Chapter 5: The Self- Understanding Ourselves in a Social Context Flashcards
rudimentary self-concept
- demonstrated with mirror experiment
- realize that the image in the mirror is themselves
- recognize differences (i.e. mark) from previous looking
child’s self concept
- concrete
- observable characteristics
- age, sex, neighborhood, hobbies
matured self concept
- less emphasis on physical characteristics
- more emphasis on psychological states
- consider how others judge us
- focus on thoughts and feelings
self-knowledge
- beliefs about who we are
- based on self-control, impression management, and self-esteem
self-control
-way in which people make plans and execute decisions
impression management
-present selves to others in ways that we want to be seen
self-esteem
- the way we feel about ourselves
- positive vs. negative view of self
Western culture view of self
- independent
- focus on internal thoughts, feelings, and actions
- less focus on thoughts, feelings, actions of others
non-Western cultures view of self
- define self in terms of relationship to other people
- behavior determined by thoughts, feelings, and actions of others
- connectedness and interdependence valued
- independence and uniqueness frowned upon
women view of self
- relational interdependence
- focus on close relationships
- focus on intimacy and cooperation
men self-knowldge
- collective interdependence
- focus on membership in large group
introspection
- look inward and examine thoughts, feelings, and motives
- become self-conscious
- see self objectively as outsider would
self-awareness theory
-evaluate and compare behavior to internal standards and values
attempt to escape self
- more people think about selves the worse the mood
- try to turn off internal spotlight
- problematic when turn to alcohol, drugs, etc
- positive coping if focus on religion
causal theories
-theories about the causes of one’s own feelings and behaviors
reasons-generated attitude change
-attitude change resulting from thinking about the reasons for such attitudes
self-perception theory
- infer our unknown thoughts and feelings by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs
1. ) infer feelings from our behavior when don’t know how we feel
2. ) judge if behavior reflects how we feel or if the situation caused it - same principles as attributional theory
intrinsic motivation
- desire to engage in activity b/c enjoy it
- not motivated by rewards
- hurt by rewards
extrinsic motivation
-engage in activity b/c of external pressures and the potential for reward
overjustification effect
- people view their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons (reward)
- underestimate extent to which behavior was caused by intrinsic reasons
when are rewards a good idea
- if there is o previous intrinsic motivation
- Ex: rewarding child who hates reading when he finishes a book
task contingent rewards
-get for doing task regardless of how well
performance contingent rewards
-reward depends on how well do task
two factor theory of emotion
- two steps to understand emotional states
1. ) experience physiological arousal
2. ) make appropriate explanation
misattribution of arousal
- mistake inferences about what is causing arousal
- Ex: feel aroused at scary movie with hot guy- is it movie or guy causing?
fixed mindset
- we have a set amount of ability that cannot change
- likely to give up after setbacks
growth mindset
- belief that one’s abilities are capable of change
- view setbacks as opportunities for improvement
social comparison theory
- learn about our abilities and attitudes by comparing self to others
- utilized when no objective standard of measure or have uncertainty of self
- most often compare to those with similar background in area
upward social comparison
- compare to people who are better than us
- when goal is something to strive toward
- problematic if makes one feel inferior
downward social comparison
- compare to people worse than us
- when goal is to feel good about ourselves and look better
- can also involve comparison to our “past” self
birds of a feather flock together
- people with similar views attracted to each other
- more likely to become friends
looking glass self
-see ourselves and social world through eyes of other people and often adopt those views
social tuning
- adopt another person’s attitudes
- often unconscious
- often do to get along with others
wrong form of self-control
- suppress thoughts
- better to think about “forbidden” topic and exert willpower when acting on those thoughts
self-regulatory resource model
- self-control requires energy and spending the energy on one task limits amount that can be spent on another
- Ex: if see ex with bff, don’t confront them, but then go eat a gallon of ice cream
ingratiation
- people latter, raise, and try to make themselves likable
- often toward higher status individual
self-handicapping
- create obstacles and excuses in case of failure
- creating source of blame
- Ex: partying night before final, so can blame previous night for failed grade
terror management theory
-self-esteem serves as buffer, protecting people from terrifying thoughts about death
narcissism
- unhealthy high self-esteem
- excessive self-love
- lack of empathy
- concerned with self and not others
According to research by Dweck, a _______ mindset is more likely to promote success both athletically and academically.
