Weeks 21-23 Flashcards
1
Q
Five Factor Model
A
Five broad domains or dimensions that are used to describe human personality.
1: Neutroticism vs. Emotional Stability
2: Extraversion vs. Introversion
3: Openness vs. Closeness
4: Agreeableness vs. Antagonism
5: Conscientiousness vs. Disinhibition
2
Q
DSM-5 Personality Disorders
A
When personality traits result in significant distress, social impairment, and/or occupational impairment.
3
Q
Avoidant
A
A pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation.
4
Q
Dependent
A
A pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of that leads to submissive and clinging behavior and fears of separation.
neuroticism (anxious, uncertain, pessimistic, and helpless) and maladaptive agreeableness (e.g., gullible, guileless, meek, subservient, and self-effacing)
5
Q
Antisocial
A
A pervasive pattern of disregard and violation of the rights of others. These behaviors may be aggressive or destructive and may involve breaking laws or rules, deceit or theft.
Antagonism and low conscientiousness
6
Q
Obsessive Compulsive
A
A pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency.
7
Q
Schizoid
A
A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings.
introversion (e.g., withdrawn, cold, isolated, placid, and anhedonic)
8
Q
Borderline
A
A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity.
emotionally unstable, vulnerable, overwhelmed, rageful, depressive, and self-destructive
9
Q
Histronic
A
A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking.
attention-seeking, seductiveness, melodramatic emotionality, and strong attachment needs
10
Q
Narcissistic
A
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.
11
Q
Schizotypal
A
A pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by acute discomfort with, and reduced capacity for, close relationships as well as perceptual distortions and eccentricities of behavior
12
Q
DSM-5 perspective
A
Alternative: they are extreme or maladaptive versions of normal traits
argue that personality disorders involve unique pathological impairments in self-concept and interpersonal functioning, distinguishing them from personality traits
13
Q
Validity in DSM-5
A
slated for deletion were histrionic, schizoid, paranoid, and dependent - less empirical
14
Q
Etiology in DSM-5
A
unknown - involve a complex interaction of an array of different neurobiological vulnerabilities and dispositions with a variety of environmental, psychosocial events
15
Q
Treatment for Personality Disorders
A
most don’t get treatment - “ego-syntonic;”; exception is borderline personality disorder (and perhaps as well avoidant personality disorder)
16
Q
Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder
A
Dialectical behavior therapy (cognitive-behavior therapy; four components: individual therapy, group skills training, telephone coaching, and a therapist consultation team) and mentalization therapy
17
Q
psychopathy
A
Synonymous with psychopathic personality, the term used by Cleckley (1941/1976), and adapted from the term psychopathic introduced by German psychiatrist Julius Koch (1888) to designate mental disorders presumed to be heritable
18
Q
Antisocial vs. Psychopathy
A
highlighting “guiltlessness” (lack of remorse) and “lovelessness” (lack of attachment capacity) as central defining features.
Experts criticized ASPD for neglecting key interpersonal-affective traits of psychopathy, such as charm and deceitfulness.
19
Q
Diagnosis of Psychopathy
A
rating instruments and self-report scales, reflect the foregoing historic conceptions to differing degrees.
20
Q
Psychopathy in Adult Criminals
A
Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), a 20-item tool that measures interpersonal-affective deficits and behavioral deviance
21
Q
Psychopathy in Regular Adults
A
Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), which assesses two factors: Fearless Dominance (social potency, stress immunity) and Self-Centered Impulsivity (egocentricity, impulsivity)
22
Q
Psychopathy in Children
A
Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). It identifies Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits (low empathy, shallow affect) and Impulsive/Conduct Problems (I/CP) traits (impulsivity, aggression)
recognizes CU traits as a distinct variant of conduct disorder.
23
Q
Triarchic model
A
This model conceives of psychopathy as encompassing three separable symptomatic components—disinhibition, boldness, and meanness—that can be viewed as thematic building blocks for differing conceptions of psychopathy.
