Culture

Collection of shared goals, beliefs, values, experiences, artifacts, & attitudes

• Key component to social life taught/transmitted via multiple sources (family, friends, school, media, etc.)
• Provides shared understanding/makes cooperation/communication possible (reduces ambiguity)
• Provides us w/common set of assumptions

Broad Cultural Principles

General principles that are emphasized to different degrees in different cultures

• appropriate behavior for each principle differs btwn cultures (same principle elicits different behaviors in different cultures based on the degree of which they are emphasized)
• Purpose: To guide 'default' values and priorities for specific culture

Achievement/Affiliation Principles

1. Achievement Principle

2. Affiliation Principle

-Broad cultural principle; focus either on need to achieve OR need to develop close relationships

-Contribute to cultural understanding of "success"

1. Emphasize effort & hard work as most important

2. Emphasize friendship & harmony as most important

Tightness/Looseness Principles

Broad cultural principle focused on the degree to which a culture tolerates deviation from rules, norms, & laws

• Function of demographics => densely populated countries tend to be tighter
• Contributes to cultural understanding of "freedom"
• Tight: allows little deviation & punish deviation severely
• Loose: allows more deviation & don't punish it severely

Individualism/Collectivism Principles

• Broad cultural principle focused on the individual or the group as most important element of society
• Contributes to cultural understanding of your role in society

Individualist Cultures

Collectivist Cultures

Honor/Face/Dignity Principles

Honor Principle (broad cultural principle)

• important to defend the self, family & property from threats
• typically of cultures w/weak or unstable gov't or law enforcement
• insults are important events (allowing them signals vulnerability & they may be punished quickly

Face Principle (Broad cultural princ)

• Important to protect others' social image
• typical of environments that emphasize cooperation & have stable hierarchies
• politeness & harmony important (avoid insults, criticizing, or disagreeing w/others in public AND obey/respect superiors, rank is important)

Dignity Principle (Broad cultural principle)

• Individuals are valuable in their own right, regardless of what others think
• Typical of environments that encourage equal exchange of good/services
• internal strength valued (live upto own values/beliefs instead of others')

Culturally Unique Traits

1. Engagement/Passion

2. Interpersonal Relatedness

3. Dependability

1. Unique in spanish populations

2. Unique in chinese populations (emphasize usefulness of relationships, compliance w/social norms, & avoidance of conflict)

3. Unique in Japanese populations (children depend on parent, but extends past family)

Summary of cultural influence on personality

• cultures develop around social needs (pop. size/density, economy, ease of survival)
• Cultures create default assumptions about society communicated to us from birth (i.e. right/wrong)
• Default assumptions guide development of personality thru encouragement/discouragement of culturally desirable and undesirable qualities
• Creates basic starting points around which individual qualities develop

The Self

A symbol-using, self-reflective, social being

symbol using: we use symbols to communicate/understanding all of the information (about environment, others, & ourselves) that we are faced with everyday=>method for condensing large amounts of complex information

Social Being

Self-Reflectiveness

• Awareness of ourselves as social beings & we are capable of evaluating our own behavior
• Ability to evaluate our evaluations (meta-cognition)

Theory of the Self

(George Herbert Mead)

• Believed the self develops during childhood
• Self emerges thru Interaction(interpret others' gestures & respond) AND Role-Taking(percieve ourselves & our behaviors from the perspective of others)
• "I" is active perceiver/initiator of actions
• "Me" is the self as seen from the imagined perspective of others

Formation of Self requires two sources of info:

• Reflective Appraisal: How we think others see us influences beliefs about self
• Generalized Other: How we tihnk society as a whole sees us influences beliefs about self

Theory of Self

(William James)

• Individual identity is based on how one interacts w/world; Perception others have of us is less important than the connections we create w/surroundings
• Self is changeable & extending outside individual (NOT stable/separate from world)
• Self includes physical self, feelings, values, & representations of other ppl./things
• Other ppl., things, surroundings become part of self thru emotional attachment
• "I" is active perceiver & initiator of action
• "Me" is anything that symbolizes/affirms who we are

General Definitions: 

1. "I"

2. "Me"

1. The executive self; takes info. & acts on it

2. The descriptive self; made up of a # of qualities that describe us as individuals to ourselves & others

Self-Concept

• Sum total of a person's thoughts/feelings, which defines the self as an object of attention & evaluation
• A "snapshot" of everything that makes us who we are
• Changes over time => we add/shed roles, relationships, & interests as time goes on
• Info. associated w/self-concept is easier to retrieve from memory thus more likely to influence our thoughts, actions, & worldview
• Contains many self-aspects

Self-Aspects

• Necessary becaue not all info. related to the self is appropriate/relevant for every situation
• We reveal/conceal certain aspects of self depending on the situation/environment we are in (dinner w/family vs. party w/friends)
• Necessary for higher self-complexity/better coping skills

Self-Complexity

• A measure of how we organize our self-concept; symbolizes the relationship btwn self-aspects & trait overlap (not everything a person is, but rather how a person sees themselves)
• Serves as buffer to stress of a threat to the self
• More self-aspects + Fewing trait overlap btwn them= Better for mental health => easier coping
• more unique self-aspects = less overlap due to difference

