Lecture 3 Flashcards
What is the self concept?
What we know and believe about ourselves.
How well do we know ourself?
We think we know ourselves better than other people know us. But we tend to eye ourselves in a more positive light. We are also not aware of our mental processes.
What are schemas?
They are internal cognitive structures that contain generalized knowledge about the world.
Frameworks that guide our perceptions and interpretations of incoming information.
Help us organize our knowledge about the world.
What are self-schemas?
Cognitive generalizations about the self —> from past experiences
What is the study of nisbett and Wilson about our knowledge of why we do things?
Participants were asked to choose a pair of nylon stockings to show the influence of the order of things. People were not able to identify why they chose one nylon over the other.
What is the self-perception theory?
When we are uncertain about our attitudes and feelings, we infer by observing our own behaviour.
What is the study of chairmen and Baldwin about weak and strong attitudes?
Ps had weak or strong attitudes about the environment. Manipulated the perception of their env-related behaviour.
Do you sometimes recycle vs do you always recycle.
People with weak attitudes prior engaged in self perception processes and inferred by the behaviour their position. Strong attitudes not influenced.
Name the concept.
We come to know ourselves through people’s reactions to us.
Looking glass self
What is the key point of reflected self appraisal?
Our self-identity develops from how we imagine others see us.
Name the concept.
A belief about what others think of one’s self.
Reflected self-appraisal
What is the social comparison theory?
It has 3 hypotheses.
- we are driven to evaluate our opinions and abilities
- when objectives standards are not available, we engage in social comparisons
- we tend to engage in comparisons with people who are not too dissimilar
What were the findings of the Morse and Gergen study where people went to an interview and compared themselves to a good looking man or an unkept man?
Downward comparison = comparing ourselves with people who are worse off
Upward comparison = comparing ourselves with people who are better off
Describe self-esteem.
The positive or negative evaluation a person has of themselves.
What is the trait level of self-esteem?
It’s our self-esteem that is fairly stable and has an enduring level of self-regard.
What is the state level of self-esteem?
It’s the dynamic and changing feelings about the self. It varies from moment to moment.
What are the contingencies of the self-worth model?
People seek to maintain, protect and enhance self-esteem by attempting to obtain success and avoid failure in domains on which self-esteem has been staked. It impacts what activities we seek out. Domains we care about more impact our self esteem more. It is wise to space our self esteem in more fields so that it’s not dependent on only one field.
What is the social meter theory?
Theory posing that people use self-esteem as a gauge to assess the degree to which they are accepted by others.
How is self esteem influenced by what others believe?
Success in a given domain increases self-esteem to the extent that the domain is believed to be valued by others.
What is naive realism?
Belief that we see the world as it is.
Goes with the belief that others see the world as we do.
What is narcissism?
It is characterized by an unrealistic and self-aggrandizement views of the self. It can lead to defensiveness and aggression toward people who threaten their positive self-view.
What is self- enhancement motivation?
-Motivation to view oneself positively
What is the better than average effect?
’ Most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions
What are self-serving construals?
- People think of themselves as above average on value traits (niceness ‘ intelligence). -When specific, this construal diminishes
.
Name the theory. - theory explaining how people can maintain a positive overall sense of self-worth in the face of threats to their self-concept.
Self-affirmation theory
What is the self-concept clarity?
The extent to which one possess a clearly defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable sense of self
What is the self-verification theory?
People strive to maintain a coherent self-view because it serves our need for prediction and control.
People will seek feedback that reinforced their self-view, even when self-view is negative.
What are the self-verification strategies?
1) developing self-confirmatory social environments
- people see interactions with people that will support their self-view.
- Looking the part of how we want people to view us to confirm our self-view
2) Engaging cognitive strategies that produce the illusion of a self-confirmatory social environment
- selective attention to feedback confirming one’s self-view
-better recall for self-confirmatory rather than self-discrepant feedback
What is the difference between self-enhancement and self-verification?
Both motivations are in play
Self-enhancement theory is connected to affective responses
Self-verification theory is connected to cognitive responses
What is self-regulation?
Processes by which people initiate, later, and control their behaviour in the pursuit of their goals?
Involves ability to prioritize long-term goals over immediate rewards
Explain the self-discrepancy theory.
Actual self
- beliefs about what you are actually like
Ideal self
- beliefs about what we would like to be
Ought self
- beliefs about what we ought to be
What are the emotions felt with congruencies between the actual self and the ideal self and what emotions are felt when there are discrepancies?
Congruancies?
- cheerfulness related emotions
Discrepancies
- dejection related emotions
What are the emotions felt when people experience congruencies and discrepancies between the ought self and the actual self?
Congruencies
- quiescence related emotions
Discrepancies
- agitation related emotions
What is the difference between hot and cool processes?
Hot
- drive by strong emotions
- energize ys to pursue rewards
Cool
- driven by reasoning
- keep us on track as we pursue long-term goals
What is the implémentation-intention?
An «if-then« plan to engage in a goal-directed behaviour whenever a particular clue is encountered
What is the self-presentation?
Presenting the person we would like others to believe we are.
Social interaction as dramatic performance
Describe self-monitoring.
Tendency to monitor our behaviour to fit the current situation. People dan be high or low on this
Describe self-handicapping
Protecting one’s self-image by engaging in self-defeating behaviours that provide an excuse for later failure
