Course Wrap Up (Final) Flashcards
The Self is Shaped by the Social World
The need to belong. Identification with groups. Different cultures create different selves. Looking-glass self. Self-presentation. Authenticity when behaving in socially desirable ways. Sociometer theory.
The Self is Dynamic
Working self-concept: Situational activation, distinctiveness and relevance to the situation.
identity Salience Depends on Context
The extent to which personal vs. social identities are salient depends on the social context. Personal identity is more salient when interacting with in-group members. Social identity / in-group identity is more salient when interacting with out-group members, especially in an inter-group context. Leads people tot think and behave in ways that are consistent with the norms of their in-group.
Cultural Frame Switching (Ross et al., 2002)
Chinese participant’s self-descriptions are more characteristically Chinese when answering in Chinese than in English.
Multiple Attachment Styles
General attachment style is related to the prevalence of you relationships fitting a specific attachment style relative to other people.
Auto-Motive Interpersonal Goals
Goal: Want to be liked –> Action–> Make jokes –> Social setting
Goa: Want to be seen as competent –> Action: Be serious and work hard –> Colleague
Changing the Self to Be Liked (Zanna & Pack, 1975)
If man was unattractive, no change in self-descriptions. If attractive, women changed self-descriptions to conform to what they thought the man liked.
The Self is Dynamic
Working self-concept: Situational activation, distinctiveness and relevance to the situation. Salience of personal vs. group identity depends on context. Cultural frame switching. Multiple attachment styles. Automatic activation of relational goals. Adjusting self-presentation to suit our audience.
The Unity Project of the Self
To organize the self-system, we strive for unity in the self: Continuity over time, consistency, predictability. Work-in progress, that’s never fully complete. Self-presentations: vital task of creating a good reputation. Narrative identity. Self-verification motive.
How Do People Self-Verify?
Creating social environments:
1. Displaying identity cues
2. Selective interaction
3. Interpersonal prompts
Cognitive biases:
1. Selective attention
2. Selective memory
3. Selective interpretation
Selective Interaction
Suggests that people prefer to interact with others that verify their self-views vs. people that like them, but see them differently than they see themselves.
Anxious-Avoidant Pair
Chronic relationship dissatisfaction. Anxious partner wants more closeness than avoidant is willing to provide: Ends up feeling not good enough and “too much”.
Avoidant partner wants more independence than anxious partner is willing to accept: Ends up feeling trapped and suffocated.
The Unity Project of the Self
The organize the self-system, we strive for unity in the self: Continuity over time, consistency predictability. Work-in progress, that’s never fully complete. Self-presentations: Vital task of creating a good reputation. Narrative identity. Self-verification motive. Self-regulation. Self-concept clarity.
Better-Than-Average on More Desirable Traits
The more desirable a trait, the more people see themselves as better than average. The more desirable a trait, the more likely people see this trait as descriptive of themselves.
The Self-Concept Contains Inaccuracies
Positive illusions about the self: Cognitive biases sustain these illusions. Most of the time not an all out falsehood, more likely a best-case version of us. Why self-deceive? : Adaptive for mental health. believing good things about ourselves helps us move closer to this desired reputation and thus gain social approval.
