PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Terror Management Theory, Social Comparison Theory, Fundamental Attribution Error

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

Define self-concept and social cognition and explain the factors that guide our interpretation of our own and other people"s behaviour (eg. fundamental attribution error, in-group bias) Self-concept: an individuals perception of self, including knowledge, feelings, and ideas about oneself, it is used as a basis for how we describe ourselves. Our self-schemas (categorize and store information themselves) can influence our self-concept, for example: having a self-concept of being thin but having the self- schema of worrying about gaining weight can affect a persons behaviour. Schemanticity: the importance of particular self-schemas to a person"s self- concept, influences how we behave in any given situation and how we remember past events. We tend to perceive and judge others in terms of schema-relevant dimensions. Self-awareness: the ability to recognize oneself as a distinct identity, important to developing self-concept. Introspection: looking inward to their thoughts and feelings, analyzing the reasons that a person feels a certain way.