psych 320 exam 2

organizational core

cognitive development shapes and influences all domains of thinking

social cognition

how individuals think about other people, social relationships, and social institutions

Perspective taking

the ability to understand others thoughts and feelings

Perspective taking developmental pattern

develops from childhood through adolescent, substantial individual differences at every age, plays role in adolescents' peer relationships

Theory of mind

the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, including beliefs, intentions, thoughts and feelings

ToM development

associated with improved communication, can enable behaviors such as rebellion or deception

Neural basis of ToM

specialized brain regions; medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and temporoparietal junction (TPJ)

mPFC

involved in reasoning about psychological states of the self and others, including animals

TPJ

involved in predicting behavior based on mental states

mPFC activity in adolescents

greater than adults in -> attributing mental states to animated shapes, reading emotional sentences involving embarrassment or guilt, sarcasm comprehension

Dumontheil et al. (2010)

accuracy: adults > adolescents > children; adolescents get better at controlling and switching between internal and external thinking as the brain matures.

tasks assess mPFC response in social-emotional reasoning

Mentalizing (theory of mind), self vs. other reflection, social emotion scenarios, and perspective-taking tasks

Adolescent egocentrism

difficulty distinguishing thinking about one's own thoughts from thinking about the thoughts of others, distinct feature of adolescent cognition

Imaginary audience

belief that others are constantly watching and evaluating one's behavior

Imaginary audience pattern

linked to heightened self-consciousness, applied by social media, increases adolescence self-consciousness, persist into adulthood

Personal fable

belief in the uniqueness of one's personal experiences and destiny; can lead to optimistic bias and illusions of invulnerability

Optimistic bias

The tendency to believe you're less likely to experience negative events and more likely to experience positive ones than others

Illusions of invulnerability

belief that nothing bad can happen to oneself, leading to risky behaviors

Personal fable pattern

increased from early to mid-adolescences and is correlated with risk behaviors, boys > girls, declines with age but does not disappear entirely

Arnett (2000)

Young smokers acknowledge risks but believe they personally won't be harmed (optimistic bias), so they continue smoking; tendencies increases from early to mid-adolescence and generally decline with age, but do not disappear entirely

Prosocial behavior

voluntary actions intended to benefit others

Factors influencing prosocial behavior

perspective taking and sympathy were positively associated with initial levels of prosocial behavior, limited predictive role for longitudinal change

Padilla-Walker et al. (2017)

Prosocial behavior increases toward friends, stays high for family, and is lowest for strangers. Contributed by empathy and social relationships (closeness/opportunities).

Knight et al. (2018)

Stronger familism values are linked to more prosocial behavior toward family and guide adolescents' helping behaviors; 5th grade predicted prosocial behavior in 12th grade

Erikson's lifespan theory

each life stage involves a distinct developmental "crisis", shapes healthy vs unhealthy developmental paths

Identity vs identity confusion

healthy is stable identity through commitments (love, work, ideology) while unhealthy is identity confusion with failure to establish clear commitments

Identity formation

identity builds on childhood identifications, not created from scratch

Psychosocial moratorium

relative freedom from obligations and responsibilities, exploration or roles, beliefs, possible selves, precursor to coherent identity, more common in individualistic cultures

Identity confusion

unsuccessful identity formation, linked to earlier developmental difficulties, difficulty evaluating and committing to identity options

Negative identity

adopting an identity viewed as undesirable by others, attempting at self-definition when acceptable identity feels unattainable, "better to be bad than be nobody"

Process of resolving identity crisis

explore different identities → make commitments → then reconsider them (evaluate and adjust if needed). Repeating this process leads to a more stable identity

Exploration identity

trying out different roles/values

Commitment identity

choosing and sticking to an identity

Identity Achievement

explored and committed → stable identity; highest achievement, moral reasoning, greater peer intimacy, career maturity

Identity Moratorium

exploring, not committed → still figuring it out, higher anxiety

Identity Foreclosure

committed without exploring → accepted others' values, premature identity commitment shaped by others, show lower autonomy and close relationships with parents, score higher on conformity, conventionality, obedience to authority, need for social approval

Identity Diffusion

no exploration or commitment → lack of direction/unresolved crisis, mild to severe severity, associated with difficulties in work, school, and relationships, common features: disrupted sense of time, low self-esteem, reduced self-control, excessive self-consciousness, decision making difficulties

