Exam 3: The Self

Ivana tells her father that her throat hurts, and asks her father if he will buy her some cough syrup. In reality, though, Ivana's throat doesn't really hurt; she is just pretending that it hurts because she loves how cough syrup tastes. This is an example of self-handicapping.

Research suggests that if you really want to change your self-concept, you should ____.

The tendency to be skeptical and critical of bad feedback about your performance, but accepting of good feedback is a ____.

Research has shown that children are less likely to steal Halloween candy if there is a big mirror in front of them than if there is no mirror. This finding illustrates the fact that ____.

People with excessively high self-esteem, self-love, and a selfish orientation are known as ____________________.

The gender gap in self-esteem (the tendency for males to have higher self-esteem than females) is currently MOST pronounced among ____.

People with low self-esteem are MORE likely to focus on ____ than ____.

Suppose that you want your brother to remember the word "conniving." Would he remember the word better if you asked him if he was ever conniving?

Tina has been trying to sell some of her things on e-bay recently, but nothing seems to sell. She listed an old Ouija board for $20, a pair of used tights for $25, and an old (partially working) smoke detector for $60. A friend suggested that she lower her prices, but Tina maintains that these items are really worth a lot. Tina is showing a severe case of ____.

Since about the 1970s, it appears that self-esteem in the U.S. ____.

According to the text, without society, the self ____.

Tyra is preparing to take a big standardized exam that contains an English portion and a Mathematics portion. Tyra is convinced that she is strong in English, and that she will perform well on the English part of the exam. But she is equally convinced that she is bad at math, and that she will bomb the Mathematics portion. If Tyra has a strong consistency motive, then ____.

Frances has just scheduled an appointment with a personal trainer. She knows she is not in perfect shape, and wants to get a thorough assessment of her strengths and weaknesses. Frances is apparently driven by a strong ____.

Research suggests that most people have high self-esteem and distorted, overly positive views about themselves. How are people able to consistently fool themselves? Discuss at least three different "strategies" or "factors" that enable people to maintain these views.

Yolanda tends to think of herself as a unique person, with individual personality traits, interests, and opinions. She tends to make decisions on her own, to look after her own needs, and to think of herself as a "self-made woman." It would be safe to say that Yolanda has a(n) ____ self-construal.

The tendency for people to take credit for their successes but blame failures on other people or on outside circumstances is known as ____.

Consider the self-enhancement motive, the consistency motive, and the appraisal motive. According to research, which of these three motives appears to be the strongest when conflicts arise between motives?

During eating binges, people's self-awareness tends to be especially high.

Research suggests that most "normal" people today ____.

Doing an activity for its own sake involves ____.