The Self Flashcards
Exam 1
What are the 3 components of our “social self”?
1) Self-concept & self-knowledge
2) Self-esteem
3) Self-behaviors
What is self-concept?
Total beliefs you have about yourself and can communicate to other people (“I am” statements)
What is self-complexity?
People are said to be more self-complex if they have more “selves” and id they describe each self in a different way (different parts of you that are enhanced)
What are possible selves?
Images of who we wish to be and who we fear being (these are selves motivating to us)
What are the 5 ways in which we know who we are?
1) Introspection
2) Perceptions of behavior
3) Influences of others
4) Autobiographical memory
5) Culture
What is introspection?
Looking inward to examine thoughts, feelings, and motives
What is affective forecasting?
People have difficulty predicting the intensity and duration of future emotions (thought you would act one way and then end up acting another)
What is self-perception theory?
When we are unsure, we look to our own behavior in infer our motives (look at our behavior to better understand our emotions)
What is the facial feedback hypothesis?
Changes in facial expression can lead to changes in emotion
What are upward comparisons?
Comparing yourself to others who are better at something than you
What are downward comparisons?
Comparing yourself to someone who is worse than you
What are flashbulb memories?
Enduring, detailed memories of important events
What is individualism?
Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals
What are some examples of individualism?
Western societies (America), Independent self-concept, describing yourself in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications, Downward comparisons
What is collectivism?
Giving priority to the group goals and describing the self by your social identity
What are some examples of collectivism?
Eastern societies (Eastern Asia), Interdependent self-concept, less focus on the self - more on helping social groups, harmony within the group, upward comparisons
What is self-esteem?
A person’s overall positive and negative self-evaluation or sense of self-worth
What is sociometer theory?
Use self-esteem as a gauge to measure how socially accepted vs rejected we are
What is terror management theory?
Cope with fear of death by constructing worldviews that help to preserve our self-esteem (used to explain religious, political and social views)
What is self-discrepancy theory?
Theory of how we come to have high/low self-esteem
What is your actual self?
Who you actually are right now
What is your ought self?
Who you ought to be (who other people say you should be)
What is your ideal self?
Who you would ideally be (internal, in the future)
What does an actual and ought discrepancy mean?
Creates guilt, shame, and anxiety
What does an actual and ideal discrepancy mean?
Creates disappointment frustration
What is self-awareness theory?
Self-awareness increases when in front of mirror, talking about ourselves, on camera, etc.
What is private self-consciousness?
Inner thoughts and feelings
What is public self-consciousness?
Focus on outer public image
What did the forehead “E” study (Hass, 1984) find?
Those with high public SC were more likely to write outward facing E compared to those with high private SC
What are the 4 methods of self-enhancement?
1) Self-serving bias
2) Self-handicapping
3) BIRGing
4) Downward social comparison
What is self-serving bias?
Blame failures on external events but take credit for successes (leads us to see ourselves as better than average)
What is self-handicapping?
Protecting one’s self-image (from yourself and others) by creating obstacles to performance in order to have an excuse if you fail
What is BIRGing?
“Basking in Reflected Glory” (BIRG) increase self-esteem by associating with successful others
What are downward social comparisons?
Compare with people who are worse off to make ourselves feel better (“At least I’m not…”)
What is self-monitoring?
Personality characteristic where one adjusts their self-presentation in order to create desired impression (social chameleons or social actors)
