S

schemata  Mental templates or structures that help us organize the millions of items of information we come into contact with every day (singular: schema).
script  A general idea of how an event should unfold; a rule governing the sequence of occurrences in some activity. A type of schema.
secondary market  Already existing securities are bought and sold on the exchanges or in the OTC market.
securitization  Pooling loans for various purposes into standardized securities backed by those loans, which can then be traded like any other security.
security analysis  Determining correct value of a security in the marketplace.
security selection decision  Choosing the particular securities to include in a portfolio.
selective attention  A principle of perception that states that listeners attend to those things that they anticipate will fulfill their needs or will prove enjoyable.
selective exposure  A principle of perception and persuasion that states that listeners actively seek out information that supports their opinions and actively avoid information that contradicts their existing opinions, beliefs, attitudes, and values.
self-awareness  The degree to which a person knows himself or herself. Increase self-awareness by listening to others, increasing your open self as appropriate, and seeking out information (discreetly) to reduce any blind spots.
self-concept  An individual’s self-evaluation; an individual’s self-appraisal. Learn who you are: See yourself through the eyes of others; compare yourself to similar (and admired) others; examine the influences of culture; and observe, interpret, and evaluate your own message behaviors.
self-deprecating strategies  Impression management strategies in which one confesses incompetence in order to have others help.
self-destructive beliefs  Beliefs that are harmful to your growth and development.
self-disclosure  The process of revealing something about ourselves to another; usually, revealing information that would normally be kept hidden. In considering self-disclosure, consider the legitimacy of your motives for disclosing, the appropriateness of the disclosure, the listener’s responses (is the dyadic effect operating?), and the potential burdens self-disclosures might impose.
self-esteem The value you place on yourself; your self-evaluation; usually, the positive value you place on yourself. Raise your self-esteem: Increase your communication effectiveness, challenge self-destructive beliefs, seek out nourishing people with whom to interact, work on projects that will result in success, and engage in self-affirmation.
self-fulfilling prophecy  The situation in which we make a prediction or prophecy and fulfill it ourselves—for example, expecting a class to be boring and then fulfilling this expectation by not listening and thus becoming bored. Take a second look at your perceptions when they correspond very closely to your initial expectations; the self- fulfilling prophecy may be at work.
self-handicapping strategies  Impression management strategies in which the person sets up obstacles to make the task impossible and thus is given an excuse for failure.
self-monitoring strategies  The manipulation of the image we present to others in interpersonal interactions so as to create the most favorable impression.
self-serving bias  A bias that operates in the self-attribution process and leads us to take credit for the positive consequences and to deny responsibility for the negative consequences of our behaviors. Become mindful of any self-serving bias; that is, of giving too much weight to internal factors (when explaining your positives) and too little weight to external factors (when explaining your negatives).
sex  The biological and physiological qualities that characterize men and women.
sexism Bias or prejudice against a particular sex.
sexist language Language derogatory to one sex, usually women; also, language that seems to prefer one gender over the other, as in the use of man for humankind.
short sale  The sale of shares not owned by the investor but borrowed through a broker and later repurchased to replace the loan. Profit is earned if the initial sale is at a higher price than the repurchase price.
short-term orientation  A cultural orientation that emphasizes the present rather than the future; opposed to long-term orientation.
similarity  A principle of attraction holding that we are attracted to qualities similar to those we possess and to people who are similar to ourselves; opposed to complementarity. Also, in perception, rule stating that things that look alike belong together and form a unit.
small group communication  Communication among a collection of individuals small enough in number that all members may interact with relative ease as both senders and receivers, the members being connected to one another by some common purpose and with some degree of organization or structure.
snarl words Highly negative words that express the feelings of the speaker rather than referring to any objective reality; opposite to purr words.
soft dollars  The value of research services that brokerage houses supply to investment managers “free of charge” in exchange for the investment managers’ business.
source  Any person or thing that creates messages. A source may be an individual speaking, writing, or gesturing or a computer sending an error message.
specialist  A trader who makes a market in the shares of one or more firms and who maintains a “fair and orderly market” by dealing personally in the stock.
specific gravity reflects the weight of particles dissolved in the urine; expression of the degree of concentration of the urine
static evaluation An orientation that fails to recognize that the world is characterized by constant change; an attitude that sees people and events as fixed rather than as constantly changing. Mentally date your statements to avoid thinking and communicating that the world is static and unchanging. In your messages, reflect the inevitability of change.
stereotype  In communication, a fixed impression of a group of people through which we then perceive specific individuals; stereotypes are most often negative but also may be positive. Be careful of thinking and talking in stereotypes; recognize that members of all groups are different, and focus on the individual rather than on the individual’s membership in one group or another.
stock exchanges  Secondary markets where already-issued securities are bought and sold by members.
stop orders  Order to trade contingent on security price designed to limit losses if price moves against the trader.
synchronous  Communication in which the sending and receiving of a message takes place at the same time. Opposed to asynchronous.
systematic risk  Risk factors common to the whole economy, nondiversifiable risk; also called market risk.