Self & Identity Flashcards
Problem 2
individual self
based on personal traits
collective self
based on group membership
relational self
based on connections
looking-glass self
the self derived from seeing ourselves as others see us
private self
your private thoughts, feelings and attitudes
deindividuation
people lose their sense of socialized individual identity, engage in unsocialized, often antisocial, behaviors
self-discrepancy theory
actual self = how we currently are
ideal self = how we would like to be
ought self = how we think we should be
self-regulation
we use to match our behavior to an ideal or “ought” standard
regulatory focus theory
promotion system = attainment of hopes, ideals; find new challenges
prevention system = avoid new situations; people & failure
self-perception theory
we gain knowledge of ourselves only by making self-attributions: for example, we infer our own attitudes from our own behavior
overjustification effect
in absence of obvious external determinants of our behavior, we assume that we freely chose the behavior because we enjoy it
self-evaluation maintenance model
underplay or deny similarity to the target; withdraw from their relationship with the target
social identity
part of the self-concept that derives from membership in social groups
personal identity
the self defined in terms of unique personal attributes or interpersonal relationships
actor-observer effect
tendency to attribute our own behaviors externally and others’ internally
meta-contrast principle
prototype of a group that position within the group that has the largest ratio of “differences to in-group positions” to “differences to to out-group positions”
self-assessment
motivation to seek out new information about ourselves in order to find out what sort of person we really are
self-verification
seeking out information that verifies and confirms what we already know about ourselves
self-enhancement
motivation to develop and promote a favorable image of self
self-affirmation theory
people reduce the impact of threat to their self-concept by focusing on and affirming their competence in some other area
self-esteem
feelings about and evaluations of oneself
impression management
people’s use of various strategies to get other people to view them in a positive light
self-monitoring
controlling how we present ourselves
self-presentation
effort to act in ways that create a particular impression
- self-promotion = trying to persuade others that you are competent
- ingratiation = trying to get others to like you
- intimidation = trying to get other to fear you
- exemplification = trying to get other to regard you as morally respectable
- supplification = trying to get others to take pity on you as helpless and needy
