social psych exam 2

Self-concept

A person’s knowledge about himself or herself, including one’s own traits, social identities, and experiences

Stable (self-concept)

Central aspects of self-concept

Malleable (self-concept)

Aspects made accessible in specific social situations, motives, and cues

Working self-concept

The portion of one’s self-concept that is currently activated and strongly influences thoughts, feelings, and action

Culture and socialization shape

* Identities (e.g. Canadian)

• Roles (e.g. friend of Sarah)

• Traits (e.g. caring)

• Cultural tendency toward: Independence or Interdependence

Social identity theory

People define and value themselves largely in terms of the social groups with which they identify

People Use Others’ Appraisals To…

Know their own attributes, to evaluate themselves, to judge their actions as good or bad

Reflected appraisals

What we think other people think of us

Social Comparison Theory

People come to know themselves partly by comparing themselves with similar others

Downward comparison

when an individual compares themself to someone they perceive as inferior to them

Upward comparison

when an individual compares themself to someone they perceive as superior to them

Better than average effect

On many abilities and traits, most people think they are better than average (a statistical impossibility!)

Self-Perception Theory

People form impressions of themselves by observing their own behavior and the situation in which it occurs

Self-Regulation

A set of processes for guiding one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to reach desired goals

Self-Awareness theory

It is the ability to objectively monitor one's own thoughts, feelings, and actions, often acting as a mechanism for self-control and aligning actions with personal values

Self-discrepancy theory

People feel anxiety when they fall short of how they ought to be but feel sad when they fall short of how they ideally want to be

ought self

the person you should be (qualities you should possess)

ideal self

the person you want to be (qualities you would like to possess)

Escaping from Self-Awareness

What happens when we perceive ourselves as falling short of our standards but feel incapable of changing our behaviors

Construal level theory

People focus more on concrete details when thinking about the near future and focus more on abstract meaning when thinking about the distant future

Affective Forecasting

Predicting one’s emotional reactions to potential future events

• These predictions are often inaccurate.

Self-Regulatory Challenges

Delay of Gratification/Impulse Control

Hot processes

are driven by strong emotions

Cold processes

rely on level-headed reasoning

Cognitive dissonance theory

People so dislike inconsistencies in their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that they will bias their attitude and beliefs to deny the inconsistency

Three primary ways to reduce dissonance

A. Change one of the cognitions.

B. Add a third cognition that makes the original two

cognitions seem less inconsistent with each other.

C. Trivialize the cognitions that are inconsistent.

factors that contribute to dissonance

* Weak external justification

• Perceived choice

• Commitment

• Foreseeable aversive consequences

• Cultural influences

effort justification

When the action is irreversible, dissonance reduction may occur, when people convince themselves that the negative consequences were “worth it”

self-narratives

Clear self-narrative over time

• Enhances well-being

• Provides a basis for effective action

• Aids in the prediction of future challenges

By middle-age, people tend to adopt one of two self-narratives

• Contamination stories

• Redemption stories

Nostalgic memories

Generate positive moods, boost self-esteem, enhance sense of connectedness and meaning, and support greater sense of self-continuity

Self-esteem

The level of positive feeling one has about oneself

Cultural worldview

Human-constructed, shared, symbolic conceptions of reality that imbue life with meaning, order, and permanence

ostracism

the action of intentionally not including someone in a social group or activity

Self-monitoring

Individual difference in people’s desire and ability to adjust their self-presentations for different audiences

High self-monitors

individuals who highly regulate their public self-presentation to fit social situations

Low self-monitors

individuals who act consistently with their internal values, attitudes, and feelings, rather than adapting their behavior to fit social situations

spotlight effect

a cognitive bias where people overestimate how much others notice their appearance, actions, and mistakes

illusion of transparency

a cognitive bias where people overestimate how much their internal emotions, thoughts, and mental states are apparent to others

Why is self-presentation so prevalent and important?

• Achieves specific goals

• Conveys and protects self-image

• Supports meaningfulness of social interactions by

enacting cultural scripts and roles

• Serves self-improvement and personal growth

Social learning

The capacity to learn from observing others

Injunctive norm

A belief about what behaviors are generally approved of or disapproved of in one’s culture

Descriptive norm

A belief about what most people typically do

Conformity

The phenomenon whereby an individual alters his or her beliefs, attitudes, or behavior to bring them in accordance with those of a majority

Informational influence

Occurs when others are used as a source of information about the world

Asch’s Conformity studies

75% of participants conformed to the group opinion in at least one experimental trial

Normative influence

Occurs when we use others to know how to fit in

Foot-in-the-door effect

A phenomenon whereby people are more likely to comply with a moderate request after having initially complied with a smaller request

**we have a desire for consistency**

Norm for social commitment

A belief whereby, once people make a public agreement, they tend to stick to it, even if circumstances change

Lowballing

Occurs when, after agreeing to an offer, people find it hard to break that commitment, even if they later learn of some extra cost to the deal

**occurs due to norm for social commitment**

Door-in-the-face effect

A phenomenon whereby people are more likely to comply with a moderate request after they have first been presented with and refused to agree to a much larger request

**occurs due to norm of reciprocity**

social proof

A tendency to conform to what we believe respected others think and do

**occurs due to conformity**

Scarcity and Compliance

People have a (potentially innate) preference for anything in

short supply

Obedience

Any action engaged in to fulfill the direct order or command of another person

Milgram’s Obediance Studies

65% fully obeyed, delivering the highest voltage.

Not a single participant refused to continue until the shock level reached 315 volts

Variables That Play a Role in Obedience

* Closeness to the authority figure

• Closeness of the victim

• Witnessing defiance

• Indirect involvement

Why Do We Obey?

• Evolved predisposition to obey authority

• Learned experiences: We are socialized to obey

authority.

• Gradual increases in obedience

• Maintaining consistency