Individual Differences Key Terms Flashcards
Equality Act
2010
Key piece of legislation in the UK designed to preotect people from discrimination in various areas of life, including work, eduaction etc. It covers a range of protected characteristics
Protected Characteristics
Religion
Belief
Disability
Age
Gender Reassignment
Marriage or Civil Partnership
Race
Sex
Sexual Orientation
Pregnancy
Maternity
Religion
An organised system of beliefs, practices and symbols, designed to enable closeness to God
Religiosity
Intensity and depth of a person’s religious beliefs, practices and involvement.
Degree to which religion influences a person’s behaviour, thoughts, and identity
Intrinsic Religiosity
Someone viewing their religion as the framework for their lives and part of their internal identity.
Those who have high intrinsic religiosity negatively correlate with anxiety, depression and obsessions and compulsions.
They positively correlate with higher self-esteem, active coping and self-control.
Extrinsic Religiosity
When religion allows us to be part of an in-group. Important for our external environment. I.e. I go to church because my friends are going.
Identified Religiosity
Personal convictions deeply valued, positive effects on mental health.
How strongly a person considers themselves a part of a religion or spiritual group, even if their level of practice or belief varies.
Introjected Religiosity
Socially pressured beliefs.
Type of religious commitment that is motivated by external pressures or internalised expectations, rather than genuine personal desire or conviction.
Negative effects on MH, psychological adjustment and self-esteem.
Could cause guilt and anxiety- not living up to expectations. Lack of authenticity. Conflict with personal beliefs.
Dimensions of Religiousness
Koenig et al. (1988)
Faith, Rituals, Experiences, Religious Knowledge, Community
Self-Determination Theory
How we endorse our religious values affects our behaviours. Identidied Religiosity and Introjected Religiosity are part of this theory.
Attitudes and Behaviours in the context of religiosity and cults
Belief in God significantly positively correlates with prosocial behaviour.
If someone’s beliefs don’t align with them, religious people are more likely to display active aggression.
Religion gives people a sense of meaning and purpose of life, social support, healthier lifestyles, care and concern for others, private coping.
Religion negatively correlates with vulnerability to hopelessness and suicidal thinking.
New Religious Movements = Cults
Show a sense of community and belonging.
Socially deviant norms.
Members of cults have pleaded NGRI for violent crimes carried out under beliefs.
Example;
1978: mass-murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana that resulted in 900+ deaths with a 1/3 being children.
Deviation from religious norms
Backsliding, doubt, feelings of abandonment
Poorer mental health due to guilt, shame, anger
Often linked to extrinsic religiosity- motivated by the wrong factors
Scrupulosity
A subtype of OCD where religion and OCD intersect. Involves excessive worry or anxiety about moral or religious issues. They often feel intense fear that they are doing something wrong in the eyes of a higher power or violating moral or religious rules, even when their behaviour is not actually problematic. Includes obsessions and compulsive behaviours.
CBT could help.
Medication like SSRIs may be prescribed also.
Cognitive Aspects;
- pathological obsessions
-extreme tunnel vision
-moral rumination- repetitive, often uncontrollable, thinking about moral issues, ethical dilemmas or past actions that may have been perceived as morally wrong. Getting stuck in thoughts. Negative cycle of critiquing.
Behavioural Aspects:
- compulsive confessions
- compulsive rituals
Social Aspects;
-isolation
Mental Contamination
Obsessive thought can arise without coming into contact with physical contamination.
i.e. feeling spiritually contaminated by something they believe is sinful, impure or morally wrong even if they have not physically or behaviourally done anything wrong.
Five Factor Model
Openness- openness to experience, open-mindedness, curious, imaginative, willing to explore new ideas and experiences
Conscientiousness- degree of self-discipline, responsibility, organisation, goal directed behaviour a person exhibits.
Extraversion- degree to which a person is outgoing, energetic, and sociable
Agreeableness- degree of warmth, kindness and cooperativeness a person shows towards others
Emotional Stability/Neuroticism- tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, anger, and vulnerability
Framework for understanding personality.
Describes personality traits in terms of 5 broad dimensions that capture the variety of human behaviour.
