PSY1002 - SEMESTER 2 - WEEK 2 Flashcards
define self
symbolic construct reflecting consciousness of our own identity and an awareness that we exist as a being, separate from other beings
name the 3 types of self
collective, individual, relational
define collective self
attributes shared with ingroup members and distinct from outgroup members
define individual self
attributes that make us unique relative to others
define relational self
relationships one has with specific other
define social identity
defines self in terms of group memberships
define personal identity
defines self in terms of idiosyncratic traits and close personal relationships
explain person-based social identities
emphasising internalisation of group properties by individual group members as part of their self-concept
explain relational social identities
defining self in relation to specific other people with whom one interacts in group contexts
define collective identity
refers to process whereby group members not only share self-defining attributes but also engage in social action to fore an image of what group stands for and how is is represented and viewed by others
if asking ppts loaded questions, how does this impact view of self
describes self differently, as loaded questions make them search through self-knowledge for info presenting them in different light (different presentation at home, or work)
give 3 strategies to construct coherent sense of self
- restrict your life to limited set of context
- keep revising and integrate autobiography to accomodate any new identities, get rid of inconsistency
- attribute changes in self externally to changing circumstance, not internal fundamental change (AOE)
define self awareness
psychological state in which people are aware of their traits, feelings and behaviours
when is self awareness present? (research study)
18 months (rouge test - Lewis & Brooks, 1978)
explain public self awareness
being aware of your public self and how you are being judged by others, evoked when giving presentation or being photographed
name 2 consequences of public self awareness
- evaluation apprehension: fear negative evaluations, nerves, reduce self-esteem
- adherence to social standards of behaviour: more likely to conform to group norm despite it being against personal norm
explain Bateson honesty box study for public self awareness
put eyes photo on box, paid 3x as much for drinks than with control images
explain private self awareness
being aware of self in the mirror, gaining awareness of own arousal (nerves or excitements)
we try to match our behaviours to internalised standard
outline 3 consequences of private self awareness
- intensified emotional response: focusing on self makes us focus on state of mind
- clarification of knowledge: focusing on internal events means we can report them with greater accuracy
- adherence to personal standards of behaviour: true belief is emphasised, less susceptible to external force
outline research for intensified emotional response as consequence for private self awareness
ppt read aloud positive/negative statement looking in a mirror. made more private self aware so experienced more extreme emotive response
outline research into clarification of knowledge as consequence of private self awareness
ppts given placebo but told drug which increases arousal. those looking in mirrors were less fooled, experienced less arousal - lead to more accurate self-knowledge
outline research into adherence to personal standards of behaviour as consequence of private self awareness
wrote essay either against belief in mirror/or not. induced cognitive dissonance (discomfort when behaviours not align with belief) and infront of mirror had less attitude change
what real world negative effect can elevated self awarenesses cause
stress = avoid by using alcohol, suicide
how can a state of reduced objective self awareness lead to deindividuation
dont see self as distinct individuals, fail to monitor actions behave impulsively
define self consciousness
extent to which an individual is chronically aware of their traits, feelings and behaviour
explain private self consciousness, what mental health issue can it cause, but also why can this be reduced quicker
experience more intense emotions, greater tendencies of depression, neuroticism as ruminate on feelings of unhappiness and discomfort
however act in line with personal beliefs, notice symptoms earlier, and get help
explain public self consciousness, what behaviours can this result in
concerned with others perceptions of them, adhere to group norm
avoids embarrassing situation and more concerned with appearance and judge other according to appearance
define self concept
complete set of beliefs that people have about themselves, forms their understanding of who they are
what are self schemas (relate to self concept)
how we expect ourselves to think, feel, behave in particular situation
what do self-concepts/self schema consist of
- perception of self
- experience on this dimension (past experience of us aligning with our perceptions)
have complex self concept made of many discrete self shcemas
what part of brain is responsible for sense of self
widely distributed brain activity, normally across medial prefrontal and medial precuneus cortices
explain the 3 levels of importance we view our self-schemas as
self-schematic: highly important traits to aspect of self
somewhat-schematic: somewhat relevant trait to sense of self
aschematic: traits irrelevant to our self
why is having multiple self schema good for mental wellbeing?
