Chapter 6 - The Self Flashcards
What is the self-concept?
An organized collection of beliefs about the self
What are these beliefs also called?
Self-schemas
What do self-schemas include?
Personality traits, abilities, physical features, values, goals and social roles
What does possible selves refer to?
One’s conceptions about the kind of person one might become in the future
What three self perceptions do individuals have?
An actual self, an ideal self and an ought self
What is the actual self?
Qualities people think they actually possess
What is the ideal self?
Qualities people would like to have
What is the ought self?
Qualities people think they should possess
What are self-discrepancies?
Mismatches between the actual, ideal, and or/ought selves
What happens when the actual self falls short of the ideal self?
We feel dejected and sad (depression)
What happens when the actual self falls short of the ought self?
We feel irritable and guilty (anxiety related disorders)
What two ways do people cope with self-discrepancies (1)?
By changing their behaviour to bring it more in line with the ideal, or ought self
(2)
Blunting self-awareness by avoiding situations that increase self awareness or by using alcohol
What does Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory state?
That we compare ourselves with others in order to assess and/ or improve our abilities
What is a reference group?
A set of people who are used as a gauge in making social comparisons
When do we choose inferior or superior reference groups?
We choose inferior reference groups if we want to bolster self esteem and superior reference groups if we want to improve
In what direction (positive or negative) are observations of our own behaviour subjective and distorted in?
A positive direction
What “effect” can social comparisons be affected by
The N-effect
What is the N-effect?
The smaller the comparison group, the greater our tendency to be competitive and inflate our self-concept
What happens in distortion of self images?
People see themselves differently than how others see them, and self images tend to be distorted in a positive direction
What is important in balancing our own observations?
Feedback from others
What feedback do we get early in life?
Parents and family members are the primary influences
What feedback is presented as children age?
Teachers, coaches and peers become progressively more important
What feedback is important later in life?
Close friends and marriage partners play dominant roles
How does social context affect our self-concept?
We may view ourselves more, or less critically, depending on the situation
What is individualism?
Putting personal goals ahead of group goals
What happens in cultures that value individualism?
Identity is defined more in terms of personal attributes
What is collectivism?
Putting group goals ahead of personal goals
What happens in cultures that value collectivism?
Identity is defined more in terms of the groups that one belongs to
What are the views of people raised in individualistic cultures?
Have an independent view of the self, view themselves as unique, self contained and distinct from others
What are the views of people raised in collectivist cultures?
Have an interdependent view of the self, view themselves as more connected to others
What does self-esteem refer to?
One’s overall assessment of one’s worth as a person, a global evaluation of many aspects of the self
What two ways can self-esteem can be construed?
Trait self-esteem and state self-esteem
What is trait self-esteem?
An enduring sense of confidence in a person
What is state self-esteem?
Dynamic feelings about the self that change with the situation
What is a popular measure of self-esteem?
The Rosenberg self-esteem scale
What is self-esteem strongly and consistently connected to?
Happiness
What is characteristic of people with high self-esteem?
They feel more likeable and attractive, have better relationships, and make better impressions on others, persist longer in the face of failure and cope better with setbacks
What has self-esteem not been linked to?
Achievement
What is narcissism?
The tendency to regard oneself as grandiosely self-important, is pathological and different for high self-esteem, a healthy trait
What are some characteristics about narcissistic individuals?
They are preoccupied with fantasies of success, they believe they deserve special treatment, and they react aggressively when their view of themselves (ego) is threatened
What is included in the path from narcissism to aggression?
Individuals with high narcissism perceive negative evaluations by others to be threatening and so will react more aggressively in response than those with low narcissism
What two dimensions play important roles in shaping self-esteem early in life?
Parental acceptance and parental control
What are the four parenting styles taking into consideration parental acceptance and parental control?
Authoritarian (low acceptance, high control), Authoritative (high acceptance, high control), Neglectful (low acceptance, low control), and Permissive (high acceptance, low control)
Which of these four parenting styles is associated with the highest self-esteem scores?
Authoritative style
How do ethnicity and gender interact with regards to self-esteem?
White males have higher self-esteem than white females, but minority males have lower self esteem than minority females
What is the overall trend of self-esteem regarding ethnicity and gender?
Overall, males score slightly higher on self-esteem than females, and white females have lower self esteem than minority females, especially with regard to body image
How are cognitive processes related to the self?
They affect the ability to maintain a view of the self
What two types of cognitive processes are at work?
Automatic processing and controlled processing
What is automatic processing?
Default mode in which we handle information without much deliberate decision making (e.g. going through our morning routine)
What is controlled processing?
Active thinking required for important decision making and analysis
What are self-attributions?
Inferences that people draw about the causes of their own behaviour
What are three key dimensions of attributions?
Whether they are internal or external, whether they are stable or unstable, and whether they are controllable or uncontrollable
What internal attributions do?
Ascribe the causes of behaviour to personal dispositions, traits, abilities and feelings
What do external attributions do?
