CH 3 The Social Self

Question 1

Individual self

Answer 1

Beliefs about our unique personal traits, abilities, preferences, tastes, talents, and so forth. (page 67)

Question 2

Relational self

Answer 2

Beliefs about our identities in specific relationships. (page 67)

Question 3

Collective self

Answer 3

Beliefs about our identities as members of social groups to which we belong. (page 67)

Question 4

Reflected self-appraisals

Answer 4

Beliefs about what others think of our social selves. (page 68)

Question 5

Working self-concept

Answer 5

Subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context. (page 71)

Question 6

Social comparison theory

Answer 6

The hypothesis that people compare themselves to other people in order to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states. (page 75)

Question 7

Self-schemas

Answer 7

Cognitive structures, derived from past experience, that represent a person’s beliefs and feelings about the self in particular domains. (page 78)

Question 8

Self-reference effect

Answer 8

The tendency for information that is related to the self to be more thoroughly processed and integrated with existing self-knowledge, thereby making it more memorable. (page 79)

Question 9

Self-complexity

Answer 9

The tendency to define the self in terms of multiple domains that are relatively distinct from one another in content. (page 81)

Question 10

Self-esteem

Answer 10

The positive or negative overall evaluation that each person has of himself or herself. (page 82)

Question 11

Contingencies of self-worth

Answer 11

An account of self-esteem that maintains that self-esteem is contingent on successes and failures in domains on which a person has based his or her self-worth. (page 84)

Question 12

Sociometer hypothesis

Answer 12

A hypothesis that maintains that self-esteem is an internal, subjective index or marker of the extent to which a person is included or looked on favorably by others. (page 85)

Question 13

Better-than-average effect

Answer 13

The finding that most people think they are above average on various trait and ability dimensions. (page 89)

Question 14

Self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model

Answer 14

A model that maintains that people are motivated to view themselves in a favorable light and that they do so through two processes: reflection and social comparison. (page 90)

Question 15

Self-verification theory

Answer 15

A theory that holds that people strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about the self because such beliefs give them a sense of coherence. (page 93)

Question 16

Self-regulation

Answer 16

Processes that people use to initiate, alter, and control their behavior in the pursuit of goals, including the ability to resist short-term awards that thwart the attainment of long-term goals. (page 95)

Question 17

Possible selves

Answer 17

Hypothetical selves that a person aspires to be in the future. (page 95)

Question 18

Self-discrepancy theory

Answer 18

A theory that behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves. Falling short of these standards produces specific emotions – dejection-related emotions for actual-ideal discrepancies, and agitation-related emotions for actual-ought discrepancies. (page 95)

Question 19

Actual self

Answer 19

The self that people believe they are. (page 95)

Question 20

Ideal self

Answer 20

The self that embodies people’s wishes and aspirations as held by themselves and by other people for them. (page 95)

Question 21

Ought self

Answer 21

The self that is concerned with the duties, obligations, and external demands people feel they are compelled to honor. (page 95)

Question 22

Promotion focus

Answer 22

Regulating behavior with respect to ideal self standards, entailing a focus on attaining positive outcomes and approach-related behaviors. (page 96)

Question 23

Prevention focus

Answer 23

Regulating behavior with respect to ought standards, entailing a focus on avoiding negative outcomes and avoidance-related behaviors. (page 96)

Question 24

Ego depletion

Answer 24

A state, produced by acts of self-control, in which people lack the energy or resources to engage in further acts of self-control. (page 97)

Question 25

Self-presentation

Answer 25

Presenting the person that we would like others to believe we are. (page 99)

Question 26

Face

Answer 26

The public image of ourselves that we want others to believe. (page 100)

Question 27

Self-monitoring

Answer 27

The tendency for people to monitor their behavior in such a way that it fits situational demands (the current situation). (page 101)

Question 28

Self-handicapping

Answer 28

People’s tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have a ready excuse should they perform poorly or fail. (page 101)