Unit 3: The Self in the social world

Question 1

What is the definition of a self schema and how does it help us react?

Answer 1

elements of your self-concept
beliefs by which you define yourself, organize and guide the processing of self-relevant info
organization helps us react more quickly and effectively in social situations

Question 2

What is self-concept?

Answer 2

It is the ans to the question “Who am I?”

Question 3

If being athletic is one of your self schemas, what might you notice more?

Answer 3

You will likely notice others athletic skills

Question 4

What is the sens of control in relation to self-schema?

Answer 4

They contribute to our sense of control over our social world

Question 5

What are possible selves?

Answer 5

They are visions of who we might become in the future
who we dread becoming and want to become

Question 6

what is the spotlight effect?

Answer 6

The tendency to see ourselves center stage by overestimating others attention to us

Question 7

How does the spotlight effect influence our perception?

Answer 7

We think everyone is noticing our emotions, clothes, thoughts, and appearance more than they actually are aka illusion of transparency

Question 8

What is the Savitsky and Gilovich experiment with Cornell students?

Answer 8

• asked student w/ no past experience to prepare speech after a 5 minute preparation
• CG; no no further instructions/ EG; were “reassured”
  ppl rated their speech quality and percieved nervousness
• despite EG being more nervous not a big gap in perceived nervous

Question 9

How do social surroundings affect self-awareness?

Answer 9

• being the only member of a particular group heightens self-conciousness
  eg race, gender, social status

Question 10

How does self-interest affect social judgment during conflict?

Answer 10

We tend to attribute more responsibility to the other person than to ourselves

Question 11

What happens when things go well in terms of self-interest?

Answer 11

We tend to take more credit for the success

Question 12

How does self-concern influence social behavior?

Answer 12

It motivates us to monitor our appearance and behavior to meet social expectations

Question 13

How do social relationships shape our sense of self?

Answer 13

• our relationships shape our sense of self-definition
• we may have diff selves depending on who we are with

Question 14

What is social comparison?

Answer 14

the process of evaluating ourselves in relation to others

Question 15

why do we engage in social comparison?

Answer 15

• gain a benchmark for self-evaluation
• determine id we meet social norms

Question 16

What types of social comparisons are there?

Answer 16

a) upward comparison; comparing ourselves to people who are better than us in a particular domain
b) downward comparison; comparing ourselves to people who are worse than us in a particular domain

Question 17

What does the term “keeping up with the joneses”

Answer 17

the tendency to compare ourselves to others and strive to match their level of possessions and achievement

Question 18

what are the consequences of social comparison and its relation to social media?

Answer 18

can affect our self-esteem, motivation, and behavior
intensifies with social media as they present idealized versions of others lives

Question 19

What is Self-Presentation?

Answer 19

the act of expressing ourselves and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression or an impression that corresponds to ones ideals
- eg use excuses, apologize to maintain that image

Question 20

who is this self-presentation for?

Answer 20

for both an external audience and an internal one (ourselves)

Question 21

is our self- image accurate? why?

Answer 21

not always, sometimes others can predict our behavior more accurate
due to biases and blind spots from being objects due to the effect it can have on our self-esteem

Question 22

What is self-handicapping?

Answer 22

is a self-presentation tactic where we create obstacles to success to protect our self-esteem in case of failure
eg student procrastinates, to be used as an excuse in case of bad score

Question 23

what do we blame our failure on during self-handicapping?

Answer 23

external causes, real or not real

Question 24

what are self-presentation tactics?

Answer 24

methods we use when we are trying to affect the impression that others form of us

Question 25

What are types of self-presentation tactics that we have?

Answer 25

Self-promotions; claiming competence in a particular are
self-verification perspective; trying to lead others to agree with our self-views(eg downplaying characteristic in job interview)
Ingratiation tactics; expressing liking for others to create a favorable impression
self-depreciation; downplaying our abilities to manage others expectations

Question 26

why may self-presentations not be true

Answer 26

at times can be strategic and sometimes dishonest

Question 27

what is personal identity and social identity?

Answer 27

PI: how we define ourselves as individuals, based on unique traits, experiences, and values
SI: How we define ourselves as members of specific social groups

Question 28

What is the social identity theory

Answer 28

proposes that we activate different aspects of our identities depending on the social context
the salient identity at any given moment influences our thoughts, feelings, and behavior

Question 29

what is intragroup comparison

Answer 29

when our personality is salient, we tend to compare ourselves to other individuals within the same group(emphasize difference in group)

Question 30

what is intergroup comparison

Answer 30

when our personality is salient, we tend to compare our group to other groups (emphasize similarities to members, but differences to group)

Question 31

what is self-content

Answer 31

it is the result of an intragroup or intergroup comparison , integrate both identities

Question 32

what is self-esteem, and what does it consist of?

Answer 32

overall attitude towards ourselves, sum of self-schemas and possible selves

Question 33

Is self-esteem stable? What factors influence its stability?

Answer 33

not stable and fluctuates depending on various factors, such as, social rejection or threats to self-esteem from events or individuals

Question 34

How can we prevent social rejection from lowering our self-esteem?

Answer 34

change in viewpoint, if we see it as a opportunity or challenge rather than a threat, allows us to shift the negative impact = reframes it

Question 35

what effect does low self-esteem have on us?

Answer 35

clinical problems eg depression, loneliness, eating disorders
memory and perception, reduces levels of satisfaction

Question 36

What is a collectivistic and individualistic views?

Answer 36

C- emphasize interdependence, group harmony, and social connections
I- Emphasize independence, personal achievement and self-expression

Question 37

what is the interdependent self?

Answer 37

people from collectivistic cultures tend to have interdependent self, where their sense of self is closely tie to their group memberships
therefore a negative comment will affect them less

Question 38

link between saliency and self-esteem

Answer 38

the saliency of certain social identifies can influence self-esteem

Question 39

what are some factors that can influence self-esteem?

Answer 39

social comparison, cultural norms, group membership, media representation, personnal experiences