18.Interpersonal relationships 3: Sexual orientation, attractiveness, & friendship Flashcards
What are self-presentations (impression management)?
the process through which we try to control the impressions people form of us
Why are people concerned about how others view them?
- People self-present to obtain desireable resouces from others (It is a way of strategically gaining control over one’s life - increasing one’s rewards and minimizing one’s cost )
- Self-presentation is a way of constructing a self-image
- Self-presentations help others to know how we expect to be treated -> enabeling social encounters to run more smoothly
What is the dramaturgical perspective?
the perspective that much of social interaction can be thought of as a play, with actors, performances, settings, scrips, props, roles etc
Why are we often reluctant to challenge others’ presentations?
because smooth social interaction is important to us
When are people more likely to self-present?
When they see themselves in “public eye” (ex: pose for a photo, meet your lovers parents etc.)
what is the spotlight effect?
we often see ourselves in the public eye even when we are not (as if there was a spotlight on us)
Do other people actually pay alot of attention to other people?
No - People often don’t pay as much attention to us as we think they do
What is public self-coinsciousness?
the tendency to have a chronic awareness of oneself as being in the public eye
How are people that are high in public self-coinsciousness?
They are especially attuned to how others view them, respond negatively to rejection and focus to a greater degree on their reputation and appearance
When do we become more concerned with strategic self-presentaiton?
- When observers can influence whether or not we obtain our goals
- When these goals are important to us
- When we think observers have impressions different from the ones we want to project
What is self-monitoring
the tendency to be chronically concerned with one’s public image and to adjust one’s actions to fit the needs of the current situation
How are people high in self-monitoring?
- skilled at reading other’s emotional expressions and detecting when others are being manipulative
- Comfortable acting in ways that are inconsistent with their beliefs and attitudes -> therefore they are also better at customizing their presentation to fit the situations
- More likely to rise leadership positions
When does self-representation (for example fail)?
Often when we are nervous (we become clumsty etc.)
What has the fear of self-presentation been labeled?
social anxiety
What happens when we are caught self-presenting?
this can lead people to see the person as dishonest, untrustworthy etc.
Name the 3 public images that are especially useful (what people want to present themselves as)
- People want to appear likeable
- Competent
- High status and power
What are then4 ingratiation strategies that are particularly effective
- Expressing like for others (ex: compliments)
- Creating similarity (When we make ourselves like others they tend to like us more)
- Making ourselves physically attractive (Physically attractive people are indeed liked more and viewed more favorable than unattractive people)
- Projecting modesty (People who downplay their success are more liked more than people who boast them
Is the desire to be liked more profound in women or men?
Women - Women are therefore more likely to use the 4 techniques to get people to like them
Why is ingratiation more important for women?
- Because they, in particular, are rewarded for presenting themselves in agreeable and likable ways
- Women learn how society wants them to behave
- They have lower levels of testosterone - are more friendly and polite
How do we behave en friendship-settings?
We are more likely to smile, say nice things about the other, make ourselves more attractive etc. When talking to a friend/friend to be
What is the multible audience dilemma
a situation in which a person needs to present different images to different audiences often at the same time
What is self-promotion?
an attempt to get others to see us as competent
What does it mean to be staging performances?
Because success is sometimes overlooked we might create opportunities to stage our performances - to demonstrate our competence in public. (if you are a great guitar player and you want to show that - you might create a situation where the opportunity present itself, so you can play the guitar)
- If you’re incompetent at something you are likely to avoid public staging
When do verbal declarations of competence work well and when don’t they?
- Verbal declarations of competence work well when they are invited
- But they can also come across as immodest - truly competent individuals will not need to claim it - the result will speak for itself
It is especially powerful when the claim of competence is made by others on your behalf
What is self-handicapping?
the behavior of withdrawing effort or creating obstacles to one’s future successes.
How can people project an image of competence?
People can project an image of competence by staging performances, making verbal claims, taking in the trappings of success, providing excuses for their failures and claiming or creating obstacles for themselves
What is competence motivation?
the desire to perform effectively
What is achievement motivation
Seeing mastery as interesting and challenging
Where is the desire to appear competent particular profound?
in ambiguous situations ( where individuals are unsure of their standing)
What are the 4 strategies for conveying status and power?
- Display the artifacts of status and power
- Conspicuous consumption (buy the right things)
- Personal associations (know the right people)
- Status and power in nonverbal expressions (signaling power through ex: body language)
Are men or women more likely to display power and status?
Men har generally more likely to display status and power
Because:
-Socialization - males are trained to present themselves as dominant
- Biology - males have to compete for the females and be strong and dominant
BUT: There is no apparent gender difference in the human use of artifacts or personal associations
When are people more likely to display status and power
when valuable resources become newly available
How does men present themselves to women vs other men?
-Males are more likely to respond aggressive when the audience is male and inhibit this if the audience is females
What is a friend?
Someone with whom we have an affectionate relationship.
Friendships are more voluntarily - we choose them ourselves
What is the reinforcement-affect model?
The theory that we like people with whom we associate positive feelings and dislike those with whom we associate negative feelings
A bit like classical conditioning - if a person is present when something nice happens - you will associate them with a good feel and like them
-this model is a domain-general model = a model that attempts to explain a wide range of different behaviors according to a simple general rule (do it if it’s rewarding)
What is a domain-general model and what is its advantages and limitations?
a model that attempts to explain a wide range of different behaviors according to a simple general rule (do it if it’s rewarding)
- The advantage of a domain-general model = it seeks to use a minimum of presumptions to explain a broad range of phenomenon
- Limitation = it doesn’t tell us why some things feel god and others feel bad
What is social exchange theory? (friendships)
the trading of benefits within relationships
the motivation is to maximize the ratio of benefits to cost. Follow the Equity principle = one person’s benefits and costs from a relationship are proportional to the benefits and cost incurred by his or her partner
