Deck 5: The Nature, Origins, and Functions of the Self

Question 1

The concept of _____ suggests that cognitive control is like a muscle that can be built up or atrophy.

A) affective forecasting
B) ego depletion
C) ironic processing
D) self-regulation

Answer 1

ego depletion

Question 2

Francois (a scientist) is participating in a discussion about science with several Catholic male monks. How does research suggest Francois will think of himself in this situation?

A) as a discussant
B) as a man
C) as a scientist
D) It is impossible to predict how Francois will see himself in this situation.

Answer 2

as a scientist

Question 3

What is the facial feedback hypothesis?

A) that a separate physiological reaction underlies each discrete emotional state
B) that changes in expression elicit emotions associated with those expressions
C) that people attempt to explain their arousal based on salient factors in their environment
D) that people understand themselves based on the reactions they see in others to their behavior

Answer 3

that changes in expression elicit emotions associated with those expressions

Question 4

Patrisia is trying to decide what classes she is going to take next semester. Unfortunately, due to complications and a last-minute change to her major, Patrisia is having to enroll late, just before the semester starts. According to construal level theory, what kinds of courses is Patrisia likely to enroll in?

A) the easiest courses
B) the most difficult courses
C) the courses in which she will learn the most and which will be the most interesting
D) the courses that will improve her most as a citizen and person

Question 5

In the framework of self-discrepancy theory, the _____ is our vision for what we would most like to become through our actions.

A) ideal self
B) ought self
C) actual self
D) looking-glass self

Question 6

Manuel is standing near a cliff at a popular sightseeing spot. He occasionally worries about whether he might slip off the cliff. His friend suggests that after they're done with sightseeing, they should go to a museum that Manuel has no desire to go to. According to research on the misattribution of arousal, what is particularly likely to happen in this scenario?

A) Manuel will not pay much attention to his friend.
B) Manuel will believe that he is angry with his friend.
C) Manuel will be willing to respect his friend's wish and go to the museum.
D) Manuel will decide to calm down before making a decision about the museum.

Question 7

According to self-awareness theory, under what circumstances is a person going to try to escape self-awareness?

A) when they perceive a negative self-related discrepancy, and feel that that discrepancy can be easily reduced
B) when they perceive a negative self-related discrepancy, and feel that that discrepancy will be difficult to reduce
C) when they are in public
D) if they are low in trait self-consciousness

Question 8

More abstract descriptions of an action tend to focus on _____.

A) the relevance of the goal to the self
B) the relevance of the goal to others
C) how an action is performed
D) why an action is performed

Question 9

Cognitive reappraisal is:

A) the mental reframing of a situation to minimize emotional reaction to it.
B) the tendency to incorporate short-term memories into long-term memory.
C) the incorporation of others' beliefs about the self into one's self-concept.
D) the labeling of diffuse arousal, producing a particular emotion state.

Question 10

When are people likely to rely on self-perception to understand their attitudes?

A) when they are in a new or unexpected situation
B) when they are in a familiar situation
C) when they are reaching the end of a particular career stage, but before they have reached a new one
D) when there is a salient external factor that might explain their behavior

Question 11

The idea that the more we try not to think about something, the more those thoughts enter our mind and distract us from other things is referred to as _____.

A) affective forecasting
B) ego depletion
C) ironic processing
D) self-regulation

Question 12

What is the two-factor theory of emotion?

A) Emotions consist of a physiological reaction, followed by a specific behavior.
B) Emotions are delayed conscious reactions to events that are at first only unconsciously registered.
C) Emotions are the product of both the person's arousal level and how they interpret that arousal.
D) Emotions involve both cognition and motivation.

Question 13

The aspect of a person's self-schema that is most active in a particular situation is referred to as the _____.

A) reflected appraisal
B) looking glass self
C) working self-concept
D) self-concept

Question 14

Which of the following is one of the significant reasons why there are gender differences in behavior?

A) Children are less likely to engage in a behavior if they believe it is gender-appropriate.
B) Men and women naturally gravitate towards careers for which they are inherently more skilled.
C) Nearly all behaviors have biologically rooted gender differences.
D) Being told that a behavior is appropriate for one's gender makes a child more likely to engage in that behavior.

Question 15

Appraisals refer to _____, while reflected appraisals refer to _____.