Self-Awareness

Consider self as object of attention

Attention shifts between public/private awareness depending on situation

Private Self-Awareness

Effects

1. Awareness of private self-aspects (internal physical state/private emotions)
2. Intensified affect; increased adherence to personal standards

Public Self-Awareness

Effects

1. Awareness of public self-aspects
2. evaluation apprehension (feeling of being watched/judged by others) & increased adherence to social standards

Self-Consciousness

1. Private Self-Consciousness

2. Effects

1. Especially aware of private self; spends more time paying attention to own needs/feelings (likely low in extraversion)

2. Self-concepts more accurate, complex, & consistent; physically healthier, better relationships; higher levels of depression & neuroticism

1. Public Self-Consciousness

2. Effects

1. Especially aware of public self; spend more time paying attn. to needs/expectations of others (likely high in extraversion)

2. Less likely to behave according to true attitudes (tend to behave how others/situation demands; more concerned w/physical appearance, high conformity to group norms

Self Monitoring

High vs. Low

• Using social cues to determine how we present ourselfs; goes along with public self-consciousness
• High: image is important in relationships; hyper aware of appropriate behavior for situation; tend to have less intimate relationships & judge ppl. on superficial qualities
• Low: more consistent in their behavior across situations; pay less attn. to social cues; may be less interested in presenting a positive self-image

Self-Esteem

• Our evaluation of our self-concept
• Affected by parenting style: Authoritarian/permissive= low & authoritative = High

Motivations related to Self-Esteem

1. Self-Enhancement

2. Self-Verification

1. Seeking out situations that maintain high self-esteem (operates on feelings)

2. Seeking out situations that confirm our self-concept (operates on thoughts (focused on feeling right about who we are NOT feeling good about self = > Pos. or Neg. CONSISTENCY is key!)

**Both can operate simultaneously to judge feedback: SE is better short-term & SV is better long-term**

Unstable Self-Esteem

• Need to feel good about self, but not very good at it => constantly seeking positive feedback from others
• Seek out positive feedback (self-enhancement), but pos. feedback is inconsistent w/self-concept (sel-verification)

Explicit Self-Esteem

Implicit Self-Esteem

Strategic Self-Presentation

• Construction & Presentation of self to make a specific impression/achieve a private goal
• Many strategies including: Self-promotion, Modesty, Exemplification, Intimidation, Supplication, & Ingratiation

Self-Promotion

Modesty

Exemplification

Intimidation

Supplication

Ingratiation

Consequences to self-presentation strategy failure:

1. Embarrassment

2. Self-Handicapping

1. When made aware that a flaw/weakness has been revealed; Threat response (although not too damaging)

2. Setting self up for failure

• usually on tasks strongly related to self-concept
• Protects (even boosts) self-esteem

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

• When expectation based on self-presentation lead to their own fulfillment
• Typically stems from false/inaccurate impression (assume quality based on someone's presentation=>treat them as if they possess it=>they respond to treatment in kind=>behavior confirms initial impression)
• Effects on behavior = Stereotype threat

Stereotype Threat

• Fear that actions or behavior will confirm stereotype
• requires: (1) awareness of membership to stereotyped group AND (2) situation in which stereotype could be confirmed or disconfirmed
• Uncomfortable state because awareness of stereotype interferes w/performance=>confirms stereotype

Disidentification

Summary of Self-Presentation

• We highlight diff. aspects of self to convey specific impressions (our personality shaped by self-presentation strategies used)
• How we present ourselves affects others' expectations (our personality influences how ppl. treat us)
• Others' expectations affect how we act (our personality leads us to embrace/reject diff. situations)

Cognition

Intellectual process of thought, perception, memory, & language consisting of:  

• obtaining info. through senses
• transforming info thru interpretive processes
• storing/retrieving info from memory
• using info. in problem solvingevaluations, language, & other social processes

*Fundamental building blocks = Effortful/Effortless information processing

Dual Process Models of Cognition

• Modern view of cognition
• Promotes a coexistence btwn explicit/implicit cognition, but each have a different effect on attitudes/behaviors

Effortful ("Explicit") Cognition

• Intentional/Conscious => uses lots of cognitive resources
• Driven by rules & logic => "Fast Learning"
• Influenced deliberate behavior => decisions & conclusions
• Requires motivation(importance of task) AND capacity (cog. resources/time)

Effortless (Implicit) Cognition

• Unintentional => uses very few cognitive resources
• Uses associative networks => "slow learning"
• Influences non-verbal behavior (body language/neutral facial expressions/"gut feelings")

Priming

The means by which specific categories of info. are called into memory

• Exposure to certain stimuli/events: 
• increases accessibility of certain memories, categories, & schemas
• Occurs outside of consciousness
• Influences attitudes, behaviors, and affects the way we interpret information

Subliminal/Supraliminal Priming

• Works when prime is a basic idea & below awareness threshold
• Controversial
• effects decay very quickly

