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Definitions of Persona Iity

"Personality is that which gives order and congruence to all the
different kinds of behavior in which the individual engages" (Hall
& Lindzey, 1958, p.9).
Personality is "the dynamic organization within the individual of
those psychophysical systems that determine his unique
adjustment to his environment" (Allport, 1937, p.48).
"personality is what a man really is"

Personality
A complex set of unique psychological qualities that influence an
individual's characteristic pattern of behavior across different
situations and over time

The central goal of theories of personality is to specify the

differences among people that allow predictions to be made about
their course of life.

Personality Psychology
The scientific study of the psychological forces that make people uniquely
themselves.
Questions Asked:
How are we unique individuals?
What is the nature of self?
"What makes a person tick?"
Personality psychology is scientific due to the use of methods of scientific
inference to test theories.
Examples: correlational analysis, case studies, cross-cultural
comparisons, and research into biological structures.
Personality psychology focuses on 8 key aspects that help us to understand
the complex nature of the individual.

8 Key Aspects of Personality

1) Unconscious forces

Forces not in moment-to-moment awareness.

2) Ego forces

Provide a sense of identity or "self".

3) Cognitive forces

Thinking and interpretation of the world.

4) Biological forces

Genetic, physical, physiological, and temperamental nature of the individual.

5) Conditioning/ shaping forces

Shaped by the environment and experiences.

6) Traits, skills, & predispositions

Personal abilities and inclinations.

7) Spiritual (existential) forces

Thoughts about the meaning of existence.

8) Person-situation (environmental) interactions

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Psychodynamic Theory
"The psychoanalytical definition of the mind is that it
comprises processes of the nature of feelings, thinking, and
wishing, and it maintains that there are such things as
unconscious thinking and unconscious wishing" (Freud, 1943,

p.23)

Freud's Theory of Personality

The core of personality are events within the mind

(Intrapsychic).
These intrapsychic events motivate our behavior.
Operate consciously and unconsciously

All behavior is motivated. NO chance or accidental

happenings cause behavior; all acts are determined

by motives.

Freud's Theory of Personality

(The Unconscious)
The portion of the mind that is inaccessable to usual
conscious thought.
"Thoughts, feelings, and desires of which we are not aware but which
very much influence our behavior" (Strean, 1994, p. 16).
According to Freud, the unconscious is the "depository of sexual and
aggressive drives, defenses, superego mandates, memories, and
feelings, that have been repressed" (Strean, 1994, p. 16).

Freud believed that the gateways to the unconscious were

free association and dreams.

Freud's Theory of Personality

(Drives)
The source of motivation for human actions is psychic energy
found within each individual.
Each person has inborn instincts or drives that are tension
systems. When activated, these energy sources can be
expressed in many different ways:
Self-preservation: meeting basic needs (ex. hunger).
Eros: sexual urges and preservation of the species.

Libido: the sexual energy that underlies psychological tension.

Freud's Theory of Personality

The physical sources of sexual pleasure change in an orderly
progression called Stages of Psychosexual Development.
Fixation (an inability to progress normally to the next stage of
development) at different stages can produce a variety of adult traits.
"used to describe individuals who have never matured beyond a certain
point of psychosocial development and are unable, in many ways, to
mature further" (Strean, 1994, pgs. 19-20).

Regression: "implies that the individual has successfully mastered

certain psychosocial tasks but he or she returns to previous, less
mature gratifications when certain demands in the present induce
anxiety" (Strean, 1994, p. 19)

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Stage

Erogenous
Zone

Oral (birth to
12-18 months)

Mouth

Weaning
Oral gratification from
sucking, eating, biting

Optimism, gullibility, dependency,

pe simism, passivity, hostility, sarcasm,
aggression

Anal (12-18
months to
3 years)

Anus

Toilet training

Excessive cleanliness, orderliness,

stinginess, messiness, rebelliousness,
destructiveness

Phallic(3to
5-6 years)

Genitals

Oepidal conflict
Sexual curiosity
Masturbation

Latency
(5-6 years to
puberty)

None

Period of sexual cahn

Genital
(puberty
onward)

Genitals

Conflicts/
Experiences

Gratification from
expelling and
withholding feces

Adult Traits Associated with

Problems at This Stage

Flirtatiousn ss, vanity, promiscuity, pride,

chastity

Interest in schoot hobbies, same-sex friends

Revival of sexual
interests
Establishment of mature
xua] r lati n hips

Copyright 2001 by
Allyn and Bacon

Freud's Theory of Personality

Psychic Determinism: all the mental and behavioral
reactions are determined by earlier experience. These
Earlier experiences are buried in the unconscious.
Behaviors are motivated by drives in our unconscious and all
behavior has a manifest and latent content.