A) other people's beliefs about the self; the self's beliefs about other people's beliefs about the self
B) the self's beliefs about other people's beliefs about the self; other people's beliefs about the self
C) attributions about the self's current behavior; attributions about the self's past behavior
D) attributions about the self's past behavior; attributions about the self's current behavior

Question 16

According to the self-regulatory perseveration theory of depression, a person is most likely to perseverate on an unattainable goal:

A) if they are low in trait self-consciousness.
B) if they have many important goals.
C) if that goal was central to their sense of self-esteem.
D) under conditions of low self-awareness.

Question 17

Interestingly, giving insomniacs a placebo pill that they've been told would cause arousal as they went to sleep reduces the problem of insomnia. This finding BEST demonstrates which phenomenon?

A) misattribution of arousal
B) excitation transfer theory
C) self-regulation
D) self-awareness theory

Question 18

The view of one's traits, social roles, and social identities is called that person's _____.

A) ego
B) self-concept
C) social identity
D) working self-concept

Question 19

According to social comparison theory, under what circumstances are people most likely to compare themselves to others on a particular ability?

A) when they are the only person belong to a particular social identity in a group of people
B) when they are feeling depressed
C) when they are feeling confident about their ability
D) when they lack objective standards to assess their standing on that ability

Question 20

The perspective of _____ proposes that the amount of energy a person extends on a goal is a function of the desirability of the goal and the person's estimation of how achievable it is.

A) action identification theory
B) self-discrepancy theory
C) expectancy-value theory
D) auto-motive theory

Question 21

What is the basic idea behind social identity theory? Describe a study derived from this theory. What were the results of the study?

Question 22

Briefly describe a self-awareness theory perspective on alcoholism. What are some of the relevant research findings?

Question 23

What is the essence of the self-regulatory perseveration theory of depression? According to this theory, what can be done to break the cycle of depression? Give a hypothetical example.

Question 24

What is the basic premise of self-awareness theory? According to research from this theory, how are people likely to react to a discrepancy between their actual self or behavior and their internalized ideals?

Question 25

What is the basic idea behind social role theory? According to this theory, why is it the case that gender differences in career and life opportunities tend to be perpetually reinforced and transmitted across generations?

Question 26

What are the different self-images proposed by self-discrepancy theory? What kinds of emotions does the theory predict will result when individuals perceive a discrepancy between their actual self and each of these selves?

Question 27

What is affective forecasting? Are people skilled or not at this particular ability? Why or why not? Provide an example from your college experience or research demonstrating some of the results of affective forecasting.

Question 28

What is symbolic interactionism, and what are some of its primary insights?

Question 29

What is the phenomenon of ego depletion? Discuss at least two research findings which testify to the existence of this phenomenon.

Question 30

What is the better than average effect? Who does research suggest is most likely to demonstrate this effect? Why would these people demonstrate the effect more than others?

Question 31

What is social comparison theory? What are downward and upward comparisons? When are we most likely to compare ourselves to others, according to this perspective?

Question 32

What is the central idea behind self-perception theory? What are some examples of the role that self-perception processes play in emotion?

Question 33

Describe a typical study demonstrating the benefits of cognitive reappraisal.

Question 34

What does research and theory suggest are the differences between guilt and shame? Name at least two of the different outcomes of shame and guilt proneness that have been demonstrated in studies.

Question 35

What is the main idea behind action identification theory? Provide some hypothetical examples of different ways to conceive of an action. According to this theory, what is at least one factor that influences the way people think about their actions?

Question 36

What is the two-factor theory of emotion? Describe the design of the classic study that first tested this theory. How did this study demonstrate misattribution of arousal?

Question 37

Describe the phenomenon of ironic processing, and discuss the rebound effect.

Question 38

What is the difference between a goal and other kinds of information that might be primed in a given situation?

Question 39

Describe construal level theory. Provide an example from your college experience that demonstrates the central ideas of this theory.

Question 40

What is a self-schema, and what is a working self-concept? What kinds of factors trigger different working self-concepts? Provide examples.

Question 41

In one study supporting social identity theory, participants were first told randomly that, on the basis of their aesthetic judgments, they were part of either a "figure orientation" or a "ground orientation" group. Some of the participants were then told that members of their same group were high in a trait called "surgency." What were the results of this study?

A) Participants assigned to the "figure" group rated themselves as high in surgency.
B) Participants assigned to the "ground" group rated themselves as low in surgency.
C) Participants who believed their ingroup was high in surgency rated themselves as high in surgency.
D) Participants who believed that the outgroup was high in surgency rated themselves as high in surgency.

