Using a physical environment to influence how others view us is known as a choice of __________.

1. A set of relatively stable perceptions that each of us holds about ourselves is called:
1. Self-esteem
2. Self-image
3. Self-disclosure
4. Self-concept

Answer: D
Page: 4
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Communication and the Self
2. ________ refers to how we develop an image of ourselves from the way we think others view us
1. Reflected appraisal
2. Self-esteem
3. Social comparison
4. Significant others

Answer: A
Page: 8
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Communication and the Self
3. A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when:
1. You think someone else has low (or high) expectations of you.
2. You lack the knowledge or skill to complete a task.
3. Someone else asks you to complete a task you are good at, but don’t want to do.
4. Your expectation of an outcome, and subsequent behavior, makes the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true.

Answer: D
Page: 11
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Communication and the Self
4. Which of the following is a physiological influence on our perception:
1. Hair color
2. Age
3. Shoe size
4. Religious affiliation

Answer: B
Page: 19
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Perceiving Others
5. We organize our perceptions of other people using perceptual schema, cognitive frameworks that allow us to give order to the information we have selected. One specific perceptual schema, interaction constructs, refers to:
1. Internal states of mind and dispositions
2. Social position: student, attorney, wife, etc.
3. Social behavior: friendly, helpful, aloof, etc.
4. People’s appearance

Answer: C
Page: 16
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Perceiving Others
6. Personal stories that we and others create to make sense of our personal world are called:
1. Narratives
2. Self-concept
3. Attributions
4. Stereotypes

Answer: A
Page: 24
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Perceiving Others
7. Some of the biggest problems that interfere with understanding and agreement arise from errors in the process of attaching meaning to behavior. This process is known as:
1. Self-serving bias
2. Attribution
3. Empathy
4. Stereotyping

Answer: B
Page: 25-26
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Perceiving Others
8. Sociologist Erving Goffman coined the term _______to describe the verbal and nonverbal ways we act to maintain our own presenting image and the image of others.
1. Face
2. Identity management
3. Facework
4. Sympathy

Answer: C
Page: 38
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Communication and Identity Management
9. Which of the following is an advantage of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in impression management?
1. There is no way to present false or dishonest information using CMC.
2. Everyone who uses CMC is a high self-monitor.
3. People who use CMC only have one identity to manage.
4. CMC allows the sender to say difficult things without forcing the receiver to respond immediately.

Answer: D
Page: 46
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Communication and Identity Management
10. There are two reasons why we manage our identities: to follow social norms and ________.
1. To accomplish personal goals.
2. To make someone else happy.
3. To try out a different identity.
4. To break social norms.

Answer: A
Page: 45-45
Bloom’s: Remembering
A-head: Communication and Identity Management

Back to Test

This outline can be a helpful study tool to assist you in seeing the order and sequence of the chapter and the relationship of ideas.  Use it to take notes as you read and/or to add concepts presented in lecture.

1. The ways in which we perceive ourselves and others shape our communication.
   1. Our self-concept is a set of relatively stable perceptions that each of us holds about ourself.
   2. The way we think others view us is most important with respect to the opinions of significant others.
   3. Culture shapes our notion of self through language, individualistic patterns versus collectivistic, and context.
   4. Self-concept is a very powerful force; it influences our behavior and that of others.
2. When a person's expectation of a certain outcome, and subsequent behavior, increase the likelihood that the outcome will occur, the phenomenon represented is called a self-fulfilling prophecy.
   1. Sometimes one person's expectations govern the actions of another; this is another form of self-fulfilling prophecy.
3. How we perceive others shapes our interaction with them.
   1. We make sense of others' behaviors through selection, organization, and interpretation.
   2. Our degrees of involvement, personal experience, assumptions, expectations, and knowledge of others create an ongoing perception process.
   3. Narratives are the personal stories we and others create to make sense of our personal world.
   4. Perception checking can help bridge the gap between different narratives.
4. When we use attribution, the process of attaching meaning to behavior, we sometimes commit errors that are due to common perceptual tendencies.
   1. We make snap judgments and judge ourselves more charitably than we judge others.
   2. We pay more attention to negative impressions than positive ones, and we are often influenced by what is most obvious.
   3. We cling to first impressions, even if wrong, and tend to assume that others are similar to us.
5. Overcoming the challenge of differing perceptions is assisted with empathy, the ability to re-create another person's perspective.
   1. The three dimensions of empathy are perspective taking, emotional dimensions, and a genuine concern for the welfare of the other person.
   2. Sympathy differs from empathy in that it involves feeling compassion for the predicament without the degree of personal identification present in empathy.
6. People use communication strategies known as identity management to influence how others view them.
   1. Each of us possesses a perceived self, or face, and a presenting self, also called facework.
   2. We have multiple identities we reveal in a collaborative process, sometimes consciously, sometimes not; but people differ in their degree of identity management.
   3. We manage our identities to follow social rules, to accomplish personal goals, and to meet our social needs.
   4. Despite the availability of common nonverbal cues, computer-mediated communication involves identity management with clarity or ambiguity, seriousness or humor, logic or emotion.
7. Identity management is not manipulation or phoniness but rather a part of being a competent communicator in choosing the best role for a given situation.
   1. There is more than one honest way to behave in most circumstances.
   2. Too much honesty can be inappropriate.

What is the strategy we use to influence others view of us?

Is the communication strategy people use to influence?

Which term refers to a status characteristic that is essential to the way we view ourselves and the ways that others view us?

Why do we manage our identities?