Self-Esteem and Mechanisms of Self-Enhancement

These flashcards cover vocabulary and key concepts related to self-esteem, self-discrepancy theory, and the various mechanisms people use for self-enhancement as discussed in the lecture.

Affective

In social psychology, this refers to the emotional or feeling aspects of an individual’s experiences, behaviours, and interactions, including emotions, moods, and values.

Self-esteem

Also known as self-worth, this is an attitude towards the self referring to positive and negative evaluations of oneself.

Moods

Prolonged emotional states, such as irritability.

Attitudes

Evaluative judgements towards people, objects, or ideas, which are often accompanied by emotions.

Values

Beliefs about what is important or desirable, often tied to emotions.

Empathy

The ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

Kling et al. (1999) study

A statistical analysis of $216$ studies involving $97,000$ respondents and $48,000$ American students which found that while males outscore females on self-esteem measures, the difference is very small.

Self-Discrepancy Theory

Proposed by Higgins (1989), this theory states that self-esteem is defined by the match or mismatch between the actual self and self-guides.

Actual self

The kind of person an individual thinks they actually are; synonymous with the self-concept.

Self-guides

Personal standards representing the 'ought self' and the 'ideal self' used to predict self-esteem and emotional well-being.

Ought self

Characteristics that enable an individual to meet their sense of duty, obligation, and responsibility.

Ideal self

Traits that embody an individual's hopes, wishes, and dreams.

Dejection-related emotions

A cluster of negative affects centered around dissatisfaction and disappointment resulting from a mismatch between the actual and ideal self.

Agitation-related emotions

A cluster of mental states such as anxiety, guilt, and restlessness resulting from a mismatch between the actual and ought self.

Better-Than-Average Effect

The pattern where people believe they are better than others on a range of characteristics, particularly personal traits that are highly important.

Implicit Egotism

A nonconscious form of self-enhancement where humans unconsciously prefer things, places, or people that resemble or are associated with themselves.

Name-letter effect

An example of implicit egotism where people evaluate the letters contained within their own names more favourably than other letters.

Positive illusions

Unrealistically favourable attitudes that people hold about themselves, the world, or their future.

Self-serving beliefs

The tendency to take credit for success (internally caused) and distance oneself from failure (externally caused).

Unrealistic optimism

An optimistic bias where individuals judge desirable events as more likely to occur than undesirable events for their own future.

Self-handicapping

Actions taken to handicap one's own performance to build an excuse for anticipated failure and protect self-esteem from implications of lack of ability.

Procrastination

A form of excuse-making involving the purposive delay in starting or completing a task to provide a reason for possible failure.

Sandbagging

A tactic used to reduce performance pressure by playing down one's own ability, lowering expectations, and publicly predicting failure.

Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRGing)

Boosting self-esteem by showing off connections to successful others or borrowing the prestige of others.

Cutting off Reflected Failure (CORFing)

Protecting self-esteem by distancing oneself from others who fail or are of low status.

Social Comparison Theory

Festinger's (1954) theory that people evaluate themselves by comparison with similar others.

Downward social comparison

A defensive tendency to compare oneself with others who are worse off, such as those who are less successful or less happy.

Upward social comparison

Comparing oneself to those who are better off to seek information, coping strategies, or motivation, which can sometimes make one feel inferior.

Temporal comparisons

Comparisons made between one's past and present selves as a means of self-enhancement.