Psych 314: Chapter 15
Which of the following scenarios reflect components of the working self-concept?
As she walks into a job interview, Natalia reassures herself, "You are a professional and you have the skill set for this job." After finishing his shift at work, Raoul's mind is on taking a nap and meeting up with friends, in that order. As he leaves work, a scuffle breaks out between two men near him, but he does not even notice the interaction, and continues back toward his dorm room.
There are a number of self-help books that teach people how to change, with most of these books focusing on changing our procedural self-knowledge. What is the key error that most people make when reading such books?
Believing that reading the book is the end goal
Match each description to the type of self it represents. Note that some items may require more than one match.
Can be an accurate/achievable or inaccurate/unachievable representation Correct label: ought self Correct label: actual self Correct label: ideal self Refers to someone's understanding of how they think they should be based on social rules Correct label: ought self Discrepancies between this self and the real self can lead to anxiety Correct label: ought self Refers to someone's understanding of themselves as they would like to be in a perfect world Correct label: ideal self Refers to someone's understanding of themselves as they really are Correct label: actual self
One category of self-knowledge is ___________ knowledge, which represents the things that we know about our own qualities. This self-knowledge can be further broken down into two parts: first, self-____________ , which is our overall opinion toward our self and which represents how much we see our self in a generally good or bad light. The second part is our self-____________ , which represents all the information we have that is relevant to our self, including our understanding of our overall traits and abilities. It is also useful to remember that all of these types of self-knowledge may at times be slightly or mostly ______________ , because they are based on our learned perceptions of ourselves.
Declarative, esteem, schema, inaccurate
The self can impact us in many ways but is sometimes difficult to conceptualize. Consider the example of a cultural application of the self as seen in collectivist versus individualist cultures. Most of the discussion of the self has focused on a Western perspective, which has a(n) ____________ culture, wherein the self is focused more on ___________ . In more ______________ cultures, on the other hand, some research shows that the self includes a concept of ____________ . When the self-____________ effect is considered, those from collectivist cultures responded the same to information related to _____________ as they did to themselves, which was not the case for individualist cultures.
Individualist, the individual, collectivist, a group, reference, parents
Match each type of possible self to the appropriate description. Labels can be used more than once.
Janice thinks she would like to win the Nobel Prize one day. Correct label: ideal self Represents the difference between the actual self and the ideal self Correct label: "self-discrepancy" self Represents the qualities one would have in a "perfect world" Correct label: ideal self Reyansh has gotten a promotion at work. He thinks he should really start putting some money into a retirement fund. Correct label: ought self Represents the self as it currently is Correct label: actual self Represents the qualities one thinks that they should have Correct label: ought self Represents the difference between the actual self and the ought self Correct label: "self-discrepancy" self
In the beginning of this chapter, the author of your textbook describes a study that began with the prompt, "Tell me something about yourself." What was surprising about this research?
Many students did not have answers ready
Match each definition and example to the type of self it describes. Labels can be used more than once.
Procedural self: Jacques is an outdoorsman, so he often invites dates on nature walks, where he is skilled and can converse easily. behaviors that show who we are based on what we do Implicit self self-relevant behavioral patterns that we are not consciously aware of Jared says he likes fast food but he never wants to go to a fast-food restaurant. Relational self Marilu lives on her own, but when she returns home for Thanksgiving, she finds herself relaxing on the sofa while her parents prepare dinner. our perceptions and behavior are directed by those who we have important relationships with
Implicit selves are more automatic and difficult to measure. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) can be used to measure implicit self-esteem. While participating in the IAT, participants respond as quickly as possible to information presented to them. Which of the following are hypotheses of the IAT as used to measure implicit self-esteem?
The IAT is more accurate at predicting behavior than are self-report, self-esteem measures. Those with high self-esteem will have a faster reaction time to phase 1 "good," "me" concepts than to phase 2 items, with "good," "not me" concepts. Those with low self-esteem will have a more equivalent reaction time in the two phases of the experiment, or perhaps would respond more quickly to "good," "not me" concepts.
Match each type of self to the correct definition.
The self as you currently see it (also known as the "actual self") Correct label: real self Your self as you consider what could be in comparison to the actual self Correct label: future self This self, which is part of the actual self, may not be as consciously accessible, but still influences our decisions and behavior. Correct label: implicit self Your self as you think it is your responsibility to attempt to be Correct label: ought self This self, created by past experiences, informs us about how to interact with people we know well. Correct label: relational self Your very best possible self Correct label: ideal self
The Try for Yourself feature in this chapter asks you to rate yourself as independent or dependent, as an individualist or a conformist, and as a leader or a follower, and then asks you to rate how important your description is for each option. Your final score tells you if you are schematic for the trait of independence or dependence. How can you use this information?
To decide whether to take a class online or in person
Identify the true and false statements about our self-schema.
True statements: It helps us process personally relevant information quickly. It has some inaccuracies. It helps us recognize relevant information. False statement: It can change along with changes in memory.
There are three basic routes to improving self-knowledge. Which of the following answers is not one of these routes?
You can reinforce correct self-assessments and punish incorrect ones.
What would happen to your self-view if you lost your memories of your past?
You will not change your view of yourself
Match each self-related concept to the correct definition.
a person's collection of knowledge about their self Correct label: self-schema a person's opinion of their own ability Correct label: self-efficacy a person's current understanding of their personality as they are Correct label: actual self a person's sense of self that influences decisions and behavior but that is not easily accessed or described Correct label: implicit self a person's current presentation of themselves considering the situation they are in and the people around them Correct label: working self-concept a person's opinion of their own value Correct label: self-esteem
Fill in the blanks to complete the passage about the cartoon. This cartoon illustrates a discussion between the two horses about the self-___________ of being able to giddy up. If the one horse does not believe it is good at it, then it won't try to giddy up. The horse's beliefs about its overall ability to succeed at a task are part of its self-____________ , which is considered - knowledge because it is part of the information the horse has about itself. Finally, as we see in the cartoon, the horse's belief that it can't giddy up is _____________ , but it affects the horse's behavior nonetheless.
efficacy, schema, declarative, inaccurate
Which of the following are related to low self-esteem?
loneliness and dissatisfaction with life a poor opinion of the self and feeling unworthy failure in the eyes of peers and feeling rejected
Identify the following as applying to multiple selves or not.
not knowing who you are or feeling that your identity is in flux working self-concept being short-tempered with one person but polite with another changing behavior for different situations
Match each self-related concept example to the appropriate term.
self-schema Correct label: Zane has a detailed idea of what he is like, including his beliefs, abilities, and behaviors. self-esteem Correct label: Zaire feels like he doesn't measure up in comparison to his friends and family. actual self Correct label: Zach considers himself to be hard-working and shy self-efficacy Correct label: Zalia wishes she was better at piano; she feels like she makes mistakes every time she plays. working self-concept Correct label: As he prepares to walk into a party, Zed smiles, throws his shoulders back, and calls out to his friends. implicit self Correct label: Zoe doesn't know why, but she feels most comfortable about herself when she's at work; she feels like she can function quickly and smoothly.