Chapter 03 - The Social Self Flashcards
According to research on the accuracy of self-knowledge, for what qualities are we the best judges of ourselves? For what qualities are others superior judges of us? How does motivation contribute to this asymmetry?
Although people predict that they are the best judges of themselves, when it comes to predicting behavior, others know us about as well as we know ourselves. However, we are superior judges of ourselves when it comes to private, inner qualities that are not easily observable (like our inner thoughts and feelings), whereas others are superior judges of us when it comes to qualities that are readily displayed in social settings (like our level of talkativeness and enthusiasm). Motivation contributes to the self/other knowledge asymmetry regarding qualities that have a positive or negative connotation. We are strongly motivated to see ourselves favorably, which may give us blind spots about our socially undesirable shortcomings. In these cases, others tend to know us more accurately than we know ourselves. (And thank goodness; you wouldn’t want to be fully aware of your every flaw!)
actual self
The self that people believe they are.
better-than-average effect
The finding that most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions.
contingencies of self-worth
A perspective maintaining that people’s self-esteem is contingent on the successes and failures in domains on which they have based their self-worth.
Do people from Eastern cultures generally feel worse about themselves than people from Western cultures? How do researchers interpret self-reported self-esteem differences between cultures?
Members of Eastern cultures tend to report lower feelings of self-esteem than members of Western cultures; however, rather than reflecting an overall more negative view of the self, this difference may reflect differing cultural value systems. In East Asian and other non-Western cultures, views of the self are more interwoven with the social context. Accordingly, these cultures prioritize improving the self (perhaps to better fulfill one’s obligations and duties in social relationships and systems) and meeting the goals of the group, rather than meeting the goal of being a self-confident and powerful individual (which Western cultures tend to prioritize). Thus, it may not be accurate to conclude that members of Eastern cultures feel worse about themselves than Westerners; they simply feel different about the self as a whole.
face
The public image of ourself that we want others to believe.
How do people’s daily experiences in their contingent versus noncontingent domains affect their state self-esteem? Over time, how might these experiences translate to trait self-esteem?
Performing well in a contingent domain boosts state self-esteem, whereas performing poorly in a contingent domain diminishes state self-esteem. Performance in noncontingent domains has less influence on state self-esteem. Over time, accumulating experiences of good versus poor performance may influence trait self-esteem. Repeatedly performing poorly in contingent domains (threatening state self-esteem frequently) may ultimately reduce overall trait self-esteem. Similarly, regularly performing well in contingent domains (boosting state self-esteem repeatedly) may ultimately increase overall trait self-esteem. Performance over time in noncontingent domains is unlikely to affect trait self-esteem.
How might a female undergraduate’s working self-concept regarding her gender shift during a day on campus as she attends her advanced math class (in which she is the only female), has a low-key lunch with a friend, and attends her gender studies class? Will her frequently shifting self-concept undermine her sense of having a coherent self?
The working self-concept shifts with situational cues, such that in a given situation, especially relevant and/or distinctive self-aspects become part of the working self-concept. In her advanced math class, this young woman’s gender identity is highly distinctive (as she is the only female), and in her gender studies class, her gender identity is highly relevant to the situation (discussing gender theory and struggles). Thus, both class contexts should highlight her gender identity in her working self-concept. During lunch, however, it’s unlikely that gender will be part of her working self-concept, being neither particularly relevant nor distinctive in that context. Despite these shifts in her working self-concept, she is probably not confused about her identity; she probably has a core set of self-aspects that define who she is regardless of her current working self-concept. Moreover, she is probably used to these fluctuations during her days on campus, since they form a stable pattern of activation and deactivation of her gender in her working self-concept (making her feel especially female in her math and gender studies classes and less so at other times).
ideal self
The self that embodies people’s wishes and aspirations.
If you’re fairly sure you are scatterbrained, but a friend tells you that you’re organized and focused, what will your cognitive reaction likely be? What will your emotional reaction likely be? Which motive—self-enhancement or self-verification—drives which set of reactions?
Self-verification, the need to be seen accurately by others for important self-defining traits, should drive your cognitive reactions to this feedback, making you dubious about the quality of the feedback your friend has provided. In contrast, your emotional system, ruled more by self-enhancement, should register this as positive feedback and lead you to feel good about this feedback, even as your cognitive mind tells you it is inaccurate. Thus, you may think your friend is off-base in her compliment to you (perhaps making you question her competence as a judge of you), but you will still feel emotionally better about it than if she had confirmed your negative self-view of being scatterbrained.
implementation intention
An “if-then” plan to engage in a goal-directed behavior (“then”) whenever a particular cue (“if”) is encountered.
Josie is a 13-year-old girl who thinks she’s a funny person, and her friends and family generally think Josie is funny too. How would Cooley’s notion of the “looking-glass self” explain how Josie’s sense of herself as funny developed? Bearing in mind that Josie is an adolescent, what does research suggest is likely occurring in her brain when she thinks about her self-views?
Cooley (1902) would argue that Josie’s sense of self developed from the way Josie thinks others perceive her, using others’ views as a mirror, or “looking glass,” to perceive the self. Research suggests that among young adolescents, brain areas associated with perspective taking are especially active when contemplating one’s self-views, so it seems likely that when Josie thinks about her self-views, regions of her brain that help her take the perspective of others will be activated. Thus, as an adolescent, Josie may be especially prone to incorporate what she thinks other people think of her into her self-concept.
ought self
The self that is concerned with the duties, obligations, and external demands people feel they are compelled to honor.
prevention focus
Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ought self standards; a focus on avoiding negative outcomes through avoidance-related behaviors.
promotion focus
Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ideal self standards; a focus on attaining positive outcomes through approach-related behaviors.
