Psych 111 Exam 3 Flashcards
What is the concept of personality used to explain?
the stability in a person’s behavior over time and across situations (consistency). It is also used to explain the behavioral differences between people reacting to the same situation (distinctiveness)
Personality
An individual’s unique set of consistent behavioral traits
Personality Traits
Durable dispositions to behave in a particular war in a variety of situations
Factor Analysis
Correlations among many variables analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables
Raymond Cattell
Used factor analysis to determine that the 171 personality traits compiled by Gordon Allport could be condensed to 16 basic personality dimensions
Robert McCrae and Paul Costa
Developed the Five-Factor Model of Personality and maintain that most personality traits are derived from the Big Five
The Big Five Personality Traits
Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Characterized as outgoing, sociable, friendly, assertive, and gregarious. They tend to be happier and have a more positive outlook. They pursue social contact, intimacy, and interdependence.
Neuroticism
Characterized as hostile, anxious, insecure, conscious, and vulnerable. They tend to over-react when responding to stress and tend to exhibit impulsiveness and emotional instability
Positive Emotionality
Extraversion – outgoing, sociable, friendly, assertive, and gregarious. They tend to be happier and have a more positive outlook. They pursue social contact, intimacy, and interdependence.
Negative Emotionality
Neuroticism – hostile, anxious, insecure, conscious, and vulnerable. They tend to over-react when responding to stress and tend to exhibit impulsiveness and emotional instability.
Openness to Experience
Curiosity, flexibility, vivid fantasy, imaginativeness, artistic sensitivity, and unconventional attitudes. Tend to be tolerant of ambiguity and less need for closure.
McCrae’s view on Openness to Experience
Its importance is understated and openness tends to be an important determinant of political ideology, as openness tend to foster liberalism.
Agreeableness
Sympathetic, trusting, cooperative, modest, and straightforward. Those who are opposite to this are suspicious, antagonistic, and aggressive. Agreeableness is also correlated with empathy and helping behavior
Conscientiousness
Disciplined, well-organized, punctual, and dependable. Sometimes referred to as constraint. It is characterized by strong self-discipline and the ability to regulate oneself. It fosters diligence and dependability in the workplace
Chapman and Colleagues
The number of people scoring highly in specific Big Five traits varied among social classes. As social class increases, the prevalence of conscientiousness, openness to new experiences, and extraversion increase
Positive Predictors of career success in the Big Five
Conscientiousness and Extraversion
The Big Five Trait most related to major mental disorders
Neuroticism
The Perspectives of Personality Theories
- Psychodynamic
- Behavioral
- Humanistic
- Biological
Psychodynamic Theories of Personality
All the diverse theories, descended from the work of Sigmund Freud, that focus on unconscious mental forces
Psychoanalysis
required lengthy verbal interactions with patients during which Freud probed deeply into their lives.
Why were Freud’s opponents critical of his Psychoanalytic theory?
- In arguing that people were controlled by unconscious factors, Freud implied that people were not the masters of their minds
- In suggesting that people are influenced by childhood and outside factors, they were not in control if their destiny
- By emphasizing the importance of how people coped with their sexual urges, he offended conservative Victorian values
Freud’s Three Components of Personality
According to psychodynamic theory, personality consists of the id, ego, and superego. The id operated in the unconscious, while the ego and superego operate in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious
The Id
the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle. It contains primitive urges like eating, sleeping, defecating, and copulating
Pleasure Principle
Demands immediate gratification of urges
Primary Process Thinking
Primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy-oriented thinking (for the id)
Ego
The decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle, which seeks to delay gratification until appropriate outlets and situations can be found
Reality Principle
seeks to delay gratification until appropriate outlets and situations can be found
Secondary Process Thinking
Relatively realistic, rational, and oriented towards problem-solving (for the ego)
Superego
The moral component of personality that seeks to incorporate social standards about what represents right and wrong
When do the superego and ego separate?
Around ages three to five, as children learn what is right and wrong
The Conscious
Consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time
Preconscious
contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can be easily retrieved
Unconscious
contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior.
