Block 5 (Part 1) Flashcards
Reflexivity
the idea that the self reflects back upon itself, that the I (the knower, the subject) encounters the Me (the known, the object), reflexivity is a fundamental property of human selfhood
Ego
Sigmund Freud’s conception of an executive self in the personality, akin to this module’s notion of “the I”, Freud imagined the go as observing outside reality, engaging in rational thought, and coping with the competing demands of inner desires and moral standards
Big Five
a broad taxonomy of personality trait domains repeatedly derived from studies of trait ratings in adulthood and encompassing the categories of:
1. extraversion vs. introversion
2. neuroticism vs. emotional stability
3. agreeableness vs. disagreeableness
4. conscientiousness vs. non-conscientiousness
5. openness to experience vs. conventionality
by late childhood and early adolescence people’s self-attributions made about them by others, show patterns of intercorrelations that confirm with the five-factor structure obtained in studies of adults
Self as Social Actor
the sense of self as an embodied actor whose social performances may be constructed in terms of more or less consistent self-ascribed traits and social roles
Social Reputation
the traits and social roles that others attribute to an actor, actors also have their own conceptions of what they imagine their respective social reputations indeed are in the eyes of others
Theory of Mind
emerging around age 4, the child’s understanding that other people have minds in which are located desires and beliefs, and that desires and beliefs, therefore, motivate behavior
The Age 5-7 Shift
cognitive and social changes that occur in the early elementary school years that result in the child’s developing a more purposeful, planful, and goal-directed approach to life, setting the stage for the emergence of the self as a motivated agent
Self-Esteem
the extent to which a person feels that he or she is worthy and good, success or failure that the motivated agent experiences in pursuit of valued goals is a strong determinant of self-esteem
Identity
sometimes used synonymously with the term “self”
identity means many different things psychological science and other fields
in this module, Erik Erikson’s conception of identity as a developmental task for late adolescence and young adulthood is adopted
forming an identity in adolescence and young adulthood involves exploring alternative roles, values, goals, and relationships and eventually committing to a realistic agenda for life that productively stimulates a person in the adult world of work and love
in addition, identity formation entails commitments to new social roles and reevaluation of old traits
it brings with it a sense of temporal continuity in life, achieved through the construction of an integrative life story
Self as Motivated Agent
the sense of self as an intentional force that strives to achieve goals, plans, values, projects, and the like
The “I”
the self as knower, the sense of self as a subject who encounters (knows, works on) itself (the Me)
The “Me”
the self as known, the sense of self as the object or target of the I’s knowledge and work
Narrative Identity
an internalized and evolving story of the self designed to provide life with some measure of temporal unity and purpose
beginning in late adolescence, people craft self-defining stories that reconstruct the past and imagine the future to explain how the person came to be the person that he or she is becoming
Autobiographical Reasoning
the ability, typically developed in adolescence, to derive substantive conclusions about the self from analyzing one’s own personal experience
Self as Autobiographical Author
the sense of the self as a storyteller who reconstructs the past and imagines the future in order to articulate an integrative narrative that provides life with some measure of temporal continuity and purpose
Redemptive Narratives
life stories that firm the transformation from suffering to enhanced status or state, in American culture redemptive life stories are highly prized as models for the good self, as in classic narrative of atonement, upward mobility, liberation, and recovery
Social Comparison
the process by which people understand their own ability or condition by mentally comparing themselves to others
Upward Comparisons
making mental comparisons to people who are perceived to be superior on the standard of comparison
Downward Comparisons
making mental comparisons with people who are perceived to be inferior on the standard of comparison
Self-Esteem
the feeling of confidence in one’s own abilities or worth
Self-Enhancement Effect
the finding that people can boost their own self-evaluations by comparing themselves to others who rank lower on a particular comparison standard
Counterfactual Thinking
mentally comparing actual events with fantasies of what might have been possible in alternative scenarios
Self-Evaluation Maintenence
a model of social comparison that emphasizes one’s closeness to the comparison target, the relative performance of that target person, and the relevance of the comparison behavior to one’s self concept
Personality
a person’s relatively stable patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior
Individual Differences
psychological traits, abilities, aptitudes, and tendencies that vary from person to person
Mastery Goals
goals that are focused primarily on learning, competence, and self-development, these are contrasted with “performance goals” that are focused on the quality of a person’s performance
Fixed Mindset
the belief that personal qualities such as intelligence are traits that cannot be developed, people with fixed mindsets often underperform compared to those with “growth mindsets”
Growth Mindset
the belief that personal qualities, such as intelligence, can be developed through effect and practice
