Identity (C3)

Question 1

Impression management

Answer 1

aka self-presentation, process whereby we attempt to manage our own image by influencing the perception of others

Question 2

Dramaturgical perspective

Answer 2

stems from the theory of symbolic interactionism (Mead), posits that we imagine ourselves as playing certain roles when interacting with others; we base our self-presentations on cultural values, norms, and expectations. goal is to present an acceptable self to others.
back stage: we can let down our guard and act like ourselves
front stage: we craft the way we come across to others

Question 3

Self-concept

Answer 3

aka self-identity, self-construction, or self-perspective, includes all your beliefs about who you are as an individual
umbrella term:
personal identity + social identity = self-concept/self-identity
examples of social identity: age, disabilities, religion, ethnicity/race, sexual orientation, SES, indigenous background, national origin, gender

Question 4

Self-schema

Answer 4

beliefs and ideas you have about yourself; they guide and organize the processing of info that is relevant to you
parts of your self-concept
can be temporal –> past, present, future
can have many self-schemas
e.g., I’m tall, I’m funny, etc.
ex: RJ feels that he is intelligent

Question 5

Self-efficacy

Answer 5

how good you think you are at doing something
beliefs in one’s competence
high: you believe you’re good at doing something
low: you believe you’re bad at doing something
can vary from task to task

Question 6

Locus of control

Answer 6

whether you think you have control over what happens to you
beliefs about having or lacking control
internal LoC: you believe you have control over events, e.g., I have control –> If I study hard, I will get a good grade
external LoC: you don’t believe you have control over events, e.g., I don’t have control –> karma, luck, fate, genetics, weather, divine intervention
ex: RJ believes he got a good MCAT score b/c his friend helped him study

Question 7

Learned helplessness

Answer 7

low self-efficacy and external locus of control

Question 8

Aversive control:

Answer 8

when behaviour is motivated by the reality or threat of something unpleasant happening
escape behaviours
avoidance behaviours

Question 9

Escape behaviour

Answer 9

termination of an unpredicted, unpleasant stimulus that has already occurred
ex: it starts raining, so you get out of it before you get more wet

Question 10

Avoidance behaviour

Answer 10

avoidance of a predictable, unpleasant stimulus before it’s initiated

ex: you go to a shelter before it starts raining to avoid getting wet
ex: you know it’s going to be sunny so you put on sunscreen/sunglasses before going outside

Question 11

Self-esteem

Answer 11

beliefs about one’s self-worth

ex: RJ feels goos about himself bc he’s going to be a doctor

Question 12

Self learning theory

Answer 12

learning takes place in social contexts and can occur purely through observation even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement; this is known as social learning, vicarious learning, or observational learning

Question 13

Reference group

Answer 13

anyone you use as a point of reference

Question 14

Social comparison theory

Answer 14

we all have a drive to gain accurate self-evaluations by comparing ourselves to others.
our identity will be shaped by these comparisons and the types of reference groups we have

Question 15

Perspective-taking

Answer 15

the ability to understand the cognitive and affective aspects of another person’s point of view; aka role-taking.
as cognitive development occurs during childhood, children are better able to understand the feelings and perspectives of others.
ex: walk a mile in someone else’s shoes

Question 16

Moral identity

Answer 16

the degree to which being a moral person is important to a person’s identity

Question 17

Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral identity:

Preconventional (young children and children)

Answer 17

lab rat brain
stage:
punishment and obedience - rules obeyed to avoid punishment
self-interest - rules obeyed for personal gain

Question 18

Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral identity:

Conventional (most adolescent and adults)

Answer 18

where most of us are
stage:
conformity and interpersonal accord - rules obeyed for approval
authority and social order - rules obeyed to maintain social order

Question 19

Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral identity:

Postconventional (~15% of adult population)

Answer 19

Martin Luther King Jr. brain, megamind brain
stage:
social contract - impartial rules obeyed; rules that infringe on the rights of others are challenged
universal principles - individual establishes own set of rules in accordance with personal ethical principles

Question 20

Social facilitation effect

Answer 20

tendency of performance to improve for simple, well-ingrained tasks. tends to not occur for novel, complex tasks

Question 21

Deindividuation

Answer 21

in situations where there is a high degree of arousal and low degree of personal responsibility, we may lose our sense of restraint and our individual identity, thereby aligning our behaviour with the group.
development of ‘mob mentality’
ex: concert, rally, riot

Question 22

Bystander effect

Answer 22

most people are less likely to help a victim when other people are present

Question 23

Socia loafing

Answer 23

when people work in a group, each person is likely to exert less individual effort than if they were working independently

Question 24

Peer pressure

Answer 24

refers to situations in which individuals feel directly or indirectly pressured to change their behaviour to match that of their peers

Question 25

Groupthink

Answer 25

when desire to achieve harmony and reach a ‘consensus’ decision causes groups to not critically evaluate alternative viewpoints and leads to irrational or dysfunctional decision-making.
more likely to occur when:
- group overly optimistic and strongly believes in its stance
- group justifies its own decisions and demonizes those of its opponents
- dissenting opinions, info, and facts are prevented from permeating the group (process called mindguarding)
- inds feel pressured to censor own opinions in favour of perceived ‘consensus’, which creates illusion of group unanimity
decision-making can be more irrational and dysfunctional

Question 26

Group polarization

Answer 26

when group agreement causes the preexisting views of group members to intensify-that is, the average view of a group member is accentuated, or moves toward 1 pole.
NOT when a group becomes more divided on an issue.
belief of a group becomes more extreme

Question 27

Groupthink example

Answer 27

at a meeting for all board-certified OB/GYN physicians in the Midwest area, a new treatment protocol for high-risk pregnancies is discussed. most members of the committee feel certain that the protocol is too dangerous to implement, and research into the treatment is terminated w/o further consideration.

Question 28

Conformity

Answer 28

when inds adjust their behaviour or thinking based on the behaviour or thinking of others

Question 29

Obedience

Answer 29

when inds yield to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure

Question 30

Attribution theory

Answer 30

dispositional attribution

situational attribution

Question 31

Dispositional attribution

Answer 31

internal causes

Question 32

Situational attribution

Answer 32

external causes

Question 33

Fundamental attribution error (FAE)

Answer 33

When we attribute another person’s behaviour to their personality.
ex: they cut you off in traffic, think they are a jerk

Question 34

Actor-observer bias

Answer 34

When we attribute our own actions to the situation.
ex: you have been waiting 20 min to see the doctor, and you get angry with the receptionist for having to wait, you think ‘I have a legitimate reason to be angry’.

Question 35

Self-serving bias

Answer 35

When we attribute our successes to ourselves, but our failures to others

Question 36

Optimism bias

Answer 36

when we believe that bad things happen to other people, but not to ourselves

Question 37

Just world belief

Answer 37

when we believe that bad things happen to others b/c of their own actions or inaction

Question 38

Ultimate attribution error

Answer 38

can occur to anyone but especially likely for inds who hold discriminatory views
internal vs external attributions, good vs bad beh

Question 39

Stereotype threat

Answer 39

when ppl are in situations where they are at risk of confirming neg stereotypes about their own social group
when there are negative stereotypes about a social group, group members likely to become anxious about their performance, may hinder their ability to perform at their max level