C5 Flashcards
Self Concept:
The overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes
who has a rudimentary self-concept
Some primates
Humans at 18 to 24 months
Child’s self-concept
Concrete
References to characteristics like age, sex, neighborhood, and hobbies
Maturing self-concept
Less emphasis on physical characteristics
More emphasis on psychological states and how other people judge us
cultural influence on self concept
individualistic cultures emphasize the self/independent view; collectivistic cultures deemphasize the self/interdependent view
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.–American proverb
The nail that stands out gets pounded down.–Japanese proverb
Independent view of the self
Defines self through own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not other people’s
Independence and uniqueness valued
Held in many Western cultures
Interdependent view of the self
Defines self through relationships to other people
Recognizes that others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions affect one’s behavior
Connectedness and interdependence valued
Uniqueness frowned on
Held in many Asian and non-Western cultures
functions of the self
Self-knowledge, Self-control, impression management, self esteem
Self-knowledge:
The way we understand who we are and organize this information
self control
The way we make plans and execute decisions
impression management
The way we present ourselves to others and get them to see us as we want to be seen; The attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen
self esteem
The way we maintain positive views of ourselves
Introspection
The process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives
Self-Awareness Theory
The idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values. Sometimes people go far in their attempt to escape the self if they can’t/won’t change behavior.
ways people go far in their attempt to escape the self.
Harmful—drug/alcohol use
Beneficial- sprirituality
Self-perception theory:
The theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs
Schachter’s theory
two factor theory of emotion/we experience emotions in a two-step self-perception process:
Experience physiological arousal
Seek an appropriate explanation for it
Misattribution of arousal
Making mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do
Arousal from one source (e.g., caffeine, exercise, a fright) can enhance the intensity of how the person interprets other feelings (e.g., attraction to someone).
(e.g. if u are overcaffeinated and you’re with someone you like you might think your heart is racing because you’re attracted to them rather than bc of the caffeine) (see bridge/love experiment: misattributed physical symptoms of fear to sexual arousal)
Intrinsic motivation
Engage in an activity because of enjoyment and interest, not external rewards or pressures
Extrinsic motivation
Engage in an activity because of external reasons, not because of enjoyment and interest
Overjustification effect:
The tendency of people to view their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons, making them underestimate the extent to which it was caused by intrinsic reasons
Task-contingent rewards:
Rewards that are given for performing a task, regardless of how well the task is done (e.g. participation awards)
Performance-contingent rewards:
Rewards that are based on how well we perform a task
e.g. first place, second place….
Avoiding over-justification when using rewards:
Rewards will undermine interest only if interest was initially high.
The type of reward makes a difference.
Performance-contingent rewards are less damaging to intrinsic interest
