Chapter
6. The Key Self-motives: Consistency, Esteem, Presentation, and Growth
Introduction
The Key Self-motives: Consistency, Esteem, Presentation, and Growth
true
true
Self-esteem
A person’s evaluation of his or her value or self-worth.
Self-handicap
Placing obstacles in the way of one’s own success to protect self-esteem from a possible future failure.
Compensation
After a blow to self-esteem in one domain, people often shore up their overall sense of self-worth by bolstering how they think of themselves in an unrelated domain.
The Key Self-motives: Consistency, Esteem, Presentation, and Growth
People have a number of self-motives, such as a desire to view themselves as a coherent whole and to see themselves in a positive light. As discussed in your text (page 203), we are generally motivated to maintain and defend our self-esteem. There are several strategies we tend to use to explain our own behavior, as well as to compare ourselves to others. For instance, people may self-handicap or engage in compensation. Importantly, these kinds of strategies can lead to biases in how we perceive ourselves.
For this task you will be making a series of judgments regarding 10 traits.
Instructions
Instructions
On the next screen you will be shown 10 traits. For each trait, rate it in terms of how well it describes you as a person.
Experiment
Start experiment
Results
Results
Debriefing
Debriefing
Although it is statistically impossible for most people to be above average, we as individuals are often motivated to make this social comparison error. As discussed in the text, even prison inmates rate themselves kinder and more moral than the average person (Sedikides et al., 2014). Research suggests that people tend to think that their shortcomings are common, whereas their strengths are unique (e.g., Campbell, 1986). This can provide justification for thinking that we are better than the average person on a variety of dimensions. As mentioned at the beginning of this task, there are multiple routes we may take to maintain or defend our sense of self-worth, such as self-handicapping and compensation. One result of these motivations can be the perception that we are better than the average, even if objectively, that may not be the case.
References:
Campbell, J. D. (1986). Similarity and uniqueness: The effects of attribute type, relevance, and individual differences in self-esteem and depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50 (2), 281–294.
Sedikides, C., Meek, R., Alicke, M. D., & Taylor, S. (2014). Behind bars but above the bar: Prisoners consider themselves more pro-social than non-prisoners. British Journal of Social Psychology, 53 (2), 396–403.
Quiz
Quiz
1.
_______ is when a person sets up an excuse to protect his or her self-esteem from a failure that may happen in the future.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
Self-handicapping occurs when a person sets up an excuse to protect his or her self-esteem from a failure that may happen in the future.
Incorrect.
2.
_______ occurs after a blow to self-esteem in one domain and leads to a person inflating his or her self-worth in an unrelated domain.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
Compensation occurs after a blow to self-esteem in one domain and leads to a person inflating his or her self-worth in an unrelated domain.
Incorrect.
3.
_______ is the tendency to rank ourselves higher than most people on positive attributes.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
The better than average effect is the tendency to rank ourselves higher than most people on positive attributes.
Incorrect.
4.
Projection, compensation, and the better than average effect provide support for the idea that people are generally motived to _______ and _______ their self-esteem.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
People are generally motived to maintain and defend their self-esteem.
Incorrect.
5.
In line with the better than average effect, if the judgments for this task were for all negative traits (e.g., hostile, mean, dishonest), participants would likely _______.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
People tend to rate themselves lower on negative traits compared to ratings of “most other people.”
Incorrect.
6.
In a study conducted by Svenson (1981), drivers were interviewed while hospitalized for being in a car accident. The majority of those interviewed rated their driving skill as closer to _______ than _____ which provides support for the better than average effect.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
In the Svenson (1981) study those who were interviewed rated their driving skill as closer to expert than poor, providing support for the better than average effect.
Incorrect.
7.
People have a number of self-motives, such as a desire to view themselves as _______ and to see themselves in a positive light.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
7. People have a desire to view themselves as a coherent whole.
Incorrect.
8.
The level of positive feeling one has about oneself is called _______.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
Self-esteem is the level of positive feeling one has about oneself.
Incorrect.
9.
The better than average effect can be seen as a _______ our motivation to feel positive about our self.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
The better than average effect results from our motivation to feel positive about our self.
Incorrect.
10.
Research suggests that people tend to think that their shortcomings are _______, whereas their strengths are _______, which likely plays a role in the better than average effect.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct!
People generally believe that their shortcomings are common, where their strengths are unique.