24
Q
Disinhibition
A
tendencies toward impulsiveness, weak behavioral restraint, hostility and mistrust, and difficulties in regulating emotion
25
Meanness
deficient empathy, lack of affiliative capacity, contempt toward others, predatory exploitativeness, and empowerment through cruelty and destructiveness.
26
Boldness
encompasses dominance, social assurance, emotional resiliency, and venturesomeness
27
Cleckley’s conception
emphasized boldness and disinhibition
28
PCL-R and APSD
prioritize meanness and disinhibition
29
Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM)
58 items divided into three subscales: Disinhibition and Meanness (derived from the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory) and Boldness (which reflects fearless tendencies). This model provides a structured way to categorize different psychopathy presentations.
can be derived from items of other existing psychopathy inventories such as the PPI
30
Causal Factors of Psychopathy
1) theories emphasizing core deficits in emotional sensitivity or responsiveness
(2) theories positing basic impairments in cognitive-attentional processing
- exhibit reduced startle reflexes to aversive stimuli, indicating diminished fear responses
- display lower brain potential responses to cognitive tasks, suggesting impaired action monitoring, and reduced amygdala reactivity to distress cues, pointing to deficits in empathy.
31
Criminal psychopathology
two variants: primary (bold-disinhibited) and secondary (disinhibited-mean)
based on anxiety levels
32
Psychoanalytic Therapy
Sigmund Freud’s therapeutic
approach focusing on resolving unconscious conflicts
● Freud suggested mental health problems are from
efforts to push inappropriate sexual urges out of
conscious awareness.
33
Freud’s Structural Model
psychiatric problems are due
to tension between different parts of mind.
○ Id: pleasure-driven unconscious urges
(animalistic desires for sex/aggression).
○ Superego: semi-conscious part of mind for
morals/societal judgement (knows how
society expects you to behave).
○ Ego: semi-conscious, mediates between id
and superego.
34
psychodynamic therapy
replaces Psychoanalysis
(briefer and individualized, effort to put clients in
social/interpersonal context, focuses more on relieving
distress than changing patient)
35
Free association
patients report all thoughts that come to mind without censorship or
organization; therapist then interprets underlying meaning/patterns.
○ Sometimes, it’s applied specifically to childhood recollections.
○ Psychoanalysts think one’s childhood relationships with caregivers often determine
the way they relate to others (later predicts psychiatric difficulty)
○ Freudian theory: dreams contain manifest/literal content but also latent/symbolic
content.
36
Transference
patient expresses unjustified anger towards therapist (due to displaced
feelings)
37
Countertransference
therapist may displace own emotions onto the patient.
38
Psychoanalytic therapy
1. Practice is decreasing around the world
2. Not suitable for people with severe psychopathology or intellectual disability
3. Very expensive (treatment spans years)
4. Lack of empirical support for effectiveness
39
Person-centered therapy
a therapeutic approach focused on
creating a supportive environment for self-discovery.
● Arose in mid 20th century.
● Founded on the belief that mental health problems are from
inconsistency between patients’ behaviour and their true personal
identity.
● Goal: to create conditions under which patients discover
self-worth, feel comfortable exploring their own identity, alter their
behaviour to better reflect this identity
Developed by Carl Rogers
40
Techniques of Person-Centered Therapy
Involves largely structured conversation between therapist and
patient.
● Therapist takes passive role (non-directive), only guides patient
towards self-discovery.
● Goal: to provide therapeutic relationship as platform for personal
growth (not change patients’ thoughts/behaviours directly)
○ Therapists only ask questions - no judgement/inter
41
Unconditional positive regard
the attitude of
warmth/empathy/acceptance, never criticizes or condemns
in order to foster feelings of inherent worth in patient
○ Creates environment free of approval/disapproval, where
patients come to appreciate their value and behave in ways
congruent with their own identity.
