The Social Self - Social Psychology Lecture Notes

A collection of vocabulary flashcards related to the concepts and theories discussed in the lecture on the social self.

Self-Concept

The sum total of an individual’s beliefs about his or her own personal attributes.

Self-Schema

A belief people hold about themselves that guides the processing of self-relevant information.

Introspection

The process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives.

Causal Theories

Theories about the causes of one’s own feelings and behaviors, often learned from culture.

Affective Forecasting

The process of predicting how one would feel in response to future emotional events.

Self-Perception Theory

The theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain, we infer these states by observing our behavior.

Self-Awareness Theory

The idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards.

Self-Regulation

The process by which people control their thoughts, feelings, or behavior in order to achieve a personal or social goal.

Overjustification Effect

The tendency for intrinsic motivation to diminish for activities that have become associated with reward or other extrinsic factors.

Social Comparison Theory

The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people.

Individualism

Emphasizes the virtue of independence, autonomy, and self-reliance, with personal goals taking priority over group allegiances.

Collectivism

Emphasizes the virtue of interdependence, cooperation, and social harmony, with group affiliation as the highest priority.

Sociometer Theory

People are inherently social animals

The idea that the desire for self-esteem is driven by the need to connect with others.

Self-Discrepancy Theory

The theory that self-esteem is lowered by the degree to which the actual self falls short of the ought and ideal selves.

Self-Enhancement

The mechanisms by which people preserve their self-esteem, such as the better-than-average effect and self-serving beliefs.

What is self-enhancement?

Self-enhancement is the mechanisms by which people preserve their self-esteem.

What are some mechanisms of self-enhancement?

Some mechanisms include the better-than-average effect and self-serving beliefs.

What is the better-than-average effect?

The better-than-average effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate their own qualities and abilities in relation to others.

What are self-serving beliefs?

Self-serving beliefs are tendencies for individuals to attribute positive events to their own character while attributing negative events to external factors.

Ironic Mental processes

• Choking -A paradoxical type of failure caused by trying too hard and thinking too much

• Ironic Processes- The harder you try to inhibit a thought, feeling, or behavior, the less likely you are to succeed

Spotlight Effect

A tendency to. Believe that the social spotlight shines more brightly on them than it really does

Strategic Self preservation

• Efforts to shape others’ impressions in specific ways in order to gain influence, power, sympathy, or approval

• Ingratiation

• Self-promotion

Self verification

• The desire to have others perceive us as we truly perceive ourselves.

• People selectively elicit, recall, and accept personality feedback that confirms their self-conceptions, even if their self-concept is negative.

Self monitoring

The tendency to regulate one’s own behavior to meet the demands of social situations

Extrinsic motivation

originates in factors outside the person.

Intrinsic motivation

originates in factors within a person.

Sense of self

Capacity for self-reflection is necessary for people to feel as if they understand their own motives and emotions and the causes of their behavior.

•Self is heavily influenced by social factors.

•ABCs of the self:

–Affect

–Behavior

–Cognition