Title: 11.2 Self-Presentation – Introductory Psychology
Headings: 11.2 Self-Presentation
11.2 Self-Presentation
Learning Objectives
SOCIAL ROLES
Being a student is just one of the many social roles you have. (credit: “University of Michigan MSIS”/Flickr)
SOCIAL NORMS
Tweens, Teens, and Social Norms
Young people struggle to become independent at the same time they are desperately trying to fit in with their peers. (credit: Monica Arellano-Ongpin)
SCRIPTS
ZIMBARDO’S STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT
Iraqi prisoners of war were abused by their American captors in Abu Ghraib prison, during the second Iraq war. (credit: United States Department of Defense)
SUMMARY
References:
Exercises
Review Questions:
Critical Thinking Questions:
Personal Application Questions:
Glossary:
Key Takeaways
Review Questions:
Critical Thinking Questions:
Glossary:

Content: How do these social roles influence your behavior? Social roles are defined by culturally shared knowledge. That is, nearly everyone in a given culture knows what behavior is expected of a person in a given role. Additionally, we as a society tend to punish social norms when we see them being violated, in some situations more than others. Rost, Stahel, and Frey (2016) found that people use social media as a platform to fight against those who do not follow certain social norms and rules. This is because there is less risk to criticizing someone online versus in person. For example, what is the social role for a student? If you look around a college classroom you will likely see students engaging in studious behavior, taking notes, listening to the professor, reading the textbook, and sitting quietly at their desks (figure below). Of course you may see students deviating from the expected studious behavior such as texting on their phones or using Facebook on their laptops, but in all cases, the students that you observe are attending class—a part of the social role of students. Being a student is just one of the many social roles you have. (