Social Self, Social Cognition, and Social Attributions

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering self-concept, cultural self-construal, self-esteem, social cognition, heuristics, biases, and attribution theories based on the lecture notes.

Physical Self-Concept

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

Social Self-Concept

Self-descriptions based on social roles, institutional memberships, or other important identity/cultural groups (e.g., "I am a college student", "I am Dominican").

Attribute Self-Concept

Self-descriptions based on psychological or physiological states or traits (e.g., "I am intelligent", "I am caring", "I am tired").

Global Self-Concept

Broad or vague self-descriptions that do not distinguish a person from other people (e.g., "I am a human being", "I am alive").

Independent Cultures

Cultures (such as the US, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia) characterized by individualism, a need for distinctiveness, viewing the self as a distinct social entity with voluntary bonds, and viewing personal attributes as stable.

Interdependent Cultures

Cultures (such as Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe) characterized by collectivism, a desire for harmonious social relations, viewing the self as inextricably linked to others, and viewing personal attributes as varying depending on the situation and group.

Independent View of Self

A self-construal model where the self is bounded and distinct from others, with firm boundaries surrounding the individual and personal aspects of identity placed within the individual circle.

Interdependent View of Self

A self-construal model where the self overlaps with significant others (e.g., mother, brother, friends), featured with permeable boundaries between the individual and the ingroup.

Better-Than-Average Effect

The psychological bias wherein individuals tend to overestimate their positive abilities and traits while underestimating negative ones.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

A cognitive bias in which people with less expertise tend to overrate their knowledge or skills because they lack the expertise necessary to notice their mistakes.

Self-Esteem

The overall positive or negative evaluation an individual has of themselves.

Contingencies of Self-Worth

Domains in which an individual's evaluation of their performance and success directly influences their self-esteem.

Sociometer Theory

A theory proposing that self-esteem functions as an internal gauge or monitor of how well an individual is accepted into a social group.

Social Identity Theory

A theory stating that identification with a social group serves as an important source of self-esteem, involving positive distinctiveness, basking in reflected glory, and ingroup status enhancement.

Positive Distinctiveness

Focusing on what is unique and positive about your group (and by extension, yourself) to maintain higher self-esteem.

Basking in Reflected Glory

Experiencing an increase in self-esteem and positive feelings when members of your ingroup perform well or achieve something good.

Social Cognition

The study of how people think, process, and make decisions about people and social situations.

Controlled Processes

Mental processes that are conscious, effortful, purposeful, and require active cognitive resources.

Automatic Processes

Mental processes that occur outside of conscious awareness, are relatively effortless, habitual, and act as a "mental autopilot".

Prototype

The most typical example of a category or schema, containing many of the characteristics most strongly associated with that category.

Schema

A cognitive knowledge structure containing organized information about the general characteristics of a category of people or events.

Person Schemas

Organized cognitive knowledge structures about specific types or categories of people (e.g., professors, Rhode Islanders, introverts).

Event Schemas (Scripts)

Organized knowledge structures regarding expected sequences of actions and events in specific settings (e.g., dining at a restaurant, driving, responding to a fire alarm).

Gender Schemas

Cognitive frameworks regarding social expectations, traits, interests, and emotions associated with gender categories.

Priming

The activation of specific schemas or concepts, which subsequently influences how new information is interpreted and remembered.

Decision Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb used to make decisions quickly and efficiently, which can sometimes result in systematic biases.

Availability Heuristic

A mental shortcut where likelihood or frequency estimates are made based on how readily or easily examples come to mind.

Anchoring Heuristic

A cognitive bias in which an initial starting value (anchor) unduly skews subsequent judgments or numerical estimates.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the degree to which other people share our personal opinions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information that confirms existing beliefs while failing to search for challenging evidence.

Counterfactual Thinking

Cognitively imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that could have happened (especially if they were close to occurring) but did not.

Causal Attributions

Explanations or judgments created to account for why a person performed a specific behavior or why an event took place.

Internal (Dispositional) Attribution

Attributing a behavior to internal, stable, and controllable characteristics of the person (e.g., personality, traits, ability).

External (Situational) Attribution

Attributing a behavior to temporary, uncontrollable factors in the surrounding social environment or situation.

Consensus (Kelley's Covariation Model)

An attribution indicator evaluating whether other people act in the same manner as the observed individual in the given situation.

Distinctiveness (Kelley's Covariation Model)

An attribution indicator evaluating whether the target individual acts differently in the current situation compared to different situations.

Consistency (Kelley's Covariation Model)

An attribution indicator evaluating whether the target individual behaves similarly in the same or very similar situations across time.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to attribute other people's behavior to internal dispositional factors while underestimating the impact of situational factors.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute one's own negative behaviors or failures to external situational factors, while attributing positive behaviors or successes to internal dispositional factors.

Perceptual Salience

The degree to which an individual or object stands out visually or attentively, causing observers to focus on them rather than subtle situational factors.

Just World Hypothesis

The belief that the world is inherently fair and individuals receive what they deserve, which provides a sense of control but can lead to victim-blaming.