SELF-PRESENTATION 2 Flashcards
Which of the following best explains why self-presentation tends to be automatic rather than strategic in everyday interactions?
a. People are generally not concerned with how they are perceived by others
b. Self-presentation follows well-rehearsed behavioural scripts that have been rewarded in the past
c. Automatic self-presentation is an innate ability that does not require learning
d. People only engage in self presentation when interacting with strangers
b. Self-presentation follows well-rehearsed behavioural scripts that have been rewarded in the past
How do we act when we already have a bad reputation?
a bad reputation triggers a desire to repair our image
*But this is difficult to do with words alone
People tend to highlight their positive traits outside of their bad reputation
- Can’t erase bad image so try to salvage the other’s overall impression of us
What is Self-monitoring?
Personality trait: extent to which people monitor their self-presentation
What was the assumption with self-monitoring?
Assumption that high self-monitors care more about creating a good impression and thus try to come across as likeable and conform more to others’ expectations
Low self monitors don’t care about impression
What is actually true about high and low self monitors?
Low self monitors actually do care about their impression. They just try create a specific impression
- Low self monitors care less about being seen as likeable
- Try to seem independent, autonomous, or unique
High self monitors care more about being seen as likeable (more socially desirable traits)
Explain how Social media facilitates self-presentation…
(makes it easier)
Social media facilitates self-presentation:
*More control over your public image
*Don’t have to worry about building reputation one person at a time
*Arguably social acceptance is more overt online than in real life:
*E.x. likes, positive comments, followers
How is social media more anxiety provoking?
With more control, comes more potential to be perfectionistic
*Self-presentations, whether good or bad, are perceived by a larger audience and are more permanent than in real-life
*More likely to receive criticism from strangers than in real-life
Which age group uses social media more?
Younger ppl
What is the Moving Target Problem of social media?
- Constantly changing
- Many different types of social media (hard to generalize)
Do social media profiles reflect the “real” us?
What is the Idealized virtual reality hypothesis?
profiles display idealized characteristics that do not reflect who we really are
Do social media profiles reflect the “real” us?
What is the Extended real-life hypothesis?
people use social media to communicate their real personalities
Explain the study showing Evidence for Extended Real-Life Hypothesis?
Facebook profiles
Measured real personality:
- Self-report
- Close other report (family/friend)
Measured Facebook personality:
- According to coders that look at participant’s Facebook page
- Average of coders’ ratings
Compared how accurate they were =
- Correlation between report on personality & coder’s ratings
How is personality detected in person vs online profiles?
In person:
1. target making relevant cues of their personality available
- A perceiver detecting and using these cue sto infer personality
Online:
1. Personality cues = individual differences in how social media is us
Ex. Extraverted people may have more expressions (or post more)
Online High extraversion is associated with:
*Expressiveness in profile picture and other photos
*More Facebook friends
*More posts about current activities
Online High openness is associated with:
*Posts about left-wing politics
*Creative picture
*Posts about cultural interests
Online High neuroticism is associated with:
*Fewer positive posts and pictures
*Spend more time on social media, but more likely to use it passively
Moderators of Online Personality Accuracy:
- Visibility of trait
*Some traits are easier to detect by perceivers
*E.g. extraversion is more visible than neuroticism
*Visible traits are judged more accurately than less visible traits
- Ex. more accurate at seeing extraversion vs neuroticism
Moderators of Online Personality Accuracy:
- Extent of activity on social media
People that are less active (e.g. post less, change their profile photo less often) are expressing fewer cues
*Leads to their personality being judged less accurately
(harder to tell)
Are human coders or algorithms better at judging personality?
Algorithm personality judgments are more accurate than those made by humans
*Algorithm analyzed Facebook likes of 7000 participants and used this to make personality judgments
*Compared to participants’ self-report
*Algorithm’s judgment of individual’s personality based on Facebook profiles was more accurate than friends’ and family’s judgments of individual’s personality
Accuracy of Insta Personality (study)?
102 Instagram users self-reported on personality and had a close other also report on the user’s personality
*Profiles rated on Big Five by 100 perceiver
FOUND:
Perceivers’ judgments converged significantly with Instagram users’ personality self-reports and close others’ reports
*Highest positive correlation for extraversion and openness
*No correlation between self-reported agreeableness and conscientiousness
(So yes pretty accurate for the visible traits)
How does social media hurt well-being?
*Weaker social interactions
*Lower self-esteem
*Lower life satisfaction
*More anxiety
*Increased loneliness and depression
*Increased envy
How does social media benefit well being?
*More feelings of connection with others
*Higher self-esteem
*More social involvement
*More social support
What were was the correlation between social media and…
*Self-esteem
*Depression
*Loneliness
*Academic achievement
Evidence across 4 meta-analyses shows no significant link between amount of social media use and:
*Self-esteem
*Depression
*Loneliness
*Academic achievement
How does passive and active use of social media matter?
Passive:
associated with decreased well-being
*e.g., scrolling through your News Feed, looking at friends’ profiles
= Leads to more social comparisons and more feelings of envy
Active:
associated with increased well-being
*e.g., posting status updates, sharing links, commenting on friends’ photos
= Leads to greater social capital and feelings of connection
Do ppl use facebook more actively or passively?
People tend to use Facebook more passively than actively
What is the Problem of Generalizability with social media studies?
Most studies focus on Facebook
*But what about other social media platforms?
*Conclusions about psychology of Facebook use don’t necessarily generalize to other platforms
How is Instagram related to anxiety or general life satisfaction?
No consistent relationship between Instagram use and anxiety or general life satisfaction
More relevant is active vs passive use
Which two negative traits is Instagram associated with?
Depression
*Passive use predicts more symptoms of depression over time
*Symptoms of depression also predict more Instagram use
Body image
*Consuming and posting “fitspiration” content associated with more negative body image and disordered eating
How is Instagram evil? (besides obvious reasons)
- Aware they make body image issues worse for 1 in 3 teen girls
- t Instagram is engineered towards greater social comparisons than other apps, like TikTok and Snapchat
- Teens told Facebook that they felt “addicted” to Instagram and wanted to check it less often, but didn’t have the self-control to reign in their usage
Is there a relationship between tiktok and wellbeing?
No relationship between TikTok use and well-being
