The Individual Module 4 Chapter 13 Approaches to the Self

self-concept

Your understanding of yourself.

self-esteem

How you feel about who you are.

social identity

How you present yourself to others.

Sometimes this does not match our self-concept, anf the selves we present to others are not the selves we know our selves to be, leading some of us to feel false or phoney in our relationships.

social comparison

The evaluation of oneself or one’s performance in terms of a comparison with a reference group.

Starting with the school years, at the ages 5 or 6 onwards.

private self-concept

A major but often difficult development in the growth of the self-concept.

Example: Imaginary friend being the children’s first attempt to communicate to their parents that they know there is a secret part, an inner part, to their understanding of the self.

perspective talking

The ability to take the perspective of others, or to see oneself as others do, to step outside of oneself and imagine how one appears to other people.

This is why may teenagers go through a period of extreme self-consciousness during this time, focusing more of their energy on how they appear to others.

objective self-awareness

Seeing yourself as an object of others’ attention.

Often experienced as shyness, and for some people this is a chronic problem.

self-schema

Refers to the cognitive representation of the self-concept.

The networks of associated building blocks of the self-concept.

Cognitive structures that are built on past experiences and that guide the processing of information about the self, particularly in social interaction.

possible selves

The many ideas people have about who they might become, who they hope to become, or who they fear they will become.

ideal self

What persons themselves want to be.

ought self

Persons’ understanding of what others want them to be.

self-guides

Standards that one uses to organise information and motivate appropriate behaviour.

self-discrepancy

If one’s real or actual self does not fit one’s ideal self, then one will feel guilt, despondent, and dissapointed.

social anxiety

Defined as discomfort related to social interactions or even the anticipation of social interactions.

amygdala

A section of the limbic or emotional system of the brain that is most responsible for fear.

Psychologists studying the brain have suggested that this section is more reactive in shy persons.

Shyness is associated with higher levels of …

cortisol

self-handicapping

A process in which a person deliberately does the things that increase the probability that he or she will fail.

self-esteem variability

An individual difference characteristic; it is the magnitude of short-term fluctuations in ongoing self-esteem.

continuity

When people can count on you to be the same person tomorrow as you are today.

contrast

When your socail identity differentiates you from other people.

personality coherence

Refers to perceiving the self as similar in various life domains such as work, education, family life, and sports.

It means that you experience a sense of stability in how you act and what you feel across different situations.

identity crisis

The feelings of anxiety that accompany efforts to define or redefine one’s own individuality and social reputation.

identity deficit

Arises when a person has not formed an adequate identity and thus has trouble making major decisions.

identity conflict

Involves an incompatibility between two or more aspects of identity.

This kind of crisis often occurs when a person is forced to make an important and difficult life decision.