Deck 4: The Self

Question 1

Compare and contrast how someone with high- versus low self-esteem would respond to setbacks in their lives.

Answer 1

People with high self-esteem have a large arsenal of weapons to defend against threats to their self-esteem. For example, those with high self-esteem will use self-enhancement strategies (by making downward social comparisons) and problem-focused coping (because they have a strong sense of personal control) to deal with threats. Because of these weapons, individuals with high self-esteem tend to not be greatly affected by negative feedback and setbacks in their lives. In addition, those with high self-esteem are more likely to take risks. In contrast, individuals with low self-esteem do not have the tools to cope with negative feedback and setbacks. In the face of negative experiences, these individuals are less likely to self-enhance, they make downward social comparisons less often, they remember more negative things about themselves, and they assume they have less control over events. Individuals with low self-esteem are more wary of failure and therefore they are less likely to task risks.

Question 2

Which of the following provides the best example of self-handicapping?

A) Felicity is worried about her performance on an upcoming exam so she stays up all night studying so that she can have an excuse for poor performance.
B) Benjamin expects that Julie will be rude to him, so he behaves in a rude way toward her.
C) Noel is about to ask a girl out on a date, but he's worried that she will say no, so he looks at himself in a mirror and says ""You can do this"" ten times in a row.
D) Meghan is concerned about her upcoming piano recital so she tells herself that she must not mess up.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements about control is true?

A) Even if their outcomes are negative, people feel better if they have control.
B) People who feel in control will work harder and will perform better.
C) People who are able to pick their lottery numbers feel more in control of winning.
D) All of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Marco is confident that he has the ability to make the rugby team. This confidence of Marco's is known as ________ .

A) self-esteem
B) self-monitoring
C) self-efficacy
D) self-handicapping

Question 5

Alecia is kicking herself for missing her plane. If she would only have left her house 5 minutes earlier, she would have made it. Alecia is engaging in what type of thinking?

A) Emotion-focused thinking
B) Counterfactual thinking
C) Fight or flight thinking
D) Self-regulatory thinking

Question 6

Marnie has low self-esteem, therefore it is likely that Marnie will engage in which of the following behaviors?

A) She will make downward social comparisons more often.
B) She will engage in more self-enhancement behaviors.
C) She will assume that she has more control over events.
D) She will remember more negative things about herself.

Question 7

Individuals who perceive negative events to be a _______ will be _______ to cope with the event in a successful and healthy way.

A) challenge; more likely
B) threat; more likely
C) challenge; less
D) None of the above

Question 8

According to terror management theory, reminding people of their own inevitable demise:

A) Leads people to behave in more prosocial ways.
B) Leads to rejection of people who are different
C) Leads people to reaffirm their religious beliefs
D) All of the above

Question 9

Leila was just diagnosed with cancer. After learning of her diagnosis, Leila joined a support group to start working through her feelings. Unfortunately, Leila's husband has not taken her diagnosis well and has been working late hours and not coming home until after Leila is already asleep. How are Leila and her husband coping with Leila's diagnosis?

A) Leila is engaging in problem-focused coping and her husband is engaging in emotion-focused coping.
B) Leila is engaging in emotion-focused coping and her husband is engaging in problem-focused coping.
C) Both Leila and her husband are engaging in emotion-focused coping.
D) Both Leila and her husband are engaging in problem-focused coping.

Question 10

Mmmm, there is nothing quite as tempting as freshly baked cookies straight out of the oven! Which of the following people should be most likely to resist the temptation to eat a freshly baked cookie?

A) Martha, who was distracted and thinking about something else when she walked into the kitchen.
B) Sean, who is tidying up the kitchen and must wait until his guests arrive before he can eat a cookie.
C) Josh, who is constantly hungry because he is on a diet.
D) Cory, who is stressed out and exhausted from sitting in traffic for two hours on the way home.

Question 11

After experiencing a set-back at work, Dana went home to take care of her sick mother and was reminded of how caring of a person she was. Dana just experienced:

A) Self-handicapping
B) Self-affirmation
C) Self-regulation
D) Self-monitoring

Question 12

Which of the following statements about self-awareness is true?

