Unit: Social Psychology (Bernstein)

Self Concept

The beliefs we have about 'who' we think we are.

Self-esteem

Our evaluations about our 'worth' as a human being.

Social comparison

Evaluating ourselves in relation to others.

Temporal comparison

Comparing yourself over time, considering how you have changed from the past.

Downward social comparison

Comparing yourself with weaker examples to feel better.

Upward social comparison

Comparing yourself to someone who is clearly superior.

Relative deprivation

The belief that, in comparison to a reference group, one is getting less than deserved.

Terror management theory

The idea that humans understand their mortality, causing terror, which can be managed through self-esteem.

Social identity theory

The theory that our personal identity is formed by social categories like jobs, ethnicity, and political affiliation.

Occupational identity

The difference between doing a job and being defined by it.

Familial identity

The starting point in a strong self-identity, influenced by family values.

Possible selves

Represents individuals ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming, thus provide a conceptual link between cognition and motivation.

Social perception:

the manner in which we process other people's behavior and action.

Typically we have developed mental representations about them when he have self esteem,

if we have low self esteem your representations might be “she is here to take my job”, or “damn why do i have to teach this terrorist.”

First impressions:

studies demonstrate that the average individual decides whether or not someone is trustworthy within 1/10 of a second.

Other influences:

Name

Food preferences

Temperament

Negative influences carry heavier weight then the positive ones

heavier weight then the positive ones

Lasting impressions:

Negative information about someone causes us to avoid people thereby not learning new information about them.

When our acquaintance had made an impression and we accept the, when they village the schema it will go ignored many times before causing damage.

Self-fulfilling prophecy:

if you're told something enough times, you will start to believe it.

Attribution theory:

process of explaining behavior

Antecedents:

what we think we know about someone or a group.

Attribution:

giving reason to actions or behavior

Consequences:

the real reason for behavior

Fundamental attribution error:

continue to explain someone's behavior based off their internal behavior such as religion or menstrual cycle.

Ultimate attribution error: c

crediting an “out-group“ person's success to luck. Ex, Obama's presidency.

Stable attribution:

when you believe a system will continue to suck. Or believe people will be stupid forever

Unstable attribution:

optimist

Consensus:

if your dad says trevor sucks and then everybody thinks trevor sucks

Consistency:

if your dad allows trevor to come over and one day he says no he is this

Distinctiveness:

if your father likes all your friends except trevor and if he hates all of them he is not distinct.

Disposition causes:

causes relating to the internal traits of an individual

Situation causes:

causes relating to external or environmental events.