The Self Flashcards
What is the self concept
The overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes
A test for self concept?
Mirror test
What is progression of self concept for humans
Wehn we first start to develop self concept, it is more clear cut and based on certain physical features but as we grow older, they start to stray from the physical features and focus more on the psychological states.
TRUE or FALSE: Morality is viewed as central to the self-concept, more so than cognitive processes or desires
TRUE
Independent view of the self
Defining oneself in terms of one’s own internal thoughts, feelings and actions and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other people
Interdependent view of the self
Defining oneself in terms of one’s relationships to other people and recognizing that one’s behaviour is often determined by the thoughts and feelings and actions of others
What are the 4 main functions of the self?
Self-knowledge
self control
Impression management
Self-esteem
When do humans start to develop their sense of self
18 to 24 months
What is introspection
The process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings and motives.
What is self-knowledge
This is the way we understand who we are and formulate and organize this information
What is self-control
The way we make plans and execute decisions
Impression management
is the way we present ourselves to other peeople and get them to see us the way we want to be seen
What is the Self-Awareness theory
The idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behaviour to their internal standards and values
What happens when we are self-aware and there is a disparity between what we think of ourselves and we actually see ourselves doing
People become very uncomfortable and therefore can be very self aversive, trying to avoid negative self focus
Is Self focus always aversive? If no, then when can it be good
For example when you have a major success it would be good to keep you happy, also it can be a good reminder of your right and wrongs
What are causal theories?
Theories about the causes of one’s own feelings and behaviours, often we learn such theories from our culture.
“Telling more than we can know”
The idea that people’s exlanations of their feelings and behaviour often go beyond what they can reasonably know. (usually with the aid of causal theories)
What is one danger of introspection
Reasons-generated atittude change
Reasons-generated attitude change
Attitude change resulting from thinking about the reasons for one’s attitudes; people assume that their attitudes match the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalize
What is the self-perception theory
The theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behaviour and the situation in which it occurs
What is a criteria that must be fulfilled for the self perception theory to apply
Uncertain feelings and ambiguity
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivation
The desire to do something because we purely find it interesting vs doing something for external rewards or pressures
WHat is the danger of introducing reward system
Overjustification effect; connected to the self perception theory as when people infer their behaviour via the situation (if there is rewrds and i do thething maybe i only do it because of rewards)
Overjustification effect
The tendency for people to view their behaviour as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons and making them udnerestimate the extent to which it was caused by intrinsic reason.
Are rewards systems always bad?
No, only if the person already has a developed intrinsic motivation will it kill it but if there is nothing to kill then it will encourage the thing to be done
Does the type of reward make a difference?
Yes: Task contingent vs performance contingent rewards
Task contingent rewads
Rewards that are fiven for performing a task, regardless of how well it is done
Performance-contingent rewards
Rewards that are based on how well we perform a task
Which type of reward system less likely to reduce interest in a task
Performance contingent rewards
What is the consequence/danger of performance contingent rewards
Because receiving an award means that you are good at the ting, , it can also put pressure on people and they can feel evaluated.
Fixed mindset
The idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change
Growth mindset
The idea that our abiltiies are malleable qualities that we can cultivate and grow
The Two factor theory of emotion
The idea that emotional experience is the result of a two step self-perception process in which people first experience physiological aroual and then seek an appropriate explanantion
What is the Schachter and Singer experiment
The one with the adrenaline like and placebo drug and have like a anger inducing question and then people who had arousal were more likely to react angrily than people who don’t
Misattribution of arousal
The process whereby people make mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do
Is social contact necessary for the development of the self concept
Yes, one study with chimpanzees and the mirror test showed that socially raised chimps passed the test but isolated chimps did not.
What is the social comparison theory
The idea that people learn about their own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people
When do people engage in social comparison?
People socially compare when there is no objective standard to measure themselves against and when they are uncertain about themselves in a particular area
What is upward social comparison
Comparing yourself to people who are better than we are with regard to a particular trait or skill
What is downward social comparison
Comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are with regard to a particular trait or skill
What determines who we compare ourselves to?
Our goal: do we want a standard or something to strive for or to feel better about ourselves
Social tuning
The process wherevy people adopt another person’s attitudes
Does social tuning have to occur only with close people
Nope social tuning can be even with people you meet for the first time
What is an experiment that showed social tuning
Likeable vs unlikeable experimentor and then unconscious prejudice. People did more social tuning when the likeable person but they unconsciously rejected the views of the person that they did not like
Affective forecasts
People’s predictions about how they will feel in response to a future emotional event
Is it better to consult other people when doing affective forecasting
Not a bad idea to trust the experience of other people sometimes even thought objectively it seems like less info. The experiment with the dating thing: either you trust the information provided about person or listen to previous people who did the speed date
Thought suppression
When we try to push thoughts out of our minds one type of self control
Is thought suppression usually successful
Nah
Self control “depletion effect”
Self control requires energy and so spending energy to exercise self control on task limits the energy spent on the next task
Is the “depletion effect” inevitable?
Nope because research shows that you can control how much willpower they use at one time. Also people who believe that they have unlimited willpower can do better
What can you do increase self control
Praying
Form specific implementaion intentions in advance of a situation
Impression management
The attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen
What are some impression management strategies
Ingratiation
Self handicapping
Ingratiation
sucking up to people through compliments and flattery
Self handicapping
People create obstacles and excuses for themsleves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves
Two ways of self handicapping
Behavioral self handicapping: extreme form where people act in ways to reduce the likelihood that they will succeed
Reported self handicapping: People have ready made excuses in case they fail
Gender differences in self handicapping>
Females engage in less handicapping and more critical of people who do
Impression management in the East
“saving face” avoiding public embarassment in the East?
Self-esteem
People’s evaluations of their own self-worth, that is- the extent to which they view themselves as good competent and decent
What is high self esteem good for?
I mean besides feeling good about ourselves, it protects us against thoughts about our mortality (part of terror management theory. People who have higher self esteem feel like they are effective actors in a meaningful purposeful world
- Also keeps us resislient
Excessive self esteem
Narcissim
Narcissim traits
Excessive self love, and lack of empathy towards others, generally do worse in life and not likeable