42
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy
Founded on the belief that thoughts, behaviours and emotions interact and
contribute to various mental disorders.
● Goal: alleviate psychological symptoms by changing underlying
cognitions/behaviours.
● Therapists identify patient’s maladaptive thoughts, then identify how the thought leads to emotion, and how the emotion leads to maladaptive behaviour (which
reinforce thoughts).
● CBT is present-focused therapy that uses behavioural goals to improve one’s mental illness.
○ Often behavioural goals involve between/session homework
assignments.
● CBT is relatively brief intervention of 12-16 weekly sessions, tailored to nature of the psychopathology and treatment of the specific mental disorder.
● CBT has proven to be highly efficacious for virtually all psychiatric illnesses.
43
Automatic thoughts
those that occur spontaneously, often used to describe
problematic thoughts that maintain mental disorders.
○ He said these thoughts arise from three belief systems/schemas (beliefs
about the self, about the world, about the future).
44
Reappraisal/cognitive restructuring
identifying, evaluation and changing
maladaptive thoughts - fundamental aspect of CBT
targets maladaptive behaviour, not just thoughts
○ Whenever someone engages in maladaptive behaviour, they reinforce
validity of the maladaptive thoughts (so they’re
maintaining/perpetuating the illness).
○ In treatment, therapist and patient work together to develop healthy
behavioural habits (tracked with worksheet-like homework).
45
Exposure therapy
a form of intervention in which patient engages
with a problematic (usually feared) situation without avoidance/escape.
○ Goal is to reduce fear through extinction learning (a neurobiological
and cognitive process where the patient unlearns the irrational fear)
46
Mindfulness
a process that creates nonjudgmental yet attentive mental
state
Focuses on one’s awareness of body sensations, thoughts, and the
outside environment and of nonjudgmentally accepting them
rather than modifying/eliminating them.
○ Works to acknowledge/understand the maladaptive thought is
spontaneous and not what the person truly believes.
● Two components: self-regulation of attention and orientation toward the
present moment.
47
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT)
reduces stress using meditation, yoga, attention to physical
experiences - reduced stress should allow them to more objectively
evaluate their thoughts.
48
mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT)
focuses on one’s thoughts and associated emotions (focuses on not
getting caught up in maladaptive thoughts [While CBT focuses on pushing maladaptive thoughts out]
49
Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
cognitive-behavioral + mindfulness.
○ Often used in treatment of borderline personality disorder,
focuses on skills training (skills they can use to correct
maladaptive tendencies).
50
DBT vs. CBT
Primary difference between DBT and CBT is that DBT addresses the symptoms of the problem (e.g.; cutting oneself) rather than the problem
itself (understanding motivation to cut).
○ CBT doesn’t teach skills training because skills may be
harmful in long-term by maintaining maladaptive thoughts/behaviours.
○ DBT is founded on perspective of dialectical worldview
(emphasizes joint importance of change and acceptance)
○ Instead of teaching a thought is entirely bad, DBT helps
patients be less judgemental of their thoughts (like with
mindfulness-based therapy) and encourages change (uses CBT
techniques + mindfulness exercises).
51
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
another form of
mindfulness treatment where patients are encouraged to recognize
which thoughts/emotions are harmful to them. a therapeutic approach
designed to foster nonjudgmental observation of one’s own mental processes.
52
Cognitive bias modification
is using exercises to change problematic thinking habits.
● E.g.; researchers use app to train alcohol abusers to avoid stimuli related to alcohol by flashing 3 alcohol cues vs 1 health-related picture and having them tap
healthy picture.
53
Integrative/eclectic psychotherapy
combining multiple orientations/incorporating techniques from multiple approaches.
○ E.g.; CBT + psychoanalytic elements.
○ E.g.; distress tolerance skills from DBT (for short-term problems) + cognitive reappraisal from CBT (for long-term issues) + mindfulness-based
meditation from MBCT (for overall stress).
