Deck 7: Self and Identity

Question 1

Discuss differences in the research questions pertaining to self and identity addressed by researchers working within the symbolic interactionist, social structure and personality, group processes and structures, and psychological faces of social psychology. What study, or set of studies, on self or identity discussed in Chapter 7 do you find to be the most interesting or insightful? Explain.

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

The snowman exercise in Chapter 7 best illustrates:

A)people's propensity for selective attention
B)people's tendency to favor internal over external attributions for the behavior of others
C)the impact of behavioral scripts on attribution
D)the ways in which cognitive schemas affect memory
E)how habits are formed

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The snowman exercise, in Chapter 7, was used to illustrate:

A)gender differences in stamina and physical abilities
B)how cognitive schemas affect information processing and memory
C)people's tendencies to project their own characteristics on inanimate objects
D)regional differences in the bases of people's self-concepts
E)SSP research on the social construction of the other

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Who studies the effects of self-schemata on the processing of self-referent information?

A)ethnomethodolgoists
B)psychological social psychologists
C)sociological social psychologists working within the group processes and structures orientation
D)sociological social psychologists working within social structure and personality
E)symbolic interactionists

Question 5

Sociological social psychologists who study the effects of gender, class, and race/ethnicity on self-esteem are working within the _____________________ face of sociological social psychology.

A)group processes and structures
B)psychological
C)symbolic interactionist
D)social structure and personality
E)none of the above

Question 6

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)Among adolescents, African Americans have higher self-esteem than members of other racial/ethnic groups.
B)Among adults, men have significantly higher self-esteem than women.
C)Among adults, Whites have significantly higher self-esteem than other racial/ethnic groups.
D)Both gender and race/ethnicity have strong effects on levels of self-esteem.
E)Social class is more strongly related to self-esteem among children than among adults.

Question 7

The three main sources of self-esteem are reflected appraisals, self-assessments, and:

A)feedback from others
B)idealized images
C)perceived task competence
D)performance history
E)reference group comparisons

Question 8

Self-esteem refers to an individual's:

A)global self-evaluation
B)inborn drive to succeed
C)objectively defined strengths and abilities
D)self-assessed level of competence
E)sense of control over his or her environment

Question 9

Cooley's looking glass self emphasizes the ____________________ of the content of people's self-concepts.

A)biological basis
B)inaccuracy
C)objective nature
D)social origin
E)structural roots

Question 10

Reflected appraisals serve as the basis of:

A)society
B)the "I" phase of the self
C)the self-concept
D)self-schemata
E)social roles

Question 11

Postmodern theorists have questioned the relevance of the concept of self to life in contemporary society. This is in part because, from this perspective, identities are:

A)based on collective, rather than individual, affiliations
B)idiosyncratic, superficial, and transitory
C)rooted in social structure rather than individual preference
D)the result of the process of self-categorization
E)unrelated to important aspects of contemporary life, such as participation in leisure activities and the use of social media

Question 12

Which of the following factors has had a substantial impact on both the self and society, according to postmodern social theorists?

A)advances in biology and medical science
B)increases in capital investments in the United States and in various European nations
C)new technologies, including computers
D)the equalization of resource distribution across nations and individuals
E)both b and d

Question 13

Studies assessing changes in levels of narcissism have been criticized:

A)because the measure of this construct used across studies also assesses characteristics such as self-confidence, which has increased among women over the years
B)by symbolic interactionists for being too micro level in focus
C)for being artificial, because the data have been gathered using laboratory experiments
D)for focusing only on college students
E)both a and d

Question 14

According to Turner ("The Real Self"), which of the following types of responses to the "Who Am I?" test would be given most frequently by an individual who locates his or her real self in impulse?

A)"student"
B)"I am nice."
C)"I live in

Question 15

According to Turner, which of the following types of responses to the "Who Am I?" test would be given most frequently by an individual who locates his or her real self in institutions?