buffer against impact of negative self-schema with more positive self-schema
expand opportunity of social interaction, pleasure, personal growth
whats a disadvantage of rigidly compartmentalised self schemas
multiple schema conflict, leads to distress (the Higgins self-discrepancy theory)
outline self-discrepancy theory (name 3 levels of self, what we do with these)
compares self to self, with self consisting of actual (present), ideal (like to), ought (feel we should be)
compare actual to internalised standard of ideal+ought, motivated to ensure match. no match cause discrepancy which lead to psychological discomfort, motivated to change to reduce this via self-reg
from Higgens research into self-discrepancy model, what does actual-ideal and actual-ought discrepancy cause
actual-ideal discrepancy = dejection
actual-ought discrepancy = agitation
explain the research for “best possible self” uni students intervention
experimental group = think of best possible ideal self, control groups read neutral info
experimental showed higher levels of positive affect, motivation, academic committment, suggest discrepancies that occur cause positive effect, and motivates improvements
outline regulatory focus theory
2 different self regulation systems of promotion and prevention
explain role of promotion system in “regulatory focus theory”
attaining ideals generate sensitivity to absence/presence of positive event. adopt approach strategy to achieve goal (seek ways to improve grades etc)
explain role of prevention system in “regulatory focus theory”
fulfil duties, and generate sensitivity to absence/presence of negative events, use avoidance to achieve goal (avoid things that trash grades)
explain individual differences (relating to childhood) which makes us promotion or prevention focused in regulatory focus theory
if child normally hugged post desirable behaviour, and love withdrawn as discipline = promotion focus
if child encouraged to be alert to threats, punished after undesirable behaviour = prevention focus
according to regulatory focus theory, what do individuals who are promotion focused liekly to be
recall info relating to others pursuit of success, seek inspiring role models that emphasise achievement, more motivation, persistance for gain/no-gain task
according to regulatory focus theory, what are individuals who are prevention focus likely to do?
recall info relating to others failure, inspired by negative role model using avoidance strategies, motivated in task using loss/non-loss framed
explain social comparison theory
compare self to others (provides an external, objective benchmark). USC or DSC, with accurate self-representation coming from comparison of both direction
explain Klein (1997) study on social comparison theory
either given absolute feedback (pure statistic, 60% right) or relative feedback (20% better than average performance) and given chance to play game of skill or a game of luck. those given relative changed self-perception and chose luck as didn’t believe in their abilities
explain self-evaluation maintenance model - social comparison theory
downplay similarity to other, or withdraw relationship to avoid harmful effects on self-esteem
explain self-evaluation theory using the Olympic example
bronze medallist more satisifed than silver as made more DSC
outline social identity (also isself-categorisation) theory
compare group to other groups
we have many social identifications, so pick most suitable for current context. some social identities are contradictory (police officer being football hooligans)
use categories in perception of world to create prototypes
how does social identity theory (social categorisation) allow improving self esteem
social comparison to lower status groups, display ingroup favouritism (state you support better football team)
explain research for bystander helping behaviour (social identity/categorising theory)
Man U fan, had to prove membership, helping behaviour increased for in-group confederates. if told study was just on football fan, not specific club then helped any club shirt fan>plain top, suggesting helping behaviour is influenced by identity most salient at that time
give a consequence of social identity salience
perceptions of self and others become depersonalised (no longer consider self/other unique but complete embodiment of category prototype). thinks, feel and behave like this, causing stigma
explain interdependence theories
how others shape us. looks at role of others and how they shape us, and who we want to become = “michelangelo phenomenon”
define ideal self
describes an individuals dreams and aspirations or constellation of skills, traits and resources that individual ideally wishes to acquire
whats “Michelangelo phenomenon”
close partner able to sculpt ideal self, shaping (enhancing/hinders) pursuit of our ideal self
through partner perceptualor behavioural affirmation
what is partner perceptual affirmation (michelangelo phenomenon)?