Of the conscious, unconscious, and preconscious, which is largest?
unconscious
Freud’s belief on behavior
It is the result of an ongoing series of conflicts between the id, ego, and superego
Defense Mechanisms
largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety or guilt. They are typically mental maneuvers that work that work through self-deception
Rationalizations
Creating false, but plausible, excuses to justify unacceptable behavior
Examples of Defense Mechanisms
Repression, Projection, Displacement, Reaction Formation, Regression, Identification, Sublimation
Repression
keeping distressing thoughts and feeling buried in the unconscious
Projection
Attributing ones’ own thoughts, feelings, and motives to others
Displacement
Diverting emotional feelings, usually anger, from their original source to another target
Reaction Formation
Behaving in a way that is exactly the opposite of one’s true feelings
Regression
Reversion to immature patterns of behavior
Identification
Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group
Sublimation
Which occurs when unconscious, unacceptable impulses are channeled into socially acceptable, perhaps admirable behaviors
The Psychosexual Stages
Developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality
Fixation
A failure to move forward from one stage to another as expected, psychosexually
The Causes of Fixation
Excessive gratification of needs at a particular stage of excessive frustration of those needs
The Stages of Psychosexual Development
Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital
The First Stage of Psychosexual Development
Oral; Ages 1-2; Fous on mouth (sucking/biting); Key experiences from breasts and bottle
The Second Stage of Psychosexual Development
Anal; Ages 2-3; Focus on Anus (expelling or retaining feces); key experiences with toilet training
The Third Stage of Psychosexual Development
Phallic; Ages 4-5; Focus on genitals (masturbation); identifying with adult role models and coping with Oedipal Crisis
The Fourth Stage of Psychosexual Development
Latency; Ages 6-12; No particular focus (sexually repressed); expanding social contacts
The Fifth Stage of Psychosexual Development
Genital: Puberty onward; Focus on genitals (sexual intimacy); Establishing intimate relationships; contributing to society through work
Oedipal Complex
children manifest erotically tinged desires for their opposite-sex parent, accompanied by feelings of hostility toward their same-sex parent.
Jung’s view on School’s of Thought
they often become dogmatic, discouraging new ideas. People should not be “Jungian”. They should be themselves
The Personal Unconscious
Part of Jung’s view on personality. It was virtually the same as Freud’s unconscious. It houses material that is not within one’s conscious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten.
The Collective Unconscious
Part of Jung’s view on personality. It is the storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people’s ancestral past
Archetypes
Emotionally charged images and thoughts forms that have universal meaning. They are found in Jung’s collective unconscious
Striving for Superiority
According to Adler, it is the foremost source of human motivation. It is the universal drive to adapt, improve oneself, and master life’s challenges
Adler and Freud’s Belief on Striving for Superiority
Adler believed it is the prime goal in life, while Freud put it to physical gratification
Compensation
According to Adler’s Theory of Individual Psychology, it involved the efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one’s abilities
Inferiority Complex
According to Adler’s Theory of Individual Psychology, those who have an excessive need for compensation develop exaggerated feelings of weakness and inadequacy.
Causes of the Inferiority Complex according to Adler
Parental Pampering or neglect
Overcompensation of the Inferiority Complex
Instead of working to master life’s challenges, people with an inferiority complex work to achieve status, gain power over others, and acquire the trappings of success (fancy clothes, impressive cars, or whatever looks important to them)
The Main Findings of Psychoanalytic Theory
- Unconscious forces influence behavior
- Internal conflict plays a key role in generating psychological distress
- Early childhood experiences can have powerful influences on adult personality
- People use defense mechanisms to reduce unpleasant emotions
The Main Criticisms of Psychoanalytic Theory
- Poor Testability
- Unrepresentative Samples
- Inadequate Evidence
- Sexism
Behaviorist Perspectives of Personality
s a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior. Advocates include John B. Watson, Dollard, and Miller
Skinner’s Argument on Personality and Behaviorism
We should only focus on overt behaviors. He strongly supported determinism or the idea that behavior is fully controlled by environmental stimuli
Skinner’s view on Personality
It is a collection of response tendencies that are tied to various stimulus situations. Response tendencies are shaped by reinforcers or other consequences that follow the behavior
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Agreeing with many of the aspects of Behaviorism, Bandura rejects the idea that humans are simply passive participants reacting to environmental stimuli. He proposes that people are self-organizing, proactive, self-reflective, and self-regulating.
Reciprocal Determinism
According to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, internal mental events, external environmental events, and overt behavior all influence one another
Observational Learning
occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models.
Model
A person whose behavior is observed by another
Self-efficacy
According to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, it refers to one’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes
Mischel’s Person-Situation Controversy
He proposed that people react differently depending on the situation. It has led to the idea of the person AND situation determining behavior.
