Week 6 - The Self

Question 1

Self-Concept (3 sources)

study about kids playing with markers

Answer 1

Belief/Knowledge about our personal qualities

Sources
Our own thoughts and feelings
Our own behaviours (Self-perception)
Study where kids played with markers
half were given a certificate for playing well
Internal motivation—–> external motivation which stopped the kids playing with the markers

Other people (reflected appraisals and social comparison)

Question 2

Attributions for behaviour

Actor-Observer bias

Answer 2

Actor-Observer Bias
focus on the other person not the environment
ie you think that someone else’s behaviour is due to their personality not the environment but you think that your behaviour is more of a result of your environment than your personality

Question 3

Self-knowledge
Limited accessibility
Self-schema
Cultural differences

Answer 3

Construction coherent self-concepts for multiple selves

Limited accessibility
Over time, different contexts or people prime different info into the self-concept

Self-schema
unified sense of self (you know who you think you are)

Cultural differences
Interdependent (Eastern) self is defined by social roles and relationships
Independent (Western) self is defined as unique, context-independent

Question 4

Self esteem functions (3 aspects)

Answer 4

How we feel about ourselves

Self-evaluation
self-esteem as an indicator of success (individual level)
self-esteem as an indicator of belonging (social)

Self-Improvement
Self-esteem as an indicator of progress

Self-protection
Self-esteem acts as a buffer

All three influence self-regulation (regulating behaviour

Question 5

Self evaluation and Self-enhancement

Answer 5

self-enhancement happens more than self-evaluation ie we give ourselves credit more than we should

Self-enhancement bias (selective recall)
only remember the good things
BIRGing

Question 6

Self-regulation and Self discrepancy theory

Answer 6

Promotion focus
Outcome appraisal —> Ideal actual discrepancy —> feel dejection (vs elation) —> Depression

Prevention Focus
Outcome appraisal —> Ought-actual discrepancy —> agitation (vs relief) —> Anxiety

Question 7

Why do we have trouble meeting goals ?

Study cookies and radishes

Answer 7

Participants are in a room with radishes and cookies on a table and told they’re evaluating taste perception

half are told they can only eat the radishes (exerted self control) half are told they can eat only the cookies (no exertion of self control)

Afterwards the participants were given an unsolvable puzzle, those who had exerted self control spent much less time trying to solve the puzzle

Self control is good, but it is a limited resource ( like a muscle)

Question 8

Self-defence

Emotion and problem focused coping

Answer 8

Emotion-focused coping (dealing with emotional impact of a problem)
Escape/Distraction (avoiding the emotions)
Downplaying/devaluing (self-complexity)

Problem-focused coping (dealing with the cause of the problem)
Direct cognitive, emotional, and behavioural resources towards reinterpretation
Self-serving attributes
self-handicapping (going out the night before an exam)

Question 9

Self-defence

Internal/external cause

Answer 9

Locus (me/not me) , control, specificity (global/specific)

I will be fired because the company is ruthless
Negative event —> Attribution to global, uncontrollable, external source —> learned halplessness

I am stupid so I will be fired
Negative event —> Attribution to global, uncontrollable, internal cause —> Depression