self and identity Flashcards
symbolic interactionism
= self evolves from human interaction (trade of symbols)
- -> being able to communicate by words, gestures, other symbols
- -> idea of collective self (self emerges & is shaped by social influence/ arises out of human interaction)
looking glass self/effect
= we see ourselves as we think others see us
self-schemas
different contexts activate different aspects of self (we have schemas about who we are and who we’d like to become/fear to become)
self-discrepancy theory (Higgins)
- self regulations
= theory about the consequences of making actual-ideal and actual- ‘ought’ self-comparisons that reveal self-discrepancies
- actual self (how we are)
- ideal self (how we’d like to be)
- ought self (how we think we should be)
- = strategies we use to match our behavior to an ideal or ought standard
regulatory focus theory (Higgins)
- promotion system
- prevention system
= promotion focus causes people to be approach-orientated in constructing a sense of self, a prevention focus makes us more cautious, avoidant in constructing a sense of self
- is concerned which achievement of one’s hopes, dreams –> sensitivity to absence/ presence of positive events, approach strategic means
- is concerned with one’s duties and obligations –> sensitivity to absence/ presence of negative events, avoid strategic means
self-perception theory (Daryl Bem)
- overjustification effect
= we gain knowledge about ourselves only by making self-attributes
- in absence of obvious external determinants of our behavior, we assume that we freely choose the savior because we enjoy it
- -> task accompanied by external reward reduces motivation
social comparison theory
- self-evaluation maintenance model
= comparing our behavior, attitudes to those of others to establish the correct/ socially approved way of thinking, behaving
- downward social comparison (compare ourselves with slightly worse performing people > positive self-concept)
- upward social comparison (can have harmful effect in self-esteem)
- people who are constrained to make upward social comparisons can underpay/ deny similarity to target or withdraw the relationship to keep up positive self-concept
self categorization theory
BIRGing (basking in reflected glory)
= process of categorizing oneself as a group member produces social identity, group and intergroup behavior
= name dropping in link yourself with desirable people or groups to improve others impression of you
self and identity
= are cognitive constructs that influence social interaction and perception, and are themselves influenced by society
- identity is who we believe we are
self concept
= a persons belief/ imagine about themselves (attributes and who/ what the self is)
- these constructs are build with our ability of reflexive through; ability to think about ourselves thinking
freud - psychodynamic self
believed unsocial/ selfish libidinal impulses are repressed and kept in check by internalized societal norms —> from time to time, in strange, peculiar ways these impulses come to surface
- you only truly know yourself with help of special procedure (e.g. hypnoses, psychotherapy) to reveal repressed thoughts
self- complexity
= people differ in their complexity of social identities
- high complexity means that the different social identities don’t share many attributes
- simple social identities –> different social identities share many attribute
types of self and identity
social identity
personal identity
- individual self
- relational self
- collective self
= defines self in terms of group membership
= defines self in terms of idiosyncratic traits and close personal relationships
- personal trades that differentiates you from all others
- connections and role relationships with significant others
- group membership that differentiates `us´ from them (attributes shared with others that differentiates individual from outgroups)
self-coherence
= the desire to maintain a stable concept of who we are, that we don’t differ too much in our behavior in different contexts
self-presentation
- impression management
- self-monitoring
- = peoples use of various strategies to get other people to view them in a a positive light
- = carefully controlling how we present ourselves
(situational and individual differences)
strategic self-presentation
- self-promotion
- ingratiation (Einschmeichelei)
- intimidation (Einschüchterung)
- exemplification
- supplication
= manipulating others perception of you
- persuade (überzeugen) others of your competence
- get others tolikeyou
- get others to think you’re dangerous
- get others to respect you as a morally respectable individual
- trying to get others to take pity on you as helpless, needy
expressive (self presentation)
= involves demonstration and validating our self-concept through our actions
(focus is more on yourself than on others)
–> identity requires social validation for it to persist and serve as a useful function
cultural differences in self and identity
- independent self
- interdependenz self
- = is grounded in view of the self as autonomous, revealed through ones inner thoughts and feelings
- = is grounded in ones connection to and relationship with others
