Kaplan #9 Psych/Soc Review Flashcards
Drive Reduction Theory
A theory that explains motivation as being based on the goal of eliminating uncomfortable internal states.
A hotel attendant considers guests from one particular country rude due to their general aversion to small talk which he believes is not a trait typically shared by domestic individuals such as himself. The attendant is demonstrating:
A. Cultural Relativism
B. Ethnocentrism
C. A fundamental Attribution Error
D. Stereotype Threat
B is correct: Ethnocentrism
The attendant is making negative generalizations about one ethnicity based upon comparisons to his own ethnicity. This is the epitome of ethnocentrism.
Ethnocentrism
The practice of making judgments about other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one’s own culture.
Fundamental Attribution Error
The general bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions when analyzing another person’s behavior.
Stereotype Threat
A feeling of anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype about one’s social group.
Cultural Relativism
The theory that social groups and cultures must be studied on their own terms to be understood.
Type Theorists and Trait Theorists
Type Theorists - attempt to create a taxonomy of personality types. Personality types based on body type called Somatotypes (type A and type B people).
Trait Theorists - prefer to describe individual personality as the sum of a person’s characteristic behaviors. Use clusters of behaviors o describe individuals. The Big 5 Traits of Personality:
- Openness
- Conscientiousness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
Behaviorist Perspective
Championed by B.F. Skinner - is based heavily on the concepts of operant conditioning
Social Cognitive Perspective
Takes behaviorism one step further, focusing not just on how our environment influences our behavior, but also on how we interact with that environment.
Albert Bandura’s concept of reciprocal determinism is a central idea to this perspective.
Reciprocal Determinism -> refers to the idea that our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and environment all interact with each other to determine our actions in a given situation.
Biological Perspective
Holds that personality can be explained as a result of genetic expression in the brain.
Humanistic Perspective (or phenomenological theorists)
Focus on the value of individuals and take a more person-centered approach, describing those ways in which healthy people strive toward self-realization.
Our personality is the result of the conscious feeling we have for ourselves as we attempt to attain our needs and goals.
Belief in free will as the foremost determinant in behavior.