Scientifically supported way to understand and explore the complexity of human personality.
Has practical applications.
Everyone has a unique blend of these 5 traits.
Can change over time based on life experiences and personal growth.
Holisitic framework.
Ellis and Irrational Beliefs
Key concept in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
Type of cognitive behavioural therapy.
Focuses on identifying and challenging irrational beliefs that lead to emotional distress and unhealthy behaviours.
ABC Model
A= Activating Event- the event or situation that triggers an emotional reaction.
B= Beliefs- thoughts or beliefs a person holds about the event. Can be rational or irrational.
C= Consequences- emotional or behavioural response to the belief. irrational beliefs tend to lead to negative emotional consequences like anxiety, anger, or depression.
By replacing irrational beliefs with more realistic and flexible thinking, Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy helps people live healthier, more balanced lives with less emotional decline.
Non-Clinical Anxiety
State and Trait Anxiety
State Anxiety
Usually measured with trait anxiety.
An emotional, temporary state in response to the presence of threatening stimuli.
Trait Anxiety
Usually measured with state anxiety.
General tendency to feel anxious or nervous across various situations, regardless of specific circumstances. Stable part of personality.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
DSM-5
- Excessive or persistent worry for over 6 months about events/activities
- Trouble controlling said worry
- 3 or more of: restlessness, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, sleep disturbance, significant impairment in daily life
2x as many females experienced this.
High commorbity with depression.
Phobic Disorder
DSM-5
Persistent fear of an object that is excessive/unreasonable lasting more than 6 months.
Immediate anxiety when faced with object.
Recognition that fear is excessive.
Simple Phobia
Irrational fear triggered by specific situations.
Social Anxiety
Type of phobia
Fear of 1 or more social situations when scrutiny is plausible.
Exposure to situation provokes anxiety.
SAD positively correlated with neuroticism and negatively correlates with extraversion (5 factor model!)
Physical Symptoms: increased heart rate, nausea
Cognitive symptoms: negative thoughts pertaining to self-appraisal
Behavioural symptoms: avoidance or indirect avoidance (i.e. substance abuse)
Five Factor Model in context of disability, illness and health
These personality traits influence how individuals cope with health challenges and how they perceive their disability or illness. As well as how they manage recovery and overall well-being.
Cognitive Factors of Anxiety
Attentional Bias- we selectively allocate our attentional resources towards or away from specific stimulus. Useful for avoiding threat.
Shyness
Not a disorder on its own
State shyness- situation/state-dependent.
Trait shyness- relatively stable persistent trait
Can be:
Publicly shy
Privately shy
Socially anxious shy
Dyslexia
A learning difficulty/reading disability involving reading/writing/spelling.
7% prevalence.
More prominent in men.
There are risks of developing depression.
No bearing on intelligence.
Some genetic evidence.
Can be acquired later in life through brain damage.
Subtypes
- Surface= difficulties reading irregular words i.e. through
- Phonological= difficulties reading pronounceable non-words i.e. could read shirt but not chirt.
Phonological Deficits of Dyslexia
Dyslexia is caused by phonological representation deficits. Difficulties representing, storing, and retrieving speech sounds. Language processing is impaired at the phoneme level.
Rapid Automatised Naming Deficits
How easily one can retrieve and name a familiar visual stimulus. Naming speed is measured. There may be a visual-verbal disconnection reflected in difficulties reading in dyslexic people.
Reading Fluency Deficits
Dyslexics spend effort decoding words.
Dyscalculia
Learning difficulty relating to maths.
Often occurs with dyslexia.
Difficulties include: backwards counting, slower maths calculations, poorer mental arithmetic, uncertainty when answers are correct.
It is heterogeneous, as it varies widely from person to person. People experience different challenges.
3-6% of children.
Type A Personality
Time urgency, hurried, competitive, dislike time wasting, anger, hostility
Type B
Laid back, relaxed, hard workers when necessary, less compulsive, unhurried.
Type D personality
Distressed, consistent with coronary heart disease, worrisome, low mood, pessimistic, easily irritated, lack of hope.
