soc. psych chapter 3

self concept

the sum total of beliefs you have about yourself and your personal attributes

working self concept

social self changes across different contexts

role of culture

plays a role in our self concept

individualistic

independent

collectivistic

interdependent

dialecticism

recognizes and accepts contradictory characteristics within a person

self-schema

serve as the basic units of organization for self knowledge

guides the processing of self-relevant information

schematic

for characteristics I have a self schema for

aschematic

no schema

when schematic for I

-process info rapidly

-make judgment about rapidly

-provide examples rapidly

-quick to reject inconsistent feedback

social identities

parts of a persons sense of of self that are derived from group membership

possible selves

images of who we might be in the future, source of motivation

social identities

can help us manage self esteem

introspection

looking inward at ones own thoughts and feelings

affective forecasting

attempt to predict our future emotions, such as whether and event will result in happiness or anger or sadness and for how long

impact bias

emotion stronger

longer lasting

immune neglect

autobiographical memory

shape of our self concept, remember past more than present

self reference effect

you remember things better when you connect it to yourself

egocentric bias

see things from your perspective

hindsight bias

“we knew it all along” was predictable

expectancy effects

we remember what we expected to happen not what actually happened

self-perception theory

when internal cues are difficult to interpret and there is no compelling situational pressure, we gain insight by observing our own behavior

facial feedback hypothesis

change in facial expression → change in emotion

other body positions as well

the vascular theory of emotion

smiling → loosens muscles on skull → increased blood flow to brain → cooling → good mood

frowning → tightens muscles on skull → decreased blood flow to brain → heating → unpleasant mood

over justification effect

tendency for intrinsic motivation to diminish for activities that have become associated with a reward or other external force

social comparison theory

we compare our attitudes and abilities to others (we want to be “right”)

looking glass self

other people serve as a mirror of how we see ourselves

reflected self appraisal

belief of what other people think about us

strategic self presentation

efforts to shape others impressions of me in particular ways to gain influence, power, sympathy or approval

self verification

efforts to shape others impressions of me so they perceive me as I perceive myself

high self-monitors

try to fit their behavior to the situation

low self-monitors

more likely to behave according to their internal preferences

self esteem

our positive and negative self evaluations

trait self esteem

part of our self concept

state self esteem

changes based on the situation

conditions of worth

self esteem reflects successes and failures in areas we base our self worth

sociometer theory

we are social animals; we need connection, approval,

self esteem lets us track how we are doing

culture influences

more valued in western cultures than eastern cultures

self-enhancement

people are motivated to view themselves positively

self-affirmation theory

maintain self worth if threatened by another characteristic

actual self

self concept

ought self

society/family expectations- internalized standards

ideal self

the person you aspire to be

basking in reflected glory

people increase their self esteem by publicly associating themselves with successful or famous people

downward social comparison

you compare yourself to people who are worse off, less skilled, or facing more challenges than you

sandbagging

a person intentionally downplays their skills, knowledge, or preparation to create low expectations

self serving cognitions

the human tendency to attribute positive events and successes to internal personal traits

unrealistic optimism

people believe they are less likely to experience negative events and more likely experience positive ones compared to others

illusion of control

people overestimate their ability to influence or control events that are actually determined by chance

self serving bias

taking personal credit for success while blaming external factors for failure

self-handicapping

you create or claim obstacles before a task so you can blame them for a failure instead of your own ability