The Social Self

Question 1

What is self-concept?

Answer 1

A person’s beliefs about their roles, traits, abilities, and experiences

Question 2

What is working self-concept?

Answer 2

Aspects that are salient (more important) at a given time

Question 3

What is self-complexity?

Answer 3

Self-concept that has many facets (i.e. a student being less hurt by low test scores due to having other aspects of their self-concept)

Question 4

What is self-concept clarity?

Answer 4

People prefer for their self-concept to feel clearly defined, internally consistent, and consistent across time

Question 5

What is self-verification?

Answer 5

Seeking out feedback that is consistent with our existing beliefs regardless of valence (contrasting feedback can influence existing self-concept)

Question 6

How is direct feedback related to the origins of self-knowledge?

Answer 6

The information received from others about our traits and abilities establishes a basis for self-knowledge

Question 7

How are reflected appraisals related to direct feedback?

Answer 7

Direct feedback can provide reflected appraisals, or our perception of how others perceive and evaluate us

Question 8

How is social comparison related to the origins of self-knowledge?

Answer 8

The act of comparing our traits and abilities with the traits and abilities of others contributes to our self-knowledge by amplifying certain aspects and downplaying others

Question 9

What are the four tenets of the Festinger (1954) theory of social comparison?

Answer 9

People want to know where they stand
People prefer objective standards of comparison (scores, times, etc.)
No objective standard? Use social standard
Typically compare ourselves to others that are similar to us (similar size, etc.)

Question 10

What is upward social comparison and how can it be motivating?

Answer 10

Upward social comparison is comparing ourselves to those that we perceive to be better than us
It can be motivating if you assimilate (feel similar)

Question 11

What is downward social comparison and how can it boost self-esteem?

Answer 11

Downward social comparison is comparing ourselves to those that we perceive to be worse than us
It can boost self-esteem if you contrast (feel separate/different)

Question 12

What is the better-than-average effect?

Answer 12

The tendency to perceive ourselves as better than the average person

Question 13

Why do we experience the better-than-average effect?

Answer 13

“Unskilled and unaware” - don’t know when you’re bad at something

Question 14

What is the exception to the better-than-average effect?

Answer 14

Worse-than-average effect: present when task is perceived as difficult

Question 15

How does culture influence our sense of self?

Answer 15

Collectivist cultures create an interdependent self-concept (defined primarily in relation to other people), while individualist cultures create an independent self-concept (defined primarily by unique characteristics, abilities, thoughts, and feelings)

Question 16

What is self-esteem?

Answer 16

The global/overall evaluation of oneself (positive or negative)

Question 17

What is the difference between trait and state self-esteem?

Answer 17

Trait self-esteem is one’s overall self-esteem, which remains more constant, while state self-esteem is one’s self-esteem in a given social situation, which fluctuates more often

Question 18

What are contingencies of self-worth?

Answer 18

Sources of self-esteem, which differ from person to person and across time

Question 19

Why do we have self-esteem? (hint: Sociometer theory)

Answer 19

Sociometer theory (Leary): self-esteem is an evolutionary metric for how we’re doing socially (monitors social inclusion, activates social pain if inclusion is low, and motivates restoration of inclusion)

Question 20

What is the self-evaluation maintenance model (Tesser)?

Answer 20

Others’ successes can threaten our self-esteem (or not)

Question 21

What is basking in reflected glory?

Answer 21

Associating with someone who is succeeding in a domain that doesn’t affect us

Question 22

What if someone is doing better than us in our domain? (3 strategies)

Answer 22

Improve our performance
Reduce closeness with the person
Reduce importance of the domain
*utilization depends on circumstances

Question 23

What are some problems with self-esteem? (2)

Answer 23

Hard to control (partially genetic, partially reflects success and failures)
Not beneficial in all forms (high but unstable self-esteem causes interpersonal problems)

Question 24

How is narcissism related to self-esteem?

Answer 24

Narcissism is a non-beneficial form of self-esteem (high but volatile)

Question 25

What are the three components of self-compassion?

Answer 25

Self-kindness
Recognition of shared experience
Mindfulness

Question 26

What is self-presentation?

Answer 26

Controlling, regulating, and monitoring the information we provide about ourselves to create a desired impression (we’re doing this at all times, the audience can be real or imagined)

Question 27

What is the multiple audience problem?

Answer 27

When one’s desired identity differs for two audiences present at the same time

Question 28

What is self-handicapping and how is it related to self-presentation?

Answer 28

Self-handicapping is protecting one’s self-presentation and self-image by creating a handy excuse for failure (exam study - performance-enhancing/inhibiting drugs)

Question 29

What is self-regulation?

Answer 29

Processes by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior to pursue goals (requires delay of gratification and resistance to temptation)

Question 30

What is delay of gratification?

Answer 30

Forgoing a desirable outcome now for a more desirable outcome later (marshmallow study - one now or two later)

Question 31

What is ego depletion?

Answer 31

Exhausting self-control resources through use (radish vs cookie study - better performance on a puzzle task w cookie)

Question 32

What are ways we can improve self-control? (4)

Answer 32

Setting up appropriate incentives
Implementation intentions
Action identification theory (alter perception of the goal)
Goal disengagement

Question 33

What are implementation intentions?

Answer 33

If-then plans to engage in some behavior (then) in response to some cue (if)

Question 34

What is the action identification theory?

Answer 34

Goals can be construed in abstract or concrete ways (abstract is motivating, concrete is manageable)

Question 35

What is goal disengagement?

Answer 35

Letting go of inappropriate/unreachable goals