The Main Criticisms of the Behavioral View of Personality
- Dehumanizing nature of radical behaviorism
2. Dilution of the behavioral approach
Humanism
The theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and potential for personal growth
Rogers’ and Maslow’s Assumptions of Human nature
- People can rise above their primitive animal heritage
- People are largely conscious and rational beings who are not dominated by unconscious, irrational conflicts
- People are not helpless pawns of deterministic forces
Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered Theory
The view that people are subjective, and that this subjective portion of personality is more important than objective personality
Self-Concept
According to Rogers’ Person-Centered Theory, it is a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior
Incongruence
According to Rogers’ Person-Centered Theory, it is the degree of disparity between one’s self-concept and one’s actual experience
Roger’s view on Parental Love
Conditional Love fosters incongruence because children block out those experiences which make them feel unworthy of love. Unconditional love fosters congruence
Person-Centered Theory view on cause of anxiety
People feel anxious when there are experiences that threaten their personal views of themselves. This can cause defensive behavior
Maslow’s Theory of Self-Actualization
A more humanist perspective, it claims that human motives are organized into a hierarchy of needs. People have a drive towards personal growth and a higher state of being
Hierarchy of Needs
According to Maslow’s Theory of Self-Actualization, it is a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused
Need for Self-Actualization
The need to fulfill one’s potential
Self-Actualizing Persons
According to Maslow’s Theory of Self-Actualization, they are people with exceptionally healthy personalities, marked by continuous personal growth
The Main Criticisms of the Humanistic Perspectives of Personality
- Poor Testability
- Unrealistic View of Human Nature (especially for self-actualized people who seem nearly perfect)
- Inadequate Evidence
Hans Eysenck’s Theory of Personality
Personality is derived from three personality traits, extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. This theory proposes that genes are a primary determinant of personality
Psychoticism
egocentric, cold, impulsive, antisocial behavior
Conditionability
According to Eysenck’s theory on the biological basis of personality, some people are more able to be conditioned (behaviorally) than others due to genetic differences
What is the heritability estimate of each of the Big Five Personality Traits?
Around 50%
Which exhibit more personality similarities? Fraternal Twins Reared Together or Identical Twins Reared Apart?
Identical Twins Reared Apart
What is the physiological brain correlation of extraversion?
Increased volume of brain regions known to process reward
What is the physiological brain correlation of neuroticism?
Increased volume of brain regions associated with threats, punishment, and negative emotions
What is the physiological brain correlation of conscientiousness?
Increased volume of brain regions associated with planning and voluntary control
David Buss
An evolutionary theorist of personality who argues that the Big Five traits stand out because of their adaptive value
Daniel Nettle
An evolutionary theorist of personality who argues that the Big Five traits stand out because they were created through evolution
The Main Criticisms of the Biological Perspectives of Personality
- There is too much focus on specific heritability coefficients, but they are actually ballpark estimates
- The effects of nature and nurture are entangled and cannot be cleanly separated
Narcissism
is a personality trait marked by an inflated sense of importance, a need for attention and admiration, a sense of entitlement, and a tendency to exploit others. It was developed as a concept by Havelock Ellis and Sigmund Freud
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Symptoms: 1. Grandiose sense of importance 2. Constant need for attention 3. Difficulty dealing with criticism 4. Sense of Entitlement Extreme in 3-5% of people
Terror Management Theory
Designed to explain why people need self-esteem. The theory asserts that humans’ unique awareness of the inevitability of death fosters a need to defend one’s cultural worldview and one’s self-esteem, which serve to protect one from mortality-related anxiety.
Self-Esteem in Terror Management Theory
Self-esteem is viewed as a sense of personal worth that depends on one’s confidence in the validity of one’s cultural worldview and the belief that one is living up to the standards prescribed by that worldview
Mortality Salience
According to Terror Management Theory, it is the degree to which subjects’ mortality is prominent in their minds.
Alfred Adler
This theorist clashed with Freud and argued that the foremost source of human motivation is a striving for superiority.
Albert Bandura
This theorist’s social cognitive theory emphasizes observational learning and self-efficacy.
Hans Eysenck
This theorist views personality structure as a hierarchy of traits and argues that personality is heavily influenced by heredity.
Sigmund Freud
This theorist emphasized the importance of unconscious conflicts, anxiety, defense mechanisms, and psychosexual development.
Carl Jung
This psychodynamic theorist is famous for the concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes
Abraham Maslow
This humanistic theorist is famous for his hierarchy of needs and his work on self-actualizing persons.
Walter Mischel
This behaviorist sparked a robust debate about the importance of the person as opposed to the situation in determining behavior.
Carl Rogers
This humanist called his approach a person-centered theory. He argued that an incongruent self-concept tends to promote anxiety and defensive behavior.
B.F. Skinner
. This influential behaviorist explained personality development in terms of operant conditioning, especially the process of reinforcement.
Individualism
Involves putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group memberships
Collectivism
Putting the group goals ahead of personal goals and identifying one’s identity in terms of the group one belongs to
Self-Enhancement
involves focusing on positive feedback from others, exaggerating one’s strengths, and seeing oneself as above average.
