Module 40: Affiliation and Achievements Flashcards
What is an affliiation need?
The need to build relationships and to feel part of a group
- the need to belong
What evidence supports affiliation as a survival tool?
Social bonds boosted our early ancestors’ chances of survival (Evolutionary perspective)
Adults who formed attachments were more likely to survive, to reproduce, and to co-nurture their offsprings to maturity
Attachment bonds motivated caregivers to keep children close, calming them and protecting them from threats
Can belonging boost health?
Having a social identity - feeling part of a group - boosts people’s health and well-being
Having someone who rejoices with us over good news helps use feel better about both the news and the friendship
A stranger’s causal thank-you can warm our heart
Close friends can literally make us feel warm
How de we create ‘us’?
- we form bonds
- feel distress when parting
- the need to belong feeds both deep attachments to those inside the circle (loving families, faithful friendships, etc) and hostilities towards those outside
What does the research on isolation show?
Social isolation can put us at risk for mental decline and ill health
Older adults make more doctor visits, if lonely, and are at greater risk for dementia
Bereaved, we may feel life is empty or pointless, and we may overeat to fill that emptiness
Ostracism
Deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups
Note:
Those who were excluded became much more likely to engage in self-defeating behaviors and to act in disparaging or aggressive ways against those who had excluded them
How does social networking influence us?
By connecting like minded people, the internet serves as a social amplifier
In times of social crisis or personal stress, it provides information and supportive connections
It enables people to share their experiences and compare their lives with others, though it can be depressing when one garners few likes or has lots of bragging friends
Does electronic communication stimulate healthy self-disclosure?
When communicating electronically rather than face-to-face, we often are less focused on others’ reactions
We are less self-conscious and thus less inhibited. Sometimes this is taken to an extreme. More often, however, the increased self-disclosure serves to deepen friendships
Narcissisms
A personality trait in which people feel self-important, self-focused, and self-promoting
How does social media support narcissism?
People with high narcissism test scores are especially active on social networking sites. They collect more superficial “friends”. They retaliate more against negative comments, and not surprisingly, seem more narcissistic to strangers
What are some of the negative outcomes of social media use?
- lower grades
- increased anxiety and depressed
Achievement Motivation
A desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard
Grit
Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals
When combined with self-control, gritty goal-striving can produce great achievements
