Social Psychology - Research Methods and The Social Self

Vocabulary flashcards covering key topics in social psychology research experiments, research ethics, self-awareness vs self-concept, growth vs fixed mindsets, praise studies, and self-concept categorizations.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable in an experiment manipulated by the researcher (the hypothesized cause) to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome variable measured after an experimental manipulation to assess the effect of the independent variable.

Experimental Study Design Example

An experimental framework testing if social media causes jealousy by randomly assigning 500 participants to either scroll a partner's social media for 20 minutes or watch TV for 20 minutes, followed by a jealousy questionnaire.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

A research ethics committee at colleges and hospitals that reviews and approves research studies to protect participant welfare.

Informed Consent

An ethical principle requiring that study participants voluntarily choose to participate and remain free to quit the study at any time.

"I" Self

The active "knower" self representing self-awareness; characterized by William James (1890) as being like a reader.

"Me" Self

The self-concept, which consists of the contents and knowledge of the self; characterized by William James (1890) as being like a library.

Self-Control/Regulation

An aspect of self-awareness involving reflection on desires, goals, and values, and making deliberate choices to best achieve them.

Fixed Mindset

The belief that talent and intelligence are innate and unchangeable, leading to the view that effort is unimportant and failure reflects a lack of ability (Dweck, 2006).

Growth Mindset

The belief that talent and abilities can be developed through effort and learning, viewing failure as a natural part of the learning process (Dweck, 2006).

Grit

Passion and perseverance directed toward achieving long-term goals, which is positively correlated with a growth mindset (Duckworth et al., 2009; 2021).

Ability Praise

Praise focused on innate smartness or talent (e.g., "You must be smart at these problems"), which leads children to prefer easy problems to protect their image.

Effort Praise

Praise focused on hard work (e.g., "You must have worked hard at these problems"), which encourages children to choose challenging problems to learn from.

Praise Type Impact on Problem Choice

Experimental results from Mueller & Dweck (1998) demonstrating that students given ability praise predominantly chose easy problems (~68%) compared to those given effort praise (~6%).

Physical Self-Concept

Self-descriptions based on physical characteristics that do not directly imply social interaction (e.g., "I am tall", "I am a brunette").

Social Self-Concept

Self-descriptions defined by social roles, institutional memberships, or identity groups (e.g., "I am a college student", "I am Dominican").

Attribute Self-Concept

Self-descriptions reflecting internal psychological or physiological states and traits (e.g., "I am intelligent", "I am tired").

Global Self-Concept

Broad or non-specific self-descriptions that fail to distinguish an individual from others (e.g., "I am a human being", "I am alive").