The Self Flashcards
What is the independent view of the self?
Derives identity from inner attributes, stable across situations and lifespan, identity comes from the individual (not interactions), obligation to present consistently, people can move from ingroup to outgroup relatively easy, there is a key boundary between the self and others
What is the interdependent view of the self?
Relational-connected and sustained by a number of significant relationships, defined by social relationships, roles, behavior that depends on the perception of others’ thoughts feeling and actions, identity is a reflexive position relative to others and their relationship with them, identity is closely connected with others (no experience as distinct and unique), internal characteristics are important but less central to identity, view of self is fluid and permeable, ingroup and outgroup are distinct
How do cross-cultural differences impact the self-concept?
Culture impacts how individuals organize info about themselves, consider what is relevant, shape their concerns, engage in relationships, interpret situations, experience emotions, etc
How does the independent self-concept affect relationships?
Individuals function separate from social environment, easier to form new relationships, old ones can dissolve without much impact, larger networks, boundary of ingroup-outgroup is not too important to self-construction
How does the interdependent self-concept affect relationships?
Relationships direct appropriate behaviour, several obligations towards the relationship, serious role (not easy to get in), rare to lose ingroup status, ingroup-outgroup boundaries are stable
How do trust and commitment relate to self-concepts?
With strong group ties the feelings of trust are confined within the group, the stronger the bonds among members within a group the weaker the ties between groups. In interdependent relationships there is a stronger commitment to the ingroup (ingroup is an extension of themselves). In independent relationships the self is viewed as distinct from all others regardless of relationship
What do individualistic cultures value?
Thoughts and behaviours that foster their own independence, distinct from others and promote self-sufficiency
What do collectivistic cultures value?
Thoughts and behaviours that foster interdependent aspects of self concept
How do Western participants and Eastern participants differ?
Western participants scored higher on agency (stick to opinions even when others don’t support it) and assertiveness (assert opinion when there is a strong disagreement). Eastern participants scored higher on collectivism (prepared to do things for the group even if self-interests are sacrificed) and relatedness (feel like doing something for others because you can feel their pain)
How do men and women differ?
Women score higher on relatedness
What variables influence an attitude toward gender equality?
Religion, geographic location, agriculture
What is self-consistency?
Different aspects of identity can be expressed in certain situations more than others. Culture variation in the motivation to be consistent across all situations
What is cognitive dissonance?
Distressing feeling when we observe ourselves behaving inconsistently/ against our own sense of self consistency. Dissonance reduction then means we change our attitude to not appear inconsistent
What is self-awareness?
Two different vantage points of the self - inside-out perspective “I” & outside-in perspective “me” (conscious of how we are seen and evaluated by others)
What is the implicit theory of self?
Fundamental underlying beliefs that we hold about the nature of various aspects of the human condition (guides interpretation of what happens in the world)
