Chapter 3 Flashcards
The Social Self
Self-schemas
A cognitive structure, derived from past experience, that represents a person’s beliefs and feelings about the self, in both general and specific situations
Reflected self-appraisals
A belief about what others think of one’s self
Working self-concept
A subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context
Social comparison theory
The idea that people compare themselves to other people to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states
Social identities
The parts of a person’s sense of self that are derived from group memberships
Self-stereotyping
The phenomenon whereby people come to define themselves in terms of traits, norms, and values that they associate with a social group when their identity as a member of that group is salient
Self-esteem
The overall positive or negative evaluation people have of themselves
Contingencies of self-worth
The thesis that people’s self-esteem is contingent on their successes and failures in domains they deem important to their self-worth
Sociometer hypothesis
The idea 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
Self-enhancement
The desire to maintain, increase, or protect one’s positive self-views
Better-than-average effect
The finding that most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions
Self-affirmation theory
The idea that people can maintain an overall sense of self-worth after being exposed to psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat
Self-verification theory
The theory that people strive for others to view them as they view themselves; such verification of one’s views of the self helps people maintain a sense of coherence and predictability
Self-regulation
Processes by which people initiate and control their behavior in the pursuit of goals, including the ability to resist short-term rewards that thwart the attainment of long-term goals
Self-discrepancy theory
A theory that behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves; falling short of these standards elicits specific emotions and may lead to efforts to get closer to them
Actual self
The self that people believe they are
Ideal self
The self that embodies people’s wishes and aspirations
Ought self
The self that is concerned with the duties, obligations, and external demands people feel they are compelled to honor
Promotion focus
Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ideal-self standards; a focus on attaining positive outcomes through approach-related behaviors
Prevention focus
Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ought-self standards; a focus on avoiding negative outcomes through avoidance-related behaviors
Implementation intentions
An “if-then” plan to engage in a goal-directed behavior (then) whenever a particular cue (if) is encountered
Self-presentation
Presenting the person we would like others to believe we are
Face
The public image of ourself that we want others to believe
Self-monitoring
The tendency to monitor one’s behavior to fit the current situation
Self-handicapping
The tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready should one perform poorly or fail
