Unit 3: The Social Self Flashcards
(39 cards)
What are the three components of the self?
- Self-concept
- Self-esteem
- Self-presentation
What is self-concept?
Self-concept is the cognitive component and it involves how people come to understand their own actions, emotions, and motivations. It is the sum total of the beliefs that a person has about their own personal attributes. It is made up of beliefs (self-schemas) about oneself that guide how self-relevant information is cognitively processed.
What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem is the affective component and it involves how people evaluate themselves and defend their self-esteem against threats. Self-esteem is generally stable across the lifespan but there are individual differences. For some people self-esteem fluctuates in response to daily experiences.
What is self-presentation?
Self-presentation is the behavioural component and involves how people present themselves to other people. It is the strategies people use to shape what other people think about them.
When does self-recognition begin to occur in humans?
Self-recognition is believed to begin occurring in humans between 18 to 24 months based on evidence that infants in this age range start being able to recognize themselves in a mirror.
What role does self-recognition play in the development of self-concept?
Self-recognition is important to self-concept because the self is a frame of reference that influences cognitions, emotions, and behaviours. A necessary first-step in the development of self-concept is the ability to see yourself as a distinct entity.
What role do others play in the development of self-concept?
The second step of developing self-concept is drawing a sense of who we are from past and current relationships with significant others (e.g. parents, friends). In particular, we integrate into our self-concepts our perceptions of what we think other people think of us; however, these perceptions are not necessarily accurate.
Describe the self-perception theory as proposed by Bem.
Bem’s self-perception theory proposes that people can learn about themselves by watching their own behaviour. By observing their own behaviour as well as the situation in which it takes place, people can make inferences about their thoughts, feelings, and motivations when their internal states are weak or difficult to interpret. However, people only do this when there is not a compelling reason (i.e. pressure or threat of punishment, reward) for the situation alone to have caused their behaviour.
What is intrinsic motivation?
Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation stemming from factors within a person, such as personal interest, enjoyment, or challenge.
What is extrinsic (external) motivation?
External motivation refers to motivation originating from factors outside the person, such as money, grades, or avoiding punishment.
What is the overjustification effect?
When introducing a reward (extrinsic motivator) for performing an intrinsically motivated behaviour undermines intrinsic motivation. When an external motivator is introduced people start to question whether the activity was worth pursuing for the sake of the internal factors that previously sparked intrinsic motivation.
When do rewards enhance intrinsic motivation?
Sometimes rewards can enhance it by providing positive feedback about competence, for example, when someone receives verbal praise they perceive to be sincere from someone they respect.
Describe the social comparison theory as proposed by Festinger.
Social comparison theory proposes that people evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to others. Festinger theorized that people engage in social comparison when they are in a state of uncertainty because more objective information is not available to engage in self-evaluation. In these situations, people evaluate themselves through comparisons with similar others.
What is downward social comparison?
When people comparing themselves to other people who are less able or fortunate to cope with personal inadequacies.
Describe the two-factor theory of emotion as proposed by Schachter.
The two-factor theory of emotion proposes that people experience emotion based on physiological arousal and their cognitive interpretation of that physiological arousal. When people are unclear about their emotional states, they will sometimes interpret how they feel by observing other people who are in the same situation.
Under what conditions does the social context not influence one’s interpretation of unclear emotional states according to Schachter’s theory of emotion?
- When physiological arousal is too intense because it will be experienced as aversive regardless of how other people are behaving.
- Additionally, because people look to things that preceded the change in physiological state for an explanation the observation of other people must occur before they experience the arousal.
What is individualism?
Individualism refers to a cultural orientation in which people value the virtues of independence, autonomy, and self-reliance. In individualistic cultures members’ personal goals are prioritized over group allegiances.
What is collectivism?
Collectivism refers to a cultural orientation in which people value the virtues of interdependence, cooperation, and social harmony. In collectivistic cultures loyalty and motivation to be part of a group (e.g. family, team, company, church, state) are prioritized over individual goals.
In what ways can individualistic and collectivistic cultural orientation influence one’s self-concept?
- Influences the way people perceive, evaluate, and present themselves in relation to others
- Influences the culturally ingrained orientations to conformity and independence
Why do people need self-esteem?
- self-esteem serves as an indicator of how other people evaluate us. It helps us to connect with others by activating our need to gain other people’s approval and acceptance when our self-esteem is lowered.
- Terror Management Theory proposes that self-esteem helps provide meaning and purpose, and buffers against anxiety that arises in the face of our fear over the inevitability of our own death.
How does self-esteem influence one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour?
Self-esteem influences one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour because it influences our outlook on life. People with high self-esteem tend to experience more positive moods, self-confidence, motivation in the face of challenges, productivity, success, and health. In contrast, people with low self-esteem tend to experience lower mood, confidence, motivation, poorer health, more failure, and pessimism about the future.
Distinguish between the actual self, the ought self, and the ideal self.
The actual self is the person you think you actually are.
The ought self is the person you think you should be in order to meet your sense of duty, obligation, and responsibility.
The ideal self is the person you would like to be that embodies your hopes, wishes, and dreams.
Explain self-discrepancy theory.
Self-discrepancy theory says that self-esteem is the match or mismatch between how we actually see ourselves and how we want to see ourselves. The greater the difference between our actual self and our ought and ideal selves, the lower our self-esteem.
The degree to which emotional consequences are suffered as a result of discrepancy depends on three factors: 1) amount of discrepancy, 2) how important the domain in which their is a discrepancy is to us, and 3) how much a person focuses on the discrepancy.
Briefly describe the self-awareness theory.
Self-awareness theory proposes that self-focused attention leads people to notice self-discrepancies. This motivates people to cope by either escaping from self-awareness or changing their behaviour to address the discrepancy.