Self-Report Inventories
are personality tests that ask individuals to answer a series of questions about their characteristic behavior.
Weaknesses of Self-Inventory Tests
- Deliberate Deception (easy to figure out questions)
- Social Desirability Bias
- Response Sets (a systematic tendency to respond to test items in a particular way that’s unrelated to the content of the item)
Projective Personality Tests
ask participants to respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli in ways that may reveal the subjects’ needs, feelings, and personality traits (Thematic Appreciation and Rorschach Tests)
Hindsight Bias
the tendency to mold one’s interpretation of the past to fit how events actually turned out.
The idea that a person’s unconscious needs will determine how he or she perceives relatively unstructured stimuli is the basis for:
The TAT
Person-Perception
The process of forming impressions of others
Why, despite there being little correlation, does attractiveness elicit ideas of being sociable, friendly, and poised than those who are less attractive?
- Attractive people are overrepresented in popular media as being warm and in a positive light
- Desire to bond with attractive people
The Average correlation coefficient between attractiveness and income
0.24
Stereotypes
widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership to a particular group
Illusory Correlation
Occurs when people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they actually have seen
The Evolutionary Perspective on Bias in Person Perception
Evolutionary Psychologists argue that these biases were adaptive in human ancestral environments. For example, attractiveness was associated with reproductive potential in women and with health, vigor, and material resource accumulation in men. The idea of categorizing others was a way of separating friend from foe
Ingroup
A group that one belongs to and identifies with
Outgroup
A group that one does not belong to or does not identify with
Attributions
are inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others’ behavior, and their own behavior
Internal Attributions
ascribe the causes of behavior to personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings.
External Attributions
ascribe the causes of behavior to situational demands and environmental constraints
Fundamental Attribution Error
Refers to observer’s bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others’ behaviors. According to Gilbert, this is because external attributions require more thought and effort than internal attributions
Bernard Weiner
studied the attributions, or inferences people draw about the causes of events, others’ behavior, or their own behavior, and concluded that people often focus on the stability aspects of causes underlying behavior
External-stable cause of behavior
situational and permanent, for example, the difficulty of a task
Internal-stable cause of behavior
personality or internally-based and permanent, for example, ability or intelligence
External-unstable cause of behavior
situational and temporary, for example, luck, opportunity, and chance
Internal-unstable cause of behavior
personality or internally-based and temporary, for example, effort, mood, or fatigue
Defensive Attribution
a tendency to blame victims for their misfortunes so as to feel less likely to be victimized in the same way.
Interpersonal attraction
positive feelings between one another
The Similarity Principle
Married couples tend to be more similar in race, social class, religion, education, intelligence, physical attractiveness, values, and attitudes. This operates in both friendships and romantic relationships
Donn Byrne and his colleagues
His research suggests that similarity can cause attraction.
Davis and Rusbult
Their research found that dating partners gradually realign their attitudes to become more congruent, a phenomenon known as attitude alignment
Passionate Love
is a complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feelings and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion.
Companionate Love
is warm, trusting, tolerant affection for another whose life is deeply intertwined with one’s own.
Does passionate or companionate love tend to correlate more with relationship satisfaction?
Companionate
Elaine Hatfield and Ellen Berscheid
They proposed that relationships are characterized by companionate and passionate love
Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver
They looked at the similarities between love and attachment relationships in infancy. They concluded that love is an attachment process and that people’s love relationships in adulthood follow the same attachment form from infancy.
David Buss
Found that people all over the world value mutual attraction, kindness, intelligence, emotional stability,dependability, and good health in a mate
According to the evolutionary idea of attraction, what deceptions make women feel most upset?
When men lie about their social status, financial resources, and depth of romantic commitment
According to the evolutionary idea of attraction, what deceptions make men feel most upset?
When women lie about their history of sexual promiscuity
Attitudes
Positive or negative evaluations of objects or thought
The Three Components of Social Psychology
Cognitive, Behavioral, and Affective. Attitudes do not necessarily include all of these, but include up to the three of these
The Cognitive Aspect of Attitude
The beliefs that people hold about the object of an attitude
The Affective Aspect of Attitude
The emotions that are stimulated by the object of and attitude
The Behavioral Aspect of Attitude
The predispositions to act in a certain way towards an object
The Crucial Dimensions of Attitude
Strength, Accessibility, and Ambivalence
Strength of an Attitude
The stronger an attitude, the more resistant it is to change, and the more it can affect behavior
Accessibility of an Attitude
How often one thinks about an object or attitude and how quickly it comes to mind. There is a strong correlation between strength and accessibility, but it is not a one-to-one correspondence
Ambivalent Attitudes
conflicted evaluations that include both positive and negative feelings about an object of thought
Richard LaPiere
In the 1930s, he followed a Chinese couple’s travels in America and found that of 184 restaurants, none turned them away. When he later contacted those restaurants in 1934, 90% of the restaurants which responded (50%) said they would not seat Chinese patrons. This led to the discovery that attitudes do not necessarily predict behavior.