Freud's Theory of Personality

The Structure of Personality
ID: storehouse of fundamental drives, operating irrationally on
impulse, pushing for expression and immediate gratification
(Pleasure Principle)

SUPEREGO: Storehouse of values, including morals.

The "oughts and "should nots"
The individuals view of the kind of person he/ she should strive to
become.
Often in conflict with the ID.

EGO: Reality based aspect of the self.

Director between ID impulses and SUPEREGO demands.
Reality Principle.

Conscious
Level

Preconscious
Level

Unconscious
Level

Aspect of
Personality

Level of
Consciousness

Ego

Mostly conscious

Mediates between id impulses and

superego inhibitions; reality
principle; rational

Superego

All levels, but

mostly preconscious

Ideals and morals; conscience;

incorporated from parents

ld

Unconscious

Basic impulses (sex and

aggression) ; pleasure principle;
seeks immediate gratification;
irrational, impulsive

Description/Function

Copyright

2001 by Allyn
and Bacon

Freud's Theory of Personality

(Defense Mechanisms)
Repression: the psychological process that protects an
individual from experiencing extreme anxiety or guilt about
impulses, ideas, or memories.
Most basic defense

Defense mechanisms help a person to maintain a favorable selfimage and to sustain an acceptable social image.
When overused, they create more problems than they solve.
Unhealthy to spend too much time and psychic energy in defense
mechanisms. Leaves little energy for productive living or satisfying human
relationships.

Criticisms
1) Concepts are too vague and cannot be evaluated
scientifically.
2) Cannot predict what will occur because it is applied after
events have occurred.
3) Never studied on children.
4) Very male-centered.

Modification
Greater emphasis on ego functions, development of self,
conscious thought process, and personal mastery.
Focus on role of social variables.
Less emphasis on sexual urges.
Extended personality development beyond childhood to
include the entire lifespan.

Humanistic Theory
The motivation for behavior comes from a person's unique
tendency to develop and change in positive directions toward the
goal of self-actualization (striving for inherent potential).
Sometimes conflicts with the need for approval from the self and
others, especially when the individual feels certain obligations or
conditions must be met to gain approval.

Humanistic Theory
(Carl Rogers)
Unconditional Positive Regard: complete love and acceptance of
an individual by another person, such as parents for a child, with
no conditions attached.
Is stressed because worrying about seeking approval interferes with
self-actualization.
Needs to be given and received to those you are close to.
Also need to feel it for yourself.

Humanistic Theory
(Carl Rogers)
The "real-self" requires favorable environmental
circumstances to be self-actualized (parental love, warmth,
friendship)
Anxiety develops in the absence of these, that stifles
spontaneity of expression of real feelings and prevents
effective relations with others.
To cope with basic anxiety people resort to interpersonal and
intrapsychic defenses.

Humanistic Theory
(Abraham Maslow)
Hierarchy ofNeeds
These needs activate and direct human behavior.
We are not driven by all needs at the same time.
Only one need dominates our personality, depending on which others
have been satisfied.

The order of needs can be changed according to Maslow.

Example: During a economic recession that causes some to lose their
jobs, the safety and physiological needs may reassume priority.

Humanistic Theory
(Characteristics)
Holistic: explain individual's acts in terms of their whole
personality.

Dispositional: focus on innate qualities that exert a major

influence over the direction behavior will take.

Subjective: emphasize the individual's frame of reference.

Existential: focus on higher mental processes.

B. F. Skinner's Theory of Personality

The term "personality" is meaningless.
There is no place for internal components of personality, psychical
structures (id, ego, superego), traits, self-actualization, needs, or
instincts.

