How the self-concept structures social role learning: insights from computational models
Learning about the social expectations tied to upcoming social roles is crucial to promoting adaptation. However, such learning can prompt a strong need for personal change, undermining the stability of individuals’ self-concept. Here, we provide a mechanistic account of how individuals at the onset...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
24 September 2025
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| In: |
Royal Society Open Science
Year: 2025, Volume: 12, Issue: 9, Pages: 1-16 |
| ISSN: | 2054-5703 |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rsos.250590 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.250590 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/12/9/250590/235285/How-the-self-concept-structures-social-role 
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| Author Notes: | Josue Garcia-Arch, Marc Sabio-Albert, Christoph W. Korn and Lluis Fuentemilla |
| Summary: | Learning about the social expectations tied to upcoming social roles is crucial to promoting adaptation. However, such learning can prompt a strong need for personal change, undermining the stability of individuals’ self-concept. Here, we provide a mechanistic account of how individuals at the onset of significant life transitions utilize their self-concept to modulate self-role dissonances during social role learning. Participants engaged in a learning task where they first provided self-ratings for different traits and then estimated how these traits would apply to an individual well-adapted to their forthcoming social role and received trial-by-trial feedback from reference groups. We hypothesized that individuals would employ strategies to minimize dissonances between role expectations and their current self-concept during the learning process. Our computational models included strategies that straightforwardly integrate role expectations to more complex strategies that involve leveraging the self-concept against the pure incorporation of role-related information. The best-performing model demonstrated that the self-concept functions as a modulatory mechanism, guiding the integration of role information to avoid self-role dissonances. Notably, this strategy was strongly accentuated in individuals learning about their upcoming contexts. Our work offers a mechanistic perspective on role learning that may inform interventions to support those facing significant life transitions. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 26.01.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2054-5703 |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rsos.250590 |