6.1 The Self 2 Flashcards
Explain why Lepper, Green and Nisbett’s results of rewards decreasing intrinsic motivation occur
This is a result of self-perception processes:
Look at the kid’s behaviour and take into account the fact they will get a reward
See it as a bribe and only did the activity to get the reward
They must not like drawing if they have to be offered a reward to do it
When not offered a reward, they do not make the same attributions
How can rewards be effective?
Offer them as a surprise
Discuss Cooley’s looking glass self
Another source of self-knowledge: We can turn to other people to learn about ourselves
We derive self-knowledge by looking at other people, trying to figure out what those people think of us:
- As a reflection of how others see us
- Their reactions can tell us about who we are
What is Festinger’s social comparison theory?
We learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people
The theory revolves around 2 questions:
When do we engage in social comparison?
With whom do we choose to compare ourselves?
Explain how people who like you may be biased about your actual abilities
E.g. your mum always complimenting your sporting abilities
Give an example of engaging in social comparison processes
E.g. play lots of sport games to work out how you compare in your skills
When do we engage in social comparison?
More likely to engage when there is no objective standard to measure yourself again
When you experience uncertainty about yourself in a particular area
Give an example of when there is no objective standard to measure yourself again
E.g. how much money to donate to charity?
There is no objective standard here so the question is hard
What you might do is compare yourself to other people to derive what you should do
Give an example of when you experience uncertainty about yourself in a particular area
Sometimes, not clear whether your performance is good or bad
E.g. scoring 15/20 on a test - is this a good score?
This is why percentile rankings are so informative = they compare you to other people
What did Gilbert, Giesler and Morris say about automaticity of social comparisons?
Making social comparisons may be a spontaneous, automatic process, at least with salient targets
We will socially compare sometimes even when it is not appropriate to do it
Information provided can be faulty - this doesn’t lead to good self-knowledge
What is a salient target in regard to social comparisons?
Salient targets = another person you can compare yourself against
Discuss what happens in the schizophrenia detection ability test
Students come into the lab and told them to they will do a test on their “schizophrenic detection ability”
Identify from photos of people’s faces
So they have an understanding of what to do, they watch an instructional video of another student doing the test
Told it was an actor who performs either poorly or well
1/2 participants made cognitively busy - remember an 8 digit number
All participants then did the test and received ambiguous feedback - 10/18
Had to rate their own competence at the task
Why are P’s in Gilbert’s study told the student they watch is an actor?
Engaging in social comparison with this person (the actor) is meaningless because it was staged
Why are 1/2 of Ps in Gilbert’s study made cognitively bust?
Don’t have your full suite of cognitive resources available
What did Gilbert’s study find?
Performance of the model makes a significant difference when cog busy:
When the model was poor, you thought you did v well compared to when the model did well you thought you had a bad score
Regardless of the fact the model was staged
i.e. inappropriate to make these social comparisons
When not under cognitively load, there is no significant diff
You don’t compare yourself to the model’s performance
What did Gilbert conclude based on their study?
Concluded that social comparisons are automatic
It takes effort to undo the cognitive resources and cannot do it when you are busy BUT you can correct for them when you’re not busy
Who did Festinger say we tend to choose to compare ourselves to?
In terms of theory, we compare ourselves to people who are similar to ourselves
It’s because we are motivated to perceive ourselves accurately
Our motives map onto our targets of social comparisons
What did a meta-analysis of 55 studies find regarding who we choose to compare ourselves to?
Found people prefer comparing themselves to someone who is better than them
This may be because people are trying to be inspired so are looking up to others
Try to understand the best that they can possibly be
When do different social comparisons occur?
When we have different motives
What is upward social comparison and when do we engage in it?
Upward social comparison = comparing yourself to people who are better than you on a particular ability
If you want to work out the top level you can aspire to
What is downward social comparison and when do we engage in it?
Downward social comparison = comparing yourself to people who are worse than you on a particular ability
Engage in it when want to feel better about yourself
What is a self-motive?
Essentially a goal to establish or maintain a state in the self
Lots of diff goals you may have in relation to yourself
“An inclination that is aimed toward establishing or maintaining a particular state of self-awareness, self-representation or self-evaluation”
What are the 3 types of self-motive?
Accuracy perception
Self-verification
Self-enhancement
What is accuracy perception?
The motivation to have accurate and valid info about ourselves
Why people make social comparisons with people similar to them (Festinger)
What is self-verification?
Motivation to confirm what we already know about our self
Already formulated a self-concept, even if it is -ve, you want to verify it with other people
What is self-enhancement?
Motivation to maintain or increase the positivity of your self as well as the desire to maintain, protect, and enhance one’s self-image
Feeling good about yourself
Some researchers argue this is the strongest self-motive
What are manifestations of self-enhancement?
We are better than average
We are better today than we were in the past
We make biased attributions
We define categories and traits in self-serving ways
We engage in self-handicapping
We sometimes sabotage other people
What is the better than average effect?
We tend to think we are above average on the ability to get along with others
Polled 1m high school students
80% rated themselves above average at their ability to get on with other people
What do we think we are above average on?
The ability to get on with others
Happiness
The ability to make objective judgments
Why does the better than average effect occur?
People exaggerate their skills and abilities to enhance themselves and feel better about themselves
What is temporal self-appraisal theory?
Can compare ourselves to our past selves to feel better about who we are now
When we think about ourselves, we think of our self as a string of selves over time = evolution of the self
These past selves provide us with a target for downward social comparison
“I am better than I was in the past”
How has temporal self-appraisal theory been tested and what was found?
Had uni students come into the lab and had to rate themselves or an acquaintance on a number of diff traits
○ +ve and -ve traits
○ As you are now v how you were in the past
Found that people thought they were better now than in the past BUT didn’t think there acquaintances were better now
What are biased attributions?
Making attributions that cast ourselves in a +ve light
Means people can attribute the failure to something external to them - they don’t take responsibility for that failure
Saves their self-esteem
What are biased attributions motivated by?
Self-enhancement motive
How can the self-enhancement motive influence how we define concepts?
Self-serving category definitions and trait definitions
What are self-serving category definitions?
We can shift the meaning of a category so that it enables us to enhance the self and be reflected well
Defining categories - there is no objective definition so you can skew it so it fits with the virtues you have
What are self-serving traits?
Traits are also subjective
Diff ideas as to what they mean
Depends on your slant based on your own virtues
What is self-handicapping?
Creating obstacles to success in order to protect the self
Give an example of self-handicapping
E.g. big exam coming up and nervous for it
Self-handicap by creating barriers for success
Allows you to attribute any failure to that success
Avoid -ve internal attributions
Not going to study
How does self-handicapping increase glory of success?
Make it harder to succeed so if you do you must be amazing!
What is a problem with self-handicapping?
Problem with this is that because you are putting obstacles in place in the long run it makes success less likely
Over time, you are going to reduce the likelihood you will pass the exam
It can handicap you