Question 42

Yi-Chih is teaching an infant yoga class, and is currently alone in the classroom with several male infants. How does research suggest Yi-Chih will think of himself in this situation?

A) as an adult
B) as a person doing yoga
C) as a boy
D) It is impossible to predict how Yi-Chih will see himself in this situation.

Question 43

Which of the following reasons is NOT one of the significant reasons why there are gender differences in behavior?

A) Being told that a behavior is appropriate for one's gender makes a child more likely to engage in that behavior.
B) Children model the behavior of same-sex adults to a higher degree.
C) Nearly all behaviors have biologically rooted gender differences.
D) People learn from their culture what behaviors are appropriate for their gender.

Question 44

Reflected appraisals refer to:

A) other people's beliefs about the us.
B) our beliefs about what other people believe about us.
C) the attributions people make about their looking glass selves.
D) opinions that arise in conversation between two people.

Question 45

The perspective that people use their understanding of how significant people in their lives view them as the primary basis for knowing and evaluating themselves is known as _____.

A) the self-schema perspective
B) social identity theory
C) social role theory
D) symbolic interactionism

Question 46

The looking glass notion of the self suggests that people understand themselves first by considering _____ and then incorporating those into the self-concept.

A) others' appraisals of the self
B) self-schemas
C) central self-goals
D) social identities

Question 47

A study showing that overweight people are significantly less happy if they live in a society that stigmatizes obesity than if they live in a society in which obesity is common and accepted testifies BEST to which concept from symbolic interactionism?

A) social role theory
B) downward comparison
C) the generalized other
D) the looking glass self

Question 48

Which of the following findings has not been demonstrated by research on self-schemas?

A) People are more likely to remember specific behaviors that reflect a self-defining attribute.
B) People process information about a self-defining attribute more quickly.
C) People's opinions about their central self-schema(s) tend to fluctuate dramatically in different situations.
D) People are reluctant to believe information that contradicts their sense of the extent to which they possess a self-defining attribute.

Question 49

Which of the following study results on the effects of gender is accurate?

A) The differences between men and women are greater than the similarities.
B) Men talk more than women on average.
C) Women talk more on average than men.
D) Women and men talk the same amount on average.

Question 50

Juwon observes that, in her society, women tend to perform maternal and familial tasks, whereas men tend to perform independent tasks requiring intelligence. According to social role theory, what is Juwon likely to conclude on the basis of her observations?

A) There is no biological difference between men and women; rather, their roles are socially constructed.
B) Juwon is free to choose whichever social role she would like to perform, whether more masculine or more feminine.
C) Women perform more maternal and familial tasks because they are intrinsically better at such tasks.
D) Juwon should perform tasks that require independence and intelligence, because there are not enough women performing these social roles

Question 51

In a study by Baldwin and colleagues (1990), Catholic participants were presented with a description of a sexual dream, and then were subliminally exposed to an image of either the Pope or an unknown figure scowling in disapproval. What were the findings of the study?

A) Participants exposed to the Pope judged themselves more favorably.
B) Participants exposed to the Pope judged themselves less favorably.
C) Participants exposed to the other figure judged themselves more favorably.
D) Participants exposed to the other figure judged themselves less favorably.

Question 52

People in collectivist cultures define themselves more in terms of _____, while people in individualist cultures define themselves more in terms of _____.

A) unique attributes; group identities
B) the ego; the self-concept
C) the self-concept; the ego
D) group identities; unique attributes

Question 53

The view that a person holds of one's traits, social roles, and social identities is called that person's _____, while the aspect of the self that directs the person's thoughts and actions is called that person's _____.

A) self-concept; ego
B) ego; self-concept
C) social identity; self-schema
D) self-schema; social identity

Question 54

What term did Cooley use to describe the self as seen from the perspective of symbolic interactionism?

A) self-schema
B) looking glass self
C) ego
D) identity

Question 55

A self-schema is defined as:

A) an integrated set of memories, beliefs, and generalizations about an attribute that is part of one's self-concept.
B) a set of expectations that a person possesses about how one of their friends or acquaintances is going to behave.
C) the part of the self that controls and directs behavior.
D) a belief that is variable between people about whether or not the self is a stable, real entity or a loose fiction.

Question 56

When it comes to the self-concept, what does the phenomenon of solo status imply?

