(7) Social and Cultural Approaches to Abnormal Psychology Flashcards
How does culture affect what is considered to be abnormal?
- Culture plays a role in determining what is and is not abnormal.
- Decisions about abnormal behaviour always involve social judgments and are based on the values and expectations of one’s culture or subculture.
DSM definition of delusion
The belief is not ordinarily accepted by other members of the person’s culture or subculture (i.e., it is not an article of religious faith)
What is Female orgasmic disorder?
- recurrent delay in or absence of orgasm following normal sexual excitement phase; occasioning subjective distress or interpersonal difficulties.
- May be seen as normal if your culture does not agree
What was the case study of Hetty Green?
- “World’s Greatest Miser” (Guinness Book of World Records).
- Estimates of her net worth ranged from $100-$200 million (approx. $3 billion today), making her perhaps the richest woman in the world at the time.
- Was said never to turn on the heat or use hot water
- Wore one old black dress and undergarments; changed these only when they wore out.
- Ate mostly pies that cost fifteen cents.
- Stamp searching.
- Son’s leg, wanted a free medical centre, never recovered and had to get his leg amputated
What is the Dictator Game ?
- Two players:
1) The Dictator distributes an endowment (e.g., £5) between herself and the Receiver.
2) The Receiver’s role is entirely passive and involves simply receiving whatever the Dictator gives to her. - Measures altruism
What have experiments shown about the dictator game?
- Experiments: Even in anonymous, one-shot games, Dictators often allocate a non-zero share of the endowment.
- Many Dictators show a preference for fairness, offering exactly half of the available money.
- However, the modal offer among uni students is typically zero…
Are there cultural differences in the dictator game?
- Henrich et al. (2005) had participants from three different cultures play the DG:
- The Orma, a semi-nomadic community in Eastern Kenya. The Hadza, hunter-gatherers in north-central Tanzania. The Tsimane’, a hunter-gatherer culture in lowland Bolivia.
- Few if any of the participants in these societies offered zero.
Gender identity and the DSM
- DSM-IV: Gender identity disorder Intense discomfort with one’s biological gender; strong identification with, and desire to be, the opposite gender.
- DSM-5: Gender dysphoria Emphasises importance of distress about the incongruity b/n biology and identity.
Can low SES/unemployment effect mental disorders?
- Low SES and unemployment:
- Western society: Inverse correlation b/n SES and incidence of mental disorders
- Relationship stronger for certain types of disorders (e.g., stronger for APD than depression)
- Unemployment associated with emotional distress and vulnerability to psychopathology. Underemployment (e.g., demotions, downsizing) has comparable effects.
What has been said about social media and mental disorders?
Social media users are more aware of stressful events experienced by online friends (the “cost of caring”). Complex relationship: Facebook and Twitter users do not report experiencing more stress.
Can Violence and homelessness effect mental state?
- E.g., domestic violence against women and children leads to anxiety, PTSD, depression, suicidality.
- Major stressors associated with being homeless. Estimated 1/3 of homeless people affected by severe mental illness. Bi-causality here.
What is somatization?
- a tendency to experience and communicate emotional distress in the form of physical symptoms.
- Relatively rare in Western cultures.
- Common in Asian cultures, perhaps because such cultures disapprove of the strong expression of (particularly negative) emotions.
- The more Westernised the individual the less likely they are to report predominantly somatic symptoms when reporting psychological distress.
Does culture effect how negative behaviour is percieved?
- Some cultures (e.g., Thailand) highly intolerant of under controlled behaviour (e.g., aggression, disobedience, disrespect).
- Children taught to inhibit expression of anger.
- Western cultures more tolerant.
- Expression of anger is associated with biological health risk (BHR) – but moderated by culture.
- Kitayama et al. (2015). Greater expression of anger predicted increased BHR for Americans, but reduced BHR for Japanese.
What are Delusions of Reference ?
- The most common delusional themes include paranoia, grandiosity and ideas of reference.
- Examples:
- Believing that people on TV or radio are talking about you or to you.
- Believing that you are an especially famous or important person, that the whole world revolves around you.
What is the The Truman Show Delusion?
-Gold & Gold (2012). Described five patients who believed they were the subjects of something akin to a reality television show, broadcasting their daily life for the entertainment of others.
