Principles of Social Psychology | Chapter 3

Automatic cognition

refers to thinking that occurs out of our awareness, quickly, and without taking much effort

controlled cognition

When we deliberately size up and think about something, for instance, another person

priming

a technique in which information is temporarily brought into memory through exposure to situational events

self report measures

measures in which individuals are asked to respond to questions posed by an interviewer or on a questionnaire

beh measures

measures directly asses what people do

electroencephalography (EEG)

records brain activity produced by the brains neurons

FMRI

functional magnetic resonance imaging technique that uses a mag. field to create images of brain structure and function

self concept

cognitive appraisal of our social, physical and academic competence individually

self schemas

variety of diff cognitive aspects of the self

self reference effect

info that is processed in relationship to the self is particularly well remembered

personality traits

specific and stable personality characteristics that describe an individual

social identity theory

we draw part of our sense of identity and self esteem from our social groups

self complexity

extent to which individuals have many diff and relatively independant ways of thinking about themselves

self-concept clarity

extent to which one’s self-concept is clearly and consistently defined

self awareness

extent to which we are currently fixing our attention on our own self-concept

deindividuation

loss of individual self-awareness and individual accountability in groups

private self consciousness

tendency to introspect about our inner thoughts and feelings

public self-consciousness

tendency to focus on our outer public image and to be particularly aware that we are meeting the standards set by others

self awareness theory

focus our attention on ourselves, we tend to compare our current behavior against our internal

self discrepancy theory

we perceive a discrepancy b/w our actual and ideal selves

cognitive dissonance

discomfort that occurs when we respond in ways that we see as inconsistent

self affirmation theory

focusing on and affirming their worth in things that we do good in

self esteem

the global evaluation positive (high self esteem) or negative (low self esteem) feelings that we have about ourselves

narcissism

personality disorder characterized by overly high self esteem, self-admiration, and self centerdness

self-verification theory

states that people often seek confirmation of their self

looking glass self

part of how we see ourselves comes from our perception of how others see us

labeling bias

occurs when we are labeled, and others’ views and expectations of us are affected by that labeling

self labeling

when we adapt others’ labels explicitly into our self-concept

internalized prejudice

individuals turn prejudice directed toward them by others onto themselves

self evaluation maintenance theory

our self-esteem can be threatened when someone else outperforms us

self preservation theory

to present a positive self-image to others, w/the goals of increasing our social status

reputation managment

long-term self presentation where we build and sustain specific reputations w/important audiences

self monitoring

individual diff in the tendency to attend to social cures and to adjust one’s behavior to ones social env.

high self monitors

tend to attempt to blend into the social situation in order to be liked

low self- monitors

less likely to attempt to blend into the social situation in order to be liked