The Self Part One

Question 1

The I and Me

Answer 1

William James

Question 2

The Me:

Answer 2

an object that can be observed and described
—statements about the self; I am friendly, I have brown hair; the main topic of the chapter because it can be more easily studied

Question 3

The I:

Answer 3

does the observing and describing

—a somewhat mysterious entity; experiences life and makes decisions; people differ in level of self-awareness

Question 4

The Self Across Cultures:

Answer 4

Two approaches: assume the self is a Western cultural artifact that has no meaning in other cultures; examine how the self and its implications might differ across cultural contexts

Question 5

Individualistic Cultures

Answer 5

the self has an independent and separate existence

Question 6

Collectivist Cultures

Answer 6

The self is embedded in a larger social context of obligations and relationships

Question 7

Is the Self a Cultural Artifact

Answer 7

Some evidence that people from different cultures think of the self in fundamentally different ways

Question 8

Differences in how Americans and Indians describes others:

Answer 8

Americans—50% trait terms: friendly, cheap, etc.; Indians—20% trait terms: what they do for others: Brings cakes to my family, has trouble giving to his family; assumption: People think of themselves in the same way they think of others.

Question 9

Differences in number of the trait terms in languages

Answer 9

English has several times more trait terms than Chinese.

Question 10

Other interpretations are possible:

Answer 10

20% of Indian descriptions were trait terms, so they understand the concept; phrases given by Indian participants may still be traits, b

Question 11

Individualist and Collectivist Selves

Answer 11

This is the second approach to research

Question 12

Western Self:

Answer 12

Relatively separate entity

Question 13

Eastern Self

Answer 13

more integrated into the social and cultural context

Question 14

Self-Regard

Answer 14

The need for positive self-regard may be felt less acutely by a member of a collectivist culture because individual well-being is more connected to the well-being of a larger group.

Question 15

Individualist and Collectivist Selves

Answer 15

Consistency

Question 16

Consistency

Answer 16

• –Expectations for consistency depend on the perceived cause of behavior
• –Differences in consistency are absolute, not relative
• –Personality matters in both kinds of cultures

Question 17

Expectations for consistency depend on the perceived cause of behavior

Answer 17

individualistic cultures perceive the cause of behavior to be internal and expect consistency; collectivist cultures perceive the cause of behavior to be external and do not expect consistency (and also feel less conflict about inconsistent behavior)

Question 18

Differences in consistency are absolute, not relative:

Answer 18

In both cultures, people who are the highest on a trait in one situation are also highest in other situations (relative consistency); but individuals in collective cultures have more varied behavior across situations than individuals in individualistic cultures (absolute consistency).

Question 19

Psychological Self:

Answer 19

Our abilities and personalities
-Influences behavior: because people are sometimes motivated to maintain their self-image
-Organizes memories
Influences impressions and judgments of others
-Organizes knowledge: one of the most important functions of the self

Question 20

Self-Regulation

Answer 20

ability to restrain impulses and keep focused on long-term goals

Question 21

Information processing filter:

Answer 21

helps us focus on, remember, and organize the information that matters to us

Question 22

Help us understand others:

Answer 22

helps with empathy, by imagining how we would feel

Question 23

Identity

Answer 23

reminds us where we fit in our relations with others (position in the family and community)

Question 24

Declarative Knowledge

Answer 24

the facts and impressions that we consciously know and can describe; an overall opinion (self-esteem) and more detailed opinion

Question 25

Procedural knowledge

Answer 25

knowledge expressed through actions rather than words

Question 26

Relational Self

Answer 26

patterns of social skills and styles of relating to others; extraverted people are more likely to seek out social interaction and start conversations

Question 27

Implicit Self

Answer 27

unconscious self-knowledge; we are not aware of these characteristics, but they influence our behavior

Question 28

Self-Esteem

Answer 28

Your overall opinion about whether you are good or bad, worthy or unworthy, or somewhere in between

Question 29

Low Self Esteem

Answer 29

is related to dissatisfaction with life, hopelessness, depression, loneliness, and delinquency; these might be warning signs that something is wrong (sociometer theory); may motivate people to restore their reputations

Question 30

Attempts to increase self-esteem may be detrimental

Answer 30

by making people more aware that they do not have the positive perceptions of themselves that they would like

Question 31

Self Esteem can be too high

Answer 31

self-enhancement is related to problems in relationships, worse mental health, and maladjustment; arrogant, abusive, and criminal behavior; and narcissism

Question 32

How to legitimately increase self esteem:

Answer 32

accomplish important tasks

Question 33

The Self-Schema

Answer 33

all of one’s ideas about the self, organized into a coherent system

Question 34

Description of the Self-Schema

Answer 34

• –Where the declarative self resides
• –Can be assessed with S data or B data
• –May have important consequences for how one processes information
• –Not based only on memories of specific events

Question 35

May have important consequences for how one processes information

Answer 35

easier to remember information about the self that fits with one’s self-schema; process information related to self-schema more quickly; limit seeing beyond one’s self-image or by viewing things in a rigid way that fits with one’s self-image.

Question 36

Not based only on memories of specific events

Answer 36

Case studies of two people who lost memory of specific life events showed that they still knew what their personalities were like and had general knowledge of themselves; suggests the self-schema is not dependent on memories for specific events.

Question 37

B Data:

Answer 37

reaction times when determining whether a trait term was “me” or “not me”—schematics possessed faster reaction time to schema relevant traits

Question 38

Self-reference effect:

Answer 38

the enhancement of long-term memory that comes from thinking of how information relates to the self

Question 39

Increases accessibility:

Answer 39

because the knowledge structure related to the self is rich, well-developed, and often used

Question 40

Self-Reference and Memory

Answer 40

• –Explains why your most meaningful memories stay with you the longest
• —Depends on culture
• ——the self-reference effect may work differently in different cultures; for Chinese people, information thought about in terms of one’s mother or father was remembered as well as information thought about in terms of the self, which suggests mother and father are included in the self-concept

Question 41

The Declarative Self: Self-Efficacy

Answer 41

• —One’s beliefs about the degree to which one will be able to accomplish a goal, if one tries
• —Sets the limits for what we attempt to do
• —-May form the foundations of personality

Question 42

My form the foundations of personality

Answer 42

This is the view of Dweck

Question 43

Possible Selves

Answer 43

the images we have, or can construct, of the other possible ways we might be

Question 44

Possible future selves may affect goals:

Answer 44

Who you think you will be or what role you will have may influence the goals you set.

Question 45

Evidence that affects mate preferences

Answer 45

People who were asked to imagine themselves as married with children and working as a homemaker preferred mates who were older and could provide for them (consistent with what women typically report, so women may be more likely to perceive homemaker as a future possible self than men).

Question 46

Want future selves that fulfill the needs for self-esteem, competence, and meaning:

Answer 46

People want their future self to be similar to how they are now (we want continuity of identity)