Studying the self Part 1 Flashcards

Question

The genesis of the Self

Answer 1

Slowly develop a self-concept through learning role-taking Learning role-taking is in turn inherently social, because we learn to take the perspective of other through interaction self develops in close contact

Answer 2

the process of thinking about information about one or more other people in relation to the self” People both learn about and assess themselves (take self as object) through comparisons with others

Answer 3

we have a “drive” to evaluate our opinions and abilities We may especially be likely to use social comparisons when we cannot rely on “objective” information Ex: Grocery store, buying junk versus someone else buying a salad we may also use social comparisons to evaluate emotions, personality traits, and self-concepts “self-enhancement,” or creating a more positive view of the self We may make “downward comparisons,” ourselves to someone less fortunate E.g., someone else with a lower test score than you Ex: got into a car accident but my friend got into 3 accidents

Answer 4

“upward comparisons” by comparing one’s self to another who is deemed social better in some way Ex: Judy got a better score than me, I should be able to do that too (if she can do it, I can do it too) We may use this comparison as an aspirational or motivational tool towards reaching a goal

Answer 5

people compare themselves to real others in making evaluations used when seeking to gauge self-appraisals against “objective” criteria

Answer 6

“individuals may ignore social reality and instead fabricate, make up, manufacture, and construct persons for comparison” used when wanting to engage in self-enhancement

Answer 7

Our previous achievements can give us a sense of “self-efficacy” A belief that we can master something or make something happen Our sense of self-efficacy will in turn likely serve to motivate our future actions

Answer 8

“computer mediated communication” that physical cues are not available, so feedback obtained through CMC may be less influential because there are fewer avenues to connect ex: vagueness through text your book points out that teens are heavy users of CMC, when feedback from others may be especially influential not constrained by geographic and institutional factors can be superficial

Answer 9

People use CMC to communicate about thoughts and feelings ex: Is Kylie Jenner using Instagram to talk about feelings? idealized self than an actual self

Answer 10

A self-presentation others expect ot be coherent and consistent

Answer 11

We can delete a digital self | Ex: revenge porn

Answer 12

we can have more than one digital self

Answer 13

Studies of the self are also often based within a specific culture Based on WEIRD samples This can influence results, because there may be an underlying assumption that individuals are self-reflective

Answer 14

general concept of the self as a autonomous, independent, and bounded “independent self” - individuals whose behavior is made meaningful mainly by reference to one's own thoughts, feelings, and actions rather than by reference to the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others Others primarily confirm our sense of self

Answer 15

Focus is not on one’s inner self or being distinctive from others Instead, “how to fit in with other people and be connected in particular contexts, to fulfill and create obligations in relationships, and to become part of various interpersonal relationships in different social contexts

Answer 16

Others are assigned much more importance and consideration in when choosing courses of action in social contexts The squeaky wheel gets the grease vs. the nail that stands out gets pounded down

Answer 17

a stable set of meanings attached to self providing stability to personality, continuity to interactions, and predictability to behavior We are not always recreating ourselves, there is stability How you behave will have some stability, in every situation, you will not change

Answer 18

was argued that once social structure is created, future action is constrained

Answer 19

provided a sense of consistency across situations the idea of a core self could help explain how social structure impacted the self the core self resulted in action, structural arrangements were perpetuated and maintained

Answer 20

an identity salience hierarchy saw the self-concept as a set of identities

Answer 21

our internalized, stable sense of who we are, including role identities, social categories, and personal characteristics But, for Stryker, “role identities” were particularly important -role identities are acquired from the positions we occupy

Answer 22

Styker - one learns from social interaction how to classify objects one learns expectations for behavior associated with these objects This includes symbols used to designate positions Ex: student, teacher Different expectation for different positions

Answer 23

Attached to positions are the shared behavioral expectations conventionally called roles Roles are defined from a network of social relationships because they come from our social positions Roles are critical for shaping identity

Answer 24

Since roles are expectations attached to positions in networks of relationships, identities are internalized role expectations our identities are the internalized behavioral expectations attached to our social positions Identities are therefore essentially role schemas (Script) Ex: professor and student Expect him to teach, student to listen

Answer 25

our internalized, stable sense of who we are, including role identities, social categories, and personal characteristics

