The Social Self Flashcards
Who said this?
“The individual’s belief about himself or herself, including the person’s
attributes and who and what the self is”
Baumeister
How can we define the self?
- One’s preferences
- One’s roles in society/groups
- One’s belief
- One’s Actions
- One’s experiences
- Influence from others
What is the term used to describe when people are defined through their interactions with others?
Symbolic interactionism
If society says reading books is beneficial for us and we do so, what is this an example of?
Symbolic interactionism
What is the term used to describe when people see themselves the way they think others see them?
Looking glass self
Who proposed the social identity theory?
Henri Tajfel and Tajfel & Turner
What type of identity is this?
Defines the self in terms of group memberships
Social identity
What type of identity is this?
Defines the self in terms of idiosyncratic traits and close personal relationships
Personal identity
What is the term used to describe when people describe themselves differently and behave differently in different contexts (Fazio et al., 1981)?
Contextual self
What does it mean by “we make ourselves appear more coherent”?
We blame others for their wrongdoings but when we do the same, we blame it on our environment
When do different aspects of our social selves become more or less salient?
Through the processes of social categorization and our need to reduce uncertainty
Social identity salience is when…?
We look for things, like minimal cues, to categorise ourselves and others
What type of group paradigm is this?
Groups were assigned based on arbitrary meaningless criteria
Minimal group paradigm
What type of group paradigm is this?
When groups have no interaction or affiliation
Minimal group paradigm
What type of group paradigm is this?
When people still assigned resources/points and show bias with a preference for their group
Minimal group paradigm
Who proposed the social self-categorisation model?
Hogg
How do we assign ourselves into groups? (Social self-categorisation)
1) Is the group situationally accessible
2) Does the group follow a structural fit
3) Does the group follow a normative fit
4) Does being part of this group reduce uncertainty
5) Does being part of this group satisfy the need for self-enhancement
What defines the self?
1) Social self and Individual self
2) Single or Multiple selves
How do we know ourselves?
What strategies do we use to learn about
ourselves and be aware of ourselves?
How do we maintain our self-image?
Self-esteem and self-presentation
What are the cognitive ways we can know ourselves?
1) Self-knowledge
2) Self-discrepancy theory
What term is used to describe this?
The beliefs and ideas people hold about themselves
Self-schema
At what age do humans start having an awareness of self?
At 18 months
Do babies have self-schema?
No
At what age does this occur?
When children know that they’re “a good girl” or that they “don’t like Tommy”
Around 5-6 years old
At what age does the self-schema get more complex and schematic/aschematic?
At around 13 years old
Who proposed the self-discrepancy theory?
Higgins
What does the self-discrepancy theory suggest?
We have 3 selves:
- Ideal self (Who we strive to be)
- Actual self (Who we think we actually are)
- Ought self (Who society expects us and wants us to be)
According to the self-discrepancy theory, what type of “self” is this?
The self we aspire to be
Ideal self
According to the self-discrepancy theory, what type of “self” is this?
Who we think we actually are
Actual self
According to the self-discrepancy theory, what type of “self” is this?
Who society wants us/expects us to be
Ought self
What are the behavioural ways we can know ourselves?
1) Self-perception theory
2) Social comparison theory
Who proposed the self perception theory?
BEM
What identity theory is this based on?
We create a set of beliefs about who we are based on our behaviour
“We are what we do”
Self-perception theory
Which theory claims that behaviour defines attitudes?
BEM’s self-perception theory
What identity theory is this based on?
“Now that I think about it, I only ever listen to kpop. I guess that means I’m not a fan of regular pop music.”
Self-perception theory (BEM)
If there aren’t a lot of external reasons why we are behaving a certain way, we assume it is (………) motivated
a. Intrinsically
b. Extrinsically
a. Intrinsically
Sense of achievement, curiosity, interest and pride are examples of…?
a. Intrinsic motivation
b. Extrinsic Motivation
a. Intrinsic motivation (internal interest)
Money, grades, career, exams and praise are examples of…?
a. Intrinsic motivation
b. Extrinsic Motivation
b. Extrinsic Motivation (external interest/interest in getting a reward)
A behaviour that is driven by external rewards is known as …?
a. Intrinsic motivation
b. Extrinsic Motivation
b. Extrinsic Motivation
When we engage in a behaviour that is personally rewarding and not for an external reward
a. Intrinsic motivation
b. Extrinsic Motivation
a. Intrinsic motivation
Who proposed the social comparison theory?
