What are self-conscious emotions?

Self-conscious emotions are a specific group of emotions that are heavily influenced by how we see ourselves and how we think others perceive us. These emotions play a significant role in our social interactions and self-evaluation.

What are the main features of self-conscious emotions?

  • Social Comparison: Self-conscious emotions often involve comparing ourselves to others, both positively and negatively.
  • Self-Awareness: They require a certain level of self-awareness, meaning we need to be able to reflect on our own thoughts, actions, and social standing.
  • Evaluation: These emotions involve an internal evaluation of ourselves, judging ourselves as good or bad, successful or unsuccessful.

Why are self-conscious emotions important?

Self-conscious emotions are important for several reasons:

  • Social Navigation: They help us understand social cues, navigate social situations effectively, and maintain positive relationships.
  • Motivation: Positive self-conscious emotions like pride can motivate us to achieve our goals, while negative emotions like guilt can encourage us to make amends.
  • Self-Esteem: They play a role in shaping our self-esteem and sense of self-worth.

How are self-conscious emotions applied in practice?

Self-conscious emotions are present in many aspects of life:

  • Pride: Feeling proud after a job well done can motivate us to continue striving for excellence.
  • Shame: Experiencing shame after making a mistake might lead us to apologize and try to make amends.
  • Embarrassment: Feeling embarrassed in a social situation can teach us to be more mindful of social norms.
  • Jealousy: Jealousy can motivate us to improve ourselves or work harder to achieve what someone else has.

Practical example

Imagine giving a presentation in class. After the presentation, you might feel pride if it went well and the audience seemed engaged. However, if you stumbled on your words or made a mistake, you might experience embarrassment or even shame. These emotions all depend on your self-evaluation of your performance.

Critical comments

  • Overemphasis on Negativity: Some research focuses more on the negative aspects of self-conscious emotions like shame and guilt. However, positive emotions like pride can be motivating and beneficial.
  • Cultural Differences: The expression and experience of self-conscious emotions can vary across cultures.
  • Individual Variations: People have different levels of self-awareness and sensitivity to social evaluation, leading to diverse experiences of these emotions.

Image

Access: 
Public

Image

Click & Go to more related summaries or chapters:

Studiegids voor begrippen en definities bij Sociale psychologie aan de Universiteit Utrecht

Flashcards en definities bij Sociale Psychologie

Online flashcards en definities bij sociale psychologie

  • Flashcards en begripsomschrijvingen bij de belangrijkste begrippen van positieve bekrachtiging tot social exclusion

Direct naar de gepubliceerde flashcards via de supporting content

  • Lees verder om direct naar de betrokken samenvattingen en studiehulp te gaan via de 'supporting content'

 

Access: 
Public
This content refers to .....
Psychology and behavorial sciences - Theme

Image

Follow the author: Hugo
More contributions of WorldSupporter author: Hugo:
Work for WorldSupporter

Image

JoHo can really use your help!  Check out the various student jobs here that match your studies, improve your competencies, strengthen your CV and contribute to a more tolerant world

Working for JoHo as a student in Leyden

Parttime werken voor JoHo

Image

Comments, Compliments & Kudos:

Add new contribution

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

Image

Check how to use summaries on WorldSupporter.org

Online access to all summaries, study notes en practice exams

How and why would you use WorldSupporter.org for your summaries and study assistance?

  • For free use of many of the summaries and study aids provided or collected by your fellow students.
  • For free use of many of the lecture and study group notes, exam questions and practice questions.
  • For use of all exclusive summaries and study assistance for those who are member with JoHo WorldSupporter with online access
  • For compiling your own materials and contributions with relevant study help
  • For sharing and finding relevant and interesting summaries, documents, notes, blogs, tips, videos, discussions, activities, recipes, side jobs and more.

Using and finding summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter

There are several ways to navigate the large amount of summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter.

  1. Use the menu above every page to go to one of the main starting pages
    • Starting pages: for some fields of study and some university curricula editors have created (start) magazines where customised selections of summaries are put together to smoothen navigation. When you have found a magazine of your likings, add that page to your favorites so you can easily go to that starting point directly from your profile during future visits. Below you will find some start magazines per field of study
  2. Use the topics and taxonomy terms
    • The topics and taxonomy of the study and working fields gives you insight in the amount of summaries that are tagged by authors on specific subjects. This type of navigation can help find summaries that you could have missed when just using the search tools. Tags are organised per field of study and per study institution. Note: not all content is tagged thoroughly, so when this approach doesn't give the results you were looking for, please check the search tool as back up
  3. Check or follow your (study) organizations:
    • by checking or using your study organizations you are likely to discover all relevant study materials.
    • this option is only available trough partner organizations
  4. Check or follow authors or other WorldSupporters
    • by following individual users, authors  you are likely to discover more relevant study materials.
  5. Use the Search tools
    • 'Quick & Easy'- not very elegant but the fastest way to find a specific summary of a book or study assistance with a specific course or subject.
    • The search tool is also available at the bottom of most pages

Do you want to share your summaries with JoHo WorldSupporter and its visitors?

Quicklinks to fields of study for summaries and study assistance

Field of study

Check the related and most recent topics and summaries:
Activity abroad, study field of working area:
Access level of this page
  • Public
  • WorldSupporters only
  • JoHo members
  • Private
Statistics
354