Chapter 3 Flashcards
the Social Self
The social psychological study of the self usually begins with
william james
One of his most enduring contributions is reflected in the title of this chapter, the social self. James coined the term “social me” to refer to parts of self-knowledge that are what
derived from social relationships
What does James’s term reflect
His conviction that the self is not something to be distinguished from the social world, but rather that it is a social entity through and through. Who a person is in one social context is often not the same as who the person is in another social environment; our sense of who we are is forged in large parts by our interactions with others
The ancient Greek admonition to ‘know they self’ it Seems to imply that self-knowledge can be acquired through introspection is this true
People do indeed focus their attention on themselves in a deliberate attempt to enhance self understanding, people often go beyond such basic introspective efforts to weave full-fledged stories about themselves which is also known as the narrated self
Self-knowledge is at least partly a product of what
Construal processes
Sometimes lack self insight because why
Because of strong motives; there are certain things many of us would rather not know about ourselves
Is introspective correct
Introspection can yield accurate self-knowledge at least for certain aspects of the self, but for some aspects other people can be better source information
Define the term self schema
A cognitive structure, derived from past experience that represents a persons beliefs and feelings of self in general and in specific situations
Self-knowledge is thought to be stored where
In the self schema
We learn what the attitudes and behaviors are socially appropriate from who
Parents and siblings teachers and peers and other socialization agents
This sociologist, Charles Cooley, going freeze looking glass self what is does this mean
Referring to the idea that other peoples reactions to us serve as a mirror of sorts. The approval and disapproval of others and their comments about our behavior allows us to see ourselves as others see us
Define the term reflective self appraisal
a believe about what others think of oneself– the concept here is that we internalize how we think others perceive us, not necessarily how they actually see us
Do adolescents or adults rely on reflected appraisals when reporting their self views
more so adolescents
What is the working self-concept
Sub set of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context– for example if somebody learns that they have done poorly exam then negative beliefs and feelings about the cells come forward
Explain aspects of the self that are distinctive in the social context
People define themselves according to the people around them; Eminem it’s more likely to define himself as white because he is in a Industry that is primarily black
are there parts of self knowledge that is consistent
yes; Sally sees herself as a good listener know matter who she is around
although person sense of self may shift depending on the context, it is likely that he shifts conform to a predictable stable pattern what does this mean
The malleability in this individual self is it self stable; Sally maybe confident around her friends and insecure around her mother but this is a very predictable pattern
Does culture impact to the social self
Absolutely, depending on how you were raised will impact the social self and motivations and our ways of perceiving this social world
How is gender related to the social self
Women in the states tend to construe the self and the more interdependent terms that men do
Where do these gender differences in self-construal come from
Socialization processes are one influential source. Many agents of socialization guide women and men into different self construals, the media training women and men differently where men are typically in power in women are more nurturing
in addition to differences in the social self may have originated in human evolutionary history, men were equipped physically and psychologically for hunting and aggressive encounters with other groups where as women were equipped physically and psychologically for nurturing Young
Defined term social comparison theory
the hypothesis that people compare themselves to other people in order to obtain an accurate assessment go their own opinions, abilities an internal sates
The essence of the theory is that when people have no objective standards by which to evaluate their traits or abilities, they do so largely by comparing themselves to others. Whether you are physically strong can be determined fairly objectively by simple tests of strength but to be honest for more great dimensions that are less easy to quantify objectively is to be more honest and morally upright others
explain downward social comparisons
We like to feel good about ourselves sore search for similar targets of comparison tends to be biased towards people who are slightly inferior to or worse off than ourselves. This is ironic because it puts us in the position of saying”Compared with people who are slightly worse at tennis than I am I am pretty good” this types of downward comparisons help us to define ourselves favourably and give our selves a boost of self esteem
when do we do upward social comparison
When our focus is on improving some skill or component of our personality, we tend to forgo the self-esteem benefits of downward social comparison and engage in upward social comparison instead
How is it possible to do both upward and downward social comparison
Important Study of breast cancer patients showed how people get the emotional benefits of favorable comparisons without forfeiting the opportunity to learn from those who are better off. They do so by comparing themselves with those who are worse off[I only had to have one set of lymph nodes removed] But affiliated with those who are better off[She seems to be in good spirits all the time and I’d like to ask her over for lunch to find out how she does it]
define self esteem
The overall positive or negative evaluation and individual has of himself or herself
What is the difference between high and low self-esteem
People with high self-esteem feel quite good about themselves, people with low self-esteem feel ambivalent about themselves; they tend to feel both good and bad about who they are. People who truly dislike themselves are rare and typically found in specific clinical populations such a severely depressed individuals
