The Self Flashcards
What is the self-concept !, self-esteem, self-knowledge, and the social self
The self-concept: who am I
Self-esteem: my sense of self worth
Self-knowledge: how can I explain and predict myself
Social self: my roles as a student, family member, and friend (my group identity)
Define our ‘sense of self’ ! (highlighted: the self-concept)
Our sense of self:
- made up of self-schemas: beliefs about the self that guid processing of self relevant information
- self reference effect: tendency to process efficiently and remember information well related to oneself
- possible selves: what we dream of/dread becoming in the future
Developing a sense of self happens around 18 MONTHS - then development of Theory of Mind (understanding that others’ beliefs, desires, and emotions may be different from one’s own)
What is self-discrepancy theory?
Explains how differences between multiple self-concepts influence our wellbeing and motivation - focuses on discrepancies between how we see ourselves and how we want/think we should be
Actual Self - features people believe they possess
Ideal Self - characteristics people wish to possess
Ought Self - attributes people believe they have a responsibility to possess
What determines our self-concepts (including: the spotlight effect) !
The roles we play, comparisons we make with others, social identities we form, our successes and failures, our surrounding culture
Spotlight Effect:
- the idea that you wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realised how rarely they actually do
- issue: minorities, actually do stick out!
What is self-serving bias (including: unrealistic optimism, false consensus, and false uniqueness)
Self-serving bias: tendency to perceive oneself FAVOURABLY
- people attribute positive outcomes to oneself, and negative outcomes to something else
Unrealistic Optimism: the belief we are far more likely to experience positive life events and less likely to experience negative events than others
False Consensus: tendency to OVERESTIMATE the commonality of one’s OPINIONS and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviour
False Uniqueness: tendency to UNDERESTIMATE the commonality of one’s ABILITIES and SUCCESS
It can be both an ADAPTIVE and MALADAPTIVE bias (allows one to feel good about oneself, but blaming others for difficulties can make you isolated/unhappy)
What does ‘perceived self-control consist of’
Self-Efficacy and Locus of Control
Self-Efficacy: one’s sense of competence and ability to handle different situations and produce an intended result
Locus of control: a person’s believe about who or what is responsible for what happens (can be internal and external)
Compare the two locus’ of control
Internal Locus: The belief that one’s own actions and decisions directly influence outcomes.
- high sense of personal agency
- often associated with proactive behaviour
External Locus: The belief that external forces, such as fate, luck, or other people, determine outcomes.
- sometimes beneficial in stress reduction
- can lead to passivity
What is learned helplessness?
The hopelessness and resignation learned when a human perceives NO CONTROL over REPEATED BAD EVENTS
- especially those with an external locus of control
Give some ‘agents of socialisation’
- Family (influences language, relationships, behaviour etc.)
- Peers (activities, trends)
- Religion
- Government
- Modia
- Ethnicity
- School
Outline behaviourism (including: 4 stages of social learning)
Behaviorism is a psychological approach that focuses on studying observable behavior, emphasizing the role of environmental stimuli and reinforcement in shaping actions.
- It avoids exploring internal mental processes, relying instead on measurable and scientific methods like conditioning experiments.
Classical Conditioning - A neutral stimulus is associated with a natural response
Operant Conditioning - A response is increased or decreased due to reinforcement or punishment
Social Learning Theory: emphasises the importance of observing, modelling, and imitating the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others
o Attention (stimuli focus)
o Retention (rehearse and encode)
o Motor Reproduction (practice feedback)
o Motivation (reward reinforce)
The Self as a Perceiver: what is self-categorisation theory (include: Sherif)
Self-Categorisation Theory: people will perceive collections of people as a group
–> It posits that people categorize themselves and others into social groups, leading to in-group favoritism and out-group bias, which influences interactions and attitudes.
Robbers Cave Experiment conducted by Muzafer Sherif in 1954 aimed to study intergroup conflict and cooperation. The experiment took place at a summer camp with 22 boys aged 11-12, divided into two groups: the Eagles and the Rattlers.
- Phase 1: In-group Formation
–> Each group bonded through activities that fostered in-group identity, promoting loyalty and cohesion within their group.
The boys identified strongly with their group and developed norms, traditions, and a sense of superiority over the other group.
- Phase 2: Intergroup Conflict
–> The two groups were placed in competitive situations (e.g., sports games, contests) designed to create friction and hostility.
The boys displayed out-group bias, exhibiting derogatory attitudes, and increased conflict as they viewed the other group as the “enemy.” - Phase 3: Superordinate Goals
–> To reduce conflict, Sherif introduced tasks requiring both groups to work together, such as fixing a broken water supply.
These superordinate goals required cooperation, fostering intergroup cooperation and reducing hostility.
The boys’ attitudes shifted, and both groups began working towards common goals, reducing prejudice and fostering unity.
What is attribution bias (+ limitations)
The errors made when people evaluate or try to find reasons for their own and others’ behaviours
our OWN BEHV: we over-emphasise situation and under-emphasise character
OTHERS BEHV: we over-emphasise character, under-emphasise situation
Limitations (2006 meta-analyses)
- the tendency to attribute character to others and situation to self was different when
o the other person was portrayed as strange
o it took place within intimate relationships
o when background context was made known
What is hostile attribution bias?
The tendency to interpret others’ behaviours as having hostile intent - even when the behaviour is ambiguous or benign
Research has shown that children who are aggressive/experience frequent hostility = have more hostile schemas
Related outcomes: shorter lifespan and relationship difficulties