Answer 26

persons have as many identities as distinct sets of social relations in which they occupy a position and play a role Texting - friend Student – professor multiple sets of internalized behavioral expectations

Answer 27

one’s set of identities “carry across situations in which persons find themselves Network measure - How much are you connected to other people - How much are you engaged in that relationship - Measure of social control (social network will be upset if you don’t perform)

Answer 28

which set of behavioral expectations one enacts a salience hierarchy: The salience of an identity is defined as the probability an identity will be invoked in and across situations Salience is behaviour Degree to which across situations you will perform the behaviour attached to a specific position

Answer 29

the more salient an identity, the more we will tend to enact the set of behavioral attached to the position from which the identity is derived Prof going home and lecturing his wife and children

Answer 30

theory hypothesizes that the higher the salience of an identity relative to other identities in into the self, the higher the likelihood of behavioral choices corresponding to expectations attached to that identity

Answer 31

a specific by-product of network relationships Due to "commitment"

Answer 32

ties to networks and refers to the degree persons relations to others in networks depend on having particular identities and playing particular roles

Answer 33

reflected by a basic cost there is a greater commitment to the extent that one experiences greater costs from refraining from relationships by refusing to perform the behavior associated with the identity

Answer 34

depend on a larger network of others when a larger network of others depends on us the intensity of these social bonds Ex: parental role - greater commitment and network

Answer 35

the more salience the more salience the more likely to behave to that identity

Answer 36

the degree of dependence on social relationships will structure choices of behavior When structural constraints are ambiguous, individuals may have greater choice of identities or be able to combine identities As a situation becomes more embedded within social structure, though, the salience hierarchy will become a greater predictor of behavior Ex: parents send you to jousting camp, will you be freer to perform? -Less structural constraints -The more you are embedded in structural relationships, the more you are constrained

Answer 37

If the identity is positively evaluated in terms of the reactions of others and broader value standards When the others have consistent and congruent expectations, with few conflicts and disagreements - When there are clearer expectations that identity will be more salient - Cannot be more salient if we don’t know what is expected

Answer 38

The more salient the identity, the more people will perform in social interaction according to its expectations People will also seek out or perceive interaction situations as opportunities to perform the salient identity ex: If being a chef is highly salient to you, you will perceive situations as an opportunity to talk to people about food

Answer 39

The higher the salience, the more role performances will reflect institutionalized values and norms identity salience helps to explain how social structure shapes behavior

Answer 40

When an identity has a high degree of salience, role performance will have a strong degree of personal implication -Wont just seek out opportunities, our behavior will matter to us because when an -identity is highly salient, it will harm our sense of self More salience- stronger importance to us A poor role performance may not only result in social sanctions, it may also harm our sense of self, in turn harming well-being

Answer 41

salience could in turn impact well-being by creating a sense of mattering and purpose in life role-identities provide purpose and meaning in life as well as behavioral guidance, which in turn promote emotional and bodily well-being -Role identities tell us that we matter to others The more salient the identity, the more it should impact well-being -Gives a sense of purpose because It gives us the behavior we should be acting

Answer 42

Thoits - association between identity salience and psychological well-being in hospital volunteers Identity salience was measured by asking respondents how important being a volunteer was to them and how committed they felt to being a volunteer, as well as how well being a volunteer described who they are

Answer 43

both the number of hours spent volunteering and the perception of time spent volunteering were independently associated with salience beyond how much time you spent volunteering, feeling as if you are highly invested in the role is also associated with salience

Answer 44

associated with greater levels of a number of aspects of psychological well-being, such as happiness and life satisfaction, as well as a general measure of physical health Salience was also associated with lower levels of psychological distress and the sense that one’s life had purpose and one mattered to others largely explained these associations

Answer 45

beneficial for well-being by providing individuals with a sense of purpose and meaning the sense that we matter to others is a key part of this sense of meaning identity salience can give us this sense of mattering to others

Answer 46

the consequences of role performances for well-being would be dependent on the salience of the identity associated with the performance suggests that when feels tension in a role, this will have a more adverse impact when the role-identity associated with position is salient positive interactions will be more positively associated with psychological well-being when the role-identity is salient

Answer 47

stepfamilies how negative and positive interactions influenced mental health Their core hypothesis was that identity salience should alter the consequences of negative and positive interactions for mental health