A)adjectives (e.g., "nice")
B)comparative statements ("I am nicer than most people")
C)descriptive statements (e.g., "I am nice")
D)physical characteristics
E)statuses (e.g., "student")

Question 16

Identity theorists argue that a mismatch between situational meanings and an identity standard will result in:

A)changes in the identity standard
B)low self-esteem
C)a shift in reference groups
D)role anxiety
E)the dissolution of one or more relationships

Question 17

Studies on the transition to college designed as tests of identity theory, within the Iowa/Indiana school of symbolic interaction, focus on:

A)identity construction
B)identity formation
C)identity function
D)identity verification
E)identity substitution

Question 18

In their article on high school students preparing to make the transition to college, Karp and associates found that:

A)boys had a stronger desire than girls to "get out of town"
B)financial concerns associated with social class made some study participants especially anxious
C)many students hoped to drop undesirable identities
D)individuals within the sample had more academic than social concerns
E)parents tended to make the final decision when it comes to choosing a school

Question 19

People high in private self-consciousness tend to:

A)be aware of their internal states, including their thoughts and emotions
B)display the nonverbal behaviors associated with dominance
C)have low self-esteem
D)often fail to recognize the behavioral patterns exhibited by others
E)recognize that they will be scrutinized by others in public settings

Question 20

Goffman (the dramaturgical approach) calls the use of nonverbal strategies (e.g., dress, posture, and demeanor) to increase the likelihood that one will be perceived in the desired manner:

A)deceit
B)diversion
C)feigning
D)projection
E)suppression

Question 21

What would you say if someone asked why self and identity are important topics within sociological social psychology?

Question 22

Describe and the shift in locus of self, identified by Turner. Discuss potential sources of this change in how people tend to define their real selves.

Question 23

Do you locate your real self in impulse or institutions? How might this tendency affect the ways in which you interpret your emotions and your behaviors?

Question 24

Describe the two applications of the Twenty Statements Test (TST) discussed in Chapter 7.

Question 25

Compare and contrast research on identities within Iowa/Indiana school SI with research on social identities in the group processes and structures face of social psychology. Is there any similarity in the issues addressed across perspectives? Consider, in particular, the extent to which people's responses to identity threat in group encounters reflects a need for self-verification.

Question 26

Use the concepts of identity construction and identity reconstruction to explain your experiences as you transitioned from high school to college. Bolster your arguments by providing specific examples of your pre- and postcollege identities and interactions.

Question 27

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy? Describe a situation in which you witnessed, or experienced firsthand, the effects of this process. What was, or could have been done, to disrupt this cycle?

Question 28

What is the role-person merger? What kind of behavior can be taken as evidence of this synthesis? Give an example of the role-person merger not included in Chapter 7 of your textbook.

Question 29

How does identity theory link the content of people's self-concepts to broader social structures? In responding to this question, please define concepts central to this model (identity, commitment, and salience/importance) and describe the proposed nature of the relationship between prior patterns of interaction, self-structure, and behavior.

Question 30

Is impression management always deceptive? Given an example of a situation in which your presentation of self was authentic. Were you conscious at the time of the fact that you were managing the impressions you conveyed to others? Explain.

Question 31

Discuss the psychological and situational factors that influence people's impression management strategies.

Question 32

How do cognitive schemata affect information processing and recall? Discuss the significance of this from the perspective of a social psychologist interested in the structure and function of the self-concept.

Question 33

What is self-esteem? List and describe the three main sources of self-esteem discussed in Chapter 7.

Question 34

What is the looking-glass self? Discuss the relevance of this concept to people's everyday experiences.

Question 35

Define and distinguish between the terms "self" and "identity." How are these concepts used by sociological social psychologists to enhance our understanding of people's social experiences?

Question 36

Stryker (identify theory) defines identities (also called socially based identities) as:

A)internalized statuses
B)mental images of significant others
C)plans of action
D)sources of role strain
E)"I" responses

Question 37

Which model views social behavior as motivated by a desire for self-enhancement?

A)Goffman's dramaturgical approach
B)social exchange theory
C)social identity theory
D)status characteristics theory
E)Stryker's identity theory

Question 38

Studies of the transition to college within the Iowa/Indiana school of symbolic interactionism are:

A)experimental
B)observational
C)qualitative in orientation
D)survey based
E)theoretical rather than empirical

Question 39

Within the group processes and structures face of social psychology, social identity theorists have studied:

A)how people react when a social identity is threatened
B)how people respond to changes in identity-based role relationships
C)identity construction following a role transition
D)situations that require people to play roles associated with more than one social identity
E)the ranking of identities within people's self-concepts

Question 40

Stryker's identity theory is a _______________________ model of the link between the content of people's self-concepts and their behaviors.

