Chapter 3: The Self

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering foundational terms and theories related to self-concept, self-knowledge, self-esteem, and self-regulation from the Class 2 lecture.

Self-Concept (Self-Knowledge)

The collection of information, beliefs, and mental representations a person holds about themselves.

Self-Awareness

Attention directed at the self that often involves evaluating oneself against internal or external standards.

Interpersonal Self (Public Self)

The aspect of self concerned with social roles, reputation, and how one is perceived by others.

Agent Self (Executive Function)

The self that makes choices, exerts self-control, and initiates actions.

Independent Self-Construal

A culturally shaped view of the self as autonomous and distinct from others, common in many Western contexts.

Interdependent Self-Construal

A culturally shaped view of the self as connected to and defined by relationships, common in many East Asian contexts.

Social Roles

Expected patterns of behavior linked to particular positions within a cultural or social structure.

Twenty Statements Test

A task in which individuals list twenty answers to “Who am I?” revealing common physical, social, and psychological self-descriptors.

Rouge / Mark Test

An experiment that assesses self-recognition by placing a mark on a subject’s face and observing mirror-directed behavior; typically passed around age two in humans.

Private Self-Awareness

Inward focus on one’s own thoughts, feelings, and internal states.

Public Self-Awareness

Outward focus on how one is viewed by other people.

Looking-Glass Self

Cooley’s idea that individuals form self-concepts by imagining how others view and judge them.

Introspection

Examining one’s own mental and emotional processes to gain self-knowledge.

Social Comparison Theory

Festinger’s proposal that people evaluate their abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to similar others when objective standards are absent.

Self-Perception Theory

Bem’s idea that people infer their attitudes and feelings by observing their own behavior when internal cues are ambiguous.

Phenomenal Self (Working Self-Concept)

The subset of self-knowledge that is active in a given moment or context.

Appraisal Motive

The desire to learn accurate, objective truths about oneself.

Self-Enhancement Motive

The drive to obtain flattering information that maintains or boosts self-esteem.

Consistency (Self-Verification) Motive

The desire to confirm existing self-beliefs and obtain feedback that aligns with them.

Self-Handicapping

Creating obstacles to one’s own performance so that possible failure can be blamed on the obstacle rather than ability.

Automatic Egotism

The default tendency to associate positive events with the self and distance the self from negative events.

Self-Reference Effect

Enhanced memory for information related to the self because it is processed more deeply.

Endowment Effect

The phenomenon where people assign greater value to objects simply because they own them.

Self-Esteem

A person’s overall evaluative judgment of self-worth as good, worthy, bad, or unworthy.

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

A ten-item questionnaire used to measure global self-esteem; higher total scores indicate higher self-esteem.

Benefits of High Self-Esteem

Includes initiative, confidence, perseverance, adventurousness, and better mood recovery.

Pitfalls of High Self-Esteem

Risks such as overconfidence, aggression, risky behavior, relationship issues, and weaker intrinsic motivation.

Characteristics of Low Self-Esteem

Tendencies toward failure avoidance, self-concept confusion, self-protection focus, and emotional volatility.

Positive Illusions

Overly favorable attitudes people hold about themselves, including exaggerated sense of control, optimism, and inflated abilities.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to credit personal success to internal factors while blaming failures on external factors.

Self-Presentation

Deliberate efforts to shape how others and oneself perceive a person; prominent in social media, interviews, and daily interactions.

Spotlight Effect

Overestimation of how much one is noticed or observed by others.

Self-Regulation

The capacity to control thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to pursue goals and adhere to standards.

Delay of Gratification

Choosing a larger, later reward over an immediate, smaller one; famously studied with the Marshmallow Test.

Goals

Desired end states that guide behavior; achieved through planning and self-regulation.

Illusion of Control

The tendency to overestimate one’s influence over outcomes that are actually chance determined.

Reactance

A motivational response to threats to freedom, leading to increased desire for the restricted option and possible aggression.

Learned Helplessness

A state in which repeated uncontrollable events lead individuals to give up trying to change their situation.

Langer & Rodin (1976) Nursing Home Study

Research showing that giving elderly residents more personal responsibility improved happiness, activity, and alertness.

Research Article Structure

Standard format of Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, and sometimes Conclusion, following APA style.

Self-Deception

Processes such as selective memory, biased comparisons, and slippery definitions that protect or enhance self-views.