Chapter 5 - The Self

Question 1

Self-Concept

Answer 1

The overall set of beliefs that
people have about their personal
attributes

Question 2

What is viewed as central to the self-concept?

Answer 2

morality is viewed as central to the self-concept, more

so than cognitive processes or desires

Question 3

Independent View of the Self

Answer 3

A way of defining oneself in terms
of one’s own internal thoughts,
feelings, and actions and not in
terms of the thoughts, feelings,
and actions of other people

Question 4

Interdependent View of the Self

Answer 4

A way of defining oneself in terms
of one’s relationships to other
people, recognizing that one’s
behavior is often determined by
the thoughts, feelings, and actions
of others

Question 5

Functions of the self

Answer 5

• self-knowledge is the way we understand who we are and formulate and organize this information;
• self-control is the way we make plans and execute decisions, such as your decision to read this book
  right now instead of going out for ice cream;
• impression management is the way we present ourselves to other people and get them to see us the way we want to be seen; and
• self-esteem is the way in which we try to maintain positive views of ourselves.

Question 6

2. When thinking about other people, which of the following will we see as most central to their self-concept?
   a. Their morals
   b. Their preferences and attitudes
   c. Their physical attributes
   d. Their memories

Answer 6

a. Their morals

Question 7

1. Which of the following is least likely to pass the “mirror” test suggesting they have at least a rudimentary self-concept?
   a. An orangutan
   b. A chimpanzee
   c. A 12-month-old human infant
   d. A 3-year-old human child

Answer 7

c. A 12-month-old human infant (self-concept in humans develops around 18mo-24months)

Question 8

Introspection

Answer 8

The process whereby people look
inward and examine their own
thoughts, feelings, and motives

Question 9

Self-Awareness Theory

Answer 9

The idea that when people focus
their attention on themselves,
they evaluate and compare their
behavior to their internal standards
and values
- In short, we become self-conscious in the sense that we become objective, judgmental observers of ourselves, seeing ourselves as an outside observer would.

Question 10

Causal Theories

Answer 10

Theories about the causes of one’s own feelings and behaviours. We learn many of these theories from the culture in which we grew up. The problem is our schema’s and theories are not always correct leading us to incorrect judgements about the causes of our actions (why we do the things we do)

Question 11

How can we know ourselves?

Answer 11

• Introspection

- observing our own behaviour

Question 12

Self-Perception Theory

Answer 12

The theory that when our attitudes
and feelings are uncertain or
ambiguous, we infer these states
by observing our behavior and the
situation in which it occurs

Question 13

Self-Perception Theory (Bem 1972)

Answer 13

The theory that when our attitudes
and feelings are uncertain or
ambiguous, we infer these states
by observing our behavior and the
situation in which it occurs
- In Chapter 4, we discussed attribution theory—the way in which people infer someone else’s attitudes and feelings by observing that person’s behavior.
According to self-perception theory, people use the same attributional principles to infer their own attitudes and feelings

Question 14

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

Answer 14

The idea that emotional
experience is the result of a
two-step self-perception process
in which people first experience
physiological arousal and then
seek an appropriate explanation
for it

Question 15

Stanley Schachter (1964)

Answer 15

Stanley Schachter (1964) proposed a theory of emotion that says we infer what our emotions are in the same way we infer what kind of person we are or what we like. In
each case, we observe our behavior and then explain to ourselves why we are behaving
that way.

Question 16

Misattribution of Arousal

Answer 16

The process whereby people make
mistaken inferences about what
is causing them to feel the way
they do

Question 17

Intrinsic Motivation

Answer 17

The desire to engage in an activity
because we enjoy it or find it
interesting, not because of
external rewards or pressures

Question 18

Extrinsic Motivation

Answer 18

The desire to engage in an activity
because of external rewards or
pressures, not because we enjoy
the task or find it interesting

Question 19

Overjustification Effect

Answer 19

The tendency for people to view
their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons,
making them underestimate the
extent to which it was caused by
intrinsic reasons

Question 20

Task-Contingent Rewards

Answer 20

Rewards that are given for
performing a task, regardless of
how well the task is done

Question 21

Performance-Contingent

Rewards

Answer 21

Rewards that are based on how

well we perform a task

Question 22

Fixed Mindset

Answer 22

The idea that we have a set amount

of an ability that cannot change

Question 23

Growth Mindset

Answer 23

The idea that achievement is the
result of hard work, trying new strategies,
and seeking input from others

Question 24

Social Comparison Theory (Festinger 1954)

Answer 24

The idea that we learn about our
own abilities and attitudes by
comparing ourselves to other
people

Question 25

When do people engage in social comparison?

Answer 25

people socially compare when there is no objective standard to measure themselves against and when they are uncertain about themselves in a particular
area

Question 26

with whom do people compare themselves?

Answer 26

—the answer depends on whether your goal is to get an accurate assessment of your abilities, to determine what the top level is so that you know what to strive for, or to feel better about yourself.
- When we want an accurate assessment of our abilities and opinions, we compare ourselves
to people who are similar to us.

Question 27

Upward Social Comparison

Answer 27

Comparing ourselves to people
who are better than we are with
regard to a particular trait
or ability
- When we want information about what we can strive
toward, we make upward social comparisons, though doing so can make us feel inferior.

Question 28

Downward Social Comparison

Answer 28

Comparing ourselves to people
who are worse than we are with
regard to a particular trait or ability
- When our goal is to make ourselves feel better, we compare ourselves to those
who are less fortunate (including our past selves); such downward comparisons make
us look better.

