Chapter 2: The Self in a Social World

Question 1

What is the “spotlight effect”?

Answer 1

The belief that others are paying more attention to our appearance and behavior than they really are

It means seeing ourselves at center stage, thus intuitively overestimating the extend to which others’ attention is aimed at us

Question 2

What is the “illusion of transparency?

Answer 2

The illusion that our concealed emotions leak out and can be easily read by others

Question 3

What is the “self,” and how does that relate to “self-reference,” and “possible selves?”

Answer 3

Self concept - What we know about and believe about ourselves.

Our sense of self helps organize our thoughts and actions.

Self concept - consists of two elements:

• Self-schemes that guide our processing of self-relevant information
• Possible selves that we dream of or dread

Question 4

What is a “social identity,” and how is that affected by social comparisons?

Answer 4

How we view ourselves in the context of groups (e.g, I am a Pisces; I am a McDonald, I am a Muslim, etc.)

Often how we view and feel about ourselves may be positive or negative depending on the social comparisons we are making.

Question 5

What is “the looking glass self?”

Answer 5

The “looking-glass self” was how sociologist Charles H. Cooley described our use of how we think other perceive us as a mirror for perceiving ourselves.

Question 6

What affect does culture have on the self, and what is individualism and collectivism?

Answer 6

Whether a culture is individualist or collectivist will have a strong influence over one’s self concept.

Individualism - The concept of giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Collectivism - Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identify accordingly

Question 7

What is meant by “interdependent self” and how does that relate to the way we relate to others?

Answer 7

The independent self acknowledges relationships with others. But the interdependent self is more deeply embedded in others (p.34)

Question 8

How well can we explain and predict our own behavior, and what kinds of events affect these abilities?

Answer 8

We have difficulty predicting our behavior, especially anticipating how long a task will take (the planning fallacy) because we tend to forget how long it took in the past, and are optimistic about how it will be in the future.

Question 9

How well can we predict our feeling? What aspect emotions can we best predict?

Answer 9

Studies of “affective forecasting” reveal that people have the greatest difficulty predicting the intensity and the duration of their future emotions.

We can better predict positive emotions than negative ones.

Question 10

What is “impact bias?”

Answer 10

Overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing events

Emotional traces of positive events evaporate. We are especially prone to impact bias after negative events.

Question 11

What is “self esteem,” and how does this relate to motivation?

Answer 11

A person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth.

Most people are extremely motivated to maintain their self-esteem. (p.39)

Question 12

Is there really a “dark side” of self-esteem?

Answer 12

People with high self-esteem are more likely to be obnoxious, to interrupt, and to talk at people rather than with people.

High self-esteem can also cross over into narcissism.

Question 13

What is “self-efficacy,” and how does that related to perceived self-control?

Answer 13

A sense that one is competent and effective, distinguished from self-esteem, which is one’s self-worth.

A sharpshooter in the military might feel high self-efficacy and low self-esteem.

Question 14

What is “locus of control,” and how does that relate to achievement?

Answer 14

When someone attributes an event as being something that is under their control or as being outside of their control

When playing a game that involves both luck and skill, if the person is winning, they attribute it to skill, if they are losing, they attribute it to bad luck

Question 15

What is “learned helplessness,” and how does it relate to perceived self control?

Answer 15

When an individual continuously faces a negative, uncontrollable situation and stops trying to change their circumstances, even when they have the ability to do so

Question 16

What is the “tyranny of freedom?”

Answer 16

The tyranny of freedom can be understood in the context of our individual autonomy or what we may think of as self-determination.

Question 17

What is “self-serving bias,” and how does that relate to the way we explain positive and negative events and the way we assess our abilities or characteristics?

Answer 17

The tendency to perceive oneself favorably

People attribute success to their ability and effort, but they attribute failure to external factors (e.g. bad luck, problems impossibility)

Situations that combine skill and chance are especially prone to this phenomenon

Question 18

What is “self-serving attributions?”

Answer 18

A form of self-serving bias; the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to oneself and negative outcomes too other factors

One of the most potent of human biases

Contributes to marital discord, worker dissatisfaction, and bargaining impasses

Question 19

How do unrealistic optimism, and false consensus and uniqueness relate to the self-serving bias?

Answer 19

Unrealistic optimism increases vulnerability - people believe they are immune to misfortunes and as a result may not take proper precautions
e.g., Students who are overconfident tend to be underprepared

We exhibit unrealistic optimism about our futures. We overestimate the commonality of our opinions and foibles (false consensus) while underestimated the commonality of our abilities and virtues (false uniqueness)

Question 20

How can the self-serving bias be adaptive and maladaptive?

Answer 20

Self serving bias can be adaptive in that it allows us to savor the good things that happen in our lives.

When bad things happen, however, self-serving bias can have the maladaptive effect of causing us to blame others or feel cheated out of something we “deserved”

Question 21

What do the “self-presentation” and “self-monitoring” have to do with impression management?

Answer 21

People will act in specific ways based on their self-presentation (presenting themselves favorably) and self-monitoring (adjusting their behavior to the situation) to put forward the best impression of themselves, especially when in unfamiliar settings/circumstances

Question 22

Individualism

Answer 22

The concept of giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Question 23

Collectivism

Answer 23

Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identify accordingly

Question 24

Self-monitoring

Answer 24

Being attuned to the way one presents oneself in social situations and adjusting one’s performance to create the desired impression.

Question 25

False consensus effect

Answer 25

The tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors

Question 26

False uniqueness effect

Answer 26

The tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and one’s desirable or successful behaviors

Question 27

Self-presentation

Answer 27

Refers to our wanting to present a desired image both to an external audience (other people) and to an internal audience (ourselves)

The act of expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression or an impression that corresponds to ideals