the self

Question 1

what is self-awareness?

Answer 1

ability to momentarily tune out from the envt and focus on self

*one of the main things distinguishing us from animals with lower capacities

Question 2

state the self-awareness theory

Answer 2

when we focus our attention on ourselves, we evaluate our thoughts and behaviours against our internal standards

Question 3

why would focusing on ourselves (self-wareness) sometimes be painful?

Answer 3

gap between who we want to or supposed to be and who we actually are

Question 4

during self-awareness, when we recognise the gap between who we want to be and who we actually are, we would consider 2 options. what are they?

Answer 4

1. CHANGE for the better
2. ESCAPE thinking about ourselves

Question 5

to escape thinking about ourselves, what would we do?

Answer 5

1. remove cues of self-awareness from our envt (mirrors)
2. focus on something else (extremes: shopaholic, alcoholic)
3. dilute self-awareness with substances (drugs, alcohol)

Question 6

give 2 situations when we would like to focus on ourselves, because it brings us pride.

Answer 6

1. when we experience success
2. when our behaviour is in line with our morals

Question 7

cues of self-awareness like a _________, can remind us of ________ and __________.

Answer 7

mirror; right; wrong

Question 8

define self-concept

Answer 8

organised knowledge about ourselves (schemas containing info we know about ourselves)

Question 9

what is self-concept typically measured by?

Answer 9

TST (twenty-statement test)

Question 9

true or false: self-concepts remains roughly similar in quantity and quality across our lifespan.

Answer 9

false. self-concepts CHANGE in quantity and quality across our life span.

Question 10

children’s self concepts vs mature self concepts

Answer 10

children:
- less info
- concrete
- in ref to visible characteristics like height, gender
- egocentric (“i have brown eyes”, “i am a girl”)

mature:
- more info
- abstract (psychological states/traits)
- less emphasized on physical characteristics/behaviours
- more sensitive to how people judge us

Question 11

what are the 2 types of self-concepts?

Answer 11

independent and interdependent

Question 12

what do independent self-concepts focus on?

Answer 12

unique characteristics that separates oneself from others

*common in western culture
*common in men

Question 13

what do interdependent self-concepts focus on?

Answer 13

shared characteristics that binds ourselves with others

*common in non-western cultures
*common in women

Question 14

define introspection.

Answer 14

the process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings and motives.

(questions we ask about ourselves because unlike self-concepts, we don’t know the answers)

Question 15

what is the good and bad thing about introspection?

Answer 15

good: unique to humans
bad: we are bad at it because the answers are hard to articulate/unclear

Question 16

define causal theories.

Answer 16

assumptions we have about people, things, the world and the universe that we learn from the culture we grow up in

Question 17

give 2 examples of causal theories.

Answer 17

• cannot give clocks/shoes as gifts
• monday blues
• good deeds come around
• money can buy happiness

Question 18

why can’t we use causal theories to explain things?

Answer 18

not scientifically valid, leads to attributions to wrong causes

Question 19

if a big decision is based on _________, people might __________ it later when their original feelings return.

Answer 19

introspection;regret

Question 20

while introspecting, we have a tendency to favor reasons that:
1.
2.

Answer 20

1. can be nicely put into words
2. align with our causal theories

Question 21

what negative results can introspection produce?

Answer 21

1. we may end up mislabelling ourselves with conclusions that do not truly reflect how we feel
2. we may think that we are into something but end up doing another thing (low correlations between self-report attitudes and actual behaviours)

Question 22

aside from introspection, we also try to understand ourselves by looking at what we have done in the _____, aka self-__________.

Answer 22

past; perception

Question 23

state the theory of self-perception.

Answer 23

self-perception theory states that when our attitudes are ambiguous, we infer them by observing our past behaviours.

(eg. when we don’t know if we like something, we may tap into our past behaviours as a guide to how we feel)

Question 24

what are the 2 types of motivation?

Answer 24

1. intrinsic (we truly enjoy that behaviour)
2. extrinsic (behaviour due to external reasons like good grades, high pay, cameras)

Question 25

what is the overjustification effect?

Answer 25

occurs when extrinsic rewards decreases or wipes out our intrinsic motivation to perform a behaviour

Question 26

according to the _______________ effect under _______________ theory, rewards that are supposed to motivate can backfire because overtime, they may wipe out interest and passion.

Answer 26

overjustification; self-perception

Question 27

these are situations when rewards will likely invite overjustification:
1.
2.

Answer 27

1. interest initially very high
2. use of task-contingent rewards

Question 28

task vs performance-contingent rewards

Answer 28

1) task-contingent rewards are rewards given for performing a task, regardless of performance

while

2) performance-contingent rewards are rewards given based on performance of a task

Question 29

how should we reward behaviours to preserve intrinsic interest?

Answer 29

performance-contingent rewards

(rewards are rewards given based on performance of a task)