What is labeled "personality" is merely a group of responses

to the environment.
Operant behaviors taken together = personality.
The universal laws of behavior acquisition, resulting in what
we know as personality, operate in the same manner in
human and (although more simply) in nonhuman animals.

Social-Learning Theory
Combines principles of learning with an emphasis on human
interactions in social settings.
Humans are not driven by inner forces, nor are they helpless to
environmental influences.
Personality is based on a complex interaction of individual
factors, behavior, and environmental influences.

Social-Learning Theory
Reciprocal Determinism: Your behavior can be
influenced by your attitudes, beliefs, or prior history of
reinforcement as well as by environmental influences.
Observational Learning is a critical component.

Models
The basis of observational learning.
Learning can occur through observation or example rather than only
by direct reinforcement.
We learn by observing other people and modeling our behavior after
theirs.
By observing the behavior of a model and repeating that behavior, it is
possible to acquire responses that we have not performed previously
and/ or to strengthen or weaken existing responses.

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Social-Learning Theory
Self-Efficacy: the belief that one can perform adequately in a particular
situation. Self-efficacy judgments include:
Vicarious experience: your observations of the performance of others
Persuasions: others convincing you that you can do something, you convincing
yourself.

Monitoring emotional arousal when thinking about a tasks (ex.

Anxiety suggest low expectations)

Influences how much effort you expand and how long you persist when faced
with difficulty.
Behavioral outcomes depend both on people's perceptions of their own abilities
and their perceptions of the environment.

Cognitive Approaches of Personality

Focuses on ways in which individuals come to know their
environment and themselves.
How they perceive, evaluate, learn, think, make decisions, and solve
problems.

View human perception and human cognition as the core of what

it means to be a person.
The way we interpret the environment is central to our
humanness, and the way we differ from one another.

Schema: a cognitive structure that organizes knowledge and

expectations about one's environment.
The schema activated in a given situation is a major determinant of a
person's expectations, inferences, and actions in that situation.

Evolutionary Personality Theory

Individual differences are due to either adaptive strategies or
random variations.
Difficult to determine the precise cause of any behavior or
personality characteristic (Nature vs. Nurture).
Still do not know the extent to which genes affect personality in
normal development.

Trait Approaches to Personality

Trait: a distinguishing personality characteristic or quality.
Trait Approach: uses a basic, limited set of adjectives or
adjective dimensions to describe and scale individuals.
Much about an individual's consistent reaction patterns can be
predicted from knowing his/her core personality traits.
Frequently utilized in our daily lives to describe the personality of
people we know.
Generally rely on outstanding characteristics or features to summarize
what a person is like.

Culture & Personality

Culture: The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, beliefs,
values, norms and traditions shared by a large group of
people.
Influences how an individual makes sense of the world.

Behaviors that seem natural and normal to one culture can

often only be identified as culture-specific through
comparison with other cultures.
Individuals are shaped by their cultures and in many ways are
like others in the same culture, but different than those in
other cultures.

Culture & Personality

The ideas of personality and predictable behavior are
meaningless outside of the cultural context.
Since everyone grows up in a culture, it makes sense to
incorporate culture into theories of personality.

With knowledge about cultural influences, we are less likely

to accept universal proclamations about personality and less
likely to ignore cultural influences.

Culture & Personality

Cultural factors to consider:
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
Language
Cultural Elements (Material & Aesthetics)
History & Acculturation
Social Structure
Values: what a given culture values or appreciates
Norms: accepted ideas about appropriate behavior.
Morals
Cultural Roles
Customs

Gender Differences in Personality

Obvious difference in physical development and physiological
functioning.
Often leads "to a simple biological justification for all personality
differences between men and women".
Biological differences exist in the context of the social world.
"Whether or not gender discrepancies in personality actually exist,
many people perceive significant differences between men's and
women's personalities, and these perceptions influence their attitudes
about and behavior toward others, thereby influencing personality".

Gender Differences in Personality

Hyde, J.S. (2005)The Gender Similarities Hypothesis.
American Psychologist, Vol. 60 (6)
The media and general public are captivated by findings of gender
differences.
This extensive study argues that men and women are basically alike in
terms of personality, cognitive ability, and leadership.
The Gender Similarities Hypothesis states that males and
females from childhood to adulthood are more alike than different on
most psychological variables.
Gender differences seem to depend on the context in which they were
measured.
Gender differences fluctuate with age.

