3. The Social Self Flashcards
This term refers to the sum total of beliefs that people have about themselves.
Self-concept
Beliefs people hold about themselves that guides the processing of self-relevant information.
Self-schemas
Self-schemas are to an individual’s total self-concept what hypotheses are to a theory or what books are to a library. You can think of yourself as masculine or feminine, as independent or dependent, as liberal or conservative, as introverted or extroverted.
The ability to see yourself as a distinct entity in the world may be a necessary first step in the evolution and development of a self-concept. The second step involves social factors. Sociologist Charles Horton Cooley (1902) introduced the term _____ _____ to suggest that other people serve as a mirror in which we see ourselves.
looking-glass self
Introspection:
When it comes to self-insight, people have difficulty projecting forward and predicting how they would feel in response to future emotional events – a process known as _____ _____.
_____ _____: As part of affective forecasting, it’s the overestimation of the strength and duration of one’s emotional reaction.
affective forecasting
Impact bias
Daryl Bem (1972) proposed that people can learn about themselves the same way outside observers do – by watching their own behavior. Bem’s _____-_____ _____ states that when internal cues are difficult to interpret, people gain self-insight by observing their own freely chosen behavior.
For example, if you ate a sandwich in record time, you might conclude (based on your behavior) that you were more hungry than usual. However, if you ate that sandwich quickly because you were in an eating contest, there would be no self-insight gained (hence, freely chosen behavior).
self-perception theory
Self-Perceptions of Motivation
_____ motivation originates in factors within a person. People are said to be _____ motivated when they engage in an activity for the sake of their own interest, the challenge, or sheer enjoyment.
Intrinsic motivation
Self-Perceptions of Motivation
_____ motivation originates in factors outside the person. People are said to be _____ motivated when they engage in an activity as a means to an end, for tangible benefit. It might be to acquire money, grades, or some kind of recognition; to fulfill an obligation; or to avoid a penalty or punishment.
Extrinsic motivation
Self-Perceptions of Motivation
The tendency for intrinsic motivation to diminish for activities that have become associated with reward or other extrinsic factors is known as the _____ effect.
overjustification effect
Research has shown that when people start getting rewarded for a task they already enjoy, they sometimes lose interest in it over time. People are more creative when they feel interested and challenged by the work itself than when they feel pressured to make money, fulfill obligations, meet deadlines, or impress others.
Leon Festinger’s (1954) _____ _____ _____ states that when people are uncertain of their abilities or opinions – that is, when objective information is not readily available – they evaluate themselves through comparisons with similar others.
social comparison theory
As predicted by Festinger’s social comparison theory, studies have shown that the link between social media usage and self-evaluation depends on whom we compare ourselves to. Research also shows that the more time people passively scroll through other people’s social media pages, rather than interacting with others, the worse they felt about themselves (Verduyn et al., 2015).
The _____-_____ _____ of emotion states that the experience of emotion is based on two factors: physiological arousal and a cognitive interpretation of that arousal.
two-factor theory
Roger Brown and James Kulik (1977) coined the term _____ _____ to describe these enduring, detailed, high-resolution recollections and speculated that humans are biologically equipped for survival purposes to “print” dramatic events in memory.
flashbulb memories
_____-_____ is an affective, evaluative component of the self, consisting of a person’s positive and negative self-evaluations.
Self-esteem
Studies show that self-esteem declines from childhood to adolescence, gradually increases during the transition to adulthood, continues to rise as adults get older, and declines in old age (Erol & Orth, 2011; Orth et al., 2010).
Self-esteem will fluctuate, often during “phases” of life. For example, in a longitudinal study of college students who were repeatedly tested, self-esteem dropped sharply during their first semester but then recovered and increased into their senior year.
This theory, proposed by Mark Leary and Roy Baumeister (2000), maintains that people are inherently social animals and that the desire for self-esteem is driven by a more primitive need to connect with others and gain their approval. As a result of this social connection for survival, people may have evolved a mechanism that enables us to detect acceptance and rejection and then translate these perceptions into high and low self-esteem. In this way, self-esteem serves as a rough indicator of how we’re doing in the eyes of others
Sociometer Theory
This theory, proposed by Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Thomas Pyszczynski (1997), humans are biologically programmed for life and self-preservation, yet we are conscious of – and terrified by – the inevitability of our own death. To cope with this paralyzing, deeply rooted fear, we construct and accept cultural worldviews about how, why, and by whom the Earth was created; religious explanations of the purpose of our existence; and a sense of history filled with heroes, villains, and momentous events. These worldviews provide meaning and purpose and a buffer against anxiety.
Terror Management Theory
According to E. Tory Higgins (1989), our self-esteem is defined by the match or mismatch between how we see ourselves and how we want to see ourselves. This is known as the _____-_____ Theory.
Self-Discrepancy Theory
