Ch 3: Communication & the Self

Question 1

self-concept (66)

Answer 1

the relatively stable set of perceptions each individual holds of herself or himself

Question 2

self-esteem (67)

Old Ed.: causes of low self-esteem – obsolete information, distorted feedback, the myth of perfection that is common in our society

Answer 2

the part of the self-concept that involves evaluations of self-worth

Question 3

reflected appraisal (69)

Old Ed.: “To the extent that you have received supportive messages, you have learned to appreciate and value yourself. To the degree that you have received critical signals, you are likely to feel less valuable, lovable, and capable (Felson, 1985).”

Answer 3

the theory that a person’s self-concept matches the way the person believes others regard him or her

Question 4

significant other (69)

Old Ed.: “Some social scientists have coined the phrase “Michelangelo phenomenon” to describe the way significant others sculpt one another’s self-concept (Drigotas, 2002; Drigotas et al., 1999).”

Answer 4

a person whose opinion is important enough to affect one’s self-concept strongly

Question 5

social comparison (69)

Answer 5

evaluating oneself in terms of or by comparison of others

Question 6

reference groups (69)

Answer 6

groups against which we compare ourselves, thereby influencing our self-concept and self-esteem

Question 7

cognitive conservatism (73)

Answer 7

the tendency to seek out information that conforms to an existing self-concept and to ignore information that contradicts it

Question 8

self-fulfilling prophecy (74)

Answer 8

the causal relationship that occurs when a person’s expectations of an event and her or his subsequent behavior based on those expectations make the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise be true

Question 9

identity management (77)

Answer 9

the communication strategies people use to influence how others view them

Question 10

perceived self (78)

Answer 10

the person we believe ourselves to be in moments of candor. It may be identical with or different from the presenting and desired selves

Question 11

presenting self (78)

Answer 11

the image a person presents to others. It may be identical with or different from the perceived and desired selves.

Question 12

facework (78)

Answer 12

actions people take to preserve their own and others’ presenting images

Question 13

self-disclosure (87)

Answer 13

the process of deliberately revealing information about oneself that is significant and that would not normally be known by others

Question 14

social penetration model (87)

Answer 14

a model that describes relationships in terms of their breadth and depth

Question 15

Johari Window (89)

Answer 15

a model that describes the relationship between self-disclosure and self-awareness

Question 16

privacy management (90)

Answer 16

the choices people make to reveal or conceal information about themselves

Question 17

benevolent lie (97)

Answer 17

a lie that is considered malicious by the person who tells it

Question 18

equivocal language (99)

Answer 18

ambiguous language that has two or more equally plausible meanings

Question 19

Old Ed.: on “cognitive conservatism”

Answer 19

“At least four requirements must be met for an appraisal to be regarded as important:

• the person who offers a particular appraisal must be someone we see as competent to offer it
• the appraisal must be perceived as highly personal
• the appraisal must be reasonable in light of what we believe about ourselves
• appraisals that are consistent and numerous are more persuasive than those that contradict usual appraisals or those that occur only once”

Question 20

how the self concept develops (reflected appraisal and social comparison, etc)

Answer 20

“Researchers generally agree that the self-concept does not exist at birth (Rochat, 2001) (67)”.

“…you should begin to see that everyone’s self-concept is to some degree a reflected appraisal: a mirroring of the judgments of those around her or him” (69).

“In addition to using these messages, we form our self-image by the process of social comparison: evaluating ourselves in terms of how we compare with others (Johnson & Stapel, 2010)” (69).

Question 21

how we manage impressions

Answer 21

Face-to-Face Identity Management:
“Manner consists of a communicator’s words and nonverbal actions.” “Since you have to speak and act, the question isn’t whether your manner sends a message; rather, it’s whether these messages will be intentional” (82).

Appearance: “…the personal items people use to shape an image” (82).

Setting: “…physical items we use to influence how others view us. In modern Western society, the car is a major part of identity management” (82). Also artwork, colors, music, cell phone brand and ring tone.

Question 22

self-fulfilling prophecies in which one person’s expectations govern another’s actions (75)
(amazing!)

Answer 22

“The classic example was demonstrated by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson (1968) in a study they described in their book Pygmalion in the Classroom. The experimenters told teachers that 20 percent of the children in a certain elementary school showed unusual potential for intellectual growth. The names of the 20 percent were drawn by means of a table of random numbers–much as if they were drawn out of a hat. Eight months later these unusual or “magic” children showed significantly greater gains in IQ than did the remaining children, who had not been singled out for the teachers’ attention. The change in the teachers’ behavior toward these allegedly “special” children led to changes in their intellectual performance. Among other things, the teachers gave the “smart” students more time to answer questions, and provided more feedback to them. These children did better not because they were any more intelligent than their classmates, but because their teachers–significant others–communicated the expectation that they could” (76).

Question 23

self-disclosure

Answer 23

“…self-disclosure (1) has the self as subject, (2) is intentional, (3) is directed at another person, (4) is honest, (5) is revealing, (6) contains information generally unavailable from other sources, and (7) gains much of its intimate nature form the context in which it is expressed” (87).