Gender Differences in Personality

Hyde, J.S. (2005)The Gender Similarities Hypothesis.
American Psychologist, Vol. 60 (6)
Misconceptions are perpetuated by media depictions of men
and women as different which can affect men and women at
work, home, as parents, and as partners.
Children also fall victim to these myths which lead to
differences in social expectations and performance.

Psychopathology
Disruption in the emotional, behavioral or thought processes
that lead to personal distress or that block one's ability to
achieve important goals.

What is Abnormal?
1) Distress or Disability: experiencing personal distress or disabled
functioning.

2) Maladaptiveness: behaving in a fashion that hinders goal attainment,

does not contribute to personal well-being, or often interferes
significantly with the goals of others and needs of society.

3) Irrationality: acts or speaks in ways that are irrational or

incomprehensible.

4) Unpredictability: unpredictable behavior from situation to

situation.

5) Statistical Rarity: violation of socially acceptable norms of behavior.

6) Observer Discomfort: behavior that makes others feel
uncomfortable.

7) Violations of moral and ideal standards ofbehavior.

What is Abnormal?
More confident in judging behavior as abnormal when more
than one indicator is present.
Psychological disorders are best thought of on a continuum
that varies between mental health and mental illness.
The goal in making judgments regarding if an individual has a
disorder is to be as objective as possible.

Diagnosis
Psychological Diagnosis: the label given to an
abnormality by classifying and categorizing the observed
behavior pattern into an approved diagnostic system.

DSM
Main guide for mental health professionals listing over 200
disorders.
Emphasizes description of patterns of symptoms and courses
of disorders.

Clinically Significant Distress: the symptoms present

cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social,
occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Etiology of Psychopathology
Casual or Contributory factors in the development of
psychological problems. 2 general categories:
1) Biological approaches: disturbances are directly attributable
to underlying biological factors.
Abnormalities in the brain, genetic influences, etc.

2) Psychological Approaches: disturbances ore attributable to

psychological or social factors.
Personal experiences, trauma, environmental factors, etc.

Anxiety Disorders
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Feeling anxious or worried most of the time, when not faced with any
specific danger.
Often focused on life circumstances.
Symptoms: muscle tension, fatigue, restlessness, poor concentration,
irritability, and sleep difficulties.

Panic Disorder: unexpected, severe panic attacks that

begin with feelings of intense apprehension, fear, or terror.
Attacks are unexpected and not evoked
Labeled with or w I o Agoraphobia (an extreme fear of being in public
places or open spaces from which escape may be difficult or
embarrassing.

Anxiety Disorders
Phobias: a persistent and irrational fear of a specific object or
situation that is excessive and unreasonable given the reality of
the threat.
Social Phobia: arising in anticipation of a public situation in which an
individual can be observed by others.
Specific phobia: occurs in response to several different types of objects
or situations.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

Obsessions: thoughts, images, or impulses that recur or persist despite
the individual's efforts to suppress them. Unwanted invasions that seem
senseless, and are unacceptable to the individual experiencing them.
Compulsions: repetitive, purposeful acts performed according to
certain rules, in a ritualized manner, and in response to an obsession.
Performed to reduce the discomfort associated with the obsession.

Anxiety Disorders
PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):
Characterized by the persistent re-experiencing of a traumatic
event through distressing recollections, dreams, hallucinations,
or flashbacks.
As a response to a traumatic event such as war, rape, severe injury, or a
life-threatening situation.

Mood Disorders
Major Depressive Disorder: characterized by the
presence of a major depressive episode.
Depressed mood, loss of interest, weight fluctuations, sleep
difficulties, fatigue, worthlessness, difficulty concentrating, thoughts
of death.

Bipolar Disorder: characterized by periods of severe

depression alternating with manic episodes.
Inflated self-esteem, decreased sleep, talkative, flight of ideas,
distractibility, activities with a high potential for painful
consequences.

Personality Disorders
A chronic, inflexible, maladaptive pattern or perceiving,
thinking, or behaving that can seriously impair the
individual's ability to function and can cause significant
distress.
Been with an individual for a number of years
Has to do with personality rather than a specific problem
area.