● Study found 13% to 42% of therapists have identified their own approaches as integrative.
54
Openness (unconventionality)
the tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values,
feelings, and behaviours
Low – narrow interests, inartistic, not analytical.
● High – enjoys seeing people with new haircuts,
curious, imaginative.
55
Conscientiousness
the tendency to be careful, on-time for appointments,
to follow rules, and to be hardworking
Low – prefers spur-of-the-moment action to
planning, unreliable, careless.
● High – never late for a date, organized, hardworking,
self-disciplined.
56
Extraversion
the tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy
others; the tendency to have a dominant style
Low – preferring a quiet evening reading to a loud
party, sober, aloof.
● High – life of the party, active, optimistic, fun-loving,
affectionate
57
Agreeableness
the tendency to agree and go along with others rather
than to assert one’s own opinions and choices.
Low – quickly and confidently asserts own rights,
● High – agrees with others about political opinions,
good-natured, helpful
58
Neuroticism (Emotional Instability)
the tendency to frequently experience negative
emotions such as anger, worry, and sadness, as well as
being interpersonally sensitive.
Low – not getting irritated by small annoyances,
calm, unemotional.
● High – constantly worrying about little things,
insecure, feeling inadequate
59
Person-situation debate
a historical debate about the
relative power of personality traits as compared to situational influences on behaviour. The situationist
critique, which started the person situation debate,
suggested that people overestimate the extent to which
personality traits are consistent across situations. It
puts the power of personality against the power of
situational factors as determinants of the behaviour
that people exhibit.
60
The Facet Approach to Personality Traits
broad personality traits can be broken down
into narrower aspects of the trait.
● E.g., extraversion has several facets:
sociability, dominance, risk-taking, etc
61
“Big Five” Personality Traits
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (Emotional Instability)
62
HEXACO Model
an alternative to the Five-Factor Model including six traits, five of which are variants of the traits
included in the Big Five (Emotionality [E], Extraversion [X],
Agreeableness [A], Conscientiousness [C]. and Openness [O]).
The sixth factor, Honesty-Humility [H], is unique to this
model.
63
Continuous distributions
characteristics can go from low to
high, with all different intermediate values possible. One
does not simply have or not have a trait, but can possess
varying amounts of it.
64
Lexical hypothesis
the idea that the most important
differences between people will be encoded in the language
that we use to describe people. Therefore, if we want to
know which personality traits are most important, we can
look to the language that people use to describe themselves
and others.
65
Homotypic stability
the amount of similarity in the same observable personality characteristics across time.
● E.g., researchers might ask whether stress reaction (tendency to become easily
distressed) exhibits homotypic stability from ages 25-45.
○ The assumption is that the attribute has the same manifestations at the
different ages.
66
Absolute stability
consistency of the level of a trait across time
● E.g., if someone received a score of 45 on a hypothetical measure of stress reaction
at age 20 and at age 40, researchers would conclude there was evidence of absolute
stability
67
Differential stability
refers to the consistency of an individual's position relative to others on that trait over time
It focuses on whether individuals maintain their relative standing on a trait, regardless of changes in the average level
68
Heterotypic stability
the psychological coherence of an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and
behaviours across development
Heterotypic stability may be hard to studying as the psychological attribute may
have different behavioural expressions at different ages.
○ E.g., shyness is expressed differently by toddlers than adults (toddlers may
cling to their caregivers, whereas an adult may avoid eye contact)
69
Maturity principle of adult personality development
the generalization that personality attributes associated with the successful fulfillment of adult
roles increase with age and experience.
○ Attributes associated with positive adaptation and attributes associated with the successful fulfillment of adult roles tend to increase during
adulthood in terms of their average levels.
aka you get better in adulthood
70
Corresponsive principle of personality development
the idea that personality traits often become matched with environmental conditions such that
an individual’s social context acts to accentuate and reinforce their personality attributes.
