week 4 slides

Question 1

what is self?

Answer 1

• our sense of who we are as individuals
• the source and object of reflexive behaviour
• the actions of one individual and the individual whom the actions are
• the self as both passive (let it happen) and active (choose to identify a certain way)

Question 2

Mead’s “I” and “me”

Answer 2

• both I and the Me make up the self
• Me is the socialized self (passive)
• I is the impulse (active)

Question 3

importance of language?

Answer 3

• an important step in acquiring a sense of self is learning one’s name as a child
• one of the earliest steps

Question 4

role taking

Answer 4

• the process of imaginatively occupyinf the position of another person and viewing the self and the situation from the person’s perspective
• another important step in the development of self

Question 5

cooley and the looking glass self

Answer 5

• self as a social object
• perception of self is based on the perceptions of others’ perceptions
• the image of our self is acquired through social relationships (“significant others”)

Question 6

mead’s play and game

Answer 6

• 2 stages to emergence of self
• play (imitating roles they see enacted by adults)
• game (more complex: taking on the roles of those around them)

Question 7

the generalized other

Answer 7

• a conception of the attitudes and expectations held in common by the members of the organized groups with whom they interact
• when we imagine what the group expects of us, we are taking on the role of the generalized other

Question 8

identities

Answer 8

• meanings attached to the self by one’s self and others
• we possess multiple identities
• role identities (role that we play in relation to social group we are in)
• social identities (based on our belonging to social groups)

Question 9

situated self

Answer 9

• the self in particular situations

- multiple identities make up the self and not all are compatible

Question 10

identity salience

Answer 10

• which identity is more prominent
• hierarchy of identities
• more salient identities will be enacted more frequently
• more salient identities will be enacted in more situations
• more salient identities are less situational
• conform more with role expectations of salient identities

Question 11

unified experience of self

Answer 11

ex. bi racial, sister, engineer, genx, and woman

Question 12

self presentation

Answer 12

• inherent in all social situations
• the process by which individuals attempt to control the impressions that others form of them in social interactions
• authentic, ideal, and tactical

Question 13

authentic self presentation

Answer 13

• the self you believe you are

- internalized sense of self

Question 14

ideal self presentation

Answer 14

-who you want to / aspire to be

Question 15

tactical self presentation

Answer 15

-self that you present that is consistent with expectations of others

Question 16

shared definitions of a situation

Answer 16

• for social interaction to run smoothly, we need:
• shared understanding of the situation
• sense of situated identity
• shared sense of interaction goals, appropriate actions and behaviours

Question 17

frames

Answer 17

• a set of widely understood rules or conventions pertaining to a transient but repetitive situation that indicates which roles should be enacted and which behaviours are proper
• ex first date frame

Question 18

situated identity

Answer 18

-our conception of who we are in relation to the people around ys

Question 19

self-disclosure

Answer 19

• process of revealing feelings/behaviours to others
• the more comfortable we get, the more we reveal-more authentic self
• reciprocal process

Question 20

impression management

Answer 20

-ie insta vs reality

Question 21

tactical impression management

Answer 21

• conscious decision to control info in an interaction to influence impressions
• why do we do this? to get people to like us, to get people to respect us, to get people to fear us, to get people to feel sorry for us

Question 22

impression management topics

Answer 22

-physical appearance and props

Question 23

front stage and back stage

Answer 23

• goffman
• text refers to “regions”
• putting on a performance

Question 24

impression management tactics: ingratiation

Answer 24

• the attempts we make to get someone to like us (agreeing, flattery)
• can be done consciously or automatically

Question 25

ingratiation strategies

Answer 25

• opinion comformity
• other enhancement
• supplication
• selective self presentation

Question 26

aligning actions

Answer 26

• results from an impression management “fail”
• how we neutralize the situation
• disclaimer and accounts

Question 27

when impression management fails:

Answer 27

cooling out

• eased out of the role
• alternative identity options
• close relationships

identity degradation

• forced out of the role
• no adequate alternative identites
• dramatic degradation ceremony
• ex prisoner

Question 28

stigma and spoiled identities

Answer 28

• goffman (again)
• an attribute, behaviour, reputation or identity that is socially discrediting in some way
• discredited and discreditable
• a number of coping strategies (concealment, remedy the stigma, overly pleasant)