Question 29

Social Tuning

Answer 29

The process whereby people adopt

another person’s attitudes

Question 30

2. Suppose that your friend Meghan says, “If I get less than 8 hours of sleep, I’m in a terrible mood the next day.” Based on research in social psychology, what is the best conclusion about her statement?
   a. She is probably right because people generally know
   why they feel the way they do.
   b. She is probably wrong because people rarely know
   why they feel the way they do.
   c. She is likely to be right only if she first made a list of all
   the reasons why she is in a good mood or bad mood
   on a typical day.
   d. Her statement is probably based on a causal theory
   that may or may not be true.

Answer 30

b. She is probably wrong because people rarely know

why they feel the way they do.

Question 31

3. Which of the following statements best illustrates selfperception theory?
   a. “I might not know why, but I know what I like.”
   b. “I often don’t know what I like until I see what I do.”
   c. “I like classical music because my wife is always playing it.”
   d. “I get a warm feeling inside when I listen to my favorite
   songs. ”

Answer 31

b. “I often don’t know what I like until I see what I do.”

Question 32

Self-Control

Answer 32

The ability to subdue immediate
desires to achieve long-term goals
- An important function of the self is to be the chief executive who sets goals and
makes choices about what to do in the present and in the future

Question 33

Implementation Intentions

Answer 33

People’s specific plans about
where, when, and how they will
fulfill a goal and avoid temptations

Question 34

Impression Management

Answer 34

The attempt by people to get others
to see them as they want to be
seen

Question 35

Describe how people portray themselves so that others will see them as they want to be seen.

Answer 35

• Impression management
• Ingratiation
• Self-Handicapping

Question 36

Ingratiation

Answer 36

The process whereby people flatter,
praise, and generally try to make
themselves likable to another
person, often of higher status

Question 37

Self-Handicapping

Answer 37

The strategy whereby people
create obstacles and excuses for
themselves so that if they do
poorly on a task, they can avoid
blaming themselves
2 types: behavioural and reported

Question 38

Cultural Influences on the Self-Concept

Answer 38

People who grow up in Western cultures tend to have an
independent view of the self, whereas people who
grow up in Asian cultures tend to have an interdependent
view of the self.

Question 39

Functions of the Self The self serves four functions:

Answer 39

• self-knowledge, our beliefs about who we are
  and the way in which we formulate and organize
  this information;
• self-control, the way in which
  we make plans and execute decisions;
• impression management, how we present ourselves to other people;
• self-esteem, the way we feel about
  ourselves.

Question 40

Self-Knowledge How do people come to know who they are and why they do what they do?

Answer 40

• Knowing Ourselves Through Introspection
• Knowing Ourselves by Observing Our Own
  Behavior - self perception theory - 2-factor theory of emotion - misattirubution of arousal, - overjustification effect - fixed v growth mindset
• Using Other People to Know Ourselves

Question 41

Compare when people are likely to succeed at self-control and when they are likely to fail.

Answer 41

Self-Control: The Executive Function of the Self
In general, exerting energy on one task limits people’s ability to exert self-control on a subsequent task. However, simply believing that willpower is an unlimited resource can help people exert more
self-control, as can praying in advance of a task and forming implementation intentions.

Question 42

Describe Rhodewalk & Agustidottir (1986) -

Answer 42

people induced to describe themselves in positive terms scored better on self-esteem than those who weren’t induced (from Lect 10 min 30.43)

Question 43

Describe Swann & Ely (1984) -

Answer 43

induced to describe themselves as introvert/extrovert, subsequently defined themselves as such but only when not previously certain about their level of introversion/extroversion. (from lect 10 min 31.26)

Question 44

Describe Study (Lepper et al. 1973) - Making play into work

Answer 44

kinder kids playing with crayons, 3 conditions - reward, unexpected reward, no reward - weeks later their time spent playing with crayons and paper found that the kids that expected a reward played for less time. - intrinsic motivation was taken away.

Question 45

schadenfraude -

Answer 45

feeling of happiness when someone else doesn’t do too well.

Question 46

Sociometer theory (Leary & Baumeister 2000)

Answer 46

Proposes self-esteem monitors social worth. Low self-esteem is aversive and motivates reparative behaviours

Question 47

Unrealistic Optimism (Weinstein 1980)

Answer 47

when you think bad stuff can’t happen to you. eg. smokers won’t get cancer

Question 48

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model (SEM), Tesser, 1988

Answer 48

comparing yourself to others and effect on self-esteem will depend on how close that person is to you (how similar) and how much you care about the thing your comparing yourself in (eg. athletics). to combat this people might - become less close with that person - decide you don’t like that activity much anyway. or make some other excuse.

Question 49

Nesbitt and Wilson (1977) - Judging more than we can know

Answer 49

Introspection may not lead us to the true causes of our feelings and behaviour, (but we’ll manage to convince ourselves it did) becuase many of our mental processes occur outside of awareness, thus it is ‘telling more than we can know’.
They did a study where buzzed a construction tool outside a window while participants viewed a film and found that it did not affect evaluation of film when they thought it would , thus demonstrating a faulty causal theory.

Question 50

The consequences of introspecting about reasons

Answer 50

Wilson and Nesbitt - found that we may come up with inaccurate reasons. and we might convince ourselves these reasons are correct.
- This leads to reason’s generated attitude change

Question 51

Reason’s generated attitude change

Answer 51

attitude change that results from thinking about the reasons for ones attitudes. People assume their attitues match the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalise. This may be problematic when the right reasons (eg. why you love someone) are hard to verbalise or are inaccessible.