○ Pre-existing personality attributes and environmental contexts work together to promote personality continuity.
○ Environments reinforce those personality attributes that were partially responsible for the initial environment conditions in the first place
71
Person-environment transactions
the interplay between individuals and their contextual circumstances that ends up shaping both personality and
the environment
72
Cumulative continuity principle of personality development
the generalization that personality attributes show increasing stability with age and
experience.
○ Pattern holds for a gender, applies to a range of different personality attributes ranging from extraversion and openness and curiosity.
73
Active person-environment transactions
the interplay between individuals and their contextual circumstances that occurs whenever
individuals play a key role in seeking out, selecting, or otherwise manipulating aspects of their environment
■ E.g., risk-taking people may spend their leisure time differently than cautious people.
74
Reactive person-environment transactions
the interplay between individuals and their contextual circumstances that occurs whenever
attributes of the individual shape how a person perceives and responds to their environment.
■ E.g., a large social gathering represents a psychologically different context to the highly extraverted person compared with the
introverted person.
75
Evocative person-environment transactions
the interplay between individuals and their contextual circumstances that occurs whenever
attributes of the individual draw out responses from others in their environment.
■ E.g., a warm and secure individual invites different kind of responses from peers than a cold and aloof individual.
76
Brent Roberts: A.S.T.M.A
explain how individuals' personality traits influence and shape their environments, reinforcing stability
1. Attraction: individuals are attracted to environments because of their personality attributes.
Situations that match with our personalities feel “right”
2. Selection: a connection between personality attributes and aspects of the environment that occurs whenever individuals with attributes
choose certain types of environments.
3. Extraverted and outgoing individuals are likelier to make better salespeople than quiet individuals who are uncomfortable with
social interactions.
4. Manipulation: a connection between personality attributes and aspects of the environment that occurs whenever individuals with certain traits actively shape their environments.
■ An outgoing person will find ways to introduce more social interactions into the workday, whereas a shy person may avoid contact
with others.
5. Attrition: a connection between personality attributes and aspects of the environment that occurs because individuals with certain traits drop
out from certain environments.
■ Individuals with charac
77
Self-Report
Asks people to describe themselves
78
Informant Rating
Asking people who knows the subject to describe their personality characteristics.
79
Projective Test
Personality assessments are based
on the belief that important
thoughts, feelings, and motives
operate outside of conscious
awareness. (ex. inkblot)
80
social cognition
the study of how people think about the social world (understanding of how knowledge about social worlds develops
through experience and influence of these knowledge structures on memory, information processing, attitudes, judgements).
81
Social neuroscience
the study of how our social behaviour influence and are influenced by the activities of our brain
82
social influence
the process through which other people change our thoughts, feelings and behaviours and through which
we change theirs
83
Social Situation Creates Powerful Social Influence
Although individuals’ characteristics do matter, the social situation is often a stronger determinant of behaviour than personality.
84
Individualism vs. Collectivism
Individualism (freedom, independence, individual choice, self-enhancement).
Collectivism: (emphasizes duties/obligations has each person has toward others) Indicate people should be more fundamentally connected with others and are thus more oriented towards
interdependence.
