propriul Flashcards
What is the individual self?
Personal traits, all the things that you hold in yourself that make you different from other people
What is the relational self?
You in the context of specific relationships that you have, how you are with others.
What is the collective self?
The groups that you are member of
Autobiographical memory in relation to the self
What we remember about the past shapes the way we think about ourselves and gives us a way of thinking about the person we were and how that’s contributed to who we are now.
Culture differences in the concept of self
People with an independent self tend to be from western cultures and have a sense of the self as unique, separate from other people. They emphasise their own beliefs and goals.
People with an interdependent sense of self emphasise connections with others
What is self-awareness?
This is how we become aware of ourselves.
It is the psychological state where we are aware of our traits, feelings and behaviour.
Often involves comparing the person we are to the person we want to be.
Self awareness develops at about 18 months.
What is temporary self awareness?
Self awareness that comes and goes.
2 types of temporary self awareness:
- Private self awareness - kicks in when we temporarily become aware of our private aspect of ourselves - thoughts and behaviours
- Public self awareness - occurs when we become aware that we can be seen and evaluated by other people
What is chronic self-awareness?
Someone who has a general tendency to be self-aware is said to have the personality trait ‘self-consciousness’
Being very self conscious means you are attentive to your psychological state - better at monitoring your health
On the other hand it is linked with stress and anxiety because you are very self aware all the time
What is public self-consciousness
A heightened concern about what other people might thin of you
3 places where self knowledge comes from
- From ourselves
- From other people
- From our groups and collective identities
- From ourselves has 4 aspects
Introspection
Self perception theory
Overjustification effect
Cognitive dissonance
What is introspection?
Introspection: we reflect and think on how we feel and what we think or believe
Studies show we have a bias to think we are better than average
What is self perception theory?
Self perception theory: behaviour is a good guide to what our thoughts are if it’s intrinsically motivated (doing something because you want to and not because you are being offered money)
What is overjustification effect?
Overjustification effect: you enjoy doing something but someone adds an external motivation for you to do it, then your motivation goes down (external incentives decrease external motivation)
What is cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance: inconsistency between beliefs and behaviour: our behaviour is not a good guide to what our beliefs are
- From other people
Social comparison theory: We learn our own abilities and attitude by comparing ourselves to other people
Upward social comparison: comparing to someone better than us
Downward social comparison: comparing to someone worse than us
- From our groups and collective identities
How we organise our self knowledge
Self schemas - cognitive representations of the self - beliefs and expectations about how to act in different situations
We are schematic on dimensions. If being studious is important to you then you’re more schematic on being studious.
What is the self discrepancy theory? Higgins
Actual self. We hold schemas about who we are
Ideal self. We also hold schemas about who we would want to be - our ideal selves
Ought self. We hold scheme about who we think we should be
What is dejection?
If there was a big gap between your actual self and ideal self then that could lead to feelings of disappointment
What is agitation?
If there was a big gap between who you were and who you ought to be then that could lead to anxiety
What is the regulatory focus theory?
Seeing how ideas about the self affect not only our feelings but our behaviour
2 separate self-regulatory systems:
- Promotion system: what we want to achieve (ideal)
If you want to achieve success, you will look for new opportunities and challenges. - Prevention system: what u feel obliged to achieve (ought)
You are not trying to achieve something. You are motivated to avoid failure.
