Self Knowledge
Our beliefs about who we are and the way in which we formulate and organize this information
Self Control
The way in which people make plans and execute decisions
Impression Management
The way in which we present ourselves to other people, trying to get them to see us the way we want to be seen
Self Esteem
The way we feel about ourselves: People's evaluations of their own self worth- that is, the extent to which they view themselves as good, competent and decent
Independent view of the self
A way of defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings and actions and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings and actions of other people
Interdependent view of the self
A way of defining oneself in terms of one's relationships to other people, recognizing that one's behavior is often determined by the thoughts, feelings and actions of others
relational interdependence
focusing more on close relationships, more frequent in women
collective interdependence
focusing more on memberships in large groups, more frequent in men
Introspection
The process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings and motives
Self Awareness Theory
The idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values
Outside perspective of the self
viewing oneself through the eyes of other people
Insider perspective of the self
focusing on one's own private experiences without considering how other people see them
Causal Theories
Theories about the causes of one's own feelings and behaviors; often we learn such theories from our culture
Reasons generated attitude change
attitude change resulting from thinking about the reasons for one's attitudes; people assume that their attitudes match the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalize
Self perception theory
The theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation which it occurs
Intrinsic Motivation
The desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it interesting, not because of external rewards or pressures
Extrinsic Motivation
The desire to engage in an activity because of external rewards or pressures, not because we enjoy the task or find it interesting
Overjustification Effect
The tendency for people to view their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons, making them underestimate the extent to which it was caused by intrinsic reasons
Task Contingent Rewards
Rewards that are given for performing a task, regardless of how well it is done
Performance contingent rewards
Rewards that are based on how well we perform a task
Schacter's Two Factor Theory of Emotion
The idea that emotional experience is the result of a two step self perception process in which people first experience physiological arousal and then seek an appropriate explanation for it
Misattribution of Arousal
The process whereby people make mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do
Fixed Mindset
The idea that we have a set amount of ability that we cannot change
Growth Mindset
The idea that our abilities are malleable qualities that we can cultivate and grow
Social Comparison Theory
The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people
Upward Social Comparison
Comparing ourselves to people who are better then we are with regard to a particular trait or ability
Downward Social Comparison
Comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability
Social Tuning
The process whereby people adopt another person's attitudes
Thought Surpression
the process of trying to push a thought out of our minds
Self Regulatory Resource Model
making sure that one has plenty of energy when trying to control their actions- self control requires energy exertion
Impression Management
The attempt by people to get others to see them the way they want to be seen
Ingratiation
The process whereby people flatter, praise, and generally try to make themselves likable to another person, often of higher status
Self Handicapping
The strategy whereby people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves
Behavioral Self Handicapping
People act in ways to reduce the likelihood that they will succeed on a task, so that if they fail they can blame it on the obstacles they created rather than on their lack of ability
Reported Self Handicapping
people devise already made excuses in case they fail
Terror Management Theory
The theory that holds that self esteem serves as a buffer, protecting people from terrifying thoughts about their own mortality
Narcissism
The combination of excessive self love and a lack of empathy toward others
Cognitive Dissonance
A drive or feeling of discomfort, originally defined as being cause by holding two or more inconsistent cognitions and subsequently defined as being caused by performing an action that is discrepant from one's customary, typically positive self conception
Dissonance Reduction
1) Changing our behavior ro bring it in line with the dissonant cognition
2) By attempting to justify our behavior through changing one of the dissonant cognitions
3) By attempting to justify our behavior by adding new cognitions
**Largely unconscious
Self Affirmation
In the context of dissonance theory, a way of reducing dissonance by reminding oneself of one or more of one's positive attributes
Impact Bias
The tendency to overestimate the intensity and duration of one's emotional reactions to future negative events
Post Decision Dissonance
Dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives
Lowballing
An unscrupulous strategy whereby a salesperson induces a customer to agree to purchase a product at a low cost, subsequently claims it was an error, and then raises the price; frequently, the customer will agree to make the purchase at the inflated price
Justification of Effort
The tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have to work hard to attain
External Justification
A reason or explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual (e.g., in order to receive a reward or avoid a severe punishment)
Internal Justification
The reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (e.g., one's attitude or behavior)
Counterattitudinal Advocacy
Starting an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one's private belief or attitude
Insufficient Punishment
The dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity of object, usually resulting in individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object
Self Persuasion
A long lasting form of attitude change that results from attempts at self justification
Hypocrisy induction
The arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that run counter to their behaviors and then reminding then on the inconsistency between what they advocated and their behavior. The purpose is to lead individuals to more responsible behavio
Attitudes
Evaluations of people, objects and ideas
Cognitively based attitude
An attitude based primarily on people's beliefs about the properties of an attitude or object
Affectively Based Attitude
An attitude based more on people's feelings and values than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude or object
Classical Conditioning
The phenomenon whereby a stimulus that elicits an emotional response is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus that does not, until the neutral stimulus takes on the emotional properties of the first stimulus
Operant Conditioning
The phenomenon whereby behaviors we freely choose to perform become more or less frequent, depending on whether they are followed by a reward (positive or negative reinforcement) or punishment
Behaviorally based attitude
an attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an object
Explicit Attitudes
Attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report
Implicit Attitudes
Attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious
Persuasive Communication
Communication advocating a particular side of an issue
Yale Attitude Change Approach
The study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages, focusing on the source of the communication, the nature of the communication, and the nature of the audience
Elaboration Likelihood Model
A model explaining two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change:
1) Centrally, when people are motivated to have the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the communication
2) Peripherally, when people do not pay attention
Central Route to Persuasion
The case in which people elaborate on a persuasive communication, listening carefully to and thinking about the arguments, which occurs when people have both the ability and motivation to listen carefully to a communication
Peripheral Route to Persuasion
The case in which people do not elaborate on the arguments in a persuasive communication but are instead swayed by peripheral cues
Need for Cognition
A personality variable reflecting the extent to which people engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activities
Fear Arousing Communication
Persuasive messages that attempts to change people's attitudes by arousing their fears.
This will fail if the fear is so strong that it overwhelms people- they will become defensive, deny the importance of the event, and be unable to think rationally abou
Heuristic Systematic Model of Persuasion
An explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change:
1) systematically processing the merits of arguments
2) using mental shortcuts (heuristics)
Attitude Inoculation
Making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of arguments against their position
Reactance Theory
The idea that when people feel that their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of reactance is aroused, which can be reduced by performing the threatened behavior
Attitude Accessibility
The strength of the association between an attitude object and a person's evaluation of that object, measured by the speed with which people can report how they feel about the object
Theory of Planned Behavior
The idea that people's intentions are the best predictions of their deliberate behaviors, which are determined by their attitudes toward specific behaviors, their subjective norms, and their perceived behavioral control
Subliminal Messages
Words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence people's judgements, attitudes and behaviors