Answer 48

two measures were combined First, individuals were asked to rank three identities; spouse, parent, employee Second, individuals indicated across a number of situations which of these roles they would describe themselves as first when meeting someone new

Answer 49

through interviews and observations Negative engagement was scored by dividing the total frequency of all negative behaviors by the total frequency of all behaviors directed from an initiator to a recipient Positive interactions were measured in a similar fashion

Answer 50

women ranked the parenting role highest, followed by spouse and employee -Biological mothers stepfathers ranked the spouse role higher than the parenting role -Just the step father both ranked the employee role last

Answer 51

negative interactions between couples predicted higher levels of distress for both members of a couple with high identity spousal salience positive interactions between couples were associated with lesser distress among stepfathers with high spousal salience

Answer 52

researchers did not observe differences due to salience Positive interactions were associated with lower levels of distress for both members of the couple, but these associations did not differ due to parenting salience

Answer 53

that younger offspring were studied, and also suggest that the clarity of mother and step-father relationships may have rendered salience moot spousal support may function differently in a spousal task than a parenting task

Answer 54

For individuals for whom a position is more important to the self, tension in the role may have more consequential impacts on well-being may be less the case when the position is less important to the individual

Answer 55

helps to broaden the study of the self-concept to even more macro-level issues of social stratification is a definition of the self in terms of the defining characteristics of a social group Focused on how people characterize themselves

Answer 56

proximal groups, including mother and father Everything from fan of a sports team, to member of a racial or ethnic group, to member of a gender category

Answer 57

social groups are often defined in contrast to other groups even as membership in a group is a basis for self-definition, so too are perceptions of relevant out-groups result in an “accentuation effect

Answer 58

there is an emphasis on perceived differences and unfavorable evaluations of out-groups

Answer 59

minimal group paradigm” showed how fundamental this categorization process us experimental approach in which individuals are divided into groups based on purely random specification Group members were told that membership was based on a relatively irrelevant basis

Answer 60

14-15 year-old boys were told they took part in a visual perception test of number of dots in a figure

Answer 61

No interaction was allowed between group members Individuals were also not allowed to know who was in which group the only knowledge participants had about groups was only the wholly baseless and relatively irrelevant criteria

Answer 62

points” to group members, with the understanding that these points could be converted to money Boys could distribute points evenly They could also distribute points so that their group received more points than the other group

Answer 63

third option was possible the outgroup would receive more than in the in-group favored option At the same time, the in-group would receive more points than in the in-group favored option the out-group may have received more than the in-group, but the in-group still received more than when they were preferred

Answer 64

The participants favored the option in which their in-group received more than their out-group, even though this cost members of their outgroup money , all of this was based on group criteria that was absolutely irrelevant for the task at hand

Answer 65

workers were motivated to maintain wage differentials, even if this meant a reduction in one’s own earnings the same pattern was not found in additional studies when participants were asked to apportion negative outcomes

Answer 66

argued that this favoritism occurred because of individuals identifying themselves as part of the in-group However, additional research suggested that this apportionment was due to self-interest, as there was a reciprocity expectation in which favoritism was expected to be benefited in return by other group members When I do something, someone later will pay me back

Answer 67

categorization, identificaiton, and comparison how we use groups as a basis for identity

Answer 68

We categorize: into categories as a way of description We identify: associate ourselves with certain groups and gain self-esteem We compare: we contrast our group with other groups, with favourable bias towards our in groups (flames fan)

Answer 69

argued that starting in early childhood, we begin dividing others into those inside and outside our in-groups evaluate ourselves based on our group membership, as having a sense of “we-ness” strengthens a sense of self seek pride in our group(s) as a way of further strengthening the self

Answer 70

in-group definition of the self-concept also defines who we are not The more we see ourselves as “us,” the more “them” are excluded When our in-group is successful, this in turn spurs in-group identification as a means of self-enhancement

Answer 71

Basking in reflected glory -Identify ourselves as part of the group when the group does well is most strong among individuals who are seeking to repair or bolster a sense of self also distance ourselves when an in-group does not perform well - “WE won” vs. “THEY lost” - Means of enhancing our sense of self

Answer 72

A BIRG Process can also occur in friendships important exception is if a friend outperforms us on a task that is important to our self-concept , personal achievements will buoy a sense of self among friends only if we do not outshine our friends

