Chapter 3 - Reading Flashcards
The liars club
Characters mother and character are all totally unregulated
Why control ourselves at all
Get along and get ahead
The need to control oneself
Social exclusion is really bad - triggers immune response
Avoiding exclusion means self-regulating so we do not violate a strongly held group norm
So the great challenge of social actors is to control the performance
Goffman; actors work hard to manage the impressions of others by monitoring themselves
Freud & Merd on self-regulation
Self-regulation depends on the observation of the actor by an audience, be that audience in the real world or the mind. In social life, we watch others and ourselves. We regulate each other and ourselves. In this reflective, observing sense, we regulate ourselves and others.
After 2 - I & Me
Once the I can reflect on the Me, the I can control the presentation of the self on the central stage.
What assists the I to control the me?
Control emotions; embarrassment, shame, pride, guilt
Over time we learn what produces these and become used to working with them or socialized into behaviour that respects them
Being observed and prosocial behaviour
Mirror
Objective self awareness
Leads to prosocial behaviour
Even if the observer is just a mirror
Objective self awareness whereby the actor becomes explicitly aware of the self as an object of perception
Such an awareness is a check on the free expression of impulses, urges and disruptive emotions
Social factors influence the mirror test
Japanese people are less influent by mirrors
Culturally, their social group monitors the individual so the state of objective self-awareness ,ay be more the explicit norm in japan than NA
Metaphorically, the Japanese have mirrors in their heads
Ego depletion
Yeah right
Emotions function
The provide advisory functions
Functional appraisals of self and the world
Give you advice on how things are going
Regulating these into advise is the fx of self regulation
New borns and self-regulation
cannot self-regulate
people sooth and caress them
Cultural norms regarding baseline emotions
Individualistic - high arousal, positive affect
Might even encourage venting negative emotions
Collectivist - Dampen joy as well as anger
Strong emotional expressions threaten the collective harmony
Reinforce low arousal, positive eg joy
Emotion regulation
6 months old
Turn away from unpleasant stimuli
Emotion regulation
12 months
Rock themselves
Move away from upsetting things
2 years
Cope with frustration by talking to companions
Playing with toys
Distracting themselves from sources of -ve
Knit their brows and compress lips to suppress negative emotion
2-3 years
More strategic
Instead of fear/anger - turn to caretaker and look sad
Learned its more successful in recruiting support
Securely attached kids
Healthier patterns of cortisol
Can check with care givers to learn of behaviour is good or bad
Therefore better emotional regulation and behaviour
Internalized working model
Established of attachment relationship
Taken from one situation from another
therefore never on stage alone
Marshmallow test
30% successful
Better SATs, friendships, less behavior issues etc
Exerted effort to control their impulses
Executive Control
Child’s active and voluntary capacity to withhold a dominant response in order to enact a subordinate response given situational demands
It is a temperament dimension, kids have more or less of it
Girls vs boys EC
Girls higher than boys
SES and EC
Low SES = low EC
East vs west EC
East better. Emphasize this culturally
EC and conscience
EC is a temperament foundation for the development of a conscience
A conscience is rule-compatible conduct + moral emotions
EC may clear other thoughts and allow more empathy
Moral emotions
Empathy and guilt
Guilt is good
Causes apologetic behaviour and the anticipation of guilt can prevent bad behavior
People high in guilt do less crime
Executive Attention Network
EC and the development of a conscience require this
Inhibits thoughts that decrease the ability to analyze a situation
Prioritize long term goals over short term pleasure
Prefrontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Pre frontal cortex
Planning complex behaviour
Role in self-regulation as shown by Phineas gage
PFC guides inputs and connections that allow EC to achieve self-control
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Around corpus callosum
Spindle cells activate when switching between thoughts
Focuses attn on the challenging features of the task at hand, evaluating the severity of the problem, and guiding the actors towards the appropriate behavioral response
Predicts the outcome before the action is performed
Supports the cognitive operations with which people think before they act
Seratonin
Implicated in the development of EC and self regulation
Some people get higher serotonin function which is efficient and adaptive, some get less
Serotonin might affect the relationship between the two human modes of responding
2 modes of human responding
1 basic, unconscious, immediate
2 rational and strategic
Effective regulation must drop 1
Serotonin function increases 2. Low S fx = low 2
Experimentally, more Ser, more 2
Low serotonin leads to hostility and sensation seeking
In kids, low SER associated with externalizing problems and ADHA
In adults, violence and BPD
EC as a precursor
Important precursor to A and C
C
How hard working and self-disciplined and reliable a person is
A
Nice is not a good enough word
Best traits of humanity
Low A = worst traits
C & A are associated with
A & C are different
But both are associated with better marriages, attachment and low divorce
High C = less cheating
Work, school and C
Predicts for good outcomes
The path to success for high C people is homework, studying, persevering even if dull
People high in C see work as a big part of them
They take job losses harder than low C people
High A and work
Also invest a lot in work
Trustworthy and reliable
Associated with lower pay, especially for men
Why? Job choice - helping professions
Men are supposed to be dominant so nice guys are at a disadvantage
Pays to be at least a bit disagreeable
C and A and health correlents
Both linked to health
C more so
High C is an excellent predictor of low mortality
High C:
low risk taking
Less externalizing in kids, violent crime and suicide in adults
Better health behaviors and safer sex
Lower obesity
Low C, E and high N is associated with obesity
Summary on C & A
In order to live well in love and work, self-regulation is important. C + A = your ego and ties into the emergence of self-regulation such as EC, the development of a conscience and moral emotions such as guilt and empathy
Guilt, empathy, A & C
High C is worried a lot about guilt. Does not have more, just worries more so may avoid it more
High A might do similar things for empathy
Positive parts of agression
Conflict can bind in groups together
People maintain societies with the use of legitimate (socially sanctioned) force like police and prisons
Aggression as bad
Anti social behaviour
Kids who do this have externalizing behaviors
Adults who do this and have no empathy = sociopathy
Where does aggressive behavior come from
Temperament traits Parenting practices Family relations Peer interactions SES Culture
Where does aggressive behavior come from
Pattern
1 - temperament tendencies towards anger and hostility
2 - Ineffective, inconsistent parenting which uses physical punishment
3 - Poorly regulated behavior entailing aggressive outbursts which leads to
4 - poor school performance and -5- peer rejection in school which can lead to an alliance with deviant kids who
7 - reinforce, glorify aggression and antisocial behaviour
Who is most likely to be aggressive?
Low SES boys