A) People are capable of planting thoughts in the minds of others.
B) People dislike being alone and strive at all times to be in the presence of others.
C) People tend to define themselves more in terms of attributes which distinguish them from the majority of others in a situation.
D) People are generally prejudiced against individuals who are self-sufficient or standoffish.

Question 57

Social identity theory suggests that:

A) people are equally likely to identify with ingroups and outgroups, depending on situational factors.
B) people define and value themselves largely in terms of the social groups with which they identify.
C) the social groups we belong to, rather than the culture we are in, define who we are.
D) people have one prominent social identity (e.g., their ethnicity) which defines them across all situations.

Question 58

The EAR device is used to:

A) scan people's brain activity while they are completing tasks.
B) assess people's ability to accurately process auditory input from their social environment.
C) measure a person's implementation attentions by coding their free associations about their goals.
D) record ambient sounds in a person's environment over a period of time to extract information about their activities and personality.

Question 59

A _____ tends to be fairly consistent across situations, whereas a _____ tends to be differentially activated by situational cues.

A) social identity; looking glass self
B) looking glass self; social identity
C) working self-concept; self-schema
D) self-schema; working self-concept

Question 60

Mead and Cooley were prominent representatives of which line of thought in social psychology?

A) social comparison theory
B) symbolic interactionism
C) self-regulation
D) the two-factor theory of emotion

Question 61

What does research suggest about the relationship between people's ratings of themselves and others' ratings of them?

A) There is no relationship between the two.
B) They are almost identical.
C) Self-ratings and other-ratings have a weak correlation (around a .20 or .30 correlation).
D) Self-ratings and other-ratings are strongly associated (around a .70 or .80 correlation).

Question 62

Which of the following statements is the MOST complete summary of Schachter and Singer's (1962) classic study on the two-factor theory of emotion?

A) Participants who were given an arousing injection and told that their arousal was a side effect of the injection were more likely to believe they felt happy or angry, depending on a confederate.
B) Participants who were given an arousing injection were more likely to feel angry when a confederate acted angry.
C) Participants who were given an arousing injection were more likely to feel happy when a confederate acted happy.
D) Participants who were given an arousing injection and not told that their arousal was a side effect of the injection were more likely to believe they felt happy or angry, depending on a confederate.

Question 63

According to the research, training a person to be better at a certain task will affect that person's ability to accurately evaluate of their own performance on that task in what way?

A) Training at a task will have no effect on the accuracy of people's evaluations.
B) People who are better trained at performing a task will more accurately evaluate their performance than if they had not received the training.
C) People who are better trained at performing a task will evaluate their performance as worse compared to poor performers who have received no training.
D) Training will lead people to evaluate their performance more positively if performance is determined by social comparison, rather than objective standards.

Question 64

Jama is talking with her coworker. She has a crick in her neck, and so is moving her head up and down vigorously and repeatedly to reduce the discomfort. Jama's coworker is presenting her with an idea that he thinks they should bring up at the next board meeting. What does research suggest Jama's response will be?

A) It is impossible to determine Jama's response based on this information.
B) Jama will likely approve of the coworker's idea.
C) Jama will likely reject the coworker's idea.
D) Jama will only approve of the coworker's idea if she was already in a good mood

Question 65

One study tracked the daily influence of events on college students' moods, and also their own perceptions of the influence of events. What were the findings of this study?

A) All of the fluctuation in participants' daily moods could be explained by personality factors.
B) All of the fluctuation in participants' daily moods could be explained by situational factors.
C) Events like the weather and lack of sleep did not affect participants' moods, but the participants believed that they did.
D) Events like the weather and lack of sleep did affect participants' moods, but the participants believed that they did not.

Question 66

Layla plays in a local rock band that gets gigs at small venues, bars, and restaurants. One night the band has a meeting during which they all can give each other feedback on how they perform at their specific instruments. What does research suggest will be Layla's experience of this meeting?

A) She will give the other band members disproportionately positive feedback.
B) She will give the other band members disproportionately negative feedback.
C) She will receive disproportionately negative feedback from the other band members.
D) She will interpret the feedback she receives as more negative than the other band members intend.

Question 67

When are we NOT likely to rely on self-perception processes?

A) when we are in a new or unexpected situation
B) when we are in a transition period in life
C) when there is a salient external factor that might explain our behavior
D) when there are no salient external factors to explain our behavior

Question 68

What is one of the foundational insights of social comparison theory?

