken of by sociologist which are social identity and self-identity or (personal identity). These forms

of identity are analytically distinct, but are closely related to one another. Social Identity refers to the

characteristics that are attributed to an individual by others. Social identities can include student,

mother, Anglican, homeless, doctor, Asian, married and so forth. Many individuals have social

identities comprising more than one attribute. A person could simultaneously be a mother, a doctor

and a Christian. Multiple social identities reflect the many dimensions of people's lives. Social

identities therefore involve a collective dimension. They mark ways that individuals are the same as

others. Shared identities predicated on a set of common goals, values, or experiences can form an

important base for social movements. Feminist, environmentalists, supporters of nationalist

movements are examples of cases in which a shared identity is drawn on as a powerful source of

meaning (Giddens, 2005)

Self identity (personal identity) set us apart as distinct individuals. Self identity refers to the process

of self development through which we formulate a unique sense of ourselves and our relationship to

the world around us. Self identity is said to be a set of values, ideas, philosophy's and beliefs about

one's self (Leflot et al, 2010) that consist of factors such as educational performance, gender roles

and sexuality, racial identity and many others. Normally, self identity symbolizes the answer to "who

am I" (Myer, 2009). Self identity is made up of one's self-schemas. Furthermore, self identities work

together with self esteem, self knowledge and social self to make up the self. Self esteem refers to

the link between one's self and self-schemas to constitute one's overall self-worth (Fleming &

Courtney, 1984). One's self identity can include the past, present and future selves. Future

represents a person idea of what they might become, what they would like to become, or what they

are afraid of becoming. These diverse selves match up with one's wish, fears, principles, aim,

Page 2

objective, and threats for their present selves. Possible selves may act as motivation for future

behavior and also provide an evaluative and interpretive framework for the present view of self that

is used when one self-evaluates, contributing to one's self esteem (Markus & Nurius, 1986). The

insight which individuals have about their past or future selves is associated with the insight of their

current self. The temporal self-appraisal theory (Wilson & Rose, 2001) argues that people have a

tendency to preserve a positive evaluation of the present self by isolating their self identity from their

negative selves and paying more concentration to their positive selves. Furthermore, people have

tendencies to assume the past self, less favorably (Ross & Wilson, 2002) e.g., I'm more beautiful

than I used to be and the future self more positively e.g., I will be richer than I am now (Wilson et al,

2012)

The notion of self identity draws heavily on the work of symbolic interactionists. It is the individual's

constant negotiation with the outside world that helps to create and shape his or her sense of self.

The process of interaction between self and society helps to link an individual's personal and public

worlds. Worldviews about the self in relation to others differs across and within cultures (Swann et

al, 2012). In Western cultures, an individualistic and independent approach is used where society

places exacting significance on becoming independent and to express one's own attributes (Markus

& Kitayama, 1991). Relationships, memberships, groups for instance tend to be secondary to the

self. Another aspect is Self-assessment. Self assessment of one's self identity also includes social

comparisons. The social comparison theory states that people endeavor to precisely identify

themselves and therefore make use of social comparisons to exactly describe the self during the

self-evaluative process (Preckel & Brull, 2010).

Within these social comparisons, one will find upward (e.g., positive) and downward (e.g., negative)

comparisons that can either enhance or threaten our self identity (Meyers, 2009). In such

circumstance where we feel threatened, it is not rare to make justification for why we are not

performing to meeting up to standard to the same degree as others, thereby protecting our self

identity. In Asian cultures, an interdependent observation of the self is more common and these

cultures often practice identity fusion more regularly (Swann et al, 2010). Interpersonal connections

are more vital than one's individual accomplishments, as individuals experience a sense of oneness

with the group. Previous studies have shown that this identity fusion can have positive and negative

consequences. The positive impact that identity fusion can have on individuals is that they feel that

their way of life is significant. On the other hand, such strong interdependence can attract to

disastrous event if care is not taken. (Swann et al, 2010)

Conclusion

The concept of culture is one of the most important notions in sociology. We can't talk about culture

without drawing links with identity. This article explains how culture plays an important role in

perpetuating the values and norms of a society. Culture also offers significant opportunities for

resourcefulness and change. Cultural values and norms often change over time. In today's we have

unprecedented opportunities to make ourselves and to create our own identities. Talking about

identity, we are our own best resources in defining who we are, where we have come from and

where we are going. The decision we take in our everyday lives about what we wear, eat, how to

behave and how to spend time help to make us who we are. Through our capacity as self

conscious, self aware human beings, we constantly create and recreate our identities.