Festinger
What theory suggests this?
We look to others before we look at ourselves to validate or invalidate our own behaviour
Social comparison theory
According to the social comparison theory, we often look at others before we look at ourselves. Why is this?
- To have a benchmark, or yardstick to measure how they are doing
- For many attributes, there is no objective standard we can only compare
- We seek out similar others to validate ourselves (how groups are formed)
What are the 2 types of social comparison?
1) Upward
2) Downward
What type of social comparison is this?
Can lower self-esteem but also motivate
a. Upward
b. Downward
Upward
What type of social comparison is this?
Elevates self esteem, defensively protective
a. Upward
b. Downward
b. Downward
What type of social comparison is this?
Comparison to someone who appears to have better things
a. Upward
b. Downward
a. Upward
What type of social comparison is this?
Comparison to someone who appears to have something less/worse
a. Upward
b. Downward
b. Downward
Overall, combining cognitive and behavioural ways, how do we know ourselves? List 4 ways
- We form self-schemas and maintain them or minimize them to protect our self-esteem
- We have actual, ideal and ought selves and work to resolve the discrepancies
- We observe our own behaviour to determine motivation
- We compare ourselves to others
What is the term used to describe one’s confidence in ones worth or abilities?
Self-esteem
What does self-esteem predict?
Given 3 examples
- Academic achievement
- Criminal behaviour
- Depression
What are the 4 types of self-esteem?
1) Global self-esteem
2) Trait self-esteem
3) Domain-specific self-esteem
4) State self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
Jane may have high overall self-esteem and have a positive view of herself as a dancer, and yet have low self-esteem about communicating in a second language.
Global self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
Sally feels confident about herself because she is a good swimmer, student, friend and daughter
Domain-specific self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
An individual’s accumulated lifelong perception of social inclusion and exclusion that is stable in the long-term
e.g. John is very anxious, shy or angry. The traits interact with different factors to create many emotional states.
Trait self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
John is very anxious, shy or angry. The traits interact with different factors to create many emotional states.
Trait self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
A momentary emotional reaction to internal and/or external trigger(s) which also involves physical, behavioural, cognitive and psychological reactions
State self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
Relates to one’s self-esteem in regard of a particular area, such as sport
e.g. Sally is a good swimmer, student, friend and daughter
Domain-specific self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
Self-esteem in a particular category/domain
Domain-specific self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
Self-esteem that is lifelong
Trait self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
Self-esteem that exists in a particular time/setting
State self-esteem
What type of self-esteem is this?
The overall opinion of oneself at any place and point in time
Global self-esteem
Based on the trait of self-esteem, high self-esteem is associated with 4 factors. List the 4 factors
1) Lower self-concept confusion and more self-knowledge
2) Self-enhancing orientation and a motivational orientation (pushing yourself to try different things)
3) Lower anxiety, lower social rejection and exclusion
4) Is a good index of social acceptance and belonging
How do we protect our self-image?
We focus mostly on the positive aspects rather than the negative aspects of ourselves
Who proposed the self-affirmation theory?
- Sherman & Cohen
- Steele
What does the Self Affirmation Theory suggest?
We act to affirm positive aspects of ourselves and avoid focusing on the negative aspects of oneself
How do people protect the positive aspects of themselves? List 4 ways
1) Self-serving bias (Zuckerman, 1979)
2) Forget failure feedback more readily than success or praise (Mischel et al., 1976)
3) Criticize criticism but accept praise (Kunda, 1990)
4) Flaws are human but qualities are rare and distinctive (Campbell, 1
Taking credit for success but denying blame for failure can be defined as …?
Self-serving bias
What is the term used to describe this?
People’s use of various strategies to get others to view them in a positive light
Impression management
What is the term used to describe this?
Carefully controlling how we present ourselves (state and trait)
Self-monitoring
What is the term used to describe this?
Agree with people’s opinions, but make them believe it (forceful agreement and weak disagreement)
Strategic self-presentation
How can strategic self-presentation be effective?
- Be selectively modest
- Don’t look too desperate for approval
What happens when people with very high self-esteem think they’re the best (and everyone else is below them)?
Narcissism
How do we maintain our self-esteem?
- Having different sources of self-esteem
- Using self-enhancement
- Using impression management
- Using self-presentation
