Final Part 2 (contd).

Question 1

self-complexity

Answer 1

• the extent to which individuals have many different and relatively independent ways of thinking about themselves
• You vary in self-concepts, and some overlap with other selves
• More variation + less overlap = higher complexity

Question 2

consequences of high and low self-complexity

Answer 2

HIGH: less generalizability

• Won’t crumble under pressure
• Could lead to compartmentalization (won’t deal with problem right away because they can be a different self)
• Not as high high’s and not as low low’s
• Can deal with attacks on self better because they have a buffer (can fall back on other self-concepts)

LOW: more emotional impact

• Greater mood swings
• High high’s and low low’s
• Spillover from self-relevant feedback
• Affects more areas of self
• Feedback on one self applies to multiple areas of self

Question 3

Is there consensus for the buffering hypothesis? (LECTURE)

Answer 3

it does no always replicate

Question 4

is high complexity ever harmful

Answer 4

• Stress does not predict illness (don’t put all eggs in one basket)
• Linked to perceived control over one’s life and self-esteem
• High self-esteem= might see buffering effect
• Otherwise, might feel overwhelmed by many roles

Question 5

self-concept clarity

Answer 5

the extent to which one’s self-concept is clearly and consistently defined

Question 6

Consequences of holding self-views with certainty

Answer 6

• self views that are held with great certainty are less likely to change than our views that are uncertain
• The more certain people are with their self-views, the better they feel about themselves.

Question 7

cultural differences (self-concept clarity)

Answer 7

• collectivist cultures can be more acceptable of ambiguity and inconsistency in self; clarity not linked to self esteem
• tends to be higher in individualistic/independent cultures

Question 8

self-schema

Answer 8

• Hypothetical mental frameworks that people use to organize their knowledge about the social world
• Cognitive structures that help us perceive, organize, process, and use information
• Mental representations or mental maps of ideas

Question 9

schematic

Answer 9

perceived independence; these people think of themselves as very independent or dependent, they regard this characteristic as very important

Question 10

aschematic

Answer 10

these people do not think of themselves as very independent, don’t regard this trait as important

Question 11

What is the self-reference effect?

Answer 11

Refers to people’s tendency to better remember information when that information has been linked to the self then when not linked to the self

Question 12

How traits central to our self-concept affect how we perceive others?

Answer 12

When a trait is central to self-concept, it is highly integrated with accessible from our self schema.

Question 13

Describe current self-representation (working self-concept in lecture)

Answer 13

• Schematic presentation of the factors that influence the way people currently think about themselves, and the influence these thoughts have on other aspects of psychological life
• Personal + Situational Factors = Current-Self Rep → Info processing, emotion, behavior

Question 14

Goals (chronic accessibility) …How do they affect self-views?

Answer 14

• We start off by figuring out who we want to be or what role we want to play and then activate an appropriate image of ourselves
• We can deliberately activate

Question 15

social context…. effect of social roles

Answer 15

• How we think about ourselves depends largely on the social role we are presently playing
• They influence personal identities and ‘who we are’ depends on where we are and whom we are in contact with

Question 16

how does social context affect our self-evaluation

Answer 16

• In social contexts, we use social comparison processes to evaluate ourselves
• We use those in the immediate social environment as a target of comparison, and contrast our characteristic against theirs

Question 17

assimilation effects

Answer 17

people evaluate themselves more positively when in the company of others who are exemplary on some dimensions

Question 18

contrast effects

Answer 18

people use those in the immediate social environments as a target of comparison, and contrast our characteristics against theirs.

