Social Psychology

Chapter 2: The Self in a Social World

I.

II.

Spotlights and Illusions

A. Spotlight effect = thinking were more noticeable than we really are
B. Illusion of transparency = thinking our concealed emotions are more
obvious than they really are
C. Other examples of interplay b/w self and society:
1.
Surroundings affect self-awareness
2.
Self-interest colors social judgment
3.
Self-concern motivates social behavior
4.
Social relationships help define self
Self-Concept
A. Sense of self
1.
Self-schema = beliefs about self that organize and guide
the processing of self-relevant information
B. Development of Social Self
1.
Roles we play
2.
Social identities we form
3.
Comparisons w/ others
4.
Successes and failures
5.
Other peoples judgments
6.
Surrounding culture
C. Self and Culture
1.
Individualism vs. collectivism
2.
Independent self vs. interdependent self
3.
Many cultures becoming more individ.
4.
Cultural differences:
a. Asians more likely to notice relationships, backgrounds,
and other features, while Americans more likely to focus
on one obj. or most prominent features
5.
Independent view = acknowledge relation. with others
6.
Interdependent view = self more deeply embedded in
others
7.
Collective self-esteem vs. personal self-esteem
D. Self-Knowledge
1.
We dont know as much about ourselves as wed like to
think
2.
Planning fallacy = underestimating the length of a task
3.
We predict others behavior more accurately than our own
4.
Affective forecasting (predicting future emotions):
a. People have greatest difficulty predicting intensity and
duration of future emotions
b. Impact bias = overestimating enduring impact of
emotion-causing events (more prone after negative
events)
c. We neglect other factors when predicting effect of
devastating events on our future happiness

III.

IV.

d. Immune neglect = underestimating psych. Immune

system
5.
Mental processes controlling behavior are distinct from
those through which we explain behavior
6.
Dual attitude = differing implicit (automatic) and explicit
(consc. controlled) attitudes toward obj.; explicit attitudes
change w/ education and persuasion, but implicit change slowly
w/ practice to form new habits
7.
Self-reports are often untrustworthy in research
Self-Esteem (overall self-evaluation) [self-esteem is based on our
perceptions of our domains and vice versa]
A. Motivation
1.
Self-esteem maintenance (comparisons affect selfesteem)
2.
We search for self-improvement and inclusion in
society/social groups
B. Dark Side of Self-Esteem
1.
Narcissism
a. charming at first, but self-centered behav. causes
problems in relationships later on
b. dont care as much about others feelings/well-being
c. Hostile to criticism
d. Typically have high self-esteem; not just covering up
insecurities
2.
Narcissistic thinking/behavior on rise across country (all
ethnicities)
3.
Low self-esteem people tend to take negative views on
everything when feeling threatened or bad
4.
Secure self-esteem is based on feeling good about
personal achievements/morality rather than how others perceive
us
5.
Greater well-being tied to developing talents &
relationships
Perceived Self-Control
A. Self-control depletes limited willpower resources (central executive
consumes available blood sugar)
B. Self-Efficacy = sense that one is competent and effective (different
than self-esteem)
1.
More likely to complete tasks and stay focused on
problem solving
2.
Persistence and setting challenging goals
C. Locus of Control = perceiving outcomes as either controllable by own
efforts or by outside forces
1.
Internal locus = you control outcomes
a. More likely to succeed and be happy
b. More likely to continue projects/work
2.
External locus = outside forces control outcomes

V.

a. More pessimistic
b. More likely to give up/fail
D. Learned Helplessness = hopelessness and resignation from perceived
inability to control repeated bad events
E. Self-Determination
1.
Typically happier and more independent
2.
Take responsibility and initiative
3.
More capable of self-control
F. Excessive choices can lead to greater dissatisfaction
Self-Serving Bias (tendency to view oneself favorably)
A. Explaining Pos. and Neg. Events
1.
Self-serving attributions = positive outcomes attributed to
self, while neg. outcomes attributed to other factors
2.
Disassociate self from failures, while taking credit for
successes to preserve self-image
3.
Were more likely to admit past failures if theyre distant
enough in time (done by old selves
4.
bias blind spot
B. Can we all be better than average?
1.
We typically think we do better than the general public
2.
We assume we do more work than our partners
3.
Subjective domains breed more bias than objective
C. Unrealistic Optimism
1.
Illusory optimism creates vulnerability (dont take sensible
precautions)
2.
On the rise
3.
Optimism promotes self-efficacy, health, and well-being
4.
Defensive pessimism (anticipating problems & using
anxiety to motivate effective action) helps prevent dangers of
unrealistic optimism
5.
Find balance: enough optimism to sustain hope, enough
pessimism to motivate concern
D. False Consensus and Uniqueness
1.
False consensus = tendency to overestimate commonality
of ones opinions and ones undesirable/unsuccessful behaviors
2.
We see things as we are.
3.
Uniqueness effect = tendency to underestimate
commonality of ones abilities and ones desirable/successful
behaviors
E. Explaining Self-Serving Bias
1.
Assess competence
2.
Verify self-conceptions
3.
Enhance self-image
F. Self-Serving Bias as Adaptive
1.
Buffer against stress
2.
Helps protect us from depression
3.
Emotional resilience
4.
Buffer against anxiety (including fear of death)

VI.

5.
Motivation to achieve
6.
Sustain hope
G. Self-Serving Bias as Maladaptive
1.
Overestimation of success, underestimation of failure
2.
Group-Serving Bias = explaining away outgroup positive
behaviors & attributing negative behaviors to their dispositions;
excuse such behaviors in ingroup members
3.
Hubris
4.
Humility = ability to rejoice in special talents and to
honestly recognize talents of others
Self-Presentation
A. Self-Handicapping = protecting self-image with behaviors that create
handy excuse for later failure
1.
Reducing prep for athletic events
2.
Giving opponent an advantage
3.
Performing poorly at beginning of task to avoid
unreachable expectations
4.
Not trying as hard as possible during tough, ego-involving
tasks
B. Impression Management
1.
Self-presentation = expressing self and behaving in ways
designed to create favorable impression or impression that
matches ones ideals
2.
Happens naturally in familiar situations; unfamiliar
situations require active effort and drain energy
3.
Active self-presentation can improve mood
4.
Self-monitoring = being attuned to the way one presents
oneself in social situations & adjusting ones performance to
create desired impression
5.
False modesty = we display lower self-esteem than
actually felt