Understanding Ourselves and Others Flashcards
summarise how the oxford english dictionary summarises the self
- looks at self as an object that you reflect upon
- self is essential being
- unique
what did William James think of the self? which categories did he break it into?
that it is multifaceted and multidimensional
- material self
- spiritual self
- social self - roles in society and our group belonging
- pure consciousness
what is the difference of I or Me according to James
I = subject, agent, knower who is acting, doing and perceiving me = object, what is being reflected on
what makes up the me that psychologists are interested in?
the beliefs, attitudes, and content of the self as a person reflecting on that object (themselves)
what is self concept that has been influenced by James … give examples
mental representation/collection of knowledge about one’s attributes eg beliefs, thoughts, memories, roles, relationships, groups
what is the big 2 for social psych?
a superordinate category of the big 5 which is broken up into communion and agency
as apart of the big 2, what is communion?
focused on how we relate to other people… describes our warmth, relationships, whether or not we are friendly or fair etc
as apart of the big 2, what is agency?
how you go about pursuing goals…. one’s competency and whether or not they are ambitious and capable
what are the 3 distinctions that people often think of when describing themselves…
- personal aspects - features that distinguish (often traits)
- social aspects - social selves, social identities
- domains - at work, at home, with friends etc
what are the 2 distinctions of social aspects that people use to describe themselves? give example
- roles (relational) eg, boss, sibling, friend, parent
- group category membership (collective) eg, features we possess as we belong to a group… man, Australian…
what is a self schema? what dictates how closely concepts will ‘overlap’?
a knowledge structure that links, organises and weights self concept components
how related the concepts are in ones memory space
of the two themes (agency and communion) that tend to come out in life narrative retelling, give some examples of each
agency: self mastery, status/victory, achievement/responsibility, empowerment
communion: love/friendship, dialogue, caring/help, unity/togetherness
what are ‘self guides’ and what are the two major types?
they are future selves that we hope to obtain which can guide our behaviour
two types are ought self (who should I be) and the ideal self (who do I want to be)
summarise the self discrepancy theory…
perceived discrepancies between our actual selves (who I am) and the ought/ideal self can drive behaviour
what can broadly influence the way in which people view the self?
cultural background, coming from an individualist or a collectivist culture
what is the working self concept? what is the theory behind it?
it is the “now” self, that guides acting, thinking and feeling in the moment… the idea behind this is that components of the social situation that the subject finds itself in may make some aspects of the self more accessible
what did McGuire et al comment on regarding working self concept theory?
the found that boys or girls in the minority of their gender within their family were more likely to make comments about gender identity
what did Fazio et al in 1981 study and find?
interviewer asked questions to prime the participant in an introverted or extraverted way, and then were placed in a room with a stranger and the researcher assessed their interaction with the stranger… found that people who received introverted priming acted in a more extraverted way, demonstrating that the social context of the interaction with the interviewer influence behaviour in subsequent interaction, more so than personality
what are the two main ways that we construct and know ourselves?
- social construction (interpersonal)
- personal construction (intra-personal)
how do we commonly socially construct ourselves? 2 ways….
through social comparison and through social feedback
which two things can social comparison lead to? what are they?
assimilation - viewing ourselves as more similar to who we are comparing ourselves to
contrast - differentiating ourselves from who we are comparing ourselves to
fill the gaps regarding social comparison
if compare to extreme target, more likely to _____
if compare to moderate target, more likely to _____
contrast away from; assimilate towards
what is social feedback in regards to social construction of the self ?
you having an understanding of what you think others think of you, where others act as mirrors into our own self concepts
what did miller et al (1975) do and posit?
study of “tidy” students in a classroom…
they argue that the label someones receives influences what you think about yourself and in turn how you behave
what is introspection in regards to personal construction of the self? what is it good for but what does it lack?
looking inward at the contents of consciousness
- good for knowing what one is feeling, but less reliable as informing why
