University Test 1 Flashcards

Question

What is the spontaneous self-concept?

Answer 1

Developed by McGuire, the spontaneous self-concept refers to the aspects of yourself that come to mind most easily and quickly when asked to describe who you are. These traits or identities are influenced by the context or situation and are often things that set you apart or make you unique in that moment. Ex: If you're the only woman in a group of men and someone asks you to describe yourself, you might immediately mention being a woman because it stands out in that context.

Answer 2

Distinctiveness theory posits that individuals more readily notice their unique traits and personal characteristics because they offer valuable information for distinguishing themselves from others.

Answer 3

1) 6th grade students with atypical traits like age, hair color, eye color, weight, and birthplace tend to focus on these attributes more than those with unique characteristics (McGuire). 2) In terms of gender, 26% of minority students in the classroom mention their gender, while only 11% of majority students do (McGuire). 3) Students were put in groups of 3 in the following conditions: all male, all female, 2 males 1 female, 2 females 2 male. In the mixed gender condition, the lone person in the group was more likely to mention their gender as a measure of distinctiveness than people in the "all male/female" condition

Answer 4

Stereotype distinctiveness is when you are really good at something that is supposedult contrary to a stereotype about you Ex: women excelling at sports People are more likely to mention if they are proficient in areas that are often stereotyped (or if the are very different from their families)

Answer 5

Contextual activation is the idea that our self-schema is influenced by context

Answer 6

Fazio et al. prompted people to think in an extroverted way using biased questions to influence them to act in a more extroverted way (even if they were not initially extroverted at their core) The extrovert condition later reported themselves as more extroverted AND acted more extroverted in a subsequent situation, showing how there is a multitude of self knowledge and self representations available in memory. There is just the issue of activating them in a given context.

Answer 7

The Barnum effect occurs when a statement is so vague that it applies to almost anybody (like horoscopes)

Answer 8

The dynamic self-context refers to the idea that an individual's self-concept is not fixed but changes based on the context, experiences, and interactions they encounter over time. This concept emphasizes that our understanding of ourselves is fluid and influenced by various factors.

Answer 9

The working self is the active part of your identity that influences your thoughts and behaviors in a specific moment.

Answer 10

Your core is available across situations (knowledge about yourself is available) but, this knowledge may not be accessible. Accessibility of info comes from: 1. How often you access it 2. How recently you accessed it

Answer 11

No help is needed to retrieve part of the self (it is always available and accessible)

Answer 12

The information is available but may require help/priming to access it.

Answer 13

Prime associations are prompts that influence inconsistent/neutral participants to be more/less neutral (encourages people to pick a side) Basically, it is subtly moving people who are in the middle towards extremes/distinct sides

Answer 14

Participants were primed with words that were either competition related or cooperation related. Then, they were asked to play a game. Participants who were primed with competition related words were more likely to play aggressively, and vice versa for the cooperative group.* *This was only for people who were neutral on prosocial/pro-self behaviours. For people who are more prosocial naturally, they remained prosocial even when primed (and vice versa)

Answer 15

Structure is the idea that we have various selves. There are two general camps regarding structure of the self: distinct and intergrated Distinct self = self concept complexity - The idea that the self is highly differentiated and is very different depending on the contex Integrated self = self concept clarity - The idea the we have a clear/consistent/coherent idea of ourself that is the same across contexts

Answer 16

The Stress Buffering Hypothesis is the belief that social support can be the key to buffering stress and adverse effects from a stressful situation

Answer 17

Benefit: - Less spillover = negative occurences only affect one domain of the self (ex: a bad grade on a test doesn't mean I'm a bad daughter) Disadvantage: - Less spillover = fewer positive benefits when good things happen in a specific domain (ex: a good grade on a test doesn't make me a better daughter)

Answer 18

European = generally personal/ individualistic identity Asian = generally collectivistic

Answer 19

Yes! People can change their working self-concept, like to fit in better in a workplace, but the larger core identity remains the same Ex: Asian workers in a Canadian workplace

Answer 20

For Westerners, the true self is thought to be the stable self; it is assumed that your true self isn't changing from day-to-day North Americans generally behave consistently across relationships (treat everybody the same) = knowing how someone is with their mom can help you to predict how they are with their friends *Both W/Easterners tend to be consistent from location to location (ex: how you behave at the gym, cafeteria, etc.)

Answer 21

Easterners are consistent in how they treat specific relationships (they treat their moms that same way always, but likely treat their friends differently) = knowing how someone is with their mom CANNOT help you to predict how they are with their friends *Both W/Easterners tend to be consistent from location to location (ex: how you behave at the gym, cafeteria, etc.)

Answer 22

Residential mobility refers to the movement of individuals or households from one dwelling to another.