A) Self-awareness is a uniformly positive experience.
B) People do not differ in their tendency to be self-aware.
C) Focusing attention on the self can bring up differences between our current self and ideal self.
D) People who are lower in self-awareness are more likely to deal with differences between their actual self and their internalized standards.

Question 13

Who is most likely to be negatively affected by a blow to their self-esteem?

A) Someone with an unstable self-view
B) Someone with an unrealistically inflated self-view
C) Someone with low self-esteem
D) All of the above

Question 14

Of the people describe below, who is most likely to become sick?

A) Melanie feels that she has control over her life outcomes.
B) Carol spends an hour each day relaxing and meditating.
C) Janice feels a lack of control in her life.
D) Elena is describing her feelings about a past traumatic event in her journal.

Question 15

Students in one study were exposed to uncontrollable, loud bursts of noise that they could not escape. In a later part of the study, these participants failed to protect themselves from a new set of noises that they could have easily stopped. This study provides an example of ________ .

A) learned helplessness
B) problem-focused coping
C) emotion focused-coping
D) terror management theory

Question 16

Which of the following is a way to cope with threats to the self?

A) Avoid the situation
B) Focus on the positive
C) Distract yourself
D) All of the above

Question 17

Give 3 benefits of knowing the self and relate each benefit to an example from your own life.

Question 18

How do people construct their self-concept? Describe 3 ways that people learn who they are and one study to support each way of knowing the self (so, describe 3 studies in total) Finally, which ways of knowing the self will be most impactful for someone whose self-concepts are uncertain or still developing?

Question 19

What is the relationship between regulatory focus theory, the ideal self, and the ought self? How do successes versus failures impact people with a prevention versus a promotion focus? Briefly describe one study that examines what happens when the different regulatory focuses are primed.

Question 20

Imagine that your friends have just invited you to a party, but you've already told your parents that you would babysit your younger sister. According to the work of Trope and Fishbach (2000), what are 3 strategies you could employ to resist the temptation to go to your friends' party? (FYI: Trope and Fishbach would not recommend that you just bring your sister to the party)

Question 21

Why is self-regulation like exercising a muscle? How does self-regulation in one domain weaken self-regulation in another domain? How does self-affirmation impact self-regulation? Illustrate your answers with real world examples.

Question 22

Explain how self-awareness can be both a good and bad thing.

Question 23

Marcy is a competitive, ambitious go-getter. If she wants something, she goes out and gets it. In contrast, Marcy's younger sister Janet, often feels that she can't do anything right and that she is constantly the victim of bad luck. How might Marcy and Janet's personalities and perceived control affect their physical health?

Question 24

Imagine that your best friend's parents are getting a divorce and your best friend is very upset. Use what you know about coping with stress to explain the difference between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping to your friend. Then, describe two ways that your friend could use emotion-focused coping and two ways that your friend could use problem-focused coping to deal with her parent's divorce. (Note: this is your best friend, so try to pick the ways of coping that would be the most bene

Question 25

Imagine that you have just graduated from college and you are going on a big job interview in the morning. A lot is riding on this interview, and you have put a lot of pressure on yourself to do well, so you are very nervous. While frantically pacing the room and answering imaginary interview questions, a little voice inside your head says "Just stay up all night to prepare..." It sounds like this little voice is telling you to engage in self-handicapping. As you toss this idea around in your mi

Question 26

What is counterfactual reasoning? Describe a situation from your own life in which counterfactual reasoning was beneficial to you, and another situation from your own life in which counterfactual reasoning was detrimental to you.

Question 27

Describe someone you know who is a high self-monitor and someone you know who is a low self-monitor. Using the study by Jones, Brenner and Knight (1990) as your guide, try to predict how being a high vs. low self-monitor might influence how these two individuals would react to success vs. failure after trying to convince others that they are corrupt.

Question 28

Explain the difference between self-expression and self-presentation and illustrate this difference with an example from your own life.

