< Back to Core

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Social Self

According to Charles Cooley, we base our image on what we think other people see (Cooley 1902). We imagine how we must appear to others, then react to …
In general, a schema is a mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts (Bartlett, 1932). There are many different …
The term self-esteem is often used generically, to refer to how people feel about themselves. However, according to research, there are three …
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior …
One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He …
People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman …
Source: Laboratories of Nicholaus Noles and Judith Danovitch—University of Louisville Humans are different from other animals in many ways, but one …
Source: Diego Reinero & Jay Van Bavel—New York University Whether it’s refraining from having a second serving of ice cream, studying instead of …
In many situations humans are influenced by the behavior of other people and their relationships with them. For example, in stressful situations …
Studies investigating how people represent themselves and their own body often use variants of "ownership illusions", such as the traditional …
Self-distancing (i.e., creating mental distance between the self and a stimulus by adopting a less egocentric perspective) has been studied as a way to …