2. The Self

Chapter 2 + relevant lecture connections

Self-concept

Beliefs and knowledge about who one is

Self-schema

Organized beliefs about oneself

Reflected self-appraisals

Beliefs about how others see us

Working self-concept

Parts of self-concept active in a particular context

Social comparison

Evaluating oneself by comparing with others

Upward social comparison

Comparing oneself with someone doing better

Downward social comparison

Comparing oneself with someone doing worse

Social identity

Part of self based on group membership

Self-stereotyping

Applying group stereotypes to oneself when group identity is salient

Trait self-esteem

Relatively stable evaluation of self-worth

State self-esteem

Situation-dependent temporary evaluation of self-worth

Contingencies of self-worth

Domains in which success or failure affect self-esteem

Sociometer hypothesis

Self-esteem functions as a monitor of social acceptance

Self-enhancement

Motivation to view oneself positively

Self-verification

Motivation to have existing self-views confirmed

Self-discrepancy theory

Emotional consequences of gaps between actual ideal and ought selves

Actual self

Attributes a person believes they currently possess

Ideal self

Attributes a person wishes to possess

Ought self

Attributes a person feels obligated to possess

Self-presentation

Managing impressions others form of oneself

Impression management

Strategic behavior intended to influence others' impressions

Face

Public image one tries to maintain in social interactions

Dramaturgical perspective

Viewing social interactions as performances with social roles

Introspection

Looking inward at one's thoughts and feelings

Affective forecasting

Predicting one's future emotional reactions

Focalism

Overemphasizing one event when forecasting feelings

Immune neglect

Underestimating psychological coping when forecasting distress

Self-perception theory

Inferring one's attitudes from observing one's behavior when internal cues are weak

Behavioral self-inference

When internal feelings are unclear people may infer their attitudes from their own actions, emphasized in the methods lecture self-perception example