Identity formation into young adulthood

in college context, occupational identity development, challenges existing beliefs, late teens and 20s have "free role experimentation"

Cultural variations in psychosocial moratorium

Erikson's model reflects a western historical recent perspective, is a exception, not a norm because it varies across cultures: traditional cultures restricted exploration (love, work) especially for girls

Ethnic identity

ancestry/racial-ethnic group membership, follows broader identity processes: crisis/critical events, exploration, integrated, coherent identity

Process of ethnic identity

majority group members have less exploration and weaker commitment; ethnic minority youth, shaped by family, peers, schools, media and awareness of prejudice & stereotypes, meaning of belonging in a majority-dominated society

Jean Phinney's model

four identity responses (minority youth), looking at identification with ethnic group and identification with majority culture; marginality, separation, assimilation, biculturalism

Marginality

feels disconnected from both own and majority culture, most prevalent among native American youth, historical trauma and community conditions

Separation

identifies only with own ethnic culture, more common among African Americans youth, linked to discrimination & racism, awareness increases with longer U.S. residence

Assimilation

identifies only with majority culture

Biculturalism

integrates both own and majority cultures, common among Asian American, Mexican American, and European minority youth

Ethnic identity awareness

is shaped by context, salience increases when youth are a numerical minority

Ethnic socialization

process of learning about one's ethnic/racial background

Ethnic socialization themes

cultural pride and heritage, recognizing and coping with racism, preparing for success in mainstream society

Ethnic socialization effects

more positive ethnic identity, peer matter: same ethnic contact -> stronger positive feelings

strong ethnic identity benefits

Higher well-being, self-esteem, academic outcomes, positive peer relations, and lower risk behavior

strong ethnic identity vulnerabilities under discrimination

Lower self-esteem, more stress and anger, higher risk behavior, but also increased civic/political engagement

multiethnic adolescents

fastest-growing demographic group in the U.S., identity development can be especially complex: identity labels may shift over time, self-identification may not match peers' perceptions, mismatch = distress, lower self-esteem

Hitlin et al. (2006)

Multiethnic youth often show racial fluidity, changing how they identify over time while also is context-sensitive. Factors influencing self-categorization include family background, peer groups, school context, and social experiences

Sex

biological status as male or female

Gender

social categories of male and female, shaped by cultural beliefs and practices

Gender Socialization

cultural processes through which children and adolescents learn gender expectations

Narrow socialization

in girls, early caregiving for siblings and cousins (often by ages 6-7), assist mothers in household management and function as near-equal partners in domestic work

Broader socialization

in boys, greater peer contact, less day-to-day involvement in family caregiving

Womanhood in traditional cultures

emerging sexuality is more tightly restricted, high cultural variability is from encouragement of sexual activity to severe punishment

Chinas (1991)

ethnographic study of adolescent girls and women in a Mexican village, early work responsibilities, close relationships with monitoring older women, preparation for marriage and gender-specific adult roles

Manhood in traditional cultures

manhood must be achieved, core male role expectations (provide, protect, procreate), character requirements: diligence courage, confidence

Trends in American gender attitudes

increasing support for more egalitarian gender attitudes in recent decades, about ¼-1/3 of Americans continue to endorse traditional gender-role beliefs

Gender intensification hypothesis

adolescence brings intensified social pressure to conform to culturally prescribed gender roles

Gender intensification evidence

differences between males and females increases; for girls there is a greater emphasis on physical appearance, higher self-consciousness about appearance and stronger interest in intimate friendships

Schuck et al. (2018)

measured thin ideal internalization using naturalistic photo ratings of young women's bodies, found that boys and girls endorse a slim female thin-ideal, early adolescent girls (ages 13-14) show the strongest think-ideal internalization

Calzo et al. (2012)

longitudinal study and found that girls body dissatisfaction increases cross adolescence, weight and shape concerns rise steadily, increases are substantially later for girls than for boys

Differential gender socialization

boys and girls are socialized towards different attitudes and behaviors considered appropriate for each gender

Gendered parenting practices

language used with children, types of play encouraged, toy selection

Early childhood

gender socialization peer context, encouragement of gender specific activities, same gender play is common