A)dramaturgical
B)micro-level social exchange
C)psychological
D)qualitative
E)structural symbolic interactionist

Question 41

The readiness with which people enact the roles associated with a particular status is called:

A)identity spread
B)identity control
C)identity salience
D)importance
E)psychological centrality

Question 42

Self and identity are important concepts because they enable researchers to predict and explain people's perceptions and behaviors.

Question 43

Postmodern theorists argue that the self has more significant effects on perception and behavior in the current era than in did in the past.

Question 44

Research based on nationally representative samples suggests that adolescents today have different personality characteristics than prior generations of youths.

Question 45

There is consensus among social psychologists that narcissism has increased significantly among youths in this country.

Question 46

College students are more likely to locate their real selves in impulse than in institutions.

Question 47

Working within the group processes and structures face of sociological social psychology, social identity theorists have focused on role transitions (e.g., starting college or retirement)

Question 48

Individuals with a negative self-concept will frequently find ways to interact with individuals who provide them with positive feedback in order to enhance their self-esteem.

Question 49

Research suggests that men are more prone than women to the role-person merger.

Question 50

Because they're back regions, people's behaviors in public restrooms are rarely governed by social norms.

Question 51

Research suggests that self-esteem is associated with happiness, educational attainment, and the acquisition of wealth.

Question 52

For Goffman (the dramaturgical approach), impression management is always deceptive.

Question 53

Women are higher than men in private self-consciousness.

Question 54

The belief that one will be evaluated based upon one's status characteristics, including race and gender, appears to have a bigger impact on self-esteem than the status characteristics themselves.

Question 55

In SSP research on the effects of gender, class, and race/ethnicity on self-esteem, self-esteem is the dependent variable.

Question 56

Among adults, Whites have significantly higher self-esteem than members of other
racial/ethnic groups.

Question 57

Identity theorists define commitment as:

A)the degree of overlap between an individual's statuses and identities
B)the extent to which an individual is able to choose from a range of roles attached to a particular status or identity
C)the feeling of security associated with the activation of familiar roles
D)the level of emotional investment an individual has in a particular status or identity
E)the number of relationships with others an individual has associated with a particular status or identity

Question 58

Identity theorists argue that an identity is verified in social interaction when:

A)an individual receives positive feedback from others
B)an individual feels good when he or she plays identity-relevant roles
C)situational meanings are consistent with the identity standard
D)social norms are supported by identity-consistent behaviors
E)people within a social encounter feel connected to others

Question 59

What characteristic influences how members of-dominant groups (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities) are likely to respond to identity threat (e.g., with psychological disengagement vs. perceptions of in-group variability)?

A)role commitment
B)role salience
C)strength of in-group identification
D)strength of out-group derogation
E)both a and b

Question 60

Research suggests that members of low-status groups who experience identity threat:

A)disengage themselves from the group by developing ambivalent attitudes toward in-group members
B)embrace the belief that there is a lot of variability in the characteristics of in-group members
C)engage in activities that enable them to form new identities by expanding their role set
D)try to develop new, more positive social relationships
E)both a and b

Question 61

When were White college students most likely to opt to view films focusing on people who exhibited racial prejudice versus other topics?

A)after being told they were not prejudiced
B)after receiving feedback indicating that they were prejudiced
C)when their assigned interaction partner was African American
D)when their assigned interaction partner had power over them
E)both a and c

Question 62

In one study on the behavioral consequences of identity threat, discussed in Chapter 7, White teachers who received feedback suggesting that they did not hold egalitarian attitudes pertaining to race:

A)attempted to distance themselves from the teacher role, because teachers are expected to be egalitarian and they knew they did not exhibit this characteristic
B)gave significantly more favorable ratings to essays ostensibly written by Black, but not White, students
C)gave significantly more favorable ratings to essays ostensibly written by White, but not Black, students.
D)sought reinforcement for a "good teacher" identity by scheduling a higher than average number of parent-teacher conferences
E)sough reinforcement for an "egalitarian teacher" identity by scheduling a higher than average number of conferences with African American parents