Question 19

what is the working self-concept

Answer 19

• Immediate experience of the self

- Self aspects, current self-representation, and phenomenological self

Question 20

how does the working self-concept represent malleability in the self

Answer 20

Self-concept can be influenced in many ways (ie socially) and is therefore malleable and context-dependent

Question 21

how does the self affect memory

Answer 21

“Cocktail-Party Effect”: people are highly attuned to self-relevant information

-Ex: talking to someone at a party and you hear your name mentioned from across the crowded room

Question 22

self-reference effect

Answer 22

people can recall things in their minds easily as long as it has some references to themselves

Question 23

Describe justification of effort in cognitive dissonance theory (Remember the overjustification effect from lecture)

Answer 23

explains that when people are experiencing cognitive dissonance they avoid the psychological discomfort by exaggerating how badly off they were before.

Question 24

Describe attitude change via cog dissonance (note: this is self-perception theory)

Answer 24

people say or do things that are inconsistent with their attitude

Question 25

self-affirmation theory and how it affects behavior

Answer 25

• concerned with how people handle inconsistencies between their behavior and their self-image
• In order to reduce comfort people must establish a global sense of adequacy or decency

Question 26

self-affirmation theory assumes

Answer 26

• People strive to think of themselves in positive terms (competent and decent)
• People experience discomfort whenever they do something that violates these self-ideals

Question 27

Describe Pyszczynski and Greenberg’s (1987) model of the self-serving attribution process

Answer 27

• generate self-serving casual hypothesis
• devise inferences rules for testing the hypothesis
• gather relevant data to the hypothesis
• evaluate the validity of the data
• integrate data to form a final attribution

Question 28

What are self-schemas? What sorts of self-schemas do we have (broadly speaking)?

Answer 28

• knowledge structures that helps us understand, integrate, and explain aspects of our self
• Schematic or aschematic schemas

Question 29

what is meant by aschematic vs. schematic

Answer 29

Schematic: having a particular schema for a particular dimension
Aschematic: not having a particular schema for a particular dimension

Question 30

how is the cognitive self related to self-schema

Answer 30

the idea that as we get older, the self-concept becomes more complex and is organized into a variety of different cognitive aspects of the self.

Question 31

how does the cognitive self affect information processing

Answer 31

When the knowledge contained in the self-schema becomes more accessible, it also becomes more likely to be used in information processing and to influence our behavior.

Question 32

self-reference effect

Answer 32

information that is processed in relationship to the self is particularly well remembered

Question 33

how is the cognitive self affected by culture

Answer 33

• People from individualistic cultures often describing themselves using internal characteristics that emphasize their uniqueness,
• those from collectivistic backgrounds who tend to stress shared social group memberships and roles.

Question 34

self-complexity

Answer 34

the extent to which individuals have many different and relatively independent ways of thinking about themselves.

Question 35

self-concept clarity

Answer 35

• the extent to which one’s self-concept is clearly and consistently defined. ;
• May be correlated with self-esteem.

Question 36

effects of high and low levels of self-complexity

Answer 36

• High self-complexity: a person whose self-concept contains a lot of social identities.
• Low self-complexity: a person whose self-concept contains not a lot of social identities.

Question 37

effects of high and low levels of self-concept clarity

Answer 37

• High self-concept clarity: people with higher self-esteem tend to have a more well-defined and stable view of their positive qualities.
• Low self-concept clarity: people with lower self-esteem show more inconsistency and instability in their self-concept

Question 38

cultural differences in self-concept clarity

Answer 38

Not only do members of more collectivistic cultures tend to have lower self-concept clarity, that clarity is also less strongly related to their self-esteem compared with those from more individualistic cultures.

Question 39

self-affirmation theory

Answer 39

• suggest that people will try to reduce the threat to their self-concept posed by feelings of self-discrepancy
• when we perceive a discrepancy between our actual and ideal selves, this is distressing to us) by focusing on and affirming their worth in another domain, unrelated to the issue at hand.

Question 40

private self-consciousness

Answer 40

the tendency to introspect about our inner thoughts and feelings

Question 41

public self-consciousness

Answer 41

the tendency to focus on our outer public image and the standards set by others.

Question 42

cultural differences regarding private vs. public self-consciousness

Answer 42

There are cultural differences in self-consciousness: public self-consciousness may be higher in Eastern than in Western cultures.

