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Psychology 2035 > Chapter 6 - The Self > Flashcards

Chapter 6 - The Self Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the self-concept?

A

An organized collection of beliefs about the self

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2
Q

What are these beliefs also called?

A

Self-schemas

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3
Q

What do self-schemas include?

A

Personality traits, abilities, physical features, values, goals and social roles

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4
Q

What does possible selves refer to?

A

One’s conceptions about the kind of person one might become in the future

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5
Q

What three self perceptions do individuals have?

A

An actual self, an ideal self and an ought self

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6
Q

What is the actual self?

A

Qualities people think they actually possess

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7
Q

What is the ideal self?

A

Qualities people would like to have

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8
Q

What is the ought self?

A

Qualities people think they should possess

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9
Q

What are self-discrepancies?

A

Mismatches between the actual, ideal, and or/ought selves

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10
Q

What happens when the actual self falls short of the ideal self?

A

We feel dejected and sad (depression)

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11
Q

What happens when the actual self falls short of the ought self?

A

We feel irritable and guilty (anxiety related disorders)

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12
Q

What two ways do people cope with self-discrepancies (1)?

A

By changing their behaviour to bring it more in line with the ideal, or ought self

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13
Q

(2)

A

Blunting self-awareness by avoiding situations that increase self awareness or by using alcohol

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14
Q

What does Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory state?

A

That we compare ourselves with others in order to assess and/ or improve our abilities

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15
Q

What is a reference group?

A

A set of people who are used as a gauge in making social comparisons

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16
Q

When do we choose inferior or superior reference groups?

A

We choose inferior reference groups if we want to bolster self esteem and superior reference groups if we want to improve

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17
Q

In what direction (positive or negative) are observations of our own behaviour subjective and distorted in?

A

A positive direction

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18
Q

What “effect” can social comparisons be affected by

A

The N-effect

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19
Q

What is the N-effect?

A

The smaller the comparison group, the greater our tendency to be competitive and inflate our self-concept

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20
Q

What happens in distortion of self images?

A

People see themselves differently than how others see them, and self images tend to be distorted in a positive direction

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21
Q

What is important in balancing our own observations?

A

Feedback from others

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22
Q

What feedback do we get early in life?

A

Parents and family members are the primary influences

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23
Q

What feedback is presented as children age?

A

Teachers, coaches and peers become progressively more important

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24
Q

What feedback is important later in life?

A

Close friends and marriage partners play dominant roles

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25
Q

How does social context affect our self-concept?

A

We may view ourselves more, or less critically, depending on the situation

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26
Q

What is individualism?

A

Putting personal goals ahead of group goals

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27
Q

What happens in cultures that value individualism?

A

Identity is defined more in terms of personal attributes

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28
Q

What is collectivism?

A

Putting group goals ahead of personal goals

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29
Q

What happens in cultures that value collectivism?

A

Identity is defined more in terms of the groups that one belongs to

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30
Q

What are the views of people raised in individualistic cultures?

A

Have an independent view of the self, view themselves as unique, self contained and distinct from others

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31
Q

What are the views of people raised in collectivist cultures?

A

Have an interdependent view of the self, view themselves as more connected to others

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32
Q

What does self-esteem refer to?

A

One’s overall assessment of one’s worth as a person, a global evaluation of many aspects of the self

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33
Q

What two ways can self-esteem can be construed?

A

Trait self-esteem and state self-esteem

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34
Q

What is trait self-esteem?

A

An enduring sense of confidence in a person

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35
Q

What is state self-esteem?

A

Dynamic feelings about the self that change with the situation

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36
Q

What is a popular measure of self-esteem?

A

The Rosenberg self-esteem scale

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37
Q

What is self-esteem strongly and consistently connected to?

A

Happiness

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38
Q

What is characteristic of people with high self-esteem?

A

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

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39
Q

What has self-esteem not been linked to?

A

Achievement

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40
Q

What is narcissism?

A

The tendency to regard oneself as grandiosely self-important, is pathological and different for high self-esteem, a healthy trait

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41
Q

What are some characteristics about narcissistic individuals?

A

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

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42
Q

What is included in the path from narcissism to aggression?

A

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

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43
Q

What two dimensions play important roles in shaping self-esteem early in life?

A

Parental acceptance and parental control

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44
Q

What are the four parenting styles taking into consideration parental acceptance and parental control?

A

Authoritarian (low acceptance, high control), Authoritative (high acceptance, high control), Neglectful (low acceptance, low control), and Permissive (high acceptance, low control)

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45
Q

Which of these four parenting styles is associated with the highest self-esteem scores?

A

Authoritative style

46
Q

How do ethnicity and gender interact with regards to self-esteem?

A

White males have higher self-esteem than white females, but minority males have lower self esteem than minority females

47
Q

What is the overall trend of self-esteem regarding ethnicity and gender?

A

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

48
Q

How are cognitive processes related to the self?

A

They affect the ability to maintain a view of the self

49
Q

What two types of cognitive processes are at work?

A

Automatic processing and controlled processing

50
Q

What is automatic processing?

A

Default mode in which we handle information without much deliberate decision making (e.g. going through our morning routine)

51
Q

What is controlled processing?

A

Active thinking required for important decision making and analysis

52
Q

What are self-attributions?

A

Inferences that people draw about the causes of their own behaviour

53
Q

What are three key dimensions of attributions?

A

Whether they are internal or external, whether they are stable or unstable, and whether they are controllable or uncontrollable

54
Q

What internal attributions do?

A

Ascribe the causes of behaviour to personal dispositions, traits, abilities and feelings

55
Q

What do external attributions do?

A

Ascribe behaviour to situational demands

56
Q

What are stable attributions?