Question 29

Nancy loves to paint and she has been doing it for years, just for fun. Recently, one of her neighbors has offered to sell some of Nancy's paintings to help Nancy raise some extra money. Use what you know about self-perception theory, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation to advise Nancy on whether or not she should accept her neighbor's offer.

Question 30

Our imaginations are powerful things. What is the relationship between imagination and self-perception? How might this relationships impact our everyday behaviors?

Question 31

Siri, who has been playing the clarinet for 3 years, wants to know how good of a player she is. Explain how Siri's self-view may change if she compares herself to people who are better than her and people who are not as good as her. To gain the most accurate self-view, with whom should Siri compare herself?

Question 32

Louis has been waiting for over 20 minutes for his boss to show up for their meeting. How might the attributions Louis makes for his boss's behavior differ from the attributions made by Louis's boss? If there's a difference in perceptions, where might this difference come from?

Question 33

Given the multiple roles that people play and the variety of situations that they find themselves in, how do people construct a unified and enduring sense of self? Briefly describe 3 ways that people achieve self-coherence and then describe how culture impacts how people see themselves.

Question 34

Karin, who usually has high self-esteem, has just failed an important exam and she feels horrible. Briefly describe the self-enhancing bias and three ways that Karin can make herself feel better after her failure. Next, assume that Karin's best friend aced the exam. What are 2 other things that Karin can do to protect her self-esteem?

Question 35

Cynthia has just been diagnosed with cancer. Explain how social comparisons could lead Cynthia to feel better about her situation and how they could lead her to feel worse.

Question 36

Park is from Korea and Paul is from the United States. Based on what you read in Chapter 4 of the text, how would Park and Paul react if a teacher expressed disappointment in them? Specifically, how would this disappointment be interpreted and what would it do to their self-esteem?

Question 37

According to Trope and Fishback (2000), which of the following would NOT be a good strategy to use when trying to resist temptation?

A) Punish yourself every time you deviate from your goal.
B) Reward yourself every time you stick to your goal.
C) Think of how achieving your goal will lead to great success in the future.
D) Think of how achieving your goal will help you to fulfill your responsibilities.

Question 38

Judy is a mother of 2 young children and she has a prevention focus. Given that tidbit of information, which of the following statements should Judy agree with?

A) I am motivated to be the best mother I can be.
B) It makes me happy when I see that my children are happy
C) I feel sad when I am not the best mother I can be.
D) It makes me happy when I am able to avoid upsetting my children.

Question 39

Theresa is motivated to become the best basketball player she can be. Jordan wants to do well in school to please his parents and show them that they did not waste their money. At this point in their lives, Theresa is being guided by her ______ self and Jordan is being guided by his ______ self.

A) ought; ideal
B) ideal; ought
C) future; past
D) past; future

Question 40

Everyday hassles like getting stuck in traffic or arguing with a coworker can lead to physical illness.

Question 41

People with Type A personalities tend to take better care of themselves and are healthier than people with Type B personalities.

Question 42

Positive emotion is associated with better health and a longer life.

Question 43

Thoughts of one's own death lead people to be more accepting of others who are different.

Question 44

People readily engage in destructive behaviors in order to have a ready-made excuse for failure.

Question 45

People who place more importance on extrinsic goals (e.g., making a lot of money) are happier than those who place more importance on intrinsic goals (e.g., doing more community service)

Question 46

_______ refers to what we know about ourselves and ________ refers to how we feel about ourselves.

A) Self-esteem; the self-concept
B) The self-concept; self-esteem
C) Self-knowledge; the self-concept
D) The self-concept; self-knowledge

Question 47

Mindy knows that she is a kind and generous person who has a good sense of humor and who loves to take long walks along beaches at sunset. This set of beliefs that Mindy has about her personal qualities is known as her:

A) Self-concept
B) Self-esteem
C) Self-perception
D) Self-presentation

Question 48

Feedback that goes against a well-established part of our self-concept is distrusted, even if it's flattering.

Question 49

Participants who were asked to think abstractly were better able to resist temptation later.