social identity theory
self categorization theory (Turner)
= a part of persons self-concept comes from groups we belong to through self-categorizing, self-comparison, construction of shared self-definition
= how the process of categorizing oneself as a group member produces social identity and group, intergroup behavior
- process of social identity salience
2. meta-contrast principle
- = our sense of self and associated perceptions, feelings, attitudes, behavior rests on whether social or personal identity is the psychologically important basis of self conception
- group categories (prototypes) accentuate differences between groups and similarities within groups
self awareness
2 types of self we can be aware of:
- private self
- public self
= a state in which you are aware of yourself as an object and in which you compare yourself with how you’d like to be
- private thoughts, feelings, attitudes (match behavior with internalized standards)
- public imagine (present ourselves to others in positive light)
reduced objective self-awareness and deinviduation
= process where people loose the sense of socialized individual identity and may engage in antisocial behavior
–> opposite of self-awareness
self knowledge (self-schemas)
we store knowledge about us in form of schemas but more complex
- part of ones self concept: clear picture of you on dimensions that are important to you and some one others not
- -> schemas that are extremely can lead to mood swings and extreme positive/ negative feelings in regards to those schemas
self motives
self-affirmation theory
3 motivations that interact to influence self-construct and search for self-knowledge
- self-assessment (Bewertung)
- self-verification (Bestätigung)
- self- enhancement (Verbesserung)
= maintain positive image and reduce negative impact on self-concept by focusing on competences in another area when confronted with a negative evaluation
- seeking out new info about ourselves in order to find out what sort of person we really are
- seeking out information that verifies and confirms what we already know about ourselves
- developing and promoting a favorable image of self (self-serving bias)
self-serving bias
- self-enhancing bias & self-protecting bias
- self handicapping
= attributional distortions (Verzerrungen) that protect/ enhance self-esteem or self-concept
- we take credit for our positive behavior as reflecting who we are, we explain away failures/ negative behavior by blaming external situations –> self-protection
- cognitive strategy be which people avoid effort in the hope of keeping potential failure from hurting self-esteem
self-esteem
= feelings about an evaluation of oneself and part of the self-concept (a person’s self-evaluation)
People tend to see themselves through rose-tinted spectacles (self-enhancement bias/ cognitive bias)
- social identity
- narcism
- terror-management theory
- groups prestige and status in society attached to ones self-concept
- personality trait that volatile, comprising self-love –> prone to aggression
- the notion that the most fundamental human motivation is to reduce the terror of inevitability of death
- self-esteem may be centrally implicated in effective terror management
4 types of social identity
- person based social identities
- relational social identities
- group-based social identity
- collective identities
- = emphasizing the internalization of group properties by individual group members as part of their self-concept (adapting a trait of a group or profiting)
- defining self in relation to specific other people with whom one interacts in group context
- equivalent to social identity (defines self in terms of group memberships)
- referring to process where group members not only share self defining attributes but also engage in social interaction to make an imagine of what the group stands for, how it’s represented/ viewed by others
intergroup attributions
- ethnocentrism
- group-enhancing
- group-protective bias
= process of assigning the cause of ones, others behavior to group membership
- evaluative preference for all aspects for our own group relative to other groups (in-group serving bias)
- we are better, skillful, stronger..
- they were lucky.. wasn’t our fault
why ethnocentric attributes
- cognitive process
- self-esteem process
- social categorization generates category-congruent expectation in form of expectancies
- behaviour that is consistent is attributed to stable, internal factors
- expectancy-inconsistent behavior is attributed to external factors - need to nourish self-esteem –> self-favoring comparisons between in-group and relevant outgroups (social identity)
- cognitive dissonance
- persuasive communication
- this-person effect
- state of psychological tension produced by simultaneously having 2 opposing cognitions
- people are motivated to reduce the tension, often by changing/ rejecting the cognitions
- festinger proposed that we seek harmony in our attitudes, beliefs, behavior and try to reduce tension from inconsistency among these elements - message intended to change an attitude and related behaviors of an audience
- most people think that they are less influenced by advertisement than others
