social psych unit 2

self-concept

a person’s knowledge about themselves, including of their traits, social identities, and experiences

what acronym is used for self-concept

ABC

what does the A stand for

affect; self esteem

what does the B stand for

behavior; knowledge of actions

what does the C stand for

cognitions; beliefs about self

when does awareness of self develop

18-24 months

what are the 3 aspects of self

individual, relational, and collective

what is the individual self

beliefs about our unique personal traits, abilities, preferences, tastes, talents, and so forth

what is the relational self

beliefs about our identities in specific relationships

what is the collective self

beliefs about our identities as members of social groups to which we belong

what is social identity theory

people define and evaluate themselves largely in terms of the social groups with which they identify

what are the gender differences in defining the self

women: focus more on close relationships (relational interdependence)

men: focus more on memberships to larger groups (collective interdependece)

what is social role theory

historic role differentiation between men and women in society push boys and girls to gender-consistent self-concepts

what are the 5 components of the self

self-knowledge

self-control

impression management

self-esteem

self-justification

what is self knowledge

our understanding of who we are

what are the sources of self knowledge

introspection, self-perception, and social comparison

what is introspection

consciously ‘looking inward’ and examining reasons for one’s actions and emotions, or predicting the way one will act or feel in the future

why is introspection not always right

it is error prone, there are external factors influencing mood

what is self-knowledge

explaining why we engage in certain behaviors and feel certain emotions

what is reasons-generated attitude change

attitude change resulting from thinking of the reasons for one’s own attitudes

what is the planning fallacy

underestimating the amount of time necessary to complete a task (predicting behavior)

when is the planning fallacy used

projects, studying, work, longevity in relationships, or future monetary spending

what is impact bias

overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing (especially negative) events (predicting emotions)

what is self-perception theory

inferring information about the self by observing your own behavior and the situation in which it occurs

what are the four domains of self-perception

traits, attitudes, motivation, emotions

what is example of traits

problem solver vs. listener

example of attitudes being tested

Wells and Petty, participants read opinion statements about stuff they didnt have a strong opinion on while either nodding or shaking their heads

example of motivation

reading for personal enjoyment or for reward

what is intrinsic motivation

desire to engage in activity because of personal enjoyment

what is extrinsic motivation

desire to engage in activity due to external rewards or pressures

what is over justification effect

overestimating the extent to which one’s behavior is due to extrinsic, in comparison to intrinsic reasons

what can be the result of over justification effect

people lose interest in activity they originally intrinsically enjoyed

what is the two factor theory of emotion

emotion = arousal + attribution

what is the main idea of the two factor theory of emotion

we first experience arousal, and then try to explain it

what is misattribution of arousal

mistakenly identifying the cause of what is making one feel the way they are

what is the bridge study

attractive woman asked men if they would fill out a psychology questionnaire for her

experimenter gave the man her phone number

those on scary bridge were more likely to call her back than men on peaceful bridge

why did more men from the scary bridge call the woman back

they misattributed their physiological arousal as being due to the attractive woman when it was actually the bridge

what is the social comparison theory

learning about our abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people

what is downward social comparison

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

what is upward social comparison

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

why do we do downward social comparison

the need to feel good about oneself (self-esteem)

why do we do upward social comparison

the need for growth

what is self esteem

the level of positive feelings one has about oneself

what is sociometer theory

self-esteem is an affective gauge for our interpersonal relationships and how well we are being accepted by others

what are benefits of high self esteem

adaptive value in relationships, protects us from depression, motivates people to have an internal locus of control, sense of hope, and to persevere, and serves as an anxiety buffer

what is terror management theory

puts forth that to minimize fear of mortality, humans strive to sustain faith that are enduringly valued contributors to a meaningful world and therefore transcend their physical death

what are costs of high self esteem

excessive defensiveness, reduced ability to self-regulate behavior, and interpersonal relationship consequences

what is impression management

comprised of the various strategies we use to make others perceive us in the way we wish to be seen

what is ingratiation

using flattery, praise, or positive attention to make somebody else like us

what is self handicapping

creating obstacles or excuses for oneself prior to starting a task, so that if you fail, you can still feel good about yourself