Chapter 3 - The Social Self

Self-Schema

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

Reflect Self-Appraisal

A belief about what others think of one's self.

Working Self-Concept

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 favorably by others.

Self-Enhancement

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 arming 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 behavior 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 behavior 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 honor.

Promotion Focus

Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ideal-self standards; a focus on attaining positive outcomes through

approach-related behaviors.

Prevention Focus

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

avoidance-related behaviors.

Implementation Intention

An "if-then" plan to engage in a goal-directed behavior ("then") whenever a particular cue ("i") is encountered.

Self-Presentation

Presenting the person we would like others to believe we are.

Face

The public image of ourself that we want others to believe.

Self-Monitoring

The tendency to monitor one's behavior to t the current situation.

Self-Handicapping

The tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready should one perform poorly or fail.