The Self Flashcards
Different views of the self:
Existentialism: your choices/actions define you.
Biological View: you’re born with certain predispositions, shaping your life path.
Sociological View: Society and historical forces shape individuals; products of our circumstances.
But, self is a COMBO OF ALL
Unique human traits:
- Self-serving
- Principled self-sacrifice
- Complex reasoning
Privileged Access and self-perception bias.
- the belief that we know ourselves better than anyone else.
- students tend to rate themselves above average in some abilities
The Average Misconception
- most people say they’re above average but the average is not above average
- self-knowledge is often distorted in a positive direction.
Positive illusions
- Overestimation of abilities
- Overestimation of control (over their fate, etc)
- Optimism bias (thinking I have greater chance of positive outcomes)
Self-Serving Bias:
Success -> attributed to internal cause
Failure -> attributed to external cause
Done for self-esteem
Margin of illusion: positive distortion of self-perception
Ways to sustain positive illusions:
Selective criticism:
- Accept good news without question, become skeptical and question validity of bad news
Memory bias:
- tend to forget bad things and remember good things
- we like to tell good news, not bad
- both help maintain positive self-image
Downward comparison
Comparing yourself to someone lower to feel better
False consensus and false uniqueness
Consensus (overestimating how many people share your opinions)
Uniqueness (underestimating how many people share your abilities)
Higher self esteem people tend to
- Hold and overestimate positive illusions about themselves
- depressed people see reality
Grades
Cause higher self esteem
Self esteem boosts
Initiative and happiness
