Social Self

Self-Schema

A cognitive structure, derived from past experiences, that represents a person’s beliefs and feelings about the self, in both general and specific situations

Reflected Self Appraisal

A belief about what other’s think of one’s self

Working self concepts

A subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context

Social comparison theory 

The idea that people compare themselves to other people to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states

Social identities

the parts of a person’s sense of self that are derived from group memberships

self-stereotyping

The phenomenon whereby people come to define themselves in terms of traits, norms, and values that they associate with a social group when their identity as a member of that group is salient

Self - esteem

The overall positive or negative evaluation people have of themselves

contingencies of self-worth

the thesis that people’s self-esteem is contingent on their successes and failures in domains they deem important to their self-worth

Sociometer hypothesis

The idea that self-esteem is an internal, subjective index or marker of the extent to which a person is included or looked on favourably by others

self-enchantment

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

better-than-average effect

The finding that most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions

self-affirmation theory

the idea that people can maintain an overall sense of self-worth after being exposed to psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat

self-verification theory 

The theory that people strive for others to view them as they view themselves, such verification of one’s views of the self helps people maintain a sense of coherence and predictability 

self-regulation

Processes by which people initiate and control their behaviour in the pursuit of goals, including the ability to resist short-term rewards that thwart the attainment of long-term goals

self-discrepancy theory 

A theory that behaviour is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves; falling short of these standards elicits specific emotions and may lead to efforts to get closer to them 

actual self

the self that people believe they are

ideal self

the self that embodies people’s wishes and aspirations

ought self 

the self that is concerned with the duties, obligations, and external demands people feel they are compelled to honour. 

promotion focus

self-regulation of behaviour with respect to ideal-self standards; a focus on attaining positive outcomes though approach-related behaviours

prevention focus 

self-regulation of behaviour with respect to ought-self standards; a focus on avoiding negative outcomes through avoidance-related behaviours 

implementation intention

An “if-then” plan to engage in a goal-directed behaviour (“then”) whenever a particular cue (“if”) is encountered

self-presentation

presenting the person we would like others to believe we are

face 

the public image of ourselves that we want others to believe 

self-monitoring

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

self-handicapping

the tendency to engage in self-defeating behaviour in order to have an excuse ready should one perform poorly or fail

deindividuation

a reduced sense of individual identity accompanied by diminished self-regulation that can come over people when they are in a large group

individuation

an enhanced sense of individual identity produced by focusing attention on the self, which generally leads people to act carefully, deliberately, and in accordance with their sense of property and values

self-awareness theory 

a theory maintaining that when people focus their attention inward on themselves, they become concerned with self-evaluation and how their current behaviour conforms to their internal standards and values 

spotlight effect

peoples conviction that other people are paying more attention to them (appearance and behaviour) than they actually are