Answer 23

- People who don't move often are less reliant on personal traits to define who they are - People who move frequently are very reliant on personal traits to define who they are (and they prefer to interact wiith people who can accurately see their personality traits)

Answer 24

- FMs are less committed to the place they are at (ex: only supporting the local sport team when they are winning) - NFMs are very committed to the place they are at (ex: supporting the local team, win or lose)

Answer 25

- FMs are more likely to compartmentalize their friends, and desire larger social networks to avoid loneliness - They also have highly transient social networks FMs = duty free friendship (friendships with no obligations/strings attached) For FMs, well-being is more personal/related to themselves than related to interpersonal aspects

Answer 26

Self-knowledge asymmetry is the idea that people tend to know more about their own internal experiences, like emotions and thoughts, while others might have better knowledge of external traits, (behavior or personality tendencies in social situations) and self-evaluative traits (how intelligent/rude someone is, which they likely won't be able to impartially weigh in on)

Answer 27

William James means that you should decide which selves to care about = basically self-esteem; which selves are most important for you to feel good about yourself?

Answer 28

Ambivalent attitudes are mixed feelings or conflicting evaluations (both positive and negative) toward a person, object, or situation. Ex: I like eating candy, but I also feel guilty eating it

Answer 29

Intercomponent ambivalence occurs when there is conflict between different components of an attitude, such as between thoughts (cognition) and feelings (affect). Example: You believe exercising is good for your health (cognition), but you dislike the effort it takes (affect). Intracomponent ambivalence occurs when there is conflict within the same component of an attitude, such as mixed positive and negative feelings within your emotions or beliefs. Example: You love eating dessert (positive affect), but also feel guilty about the calories (negative affect).

Answer 30

Direct = explicitly asking "how do you feel about X" - Implicit = infering attitudes through observable behaviours (reaction time, heart rate, sweat, etc.)

Answer 31

Pros: - Can give info on accessibility (retrieval speed) - Response latencies: difference in time between being exposed to a stimulus and reacting Cons: - Interpretive ambiguity (many logical leaps/inferences) - Not precise (many IM are very influenced by environment: are you sweating because you are biased, or because you are nervous?)

Answer 32

STRONG attitudes are generally more strongly linked to behaviour

Answer 33

- The amount of info we have of that attitude - How the info was acquired - How accessible the info is (how quickly it comes to mind/can be retrieved) → tied to environment, which may prime you to more easily retrieve info

Answer 34

Whether attitudes will better predict behaviour depends on how well the meaured attitude corresponds to behaviour * The more specific the measured attitude is to the behavior in question, the better the chance of accurately predicting that behavior Ex: To predict if someone will exercise regularly, measuring their specific attitude toward working out, like enjoyment of running, is more effective than assessing their general attitude toward fitness.

Answer 35

Attitudes towards specific situations/objects are more likely to influence behaviour directly related to that situation/object

Answer 36

General attitudes are more likely to influence patterns of behaviour over time, rather than any one specific action

Answer 37

Behaviorists think that behavior is entirely shaped by the environment and outside factors. Humanists believe that people can control how they respond to their environment.

Answer 38

- Conscious (slow, controllable, reflfectivee, deliberate processes) - Unconscious (fast, impulsive, reflexive processes)

Answer 39

Automaticity is when outside things in your environment influence your thoughts and actions without you realizing it. Ex: skill acquisition, preconscious/low conscious processing (unaware/effortless processing)

Answer 40

Priming is the presentation of information designed to activate a concept

Answer 41

Semantic priming happens when one word helps you think of related words, making it easier to remember them.

Answer 42

In the Carver et al. (1983) study on priming hostility, participants were given a task where they had to form sentences using three out of four provided scrambled words. The words included options like "Hits," "Her," "He," and "Them." Scramble Sentence Task: Participants were presented with 30 sets of scrambled words and asked to create a grammatically correct sentence. For example, they could use "Hits," "He," and "Her" to form the sentence "He hits her." Findings: The researchers found that about 80% of the sentences formed by participants included a word related to hostility (like "hits"), indicating that the task primed or triggered hostile thoughts and behaviors.

Answer 43

Electic shock machine. When people are primed with hostile words, they are more likely to administer dangerous electric shocks to people

Answer 44

Habits are repeated associations (2 things that tend to occur); ex: get in car, put on seatbelt There is also context to the response (context predicts a reward); ex: walking past a bakery predicts getting a snack

Answer 45

Yes, provided the subliminal message/prime is paired with a goal that the participant has Ex: If you are thirsty, being primed with an image of a Sprite can will make you more likely to choose Sprite when offered a variety of beverages

Answer 46

Mimicry is the unconscious imitation of another person's behaviors, expressions, or mannerisms, which promotes social bonding, rapport, and empathy (for both the mimicker and the person being mimicked)

Answer 47

If you have the goal of affiliating with someone, you will increase your mimicry efforts. If you are trying NOT to affiliate with someone, you will mimic them less.

