Deck 8: Establishing Individual Identities

Question 1

A modal self is:

A) the kind of self that lies between the extremes of public and private.
B) another term for residual self.
C) the kind of self that describes postmodern people.
D) an idealized type of person who fits in to the prevailing social order.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

During the 19th century:

A) the home and the workplace were one and the same.
B) the household was completely controlled by men.
C) a culture of character emerged.
D) personality became the ideal.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Many historians credit the rise of the modern personality to:

A) Native American influences.
B) the American Revolution.
C) the Industrial Revolution.
D) the Computer Revolution.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to McAdams, which is not a significant primary element used in forming the narrative self?

A) Early bonding experiences
B) Media messages
C) Personal motives
D) Adult group affiliation

Question 5

In the Research in Review section reported in Chapter 8, what did Denise Bortree study?

A) The impact of violence in the mass media on children
B) Eating disorders of teenage girls
C) The negative impact of steroid use by male and female athletes
D) The impact of family communication on self-esteem and competence
E) The blog communication of teenage girls

Question 6

According to Gergen:

A) today, people have a strong sense of a single self.
B) the emerging postmodern self puts a greater emphasis on relationships than on individual concerns.
C) people living today have fewer but more long-lasting relationships than people in previous eras.
D) the concept of character is reemerging as a central way to define the self.

Question 7

When we use others as mirrors to show us our looking-glass selves, we use which three kinds of information?

A) Self-perception, social comparison, and residual self
B) How we think we appear to others, how we think others judge us, and how we feel about others' judgments and perceptions of us
C) Egocentricity, beneffectance, and cognitive conservatism
D) Negative, positive, and neutral aspects of the self

Question 8

Which of the following is not true of the self-narrative?

A) It is formed over time.
B) It is remade in the attempt to make it more coherent.
C) As we enter adolescence, self-identity becomes a key focus of the narrative.
D) None of the above; each is true.

Question 9

The personal self-narrative begins to be more consciously constructed, debated, and logically analyzed:

A) during the first year of life and critical bonding.
B) during preschool years.
C) during adolescence.
D) during adulthood.

Question 10

Isaac complains he is getting the flu right before he has to take his law school entrance exam. This is an example of:

A) life script.
B) communicator style.
C) self-handicapping strategy.
D) rhetorical sensitivity.

Question 11

What is a psychosocial moratorium?

A) A period of exploring new identities without committing to any
B) A period of grieving over lost personal experiences
C) A period of transition between psychological and social development
D) None of the above

Question 12

Which is NOT true of Zen concepts of the self?

A) Zen practitioners work to develop awareness of the self.
B) Zen stresses being in harmony with one's surroundings.
C) The self is considered a social fiction that gets in the way of truly experiencing life.
D) The self is a problem that distorts perception of events and relationships.

Question 13

What are self-schemata?

A) Ways to organize the different selves we present
B) Ways to organize life scripts
C) Ways to organize how we see the world
D) All of the above

Question 14

When the authors of your text say that the relationship between communication behavior and self-identity is reflexive, they mean:

A) our self-concepts shape the way we communicate, and, in turn, the way we communicate in a given situation can influence and revise our self-concepts.
B) once the self-concept is constructed, it rarely changes.
C) we expect others to exhibit about the same amount of disclosure as we exhibit.
D) we tend to use others as mirrors that reflect back who we are.

Question 15

The key distinction between the terms self-concept and personality is:

A) none; they are synonymous terms.
B) personality refers to how psychologists see us.
C) self-concept refers to how we see ourselves.
D) both b and c.

Question 16

Which is NOT one of the communicator styles described by Norton?

A) Impression leaving
B) Rhetorical sensitive
C) Open
D) Contentious

Question 17

A person who presents a new self in every situation in an attempt to be the kind of person others want him or her to be is called a:

A) rhetorical sensitive.
B) noble self.
C) rhetorical reflector.
D) communication apprehensive.

Question 18

Which is true of the rhetorical sensitive?

A) He or she recognizes that there is a single self and works to be true to this self.
B) He or she places a very high value on consistency.
C) He or she realizes there are times when an idea should not be communicated.
D) All of the above

Question 19

Miguel reveals personal information and is not afraid to express his emotions. His communicator style profile includes which of the following styles?

A) Dramatic style
B) Animated style
C) Attentive style
D) Open style

Question 20

Consuela is the kind of person no one ever remembers. She seems to melt right into the crowd. Which communicator style does she lack?

A) Open style
B) Impression-leaving style
C) Relaxed style
D) Attentive style

Question 21

Janette is extremely fearful about communicating with others. Which of the following describes her communication?

A) She is a low self-monitor.
B) She is high in communication apprehension.
C) She is a noble self.
D) All of the above

Question 22

Which is NOT true of communication apprehension?

A) It can be overcome by labeling arousal as energy and by focusing on positive outcomes.
B) Recent research shows that communication apprehension is an inherited physiological problem.
C) As much as 20 percent of the US population can be categorized as highly apprehensive.
D) b and c

Question 23

When a child's images of both self and others are negative, the child is likely to develop which kind of attachment style?

A) Secure
B) Fearful
C) Preoccupied
D) Dismissing

Question 24

Tyler grew up with a preoccupied attachment style. Which of the following behaviors is he likely to exhibit as an adult?

A) He will be anxious and ambivalent around others.
B) He will be obsessively friendly and dependent.
C) He will value his autonomy and distance himself from others.
D) He will be especially rhetorically sensitive.

Question 25

Which is NOT a good rule to follow in self-disclosure?