Question 43

cybernetic cycle of behavior

Answer 43

• how entities use information to regulate their actions or control theory; emphasizes a negative feedback control
• Initial behavior → observe behavior → compare against standard → expectancy → emotion reaction → behavioral adjustment

Question 44

TOTE

Answer 44

• test: present value is compared against some relative standard
• operate: an action is undertaken to bring the present value in line with the standard
• test: the value is compared with the standard
• exit: occurs when the desired goal is reached

Question 45

Consequences of self-awareness (remember self-awareness theory from earlier)

Answer 45

leads people to compare their present situation with a relevant standard

Question 46

delay of gratification

Answer 46

• Postponing immediate gratification for long-term goals

- As self develops, so does our capacity for self-control

Question 47

delay of gratification measured?

Answer 47

-marshmallow task with children

Question 48

goal shielding

Answer 48

inhibiting alternative goals to pursue focal goal

Question 49

goal shielding …why is it important

Answer 49

helps us achieve important goals by protecting us by distracting other goals and information

Question 50

implementation intentions

Answer 50

“If-then” plans that create strong mental links between goals and behavior
Not a want to change but how to

Question 51

how does implementation intentions work

Answer 51

• They involve identifying possible obstacles to your goal and how you’ll deal with them
• An action plan that carries out your goals

Question 52

how does implementation intentions help with goal shielding

Answer 52

By creating a plan to carry something out, you are better able to utilize this when trying to achieve a certain goal

-focusing on one goal using an ‘if-then’ plan → implementation intention

Question 53

performance goals: helpless-oriented children

Answer 53

-(gets frustrated and angry & don’t want to continue working on task) adopt to this goal because they want to demonstrate competence→ to prove to themselves and others that they are intelligent & capable

Question 54

learning goals: mastery-oriented children

Answer 54

interested & engaged in activity and expressed strong desire to to keep working on task and increased effort to solve problem) adopt to this because their goal is to cultivate competence→ to acquire knowledge, attain skills, and grow and develop as an individual

Question 55

fixed/ entity mindset

Answer 55

• have a set amount of ability than can’t change
• Born with that amount of intelligence
• More likely to give up after setbacks, less likely to strive & study

Question 56

growth/ incremental mindset

Answer 56

• abilities are malleable qualities than can cultivate & grow
• Setbacks are oppts to work harder & improve

Question 57

intrinsic motivation

Answer 57

• strive to do well in achievement situations for personal reasons
• Take pleasure in learning and finding educational process to be inherently interesting and enjoyable

Question 58

extrinsic motivation

Answer 58

• strive to do well in achievement situations for external rewards
• Rewards can include positive attention from teachers, parents, or peers or material rewards like money or privileges

Question 59

How does extrinsic motivation affect intrinsic motivation? (remember overjustification effect from lecture)

Answer 59

• Thinking about external rewards can have negative consequences such as showing less interest in the activity
• External rewards provides important information about the quality of one’s efforts and performance

Question 60

ego-depletion

Answer 60

the state of diminished resources following exertion of self-control.

Question 61

3 ways do the researchers think self-control is like a muscle

Answer 61

• “Exercise” to make the “muscles stronger” … regular exertions of self control can improve willpower strength → resistance to depletion
• Conservation … when people expect to have to exert self control later, the curtail performance more severely than if no such demands are anticipated
• Pushing through” … people can exert self control despite ego depletion if the stakes are high enough

Question 62

strength model

Answer 62

• After a self-control task, it is consumed and depleted causing it to be less available for another task and boredom.
• May be be consumed and depleted by watching emotional evocative films, suppressing a forbidden thought (sensitive issues), and resisting temptations.

Question 63

implementation intentions

Answer 63

“if-then” plans that create strong mental links between goals and behavior

Question 64

what are the researchers’ general conclusions

Answer 64

the findings support the strength model of self-control which argues that self-control is a limited resource.