Lecture 14 Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is the self-enhancing bias?
Most people show unrealistic optimism. They are “better than average.”
What did Baumeister find about self-esteem and academic achievement?
The relationship between SE and educational achievement is very weak.
Causality in the opposite direction. Achievement promotes SE, rather than SE promoted achievement).
What is Baumeister’s bottom line?
“What would work better for the country is to forget about self-esteem and concentrate on self-control.”
How has self-esteem changed over time, according to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale?
It’s increased.
Why could it be that self-esteem rise is just all talk? That it’s not true?
- People have just learned positive talk.
- Mental health seems to be getting worse.
Which president thought the rightfulness of our individualism on the ground of being the only safe avenue to further human progress?
Herbert C. Hoover.
What did Ayn Rand say about individualism?
That what is good is that which is in accordance with the life principle of man. The independent, the self-reverent, the self-sufficient.
In many Western individualist cultures, people have an __________
independent, context-free view of the self.
In many non-Western collectivist cultures, people have an ___________________
interdependent, contextual view of the self.
What was the procedure for Cousins’ “who are you” test?
- Asked US and Japanese participants to provide 20 responses to “Who Am I” questions.
- Two types of “Who am I questions,” global or contextualized.
- Counted number of psychological attributes.
- Analyzed proportion of psychological attributes
What were the results of Cousins’ “who are you” test?
Proportion of psychological traits in self-description was higher for Americans for global questions.
Proportion of psychological traits in self-description was slightly higher for Japanese for global questions.
What’s the significance of Cousins’ “who am I” test?
- Western cultures emphasize the importance of stable, cross-situational, internal, psychological traits.
- Non-western cultures emphasize the importance of flexibility.
Who said: “A coward, a man incapable either of
defending or of revenging himself,
wants one of the most essential parts of the character of a man”
Adam Smith
Who said: “A man may shoot the man who invades his character, as he may shoot him who attempts to break into his house.”
Samuel Johnson
Honor, shame, and duty are seen in the modern West as:
ideological leftovers in the consciousness of obsolete classes
What could potentially explain the high homicide rate in the US South?
It’s driven by the culture of honor in the US South.
Why does the north have a lower homicide rate?
They have a culture of dignity. Driven by guilt, not shame.
What is the characteristic emotion of the south?
Shame.
What happened to southern subjects who were insulted in the Culture of Honor test?
Southerners had an increase in cortisol and testosterone level.
What happened to northern subjects in the Culture of Honor test?
Those that were insulted decreased in cortisol level, but increased in testosterone level.