Question 50

People who are provided with payment for doing what they love, grow to love the activity more.

Question 51

Gymnasts who imagine a new move on the balance-beam over the course of 3 weeks but never practice it, perform just as well as gymnasts who have practiced the move for the same amount of time.

Question 52

People have distinct self-aspects that lead them to behave very differently in different situations.

Question 53

People generally interpret information about themselves in an accurate way, even if the information is not favorable.

Question 54

When a significant other succeeds (and we do not) in a domain that is important to our sense of self, we will most likely bask in their reflected glory, rather than feel jealous.

Question 55

Analyses of medal ceremonies at the Olympics shows that the bronze medal winners are happier, on average, than the silver medal winners.

Question 56

Compared to American students, students from Japan are more likely to accept negative information about the self.

Question 57

People with a prevention focus are motivated to avoid unpleasant outcomes.

Question 58

Which of the following is the best example of self-perception theory?

A) Becky knows that she's adventurous, so she signs up for the white water rafting trip.
B) Lana likes to read self-help books because she wants to become a better person.
C) Melissa devours her lunch and decides that she must have been hungry.
D) Lauren's mother always told her that she was shy.

Question 59

According to self-perception theory, people are most likely to draw self-inferences when:

A) People have a strong sense of self
B) People behave in a way that was freely chosen
C) Other people have strong views of what a person is like
D) All of the above

Question 60

Which of the following statements about collectivistic cultures is true?

A) Relationships with others are not as important in collectivistic cultures
B) Compared to individualistic cultures, the self-concepts of those from collectivistic cultures are more inconsistent and even contradictory
C) Individuals from collectivistic cultures tend to act the same in every situation
D) Individuals from collectivistic cultures value their independence and uniqueness from others.

Question 61

Generally, Ivan feels pretty good about himself and believes that he has a lot to be proud of. Just recently, his girlfriend broke up with him, so he's been feeling a little less worthy than usual. If we assume that Ivan will recover from his breakup and start feeling good about himself again, then it can be said that Ivan generally has ________self-esteem but right after his breakup had ________self-esteem.

A) high trait; high state
B) high state; high trait
C) high trait; low state
D) low state; high trait

Question 62

Jackie and Sara just tried out for the school play and only Jackie was cast in the play. According to Tesser's (1988) model of self-image maintenance, in which scenario will Sara feel worse about not getting a part in the play?

A) Jackie and Sara are sisters and both want to be actors after they graduate.
B) Jackie and Sara are strangers and both want to be actors after they graduate.
C) Jackie and Sara are sisters and Sara only tried out because her sister made her.
D) Jackie and Sara are strangers and Sara only tried out because her mother made her.

Question 63

According to the study of Olympic medal winners conducted by Medvec, Madey and Gilovich (1995), who appeared to be the most upset during the medal ceremony and why?

A) The gold medal winners were the most upset because many of them did not break the world record.
B) The silver medal winners were the most upset because they were so close to getting the gold.
C) The bronze medal winners were the most upset because they came in third place.
D) No one was upset. Everyone's self-esteem was high because they just won an Olympic medal.

Question 64

After waking up late and rushing to get ready for work, Nina started her car and found that she had a flat tire. This discovery led Nina to feel angry and frustrated. Across town, Jeremiah knew that one of his front tires was getting low on air, but he decided to put off fixing it. When he tried to drive his daughter to school and found that his tire was flat, he felt guilty for not getting it repaired sooner. In this example, the different emotional reactions by Nina and Jeremiah are most likel

A) Different social comparisons
B) The fact that they have different levels of self-esteem
C) Their different appraisals of the situation
D) Their different levels of self-complexity

Question 65

According to your text, who should be most likely to understand and experience a negative emotion?

A) Jim, who has to give an anxiety-provoking speech while reportedly being exposed to ""subliminal noise"" that he was told would relax him.
B) Brandy, who received a facial botox injection and was asked to read sentences describing sadness-evoking actions.
C) Bree, who received a facial botox injection and was asked to read sentences describing anger-evoking actions.
D) Jorge, who rated cartoons while holding a pen between his teeth.

