Chapter 5) Lecture Definitions - the self or who am I Flashcards
Parts of the self: What are the three parts of the self?
Self knowledge/self concept (information you know about yourself)
Interpersonal self (the public self you present to the world)
agent self (the executive function which determines what is true you and what elements you need in a given situation, the moderator between the other two parts)
Theories of the self: social roles
the expectations that come with certain roles you fill. think me as student vs brother
theories of the self: looking glass self
Charles Horton Cooley: we understand ourselves based on how others perceive us
Social comparison
we understand ourselves by comparing ourselves to others
Festinger: upwards vs downwards comparisons
Comparing yourself to someone better than you will likely make you feel worse about yourself. comparing yourself to someone worse than you will likely make ourselves feel better.
we do it in subjective areas to people who are similar to use
self perception
we gain self knowledge through analyzing our behaviors. close others may become identified with yourself here
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
you can generate emotions by holding your face in a certain position
power stance
if you force yourself into a powerful body stance you will feel less stressed
the independent self
looking at your own behaviors and actions when I comes to self knowledge
interdependent self
when you incorporate others when it comes to your own self image
Self knowledge
the overall set of beliefs one has about themselves
self schemas
shortcuts for how we understand ourselves
motives for self knowledge
appraisal, self enhancement, consistency
appraisal
we want to understand how we stack up to others, therefore, we need to understand ourself to be able to compare it to others
self enhancement
we want to feel better about ourselves, to do so we need to know what we are good at, and where we should put resources to improve
consistency
used to verify what you already believe,
introspection
examining your own mind or mental state
nesbitt and wilson
underwear study, people will make up excuses and be biased when introspecting. our brains are lazy and will come up with one idea to make our mental state more simplistic than it is
why does the self matter?
self reference, endowment, self discrepancy theory
self reference
information related to the self seems to be processed more deeply
self esteem
how you value yourself
self discrepancy theory
actual, ought and ideal self. alignment = self esteem
sociometer theory
we use self esteem as a gauge for how much others like us.
self esteem and gender
there is little difference.
teenage girls have a little less than teenage boys, men have higher esteem when it comes to attraction and athletic ability, women have it higher when it comes to morality and ethics
self esteem and culture
ask for help
what are the pros and cons of positive illusions
pros: feels good, allows us to take risks
cons: narcissism, can limit growth
positive illusions
people who are considered having a healthy level of self esteem overestimate good components of ourselves and underestimate bad components of ourselves.
optimal margin theory
the best about of self esteem is in the middle. some amount of delusion is helpful, but too much can be harmful
self enhancement
making the actual self better, or the perception of the self better
implicit egotism
people flock to things that remind them of themselves
self serving bias
we take credit for our successes and blame other for our failures
self handicapping
if we don’t believe we can do something, we want to remain consistent and not do that thing
BIRG
when someone you care about succeeds, you feel the enhancement
self presentation
how you present to others around you
spotlight effect
we think people pay more attention to us than they actually do. embarrassing t shirt
strategic presentation
we try to shape others’ impression of ourselves to gain an advantage
conspicuous consumption
when you choose what you purchase with the intent to fit in with a particular image. think vegan resturaunt
favorability vs plausibility
when creating exaggerations of your positive traits, they need to be plausible, if they seem implausible it will work in the opposite direction and people will dislike you more than like you
awesomeness vs preservation
oftentimes people will do awesome things that are risky for the sake of their image
self - verification
we like to get others to see us as we do, we engage in behaviors that will confirm our own image
self awareness
being aware of yourself in relation to the world
think mirror and halloween
phenomenal self
the current self image that is active in your mind, can be very different from the self you are trying to get others to see