The average correlation coefficient between attitudes and behavior
0.41. However, this can drop to 0.30 when social or situational pressures are high
Explicit Attitudes
are attitudes that we hold consciously and can readily describe
Implicit Attitudes
are covert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses that people have little conscious control over. Their main point of inquiry lies in the study of prejudice
The IAT
The Implicit Association Test is a computer-administered test that measures how quickly people associate carefully chosen pairs of concepts. It’s meant to determine implicit attitudes or prejudices
The Four Basic Elements of Persuasion
The Source, the receiver, the message, and the channel
Persuasion Source
The person who sends a communication
Persuasion Reciever
The person who receives the communication
Persuasion Message
The information transmitted by the source
Persuasion Channel
The medium through which the message is sent
When is trustworthiness undermined or increased?
Undermined: People have something to gain or a conflict of interest. Increased: People argue against their own interest
Factors of Persuasion Credibility
Expertise and Trustworthiness
The Truth Effect
refers to the finding that simply repeating a statement causes it to be perceived as more valid or true.
The Mere Exposure Effect
is the finding that repeated exposures to a stimulus promotes greater liking of the stimulus.
Evaluative Conditioning
A form of classical conditioning that is used to elicit positive or negative responses or feelings from conditioned stimuli. It can be used the affect the Affective Aspect of Attitude
Cognitive Dissonance
exists when related cognitions are inconsistent—that is, when they contradict each other
Effort Justification
is people’s tendency to attribute a greater value (greater than the objective value) to an outcome they had to put effort into acquiring or achieving.
Festinger and Carlsmith
Defined the idea of Cognitive Dissonance and that people will persuade themselves or change their attitudes to avoid it
Richard Petty and John Cacioppo
They proposed the elaboration likelihood model of attitude change and asserted that there are two basic routes to attitude change – central and peripheral
The Central Route of Persuasion according to The Elaboration Likelihood Model
is taken when people carefully ponder the content and logic of persuasive messages
The Peripheral Route of Persuasion according to The Elaboration Likelihood Model
is taken when persuasion depends on nonmessage factors, such as the attractiveness and credibility of the source, or on conditioned emotional responses
Conformity
occurs when people yield to real or imagined social pressure.
Solomon Asch
Developed a test with lines to determine conformity. According to him, as groups grow larger, conformity increases, up to a point, then levels off
The Key Determinants of Conformity
Group Size and Group Unanimity
Normative Influences of Conformity
operates when people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences.
Informational Influences of Conformity
operates when people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations. (Fork Example)
Obedience
is a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority.
Jerry Burger
In 2009, he ran a heavily modified version of the Milgram experiment to take into account ethical considerations. IT illustrated people today are just as prone to obedience as they were in the 1960s
Philip Zimbardo
Designed the Stanford Prison Experiment
Social Roles
are widely shared expectations about how people in certain positions are supposed to behave
Group
consists of two or more individuals who interact and are interdependent
Characteristics of traditional vs. modern groups
Traditional: Intact, face-to-face, clear boundaries, a designated leader, top-down leadership.
Modern: constantly changing, not necessarily face-to-face, changing shared leadership, modern groups coalesce towards a shared interest
Group Roles
Special responsibilities designated to certain members
Group Norms
Certain acceptable behaviors in a group
Group Communication Structure
Who communicates with whom in a group
Group Power Structure
Determines which members wield the most influence
Bystander Effect
People are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups than when they are alone
John Darley and Bibb Latané
They found that the bystander effect increases as group size increases
When subjects are alone, how often does the person help the subject (bystander effect)
75% of the time
When subjects are in groups, how often does a person help the subject? (bystander effect)
53% of the time
What two factors contribute to reduced individual productivity in groups?
Reduced efficiency from loss of coordination among workers and Social Loafing
Social Loafing
is a reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as compared to when they work by themselves
The Common Cause of Social Loafing and the Bystander Effect
Diffusion of Responsibility across members of the group
Is Social Loafing more prevalent in collectivist or individualist cultures?