Dissociative Disorders
A disturbance in the integration of identity, memory, or

consciousness.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): previously called
Multiple Personality Disorder

Two or more distinct personalities exist within the same individual.

Commonly confused with Schizophrenia
Each personality has a unique identity, name, and behavior pattern
In some cases can have dozens of different personalities.
Most theories on DID point to chronic severe abuse in childhood and that
DID developed as a survival tool to distance themselves from the reality of
their lives.

Schizophrenic Disorder
NOT SPLIT PERSONALITY
Severe form of psychopathology in which personality seems to disintegrate,
thought and perception are distorted, and emotions are blunted.
Involves illogical thinking, associations among ideas that are remote or without
apparent patterns, and bizarre sensory experiences.
Hallucinations: hearing voices is the most common(+)
Delusions: false or irrational beliefs ( +)
Language: illogical, incongruent, word salad (-)
Blunted or inappropriate emotions (-)
Psychomotor retardation or agitation. (+)or (-)
Social withdrawal
( +)

= positive symptoms, (-) negative symptoms

Disorders of Child hood and

Adolescence
Many disorders are first diagnosed in childhood and
adolescence and have no adult counterpart
Psychological Disorders present themselves differently in
children
Even those shared in adulthood

Child and adolescent psychotherapy and treatment is

different from adult treatment.
1 out of 5 (20%) children and adolescents has a moderate to
severe psychological disorder.
Teachers make a lot of referrals.

Disorders of Child hood and

Adolescence
DSM classifies disorders by syndromes. The 4 main categories
are:
1) Disruptive Behavior Disorders: involving impulsive, aggressive, and
other acting out behaviors.
ADHD, Conduct Disorder,

2) Disorders of Emotional Distress: anxiety and depression.

Separation Anxiety Disorder,

3) Habit Disorders: disruptions of eating, sleeping, and elimination.

Anorexia, Bulimia, Enuresis, Encopresis

4) Learning and Communication Disorders: involving difficulties with

reading, writing, and speaking.
Learning Disorders.

How Stigma Interferes with Mental

Health Care
Corrigan, P. (2004). How stigma interferes with
mental health care. American Psychologist, 58, 614625.

 Despite the quality and effectiveness of mental health

treatments and services:
A) Many people with mental illness never pursue treatment

B) Others begin treatment but fail to fully adhere to services as

prescribed.

Less than 30% of people with psychiatric disorders seek

treatment.
40% of individual with severe disorders such as schizophrenia
failed to obtain treatment.

Stigma of Mental Illness

Individuals w I psychological disorders are frequently labeled
as deviant.
Stigma in the context of psychology is a negative set of
attitudes about a person that sets him/her apart as
unacceptable.
These negative attitudes come from many sources including:
Media portrayal that psychiatric patients are violent
Jokes about the mentally ill
Family denial of a family member w I a mental illness
Bias perceptions and actions toward these individuals.

The Relevance of Stigma

The stigma of mental illness affects individuals seeking
and/ or completing treatment.
Stigma as 4 Social-Cognitive Processes
1) Cues: psychiatric symptoms, social skills deficits, and
physical appearance

2) Stereotypes: commonly held stereotypes about people with

mental illness (violence, incompetence, to blame)
3) Prejudice: negative emotional reactions and negative
evaluations

4) Discrimination: avoidance, not associating with an individual

with mental illness

Public & Self Stigma

Public Stigma: individuals labeled mentally ill publicly can
be robbed of important life opportunities that are essential
for achieving life goals Gobs & housing).
Influence the interface between mental illness and the criminal
justice system.
Criminalizing mental illness contributes to higher rates of individuals
with serious mental illness in jail.

Impact on general healthcare 7 less likely to benefit from the

depth and breath of health care.

Public & Self Stigma

Self Stigma: accepting stereotypes and suffering from
diminished self-esteem, self-efficacy, and confidence in one's
future.
Believe they are less valued because of their psychological
disorder
Family shame
Significant correlation between shame and avoiding treatment

Strategies that Diminish Stigma

3 approaches that may diminish aspects of the public stigma
experienced by people with mental illness
1) Protest: protest inaccurate and hostile representations of
mental illness and for people to stop believing negative views.
2) Education: provides information so that the public can
make more informed decisions about mental illness.
3) Contact: stigma is further diminished when members of the
general public have contact with people with mental illness who
are able to hold down jobs or live as good neighbors.

