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