Individualist
Stoner
In his studies of group decision making, he discovered “risky shift”, in which groups arrive at riskier decisions than individuals
Group Polarization
occurs when group discussion strengthens a group’s dominant point of view and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction
Groupthink
occurs when members of a cohesive group emphasize concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision
Key Determinants of Groupthink
Cohesion of the group beforehand and how isolated the group is,
Group Cohesiveness
refers to the strength of the relationships linking group members to each other and to the group itself
Fritz Heider
This theorist was the first to describe how people make attributions to either internal causes or external causes.
Prejudice
is a negative attitude held toward members of a group
Discrimination
which involves behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the members of a group
Realistic Group Conflict Theory
asserts that intergroup hostility and prejudice are a natural outgrowth of fierce competition between groups.
Foot-in-the-door technique
involves getting people to agree to a small request to increase the chances that they will agree to a larger request later.
The Reciprocity Norm
the rule that we should pay back in kind what we receive from others
Lowball Technique
involves getting someone to commit to an attractive proposition before its hidden costs are revealed
Social Faciliation
Presence of others enhances performance
Social Inhibition
Presence of others inhibits performance
Door in Face Effect
When someone is more likely to reject a large request so they may accept a smaller request afterwards
Bait and Switch Effect
Draw people in with an attractive offers and then show the hidden costs after commitment
Stress
Any circumstances that threaten or perceive to threaten one’s well-being and therefore tax one’s coping capabilities
Richard Lazarus
He and his colleagues developed a scale to measure everyday stresses
The Cumulative Nature of Stress
Routine stress can add up, and even though they maybe benign individually, they can become collectively harmful
Primary Appraisal of Stress and Researchers
Primary appraisal consists of whether an event is
- Irrelevant to you
- relevant but not threatening
- Stressful
Secondary Appraisal of Stress and Researchers
Secondary appraisal occurs once an event is viewed as stressful in primary appraisal. It is an evaluation of your coping resources and options for dealing with stress.
The Objectiveness of Stress and the Surgery Example
There is only a slight correlation between the objective seriousness of a person’s upcoming surgery and the amount of fear experienced. This illustrates that stress is largely a subjective experience.
Acute Stressors
Threatening events that have relatively short duration and clear endpoints
Chronic Stressors
Threatening events that have long durations and no readily apparent time limit
The Four Major Types of Stress. The Two Sub-Types of Stress
Four Types: Frustration, Conflict, Change, Pressure
Sub-Types: Acute and Chronic
Frustration
A form of stress that occurs in any situation on which the pursuit of some goal is thwarted
Conflict
A form of stress that occurs when two or more incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression. Conflict comes in three types – approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, and avoidance-approach
Approach-Approach Conflict in Stress
When there are two desirable goals you are torn between
Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict in Stress
When there are two undesirable goals you are torn on trying to avoid
Avoidance-Approach Conflict in Stress
When there is one goal, but you cannot decide whether or not to aspire for it because of positive and negative outcomes it may have. This can cause vacillation over whether or not to do it.
Change (Life Change) as a form of Stress
Significant alterations in one’s living circumstances that require adjustment
The Theorists/Researchers behind Life Change as a form of Stress
Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe. They theorized that stress made people more vulnerable to illness, but also found that there was stress in positivechanges such as marriage, having a child, or getting promoted
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
Holmes and Rahe created it (Life Change as a form of stress) and it assigned numerical values to 43 major life events to measure the magnitude of readjustment required for each change.
Criticism of the SRRS
Critics of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale have argued that the SRRS does not measure change exclusively, and that it is dominated by change that is clearly negative or undesirable. There is no reason to believe that change itself is inherently stressful
Pressure as a form of Stress
Involves expectations or demands that one behave in a certain way. It includes pressure to perform and pressure to conform
Psychological Problems and Pressure
A strong relationship has been found between psychological problems and pressure, even more so than the SRRS or other established measures of stress. Participants of a nurses’ study on stress and pressure were found to be 50% more likely to develop heart disease if they had reported that pressure at work was much too high
Correlations between the Pressure Inventory and mental health and SRRS and mental health
0.59 and 0.28
The Response Categories of Stress
Emotional, Physiological, Behavioral
The Three Common Dimensional Strands of Emotional Stress Response
- Annoyance to anger to rage
- Apprehension to anxiety to fear
- Dejection to sadness to grief
Barbara Fredrickson
Developed the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. This is based on the idea that positive emotions do not vanish during times of stress, but play a key role in resilience
The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions
Developed by Barbara Fredrickson
- Positive emotions alter mindsets, broadening scope of attention, and increasing creativity and problem-solving
- Positive emotions can undo the lingering effects of negative emotions
- Positive emotions can promote rewarding social interactions
The Inverted-U Hypothesis
Task performance should improve with increased emotional arousal up to a certain number point, after which the arousal becomes disruptive. As tasks become more complex, the optimal level or arousal decreases
The Flight-or-Fight Response
A form of physiological response to threat in which the autonomic nervous system mobilizes the organism for attacking of fleeing an enemy. It is mediated by the sympathetic division of the ANS
Shelley Taylor
Her hypothesis regarding the fight or flight response is that it differs between genders and that for females, it would be evolutionary disadvantageous. She has proposed the “tend and befriend” model in which females seek support in rearing offspring
The General Adaptation Syndrome and Researcher
Hans Selye formulated the GAS. It is a model of the body’s stress response occurring in three stages. Alarm, Resistance, Exhaustion
The Alarm Reaction of the General Adaptation Syndrome (Physiological Response to Stress)
Occurs when an organism first recognizes the existence of a threat. The body musters all available resources to combat the challenge. Basically the flight or fight response described by Cannon.
