The Self

Self-concept

Your knowledge about yourself, including traits, values, goals, and group memberships.

Schema

A cognitive framework that organizes and interprets information.

Social identity theory

The theory that people define and evaluate themselves in terms of social groups they identify with.

Minimal group paradigm

A psychological theory that demonstrates how even arbitrary group assignments can create in-group and out-group biases.

Ingroup

A social group with which a person identifies.

Outgroup

A social group with which a person does not identify.

Basking in Reflected Glory

The phenomenon of associating oneself with the accomplishments of a group to enhance self-esteem.

The Frog Pond Effect

A phenomenon where people's evaluations of themselves are influenced by the context of their comparison group.

Reflected appraisal

What we believe others think about us, which influences our self-perception.

Internal information

The thoughts and feelings we have about ourselves.

External information

The behavior or feedback we receive from others, which influences their perception of us.

Downward social comparisons

Comparisons with others who are worse off, which can boost self-esteem.

Upward social comparisons

Comparisons with others who are better off, which can enhance motivation to improve.

Better-than-average effect

The tendency for people to see themselves as better than the average person on positive attributes.

Self-perception

The process of inferring one's own attitudes and attributes by observing one's behavior.

Self-regulation

Processes that guide thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to achieve desired goals.

Self-awareness

The degree to which we focus on our internal thoughts and feelings versus external situations.

Temporal discounting

The tendency to prioritize immediate rewards over larger future gains.

Implementation intentions

Plans that specify when, where, and how to act in pursuit of a goal.

Cool strategies

Techniques that utilize the reasoning mind to mitigate the influence of strong emotional impulses.