The Self Flashcards
what does social psychology attempt to do?
to understand how thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual/implied/imagined presence of others
different levels that social psychology can be analyses
interpersonal (within the individual)
interpersonal (between individuals)
positional (from a views of status/group membership)
ideological (cultural, values, norms)
what is the social cognitive approach?
it studies the cognitive underpinnings of social thought and behaviour and looks at social processes as the result of individual-level cognition
what is symbolic interactionism?
the idea of the looking glass self .. that we adopt the perspective of the generalised other
we need to be aware of ourselves is s crucial part of being able to control ourselves and to allow us to be guided by social norms
how is the self represented?
the self is a network of related schema about ourselves
where we live, what we value…
what is the self concept?
a complete set of beliefs people have about themselves
what is the self concept made up of?
made up of self-schemas
self-schemas have attributes about ourselves which are represented clearly. our self-schemas determine our thoughts, feelings and behaviour in specific contexts
how do self-schemas influence cognitive processes and daily life?
self-schemas can influence cognitive processes by allowing people to quickly identify words that are associated with their schemas and better able to recall experiences that demonstrated their schemas
self-schemas can influence daily life, if you have a self-schema about your weight then it can lead to excessive monitoring of it
what is social comparison theory?
in order to define themselves people compare themselves with others
how does the social comparison theory impact self-esteem?
if you have upward social comparison, it can have a negative effect on self-esteem
downward social comparison has positive effect on self-concept
how to people maintain self-esteem after social comparison …
by engaging in downward social comparison with another person
by avoiding the comparison person
by devaluing the dimension in which the other person is better
what is self-esteem?
a persons subjective appraisal of the self. it is either intrinsically positive or negative
what factors influence self-esteem?
influenced by upbringing
influenced by internal sources: self-schemas, tendency to experience states as positive or negative
external sources: social acceptance
what is the sociometer theory of self-esteem?
self-esteem is a barometer that indicates the extent to which some is included/excluded by others
peoples desire to maintain high levels of self-esteem motivates self-regulation of behaviour
what is narcissism ?
trait characterised by extremely high but insecure self-esteem
they require constant external validation and are aggressive when they face criticism