Answer 48

Significant others can influence your goals without you even realizing it. When you're close to someone, just thinking about them can make you more committed to goals related to them. This effect is stronger when you only have a few specific goals connected to that person, making it easier to focus on and pursue those goals. Ex: if your partner values fitness, just thinking about them might motivate you to stick to your workout routine, especially if fitness is one of the main goals you associate with them.

Answer 49

Yes, people can be aware of a prime, but they would still not be aware that it is influencing them

Answer 50

Rewording information to influence perception in a more favorable or unfavorable direction.

Answer 51

Presenting the same information in a positive or negative way to influence perceptions and choices.

Answer 52

Presenting logically identical information in different ways without altering its actual meaning to influence interpretation.

Answer 53

How an event or decision is viewed based on its timing, like whether it's happening soon or far in the future. * Things in the present tend to be thought of in concrete terms: moving a friend's couch up the stairs * Things in the future tend to be thought of in abstract terms: helping a friend move

Answer 54

Reflected appraisals are when the ways that others perceive and react to us influence how we see ourselves, shaping our identity and behavior. * The correlation between how we see ourselves and how other see us is pretty small, HOWEVER, correlation between how we see ourselves and how we think others see us strongly correlates **We think others see us the same way we see ourselves, but we are WRONG

Answer 55

- Have not given sufficient thought to the issue - Lack the rational skills to reason about the issue - Be driven by ideology rather than rational though Basically, we think we are objective/unbiased and anyone who disagrees with us is uneducated

Answer 56

1) The spotlight effect (overestimating how much attention we attract) 2) Rose-coloured glasses (distorting the feedback that we receive) 3) The mum effect (others don't always tell us what they really think of us)

Answer 57

Becoming complacent and sacrificing opportunities for self-betterment

Answer 58

Self-presentation is the attempt to convey information or images about oneself to others, often regulating one's identity for real or imagined audiences. It is also called presentation management.

Answer 59

When performing privately after receiving negative feedback, people tend to be boastful about their performance because the public didn't witness how well they actually did.

Answer 60

When performing publicly after receiving negative feedback, people are more modest about their performance since they believe others saw how poorly they did.

Answer 61

We self-enhance more with strangers, as there is more pressure to make a good impression, while friends are more likely to call us out on exaggerations.

Answer 62

People tend to turn down boastfulness when speaking with someone who is sad, and become more positive when speaking with someone who is happy. People are unaware they adjust their self-presentation to match others' moods, but outside observers can recognize these adjustments.

Answer 63

Participants studied the life of Ann Marie and her sexual encounter with Eric. If she had sex during the "safe time of the month," she was seen as less smart but more nice If she had sex and used a condom, she was seen as more smart but less nice

Answer 64

Self-enhancement theory doesn't account for people with very low self-esteem, who may reject positive feedback because they feel they don't deserve it.

Answer 65

People with low self-esteem often spend time with those who see them unfavorably because they seek validation of their negative self-view and tend to reject positive feedback.

Answer 66

Expectancy confirmation is when someone behaves consistently with what you expect (self-fulfilling prophecy) or when ambiguous behavior is interpreted to fit your expectations (cognitive confirmation).

Answer 67

A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when someone's behavior matches the expectations others have of them, confirming those expectations.

Answer 68

Cognitive confirmation is when ambiguous behavior is interpreted in a way that aligns with your existing expectations of someone.

Answer 69

Yes, targets pick up on non-verbal cues like distancing and lack of eye contact, and often respond similarly, creating an interaction that confirms the perceiver’s expectations. Researchers found that black interviewees received more distancing and made more speech errors, and distant interviewers led all interviewees (even white) to perform poorly.

Answer 70

Participants projected their expectations of socioeconomic status onto children in a video, assuming high-status children performed better than low-status children, even though the test performance was ambiguous.

Answer 71

Symbolic self-completion theory suggests that people who feel incomplete in an important aspect of their identity will use symbols to fill the gap and achieve a sense of completeness. Ex: Women who received negative feedback about their professional goals became more determined to defend their identity, responding faster to professional-related questions than those who weren't threatened. Ex: Men who received negative feedback could not be modest, even when told Debbie liked modest men, because they were too focused on protecting their ego

Answer 72

People present their true selves, aspirational selves, and the selves that help them achieve their goals.

Answer 73

Global accuracy refers to understanding who someone is in general.

Answer 74

Circumscribed accuracy refers to understanding how someone acts in specific situations.

Answer 75

You are more likely to form a strong impression on a single date because your focus is on the other person, but with multiple dates, your focus splits between learning about them and worrying about your own self-presentation.