 Many different approaches to therapy

All therapeutic interventions are designed to assist the client

in improving his/her current situation.

Goals of Therapy
1) Reaching a diagnosis
2) Proposing a probable etiology (cause)
3) Prognosis: the course of the problem
4) Treatment for the Presenting Problem
5) Decreasing problematic behavior
6) Increasing functioning in all areas
7) Gaining insight so that the client can help themselves.

Divisions of Treatment
Biological Therapies: focus on the biological aspects of a
disorder.

Psychotherapy: focuses on psychological, social, and

environmental factors.

Psychodynamic Therapy
An individuals difficulties are caused by the psychological
tension between unconscious impulses and wishes and inner
conflicts that are repressed.

Goal: establishment of intrapsychic harmony and

understanding of the client's use of defense mechanisms to
handle conflict.
Bring inner conflicts, impulses and wishes into consciousness to
gain insight.

Psychodynamic Techniques
Free Association: allowing the mind to wander and giving
running account of thoughts and wishes while relaxing
comfortably, thus not allowing for defense mechanisms to censor
what is said.

Resistance: an inability or unwillingness to discuss certain

ideas, desires, or experiences
Barrier between conscious & unconscious
Interpret and discuss with clients
Ex: changing the subject; showing up late; acting out.

Dream Analysis: examining the content of dreams to discover

underlying motivations and symbolic meaning of significant life
experiences and desires.

Psychodynamic Techniques
Transference: the development by the client of emotional
feelings toward the therapist formerly held toward some
significant person in a past emotional conflict.

Countertransference: the therapist's development of

emotional feelings toward a client because the client is perceived
as similar to significant peoples in the therapists life.

This does not mean romantic feelings.

Behavior Therapy
Utilizes the principles of learning to increase the frequency
of desired behavior and/ or decrease the frequency of
problem behaviors.
Range of treated problems includes anxiety, mood, aggression,
and conduct problems.

Behavior Therapy Techniques

Counterconditioning: when a new response is substituted for
a previous maladaptive on by means of conditioning. Behavior
that is learned can be unlearned. Types include: (ex: anxiety)
Systematic Desensitization: a client is taught to prevent the arousal of
anxiety by confronting the feared stimulus when relaxed.

Implosion Therapy: client is exposed immediately to the most

frightening stimuli at the top of a fear list, but in a safe setting. As the
situation happens over and over, the stimulus loses its power to elicit
anxiety.

Flooding: similar to Implosion, but involves the client being placed in

the feared situation.

Behavior Therapy Techniques

Contingency Management: (relies on operant conditioning)
the general treatment strategy of changing behavior by modifying
its consequences.
Strategies include: token economies, shaping, behavioral contracts.

Social Learning Therapy: designed to modify problematic

behavior patterns by arranging conditions in which the client will
observe models being reinforced for a desirable behavior. 2 main
aspects:
Models: observing others
Social Skills Training: training more effective social skills using
rehearsal and models.

Cognitive Therapies
Change problem feelings and behaviors by changing the way
clients think about significant life experiences.

Cognitive-BehaviorTherapy: combines the cognitive

emphasis on the role of thoughts and attitudes influencing
behavior with behaviorist strategies of changing performance
through reinforcement of contingencies.

Cognitive Restructuring: changing irrational, negative

statements into constructive coping statements.
Not just positive "everything is OK" statements

Aaron Beck

Beck's Cognitive
Triad Model

Cognitive Distortions: the

idea that psychological
problems arise as a function

suggests that
depressed individuals
have the following:

of how people think about

themselves relative to others

( 1 ) a negative view of
themselves;

and the events they face.

(2) a negative view of

the world; and,
(3) a negative view of
the future

Aaron Beck
Changing cognitive distortions involves:
1) Challenging basic assumptions about functioning
2) Evaluate evidence the client has for and against
accuracy of thoughts
3) Reattribute blame to situational factors rather than
the client's incompetence.
4) Discuss alternative solutions to complex tasks that
could otherwise lead to experiences of failure.

