organization of the self concept

Question 1

content of self concept

Answer 1

attributes, roles, relationships, activities, goals

Question 2

what is the self concept

Answer 2

knowledge representation that contains knowledge about ourselves - everything we can claim as ‘me’ or ‘mine’

Question 3

self complexity

Answer 3

a measure of the number of self aspects we have and the degree to which these self aspects are distinct from each other

Question 4

high self complexity

Answer 4

many self aspects that are relatively distinct from each other

Question 5

low self complexity

Answer 5

few self aspects that have a high degree of overlap with each other

Question 6

affective spillover

Answer 6

because of links between self aspects, emotions associated with one self aspect will “spillover” to other self aspects - more affective spillover for people with low self complexity because of the high degree of overlap/links between self aspects

Question 7

affect extremity

Answer 7

greater spillover in people with low self complexity causes more extreme emotional reactions and changes in self esteem in response to both negative and positive life events

in contrast, people high in self complexity tend to be more emotionally stable because they experience less affective spillover

Question 8

Linville, 1985 study - spillover and affective extremity

Answer 8

measured peoples self complexity by a trait sort - and then gave ps fake feedback from an analytic task

found that ps with low self complexity showed the largest change in mood and self esteem following failure/success feedback

Question 9

trait sort

Answer 9

ps are given traits and told them to sort them into groups that describe themselves - lots of groups without a lot of overlap = complex

Question 10

linville study 2 - mood variation over time

Answer 10

field study looking at mood swings in ps over 2 weeks - self complexity measured via trait sort

found that low self complexity was associated with greater variation in emotion ratings over time

Question 11

self complexity as a stress buffer linville 1987

Answer 11

measured self complexity via trait sort

measured stressful life events and indicators of negative health consequences (perceived stress, illness symptoms, etc) before and after two weeks

found that following stressful events, people high in self complexity showed less depression, perceived stress, illness, etc compared to people low in self complexity

evidence that self complexity buffers against negative effects of stress

Question 12

reasons for mixed evidence of stress buffering

Answer 12

differences in well being measurement and differences in importance of different parts of the self complexity definition

Question 13

what is the most important part of the self complexity definition

Answer 13

the number of self aspects (degree of distinction between aspects isn’t as big of a deal)

Question 14

integration of self aspects

Answer 14

having high self complexity (many self aspects) may only be helpful if self aspects are integrated into a clear and coherent sense of self - otherwise high self complexity may lead to confusion about the self

Question 15

self concept clarity

Answer 15

extent to which the contents of the self concept are clearly defined, consistent, and stable - reflects the extent to which you feel like you know who you are

Question 16

self concept clarity and self complexity

Answer 16

unrelated

Question 17

high self concept clarity

Answer 17

important for wellbeing

associated with:
- less neuroticism
- less rumination about the self
-less loneliness
- lower feelings of depression and perceived stress
-higher self esteem
- higher perception of meaning in life
-higher general life satisfaction

Question 18

Self concept clarity and covid

Answer 18

longitudinal daily diary study during covid in italy monitoring negative emotions and scc - found that on average, people high in scc experienced fewer negative emotions compared to people low in scc

suggests that scc facilitates more adaptive responses during times of intense uncertainty/stress

Question 19

self concept clarity and role transitions

Answer 19

slotter and walsh study 2016 - looks at self concept clarity and confusion in forums for people in role change s- parents, divorce, job etc

found that change in self concept clarity (amount people feel confused about themselves) depends on the amount of self change and how positive the person feels about the change

if we feel positively about a role transition, we are unlikely to feel confused in our sense of self

Question 20

what predicts lower self concept clarity

Answer 20

role entries and exits - but only if the person doesn’t feel positively about the change