Answer 76

- Attributions (explanations for their situation) - Control (asserting their control over the situation) - Self-enhancement (finding other areas of themselves to be happy about)

Answer 77

The illusion of control is the belief that individuals have more control over outcomes than they actually do, often leading them to think they are less likely to experience negative events compared to others.

Answer 78

The criteria for mental health include happiness, caring for others, and engaging in productive and creative work.

Answer 79

Self-serving attributions contribute to happiness by promoting positive moods when individuals attribute success to themselves and minimize negative moods by attributing failures to external factors.

Answer 80

Positive affect enhances intellectual functioning, motivation, and a belief in personal control, leading individuals to work harder and longer.

Answer 81

Students with high self-esteem, optimism, and a sense of control are better adjusted to university life, achieving higher GPAs and experiencing less stress and illness.

Answer 82

For HIV+ men, optimism and perceived personal control can extend survival time by about nine months compared to those who practice realistic acceptance.

Answer 83

The belief that your risk level for bad things happening is lower than other peoples' risk Other forms of unrealistic optimism include planning fallacy, where you underestimate the amount of time needed to complete a project

Answer 84

When writing in Mandarin/Cantonese, Chinese-born Canadians had lower self-esteem, more collective self-descriptions, and a more balanced mix of positive and negative self-statements compared to when writing in English.

Answer 85

(Daffodil Days experiment): Our estimations of how good other people are is largely accurate, but we tend to overestimate how good we are. This is called the Holier-Than-Thou Effect

Answer 86

A deliberative mindset occurs before committing to a goal, focusing on evaluating possible actions and weighing pros and cons. An implemental mindset occurs after committing, where focus shifts to planning and executing the goal without further deliberation.

Answer 87

Comparative ability judgements are egocentric processes where people evaluate their abilities compared to others, showing an above-average effect if their skills are high, and a below-average effect if their skills are low, often using anchor and adjustment processes.

Answer 88

Illusions are common and help reduce stress, while repression and denial are less common as they tend to increase stress; however, too many distorted illusions can be unhealthy.

Answer 89

People show a below-average effect when they know they are bad at something and an above-average effect when they know they are good at something.

Answer 90

The dilemma is that while positive illusions help normal people feel better, they might make it harder to recognize or use negative feedback effectively.

Answer 91

Boys in a deliberative mindset (before making a decision) remembered information about both girls impartially, while those in an implemental mindset (after making a decision) only remembered information about the girl they had picked, showing bias toward their chosen option.

Answer 92

The state of mind affects how you encode information. If you process information impartially in a deliberative mindset before making a decision, you are more likely to remember it without bias.

Answer 93

People in a deliberative mindset are more open to new and incidental information, even if it is not central to their goal, because they are more flexible in processing and less likely to filter out information.

Answer 94

People in a deliberative mindset had a lower illusion of control in a contingency task compared to those in an implemental mindset, though both groups experienced some level of illusion of control (turning on the light experiment).

Answer 95

People in an implemental mindset had a higher sense of invulnerability to both controllable and uncontrollable risks and a stronger better-than-average effect, while the deliberative mindset reduced these illusions.

Answer 96

In a relationship study, people in a deliberative mindset made more realistic predictions about their relationship's survival, while those in an implemental mindset were overly optimistic, especially when their relationship was at risk of ending.

Answer 97

Premature closure occurs when people rush through deliberation to reach a decision, potentially leading to incomplete processing of information.

Answer 98

Deliberating about a relationship goal can trigger insecurity and defensiveness, drawing attention to problems and leading to overcompensation, whereas personal goal deliberation doesn’t typically evoke these responses.

Answer 99

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort we feel when our attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent. To cope, we often shift our attitudes to align with our actions, convincing ourselves that our behavior is acceptable.

Answer 100

Self-affirmation is the process of affirming our core beliefs (e.g., "I am a good person") to reduce the discomfort caused by behaviors that conflict with our attitudes, helping us maintain a positive self-image.

Answer 101

Participants who wrote essays in favor of tuition increases under high choice conditions tended to shift their attitudes to align with the essay unless they were given the chance to self-affirm, which eliminated the dissonance effect.

Answer 102

The spreading of alternatives effect occurs when people rate two similar items, and after being given one, they begin to view it as significantly better than the other, even though the items were initially rated equally.

Answer 103

Fein and Spencer found that participants who engaged in a self-affirmation task showed no bias when evaluating job applicants, while those who did not affirm themselves rated the Jewish applicant as less qualified, revealing increased prejudice.

Answer 104

Self-affirmation reduces rumination about failure, decreases biased views of others on social issues, and enhances executive control and cognitive performance, particularly among individuals in poverty.

University Test 1 Flashcards

(128 cards)