The social self Flashcards
Cocktail party effect
More likely to hear things relating to yourself in a group setting/complex environment
Collective self:
beliefs about ourselves as members of social groups to which we belong
Collective culture:
emphasize needs of group over needs of the individual
Contingencies of self worth:
If-then rules of self worth
Direct Feedback
Type of feedback that is told directly to us
Downward social comparison
Where we compare ourselves to those below us in skill, boosts self esteem when we thing we wont experience the same misfortune
Illusions of control:
Fallacy of control over things we have no control over
Impression Management:
Strategic control of information communicated to audiences, can be trial or not, audience meal or imagined
individual self
beliefs about our unique personality traits, abilities, preferences, tastes, talents, and such
Interdependent culture
Focuses on connectedness, relationships
Introspection:
way of gleaning information about the self by looking inwards
Reasons generated attitude change:
attitude change resulting from thinking about reasons for the attitude
Reflected appraisal:
source of knowledge from looking outwards through the looking glass
Relational self:
viewing the self in terms of our relationship with others
self and self schema:
mental structure people use to organize info about the self, influence what they notice about self
Self affirmation theory
Theory that we have self esteem to cope with specific failures and as a general anxiety buffer
Self assessment
motivator, desire for accurate self knowledge, used to assess aspects important to our identity
Self awareness:
occurs between 18 & 24 months, limited to very specific mamals
Self complexity:
refers to perceived knowledge of self based upon the number of distinct cognitive structures
Self discrepancy theory:
people compare themselves to internalized standards called self guides, different representations can have different things causing discrepancy and discomfort
Self efficacy:
sense that one is competent and effective
Self enhancement:
self motivator, need for a positive self view and to protect against negative feedback
Self esteem:
global evaluation of one’s self
Self handicapping:
being lazy to give yourself an excuse for suboptimal performance
self monitoring:
personality trait that allows people to adapt well to social cues
Self perception theory:
when uncertain about our attitudes or feelings, we focus on our own behavior
Self reference effect:
remember info better if we relate it to ourselves
Self serving bias:
any cognitive bias used to preserve self esteem
self verification:
motivator, need to maintain stable subjectively accurate self concept
Social comparison theory:
knowledge from looking outward, by comparing to others, either up or down
sociometer theory:
have self esteem as a protection against isolation, protects against isolation
Spontaneous self concept:
self when spontaneously described as in “tell me about yourself”
Terror Management theory:
have self esteem to protect us from fear of death
Upward social comparison:
compare yourself to someone better, motivating if believe it is achievable
How do we gain self knowledge?
By looking either inwards or outwards
How accurate is our self knowledge?
We are fairly accurate, but several problems as in with the sock example
What is the self motivated to do?
Maintain stable self concept (verification), positive self view (enhancement), accurate self knowledge (assessment)
Why is it important to study the self?
TO understand what motivates us as humans and the decisions we make
What are some ways that culture can influence the self?
Western vs eastern cultures has a large effect on independence and conformity
Do other animals have self awareness?
Yes some do, we test by using the mirror test, if they can recognize that they are looking at themselves in the mirror.
