Social Psychology #5 Key Terms

Self-Concept

The overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes.

Self-Knowledge

How we understand who we are and formulate and organize that information.

Self-Control

The ability to subdue immediate desires to achieve long-term goals.

Impression Management

The attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen.

Self-Esteem

How we try to maintain positive views of ourselves

Independent View of the Self

A way of defining oneself in terms of one’s own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other people.

Interdependent View of the Self

A way of defining oneself in terms of one’s relationships to other people, recognizing that one’s behavior is often determined by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others.

Introspection

The process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives.

Self-Awareness Theory

The idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values

Causal Theories

Theories about the causes of one’s own feelings and behaviors; often we learn such theories from our culture (e.g., “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”).

Self-Perception Theory

The theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs.

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

The idea that emotional experience is the result of a two-step self-perception process in which people first experience physiological arousal and then seek an appropriate explanation for it

Misattribution of Arousal

The process whereby people make mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do

Intrinsic Motivation

The desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it interesting, not because of external rewards or pressures

Extrinsic Motivation

The desire to engage in an activity because of external rewards or pressures, not because we enjoy the task or find it interesting

Overjustification Effect

The tendency for people to view their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons, making them underestimate the extent to which it was caused by intrinsic reasons

Task-Contingent Rewards

Rewards that are given for performing a task, regardless of how well the task is done

Performance-Contingent Rewards

Rewards that are based on how well we perform a task

Fixed Mindset

The idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change

Growth Mindset

The idea that achievement is the result of hard work, trying new strategies, and seeking input from others

Social Comparison Theory

The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people

Upward Social Comparison

Comparing ourselves to people who are better than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability.

Downward Social Comparison

Comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability.

Social Tuning

The process whereby people adopt another person’s attitudes.

Implementation Intentions

People’s specific plans about where, when, and how they will fulfill a goal and avoid temptations.

Ingratiation

The process whereby people flatter, praise, and generally try to make themselves likable to another person, often of higher status

Self-Handicapping

The strategy whereby people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves.