Chapter 5 - The Self Flashcards
Self-construals
A process that is motivated by how we see ourselves, how we want to be and want to be seen.
An individuals knowledge about it self is shaped though active construal process that plays out in interaction with the social environment.
Doing
Behaving an interpretating the social world.
This is the agentic aspect of the self.
The I
Being
Beliefs, feelings about yourself. How you would describe yourself and self esteem.
Descriptive or object aspect of the self.
The ME
Introspection
The process of which we observe and examine our internal states (mental and emotional) for behaving a certain way.
Reflecting an analysing your self to explain why you behave a certain way.
But often difficult to interpret
Self perception theory
Theory assumes that when inner states are difficult to interpret, people can conlucde these states by observing their own behaviour, just like outside behavior
Extrinsical motivation
We are motivation because of the outcome.
We obtain rewards or try to avoid punishment.
(Praise, esteem, money)
Intrinsical motivation
We are motivated for the sake of the activity.
Hobbies etc. (Interest, challenge, enjoyment)
The danger of the unjustification effect (in the self perception theory)
When an activity becomes associated with an external reward, our intrinsic motivation may diminish.
(Getting a really high great sometimes does not enhance your motivation, you actually work less after because the reward has undermined your motivation)
Who we are / the self depends on
- interactions with others
- so the social environment you are embedded in
How do we know ourselves
- though observations (introspection and self reflection
- through help of others
Attachment processes (a way we learn about ourselves through social sources)
From an early each we learn about ourselves, our livability and worth, as we experience how our mothers care for us and respond to our needs.
If you did not get much care, your self esteem will be low. you view yourself as unlovable and worthless.
reflected appraisal (a way we learn about ourselves through social sources)
how others react to us serve as a mirror of how we see ourselves.
How someone reacts to us, says something about how they perceive and judge us, and we will see ourselves this way.
If someone perceives me as smart, I will have that positive attitude and act accordingly.
social comparison (a way we learn about ourselves through social sources)
We compare ourselve with others to make inferences about our own abilities and opinions.
If we are unsure about our own, we compare to similar others.
social identity (a way we learn about ourselves through social sources)
social identity is an extention of our regional self. We identify with a social group, which is a part of us.
If our social group is made fun off, we ourselves feel made fun off.
autobiographical memories
(a mechanism behind the our sense of who we our)
These memories our recollections of SEQUENCES of events in the past. They shape who we are because they connect past with present, giving us CONTINUITY. Some memories ar more vivid, and we have flash bulb memories (very accurate knowing of circumstances when something highly emotional happened.
self as a narrative
(a mechanism behind the our sense of who we our)
we have self narative to make meaning out of events we experience. these narratives include settings, scenes, characters, plots and dominant themes.
Self narratives differ across culture. Asian are less self focused.
2 mechanisms behind our sense of self
- autobiographical memories
- self as narrative
self concept
how we describe ourselves.
Cognitive representation of our self knowledge consisting of all beliefs. Our characteristics, social role, fears, goals.
It gives meaning to experiences and relationships.
self schemas
mental frameworks or beliefs about ourselves that help us organize and interpret information about who we are, like seeing ourselves as smart, shy, or athletic.
self-reference effect
We tend to process and remember self-related info better than other info.
working self concept
Not all our self knowlegde is active all the time. We have WORKING SELF CONCEPT which is subset of relevant info about ourselves that is active and guides our behavior in a certain situation.
Once it is activated, the working self concept determines your behavior, rather than the full self concept.
desired selves
contains
- potential POSSIBLE SELF
- wishes/aspirations of IDEAL SELF
- obligation we hold for ourself OUGHT SELF
self esteem
overall evaluation of ourselves along a positive/negative dimension
implicit self knowlegde
outside of awareness. Uncontrollable and automatic
Explicit self knowlegde
come about trough reflections or deliberate thought process. Controllable
Trait self esteem
How we feel about ourselves most of the time. Is stable throughout life. High or low self esteem
State self esteem
Variable self-evalutation than change in repsonse to temporary experiences.
Succes can make us have high self esteem while failure can make us feel low
SELF ESTEEM IS DEPENDENT OF THE STATE WE OUR IN
contingencies of self-worth
our self esteem depends on internal and external factors.
You are buffered to setbacks and have a more genuine self esteem if you depend less on external, and more on internal.
Independent self
defines yourself via internal attributes
Interdependent self
define yourself via connection to others and your relationship with them
Self assesment motive
(Motivation behind getting to know ourselves)
We strive to get an objective and accurate understanding of ourselves.
However, we are more eager to learn about our strengths, than our weaknesses.
self-enhancement motive
The desire to enhance the positivity of our self-conceptions or protect the self from negative information.
Its because we a need for high self esteem
(This is why we are more eager to learn about strength than weaknesses.
Self enhancing illusions
We are motivated to learn about ourselves, to self-enhance. This enhancement often happens through the beliefs we adopt, but in those beliefs there are biases.
- superiority bias
- unrealistic optimism
- in group-favouritism
Superiority bias
We tend to have an unrealistic positive view of ourselves.
e.g. we tend to see ourselves as better than others.
Unrealistic optimism
People tend to have overly positive expectations of the future
In group favouritism
People tend to believe their own group is superior to other groupa
Implicit egotism/homophily
People have a unconscious tendency to be more attracted to things that related to them selves.
self presentation
Set of strategies we adopt to shape what others think of us.
Self enhancement motives translate in to behavior such as self presentation
Self-handicapping
People try to create obstacles for themselves ahead of time, so that if we fail we can blame it on an external factor.
But if we succeed, there is an augmenting principle, because then our ability is high.
Attribution AFTER success is a characteristics in people with a high self esteem
self-verification
People’s motive to affirm self-beliefs, coming from a desire for stable and coherent self-views.
Need our beliefs to be confirmed.
Sociometer theory (theory about why we self enhance)
Self esteem functions as a signal of the degree we feel accepted or not in our society. When we feel unaccepted, our self esteem drops and we need to self enhance to restore our social standing.
Terror management theory (theory about why we self enhance)
We self-enhance because a positive self helps us to overcome our deepest existential fears (angst over overleven)
Volatility of unjustifiably inflated high self-esteem
A person with high self esteem without a good reason can be problematic as they are easily challenged and threatened causing them to act problematic such as unsafe practices, putting others down.
self awereness theory
self awareness, turning attention to ourselves, motivates us to asses how well we are doing / living up to social norms
self regulation theory
Self awereness makes us more inclined to self regulate (our behavior) to achieve desires thought, feelings and goals
Operation of tote loop
We self regulate by monitoring if we live up to standards, if not, we take action to bring us closer to standard. If the discrepancy (difference) to the standard is gone, we exit the tote loop. If not we are constantly in a loop in trying to change our behavior to meet standards.
Delay of gratification (self-regulation consequence)
E.g. saving.
Ability to resist the temptation of an immediate reward and wait for a later larger reward.
Ineffective self regulation, if we self regulate to much, then ..
- We choke under pressure
- Want to escape ourself
- Focus on negative emotions
self determination theory
Self regulation is mroe efficient if the motivation comes from the person themselves.
When self regulation is motivated by others, it is effortful and can lead to psychological conflict.
We are more motivated to learn when we can choose the subject of our own interest ourselves.
Identity negotiation
Process in whcih we establish who we are trough mutual give-and-take interaction with others.
This allows shifts in the self
We change behaviour, others respond to this, then we have a new beliefs about ourselves.