A) Begin with flooded disclosures, then move to less personal comments.
B) Match the level and amount of your partner's disclosures.
C) Reserve your most important disclosures for significant, ongoing relationships.
D) None of the above; that is, all are good rules to follow.

Question 26

Which is true about self-disclosure?

A) It is defined as any information others know about you.
B) It is usually destructive in interpersonal interactions.
C) It should be avoided in personal relationships, although it is often effective with strangers.
D) It is necessary for close, trusting relationships.

Question 27

Which of the following is not a self-handicapping strategy?

A) "I had to work late last night, so naturally I'm not alert this morning."
B) "Let's get started so we can finish on time."
C) "We should begin the meeting although I left my glasses at home."
D) "You can't expect a technophobe like me to follow a conference call."

Question 28

Behavioral indicators are important aspects of self-identity because:

A) others attend to our behavior and draw conclusions from what they observe.
B) we watch how others behave in unfamiliar episodes.
C) life scripts tell us how to behave.
D) they are self-reflexive.

Question 29

William James's quote that every person "has as many different social selves as there are distinct groups of persons about whose opinions he cares" exemplifies which perspective on self-concept?

A) Narrative self
B) Schematic self
C) Behavioral self
D) Relational self

Question 30

Which of the following is not an example of self-talk?

A) Meditation
B) Rehearsing a conversation you hope to have later
C) Asking the cat where you put your keys
D) All of the above are examples of self-talk

Question 31

Regarding the distinctions between self-concept and personality measures and their impact on interpersonal communication, the authors of your text believe:

A) each is equally valid and important.
B) self-concept measures are a better link between personal identity and interpersonal communication.
C) personality measures are a better link between personal identity and interpersonal communication.
D) the researcher better understands concepts and is therefore more valid than an individual's perceptions of a given situation or relationship.

Question 32

Mary Borhek suggests that coming-out letters written to parents should do all of the following EXCEPT:

A) be held for a week or two before being sent.
B) avoid any emotional expression, even that of love.
C) set up a time to get together and talk.
D) not contain any joking or sarcasm.

Question 33

A self-concept is one's own subjective view of oneself.

Question 34

Words such as different, fascinating, stunning, magnetic, and forceful are part of the concept of character.

Question 35

Personal identity emerges when we conform to standard roles and rules.

Question 36

Social identity emerges when we conform to standard roles and rules.

Question 37

In collectivist cultures, such as Japan and China, there is a greater tendency for social identities to emerge.

Question 38

The concept of self is a historical construct that changes over a lifetime.

Question 39

It is possible for a single person to have different self-concepts in different relationships.

Question 40

Modal self refers to an idealized type of person whose existence is viewed as essential to cultural maintenance.

Question 41

A child's relationship with his or her primary caregiver plays a central role in the development of the self-concept.

Question 42

Once people become adults, their self-concepts stop changing.

Question 43

A life script is a relatively fixed way of thinking about the self and relating to others.

Question 44

The self-concept is relatively stable but flexible.

Question 45

A life script can be used as an excuse for a potentially negative self-presentation.

Question 46

It is rare for people to combine communicator styles; most people have a single style.

Question 47

According to your text, individuals should strive to become noble selves.

Question 48

A person with a self-attributed need for intimacy will engage in a large number of interactions with many different people rather than interactions with close dyadic partners.

Question 49

A person who has a dismissing attachment style tends to cling obsessively to others.

Question 50

According to the norm of reciprocity, if one partner is doing a lot of disclosing, the other should refrain from self-disclosure.

Question 51

An aligning action is a way people discourage disclosure from others by reminding them that disclosure is inappropriate.

Question 52

Barbara Montgomery's research on open communication indicates that most people pay more attention to the style of disclosures than to the actual content revealed.

Question 53

According to your text, the concept of self as unique individuals has always existed, regardless of the culture or the passing of time.

Question 54

The cultural shift from a producer to a consumer society had little influence on the characteristics of the modal self.

Question 55

Self-concept and personality are used interchangeably and are, in effect, the same thing.

Question 56

Life script is another name for self-concept.

Question 57

Self-handicapping strategies focus on preventing possible failure by preparing protective excuses early on.

Question 58

A significant part of our self-identity is defined by the behaviors that we routinely engage in and reflect upon.

Question 59

The looking glass self is a component of the psychosocial moratorium.

Question 60

Lederman's research suggests that most people generally see themselves as harsh self-critics.

Question 61

Communication apprehension is innate and therefore experienced universally.

Question 62

Communication apprehension is a learned reaction to physiological arousal.

Question 63

In our society, most people believe that everyone is heterosexual.

Question 64

It is estimated that between 5 and 10 percent of the population are same-sex oriented.

Question 65

Identify five communication-related personality traits and discuss how each influences both our verbal and nonverbal communication.

Question 66

How does our concept of self affect our style of communication? Be sure to include the following in your discussion: self-schema, life script, self-esteem, and self-handicapping strategies.

Question 67

What is communication apprehension, and how does it affect our communicator style and effectiveness?

Question 68

What is the saturated self? What aspects of today's culture lead toward this kind of saturation? What can people do about the uncertainties associated with saturation?

Question 69

What are the general rules for the use of self-disclosure? Are these specific rules or general guidelines? Explain.

Question 70

Discuss the transformation of the concept of self over time. Be sure to include Susman's two critical factors that influenced shifts in the modal self.

Question 71

Gergen believes we are in the midst of another great social transformation regarding our image of the self as a stable, enduring personality. Do you agree or disagree with his notion of the postmodern or populated self? Explain.

Question 72

Are self-concept and personality the same thing? How are they similar? How do they differ?

Question 73

Discuss the text's suggestions for revealing and reacting to disclosures of same-sex orientation.