Social Psychology - The Self

Flashcards on Social Psychology, focusing on the self-concept, self-perception, and social comparison.

What is the 'self'?

Theorists and researchers have been trying to answer this question for a long time, such as William James in 1890.

What is the 'Me' according to William James?

The thing being processed.

What is an important first step in the development of the self?

Recognizing that there is a self.

How is the recognition of self tracked in infants?

Tracked with mirror self-recognition.

Non Contigency

What does it mean to recognize self with contingency?

Actions correspond to current actions.

What can most children do by 15-18 months regarding self-recognition?

Most can pass mirror test.

What are some other species that can recognize themselves in a mirror?

Bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, bonobos, orangutans, chimpanzees, Asian elephants, certain birds (e.g., pigeons)

What is the definition of 'self-concept'?

Sum total of a person’s thoughts and feelings about the self.

How does self-concept change?

Changes over time, seeing the self in different situations and contexts.

What kind of data makes up self-concept?

Experiences, skills, knowledge, group memberships, relationships, possessions

What is a working/spontaneous self-concept?

Parts that are activated right now

What determines which parts of the self are active?

Different relationships, situations

What are self-schemas?

Central beliefs people hold about themselves.

What do self-schemas do?

Guide processing of information.

What is introspection?

Looking inward to consult one’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values, and personalities

What is a self-enhancement motive?

Motivated towards positive and away from negative.

What is the goal of self-enhancement motives?

Maximize feelings of self-worth

What is the opposite of the Above Average Effect?

The Below Average Effect

What is the Above Average Effect?

Most people rate themselves above average on valued personality traits and abilities.

How does biased self perception affect memories?

Tendency to distort past in ways that inflate own sense of importance/achievement

What is meant by limited insight regarding our feelings?

Often we may know HOW we feel but not WHY we feel that way

What is affective forecasting?

Predicting how one will feel in the future.

What is the general trend in affective forecasting?

People tend to overestimate the effect events will have on them

What is one possible explanation as to why we are so bad at predicting now we would feel?

More resilient to negative events than we think we are

What is self-perception?

Infer knowledge about the self through watching our behaviors & emotional responses (in different contexts)

What is the facial feedback hypothesis?

Changes in facial expression → change subjective experience of emotion

What is social comparison?

Compare attributes, interests, perceptions with others to learn more about the self

What are the values of individualistic societies?

Individual rights, personal autonomy, self-realization & personal identity.

What are the values of collectivistic societies?

Loyalty and adherence to groups (rather than individual desires), personal identity within the group, concern for others

Independent vs. Interdependent self-construal

Desires to ‘stand out’ vs “fit in” with others