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Page 3

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Page 5

... Culture plays an important role in achieving originality and aesthetic value considerations (Mutungi, 2019). Without culture, we would have no language to express ourselves, no selfconsciousness, and our ability to reason would be limited (Itulua-Abumere, 2013). Culture has two components; actual behavior (real culture), and ideal culture where people do things and give the reason for doing them . ...

... Culture is defined as the arts, customs and habits that characterise a certain society or nation. Culture includes the way the people in a society dress, the customs they practice in their marriages, the languages they speak, as well as their family lives, their work patterns, religious ceremonies and leisure pursuits [20]. Zimmermann [34] further describes culture as the beliefs, values and material objects that constitute a people's way of life. ...

Skilled Information Technology (IT) professionals are essential to support businesses and the economy. Businesses increasingly require more qualified IT professionals, be they male or female. In South Africa, the number of women professionals participating in the IT industry is less than 20%. A number of factors influence women's IT career choices, such as previous programming exposure, parents, teachers and role models. Research suggests that there are gender differences in preferences and beliefs that may affect career choices, including cultural influences. The role of culture in women's IT career decisions has not been extensively explored in South Africa. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine if the factor, Culture influences women's IT career choices in South Africa. An on-line survey was conducted amongst women IT professionals in South Africa to determine the factors that influenced their IT career choices. The data from the survey were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis. The results, specifically relating to the factor Culture, are reported in this paper. The findings indicate that the factor Culture plays an important role when women make IT career choices as well as when females decide to remain in an IT career. The study found that culture does play a significant role in IT career decisions for different ethnic groups in South Africa. The findings suggest that efforts must be made to educate young women in computational thinking and expose them to the many career opportunities available for women in the IT industry.

  • OSTI ELISABETH SIMANJUNTAK
  • Lidiman Sahat Sinaga
  • Syamsul Bahri

This research focused on communicative functions used in Ulaon Pogu ni Alaman in Exhumation (Mangongkal Holi) at funeral ceremony in Toba Batak. This research was conducted by applying descriptive qualitative method. The data were collected from the transcript utterances of Ulaon Pogu ni Alaman at funeral ceremony in Toba Batak. The findings of the study show that there are 100 utterances which consist of six communicative functions which is referential, emotive, poetic, conative, phatic, and metalinguistic. The most dominant type of communicative functions used in Ulaon Pogu ni Alaman in Exhumation (Mangongkal Holi) at funeral ceremony in Toba Batak is referential function. It means that the communication used in Ulaon Pogu ni Alaman intended to establish the description and contextual information that happened on that day. Keywords: communicative functions; Batak Toba; funeral ceremony; Ulaon Pogu ni Alaman.

Culture always associate with human activity which could give an identity. Any culture that associate with materials and objects is an aid to the creation of lasting identities. The culture will suffer loss and extinction due to less attention and preservation. In reality, designers seem less to care in injecting the cultural value in their creation and facing hardship in translating a culture object into a product. Designing a product with a cultural element could emphasis its sentimental and commercial value in the global market. Therefore, this paper aims at proposing a design process framework on how culture can be employed to generate and create product. The proposed framework explains how a culture object can inspire designers to create a product with the intervention of Norman's Three levels of Design theory. The Artefact Analysis and online survey are used to obtain the finding and creating a proof of concept that the proposed framework model capable to provide valuable references for designing a culture-inspired product. On the other hand, the local identity could be brought up globally through culture-inspired products.

