self and identity exam 3 Flashcards
theory for why self esteem is a need
humans have a fundamental need to feel good about selves (necessary for survival)
-extreme view, not all researchers agree
what is a motive
force that drives behavior
three parts to theory that self esteem is a motive
1) affective: self esteem feels good, feeling bad about self is an aversive state
2) goal pursuit: people with high self esteem are willing to pursue goals and to continue pursuit in face of failure
3) intrinsic pursuit: people pursue self esteem for its own sake, you simply want it
what is the sociometer hypothesis and how does it explain why self esteem exists
self esteem is a monitor of social acceptance and rejection
-having this monitor is adaptive, being accepted is good and rejected is bad
evidence for sociometer hypothesis
researchers bring participants in and either accept them or reject them
-then measure self-esteem
criticisms of sociometer hypothesis
you can have a faulty sociometer
- might have false evaluation of acceptance/rejection
- if it can be faulty, it is not adaptive
what is terror management theory (TMT)
self esteem is a buffer against death-related anxiety
- humans are unique in recognizing life/death and have anxieties, self esteem buffers against it
- when you prime someone with death researchers find a bump in self-esteem
what else does reminding someone of their death do (aside from increase in self esteem)
it increases how important a person views their culture or world views
- increased levels of outgroup prejudice
- higher importance of cultural symbols (ex. flag)
what is mortality salience (hypothesis)
if someone’s self esteem and world view does serve death defying function (anxiety around death) then reminding someone of their death should increase self esteem and importance of a person’s culture and world views
what are the direct and indirect ways of making someone’s death obvious
direct: describe emotions surrounding death and describe what you think physically happens when you die
indirect: priming with pictures of graves and conducting near graveyard
what is the method and IVs and DVs of the experimental evidence for TMT (Greenberg et al)
method: undergrads took part in study, told it was about personality and creativity
IVs:
1) mortality salience
1. given death/mortality reminder, write emotions and physicality of death
2. control condition: write about TV shows
2) type of object
- participants asked to do creativity tasks, more than one way to accomplish tasks and accomplish tasks with the object we give you
ex. sift through sand and find object, nail in a wall and hang object
1. cultural icons: objects valued in culture (American flag and crucifix)
2. neutral/everyday objects: white cloth and small block of wood
** participants sifting through sand with flag and using cross to nail into wall can be viewed as disrespectful **
DVs:
1) time: how long to complete task
2) questionnaire: self report task difficulty and how tense you feel during task
- if you feel uncomfortable it might take longer
what were the results of the Greenberg et al study supporting TMT
1) time: when we remind participants of own mortality they take significantly longer to do task when using cultural icons
2) difficulty: when we remind people of death they rank the task as more difficult when using cultural icons
3) tension: when we remind people of death they self-report more tension when doing tasks
conclusion drawn from Greenberg et al study supporting TMT
mortality salience makes it more difficult to use culturally important objects in disrespectful ways
- supports TMT
- cultural objects act as buffer for mortality thoughts (increase importance of)
does religiosity matter
if you are religious, you might not have death related anxiety
-when you die you meet God
research shows it does matter
explain difference between intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity
intrinsic: religion gives meaning and value to persons life
extrinsic: religiosity is practical, not quire sure about existence of God