85
Attitude
psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular
entity with some degree of favour or disfavour
can be inherited, learned through experience, or shaped by media and social interactions
86
Assessing Attitudes
Often assessed using self-report measures, but also could be assessed
indirectly as in measures of arousal/facial expressions/implicit
measures of cognition (e.g. Implicit Association Test (IAT))
● Can be seen in the brain through neuroimaging techniques
○ Attitudes like most social knowledge are stored primarily in
the prefrontal cortex but the amygdala is important in
emotional attitudes (like ones for fear)
87
Strong attitudes
high importance = held with confidence,
unchanged, used often as guidance, more cognitively
accessible
Attitudes are also stronger when ABCs (affect, behaviour,
cognition) all line-up
88
The Principle of Attitude Consistency
for any given attitude object, the ABCs of affect, behaviour, and
cognition are normally in line with each other
○ Predicts that our attitudes are likely to guide behaviour
89
Theory of Planned Behaviour
individual's behavior is predicted by their intention, which is influenced by their attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms (social pressure), and perceived behavioral control (belief in their ability to perform the behavior)
90
Persuasion
get people’s attention, send effective messages to them, ensure they process the message in
the desired way
91
The Sleeper Effect
attitude change that occurs over time
92
Spontaneous vs. Thoughtful Processing
quick, direct, often involves affective responses to the message
more controlled, involves careful cognitive elaboration of the message
aka like system 1 vs. 2
93
Message strength vs. Source expertise
Message strength: either strong arguments (persuasive data/stats about positive effect) or weak arguments (rely on
individual quotes and personal opinions)
■ Source expertise: message was prepared either by expert source (professor who chairs the Commission) or non
expert source (class at local high school)
94
Forewarning
giving people chance to develop persuasion resistance by reminding them that they might someday
receive persuasive message, allowing them to practice how to respond persuasion attempts
○ Effective when message is expected to follow attacks an attitude that we care about (it prepares us for action
- we bring up defenses to maintain existing beliefs)
○ When we don’t care about topic, we may simply change belief before the appeal actually comes
95
Inoculation
building up defenses against persuasion by mildly attacking the attitude positive
○ Helps person create counterarguments about persuasion attempt to come in the future * But forewarning and
inoculation may boomerang
● If someone (maybe authoritative) attempts to take freedom to make decisions, we respond with strong emotion
(ignore persuasion attempt/engage in opposite behaviour)
96
Psychological reactance
strong emotional response we experience when we feel our freedom of choice is
being taken away when we expect we should have a choice
97
Subliminal advertising
when message is presented to the consumer without the person being aware that a message
has been presented
98
“need to belong”
Humans have a “need to belong”, which is
a pervasive drive to form and maintain at
least a minimum quantity of lasting,
positive and impactful interpersonal
relationships
99
Ostracism
the deliberate exclusion of
groups - indicate the experience as
stressful and can lead to
depression/confusion/even aggression
● fMRI found that excluded people showed heightened cortical activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex & anterior insula (physical pain sensations)
100
Social comparison (Festinger)
Social comparison (Festinger)
101
Social identity theory
assumes we don’t just classify other people into social categories but also classify ourselves
○ Assumes groups influence members’ self-concepts & self-esteem, especially when people categorize
themselves as group members and identify with the group (stereotype)
102
Sociometer model
“self-esteem is part of a sociometer that monitors peoples’ relationship value in other
people’s eyes”
103
Theory of social integration
found groups tend to form whenever people become dependent on another for the
satisfaction of their needs
● Groups have increased humans’ overall fitness for generations people with genes for solitude were less likely to
survive/procreate vs those with genes for joining groups
104
Social facilitation
enhancement of one’s performance when they work in the presence of others
105
Number of psychological processes combine to influence when social facilitation instead of social interference
occurs
○ We respond physiologically/neurologically to others’ presence (can be apprehension if when we feel our
performance is known to others who may judge it negatively)
○ Presence of others can cause perturbations in our capacity to concentrate on and process information
○ Distractions from others’ presence were shown to improve performance on certain tasks (Stroop task) but
undermine performance on more cognitively demanding tasks
106
Social Loafing
Reduction of individual effort
exerted when in groups