The Resistance Reaction of the General Adaptation Syndrome (Physiological Response to Stress)
If there is prolonged stress, the organism will proceed from the alarm stage to the resistance stage as coping efforts get underway.
The Exhaustion Reaction of the General Adaptation Syndrome (Physiological Response to Stress)
If stress continues over a substantial period of time, the organism moves from the alarm to resistance to exhaustion phase. The body’s resources are limited in dealing with stress, so there may be psychological damage or even physiological organ damage as a result of prolonged stress.
The Endocrine System
Consists of glands located at various sites in the body that secrete hormones.
The Hypothalamus
The brain structure that appears to initiate action along the autonomic nervous system and the more direct link between the brain endocrine system
The First Brain-Body Pathway for Physiological Stress Response
Routed through the autonomic nervous system. In response to stress, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic division of the ANS. This triggers the release of catecholamines into the bloodstream, helping to trigger the physiological changes seen in the fight-or-flight response.
The Second Brain-Body Pathway for Physiological Stress Response
The hypothalamus sends signals to the pituitary gland (master gland of the endocrine system), and it secretes hormone ACTH that stimulates the adrenal cortex. The adrenal glands release corticosteroids which stimulate the release of chemicals that help increase energy. They also inhibit tissue inflammation in case of injury.
Male and Female physiological differences in stress reaction (brain-body pathways)
Women tend to have a milder response. It seems estrogen plays a role in toning down the physiological response to stress. It may be why there are more incidences of cardiovascular diseases in men
Stress and Neuron Formation
Stress may physiologically impair the formation of new neurons, or neurogenesis
Coping
A behavioral response to stress, which involves the active efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by stress
Learned Helplessness as a Behavioral Response of Stress
Passive behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events
Simplified Version of Brain-Body Pathway 1
Hypothalamus, Sympathetic ANS, Adrenal Medulla, catecholamines
Simplified Version of Brain-Body Pathway 2
Pituitary, ACTH, adrenal cortex, corticosteroids
Catastrophic Thinking and Researcher
Albert Ellis; the idea of self-blaming and being self-critical in response to stress
Aggression
Behavior intended to hurt someone, physically or verbally
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
The idea the aggression is caused by frustration
Self-Indulgence
Excessive consumption of indulgence to cope with stress
Defense Mechanisms
Part of the behavioral defense coping of stress response, it consists of largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety or guilt
The Five Main Defense Mechanisms
Denial of reality, Fantasy, Intellectualization (isolation), undoing, and over-compensation
The Denial of Reality Defense Mechanism
Protecting oneself from unpleasant reality by refusing to perceive or face it
The Fantasy Defense Mechanism
Gratifying frustrated desires by imaginary achievements
The Undoing Defense Mechanism
Atoning for or trying to magically dispel unacceptable desires or acts
The Intellectualization/Isolation Defense Mechanism
Cutting off emotional from harmful situations or separating incompatible attitudes so that they appear unrelated
The Overcompensation Defense Mechanism
Covering up felt weakness by emphasizing some desirable characteristics, or making up for one frustration in one area by over-gratification in another.
Roy Baumeister
His work illustrated that stress can interfere with performance. His theory is that Pressure to perform makes people self-conscious, disrupting their attention
Beilock’s view on stress and performance
Choking under pressure tends to occur when worries about performance distract attention from the task at hand, using up much of the limited working memory capacity
Which part of the brain has been associated with impaired attentional control due to stress?
The prefrontal cortex (reduced activity). These effects are short-lived
Burnout
Involves the physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and a lowered sense of self-efficacy that can be brought on gradually by chronic work-related stress.