Question 66

When people engage in ________ they are attempting to reveal their self-concept through their actions. In contrast, when people engage in ________ they are attempting to manipulate other's impression of them in order to gain power, influence, or approval.

A) self-affirmation; self-expression
B) self-expression; self-affirmation
C) self-presentation; self-expression
D) self-expression; self-presentation

Question 67

Donald acts the same around everyone. With Donald, what you see is what you get. Donald would clearly be classified as:

A) High in neuroticism
B) Low in extroversion
C) A low self-monitor
D) A high self-monitor

Question 68

Yumi is from Japan. Yumi is most likely to endorse which of the following statements?

A) I am a sister
B) I am a member of the dance team
C) I am Buddhist
D) All of the above

Question 69

An advertisement in a magazine shows a family hugging their son who has brought home food from a certain fast food restaurant. Across the top of the advertisement are the words: ""Make your family proud!"" Who should be most persuaded by this advertisement?

A) Jani, a female who is from Japan
B) Ulrich, a male who is from the United States
C) Sandra, a female from Scotland
D) Nelson, a male from New Zealand

Question 70

Mannie, a 4th grader, is a book worm and can often be found with his nose buried in the latest science fiction novel. The library at Mannie's school has started to offer students increasingly impressive prizes based on the number of books they read during the semester. According the self-perception theory, how are these prizes expected to influence Mannie's love of reading?

A) Mannie's love of reading will grow exponentially with each prize he receives.
B) Mannie's love of reading will only increase if he likes the prizes being offered.
C) As the extrinsic motivation to read increases, Mannie's intrinsic motivation will increase as well.
D) As the extrinsic motivation to read increases, Mannie's intrinsic motivation will decrease.

Question 71

Lucas has repeatedly been told that he is good-for-nothing and will never amount to anything in his life. Because he has heard this for so long, Lucas actually starts to believe what he has been told. Lucas's experience provides an example of:

A) Self-perception theory
B) Social comparison theory
C) The looking-glass self
D) The assimilation effect

Question 72

Roxanne likes to swim, but she has no idea how good of a swimmer she is. According to social comparison theory, with whom should Roxanne compare herself if she wants the most accurate self-view?

A) Ollie, the Olympic gold medal swimmer
B) Tina, who has been swimming about the same amount of time as Roxanne
C) Leanna, who is just learning to swim
D) Reba who has been training with a coach and swimming about the same amount of time as Roxanne

Question 73

The ________ effect occurs when people see themselves as being a little bit better after comparing themselves with others who are slightly more skilled than them.

A) assimilation
B) contrast
C) Pygmalion
D) mere exposure

Question 74

Why do perceivers often make more extreme and inflexible judgments about others, as opposed to themselves?

A) We usually have more information about why others behave in certain ways than why we behave in certain ways.
B) We know more about how the situation affects us than how it affects others.
C) We can understand the inner thoughts of others better than we can understand our own inner thoughts.
D) All of the above

Question 75

According to the actor-observer effect, when something negative occurs perceivers are more likely to attribute their behavior to _________ factors and others' behavior to _________ factors.

A) situational; external
B) personal; internal
C) external; internal
D) internal; external

Question 76

The study by Wilson, Laser and Stone (1982) in which participants kept track of their moods over the course of 5 weeks showed that:

A) Participants were very accurate at determining what caused their moods.
B) Participants were able to determine what caused their positive moods, but not their negative moods.
C) Participants were able to determine what caused their negative moods, but not their positive moods.
D) Participants were not very accurate at determining what caused their moods.

Question 77

Although Mackenzie is generally loud and obnoxious around her friends, she tends to be more reserved and polite around her friends' parents. Overall, Mackenzie sees herself as an outgoing person. Although Mackenzie's behavior varies across situations, her __________, or core characteristic, doesn't change.

A) self-perception
B) self-presentation
C) self-monitoring
D) self-schema

Question 78

Most people tend to believe that they are above average on a number of desirable characteristics.