Accessibility

• How easy it is to retrieve information from memory
• Info. that is used more often is easier to retrieve & more likely to be used

Chronic Accessibility

• Information that has been primed repeatedly
• becomes part of self-concept, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors ==> Personality

Perceptual Defense

• Tendency to divert attn. away from certain types of info (most often info that makes individual anxious/uncomfortable)
• Opposite of chronic accessibility
• Affects some perceptual systems (explicit) more than others (implicit)

Implicit Theories (Naïve Theories)

• Non-specific beliefs about how cognition & info work
• Entity/Incremental theories
• Rational/Experiential theories

Epistemic Needs

Entity/Incremental Theories

Entity Theory

• Personal qualities are fixed/unchangeable
• More likely to explain behavior in terms of personal factors
• More focused on performance goals (recieving praise is most important)
• More likely to respond to failure w/helplessness & frustration
• More focused on specific moral duties ("the rules")

Incremental Theory

• Personal qualities are changeable
• More likely to explain behavior in terms of situational factors
• More focused on learning & mastery goals (trying your hardest/perservering are most important)
• More likely to respond to failure w/a renewed sense of purpose (never give up)
• More focused on broad moral principles

Rational/Experiential Theories

• Implicit cognitive theories used to describe the nature of judgement (How do you make decisions & evaluations?)
• Rational theorists view implicit & explicit info. as uncorrelated & only explicit info. correlated w/behavior intention
• Experiential theorists view implicit/explicit info as correlated w/each other & both correlated w/behavior intention

Rational Theory

• Focuses on reason & anlytical information
• Relied primarily on effortful cognition (thinks things through)
• Behavior influenced by conscious appraisal of events
• Justifies beliefs thru evidence & rules of logic

Experiential Theory

• Focus on emotion & intuitive information
• Relies primarily on effortless cognition (uses "gut feelings")
• Behavior influenced by emotional experience of past events
• Justifies beliefs thru personal experience
• Influences how judgments are made (ppl. who favor this theory are more likely to make judgment errors based on feeling

Rational Theory (in relation to Big Five)

• Positively correlated w/conscientiousness & openness to experience
• Negatively correlated w/neuroticism

Experiential Theory (in relation to Big Five)

• Positively correlated w/ extraversion & agreeableness

Need for Cognition

(Epistemic)

• Tendency (or need) to engage in & enjoy effortful thought
• Pay careful attn. to details
• More willing to engage in critical thinking => harder to persuade & less affected by blatant or sexually appealing adtertising

Need for Closure

(Epistemic)

• Need to avoid uncertainty & to quickly reach definite conclusions
• Emphasize urgency (finding answer quickly) & permenance (preserve knowledge as unchanged) of decision-making
• Tend to rely on first impressions, stereotypes, info. currently in memory (less likely to think things over)

Need for Cognition (in relation to Big Five)

• Positively correlated with conscientiousness & openness to experience
• Negatively correlated with neuroticism

Need for Closure (in relation to Big Five)

• Positvely correlated with extraversion & openness to experience
• Negatively correlated with neuroticism

Summary of cognitive influence on personality

1. Our beliefs about human nature affect cognitive processes 

• our personality influences how we evaluate ourselves & others
• our personality influences what info. we use to make decisions

2. Our beliefs about cognitive processes affect how we look @ the world

• our personality influences how much thought & attn. we give to our environment

Sociocultural Factors

• Beliefs about society & culture (similar to implicit theories but larger scale)
• Assumptions about how society works/should work
• 3 main factors: Authoritarianism, Social dominance orientation, & belief in a Just world

Authoritarianism

(original approach)

• Originally described to explain German behavior in WWII
• Explained as results of cold, distant parenting: kids grow up simultaneously afraid of/desperate to please parents=>transfers to other authority figures in adulthood

Right-Winged Authoritarianism (RWA)

• Modern version; less emphasis on psychodynamic aspect
• Characterized by Authoritarian submission, Authoritarian aggression, & conventionalism

Authoritarian Submission

Authoritarian Aggression

Conventionalism

Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)

• Need for hierarchy AND superiority
• Hierarchy: Group-based dominance, desire for rigid, hierarchical social structure, believe someone must be on top & bottom
  
• Superiority: Opposition to equality, desire for dominance in social structure, see unequal distribution of resources as right & normal
  

Ppl. high in SDO

• Express greater lvls. of prejudice (espec. toward groups competing for resources)
• " greater lvls. of bias around economic issues
• more likely to endose ideas of cultural elitism
• strongly support aggressive law enforcement/military intervention
• Strongly oppose social justice programs & gay rights

Authoritarianism (relation to Big Five)

• Negatively correlated with neuroticism (specif. impulsive factor) & openness to experience

SDO (relation to Big Five)

• Negatively correlated with extraversion (specif. warmth factor), openness to experience, & agreeableness

Belief in Just World

• Belief that world is fair/orderly & ppl. get what they deserve
• Influences our understandings of justice, deservedness, & social justice
• Set of beliefs that legitimizes existing economic inequality (places blame on poor)