social psychology chapter two

spotlight effect

the belief that others are paying more attention to our appearance and behavior then they really are

illusion of transparency

the illusion that our concealed emotions leak out and can be easily read by others

self concept

what we know and believe about ourselves

self-schema

beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of self relevant information

social comparison

evaluating ones abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others

Individualism

the concept of giving priority to ones own goals over group goals and defining ones identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

independent self

construing one's identity as an autonomous self

Collectivism

giving priority to the goals of ones group (often ones extended family or work group) and defining ones identity accordingly

individualism prevails in western cultures. so America

most cultures native to Asia, Africa, and central and south America place a greater value on collectivism

people in Asian cultures tend to think more holistically

individualists breed more conflict

conflict in collectivist cultures often takes place between groups

planning fallacy

the tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a task

many people have difficulty predicting the ___ and ___ of their emotions

intensity, duration

impact bias

overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing events

dual attitude system

differing implicit (automatic) and explicit (consciously controlled) attitudes toward the same object. verbalized explicit attitude's may change with education and persuasion; implicit attitudes change slowly, with practice that form new habits.

implicit

automatic, effortless thinking

explicit

slow, effortful thinking

self-esteem

a persons overall self evaluation or sense of self worth

terror managment theory

proposes that people exhibit self protective emotional and cognitive responses (including adhering more strongly to their cultural world views and prejudices) when confronted with reminders of their mortality

longitudinal study

research in which the same people are studied over an extended period of time

self-efficacy

a sense that one is competent and effective, distinguished from self esteem, which is ones sense of self worth. a sharpshooter in the military might feel high self efficiency and low self esteem

self-serving bias

the tendency to perceive oneself favorably

self-serving attributions

a form of self-serving bias; the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to oneself and negative outcomes to other factors

we view ourselves favorably

success is attributed to

internal factors

failure is attributed to

external factors

self handicapping

we fear failure so much that we sometimes self sabotage. like for example not studying on a test

defensive pessimism

the adaptive value of anticipating problems and harnessing ones anxiety to motivate effective actions

false consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the commonality of ones opinions and ones undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors

false uniqueness effect

the tendency to underestimate the commonality of ones abilities and ones desirable or successful behaviors

self handicapping

protecting one's self-image with behaviours that create a handy excuse for later failure

self presentation

the act of expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression or an impression that corresponds to one's ideals

self-monitoring

being attuned to the way one presents oneself in social situations and adjusting ones performance to create the desired impression