theory are explanations people give for their actions, these explanations are known as causal attributions. Causal attributions provide answers to "Why?" questions by attributing a person's behavior (including our own) to a cause. People also gain self-knowledge by making attributions for other people's behavior; for example "If nobody wants to spend time with me it must be because I'm boring". Activation Individuals think of themselves in many different ways, yet only some of these ideas are active at any one given time. The idea that is specifically active at a given time is known as the Current Self-Representation. Other theorists have referred to the same thing in several different ways: The phenomenal self Spontaneous self-concept Self-identifications Aspects of the working self-concept The current self-representation influences information processing, emotion, and behavior and is influenced by both personal and situational factors. Personal factors that influence current self-representation Self-concept Self-concept, or how people usually think of themselves is the most important personal factor that influences current self-representation. This is especially true for attributes that are important and self-defining. Self-concept is also known as the self-schema, made of innumerable smaller self-schemas that are "chronically accessible". Self-esteem Self-esteem affects the way people feel about themselves. People with high self-esteem are more likely to be thinking of themselves in positive terms at a given time than people suffering low self-esteem. Mood state Mood state influences the accessibility of positive and negative self-views. When we are happy we tend to think more about our positive qualities and attributes, whereas when we are sad our negative qualities and attributes become more accessible. This link is particularly strong for people suffering low self-esteem. Goals People can deliberately activate particular self-views. We select appropriate images of ourselves depending on what role we wish to play in a given situation. One particular goal that influences activation of self-views is the desire to feel good. Situational factors that influence current self-representation Social roles How a person thinks of themselves depends largely on the social role they are playing. Social roles influence our personal identities. Social context and self-description People tend to think of themselves in ways that distinguish them from their social surroundings. The more distinctive the attribute, the more likely it will be used to describe oneself. Distinctiveness also influences the salience of group identities. Self-categorization theory proposes that whether people are thinking about themselves in terms of either their social