W4.a

Question 1

What is the self?

According to William James (1890)

Answer 1

I (subject; agent; knower)
Me (object of reflection; known): entire set of beliefs, evaluations, perceptions and thoughts that people have about themselves

Question 2

What is self-concept?

Answer 2

Mental representation of all of a person’s knowledge about his or her attributes.
E.g., beliefs, thoughts, memories, roles, relationships, groups…

Question 3

What are the content dimensions of self-concept?

Answer 3

“Big Two”:
Communion (warmth): social relationships (friendly, fair)
Agency (competence): goal attainment (ambitious, capable)

Big Five: OCEAN

Question 4

What is self-aspects?

Answer 4

Summaries of a person’s beliefs about the self in specific domains, roles or activities.

• Personal aspects
• Social aspects
• Domains: at work, at home, with friends… (Sometimes overlap with roles and groups; sometimes not)

Question 5

What is “personal aspects” from self-aspects?

Answer 5

Personal selves, personal identities

• Features that distinguish you from others.
• Often traits (warm, extraverted)

Question 6

What is “social aspects” from self-aspects?

Answer 6

Social selves, social identities

• Roles (relational): Features we possess in virtue of the roles and relationships we have.
• Group/social category memberships(collective): Features we possess because we are group members; those we share with others

Question 7

Self-organization: Schema

What is “self-schema”?

Answer 7

Knowledge structure that links, organizes and “weights” self-concept components

Question 8

Self-organization: narrative

What is “narrative self/identity”?

Answer 8

The story of who I am

Internalized, evolving story of the self that binds, organizes and provides meaning to self components aspects across time

Question 9

How do future selves act as “self-guides”?

Answer 9

Standards that help us guide behavior

• Ought self: who should I be?
• Ideal self: who do I want to be?
• Self-Discrepancy Theory: Perceived discrepancies between our actual selves (who I am) and these self guides can drive behaviour

Question 10

What is working self-concept?

Answer 10

The ‘now’ self, that guides acting, thinking and feeling in the moment.

Question 11

How does working self-concept guide behavior?

Answer 11

Accessible self-knowledge impacted behavior.
Components of the social situation may make some aspects of the self more accessible.
Situational cues can activate working self-concepts that influence our behaviour.

Fazio et al (1981):
Situational cues encourage activation of introversion vs. extraversion-related self-knowledge.

Question 12

How do I know who I am?

Answer 12

We construct and know ourselves via:
Social construction of self: social comparison, social feedback;
Personal construction of the self: introspection, self-perception

Question 13

What is social comparison in social construction of self?

Answer 13

Process of comparing oneself to others.

-Can lead to assimilation or contrast
extreme target – contrast
moderate target – assimilate

Accurate self-concepts come from comparing to similar others.

Question 14

What is social feedback in social construction of self?

Answer 14

Internalize our perceptions of how others see us.

Other people act as mirrors into our own self-concepts

Our selves are shaped by how we think others see us.

Question 15

What is introspection in personal construction of self?

Answer 15

Looking inward at the contents of consciousness (thoughts and feelings).
Reasonable route to know what one is feeling or experiencing, it is less reliable in informing us about why.

Question 16

How can introspection be functional?

Answer 16

When processing deeply, it can improve accuracy of self-knowledge.
When introspection reveals that one meets one’s standards, positive feelings can result.
It can increase self-consistency in behavior, more likely to act in accordance with one’s values

Question 17

What is self-perception in personal construction of self?

Answer 17

Self perception theory (Bem, 1972): People infer self-knowledge by observing their own behaviors.

If people don’t have a good situational explanation, they infer a self-related explanation.

Question 18

What is over-justification effect?

Answer 18

Lepper, Greene & amp; Nisbett (1973):
Expected reward: extrinsic motivation;
Unexpected reward: intrinsic motivation ;
No award: intrinsic motivation

Question 19

What is the functions of the self?

Answer 19

We construct and present our selves in the service of mastery goals, belonging and value me and mine.

Question 20

Self and mastery: constructing selves in the names of?

Answer 20

Accuracy

Control

Question 21

What is “accuracy” in self and mastery?

Answer 21

Seek accurate self-knowledge

Self-verification: confirming what one believes about the self
People prefer relationship partners who agree with their own self-image, even of those views are negative

Question 22

What is “control” in self and mastery?

Answer 22

People make upward social comparisons to motivate behavior and seek rewards

This process can:

• Provide info on how the task is done
• Change expectations about what is possible to achieve
• Increase motivation

Question 23

Self and valuing (and protecting) me and mine

Answer 23

Self-enhancement motive
Self esteem
Self-protection

Question 24

What is self-enhancement motives?

Answer 24

• Desire to maximize the positivity of one’s self views
• Define our self-concepts in ways that make us feel better about ourselves

Better than average effect (Lake Wobegon effect): Most people see themselves as above average

Self-enhancement may be different in different cultures

Question 25

What is self-esteem?

Answer 25

Evaluation of the self (Do I feel positive about who I am)

• Trait self esteem: cross-situationally stable
• State self-esteem: temporary, situation-specific
• Global self-esteem: holistic appraisal of the self

High self-esteem can help us cope with threats, although excessively high self-esteem can bleed into narcissism.

Question 26

What is self-protection?

Answer 26

Protecting ourselves from criticism:

Self-defensive attributions;
Self-defensive social comparisons;
Self-affirmation

Question 27

What is self-defensive attributions?

Answer 27

Explain negative behaviours as stemming from the situation

Claim positive behaviours as arising from the self

Question 28

What is self-defensive social comparisons?

Answer 28

Under the self is under threat, people make downward social comparisons

Question 29

What is self-affirmation?

Answer 29

When one aspect/domain of the self is under threat, people can protect themselves by affirming the importance of a different aspect/domain.

Question 30

Self and belonging

Answer 30

Define (and present) our selves in ways that make us fit in.

Impression management, self-presentation…
Ingratiation: seeking the acceptance of others.
One way to achieve this is via presenting a likable self.

Question 31

What are the multiple goals of self-presentation?

Answer 31

Strategies of self presentation (Jones & Pittman, 1982)
Ingratiation (belonging): seek affection
Self-promotion (mastery): seek respect
Intimidation (mastery): seek fear in others
Exemplification (mastery): seek emulation
Supplication (belonging): seek compassion

Question 32

What is terror management theory?

Answer 32

A theory stating that reminders of one’s own mortality lead individuals to affirm basic cultural worldviews (religious beliefs or views about what is the most important in life), which can have both positive (pro-social behaviors) and negative (generating intolerance and rejection for the deviant…) effects.

Question 33

What is problem-focused coping?

Answer 33

Dealing with threats or stressors directly, often by reappraising the situation or by directly removing the threat.

Question 34

What is self-handicapping?

Answer 34

Seeking to avoid blame for an expected poor performance, either by claiming an excuse in advance or by actively sabotaging one’s own performance.

Question 35

What is emotional-focused coping

Answer 35

Dealing with the negative emotions aroused by threats or stressors, often by suppressing emotions or distraction.

Question 36

How does self-schema work?

Answer 36

Provides a summary of core, important characteristics that a person believes define him or her across situation
Important, core aspects likely to be accessible, thus self-schema guides interpretation of the environment and performance of behavior

Question 37

Two self organization

Answer 37

Schema

Narrative