Ascribe behaviour to situational demands
What are stable attributions?
The cause of behaviour is unlikely to change over time
What are unstable attributions?
The cause of behaviour is variable or subject to change
How does stable/unstable attributions interact with internal/external attributions?
The dimensions interact to create stable external, stable internal, unstable internal, and unstable external
What are examples of stable internal causes of behaviour?
A sense of humour and intelligence
What are examples of stable external causes of behaviour?
Laws and rules
What are examples of unstable internal causes of behaviour?
Mood and motivation
What are examples of unstable external causes of behaviour?
Weather and presence or absence of other people
What does the controllable/uncontrollable dimension consider?
Whether or not the individual has any control over the behaviour
What does the explanatory style refer to?
The tendency to use similar causal attributions for a wide variety of events in one’s life
What do people who use optimistic explanatory style attribute setbacks to?
External, unstable, and specific factors
What do people who use pessimistic explanatory style attribute setbacks to?
Internal, stable and global factors
What three motives guide self-understanding (1)?
Self-assessment - desire for truthful information about oneself
(2)
Self-verification - preference for feedback that matches our self-view
(3)
Self-enhancement - desire to maintain positive feelings about oneself
What are the four methods of self assessment?
Downward social comparison, self-serving bias, basking in reflected glory, and self-handicapping
What is downward social comparison?
A defensive tendency to compare oneself with someone whose troubles are more serious than one’s own
What is self-serving bias?
A tendency to attribute one’s successes to personal factors and one’s failures to situational factors
What is basking in reflected glory?
A tendency to enhance one’s image by publicly announcing one’s association with those who are successful
What is self-handicapping?
A tendency to sabotage one’s performance to provide an excuse for possible failure
What is self-regulation?
The process of directing and controlling one’s behaviour
What does the ego depletion model of self-regulation believe?
That people have a limited amount of self control
What is an example of this limited amount of self control?
If you successfully resist the temptation to indulge yourself with sweets today, it is more difficult to do so tomorrow
What is self-efficacy?
One’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviours that should lead to expected outcomes
What is self-efficacy important for?
Healthy adjustment
Why is it important to adjustment that self-efficacy can be learned and changed?
Because increasing one’s self-efficacy is beneficial to one’s physical and mental health
What four sources does self-efficacy usually come from?
Mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, persuasion and encouragement, and interpretation of emotional arousal
How are mastery experiences a source for self efficacy?
Learning new skills increases self-efficacy and it is especially important to persist in the face of mistakes or failure
What are vicarious experiences?
Watching others learn a new skill
What is interpretation of emotional arousal?
When we try new things we may become nervous and it is important to attribute this to normal arousal needed to do well rather than fear
What are self-defeating behaviours?
Seemingly intentional actions that thwart a person’s self-interest
What three categories are there for self-defeating behaviours?
Deliberate self-destruction, trade-offs, and counterproductive strategies
What are trade-offs in this context?
Engaging in short term, potentially harmful behaviours in order to pursue healthy long term goals
What does it mean to exhibit counterproductive strategies?
Persisting in ineffective strategies to achieve a goal
What is a public self?
An image presented to others in social interactions
How can public selves vary?
According to the situation or role that people are in - so we have multiple public selves
When is adjustment best, in terms of public selves?
When there is considerable overlap, or integration in the various public selves
What does impression management refer to?
Usually conscious efforts by people to influence how others think of them
What 6 impression management strategies are there?
Ingratiation, self-promotion, exemplification, intimidation, supplication, and negative acknowledgement
What is ingratiation?
Behaving in ways to make oneself likeable to others
What is self-promotion?
Accenting your strong points in order to earn respect
What is exemplification?
Demonstrating exemplary behaviour in order to boost your integrity or character
What is intimidation?
Using physical or emotional threats to get what you want from others
What is supplication?
Acting weak or dependent in order to get favors from others
What is negative acknowledgement?
Admitting your flaws
What patterns of behaviour has research on impression management identified?
People try to make positive impressions when interacting with strangers, and we shift toward modesty with those who know us well
What is self-monitoring?
The degree to which people attend to and control the impressions they make on others
What do high self-monitors do?
They are more concerned about making favourable impressions and are good at interpreting what others see
What do low self-monitors do?
They are more likely to express their true feelings or attitudes
Why is building self-esteem important?
Because individuals with low self esteem are less happy, more prone to depression, more demoralized after failure, and more anxious in relationships
What are the seven guidelines for building self esteem (1)?
Recognize that you control your self-image - you can change it to be more positive
(2)
Learn more about yourself - people with low self-esteem don’t know as much about themselves as do those with high self-esteem
(3)
Don’t let others set your goals
(4)
Recognize unrealistic goals
(5)
Modify negative self-talk - remember to use an optimistic explanatory style when confronting successes and failures
(6)
Emphasize your strengths
(7)
Approach others with a positive outlook
