Module 7 - Perceiving Self & Others Flashcards
Self-aspects relate to the VARIETY that people experience when considering themselves or others. Explain.
summaries of a person’s beliefs about the self in specific DOMAINS, ROLES, or ACTIVITIES
Why is self-schema important?
provides a summary of core, important characteristics that a person believes define them across situations
self-schemas guide interpretation of the env. & performance of behaviour
What is narrative self / identity?
an internalized, evolving story of the self that BINDS, ORGANIZES, and PROVIDES meaning to self-components ACROSS TIME
How might components of the social situation make some aspects of the self more accessible?
e.g. minority gender in majority gender makes your ‘gender’ identity more salient - becomes a far more central self-aspect
Fazio et al (1981) & how the working self-concept guides behaviour
- situational cues (interview topic) encourage activation of introversion vs extraversion-related self-knowledge
- accessible self-knowledge (whether they had replied abt extraversion or introversion) impacted subsequent behaviour w a confederate)
situational cues can activate working self-concepts which in turn influence our behaviour
What are the 2 main ways of constructing our selves (how do we know who we are?)
- personal construction of the self (intrapersonal)
- social construction of the self (interpersonal)
When introspection reveals that one meets one’s standards, what can result?
positive feelings can result
can increase SELF-CONSISTENCY in behaviour - more likely to act in accordance w one’s values
What is self-perception theory?
people infer self-knowledge by observing their own behaviour (e.g. not going to gym = unathletic)
- occurs when self-knowledge is limited or ambiguous - if people don’t have a good situational explanation, they infer a self-related explanation
What is the over-justification effect?
when people lose motivation as the primary drive for behaviour and instead do the behaviour simply in anticipation of a reward
Lepper, Green, & Nisbett (1973)
- expected award: extrinsic motivation
- unexpected award: intrinsic motivation
- no award: intrinsic motivation
What is social comparison theory?
self knowledge comes from comparing one’s own traits, abilities, attitudes, emotions to those of others
- esp when people are uncertain
What can social comparison lead to?
1) contrast effect
2) assimilation effect
What is contrast effect?
when teens see models on insta, they contrast their self-evaluation AWAY from the person, so evaluate themselves very NEGATIVELY
What is assimilation effect?
if compared to moderate target, assimilate TOWARDS target
- see more similarities than difference
- accurate self-concept comes from comparing to SIMILAR others
Miller et al (1975)
telling kids
- control: no info
- persuasion: be tidy
- attribution: you are tidy
- attribution had highest score
What are the main functions of the self?
- regulating, protecting, guiding self in complex world
- self-enhancement motive - feel good (desire to maximize the positivity of one’s self
views, and define our self-concepts in ways that make us feel better about ourselves) - mastery - mastery goals
- connectedness - adaptation
Distinguish b/w state and traits
- trait: cross-situationally stable
- state: temporary, situation-specific
How do we protect ourselves from criticism?
- self-defensive attributions (explain negative behaviours as stemming from the situation while claim positive behaviours as arising from the self)
- self-affirmation (when one aspect / domain of the self is under threat, people can protect themselves by affirming the importance of a diff aspect / domain)
- self-defensive social comparisons (if the self is under threat, people make downward social comparisons)
How does self-enhancement differ in individualistic vs collectivist cultures?
higher self-esteem in US than Japan; higher pursuit of self-criticism and over-estimation of group serving characteristics in Japan (importance of appropriateness and fitting in)
What did Swann et al (1992) find?
people prefer relationship partners who agree with their own self-image, even if those views are negative
What’s the difference b/w seeking accurate self-knowledge vs self-verification?
- seeking accurate self-knowledge (I am bad at stats so might need to practice more)
- vs seeking confirmation of one’s self views (self-verification - confirming what one believes about the self) –> I am bad at stats, so there is no point in practcing. I failed the stats class bc I am bad at stats.
Why do people make upward social comparisons?
- provide info on how the task is done
- change expectations about what is possible to achieve
- increase motivation
What affects first impressions?
- physical characteristics (attractiveness, height, clothing)
- social category characteristics (stereotypes)
- context - environment (we are reflected in the spaces we occupy)
- behaviours (verbal, non-verbal)
Accessibility of knowledge structures from (3 things)
- concurrent activation
- frequent activation
- recent activation
Cue salience
ability of a cue to attract attention
- unpredictability - stand out from context
What is attribution?
process of attributing behaviours to causes
What are correspondent inferences?
we infer that the behaviour we see is connected to a particular disposition or trait within that person
What is correspondence bias
the tendency to draw inferences about a person’s unique and enduring dispositions from behaviors that can be entirely explained by the situations in which they occur.
Under which conditions are correspondent inferences warranted?
- free choice
- outcome unique to that behaviour
- unexpectedness (risky or socially undesirable)
The 3 components of Kelley (1967) Covariation Theory
- consensus: does everyone else perform the same behaviour towards the same stimulus?
- distinctiveness: does the person perform the same behaviour towards other stimuli?
- consistency: does the person always perform this behaviour to this stimulus?
What is negative bias?
