Ch. 3 - Perceiving the Self

Question 1

Define the self

Define the social self

Answer 1

Mental apparatus that allows people to think consciously about themselves
Unique to humans
Constant presence inside head
Allows people to make deliberate decisions to control their own behaviour

What we know about ourselves from social relationships

Question 2

Define self concept

Define spontaneous self concept

Answer 2

Schema of one’s attributes and other pieces of knowledge about self derived from past experiences

Collection of aspects of identity available to awareness at a given point in time
Distinctiveness of a trait in a certain situation makes that trait stand out

Question 3

Multiple selves (who current self is compared with)

Answer 3

Ideal self (who we aspire to be)
Ought self (who we should be based on external obligations)
Undesired self (who we do not wish to be)

Question 4

Looking glass self theory

Answer 4

Self concept is a reflection of how others see us
Derived from reflected self appraisals (belief about what others think of us)
The way we view ourselves often affects the perceptions of other people, who then reflect those view back to us (feedback cycle)
Problem 1: other people don’t always give us honest feedback
Problem 2: selective attention to feedback (self bias, more likely to dismiss criticism

Question 5

Social comparison theory

Answer 5

The process of judging ourselves relative to (similar) others to assess our own attitudes and abilities
Upward social comparison helps motivate improvement but only if improvement is still possible → can also lead to anger/resentment (relative deprivation) when we feel that we deserve better outcomes
Downward social comparison is usually used to make you feel better about yourself

Question 6

Socialization agents

Answer 6

We learn what attitudes and behaviours are social appropriate from people in our lives (socialization agents)
Socialization occurs directly (e.g. parents teaching you to say thank you) and indirectly (e.g. teacher models respectful behaviour)

Question 7

Define situationism

Define working self concept

Answer 7

Social self changes across different contexts

Subset of self knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context

Question 8

How stable is sense of self?

Answer 8

Although working self concept varies across situations, there are core aspects of self knowledge that are fairly constant
Pool of self knowledge remains relatively stable over time to provide sense of self continuity even as different pieces of self knowledge are highlighted in different situations
Although sense of self may shift, these shifts will likely conform to a predictable pattern

Question 9

Individualistic cultures

Collectivist cultures

Answer 9

People seen as independent beings who possess stable (fixed) abilities, traits and attitudes
Need for individuality, individual goals prioritized
Emphasis on control and choice over one’s own life

Emphasizes connections between self and important others
People seen as interdependent beings who should contribute to harmonious group functioning
Attributes are seen as influenced by context
Focus on conformity

Question 10

Studies:
Social completions
Michigan fish test
Olympic news coverage

Answer 10

Chinese participants made more social completions American participants made more non social completions

Japanese v.s. American participants asked to describe scene with fish and environment

Japanese focused on effort and expectations of important others whereas Americans focused on athletes’ personal characteristics

Question 11

Gender and self concept

Answer 11

Women tend to construe the self as more interdependent than men
Men and women are socialized differently throughout their lives
Gendered roles portrayed in the media

Question 12

Define self esteem (trait v.s. state)

Answer 12

People’s judgments of their own worthiness, either positive or negative
Usually based on achievements and setbacks in areas of life one deems most important (contingencies of self worth model)

Trait self esteem = the way people generally feel about themselves
State self esteem = momentary feelings about the self

Question 13

Purpose of self esteem - Sociometer theory

Answer 13

Self esteem is an internal monitor of how favourably others see us/social acceptance (high SE) or rejection (low SE) → sociometer
Monitors the likelihood of social exclusion

Question 14

Purpose of self esteem - Terror management theory

Answer 14

Self esteem protects people from the terror associated with knowing that they will eventually die
Achieved by making important contributions to society

Question 15

Effects of high SE

2 types of high SE

Answer 15

Expect to succeed
Show high self enhancement
Are happier
Have greater satisfaction with their personal relationships

Secure self esteem
Defensive self esteem (narcissism)

Question 16

Self serving judgments

Self enhancement

Answer 16

Tendency to attribute one’s successes to personal factors and failures to situational factors
Prevents us from identifying things we could do to improve our performance

Past selves derogated to foster esteem for current self

Question 17

Better than average effect

Bias blind post

Answer 17

Often rate ourselves as being better than the average person
Tend to judge others by the way they are on average but judge ourselves at our best
Effect lessens when people are given instructions on how they should interpret traits

Tendency for people to think that errors in judgment are more common in others than in ourselves

Question 18

Unrealistic optimism

Answer 18

Belief that we are more likely to experience positive outcomes and avoid negative ones compared to other people other people

Question 19

Illusion of control

Answer 19

Belief that one has control over uncontrollable events

Question 20

False consensus

Answer 20

We assume that others share our attitudes/beliefs/interests to a greater extent than is actually the case
Because we tend to interact with similar others and we want to believe that our beliefs are shared to feel validated

Question 21

Self affirmation theory

Answer 21

Self affirmation theory = people can maintain an overall sense of self worth after psychologically threatening information by affirming aspects of themselves unrelated to the threat

Question 22

Self verification theory

Answer 22

People sometimes strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about ourselves because this makes us more predictable to ourselves and others
We also strive to get others to confirm our preexisting beliefs about ourselves

Question 23

Self regulation

Answer 23

Processes by which people initiate, alter and control their behaviour in pursuit of their goals

Question 24

Keys to self control (3)

Answer 24

Self awareness = deliberate monitoring of what we are doing
Increased by individuation, decreased by deindividuation

Transcending the immediate situation: the lure of immediate gratification often overrides that of larger future rewards or the pain of negative consequences
Effective self control requires that a person forego present compelling urges in order to achieve important long term goals

Self control strength: must have adequate will power
Can turn strong temptations into mild ones by making actions inconvenient (shift construal, look at big picture)
Problem: ego depletion (physical and mental fatigue

Question 25

Self discrepancy theory
Promotion focus
Prevention focus

Answer 25

Behaviour is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves, falling short of these standards will produce dejection and agitation respectively

Self regulating behaviour with respect to ideal self standards, focus on attaining positive outcomes through approach related behaviours
More common in Westerners

Self regulating behaviour with respect to ought self standards, focus on avoiding negative outcomes through avoidance related behaviours
More common in East Asians

Question 26

Self control strategy - implementation intention

Answer 26

‘if then’ plan to engage in goal directed behaviour whenever a particular cue is encountered
Different from goal intention which is just specifying the desired goal
Tempting cues may even become linked in memory to your goal so that bringing goals to mind first has the effect of diminishing thoughts about temptations

Question 27

Impression management/self presentation
Face
Self monitoring

Answer 27

Strong motivation to make favourable impressions on others

Tendency to monitor one’s behaviour to fit demands of current situation

Question 28

Types of self presentation (2)

Answer 28

Self promotion = goal is to gain respect (look competent)
Self handicapping = the tendency to seek or create barriers to successful performance so that a convenient excuse for failure exists
Use to avoid perceptions of low ability when failure seems likely (this way you maintain your own competence)

Ingratiation: goal is to be liked
E.g. flattery