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Social/Psychological Theories and Principles

Personal meaning theory
Stresses that it is the personal meaning of a disability that is important rather than the disability itself (Sherrill
99).
As an occupational therapist, how would you apply personal meaning theory as you meet with a client to discuss
goals for re-entry after rehab.
Assumption?
Contact theory
Contact between individuals with dierences produces positive attitudes when the interactions are:
frequent
pleasant
meaningful
Dierence theory
Any deviation from the norm can result in problems with social acceptance
Applies to both positive and negative deviations
Equal status
Bidirectional interactions between people with disabilities and those without disabilities who learn to respect and
care about each other as they facilitate each other in contributing equally toward the achievement of common
goals and the sharing of mutual interests (Sherrill 21).
Key words: bidirectional, common goals and mutual interests

Self-ecacy
Perception of ones ability to complete a task
-can range from low to high on specific tasks
-How is high self-ecacy obtained?

Locus of control (LOC)

Perception of the connection or lack of connection between actions and consequences (Sherrill 100).
-internal LOC
-external LOC

-external LOC
-How developed?

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From DVD: Without Pity

Learned helplessness
Belief that there is no correlation between eort and outcome now or in the future
Caused by past negative experiences
Maslows Self-Actualization Theory
Hierarchy of Human Needs
Safety and other physiological needs are at the bottom and higher needs such as self-actualization and creativity
are at the top
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVHl3j31pUA
Expectancy theory
Also called Pygmalion theory
Persons will perform as others expect them to perform and will expect of themselves what others expect of them
Related principle called the Rosenthal eect
Expectations determine outcomes
Wrestling brothers...
http://www.wallpapersbuzz.com/bulldog/a-bulldog-playing-piano.html