- negative characteristics weighed more heavily than positive ones
Trait meanings are dependent upon inter-trait context
- intelligent & cold –> sly
- intelligent & warm –> wise
What is the FAE (fundamental attribution error)?
the tendency people have to overemphasize personal characteristics and ignore situational factors in judging others’ behavior.
What is the self?
a person’s essential being that distinguishes them from others, especially considered at the object on introspection or reflexive action
it is the entire set of beliefs, evaluations, perceptions, and thoughts that people have about themselves
What is self-concept (self-image)?
the mental representation of all of a person’s KNOWLEDGE about their self (beliefs, thoughts, memories, roles, relationships, groups)
What is the difference between trait self-esteem and state self-esteem?
trait self-esteem: cross-situationally stable
state self-esteem: temporary, situation-specific
People can be described in terms of. . .
1) content dimensions - the Big 5 or Big 2 (communication (warmth), social relationships (friendly, fair), agency (competence), goal attainment (ambitious, capable))
2) Self-aspects - summaries of a person’s belief about the self in context-specific domains, roles, or activities
3) Self-schema: knowledge structure that links, organizes, and ‘weights’ self-concept components
4) Narrative self / identity: the story of who I am - the internalized, evolving story of the self that binds, organizes, and provides meaning to self-component aspects across time
5) The self in time - past, future, etc.
6) Culture & self-construal - self-concepts that are shaped through cultural socialization
What is the assessible self?
one’s working self-concept - the “now” self that guides acting, thinking, and feeling in the moment
components of the social situation may make some aspects of the self more accessible (e.g. man amongst women)
the working self concept guides behaviour
What did Fazio find about situational cues?
found that situational cues encourage activation of introversion vs extraversion-related self-knowledge
in turn, this accessible self-knowledge impacted their behaviour
Types of self-aspects
- personal aspects - features that distinguish you from other (often traits; warmth, extraverted)
- social aspects - social selves, identities
- roles (relational) - features we possess in virtue of the roles and relationships we have (e.g. boss, sister, friend)
- domains (e.g. at work, home, with friends) - can overlap with roles and groups
- group/social category memberships (collective) - features we possess because we are group members (e.g. Australian, Muslim)
What is self-discrepancy theory?
distinguishes 2 kinds of futures - a future self that is defined by opportunities, ideals, and growth (What you WANT to be) and a future self defined by duties and responsibilities (what you OUGHT to be)
people who focus on their IDEAL selves are in a
PROMOTION FOCUS (tend to be more eager, take more risks, more concerned with succeeding)
people who focus on their OUGHT selves are characterized by. . .
a PREVENTION FOCUS (tend to be more cautious, risk averse, and concerned with NOT failing)
What is social feedback?
where we internalize our perceptions of how others see us
When is self-perception most likely to occur?
when knowledge is weak or ambiguous for behaviours that they have freely chosen
What were Jones & Pittman’s strategies of self-presentation?
- Ingratiation (belonging): seeking affection
- Self-promotion (mastery): seeking respect
- Intimidation (mastery): seeking fear in others
- Exemplification (mastery): seeking emulation
- Supplication (belonging): seeking compassion
Sense data
things that impinge on our senses (e.g physical attractiveness, context, behaviours, etc.)
What is the primacy effect?
when generating impressions of others, what we think and feel about a person is strongly influenced by our very first impressions of that person
How did Frtiz Heider label people?
as naïve, lay, everyday psychologists
What is attribution?
the process of attributing behaviours to causes
What are causal attributions?
the retrospective explanation of behaviour by internal factors such as EFFORT or ABILITY and external factors such as TASK difficult or LUCK
Jones & Harris (1967) found that people often attributed inferences made by
participants to the participants themselves even when they have no choice in
what to write.
This demonstrates the fundamental attribution error
What can overcome the fundamental attribution bias?
depth of processing
® Gilbert et al. (1988) showed that depth of processing can overcome the fundamental
attribution bias – when participants were subjected to extra cognitive load (by virtue
of being distracted by an extra task) they were more likely to make fundamental
attribution errors about the cause of the woman’s anxious behaviour.
In other words, having more cognitive resources available enables us to overcome the
fundamental attribution error.
According to Kelley,
only when consensus & distinctiveness are low and consistency is high, is an internal attribution warranted.
What did Anderson propose for how we form impressions of others?
Global impression = sum of (wtvt), where w = weight or importance of the
traits, and v = value or evaluation of the trait.
What are trait gestalts?
refer to a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
Traits we use to summarize others’ behaviours organize alone which 2 major dimensions?
- communal (social)
- agentic (intellectual)
Goodwin added “moral”
How do we perceive others (in relation to several goals)?
® Mastery: people seek accurate impressions when they will be held accountable or
when their own outcomes depend on the other person (Neuberg & Fiske, 1987)
® Belonging: people evaluate others differently depending on whether this evaluation
threatens or strengthens their existing relationships (Simpson et al., 1995)
® Me & mine: people form positively biased impressions to make themselves feel
good, or when we want to see good outcomes (Klein & Kunda, 1992).
People with affiliation goals are more likely to . . .
assume that others have positive traits
People are inherently driven by the need to form and maintain relationships