aka you try less when more people help (ex. you have three people helping; still greater effort than 1, but not 3x better)
107
Two key points of effective teamwork
shared mental
representation of task, group unity
108
Shared mental model
knowledge, expectations & other
cognitive representations that members of group have in
common pertaining to the group members, tasks/procedures and
resources
109
Group cohesion
solidarity/unity/ of group resulting from
development of strong and mutual interpersonal bonds among
members and unifying group-level forces (e.g.; commitment to
goals)
110
Group Development
1. Forming phase: members become oriented towards one another
○ Members expose info about themselves in polite but
tentative interactions
○ Explore purposes of the group, gather info about each
other’s interests/skills
2. Storming phase: members find themselves in conflict and some
solution is sought to improve the group environment
○ Disagreements about procedures/purposes surface
(increase criticism/conflict)
■ Most conflict stems from challenges
between members who seek to increase
their status and control in the group
3. Norming phase: behaviour/roles develop that regulate behaviour
○ Once group agrees on its
goals/procedures/leaderships, norms/roles/social
relationships develop that increase group’s stability
and cohesiveness
4. Performing phase: group reached a point where it can work as a
unit to achieve goals
○ Group focuses on goals (displays high rates of
task-orientation, decision-making, problem-solving)
5. Adjourning phase: ends sequence of development; group disbands
○ Completes tasks, lowers dependency among members,
deals with unresolved issues
111
Common Knowledge Effect
Tendency of groups to spend more time discussing shared information (everyone knows) and less time examining unshared information (only few members know)
○ Results in bad outcome if the unshared information is important
112
Hidden profile task
shared information suggests Option A is best, but Option B is definitely better (it’s just supporting facts are only known to individuals in
group)
○ So, group spends most time reviewing factors that favor Option A, don’t find drawbacks
113
Groupthink
● Mode of thinking people engage in when deeply involved in cohesive group, when members’ strivings for unanimity override motivation to realistically appraise
alternative course of action
● Symptoms/Indicators/Warning Signs
○ Overestimating groups skills/wisdom
○ Biased perceptions/evaluations of other groups or members outside the group o Strong conformity pressures within the group
○ Poor decision-making methods
114
Social dominance orientation (SDO)
group hierarchies are inevitable in all societies and are even a good idea
to maintain order and stability
SDO isn’t just about being personally dominant and controlling of others - describes preferred arrangement of
groups with some on top (preferably one’s own)
○ High SDO would be upset if someone from outgroup moved into neighborhood because this disrupts
the social hierarchy (for in-group) believed by the person
○ High SDO are more likely to be politically conservative, but are also lower than average on tolerance,
empathy, altruism, community orientation
115
Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA)
● Endorses respect for obedience and authority in
service of group conformity
● Focuses on value conflicts while SDO focuses on
economic ones
● High RWA may dislike outgroup member because
they bring in values/beliefs the person disagrees
with (so they threaten collective values of the
group)
● RWA respects group unity over individual
preference - want to maintain group values in the
face of differing opinions
**RWA is not limited to conservatives
116
Self-categorization theory
since group attributes can either be good or bad, we tend to favour groups with
people like us and incidentally disfavour others
● In-group favoritism is ambiguous because it disfavours the outgroup by exclusion
117
Aversive racism
unexamined racial bias that person doesn’t intend and would reject, but that avoids
inter-racial contact
118
Stereotype Content Model:
shows social groups are viewed according to their perceived warmth and competence
● When learning about new group, we want to know if members’ intentions are good/bad
● If good/cooperative intentions, we see them as warm/trustworthy/”our side”
● If cold/competitive/exploiting, we view/treat them as a threat
● After learning their intentions, we want to know whether they are competent enough to act on them (if
incompetent/unable, their intentions matter less)
119
Reflexive Self
The idea that the self reflects back upon itself; that the I (the knower, the subject) encounters the Me (the known, the object). Reflexivity is a fundamental property of human selfhood.
120
The Age 5-to-7 Shift
Cognitive and social changes that occur in the early elementary school years that result in the child’s developing a more purposeful, planful, and goal-directed approach to life, setting the stage for the emergence of the self as a motivated agent.
121
The self as a social actor
the self as an embodied actor whose social performances may be construed in terms of consistent self-ascribed traits
and social roles.
