the self 9 Flashcards
What is the mission of the self?
- to find out who you are
-to understand what the self-concept is - to know ourselves
- to evaluate ourselves
What is a self image?
something we create - social media reflects this, e.g. selfies
What are the reference we are surrounded by to the self, both positive and negative?
me culture, selfies, self help, self esteem
What is self concept?
-suggested by Baumesister 1999, the self concept is the set of beliefs or knowledge that a person has about themself
- the self concept is a multi dimensional constuct
- self schemas: cognitive representations of our contextual identities, e.g. duaghter, friend, student
What is Higgins self discepency theory?
- actual self (who we are now)
-ideal self (who we want to be) - ought self (who we think we should be)
What is Tafjel and Turner, 1979 theory?
social identity theory
personal and social identities
In certain contexts, we think of ourselves in terms of our group membership/ We are motivated to have a
positive self-concept–>One way in which we get this positive sense of self is through our
social identity–>If we see our group negatively, we will have a poor social identity,
and low self-esteem
When our social identity is salient, we are
motivated to see our group as being better
than other groups (intergroup bias)
What did Tajfel, 1981 suggest?
Self-concept derives from knowledge of
membership in a social group (or groups)
and the value and emotional significance
attached to that
What is Bem’s 1972 Self perception theory ?
we make attributions about our behaviour
What is festinger’s 1954 social comparison theory?
we compare ourselves to others
What is self esteem?
the evaluative component to the self
What did Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003 suggest?
Self-esteem is the evaluation of yourself-
concept as generally positive or negative
What is Self-enhancement motive (Trope, 1986)?
to promote oneself
What is Leary, 2007?
we aim ton protect and enhance self esteem
What did terror management theory suggest?
-Greenberg,
Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986)
-Human beings are intelligent and reflective, therefore aware of our own mortality
-To deal with this unsettling information, we have developed an ‘anxiety buffer’
Two parts:
- Cultural worldview: meeting values and
standards that are important to society
- Self esteem indicates if we reach those values
and standards
Results in ‘meaning’ and ‘symbolic immortality’
What is narcissism?
- extremely high/ low self esteem
-self esteem is unstable/ fragile
-reliant on validation from others
positive characterisitcs= initially likeable, extroverted, unlikely to suffer from depression, perform well in public
negative characteristics= crave attention, overconfident, lack empathy, sensitive to criticism
What did Baumesiter suggest about narcissm?
high self esteem–> ego threat–> aggression
-Praise condition: “Great essay!”
-Threat condition: “One of the worst
essays I have ever read!”
-Competitive task – intensity of blast of
noise = aggression
What is objective self- awareness?
Sedikides & Skowronski, 1997- aware of yourself as an object seperate from the external environment
lewis and brooks- rouge test- this develops between 9 months and 2 years- 18months tried to touch their nose- in mirror
What is private self- awareness?
inward aspects of the self
What is public self- awareness?
outward aspects of the self
What did Bender, O connor, and Evans research?
- Children aged 3 or 4 years
- Requested to not peek at a toy
- Allocated to either: Self-Awareness,
Promise, or Control conditions. - Self aware condition: look in mirror
- Questioned about toy peeking behaviour
- Findings: Self-Awareness led to more
likelihood to tell the truth about peeking