  • Hazel Rose Markus
  • Paula Nurius Paula Nurius

Introduces the concept of possible selves (PSs) to complement current conceptions of self-knowledge. PSs represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming, and thus provide a conceptual link beteen cognition and motivation. PSs are the cognitive components of hopes, fears, goals, and threats; they give the specific self-relevant form, meaning, organization, and direction to these dynamics. It is suggested that PSs function as incentives for future behavior and to provide an evaluative and interpretive context for the current view of self. The nature and function of PSs and their role in addressing several persistent problems (e.g., the stability and malleability of the self, the unity of the self, self-distortion, the relationship between the self-concept and behavior) are discussed. (143 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

People in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the 2. These construals can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation. Many Asian cultures have distinct conceptions of individuality that insist on the fundamental relatedness of individuals to each other. The emphasis is on attending to others, fitting in, and harmonious interdependence with them. American culture neither assumes nor values such an overt connectedness among individuals. In contrast, individuals seek to maintain their independence from others by attending to the self and by discovering and expressing their unique inner attributes. As proposed herein, these construals are even more powerful than previously imagined. Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of the self as independent and a construal of the self as interdependent. Each of these divergent construals should have a set of specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation; these consequences are proposed and relevant empirical literature is reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Supporting predictions from temporal self-appraisal theory, participants in 3 studies reported feeling farther from former selves and experiences with unfavorable implications for their current self-view than from equally distant selves and experiences with flattering implications. This distancing bias occurred when assignment to negative and positive pasts was random, for both achievement and social outcomes and for single episodes as well as longer term experiences. Consistent with a motivational interpretation, the distancing bias was stronger among high than low self-esteem participants and occurred for personal but not for acquaintances' past events. Frequency of rehearsal and ease of recall of past episodes also predicted feelings of distance, but these variables did not account for the Self-Esteem × Valence interaction on subjective distancing of personal events.

  • Robert B. Pettit
  • Wendy Griswold Wendy Griswold

In the Fourth Edition of Cultures and Societies in a Changing World, author Wendy Griswold illuminates how culture shapes our social world and how society shapes culture. Through this book, students will gain an understanding of the sociology of culture and explore stories, beliefs, media, ideas, art, religious practices, fashions, and rituals from a sociological perspective. Cultural examples from multiple countries and time periods will broaden students' global understanding. Students will develop a deeper appreciation of culture and society from this text, gleaning insights that will help them overcome cultural misunderstandings, conflicts, and ignorance and that will help equip them to live their professional and personal lives as effective, wise citizens of the world.

  • Ann Swidler

Culture influences action not by providing the ultimate values toward which action is oriented, but by shaping a repertoire or "tool kit" of habits, skills, and styles from which people construct "strategies of action." Two models of cultural influence are developed, for settled and unsettled cultural periods. In settled periods, culture independently influences action, but only by providing resources from which people can construct diverse lines of action. In unsettled cultural periods, explicit ideologies directly govern action, but structural opportunities for action determine which among competing ideologies survive in the long run. This alternative view of culture offers new opportunities for systematic, differentiated arguments about culture's causal role in shaping action.

  • A Swidler

Culture influences action not by providing the ultimate values toward which action is oriented, but by shaping a repertoire or "tool kit" of habits, skills, and styles from which people construct "strategies of action." Two models of cultural influence are developed, for settled and unsettled cultural periods. In settled periods, culture inde- pendently influences action, but only by providing resources from which people can construct diverse lines of action. In unsettled cultural periods, explicit ideologies directly govern action, but structural opportunities for action determine which among competing ideologies survive in the long run. This alternative view of culture offers new opportunities for systematic, differentiated arguments about culture's causal role in shaping action. The reigning model used to understand cul- ture's effects on action is fundamentally mis- leading. It assumes that culture shapes action by supplying ultimate ends or values toward which action is directed, thus making values the central causal element of culture. This paper analyzes the conceptual difficulties into which this traditional view of culture leads and offers an alternative model. Among sociologists and anthropologists, de- bate has raged for several academic genera- tions over defining the term "culture." Since the seminal work of Clifford Geertz (1973a), the older definition of culture as the entire way of life of a people, including their technology and material artifacts, or that (associated with the name of Ward Goodenough) as everything one would need to know to become a func- tioning member of a society, have been dis- placed in favor of defining culture as the pub- licly available symbolic forms through which people experience and express meaning (see Keesing, 1974). For purposes of this paper, culture consists of such symbolic vehicles of meaning, including beliefs, ritual practices, art forms, and ceremonies, as well as informal cultural practices such as language, gossip, stories, and rituals of daily life. These symbolic forms are the means through which "social processes of sharing modes of behavior and outlook within (a) community" (Hannerz, 1969:184) take place. The recent resurgence of cultural studies has skirted the causal issues of greatest interest to sociologists. Interpretive approaches drawn

