PSYC 307 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Social Comparison Theory, Collectivism, Western People
Document Summary
The kinds of things that motivate us vary in important ways across cultures. We are motivated to pursue the things we want and to avoid the things we don"t want. Japanese students need motivation by telling them to work harder and not that they are already good. Self enhancement- motivation to view oneself positively: many north americans have strong need to view themselves positively. Humans are quite accurate about themselves when they encounter incontrovertible evidence e. g. height difference, sports skills. People who are motivated to secure a positive self-view are often resourceful enough to figure out a way to get one. Downward social comparison- comparing your performance with the performance of someone who is doing worse than you. Upward social comparison- when we compare our performance with someone who is doing better than we are: more painful. Compensatory self-enhancement- acknowledge the poor grade you got in class, but you instead start to think about your excellent clarinet-playing skills.