A) People compare their achievements to an internal standard on social, but not on nonsocial dimensions.
B) People often don't have an "objective" means of assessing their ability on a given dimension.
C) People compare themselves to others only when they are feeling generally confident about their abilities.
D) Comparisons between people are inevitably harmful for motivation.

Question 69

Cassia arrives at a job interview but has to wait outside the interview room with another candidate for the position. This candidate appears disorganized and is not well-dressed. What can we conclude about Cassia's state of mind based on social comparison theory?

A) Cassia has somewhat lowered self-esteem.
B) Cassia has somewhat heightened self-esteem.
C) Cassia will be more likely to use metaphors of cleanliness in the interview.
D) Cassia will be more likely to use metaphors of dirtiness in the interview.

Question 70

Hariqbal is preparing an online dating profile. One of the questions for the profile is whether he is a romantic person. In order to answer this question, Harqibal thinks back on some of his most recent actions. Since in the past week he read a book of love poems, enjoyed a dramatic film, and took a long walk by the beach, he decides that he must be a romantic person. What process has Hariqbal engaged in?

A) self-perception
B) upward social comparison
C) the better than average effect
D) the misattribution of arousal

Question 71

Which theory or phenomenon most clearly connects self-perception processes to emotional processes?

A) affective forecasting
B) self-awareness theory
C) self-discrepancy theory
D) misattribution of arousal

Question 72

Uri has just climbed a long flight of stairs very quickly to get to a meeting. Coming out of the stairwell, he passes a pretty woman whom he has never seen before. According to research on the misattribution of arousal, what is particularly likely to happen in this scenario?

A) Uri will ignore the woman to get to the meeting.
B) Uri will make a note to find out who the woman is, in order to determine whether he should be working with her on any projects.
C) Uri will believe that he is attracted to the woman.
D) Uri will not even notice the woman.

Question 73

The idea that changes in facial expression elicit emotions associated with those expressions is referred to as _____.

A) the James-Lange theory
B) the two-factor theory of emotion
C) the facial feedback hypothesis
D) misattribution of arousal

Question 74

What does research suggest about people's ability to evaluate themselves across a variety of domains and skills?

A) When people are evaluating themselves on physical abilities, they are generally more accurate than if they are evaluating themselves on abilities related to intelligence.
B) There are no discernible differences between those who give themselves high and those who give themselves low evaluations on a variety of abilities and skills.
C) If you give people sufficient incentive to make accurate evaluations, you can eliminate the better than average effect.
D) Those who give themselves the highest evaluations on a given ability or set of skills are often the worst performers.

Question 75

What is the central proposition of self-perception theory?

A) The aspects of their personalities which people perceive to be most important have a strong influence on their behavior.
B) People are not capable of accurately perceiving their own characteristics.
C) People's perceptions of the selves of others are a major determinant of how they treat others.
D) People sometimes infer their attitudes and attributes by observing their behavior and the situation in which it occurs.

Question 76

Ascribing arousal resulting from one source to a different source is called _____; _____ is the process through which leftover arousal from one event intensifies reactions to another event.

A) downward comparison; upward comparison
B) upward comparison; downward comparison
C) misattribution of arousal; excitation transfer
D) excitation transfer; misattribution of arousal

Question 77

Comparing oneself with those who are better off is making a(n) _____ comparison; comparing oneself with those who are worse off is making a(n) _____ comparison.

A) downward; upward
B) upward; downward
C) abstract; concrete
D) concrete; abstract

Question 78

What does the better than average effect refer to?

A) people's tendency to rank themselves higher than others on positive attributes
B) people's tendency to perform better than average in areas that are strongly connected to their self-schema
C) the fact that most people perform better than average on most tests of ability
D) the fact that if you tell someone they have average ability in a given domain, they tend to interpret this feedback more positively than intended

Question 79

According to social comparison theory, to whom or what are we most likely to compare ourselves when trying to determine where we stand on a particular trait or ability?

A) national averages for that trait or ability
B) people who are in approximately the same range as us, or who are similar to us
C) people who are far better than us on that trait or ability
D) people who are far worse than us on that trait or ability

Question 80

What are the "two factors" in Schachter's two-factor theory of emotion?

A) arousal × cognitive label
B) emotion × cognitive label
C) arousal × emotion
D) affect × arousal