Albert Ellis - Rational Emotive Therapy (RET)

Psychological problems are caused by people's reactions to such
events on the basis of irrational beliefs.
ABC model:
A) Activating Experience, B) Irrational Belief or thought that
follows, C) Consequences for the person.

Therapy involves confronting and disrupting the irrational beliefs

(B) so that emotional and behavioral consequences will change
accordingly.
Teaches clients to recognize the "should", "oughts" and "musts"

Humanistic Therapy
Attempts to help clients define their own freedom, value their
experiencing selves and the richness of the present moment,
cultivate their individuality, and discover ways to realize their
fullest potential (self-actualization).
Helps "average" (w I o diagnosis) individuals achieve greater levels
of performance and richness of experience.

Client-Centered Therapy: the task of therapy is to help

clients learn how to behave in order to achieve self-actualization
by removing barriers that limit this move toward selfactualization.
Therapy environment 7 Unconditional Positive Regard
Let the client lead the way, the therapist facilitates.

 OtherTypes ofTherapies:
Group Therapy
Family Therapy
Couples Therapy
PlayTherapy
Art Therapy

Social Psychology
The study of how individuals' feelings, thoughts, and
behaviors are influenced by social stimuli.
Individuals: this distinguishes social psychology from other
social sciences.
Such as sociology and anthropology

Social Stimuli: refers to humans and their products including

groups, norms, the presence of others, and past social
situations.
The interactions and transactions with others.

Our social behavior is influenced by both the objective

situation and our own subjective experience.

Is Social Psychology Just Common

Sense?
Hindsight Bias: the tendency to exaggerate, after
learning the outcome, one's ability to have foreseen how
something turned out.
"1-Knew-It-All-Along" phenomenon.

Main problems with the common sense idea is that it

occurs after the fact.
Events are much more predictable after the fact.
Causes a problem for students in social psychology.
Miss important information (ex. Research results).

Constructing Socia I Rea Iity

Social situations obtain significance when observers
selectively encode what is happening in terms of what they
expect to see and what they want to see.
Example: A football game

Social Perception: the process by which people come to

understand and categorize the behaviors of others.

Attribution Theory
The theory of how people explain the behavior of others.
People tend to attribute someone's behavior to internal causes

(Dispositional Attributions) or external causes

(Situational Attributions).
We believe that others' intentions and dispositions correspond
to their actions.
Normal or expected behavior tells us less about the person than
does unusual behavior.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency for observers to underestimate situational
influences and overestimate dispositional influences upon
the behavior of others.
More prominent when it serves our own interests.
Even when people know they are causing someone else's
behavior they still commit the FAE.
Intelligent and socially competent people are more likely to
make the FAE.

Everyday examples include when we overestimate the

knowledge of doctors, TV game show hosts, and
professors.

Actor-Observer Effect
In explaining our own behavior, we are more likely to make
situational attributions.
The exception is when we make attributions for our own
success.
The tendency to make dispositional attributions for our successes and
situational attributions for our failures in called the Self-Serving Bias.

Why do we make the FAE?

We observe others from a different perspective.
Our perspectives change with time.
Our own self-awareness, which makes us self-conscious
instead of situation-conscious.
Culture: FAE occurs across all cultures.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.
Our ideas lead us to act in ways to produce their
apparent confirmation.
Examples:
Pygmalion in the classroom
Subjects in a learning experiment who expected to be taught by
an excellent teacher, perceived their teacher as more competent
and interesting than students with low expectations and thus
worked harder.

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Conformity
A change in behavior or belief to accord with others. Types
include:
Compliance: conformity that involves publicly acting in
accord with an implied or explicit request while privately
disagreeing.

Obedience: acting in accord with a direct order.

Acceptance: conformity that involves both acting and
believing in accord with social pressure.
Sometimes follows compliance.

Group Pressure (Asch)

That "reasonably intelligent and well meaning young people are
willing to call white black is a matter of concern. It raises
questions about our education and about the values that guide our
conduct."
Implications: subjects conformed with minimal pressure and no
rewards or ptmishment.

