Self-Concept

Question 1

What is our self-concept?

Answer 1

• a cognitive representation of the knowledge and beliefs we have about ourselves
• everything a person claims as me or mine
• entirety of our self-knowledge
• shapes how we think about the world, feel, and behave

Question 2

What is an associative network?

Answer 2

• knowledge is organized as a metaphorical network of cognitive concepts interconnected by links
• concepts can vary in how central and how strong their links are

Question 3

Is there a unitary self-concept?

Answer 3

• self-concept implies a unitary, fixed, and integrated idea about the self
• but people have lots of ideas about themselves, sometimes in contradiction with each other

Question 4

What is the working self-concept?

Answer 4

• subset of self-knowledge that is the current focus of awareness
• created moment to moment

Question 5

What determines what’s in the working self-concept?

Answer 5

• situational activation
• spreading activation

Question 6

What is situational activation?

Answer 6

• different situations can activate different pieces of self-knowledge, creating different working self-concepts

Question 7

What is spreading activation?

Answer 7

• when specific self-aspect is activated, other self-aspects that are linked with it are also activated
• self-aspects strongly linked activated faster

Question 8

What are the contents of the working self-concept?

Answer 8

• self-knowledge that’s most accessible/salient at that moment

Question 9

What is accessibility of self-knowledge determined by?

Answer 9

• distinctive to the situation
• relevance to the situation
• frequency of activation

Question 10

What is distinctiveness theory?

Answer 10

• a person’s unique, distinctive characteristics are more salient to them than characteristics that they have in common with others
• the situational context influences what spontaneously comes to mind when describing the self

Question 11

What are the implications of working self-concept?

Answer 11

• self-concept is malleable and is highly dependent on the context
• non-central self-aspects can enter the working self-concept
• contradictory self-aspects simultaneously exist
• influences how we behave and explains why we behave differently in different situations

Question 12

Extroversion vs introversion working self-concept study

Answer 12

• in extroverted condition; described self as more extroverted and acted more extroverted in a situation
• working self-concept depends on situational activation and it influences behaviour

Question 13

What are elements common to theories about the true self?

Answer 13

• natural endowment
• feels authentic
• naturally want to be true to oneself
• competes with external influence

Question 14

Do people believe in a true self and use it as a guide to make decisions?

Answer 14

• People believe that following one’s true self is an important strategy for making satisfying decisions
• Difficulties accessing (describing) true self (vs actual self) related to less satisfaction with decisions

Question 15

What are the conceptual problems with the ides of a true self?

Answer 15

1. Natural endowment of a true self is not a provable idea: suggests that babies are born with specific destiny/motivations for adult life which seems unlikely
2. Our self-concepts are full of inaccuracies and are distorted (true self requires that people have accurate self-knowledge about what their true self is like and we don’t have that)
   - True self seems to be about social desirability, rather than acting in line with one’s unique characteristics (influenced by external influences): true self = morally good

Question 16

When do people feel most authentic?

Answer 16

• study using state Big Five and state authenticity
• desirable-trait hypothesis
• authenticity positively associated with acting extroverted, agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable regardless of the participant’s typical traits
• people felt more authentic when behaving in socially desirable ways

Question 17

What is desired reputation?

Answer 17

• what is valued by society (ideals) + what distinctive role one’s own abilities and traits are best suited to (actual self)

Question 18

What is more likely the real definition of the true self?

Answer 18

• more of a guide, than a reality
• desired reputation
• people will feel most authentic when actions are consistent with desired reputation