○ Trait terms capture perceived consistencies in social performance, they convey what I reflexively perceive to be one’s overall acting
style
○ Roles capture the quality of important structured relationships in one’s life.
■ Together, traits and roles make up the main features of social reputation.
ex. A person who is consistently described as "friendly" at work and with friends (trait) and takes on the role of a team leader (role). Their social reputation is built on being both approachable and responsible.
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The Self as a Motivated Agent
Individuals strive to achieve goals and fulfill values, shaping their identity over time. Erikson viewed identity as an ongoing process, evolving with new commitments, relationships, and priorities.
Ex. A college student who decides to become a doctor because of their passion for helping others. As they grow, they refine their identity, taking on new responsibilities and adapting their goals based on experiences and opportunities.
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The Self as an Autobiographical Author
People construct life narratives by interpreting past experiences and imagining the future, creating continuity and purpose. Culture strongly influences these narratives, shaping how individuals understand their lives. Autobiographical reasoning helps people derive meaning from personal experiences.
Ex. A person who grew up in poverty but now sees their struggles as a key part of their identity. They frame their story as one of resilience and hard work, using their past to motivate future success and make sense of their journey.
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Erikson
experiences of trust and attachment
in the first year of life help consolidate the
autonomy of the ego at age 2.
125
Narrative identity
an internalized and evolving story of
the self-designed to provide life with some measure of
temporal unity and purpose.
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Progressive cultivation
a small subset of activities that are intentional (e.g., learning
to play an instrument, attending performances)
■ This notion of culture was formed based on a superior mindset in the
mid19th century by upper economic classes
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Ways of life
distinct patterns of beliefs and behaviours shared among the group
members.
■ Culture in this definition emphasize patterns of belief and behaviour persist
over many generations.
128
Shared learning
in the 20th century anthropologists developed the concept of
enculturation – the uniquely human form of learning that is taught by one generation
to another.
■ Emphasizes that culture is a process that can be learned.
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Actual Gender Differences
Language – girls develop language skills earlier and know more words
than boys.
○ Girls are likelier to offer praise and agree with people they talk to.
○ Aggression – boys exhibit higher rates of unprovoked physical aggression.
■ Boys have rougher play styles (rough-and-tumble games).
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When do children learn about gender?
hen do children learn about gender?
○ Age 1 – children distinguish faces by gender.
○ Age 2 – children label others’ gender and even sort objects into
gender-typed categories.
○ Age 3 – children consistently identify their own gender.
○ Age 3-6 – children learn that gender is constant and can’t change
by solely changing external attributes (gender constancy).
■ Children develop strong and rigid gender stereotypes
(e.g., boys play with trucks, girls play with dolls), traits
(e.g., boys are strong).
○ Age 8-9 – children are more flexible in gender stereotypes.
● Many gender stereotypes are strong because gender is emphasized in
culture (e.g., males and females are treated differently before they are born).
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Developmental intergroup theory
adults’ heavy focus on gender leads children to pay attention to gender as a key source of information about
themselves and others, to seek out any possible gender differences, and to form rigid stereotypes based on gender that are subsequently difficult
to change.
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Gender schema theory
children are active learners who essentially socialize themselves
■ Children organize others’ behaviour, activities, and attributes into gender categories (schemas), which affect what children
notice and remember later.
■ People are likelier to remember schema-consistent information compared to schema-inconsistent information (e.g., people are
likelier to remember male fight.
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Social learning theory
the theory that people can learn new responses and behaviours by observing the behaviour of others.
■ Argues that gender roles are learned through reinforcement, punishment, and modeling – children are rewarded and reinforced
for behaving in concordance with gender roles and punished for breaking them
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ego-syntonic
comfortable with own personality traits and behaviors.
135
lexical hypothesis
human traits are encoded into the natural language
136
person-situation debate
the illusion of broad personality traits across different behaviors
137
Differential Stability
Consistency in Rank-Ordering Traits