Exhaustion as a factor of Burnout
Chronic fatigue, weakness, and low energy
Cynicism as a factor of Burnout
It is manifested in highly negative self-attitudes towards oneself, work, and life in general
Reduced Self-Efficacy as a factor of Burnout
Declining feelings of competence at work that give way to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
Factors that cause Burnout (in terms of the impacts of stress)
Factors in the workplace that include work overload, interpersonal conflicts at work, lack of control over responsibilities and outcomes, and inadequate recognition of work
Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter
They developed a systematic model of burnout (impact of stress) that specifies antecedents, components, and consequences of the Syndrome
Common long-term psychological problems associated with stress
Insomnia or other sleep problems, sexual difficulties, alcohol abuse, and other drug abuse
Resilience
Refers to successful adaptation to significant stress and trauma, as evidenced by a lack of serious negative outcomes
George Bonanno
He and his colleagues studied how people respond to severe, traumatic stress, such as bereavement. They identified four patterns of response. Chronic disruption, Delayed disruption, recovery, and resilience.
Psychosomatic Diseases
Genuine physical ailments that were thought to be caused in part by stress and other psychological factors
The leading cause of death in North America
Heart disease, which accounts for 25% of deaths in the US alone every year. 90% of these cases are coronary heart disease, which is characterized by the gradual narrowing of coronary arteries which supply the heart with blood
The Principal cause of coronary heart disease and its established risk factors
Atherosclerosis (narrowing of coronary arteries over time). Established risk factors include old age, smoking, lack of exercise, high cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. Inflammation may play a key role in the initiation and progression of Atherosclerosis
Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman
Their research determined that there is an apparent connection between coronary risk and the Type A Personality
The Elements of Type A Personality
- A strong competitive orientation
- Impatience and time urgency
- Anger and hostility
Type B Personality
Marked by relatively relaxed, patient, easygoing, amicable behavior
Is there an association between heart disease and personality types?
There is a correlation between Type A personality and increased risk of heart disease, disease, but it is not as strong as initially assumed. Researchers have more recently begun to focus on the link between the anger/hostility aspect of Type A and coronary heart disease
Do emotions contribute to heart disease?
There is suspicion that certain emotional reactions can tax the heart and possibly trigger heart attacks in individuals with coronary diseases, however it has been difficult to document.
Depressive Disorders
Persistent feelings of sadness or despair
Participants who suffer from depression are how many times more likely to die from heart disease?
Roughly 2 times
The Immune Response
The body’s defensive reaction to invasion by bacteria, viral agents, or other foreign substances
How can stressors affect the immune system?
Crowding, shock, food restriction, and restraint reduce various aspects of immune functioning and reactivity in lab animals
Janice Keicolt Glaser
Glaser and her colleagues have related stress to suppressed immune activity in humans. They found that reduced immune activity also correlated with higher scores on the SRRS
The role of neuroticism in the link between stress and illness
Those who are neurotic would be more likely to remember illnesses and connect unpleasant emotions to being symptoms of an illness. They also view events as more stressful. These factors could inflate the apparent correlation between stress and illness
The correlation coefficient between stress and health
0.2 to 0.3
Moderator Variables in Stress
Lessen the impact of stress on physical and mental health
Social Support as a moderator of stress
Refers to various types of aid and emotional sustenance provided by members of one’s social networks. There is high correlation between high social support and immune functioning. Solid social support increased odds of surviving by 50%
Explicit Social Support (Moderating Variables of Stress)
Overt emotional solace and instrumental aid from others. Generally preferred by Americans.
Implicit Social Support
The comfort one has from knowing that they have access to close others who will be supportive. Generally preferred by Asians
Optimism as a moderating variable of stress
A generalized tendency to consistently expect good outcomes. There is a correlation between optimism and good health
Why is optimism more beneficial to health than pessimism in relation to stress?
Optimists tend to engage in action-oriented, problem-focusing coping. They are more willing to seek support and are likely to emphasize the positives in appraisals of stressful situations
Howard Friedman and Lewis Terman on Conscientiousness
It may have an impact on dealing with stress and physical health, as conscientious people tend to gravitate towards healthy environments, and may show less stress reactivity. They also do not engage as much in risky or unhealthy behavior.
Roy Baumeister on Self-Illusion
There is an optimal margin of illusion. Extreme distortions of reality (especially in defensive coping with stress) is maladaptive, but a little bit is optimal
Constructive Coping and its main aspects
Relatively healthful efforts that people make to deal with stressful events. Its main aspects include confronting the problem directly, reasonably realistic appraisals of the situation and personal coping mechanisms, and in some cases, learning to recognize and regulate potentially disruptive emotional reactions to stress
