The Social Self Flashcards
Part 2 (Social Perception) - Chapter 3 (24 cards)
What is an independent view of the self?
A self-construal emphasizing personal autonomy and uniqueness. Individuals with this view define themselves in terms of internal attributes and personal goals.
What is an interdependent view of the self?
A self-construal emphasizing connectedness and relationships. Individuals with this view define themselves in terms of social roles and group memberships.
What is a self-schema?
Cognitive structures that represent an individual’s beliefs and knowledge about themselves, influencing how they process self-relevant information.
What is a self-concept?
The overall set of beliefs and perceptions an individual has about themselves, encompassing various self-schemas.
What is self-esteem?
An individual’s overall evaluation of their worth, encompassing both positive and negative self-assessments.
What is the self-discrepancy theory?
A theory proposing that individuals experience emotional discomfort when there is a mismatch between their actual self and their ideal or ought selves.
What is the self-awareness theory?
A theory suggesting that individuals become self-conscious when they focus attention on themselves, leading to an evaluation of their behaviour against internal standards.
What is self-presentation?
The process by which individuals attempt to control the impressions others form of them, often to gain social approval or achieve personal goals.
What is self-monitoring?
The tendency to regulate one’s behaviour to fit the social situation, with high self-monitors being more adept at adjusting their behaviour than low self-monitors.
What is self-handicapping?
The tendency to create obstacles or excuses to justify potential failures, protecting self-esteem by attributing failure to external factors.
What is the spotlight effect?
The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others notice and evaluate our appearance and behaviour.
What is the false-consensus effect?
The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviours.
What is affective forecasting?
The process of predicting how one will feel in the future, often inaccurately - people tend to overestimate the intensity and duration of their emotional reactions.
What is BIRG (bask in reflected glory)?
The tendency to increase self-esteem by associating with successful others (like saying “we won” when your favourite sports team wins).
What is dialecticism?
An Eastern philosophical belief that conflicting ideas can coexist, allowing for acceptance of contradiction in self.
What are downward social comparisons?
The act of comparing oneself to others who are worse off to boost self-esteem or feel better about one’s own situation.
What is the facial feedback hypothesis?
The idea that facial expressions can influence emotional experiences (smiling making you feel happier, for example).
What is implicit egoism?
An unconscious preference for things that are associated with the self, such as one’s own name or birthday numbers (like being more likely to live in a city that shares your initials).
What is the overjustification effect?
When offering external rewards for an already internally rewarding activity reduces intrinsic motivation (e.g. paying kids to draw makes them enjoy drawing less over time).
What is the self-perception theory (Bem, 1972)?
The theory that people infer their own attitudes and feelings by observing their behaviour and the situation in which it occurs, especially when internal cues are weak.
What is the social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954)?
The idea that people evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to others, especially in ambiguous situations.
What is the sociometer theory (Leary & Baumeister)?
A theory suggesting that self-esteem is a psychological gauge of how accepted or rejected we feel by others.
What is the terror management theory?
A theory proposing that humans maintain self-esteem and cultural worldviews as a buffer against the anxiety that comes from awareness of their own mortality.
What is the two-factor theory of emotion (Schachter & Singer, 1962)?
A theory stating that emotion arises from a combination of physiological arousal and a cognitive interpretation of that arousal.
