11 - Self and Social Cognition Flashcards
What are cognitive constructs?
- How we think about ourselves (how we are, how we would like to be) - How we think (and would like) others to see us Individual and collective
What are the domains of competence and how do they differ throughout life?
What measures our worth –> different in kids and adults - Child/young adolescent –> school work, social acceptance, sports, physical appearance, general behaviour - Adolescent/young adult –> Plus: job competence, romantic appeal, close friendship
What domain is most strongly associated with self esteem?
Physical appearance
What is ‘the looking glass self’?
How we think others see us –> self-appraised by other peoples’ reactions
Who came up with the ‘social comparison’ theory?
Festinger
What is the ‘social comparison theory’?
We compare ourselves with others and validate our own attitudes and behaviours based on others
How does social comparison lead to self-serving bias?
Self-esteem maintenance Unrealistic optimism and unrealistic positive views
What is the ‘Lake Wobegon Effect’?
Where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.“ Our tendency to overestimate our achievements and capabilities, especially in relation to others (see yourself better than others)
What is unrealistic optimism / optimism bias?
A cognitive bias that causes someone to believe that they themselves are less likely to experience a negative event
Who conducted a study on unrealistic optimism?
Weinstein
What did Weinstein find in his study?
Found that people have unrealistic optimism in the events that they will experience in the future - Think we won’t get ill, will have a job, live old - Less apparent in people with depression
What is the low self-esteem cycle?
Low self-esteem –> negative expectations –> anxiety –> poor performance –> self-blame –> low self-esteem (continues)
What can low-self esteem result in?
o Links with personal/social problems o Low self-efficacy, treatment compliance
When do we develop a self-concept?
Visual self-concept at 2 years (recognsie self in photograph)
How does self-concept change during life?
Complexity increases with age
Who was the ‘3 mountain problem’ devised by?
Piaget
How does the 3 mountain problem reflect children’s perceptive taking?
Egocentrism –> children tend to be captured by their immediate concrete perceptions and find it difficult to adopt alternative viewpoints
What is egocentrism?
The tendency of people to be concerned above all with their own values, beliefs, and well-being
When do we acquire ideas about own and other’s beliefs and feelings?
Around 4 years old
What was noticed in those with autism with regard to social skills?
Disability in relation to social functioning and adapting to change (Baren-Cohen)
How are impressions formed?
- Physical appearance
- First and last impressions (1ary and recency effects)
- Use personality traits to describe people
What is stereotyping?
Fixed, over-generalised beliefs about a particular group or class of people
Top down process
What are the 3 stages of stereotyping?
- Identify category/group
- Assign features to people in that group
- Generalise features to all people in that group
What is the effect of stereotyping?
Assimilate large amounts of info, ‘cognitive miser’
What is a ‘cognitive miser’?
The tendency of people to think and solve problems in simpler and less effortful ways rather than in more sophisticated and more effortful ways, regardless of intelligence.
What are the negative effects of stereotyping?
Prejudice: pre-judgments
Discrimination: changing behaviour based on pre-judgments
Negative memory bias: remember things that agree w/ stereotypes, ignore things that counter it
What is the halo effect of attractiveness?
Idea that people who are judged to be attractive are typically perceived in a positive light.
For example, Dion et al. (1972) found that attractivepeople are consistently rated as successful, kind and sociable when compared with unattractive people.
How is familiarity/similarity a determinant of liking?
Similarity –> attitudes, social background, appearance
More times a photo seen = higher rating of attractiveness
What is assortative mating?
Similar geno/phenotypes breed more frequently
What was Harre et al.’s study?
Self-enhacement bias –> belief you are a safer driver than others
