Lecture 7 / Self-Regulation & Defending the Self

Modern Cognitive Psychology view on Emotion

Researchers suggest that emotions are inseparable from thoughts.

The Botox Experiment (Havas)

Participants had a harder time comprehending sad sentences after Botox because restricted biological reactions impaired cognitive comprehension.

James-Lange Theory

A biological basis theory stating emotions are generated in response to bodily or autonomic reactions (e.g., we fear because we run).

Cognitive Appraisal of Emotions

Emotional responses are shaped by interpreting an event's valence, cause, and controllability.

Schachter & Singer's Experiment

Suggested that the conscious experience of emotions relies on analyzing both the environment and bodily sensations.

Collectivist Cultures & Emotions

These cultures experience connectedness and indebtedness more frequently, prioritizing politeness and avoiding confrontation.

Self-Expression (Motive)

The desire to act according to one's True Self, guided by self-awareness and personal attitudes.

Self-Presentation (Motive)

The desire to project a specific image to be liked, guided by self-monitoring and social norms.

Self-Guides

Personal standards for different kinds of selves.

The Ideal Self (Promotion Focus)

Represents the aspirational version of an individual, including personal goals and hopes for the future.

The Ought Self (Prevention Focus)

Represents an individual's perception of duties, obligations, and responsibilities based on internalized societal standards.

Self-Regulation

An evolutionary battle between immediate concrete gains (like a donut) and long-term abstract goals (like health).

Strategies Against Temptation

Includes self-administered rewards/penalties, making goal-related behaviors central to your identity, and "cooling down" temptations by viewing them as dry, abstract concepts.

Ego Depletion

The concept that willpower is like a battery; using self-control drains it, making it harder to resist future temptations until you rest and recharge.

Self-Affirmation

An action reminding you of your core values and personal integrity, which can actually restore the effects of ego-depletion.

Learned Helplessness (Seligmann)

Experiencing repeated stress and concluding you cannot change it, which leads you to stop trying.

Depressive Attributional Style

The belief that our failures are internal, stable, and uncontrollable.

Emotion-Focused Coping

Managing our emotional distress rather than actually trying to solve the problem.

Escape (Coping)

Quitting or running away from a situation, with self-awareness being an important moderator of whether you realize you are doing it.

Terror Management Theory (Solomon)

The idea that humans cling to cultural beliefs or values to escape the terror of knowing they will eventually die.

Downplaying Significance & Self-Affirmation (Coping)

Minimizing a failure's importance to your long-term goals and reminding yourself of your strengths.

Self-Expression (Coping)

"Letting it out" through talking, journaling, or crying to reduce an emotion's intensity so it doesn't stay bottled up.

Tend & Befriend

A predominantly female biobehavioral response prioritizing safety, nurturing, and seeking social support over the traditional "fight or flight".

Problem-Focused Coping

Attempting to tackle the situation directly or systematically protecting the ego.

Excuses & External Attributions

Blaming outside factors for a failure.

Self-Handicapping

Proactively creating obstacles so future failures can be blamed on external circumstances instead of a lack of ability.

Control (Coping mechanism)

Believing we have control, even if we don't, which helps keep us motivated and prevents learned helplessness.

Self-Efficacy

Your confidence that you possess the skills necessary to achieve a certain result.

Counterfactual Thinking

Analyzing how a situation could have turned out differently ("What if").

Upward Counterfactual Thinking

Thinking about how things could have been better, which helps you learn for next time.

Downward Counterfactual Thinking

Thinking about how things could have been worse, which makes you feel better in the moment