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The Self Flashcards

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1
Q

purpose of the self

A

keeping on track
social roles
self-acceptance

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2
Q

what is responsible for controlling and monitoring intentional behaviour

A

anterior cingulate cortex

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3
Q

functions of the self

A

self-knowledge
interpersonal self
agent self

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4
Q

self-knowledge

A

info about self, self-esteem, self-deception

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5
Q

interpersonal self

A

self-presentation, social roles, relationship partner

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6
Q

agent self

A

decision making, self-control, taking charge of situations, active responding

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7
Q

priming effect

A

priming is the idea that exposure to one stimulus may influence a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention. the priming effect refers to the positive and negative effect of a rapidly presented stimulus on the processing of a second stimulus that appears short;y after

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8
Q

self-concept

A

the complete set of beliefs people have about themselves

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9
Q

what does the self-concept consist of

A

self-schemas - different dimensions of the self

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10
Q

what do self-schemas do

A

self-schemas determine our thoughts, feelings and behaviour in specific contexts

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11
Q

multiple role theory

A

complexity of the self is important
it is beneficial to a person’s health and wellbeing to have multiple self-identities as this opens up new experiences
self-schemas that are extreme or well-partitioned can have negative effects -e.g. if some are very positive and some are very negative, priming the schemas can have extreme effects on mood

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12
Q

self-awareness theory (SAT) - Duval and Wickland

A

suggests that some situations, e.g. looking in the mirror, leads to self-awareness
self aware people feel bad because they notice discrepancies between who they are and standards
they can either ‘shape up’ by matching their behaviour to the standard, or ‘ship out’ by trying to escape the self-aware state

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13
Q

standards

A

concepts of how things might possibly be, e.g. ideas, norms, expectations, moral principles, laws, past experiences
developed around age 2 - when self-awareness begins

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14
Q

private self-awareness

A

attention directed at the self
positive consequences if people focus on the positive aspects of the self, however can lead to depression if people focus on the negatives

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15
Q

what can private self-awareness do

A

improve behaviour
make us more moral
make us more likely to adhere to our attitudes rather than changing them

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16
Q

what happens when self-awareness feels bad

A

when self-awareness feels bad, we act against our values and seek to escape
e.g. drinking alcohol to remove inhibitions or in an extreme case, suicide

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16
Q

public self-awareness

A

being aware of how we appear to others
usually involves some form of evaluative comparison

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16
Q

what can public self-awareness do

A

make us more likely to adhere to social norms and behave in ways that are socially acceptable

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16
Q

purpose of self-awareness

A

self-regulation (allows for self-control)
allows us to adopt the perspective of others
manages our behaviour in pursuit of a goal

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16
Q

self-concept clarity

A

the extent to which self-schemas are clearly and confidently defined, consistent with each other, and stable across time

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16
Q

what does self-concept clarity help with

A

helps us deal with stress
bolsters psychological wellbeing and self-esteem

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16
Q

limits of self-knowledge

A

people appear not to notice when/ how their attitudes change
people appear not to understand how situational factors affect their behaviour
people appear not to understand why they like things
affective forecasting error - people overestimate the emotional impact that positive and negative life events will have on them
people may be wrong about the extent to which they have free will

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16
Q

affective forecasting error

A

people overestimate the emotional impact that positive and negative life events will have on them

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16
Q

what is common of all theories of self

A

all theories argue that we compare ourselves to some ‘standards’