Question 63

Social identity theorists often study identity threat. Identity threat occurs when:

A)individuals do not receive verification from others for one or more socially based identities (e.g., the identity of student)
B)multiple role transitions occur simultaneously and leave the individual without a social anchor
C)someone fails to adequately perform the roles attached to a salient identity
D)people age out of a self-defining role (e.g., when someone retires)
E)people receive negative information about in-group members or anticipate structural changes that make their group's status precarious

Question 64

Whereas identities (or socially based identities) reflect the statuses people occupy and the roles they play, social identities:

A)are formed when individuals are forced to take on new roles or a role is expanded to encompass new tasks
B)are ideal selves created in response to challenging situations
C)are not structurally defined and usually reflect unique attributes related to appearance, wealth, and popularity
D)are psychological constructs formed as the result of the process of self-categorization
E)are rooted in peers' evaluations of one's relative strengths and weaknesses in a group setting

Question 65

Much of the research on the self-fulfilling prophecy, including Rosenthal and Jacobson's classic (1968) study, has focused on interactions that occur within:

A)schools
B)peer groups
C)prisons and juvenile facilities
D)religious institutions
E)the family

Question 66

The self-fulfilling prophecy (also called the Pygmalion effect) occurs when an assessment of someone that is false ultimately causes that individual to engage in behaviors that confirm it. Which of the following models of social behavior makes predictions consistent with this pattern?

A)identity theory
B)the dramaturgical approach
C)social exchange theory
D)social identity theory
E)status characteristics theory

Question 67

Which motive best explains the results of Swann and Pelham's college roommate study?

A)drive reduction
B)projected redirection
C)self-enhancement
D)self-verification
E)the drive for social acceptance

Question 68

Swann and Pelham's (2002) study showing that college freshmen were more likely to want to continue living with roommates who viewed them negatively involved the analysis of ________________________ data.

A)experimental
B)historical
C)observational
D)participant observation
E)survey

Question 69

In their study of college freshmen, Swann and Pelham (2002) found that individuals with negative self-concepts were most likely to want to continue living with their current roommate when:

A)the roommate had a negative view of them
B)the roommate had a positive view of them
C)they had few other options
D)their roommate had few other options
E)both c and d

Question 70

It is fairly safe to assume that an identity is really important to someone when:

A)it is associated with a prestigious status
B)the individual engages in identity-relevant behavior that is situationally inappropriate
C)the individual is offered few opportunities to enact the roles associated with the identity
D)there are strong emotions associated with it
E)they are afraid it will change over time

Question 71

A standup comic who endlessly tells jokes at the dinner table, but never really talks to his or her family members; an older sibling who routinely bosses his or her college roommates around; or a professor who grades exams at a rock concert are exhibiting:

A)cognitive-situation misattribution
B)energy drain
C)role spillage
D)status strain
E)the role-person merger

Question 72

When an identity is so entrenched within someone's self-concept that he or she engages in behaviors related to it when it is not appropriate to so do, one can conclude that this individual is experiencing:

A)cognitive-situation misattribution
B)energy drain
C)role spillage
D)status strain
E)the role-person merger

Question 73

When according to identity theory are college students likely to list "student" in response to the Twenty Statements Test?

A)when many of their social relationships are based on that status
B)when their parents value education
C)when they expect earning a college degree to yield financial and other rewards
D)when they get good grades and excel in other aspects of the student role
E)when they had to work hard to get into the school they are currently attending

Question 74

If someone defines students as hardworking, and defines oneself as a student, then that individual must act in ways that are likely to be viewed by self and others as hard working. In this example, hardworking is:

A)a cultural ideal
B)a possible self
C)a source of commitment
D)an identity standard
E)an indicator of an impulse-oriented locus of self

Question 75

Which of the following measures has been used by identity theorists to assess the salience of people's identities?

A)Davis's perspective taking index
B)the private self-consciousness scale
C)the public self-consciousness scale
D)the Twenty Statements Test
E)the Rosenberg self-esteem scale

Question 76

The social-psychological literature on the structure and function of the self-concept is interdisciplinary and includes research by psychologists as well as by sociologists.