  • James S. Fleming
  • Barbara E. Courtney

A hierarchical facet model of self-esteem proposed by R. J. Shavelson et al (see record 1978-30429-001) was partially tested in a previous study by J. S. Fleming and W. A. Watts (see record 1981-28061-001). Their 3 factors, which were labeled Self-Regard, Social Confidence, and School Abilities, corresponded to 3 of the 4 dimensions posited by Shavelson et al. Predictions of other individual-difference variables from these factors were also tested by correlational analysis. Improvements to the instrument led to a replication of their 3 factors plus 2 predicted physical factors: Physical Appearance and Physical Abilities. In the present study, with 259 undergraduates, a 2nd-order factor analysis yielded a single, superordinate factor of global self-esteem, supporting the hierarchical interpretation of the facet model. Construct validity was further examined by replication of the correlational findings of Fleming and Watts and by correlations with other measures of personality and adjustment, including a global measure of self-esteem: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The facet model as presently operationalized measures dimensions of relevance for the intended population, but these dimensions are not so broadly defined as to be redundant with related constructs. (65 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The authors present and test a theory of temporal self-appraisal. According to the theory, people can maintain their typically favorable self-regard by disparaging their distant and complimenting their recent past selves. This pattern of appraisals should be stronger for more important attributes because of their greater impact on self-regard and stronger for self-ratings than for ratings of other people. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that participants are more critical of distant past selves than of current selves, and Study 3 showed that this effect is obtained even when concurrent evaluations indicate no actual improvement. Studies 4 and 5 revealed that people perceived greater improvement for self than for acquaintances and siblings over the same time period. Study 6 provided support for the predicted effects of temporal distance and attribute importance on people's evaluation of past selves.

We examined the role of subjective temporal distance in people's future self-predictions. Consistent with temporal self-appraisal theory, we hypothesized that people would be motivated to evaluate future selves more favorably when they felt closer in time, because subjectively close future selves have more direct implications for current identity than do subjectively distant future selves. Subjective temporal distance of a future self was manipulated, holding constant actual temporal distance. Participants predicted more favorable personal qualities (Study 1) at a future time that seemed close rather than distant. Supporting a self-enhancement account, subjective distance effects were specific to appraisals of future self but not acquaintances (Study 2), and the link between subjective distance and future self-appraisals was eliminated when participants satisfied their self-image goals via a self-affirmation exercise (Study 3). Study 4 provided evidence that subjectively close future selves influence current identity to a greater extent than do distant selves: Participants evaluated their current selves more positively when feeling close to, rather than distant from, a future success. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study examined whether teacher–child interactions characterized by teacher involvement, structure, and autonomy support at the beginning of second grade predicted children's global, academic, social, and behavioural self-concept at the end of second grade. The study was conducted in 30 second grade classrooms with 570 children and their teachers. Data included teacher reports of teacher–child interactions and child reports of self-concept. Results showed that, when controlling for the initial level of self-concept, children's social self-concept was predicted by teacher involvement, structure, and autonomy support. In addition, teacher autonomy support predicted high academic self-concept. Finally, these teacher–child interaction characteristics did not contribute to the behavioural and global self-concept. The results were similar for boys and girls. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.