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17
self-perception theory - Bem
people learn about the self by examining their own behaviours e.g. you go to church so you begin to see yourself as religious these effects can occur just by imagining behaviour
17
self-discrepancy theory - Higgins
focus on people's awareness of discrepancies between the actual self and their perceived and ought selves
17
actual self
how a person sees the self at the present time
17
ideal self
how a person would like to see the self
17
ought self
how a person thinks they ought to be
17
self-regulation
the attempt to match behaviour with an ideal/ought standard of the self
17
what can be an effect from discrepancies between the 3 selves (actual, ought and ideal)
there may be psychological discomfort as a result of discrepancies for example, sadness or disappointment from discrepancies between the actual and ideal self, or frustration from discrepancies between the actual and ought self
17
regulatory focus theory - Higgins
builds on self discrepancy theory people (and animals) have two distinct regulatory systems: 1) promotion - approach orientated in constructing the self (e.g. pursuing goals, etc) 2) prevention - cautious and avoidant in doing so (e.g. avoiding behaviours that conflict their ought self)
17
promotion
approach orientated in constructing the self (e.g. pursuing goals, etc)
17
prevention
cautious and avoidant in doing so (e.g. avoiding behaviours that conflict their ought self)
17
what affects which system (promotion or prevention) people will take (regulatory focus theory)
individual differences, mood and context can affect which system people will take: -confronted with loss: prevention -confronted with win: promotion
18
control theory of self-regulation
people test the self against public and private standards and change their behaviours if there is discrepancy (example of the cognitive feedback loop) this allows people to make improvements to the self through self-appraisal and self-regulation, e.g. preventing relapse in sex offenders
18
ego depletion
self-control and willpower are finite resources which can be used up
18
what effect may exerting self-control have on performance
exerting self-control can have a negative effect on performance as it cannot be maintained for an unlimited amount of time
19
social comparison theory - Festinger
people compare themselves to others to learn about and define the self
20
upward social comparison effect
upward social comparison can have a negative effect on self-esteem (e.g. comparing yourself to someone who is really clever and top of the class may make you feel inferior or less intelligent)
21
downward social comparison effect
can have a positive effect on self-concept (as you are comparing yourself to people who are worse than you, thus feel better about yourself)
22
what is temporal social comparison
comparing oneself with a self from the past or an anticipated future self
23
temporal social comparison effect
making temporal social comparisons may enable people to boost their self-esteem e.g. doing better on a test than you think you did
24
self-evaluation maintenance model - Tesser
people are able to maintain their self-esteem when making upward comparisons by: -avoiding the comparison person -exaggerating the ability of the 'better' person -devaluing the dimension on which the other person is better -engaging in downward social comparison with another person
25
self-esteem
a person's subjective appraisal of the self as intrinsically positive or negative self-esteem changes throughout the lifespan
26
what can influence self-esteem
-upbringing - authoritative/ permissive parenting styles -chronic individual differences- possibly genetics?
27
sources of self-esteem
-some are internal to the person: dependent on emotions, self-schemas, how flexibly they evaluate themselves -some sources are external: social acceptance
28
sociometer theory
self-esteem acts as an internal 'thermometer' of social inclusion signs of exclusion - lowered self-esteem and negative emotions people change their behaviour to be included
29
contingency of self-esteem
people can base their self-esteem on outside factors (you internalise what is expected of you) if self-esteem is based on a larger range of factors, people are more likely to have high self-esteem if it is based on a narrower set of factors, people are more likely to have low self-esteem
30
what is the importance of self-esteem
-mood regulation -protection from the terror of death (people with high self-esteem are less affected by mortality salience - the awareness of one's own mortality or the inevitability of death) -people with lower self-esteem are more prone to antisocial acts -however extremely high self-esteem is linked to narcissism
31
impression management (self-presentation)
managing the impression you give off to others
32
self-monitoring
controlling how you present yourself depending on the person and the situation
33
motives that drive strategic self-presentation
-to be seen as competent -to be liked -to make people think we are dangerous -to be seen as morally respectable -to be seen as helpless and in need of sympathy
34
how does self-esteem affect mood regulation
high self-esteem acts as a psychological buffer against setbacks, criticism and failure people with high self-esteem also tend to attribute success to internal factors such as effort, rather than external factors such as luck. This positive self-appraisal can buffer against negative emotions such as anxiety, self-doubt and low mood
35
what is the difference between self-presentation and self-monitoring
self-presentation refers to the conscious or unconscious strategies used to shape the perceptions others have of you. It is more focused on the impression given self-monitoring is more about responding to a situation or social cues and adjusting your behaviour accordingly
36
high self monitors
good at reading social cues, can accurately assess the appropriate behaviour for a given situation and can adjust their self-presentation accordingly
37
low self monitors
behave more consistently across different situations and may be less concerned with conforming to social norms and expectations
38
implications of self-presentation for therapy
people should engage in positive self-presentations and this should be reinforced by the therapist people who withhold info which undermines a positive impression may protect their self-esteem, maintain social acceptance and manage impressions/ self-presentation
39
motivational social cognition
motivational social cognition refers to the ways in which individuals' social perceptions, judgments and interpretations are influenced by motivational factors
40
motivations that influence social cognition
-to find out more about a topic -to protect or enhance self-esteem -to ensure cognitive consistency -to feel that we are in control of the world in which we live
41
self-assessment
we are motivated to know objectively and accurately who we are, particularly of our abilities and performance in particular situations
42
self-verification
to confirm what we believe is true about ourselves irrespective of the positivity/negativity of the information reassurance helps to achieve cognitive consistency people even seek to reinforce negative views about the self
43
self-enhancement
refers to the process by which individuals perceive themselves in more positive light than they may objectively be allows us to see the self positively: people seek positive views about the self and seek to alter negative views however there may be self-serving attribution bias, where people take credit for their success (internal factors) but deflect the blame (external factors)
44
illusion of control
people like to have control over their lives lack of control is associated with anxiety however we tend to overestimate our degree of control over events we want to maintain the feeling of control
45
culture and the self
there may be differences between individualist and collectivists cultures and perceptions of the self and self-concept e.g. individualist may focus on the self whereas collectivist may consider the self as one part of a wider network. bicultural people may have an integration of both cultures in their self-concept, or they may use different cultural knowledge and values depending on the context

Social Psychology (5 decks)

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