What is trait self-esteem
A persons enduring level of self regard across time
What is state self-esteem
refers to the dynamic and changeable self evaluations a person experiences as momentary feelings about self
Does your state self-esteem change
As much as you’re working self concept changes from one context to the next so does your state self-esteem which rises and falls according to the transient moods and specific construal processes that arise from different situations
Define contingencies of self-worth
A perspective maintaining that self-esteem is contingent on success and failure in domains on which a person has based his or herself worth
Define socio-meter hypothesis
The idea that self-esteem is internal, subjective index one marker of the extent to which a person is included for looks on favorably by others
What does high self-esteem and low self-esteem indicate in terms of the Socio meter hypothesis
Hi Silverstein indicates that we are thriving in our relationships; low self-esteem’s address so we are having interpersonal difficulties. In this sense low self esteem is not something to be avoided at all costs; rather it provides useful information about what we needed to attend to and shore up our social bonds
What kind of self-esteem do independent and interdependent cultures Foster
Independent cultures foster higher levels of self-esteem than interdependent cultures
What is important about the stability of a person sense of self-worth
People with unstable self-esteem are associated with stronger reactions to feed back for specifically they reacted it very unfavorably to negative feedback and very positively to positive feedback where as the reactions of those with stable, high self-esteem where less extreme
Define the term self enhancement
The desire to maintain, increase or protect one’s positive self views
Defined the term better than average effect
The finding that most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions
Define the term self affirmation theory
The idea that people can maintain an overall sense of self-worth following psychologically threatening information I affirming a valued asset to themselves unrelated to the threat
Stronger better than average effects are observed
Stronger better than average effects are observed for ambiguous traits that are easy to construe in multiple ways[Artistic, sympathetic, talented] then for unambiguous ones that are not[Tall, punctual, muscular]
People tend to judge other people compared to themselves how
People tend to judge other people[How kind were outgoing or athletic they are] by the way they are on average, and yet to find themselves in terms of how they behave when they’re at their best
What do self affirmations do
Self affirmations have been shown to do more than simply help people maintain a general sense of self-worth. They also help minimize a wide range of defensive and potentially harmful behaviors people exhibit when faced with threats such as the self-serving attributional bias, the tendency to attribute responsibility to themselves when they succeed but to deny responsibility when they fail
What is the self evaluation maintenance (SEM) model
The idea that people are motivated to view themselves favorably and that they do so through two processes: reflection and social comparison
What is self verification theory
The fear that people strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about the self because such self views give a sense of coherence
our quest to verify Our sense of ourselves does what I’ll our desire to think favorability about ourselves does what
Our quest to verify our sense of ourselves guides our assessment of the validity of self relevant information. While our desire is to think favorably about ourselves guides our emotional reactions to the same info
Define the term self-regulation
Processes by which people initiate, alter 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
Define the term self discrepancies theory
A theory that behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought. Falling shorts of these standards produces specific emotions: rejection related emotions for actual ideal discrepancies, and agitation related emotions for actual ought discrepancies
Define the term actual self
the self people believe they are
define the term ideal self
The self that embodies peoples wishes and aspirations
Defines the term ought self
The self that is concerned with the duties obligations and external demands people feel they are compelled to on
Define the term promotion focus
Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ideal Self standards coma or a focus on attaining positive outcomes and approach related behaviors
Define the term prevention focus
Self regulation of behavior with respect to the ought self standards or a focused on avoiding negative outcomes and avoidance related behavior
Define the term ego depletion
The state produced by accident self-control in which people lack the energy or resources to engage in further acts of self-control
How to counteract ego depletion
Cash incentives and other motivators; also being in a positive mood can offset the negative influence of using self-control
Define the term self presentation
Presenting person we would like others to believe we are
Is another term for self presentation
Impression management which refers to how we attempt to control the particular impressions other people form about us
Defined the terms face
The public image of ourselves that we want others to believe
Define the term self monitoring
The tendency is to monitor one’s behavior to fit the current situation
What is the difference between high self monitors in low self monitors
Hi self monitors are like actors to change their behavior according to the present people and situations. Low self monitors are more likely to behave according to their own traits and preferences regardless of the social context this suggests admirable candor and honesty
Define the term self handicapping
Tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready should was performed poorly or fail
Why do we engage in self defeating behavior
These actions provided next one nation for possible failure thereby protecting the desired public self. If you do not perform as well as expected on an exam you did not prepare for, there is no threat to claim that you would like to make about your academic talents