Answer 73

Seeking a group identity can often be a means of enhancing self-esteem through a BIRG But, through social identification, we also learn to conform to group norms The result is that, the we identify with the group, the more a personal identity may become synonymous with the group identity

Answer 74

people’s personal and social identities can become “fused” as boundaries between self and group blur In this case, individuals will be more willing to fight or die for their group Further, the more important our social identity, the more we react prejudicially to threats from another group

Answer 75

These processes illustrate how the need for status often motivates in-group biases When a sense of self is threatened, individuals often respond with greater out-group disparagement Conversely, when a sense of self-and belonging is satisfied, individuals tend to evaluate the out-group more positively

Answer 76

has also been applied to help explain these biases suggests in part that thinking about our own mortality provokes insecurity Intensifying in-group favoritism and out-group prejudices can help to address feelings of insecurity

Answer 77

important for ingroup bias small groups surrounded by a larger group will make us more conscious of our in-group membership higher-status or lower-status groups can also influence biases, but here the results are less consistent

Answer 78

meta-analysis found that that the “relevance” of the attributes of evaluation is important for understanding the effects of status Specifically, in terms of how important the attribute is presumed to be to the in-group

Answer 79

found that lower status groups exhibit more in-group bias in irrelevant attributes higher-status groups exhibit more in-group bias on relevant attributes these processes occur in part due to the derogated vs. venerated components of group membership

Answer 80

For high-status groups, members will likely want to show that they are best on dimensions that are tied to group membership Members of high-status groups may “magnanimously” indicate out-group bias on irrelevant, unimportant attributes

Answer 81

low-status groups, relevant attributes may be associated with poor performance -Poor standing on these attributes may be a contributor to the group’s low status “the lower status group members may have the most to gain by stressing alternative, perhaps peripheral, dimensions of comparison”

Answer 82

members of low-status groups use to enhance self-worth occurs when group members claim positive characteristics for their group or deny negative characteristics

Answer 83

Social creativity among low-status group members is especially likely when two other strategies are not possible The first is “individual mobility,” in which the individual leaves the low-status group and joins a higher-status People will use this strategy when group boundaries are (a) permeable and (b) status is stable

Answer 84

The second social competition, in which the members of the group attempt to improve the group’s standing People will use this strategy when group boundaries are impermeable but status is unstable When group membership is stable and conventional status characteristics are relatively stable = more social creativity

Answer 85

they focus specifically on African-American individuals in the U.S. race is a fundamental social categorization in the U.S., group boundaries are relatively impermeable, thereby preventing individual mobility

Answer 86

Struggles in racial equality have attempted to address material and legal standing among African-Americans progress has been slow and difficult to achieve

Answer 87

the worst urban context in which white individuals lived was better than the average context of black neighborhoods” These differences indicate how residential segregation continues to adversely affect African-Americans in the U.S. Even when obtaining higher SES, African-Americans still experience disadvantages when compared to whites of similar SES

Answer 88

based on social identity that people will use a number of social creativity strategies when faced with these barriers redefining the group’s characteristics as positive, limiting group comparisons to those characteristics which are favorable, and changing comparison groups

Answer 89

hypothesized that racial identification would be positively associated with group evaluation among African-Americans used a national probability sample of African-Americans from the U.S. feeling closer to African-Americans as a group was associated with more positive feelings towards African-Americans This was found both with and without taking experiences of discrimination and different social relationships into account

Answer 90

feeling of belonging and positive feelings for the groups to which individuals belong will support the self Both a feeling of closeness and positive evaluations of African-Americans were associated with more self-esteem

Answer 91

found a distinct association with perceived control When people had both a high degree of closeness and positive evaluation, they had higher levels of mastery When people had high closeness and low evaluation, they had low evaluation There were no differences when people had low closeness

Answer 92

This shows that possessing a valued social identity can enhance a sense of self-efficacy Conversely, feeling a stigmatized social identity can deplete a sense of potency “Internalized racism” The combination of feeling a part of a valued group can therefore be important for self

Answer 93

illustrates a how structural inequality can shape a sense of self A sense of belonging to marginalized groups may at times be beneficial, but can also harm a sense of ability if this social group is deviated from Individuals with a lower sense of efficacy = less motivated to attempt to advocate for structural change Social inequality thus reproduces itself

Studying the self Part 1 Flashcards

(117 cards)