The Self

Question 1

What is ,,The Self’’?

Answer 1

self is a socially-constructed entity : our sense of self is built upon the life-long experience of seeing ourself through the eyes of others

• high point of individuality
• shaped by social interactions
• includes traits, preferences, social roles, self-categorization
• Together, identities make up one’s self-concept (the self) - variously described as what comes to mind when one thinks of oneself.

Question 2

William James (1842-1940) definition of Self

Answer 2

• > self as an object can be observed ,,me’’

- > self as an agent doing the observing ,,I’’

Question 3

Psychodynamic Self

Answer 3

by Freud:
people repress unsocialized and selfish impulses
-> once in a while they come to the surface
-> you can only know yourself or others if special procedures such as hypnosis or psychotherapy are employed to reveal repressed thoughts

Question 4

Individual Self and

Collective Self

Answer 4

Individual Self (independent self) : defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identification 
Collective Self (interdependent self ) : out of interactions with others there arose a ,,group mind'' 
- you share descriptions with other peoples self

Question 5

symbolic interactionist self

Answer 5

• self emerges and is shaped by social interactions
• Self is not an inherent property of human nature but rather a socially-constructed entity: our sense of self is built upon the life-long experience of seeing ourselves through the eyes of others (“looking-glass self ”)

Question 6

Looking-glass self :

Answer 6

• people see themselves the way they think other people see them
• truth is that people are mostly unaware of what other people think of them
• people normally overestimate their good points, their control over events and are unrealistically optimistics

Question 7

there are two types of self that you can be aware of

Answer 7

private self: your private thoughts, feelings and attitudes

public self: your public image and how others see you

Question 8

Deindividuation

Answer 8

Process whereby people lose their sense of socialized individual identity and engage in unsocialized often antisocial behavior
-> key component is reduced self awareness

Question 9

Self-discrepancy theory

Answer 9

Higgins suggests that we have three types of self-schema
1 actual self- how we currently are
2 ideal self- how we would like to be
3 ,,ought’’ self- how we think we should be

• > ideal and ought self act as self guides
• discrepancies can motivate you to get rid of them
• > when we fail to resolve an actual to ideal self we feel generally dejected (deprimiert)

Question 10

Self-regulation

Answer 10

strategies that we use to match out behavior to an ideal

Question 11

Self-perception theory

Answer 11

we gain self-knowledge only by self-attribution : we infer our own attitudes from our own behavior
- how we perceive ourselves can also be based on simply imagining ourselves behaving in a particular way

Question 12

Over justification effect

Answer 12

Leistungsabnahme sobald Belohnung aus gezahlt oder versprochen wurde

Question 13

Social comparison theory

Answer 13

Comparing our behavior and opinion with those of others in order to establish the correct or socially approved way of thinking and behaving
- we like to compare ourself with those who are worse tham us -> downward comparison -> positive self concept

Question 14

Self evaluation maintenance model

Answer 14

people who are forced to make esteem-damaging comparison can underplay or deny similarities to the target, or they can withdraw from their relationship to the target

Question 15

BIRGing

Answer 15

Basking ( schwelgen) in reflected glory = to link yourself with desirable people or groups and thus improve other peoples impression of you

Question 16

the two broad classes of identity
social identity
personal identity

Answer 16

1 defines self in terms of group membership

2 defines self in terms of idiosyncratic traits and close personal relationships

Question 17

three forms of self by Brewer and Gardner

Answer 17

Individual Self- based on personal traits
Relational Self- based on connections/ relationships with similar others
Collective Self- based on group membership that differs ,,us’’ from ,,them’’

Question 18

four types of identity by Brewer

Answer 18

• Personal based social identities : internalization of group properties by individual group members as part of their self-concept
• Relational social identities: defining self in relation tp specific other people
• Group based social identities: see pbsi
• Collective identities: group members do not only share group defining attributes but forge an image of what the group stands for

Question 19

Actor-observer effect

Answer 19

tendency to attribute our own behavior externally and other peoples behavior internally

Question 20

Self-categorization theory

Answer 20

• social identity theory of groups
• helps to understand group behavior more general
• categorizing oneself as a group member produces social identity and group and intergroup behavior
• reduces uncertainly about self and improves positive feeling about self

Question 21

Social identity theory

Answer 21

theory of both self and identity and group and intergroup behavior
- theory of group membership and intergroup relations based on self-categorization, social comparison and the construction of a shared self-definition in terms of in-group-defining properties

Question 22

Identification

Answer 22

Identification = making the same
• Latin: idem = same, facere = make
• Identify with something = making it the same with me
• You perceive it as an inseperable part of yourself
• A creation of your mind/ratio

Question 23

Salience

Answer 23

• Salience = certain context bring identities to the foreground
– Being Dutch in The Netherlands is nothing special and irrelevant, but when you are in Bali, it is nice to meet fellow Dutchies…

Question 24

Self awareness in Infancy

Answer 24

• Dot-of-rouge experiment
• Recognize selves in mirror at 15-18 months
• 15-23 months
– Personal pronoun use
– Picture recognition
– Self-referencing, ownership, self-monitoring

Question 25

Self in Early Childhood

Answer 25

* Confusion of self, mind, and body • Concrete descriptions * Physical descriptions * Activities – what they do * Overestimation of abilities

Question 26

Self- Middle and Late Childhood

Answer 26

* Shift to internal traits and abilities • Social role descriptions * Real and ideal selves * More realistic about abilities

Question 27

Self in Adolescence

Answer 27

* Abstract-idealistic * Self-conscious/ preoccupied * Contradictions within self * Fluctuating picture across time/situations • Possible selves * Self-integrations as they get older

Question 28

Self in Adulthood

Answer 28

* Self-awareness (emotional intelligence) – Accept own good and bad qualities * Possible selves become more realistic * Life review – evaluation of successes & failures; more likely as you get older

Question 29

Self-Esteem

Answer 29

• Evaluative part of the self-concept – emotional • Difference between the real and ideal self – Have you realized your potential? – Do you value the trait, but have little potential? – Ideal self includes the “ought” and the “wish” selves • Measure of our sense of meaning in life – This includes purpose – Self-respect (Have you lived up to who you are?)

Question 30

Self-serving attributions

Answer 30

– Tendency to attribute positive outcomes to oneself and negative outcomes to other factors

Question 31

False Consenus Effect

Answer 31

– Tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors • Why do you think integrity tests for employment work?

Question 32

Stigma

Answer 32

Group attributes that mediate a negative social evaluation of people belonging to the group

Question 33

Narcissim

Answer 33

a self image that is comprising self-love and a grandiose view of oneself

Question 34

Self-handicapping

Answer 34

- fear of failure | - •Protecting one’s self-image with behaviors that create a handy excuse for later failure

Question 35

self-monitoring

Answer 35

- carefully controlling how we present ourselves | - tendency to act such as social cameleons

Question 36

self-presentation

Answer 36

a deliberate effect to act in ways that create a particular impression, usually favorable of ourself

Question 37

examples for serious changes to the Self

Answer 37

- gender dysphoria | - (late) sexual orientation change

Question 38

Terror-management theory

Answer 38

people pursue self-esteem to overcome the fear of death

Question 39

Influences to Self-concept

Answer 39

age, sexual orientation, appereance, gender, culture, education, relationship, emotional lability, life experiences