PSYB10H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Social Comparison Theory, Trait Theory, Ego Depletion
Chapter 3: The Social Self
The Nature of the Social Self
• The self is fundamentally social, and it shifts according to changes in the social situation.
• Introspection for gaining self-knowledge is not always accurate, and the perceptions of
other people are ofte a etter assesset of oe’s ehaior.
• Self-schemas, organizing structures that help guide the construal of social information,
represet a perso’s eliefs ad feeligs aout the self i geeral ad i speifi
situations.
Origins of the Sense of Self
• Socialization by family members and other important people is one of the foundations
of the social self.
• Reflected self-appraisals are eliefs aout hat others thik of oe’s soial self.
• The social self is shaped by the current situation in many ways, and different selves are
evoked in different situations.
• The social self is profoundly shaped by whether people live in independent or
interdependent cultures.
• Working self-concept is a subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a
particular context
• Women generally emphasize their relationships and define themselves in an
interdependent way, and men generally emphasize their uniqueness and construe
themselves in an independent way.
• People rely on social comparisons to learn about their own abilities, attitudes, and
personal traits.
• Social comparison theory is the hypothesis that people compare themselves to other
people in order to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and
internal states
Self-Esteem
• Self-esteem is the overall positive or negative evaluation an individual has of himself or
herself
• Trait self-esteem is a stale part of oe’s idetit, hereas state self-esteem changes
according to different contextual factors.
• Self-esteem is defined by particular domains of importance, or contingencies of self-
worth, and by being accepted by others.
o Contingencies of self-worth is a perspective maintaining that self-esteem is
contingent on successes or failures in domains on which a person has based on
his or her self-worth
• Sociometer hypothesis is the idea that self-esteem is an internal, subjective index or
marker of the extent to which a person is included or looked on favourably by others
• Self-esteem is more important, and is higher, in Western cultures than East Asian
cultures.
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