self Flashcards
self knowledge
comes from: (1) introspection, (2) self-perception, (3) influence of other people
self concept
self schemas, mental structure that helps you organize information for/about yourself
interdependent view of self
emphasis on what makes us unique and special
priority on individual achievement and potential
independent view of self
emphasis on connectedness between people, fabric of society
priority on harmony, relatedness
introspection
the act of looking within yourself, why do you do what you do?
NISBETT AND WILSON (1977)
“Telling more than we know”
asking people which 1 of 4 nylon stockings is their fav.
all the stockings were the same but everyone has reason
majority picked the last of the 4 pairs (about 80%)
positioning of something affects choice.
people deny that positioning affects their choice.
self perception
draw conclusions about ourselves through self observation
self-perception theory
people determine their attitudes and preferences by interpreting the meaning of their own behavior
schacter-singer two factor theory of emotion
emotional experience is the result of a two step self-perception process: (1) experience arousal, (2) seek appropriate explanation for that arousal.
intrinsic motivation
motivation originating from within a person
extrinsic motivation
motivation originating from outside a person
over-justification effect
external incentive decreases a person intrinsic motivation to perform a behavior
social comparison theory
the idea that individuals determine their own social/personal worth based on how they stack up against others.
Social tuning
process whereby people adopt other people’s attitudes, particularly strong in situations where someone really wants to be liked.
self esteem
people have a need for high self esteem, and want to see themselves in a positive light, correlated with positive wellbeing, productiveness, and success. People with low self esteem, often find themselves caught in a vicious cycle of self defeating behavior.
social identity theory
people are motivated to maintain a positive self-concept, a significant part of our self concept derives from identifying with social groups, people strive to maintain positive self-esteem, by differentiating between the in-group and the out groups in a way that will make the in-group more attractive.
self discrepancy theory
actual self – representation of attributes you actually posses. out self – representation of attributes you believe you should posses. ideal self – representation of attributes you would ideally like to posses. Self esteem is defined by the match/mismatch between how we see ourselves (actual self) and how we want to see ourselves (self-guides). Large self discrepancies are associated with negative emotional states.
self guide
specific image/standard to live up to, used for self-regulation
self awareness
conscious knowledge of ones own character, feelings, motives, and desires, certain situations increase self awareness. Ex: mirrors, cameras, etc.
self awareness theory
noticing ourselves and our behavior leads us to judging our behavior according to our internal standards.
self-enhancement
strategy for protecting self esteem, made of 4 strategies: (1) basking in reflected glory – to raise our self esteem we often bask in reflected glory by associating with others that are successful and distance ourselves form others who fail or are of low status. (2) self serving cognitions – self serving bias, positive illusions, self deception or self enhancement to feel good. (3) self handicapping – behaviors designed to sabotages ones own performance in order to provide a subsequent excuse for failure. (4) downward social comparison – making comparisons with other people’s worse lives.
sandbagging
downplaying own ability/success
