Social Psychology: Introduction+The Social Self

What is social psychology?

The scientific study of how people’s behavior, thoughts, and emotions are affected by the presence of others

Is experiment, survey, or observation best for inferring causality?

experiment

Does experiment, survey, or observation have the largest range of applicable topics?

survey

What is the difference between experiment, survey, and observation

ability to establish causality

independent variable

cause variable in cause and effect

dependent variable

“effect” variable in a cause and effect relationship (what is measured)

extraneous variable

any variable not an independent variable that may influence the dependent variable

What are the underlying motives for self evaluation?

self-enhancement and self-verification

What is self enhancement

The desire to maintain, increase, or protect one’s positive self views

What is self affirmation

people can maintain sense of self worth following psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat

What is self verification?

People sometimes strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about themselves because they give them a sense of coherence and predictability

How do self enhancement and self verification work together?

self enhancement is an emotional response, and self verification is a cognitive assessment

What is self regulation?

The process by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior in pursuit of their goals, including the ability to prioritize long term goals by forgoing short term immediate rewards

What does self discrepancy theory say?

That behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves. Falling short of these standards produce dejection in actual-ideal, and agitation in the case of actual-ought

what are two different types of self regulation of behavior

promotion and prevention focus

promotion focus

self regulation of behavior with respect to ideal self standards (focus on attaining positive outcomes) with approach-related behavior

prevention focus

self regulation of behavior with respect to ought self standards; a focus on avoiding negative outcomes through avoidant behaviors

self presentation

presenting the person we would like others to believe we are

self monitoring

the tendency to monitor one’s behavior to fit the current situation

what are the two types of self monitors

high self monitors: carefully scrutinise situation and shift their self presentation and behavior according to the people and situation

low self monitors: behave according to their own traits and preferences, regardless of the social context

self handicapping

tendency to engage in self defeating behavior in order to have an excuse in case of poor performance or failure

where is self knowledge stored

in self schemas

how is sense of self formed

it comes from the way situations shape the self

socialization, reflected self appraisals, the situation (social self changes across contexts), reconciliation of malleability and stability (how do we have a continuous sense of self)