Self-Awareness and Self-Concept

Flashcards about Self-Awareness and Self-Concept Development

Social and personal identity

Identified by Tajfel and Turner in 1979, relating to how individuals perceive themselves within social contexts.

Brewer and Gardner (1996) - 3 types of self

Individual (personal traits), Relational (dyadic relationships), and Collective (group membership).

Self-awareness

Psychological state concerning traits, feelings, and behavior; reflexive thought; realization of being an individual.

Mirror test (Gallup, 1970)

A test used to assess self-awareness by observing if an individual recognizes themselves in a mirror.

Private Self

Refers to thoughts, feelings, and attitudes held by an individual.

Public Self

Refers to the social image that can be seen and evaluated by others.

Chronic self-awareness

A state of constantly being aware of one's shortcomings, which can be very stressful.

Deindividuation

Reduced self-awareness leading to no monitoring of own behaviour.

Mindfulness

Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. (Kabat-Zinn, 1991)

Heightened private self-awareness

Leads to more intense emotion, accurate self-perception, and adherence to personal beliefs.

Heightened public self-awareness

Involves a focus on perception by others, nervousness, adherence to group norms, and concern with physical appearance.

Self-schemas

Mental structures that act, think, behave, and feel, forming an important part of self-concept.

Aschematic

Refers to aspects of the self that are not considered important to one's self-concept.

Control theory of self-regulation (Carver & Scheier, 1981)

A theory where self-awareness assesses whether goals are met; Test – operate to change – test – exit.

Self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987)

Compares actual self with ideal self and ought self to motivate change. Failure to change leads to dejection or agitation.

Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954)

Evaluating oneself by comparing to objective benchmarks in similar people.

Self-evaluation maintenance (Tesser, 1988)

Managing upward social comparison by strategies such as exaggerating target’s ability, changing target, distancing self, or devaluing comparison dimension.

Social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979)

Theory that defines self by group membership, associated with inter-group behavior and group norms.

Self-categorization theory (Turner et al., 1987)

Self-categorisation to groups – internalise group attributes – collective self – social identity.

Meta-contrast principle

Principle based on differences and similarities between groups.

BIRGing

'Basking in reflected glory'; associating with successful others to enhance self-esteem.

Self-assessment

Desire for accurate and valid info to seek out the truth about self.

Self-verification

Desire to confirm what they know and seek out consistency about self.

Self-enhancement

Desire to maintain good image and seek favorable info about self.

Self-affirmation theory

Affirm positive aspects (i.e. boasting).

Individualist cultures

Cultures that promote independent self, autonomous individuals, focus on internal traits, and acting true to internal beliefs.

Collectivist cultures

Cultures that promote interdependent self, connection with others, representation in roles/relationships, and acting appropriately to promote group goals.