Self concept Flashcards
What is the focus of Developmental Psychology?
The self
What are the three motivational forces behind self-perception?
- self-assessment
- self-enhancement
- self-verification
Who looked at development trajectory of self concept?
Lewis 1986
At what age does the concept of self in humans begin to develop according to Lewis (1986)?
Around age 2
What characteristics does the self start with in early development?
- Age
- Gender
How does the self start as?
Concrete references= age, gender etc
What additional aspects does the self include as it develops?
- Traits
- What others think of us
- Social identities
Which species are known to have a self as humans understand it?
Only humans and certain non-human primates
Who looked at 9 year olds vs 16 year olds?
Montemayor & Eisen 1977
How does a 9-year-old typically describe themselves in response to ‘Who am I?’
Using concrete references such as physical traits
How does a 16-year-old typically describe themselves in response to ‘Who am I?’
Using abstract traits and social identities
Who looked at I+C?
Triandis et al 1991
What is a key feature of individualistic cultures according to Triandis et al. (1991)?
Stress on the individual self: self-interest, many group memberships, individual identity, and heterogeneity
What do collectivistic cultures emphasize according to Triandis et al. (1991)?
Relational and collective selves: a small number of group memberships, social identity, homogeneity, group needs.
Who did research on cultural differences?
Trafimow et al 1991
Bond & Cheung 1983
Kashima & Kashima 2003
What did Trafimow et al. (1991) find regarding individualistic statements between US and Chinese college students?
US students used more individualistic statements
What did Bond & Cheung 1983 find?
Japanese, Hong Kong Chinese and US participants and found Americans used more trait labels to describe the self
What did Kashima & Kashima 2003 find?
People from collectivistic
cultures like Japan use the word “I” less frequently
Who looked at the notion of self concept & self schemas?
Markus 1977
Who looked at independent vs interdependent values?
What are independent values?
What are interdependent values?
Who looked at self schemas?
What is the concept of ‘self-schemas?
Mental structures that help understand, explain, and predict behavior
Who spoke about self schemas?
Kihlstrom & Cantor 1984
What did Kihlstrom & Cantor say about self schemas?
We tend to reject information that is inconsistent with self-schemas
Who looked at self-schematic information and what it’s associated with?
Lieberman et al 2004
What did Lieberman e al 2004 find?
Self-schematic information processing is associated with regions of the brain linked to affective, motivational and automatic processing
What is the difference between self-schematic and aschematic traits?
Self-schematic traits are central to one’s self-concept, while aschematic traits are not
Who looked at possible selves?
Markus & Nurius 1986
What are ‘possible selves’ according to Markus & Nurius (1986)?
Ideas about the self in the past and future
Link between self + motivation
Especially developed in areas of the self where we are self-schematic
In the young they are mostly positive but less so as we age
What two types of possible selves are highlighted by Markus & Nurius (1986)?
- Feared possible selves
- Desired possible selves
What does Cinnirella 1998 propose about possible social identities?
Perceptions of possible changes to group memberships in the future and past, as well as possible changes to our groups’ circumstances
Who else did research on possible selves?
Ruvolo & Markus 1991
Day et al 1994
What did Ruvolo & Markus do and find?
Imagining success or failure (‘visualisation’) – Ps asked to imagine themselves succeeding worked longer on a problem-solving ta
What did Day et al 1994 do and find?
Increasing the number of possible selves for young Mexican-American children:-
Intervention programme of 8 1-hour sessions for a month. Groups of 5-10 encouraged to think about good employment prospects
Who looked at self-complexity?
Linville 1985
What is complexity
How does self-complexity affect individuals, according to Linville (1985)?
A varied self protects against threats and emotional impacts of failure or success
Who looked at failure + self-complexity?
Dixon & Baumeister 1991
What did Dixon & Baumeister 1991 find?
Failure affects those with less complex selves more severely
What did Showers find with self-complexity?
There are some dangers of a highly compartmentalised self concept (mood swings e.g)
Who supported Showers?
McConnell et al 2006
What did McConnell et al 2006 find with self-complexity?
Too many roles
can lead to us feeling overwhelmed and confused
What is self-esteem?
An evaluation of ourselves
Who looked at the outcomes of low self-esteem?
Silverstone & Salsali 2003
Rosenberg & Owen 2001
Outcomes of low self-esteem (Silverstone & Salsali)?
Depression
Outcome of low elf-esteem (Rosenberg & Owen 2001)
Low confidence + anxiety
What is the self-evaluation maintenance theory by Tesser (1988)?
Encountering others with similar qualities can present a threat to self-definition
Who did research of self-evaluation maintenance theory?
Pleban & Tesser 1981
What did Pleban & Tesser 1981 find?
Effect of success and failure in relation to self-definition – rigged knowledge test
Dissonance reduction is likely – adjust self-
concept or try to improve our skill
What is BIRGing?
Basking in Reflected Glory
Who looked at BIRGing?
Cialdini et al 1976
What did Cialdini et al 1976 find?
What does CORFing stand for?
Cutting Off Reflected Failure
Who looked at CORFing?
Hirt et al 1992
What did Hirt et al 1992 find?
What is the ‘better than average’ bias?
The tendency to believe we are above average in various traits
Who looked at the better than average bias?
Suls et al 2002
Wylie 1979
Robins & Beet 2001
What did Suls et al find?
What did Wylie 1979 find?
Most Americans think they are more intelligent and more attractive than the average person
What did Robins & Beer 2001 find?
Defensive pessimism is associated with effective coping, but somewhat unusual
What do self-enhancement biases refer to?
The preference for positive traits in self-description
What is self-handicapping?
Creating obstacles to success to protect self-esteem
What effect does social media have on self-perception according to Ablow (2013)?
It may contribute to narcissistic tendencies
What is the ‘curated self’?
A concept where individuals selectively present themselves online, showcasing only flattering, sexy, or funny photographs and connecting with celebrities.
What trend has been observed among US college students regarding self-worth?
Increasing ratings of self-worth and capability, with better than average attitudes.
Who proposed the concept of ‘positive illusions’?
Taylor & Brown (1988)
What did Joiner et al. (2006) and Moore et al. (2007) find in their meta-analysis?
They disputed the helpfulness of self-enhancement biases for mental health.
What are some benefits of positivity according to Sedikides, Skowronski & Dunbar (2007)?
- Creativity
- Optimism
- Psychological health
- Increased appeal as a mate choice
- Perceived confidence leading to greater success in group hierarchy
What does self-verification theory (Swann, 1984) state?
Self-verification needs can sometimes override self-enhancement needs.
What did Swann & Pelham (1990; 2002) find regarding self-verification?
Students and their roommates showed preferences for positive views in dating, while married couples preferred partners to see them as they do.
What did Sedikides (1993) find about self-enhancement motives?
Self-enhancement was the strongest motive, followed by self-verification and then self-assessment.
What cultural differences exist in self-enhancement bias?
East Asians are less prone to self-enhancement bias, which may be met through social groups.
According to Zell et al. (2020), how does self-enhancement manifest in East Asian cultures?
It occurs primarily on collectivistic traits rather than individualistic traits.
Fill in the blank: Self-enhancement is sometimes _______.
[functional]
True or False: Self-assessment is the strongest motive for self-concept according to Sedikides (1993).
False
What happens when individuals face threats according to the text?
Threat encourages self-enhancement.