Middle childhood

gender socialization peer context, gender roles temporarily become more flexible

Adolescence

gender socialization peer context - differential socialization becomes more pronounced, tighter restrictions for girls than boys, peer rejection of adolescents who violate fender roles expectations

Gender socialization school context

teachers reinforce gender roles expectations from primary to graduate school with implicit bias, parents and teachers expectations are shaped by their own gender socialization

traditional media gender socialization

girls magazines emphasize physical appearance, advertisement centered on appearance ("adultified" portrayals of teenage girls)

Traditional media consequences

its linked to generalized body dissatisfaction, increased investment in appearance, greater endorsement of disordered eating behaviors

Gender socialization social media

greater social media use -> greater dissatisfaction with physical appearance, consistent correlational evidence across countries, effects observed in both adolescents and young adults

Social media consequences

exposure to appearance-focused photograph -> upward comparisons, photo editing to "look perfect"

Experimental evidence social media and body concerns

Appearance-focused content (e.g., videos or posts) increases appearance anxiety and body dissatisfaction in teens—especially girls. Effects may also occur in boys, but more research is needed

Baby x studies

50% of men and 80% women play with a "boy" using a football and 89% of men and 73% of women played with a "girl" using a doll

Ben-Zeev & Dennehy (2014)

in a hypothetical decision task, adults were more likely to choose risk-averse treatment for boys dressed in blue, more likely to choose risk-taking treatment for boys dressed in pink

Gender schemas

develop through gender socialization experiences, becomes highly influential beginning in early childhood

Self socialization

children try to maintain consistency between their gender schemas and their behavior, internalizing gender expectations, "boys do boy things; girls do girl things"

Development gender identity age 3-5

(age 3) children recognize and label gender categories (boys vs girls) and (age 4-5) children being identifying many domains as gender-appropriate (toys, clothing, colors, activities, occupation)

Development gender identity adolescence

schemas become more rigid linked to gender intensification, because of increased metacognitive abilities, sexual maturation and heightened awareness of gender differences, stronger gender socialization pressures

Social identity theory

identifying with a social group leads to in-group favoritism, norms tend to be enforced more strongly in higher-status groups

Social identity theory for gender

Boys face stronger pressure to conform to gender roles, fathers discourage cross-gender behavior more (especially in sons), and boys face harsher consequences than girls for it

Appearance pressure for adolescents girls

emotional distress related to appearance, dieting/eating disorders, harassments to appearance from girls/boys (verbal, physical, relational, cyber harassment) persists into adulthood

Appearance pressure for adolescents boys

socialized toward aggression (biological + social factors), which helps establish peer status (e.g., in sports). It's linked to problem behaviors, and low-status boys are more often victimized.

Persistent gender stereotypes

gender stereotypes attribute traits or abilities to people based solely on gender, converging evidence across decades shows these stereotypes

Similarities between genders

similarities exceed differences, most traits follow a normal distribution, overlap between groups is much larger than the distinct portions, find small effect sizes for gender differences, correlation between gender equity and gender differences

Charlesworth et al. (2021)

Across large text corpora, language increasingly favors women over men in positivity, showing a shift toward more female-positive bias over time.

Lobel et al. (2004)

gender stereotypes decline from adolescence to early adulthood; less rigid about gender stereotypes and more accepting of counter-stereotypical traits

Bem Sex Roles Inventory (BSRI)

a measure used to assess gender role perceptions and personality traits

Expressive traits

traditionally associated with femininity, emphasize emotional sensitivity and interpersonal warmth

instrumental traits

traditionally associated with masculinity, emphasize independent, assertiveness, and achievement

Gender ideals

qualities are not gender-specific, most valued traits kindness and honesty while least is wealth/popularity, some gender differences remain in expectations about physical appearance, family orientation, career priorities

Androgyny

possessing both traditionally "masculine" and "feminine" traits, associated with greater flexibility across situations

Androgyny in girls

have the best self-image and peer acceptance, and society is increasingly accepting girls showing "masculine" traits

Androgyny in boys

is less tied to peer acceptance; highly masculine boys have higher self-image; boys face stronger pressure to avoid femininity, and masculinity norms are more stable

Masculinity in boys/men

Strong norms (emotional restriction, self-reliance, dominance) are linked to higher mental health risks and less help-seeking.