perceiving target in ways that are compatible with targets ideal sefl
what is partner behavioural affirmation (michelangelo phenomenon)
behaving in ways to elicit behaviours that are consistent with targets ideal self
give evidence of partner affirmation and michaelangelo phenomenon
partner affirmation of ideal goal related to personal growth, moving toward ideal self, partner wellbeing
improve wellbeing, satisafaction, psychological health
explain self-perception theory
make attribution of own behaviour, form concept of self by attributing behaviour internally and imagining self behaving in particular way
over-justification effect: minimal/no external factor for attributing performance so cannot avoid internal attribution, so increase motivation
what is self esteem
self-concepts evaluative component, subjective appraisal of self being intrinsically positive/negative
what is high self esteem
confidence, feeling loved and respected, resilience, less easily influenced
what is low self esteem
low confidence, unsure about value to others, easily disheartened, more easily persuaded
how consistent is pursuits of self-esteem
varies time to time, depend on context, adaptive, global and persist across lifetime, but culturally sensitive
define automatic egoticism
see self through a ‘rose-tint’, widely favorable self-image, and normally overestimate good points overestimate our control over event, and unrealistically optomistic (self enhancing triad)
what type of parenting style results in low self esteem
authoritarian: overly strict and demanding, enforce punishment, unresponsive to childs need
permissive: responsive and too relax, no boundary
what type of parenting style result in high self-esteem
authoritative: enforce rules, discplining but also responsive, supportive and warm
what has meta-analysis found about stability of self esteem over time
9-18 = unstable due to, adolescence and self-concept still developing
20-40 is most stable
60: decline due to later life changes such as retirement, loss
give consequences of low self esteem
mood regulation and mental health (actively dampens positive feelings)
feel worse post negative event
less goals, less plans to improve mood after failing and more mental illness
give consequences of high self esteem
- narcissism (extremely high self-esteem) = unstable, fragile, rely on validation
name positive/negative aspects for narcissism
positive= initially likeable, extraverted, unlikely to suffer from depression, perform well in public
negative= crave attention, overconfident, lack empathy
relate ethinicity and race, to self esteem
more low esteem, when younger wish to be other race but this decline with age (experiences conflict between actual and ideal self, but rectified by avoid making intergroup comparisons, and embrace uniqueness)
what are individual differences for self esteem
inbetween moderate, to very high
tend to be positive (culture bound)
little evidence for low self esteem causing social issues, high self esteem is associated with violence
give negative social impacts of narcissism
dark triad = alongside machiavellianism, and psychopathy (more likely to be aggressive)
what is fear of death theory for pursing self esteem
terror management theory, death is biggest threat so selfesteem is a good defence!
why can you see self-esteem as a sociometer
reliable index of social acceptance and strongly correlated with reduced anxiety over social rejection and exclusion (reduction of fearing loneliness, rejection)
name 3 self motives, to enhance personal self
self-assessment
self-verification
self-enhancement
outline self assessment (self motive)
desire to know ourselves, strive to find truth about self despite if unfavourable
outline self verification (self motive)
seeking info to verify what we already believe as true about self-concept. those with negative self image seeks out negative info to confirm. also occurs at group level
outline self-enhancement (self motive)
desire to seek info allowing to see self in best possible light, is most important motivation to us
explain self-affirmation theory (strategy to enhance personal self), and including research
respond to threatened self esteem by publicly affirming self positive aspects
Mormons who received threatening self-concept messages (“Mormon are uncooperating”) agreed to help assist a community project compared to irrelevant or no threats
explain self serving attribution bias as strategy to enhance personal self
interpret events in manner favourable to view of self, success attributed to internal characteristics and failure attributed to external characteristic
how can social group memberships enhance personal self
self-enhance through group by basking in reflected glory (deriving positive self-concept from achievement of others)
but if social group reflect negative image, we either leave group to try to change group status
give a research example for BIRG (bask in reflected glory)
football team wins, students wear clothing related to the team
outline Sedikides study into whether self-assessment/verification/enhancement is strongest
ppts asked self diagnostic questions
showed for self enhancement, greater self reflection on positive over negative aspects