growth
Recall that Donald Dutton and Art Aron (1974) had an attractive confederate approach men either on a high, narrow, swaying suspension bridge, or else on the other side of the bridge where they were sitting. More men called the woman after she approached them on the scary bridge. Why?
men misattributed their fear as sexual attraction
The authors of your text suggest that East Asians tend to have their self-awareness less influenced by the presence of mirrors or video cameras than Westerners because
tend to be more chronically self-aware
After observing the amount of time elementary students spent playing new math games, Greene, Sternberg, and Lepper (1976) provided rewards to children for playing with the games. After the rewards were removed
intrinsic interests (initial) decreased
Because they convey information to people that they are good at an activity, _____ are less likely to result in the overjustification effect
performance contingent rewards
Richard Nisbett and Tim Wilson (1979) had participants watch a film either with or without distracting noises in the background. Results of their experiment demonstrated that
participants erroneously believed that the noise affected their interpretation of the films
It’s Halloween, but you don’t want to be running back and forth to answer the door. To avoid any “tricks,” you decide to leave a large container of candy on the porch. You’ve just read about self-awareness theory, and you have a hunch about how to keep greedy trick-or-treaters from taking more than their fair share of the candy. You decide to
place a mirror behind the candy so they can see themselves and adjust behavior to internal standards
_____ theory posits that when our attitudes or feelings are ambiguous, we infer our internal states by observing our own behaviors and the situation in which they occur
self-perception
Analyzing the reasons for our feelings is not always the best strategy for making sense of our feelings because
reasons that are easy to verbalize are not always correct
When people want to boost their ego and feel better about themselves, they often compare themselves to
others who are worse off
According to the self-regulatory resource model, ___________requires energy, and spending it on one task limits the amount that can be spent on other things
self-control
After his psychology class, Albert tells his professor that she is an exceptional teacher and that he thinks she made the material interesting and engaging. Which of the following impression managemnet tactics is Albert using?
ingratiation
According to the authors of your text, feelings like love or sadness are often difficult to explain because
we are unaware of many of our basic mental processes
If Paul tends to see himself in terms of his own internal feelings, thoughts, and actions, he probably
has an independent view of self
A _______ mindset is the idea that our abilities are malleable qualities that we can cultivate and grow.
growth
When we are in a state of _______, we evaluate or compare our current behavior against our internal standards and values.
self-awareness
Nao is from Japan, and endorses an interdependent view of herself. Which of the following is she most likely to agree with about herself
defines herself in terms of her relationships with others
The self-concept refers to the
content of the self
According to the textbook, research on the development of the self using the “red dot” test indicates that the self in human infants develops at an average age of ___
18 months
At the amusement park, Keon’s heart begins beating rapidly and his palms begin to sweat. He reasons that since he is next in line for a ride on a roller coaster, he must be feeling exhilarated. This sequence of events in which Keon first perceives his arousal and subsequently labels it is consistent with the
two-factor theory
Theories holding that emotions result from people’s interpretation and explanation of events, in the absence of any physiological arousal, are known as ________ theories of emotion
appraisal
Just before an exam, your friend Marc turns to you and says “Man, I’m so tired! I partied ’til four in the morning.” Marc is engaging in what type of self-presentation
self-handicapping
In order to gauge whether he had studied long enough for his psychology exam, Markus phoned two of his classmates to ask them how long they had spent reviewing material. Markus is engaging in
social comparison
When Jessie sits down for the first day of class, the person next to him, Blake, is wearing a “Free Tibet” shirt. After a few minutes of talking, Jessie realizes that he likes Blake. Which of the following is most likely to happen based on the idea of social tuning?
Jessie may unconsciously alter his attitudes and believe Tibet should be freed
Women tend to have more ________ interdependence, and men tend to have more _________ interdependence.
relational
collective