A

The cause of behaviour is unlikely to change over time

57
Q

What are unstable attributions?

A

The cause of behaviour is variable or subject to change

58
Q

How does stable/unstable attributions interact with internal/external attributions?

A

The dimensions interact to create stable external, stable internal, unstable internal, and unstable external

59
Q

What are examples of stable internal causes of behaviour?

A

A sense of humour and intelligence

60
Q

What are examples of stable external causes of behaviour?

A

Laws and rules

61
Q

What are examples of unstable internal causes of behaviour?

A

Mood and motivation

62
Q

What are examples of unstable external causes of behaviour?

A

Weather and presence or absence of other people

63
Q

What does the controllable/uncontrollable dimension consider?

A

Whether or not the individual has any control over the behaviour

64
Q

What does the explanatory style refer to?

A

The tendency to use similar causal attributions for a wide variety of events in one’s life

65
Q

What do people who use optimistic explanatory style attribute setbacks to?

A

External, unstable, and specific factors

66
Q

What do people who use pessimistic explanatory style attribute setbacks to?

A

Internal, stable and global factors

67
Q

What three motives guide self-understanding (1)?

A

Self-assessment - desire for truthful information about oneself

68
Q

(2)

A

Self-verification - preference for feedback that matches our self-view

69
Q

(3)

A

Self-enhancement - desire to maintain positive feelings about oneself

70
Q

What are the four methods of self assessment?

A

Downward social comparison, self-serving bias, basking in reflected glory, and self-handicapping

71
Q

What is downward social comparison?

A

A defensive tendency to compare oneself with someone whose troubles are more serious than one’s own

72
Q

What is self-serving bias?

A

A tendency to attribute one’s successes to personal factors and one’s failures to situational factors

73
Q

What is basking in reflected glory?

A

A tendency to enhance one’s image by publicly announcing one’s association with those who are successful

74
Q

What is self-handicapping?

A

A tendency to sabotage one’s performance to provide an excuse for possible failure

75
Q

What is self-regulation?

A

The process of directing and controlling one’s behaviour

76
Q

What does the ego depletion model of self-regulation believe?

A

That people have a limited amount of self control

77
Q

What is an example of this limited amount of self control?

A

If you successfully resist the temptation to indulge yourself with sweets today, it is more difficult to do so tomorrow

78
Q

What is self-efficacy?

A

One’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviours that should lead to expected outcomes

79
Q

What is self-efficacy important for?

A

Healthy adjustment

80
Q

Why is it important to adjustment that self-efficacy can be learned and changed?

A

Because increasing one’s self-efficacy is beneficial to one’s physical and mental health

81
Q

What four sources does self-efficacy usually come from?

A

Mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, persuasion and encouragement, and interpretation of emotional arousal

82
Q

How are mastery experiences a source for self efficacy?

A

Learning new skills increases self-efficacy and it is especially important to persist in the face of mistakes or failure

83
Q

What are vicarious experiences?

A

Watching others learn a new skill

84
Q

What is interpretation of emotional arousal?

A

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

85
Q

What are self-defeating behaviours?

A

Seemingly intentional actions that thwart a person’s self-interest

86
Q

What three categories are there for self-defeating behaviours?

A

Deliberate self-destruction, trade-offs, and counterproductive strategies

87
Q

What are trade-offs in this context?

A

Engaging in short term, potentially harmful behaviours in order to pursue healthy long term goals

88
Q

What does it mean to exhibit counterproductive strategies?

A

Persisting in ineffective strategies to achieve a goal

89
Q

What is a public self?

A

An image presented to others in social interactions

90
Q

How can public selves vary?

A

According to the situation or role that people are in - so we have multiple public selves

91
Q

When is adjustment best, in terms of public selves?

A

When there is considerable overlap, or integration in the various public selves

92
Q

What does impression management refer to?

A

Usually conscious efforts by people to influence how others think of them

93
Q

What 6 impression management strategies are there?

A

Ingratiation, self-promotion, exemplification, intimidation, supplication, and negative acknowledgement

94
Q

What is ingratiation?

A

Behaving in ways to make oneself likeable to others

95
Q

What is self-promotion?

A

Accenting your strong points in order to earn respect

96
Q

What is exemplification?

A

Demonstrating exemplary behaviour in order to boost your integrity or character

97
Q

What is intimidation?

A

Using physical or emotional threats to get what you want from others

98
Q

What is supplication?

A

Acting weak or dependent in order to get favors from others

99
Q

What is negative acknowledgement?

A

Admitting your flaws

100
Q

What patterns of behaviour has research on impression management identified?

A

People try to make positive impressions when interacting with strangers, and we shift toward modesty with those who know us well

101
Q

What is self-monitoring?

A

The degree to which people attend to and control the impressions they make on others

102
Q

What do high self-monitors do?

A

They are more concerned about making favourable impressions and are good at interpreting what others see

103
Q

What do low self-monitors do?

A

They are more likely to express their true feelings or attitudes

104
Q

Why is building self-esteem important?

A

Because individuals with low self esteem are less happy, more prone to depression, more demoralized after failure, and more anxious in relationships

105
Q

What are the seven guidelines for building self esteem (1)?

A

Recognize that you control your self-image - you can change it to be more positive

106
Q

(2)

A

Learn more about yourself - people with low self-esteem don’t know as much about themselves as do those with high self-esteem

107
Q

(3)

A

Don’t let others set your goals

108
Q

(4)

A

Recognize unrealistic goals

109
Q

(5)

A

Modify negative self-talk - remember to use an optimistic explanatory style when confronting successes and failures

110
Q

(6)

A

Emphasize your strengths

111
Q

(7)

A

Approach others with a positive outlook

Psychology 2035 (8 decks)

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