- - Asch's Line

Judgement Task

S t andard line

Comparison lines

Milgram's Obedience Experiments

A group of psychiatrists, college students, and middle-class
adults predicted that the subjects would disobey giving
someone an electric shock at 135 volts. None surveyed
expected any subject to go beyond 300 volts.
During the actual experiment 65% of subjects went to 450
volts.

Milgram's Obedience Experiments

Major conclusions:
Subjects were willing to obey a destructive authority at a higher
rate than predicted by others.
Obedience increases to a legitimate authority.
Subjects were more likely to shock an anonymous victim.
Subjects were more likely to shock when they were lead to
believe that the authority figure would be held accountable.
The presence of others who do not obey the authority will
substantially decrease obedience.

Milgram's Obedience Experiments

4 Factors that determined 0 bedience:
1) Emotional distance of the victim: personalizing the victim
decreased obedience.
2) Closeness and legitimacy of the authority: the physical
presence of the experimenter increased obedience.
3) Institutional Authority: being associated with a university
increased obedience.
4) The presence of at least 1 person that disagreed ::::::> decreased
obedience.

The Power of the Situation

Social psychologists believe that the primary
determinant of behavior is the nature of the social
situation in which the behavior occurs.
Social situations exert significant control over individual
behavior, often dominating personality and a person's past
history of learning, values, and beliefs.

A number of situational variables can have an effect on

people's behavior.

The Power of the Situation

Roles and Rules
Social Role: a socially defined pattern of behavior that is
expected of a person when functioning in a given setting of
group.
Different situations make different roles available.
Different roles make different types of behaviors more or less appropriate
and available.

Situations are also determined by the operations of rules

(behavioral guidelines for specific settings).
Rules can be explicit or implicit (learned through transactions with others
in a specific setting) .

The Power of the Situation

Roles and Rules
The Stanford Prison Experiment
A "growing confusion between reality and illusion, between role-playing
and self-identity ... This prison which we had created ... was absorbing us
as creatures of its own reality" (Zimbardo 1972)

Self-conscious acting may diminish as the actors becomes more absorbed

in the role and experiences genuine emotions,
Can this happen in everyday life?
Positive and/ or negative

The Power of the Situation

Social Norms: the specific expectations for socially appropriate
attitudes and behaviors that are embodied in the stated or implicit
rules of a group.
Can be broad guidelines and/ or can embody specific standards of conduct.

Belonging to a group typically involves discovering the set of social

norms that regulate desired behavior in the group setting. Occurs
in two ways.
You notice the uniformities in certain behaviors of all or most members,
and you observe the negative consequences when someone violates a social
norm.

N arms serve important functions

Orienting members and regulating social interactions.

Altruism
A concern for the welfare of others that is expressed through
such prosocial acts as sharing, cooperating, and helping.
Behavior that benefits another person, regardless of the actor's
motives.
Selfishness in reverse
A motive to increase another's welfare without conscious regard
for one's self-interests.

Theories of Altruism
Social Exchange Theory
Human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one's
rewards and minimize costs.
Rewards that motivate helping can be internal or external.
Most eager to help someone we fmd attractive and thus gain their
approval.
Helping increases our sense of self-worth.
More likely to help after our self-image has been damaged.

Negative mood increases helping in adults and decreases helping

in children.

Theories of Altruism
Biological/EvolutionaryTheory
Individuals are more likely to receive protection from natural
enemies and to satisfy their basic needs if they live together in
cooperative social units.

Social Learning Theory

The most important influence on children's altruism is the
behavior of others - the social models to whom they are
exposed.
Children who witness an altruistic model often become more altruistic.

What inhibits Altruism?

Bystander Effect: a person is less likely to help when
there are others present.
When the situation is ambiguous, people are less likely to help.
Fail to feel responsible because others will help.
Taking action may lead to embarrassment or disapproval.

Time Pressure: people in a hurry are less likely to help.

Similarity: people are more likely to help those similar to
themselves.

Improving Atruism
Reverse the factors that inhibit helping.
Having a personal connection makes one feel less
anonymous and more responsible.
Helpfulness increases when one expects to meet the
victim and other witnesses again.
Concern about your public image will increase helping.
Socializing Altruism:
Model Altruism
Attribute helpful behaviors to altruistic motives.
Learn about altruism.