The Social Self (2) Flashcards
________ is a mental apparatus allows people to think consciously about themselves
the self
_____-_________ - the awareness of one’s own cognitive processes and mental states.
Meta-awareness - the awareness of one’s own cognitive processes and mental states.
meta awareness simply is is being ________ of your own ________
being aware of your own awareness.
Meta-awareness
unique to __________
explain
Unique to humans
Only animals with the self can think deliberately about themselves, purposefully controlling their own behaviour with a conscious goal, talk to themselves
An animal cannot think about feeling and behaving
Where is the sense of self?
the egocenter
define the egocenter
our constant presence inside the head
As if the body is just a vehicle carrying around our mental entity
what problem do we run into with the egocenter
leads to infinite regress
No ultimate or foundational explanation, leading to an endless chain of explanations or causes.
Is there a little person inside our heads that makes our decisions? Does he have a little person inside his head? (so on and so on)
what is the self concept
mental representation of one’s attributes and other pieces of knowledge
Only a small part can be present at a given time
what is Spontaneous self-concept
the collection of aspects of identity what are available to awareness at a given point in time
immediate and automatic way in which individuals perceive and define themselves in response to various situational cues or triggers.
give an example of spontaneous self conept when travelling abroad
Eg. one’s canadian identity comes out when in a foreign country
spontenous self-concept involves how individuals perceive themselves without ________deliberation or ________
involves how individuals perceive themselves without conscious deliberation or introspection
In ______ _______ theroy the current self compared with
1 - the “_____” self - who we aspire to be - to determine self regulation to achieve a certain goal
2 - “______” self - who we think we should be (based on obligations)
3- the “______” self - who we do not wish to be
self discrepancy theory
1 - the “ideal” self - who we aspire to be - to determine self regulation to achieve a certain goal
2 - “ought” self - who we think we should be (based on obligations)
3- undesired self - who we do not wish to be
How is the self concept formed?
(2 ways)
1 - the looking glass self
2 -social comparisons
coined by _______ the looking glass self holds that the self-concept is a ________ of how ______ ____ _____
coined by cooley the looking glass self holds that the self-concept is a reflection of how others see us
what are some problems with forming our self concet thought the looking glass self
People don’t always give honest feedback, can’t always tell what they’re thinking
selective attention to feedback - We are selective of what information we take from others based on our own bias of them
we also form our self concept through social comparisons
define
The process of judging ourselves relative to others to assess our own attitudes and abilities
how do you “accurately” make a social comparison
we compare ourselves to similar others to get a more accurate judgement of ourselves
Eg. wouldn’t compare my score on a test to the professors
define
Upward social comparison
comparison yourself to someone that is better than you
define
Downward social comparison
involves comparing yourself to someone who’s worse off than you are
pros and cons of Upward social comparison
Useful to motivate improvement ( but only if improvement is possible)
Can lead to anger/resentment (relative deprivation)when we feel we deserve better
Eg - gender wage gap
Experiment: Upward social comparison
1st and 4th year accounting student P’s
Some p’s assigned to read about a superstar fourth-year accounting student, others not exposed to superstar
Asked to rate themselves on traits surrounding career success
what were the independent and dependent variables
Independent Variable: exposed or not exposed to academic superstar
Dependent Variable: Self-Ratings on Traits Surrounding Career Success.
Experiment: Upward social comparison
results?
first year students rated themselves higher than the 4th year students who (all read about superstar)
bc the first years improvement is still possible
_________ social comparison usually makes you feel better about yourself
downward
_________ - the process of looking inward and examining one’s thoughts, feeling and motives
introspection
what is the problem with introspection
we know what we feel but often are unaware of underlying reasons for why we feel that way
Experiment: Introspection
P’s asked to journal their moods and what affected it
Results?
P’s often wrong about what factors predicted their mood
P’s sometimes attributed lack of sleep to a bad mood, even when they had slept fine
Experiment: canadian individualism vs chinese collectivism
Experiment was conducted and classified people into 2 categories
what were they?
Non-social completions - eg. extroverted, funny
Social completions - eg. religion, ethnicity
Experiment: canadian individualism vs chinese collectivism
variables?
Independent variable - whether P’s were Canadian (individualistic cutlure) or Chinese (collectivistic culture)
Dependent Variable - type of completion (either non-social or social completion)
Experiment: canadian individualism vs chinese collectivism
results?
Canadians more individualistic - chose more non-social completions,
Chinese individuals are more communal and chose more social comparison that reflect more how we interact with others
Individualistic cultures - Focus on _______
Collectivistic cultures - Focus on ______
Individualistic cultures - Focus on uniqueness
Collectivistic cultures - Focus on conformity
individualistic cultures:
will thrive if their _______ _______ are prioritised
The self is seen as __________ from others, and seen as having more _________ over their own future
will thrive if their individuals goals are prioritised
The self is seen as autonomous from others, and seen as having more control over their own future
Collectivistic cultures:
Emphasises connections between self and _______ others
People develop an __________ sense of self
The self is seen as ________ _______ to other people
Emphasises connections between self and important others
People develop an interdependent sense of self
The self is seen as inherently connected to other people
Experiment: Michigan fish task (individualistism and collectivism in perception)
P’s (Americans and Japanese) had to look at pic of fishes on screen and describe it
results?
Americans more likely to describe the three larger fish, as if they were main characters
Japanese participants described the relationships between fish and their environment
Westerners see the world ________, relating to their _________
Easterners see the world more _______ relating to their _________
Westerners see the world analytically (independence)
Easterners see the world more holistically (interdependence)
How do Westerners and Easterners differ in their perception of the world’s nature and stability?
Westerners tend to see the world analytically, perceiving nature as stable
Easterners view the world more holistically, where nature is seen as constantly in flux.
How do Westerners and Easterners approach the concept contradictory truths?
Westerners believe contradictory truths cannot both be true
Easterners accept that contradictory truths or interconnections can coexist.