Week 19: Understanding The Self

Question 1

What is the self-concept?

Answer 1

The beliefs a person holds about their attributes and how they evaluate these qualities

Question 2

What are the three components of the self concept?

Answer 2

• Content - (such as facial attractiveness vs mental aptitude)
• Positivity or negativity - (such as self-esteem)
• Intensity, stability over time and accuracy - (the degree to which one’s self- assessment corresponds to reality)

Question 3

What is self-esteem?

Answer 3

The positivity of a persons self concept

Question 4

How does self-esteem work?

Answer 4

Self-esteem is often related to acceptance by others. Those with high self-esteem expect to be successful whereas those with low self-esteem do not think they will perform well

Question 5

What is social comparison?

Answer 5

Where a person tries to evaluate their self by comparing it to the people depicted in these artificial images

Question 6

What is self-esteem advertising?

Answer 6

It attempts to change product attributes by stimulating positive feelings about the self

Question 7

What is the problem with self-esteem marketing?

Answer 7

There can be ethical issues in marketing presenting unrealistic ideals that can lead to negative self perceptions

Question 8

What is the ideal self?

Answer 8

A persons conception of how her or she would like to be. This ‘self’ is partly moulded by heroes (or advertising depictions) in ones culture.

Question 9

What is the actual self?

Answer 9

Refers to our more realistic appraisal of the qualities we have and don’t have

Question 10

What is impression management?

Answer 10

People work hard to ‘manage’ what other people of think o them by strategically choosing clothing and other cues that will show us in good light

Question 11

What is a fantasy appeal?

Answer 11

Products or services that appeal to consumers tendency to fantasise

Question 12

What is a fantasy/daydream?

Answer 12

A self induces shift in consciousness, which is sometimes a way of compensating for a lack of external stimulation or of escaping problems in the real world

Question 13

What are the three post production tools we use to engineer our online identities?

Answer 13

• free or inexpensive apps that allow us to modify the profile pictures or descriptions shared on online dating sites
• Avatars in virtual worlds
• our physical bodies merge with our digital environments (you are what you post)

Question 14

What is symbolic interactionism?

Answer 14

• relationships with other people play a large part in forming the self
• consumers are defined by social consensus
• We tend to pattern our behaviour on the perceived expectations of others in form of a self fulfilling prophecy

Question 15

What is the looking-glass self?

Answer 15

The process of imagining the reactions of others towards us (also known as ‘taking the role of others)

Question 16

Describe how a person has ‘Multiple selves’

Answer 16

• The self has different components or role identities
• We each play many roles and each has its own script, props and costumes
• some of the identities are more central than others
• Others might be dominant in certain situations

Question 17

Describe Erving Goffman’s role performance theory

Answer 17

• His theory covers ‘ The presentation of self in everyday life’
• ’ All the world is not a stage… but the crucial ways in which it isn’t are not easy to specify
• looks at social interaction as a performance
• We perform different roles to different audiences

Question 18

What is symbolic self completion theory?

Answer 18

It predicts that people who have an incomplete self-definition tend to complete this identity by acquiring and displaying symbols associated with it

Question 19

What does Belk (1998) have to say about possessions and the extended self?

Answer 19

The key to understanding what possessions mean is recognising that, knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, we regard our possessions as parts of ourselves.

Question 20

What are the four levels of extended selves?

Answer 20

• Individual
• Family
• Community
• Group

Question 21

Describe the individual level of our extended selves

Answer 21

Inclusion of many personal possessions in self-definition

eg. cars, clothing

Question 22

Describe the Family level of our extended selves

Answer 22

Includes a consumers residence and its furnishings

Question 23

Describe the Community level of our extended selves

Answer 23

The neighbourhood or town to which consumers belong

Question 24

Describe the Group level of our extended selves

Answer 24

Attachments to certain social groups can be considered part of the self