Lecture 2 Flashcards
Anxiety and growth
How does anxiety influence growth of mental models?
Mental models cant change unless there is an indication that mental models should change- anxiety is the fuel for growth.
Anxiety and growth
How is mental model growth important for us?
Allows us to understand more in depth and complex constructs, letting us develop into well rounded, intelligent social beings
Anxiety and growth
What do our mental models look like when we are really young?
Aesthetic expectations: We have certain values and preferences from an early age, e.g. i like goldfish crackers more than broccoli
Attachment expectations: we form maps on how we expect interactions with others to go, and experiences with caregivers shape perceptions and expectations in the world from very young, e.g. I can securely attach to people (bowlby)
Epistemic expectations: We form maps on how we expect interaction with others to go; some of this is innate, yet some of this is in the environment, e.g. Objects still exist even if i cant see them (object permanence, piaget)
Anxiety and growth
As we get older (adolescence), how do our mental models begin to look?
Epistemic expectations: we understand more complex concepts like maths, and we understand that other people have different mental models (ToM)
Aesthetic expectations: our preferences become differentiated beyond that of favorite food, but the type of people we like, e.g. i like susan more than paul
Moral expectations: we understand morals and feel guilt and anxiety when we are wrong
Just world hypothesis: we have an expectation that things are equal, and those who are good receive good, those who are bad receive bad.
Self expectations: Our self schemas grow, we like to believe we are good people, our self concepts and our environment should stay on the same path so we feel okay about ourselves
Anxiety and growth
As we become adults, how do our mental models begin to look?
Epistemic expectations: Soon we begin to understand greater structures and abstract concepts, understanding that our worldviews are almost entirely individual, and will differ from others
Ideological expectations: We understand ideas of politics and religions, and can grow opinions on complex topics (which then shape our worldviews!)
Moral expectations: We begin to understand that there is no innate good or bad, but there is a general sense of right and wrong, which goes beyond simple reward and punishment
Self expectations and Aesthetic expectations: We begin to commit to things which are important to our sense of identity and who we are
Anxiety and Growth
What happens when things don’t match our expectations and experiences? How does this link to anxiety?
- We begin to feel negative arousal; e.g. dissonance, cognitive conflict, etc.
- Everything feels like it doesn’t match in our head, i.e. self schemas don’t seem to be right anymore
- This is all a consequence of anxiety, where evidence suggests we aren’t who we think we are
–> we want everything to make sense, and when it doesnt, it makes us feel crap.
Kierkegaard 1813-1855
Who was Kierkegaard and what did he study/write about
- Danish philosopher and theologian
- Wrote about the self, religion, questionable morals and unfairness (i.e. bad people sometimes get good things)
- ‘Father of existentialism’ (meaning of life in absurd reality)
Kierkegaard 1813-1855
What was the corsair affair, and why might this make Kierkegaard’s work questionable
- Corsair= important journal where people could comment other other’s work under pseudonyms
- The editor of the corsair leaked that Kierkegaard would comment multiple times under his own or others work via multiple pseudonyms
- He argued that he was explaining all his opinions about everything- that he wasn’t truly committed to one standpoint on anything
- This leaves a lot of his work up to interpretation
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
How did people originally view original sin, and adam and eve’s role in the formation of anxiety
- Humans were expelled from paradise for disobeying god. Anxiety= makes us want to be good, therefore religion works.
- Original sin provokes anxiety about how we must make up for our own badness due to past humans actions
–> Adam and Eve began anxiety.
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
What did Kierkegaard argue in relation to adam and eve, anxiety, and choice?
- Kierkegaard disagrees with the idea of Adam and Eve having started anxiety; he argues that God giving us a choice provoked our concept of anxiety
- By giving people options, rather than making it seem like we cant do something, makes us think about options and choices that we didn’t recognize before
- Makes us recognize that we are independent agents who can think for themselves- that is anxiety inducing!
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
What does prohibition (something being forbidden) imply in terms of choice?
- Prohibition implies that we are individual selves who are free, who must make choices.
- We are separate selves, who have our own opinions and choices, and ultimately we can choose what to do; you can choose to commit crimes, you can choose to do whatever you want, and its your choices which will shape your life.
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
How does prohibition cause anxiety?
This causes anxiety because we don’t always know what to do and we don’t have a guide- this is a horrible feeling (dizziness of freedom)
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
What is dizziness of freedom?
the feeling of being able to make loads of choices but not knowing what choice is the right one to make
e.g.
- What should you choose in life?
- Will my choice be moral or immoral?
- Will this choice define my identity?
- What if I regret my choice?
- Will I be responsible for the consequences of my choices?
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
How does anxiety allow us to grow and change, according to Kierkegaard?
- ‘Anxiety is awareness of ourselves and our own potential’
- We can either be adaptive or maladaptive to anxiety
- we can accept we have some freedom and make choices to help us grow
- we can choose to behave like we have no freedom
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
How can we be adaptive to feelings of anxiety according to Kierkegaard?
We can make decisions that allow us to grow and change
- Gives us relief by closing other doors of possibility
- Lets us feel as though we can create our own identity
- Take responsibility
- We can determine possibilities based on the doors we close- yes there will be more anxieties, but they can be controlled as we know where we will grow, and more opportunities will appear.
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
How can we be maladaptive to feelings of anxiety according to Kierkegaard?
We can choose to behave like we have no freedom
Example: Genesis and Abraham
- Abraham is leader of the Israelites
- His son is to be the future of the tribe
- Jehovah tests Abraham by demanding he sacrifices Isaac- God doesn’t tell him why, he just says he should kill his son.
- The moral: you should just trust in god and do as you’re told.
Kierkegaard and anxiety: the soul of social psychology
Usually in tales, Kierkegaard found, characters always seem to have to sacrifice something. In what 2 ways do people typically react?
- The tragic hero- see if we can sacrifice something for the greater good of the people
- Knight of faith- choosing to follow the will of others
