Comprehensive Psychology: Motivation, Self-Regulation, and Group Dynamics

What is motivation concerned with?

Choosing goals, deciding what we want, evaluating incentives.

What does volition refer to?

Protecting the goal, taking action, resisting distractions.

What does Lewin's Model state about goals?

Goals create psychological tension until completed.

What is the Ziegarnik Effect?

People remember unfinished tasks better.

What is the intention-superiority effect?

Intentions are better remembered than other types of information.

What is goal shielding?

Protects current goal from temptation.

What is goal facilitation?

One goal boosts another.

What is the Rubicon Model?

A model that includes predecisional, preactional, actional, and postactional phases.

What are implementation intentions?

If-then plans that increase performance by automating behavior.

What is the evaluative mindset used for?

Assessing the quality of goal outcomes.

What does the hedonic treadmill refer to?

Positive affect is temporary; we return to baseline.

What is the fading affect bias?

Negative events fade faster than positive ones.

What is self-handicapping?

Protecting self-esteem short-term but impairing real outcomes.

What does the marshmallow task assess?

Delay of gratification.

What is the ego depletion model?

Willpower is like a muscle; self-control draws from a shared resource.

What does control theory monitor?

Discrepancies between current state and goal.

How does self-affirmation help with ego depletion?

By increasing self-affirmation.

What tracks social acceptance according to Sociometer Theory?

Self-esteem

What buffers existential fear according to Terror Management Theory?

Self-esteem

According to TMT, defenses increase when people think about what?

Their own death

What are the consequences of high self-esteem?

Reduced risk of depression, increased prejudice, risk-taking, interpersonal costs.

What is the spotlight effect?

Overestimating how much others notice you.

What is the feeling of deprivation called?

Loneliness

What is the lack of confidence or skills to make good impressions called?

Shyness

What results from low confidence or low skill in making a good impression?

Shyness

What are the consequences of ostracism?

Lower self-esteem, ego depletion, increased conformity.

What results from attempts to maintain a positive social identity?

Discrimination, bias, conflict.

What type of task depends on the worst member of the group?

Conjunctive Task

What enhances cooperation between groups?

Superordinate goals.

What are the difficulties groups face when trying to coordinate and share information called?

Collective Action Problems

What type of power does Dwight have as president of his commuter club?

Legitimate power.

What type of game is Chicken?

Symmetric game.

What is the game where one person proposes a split and the other can reject?

Ultimatum Game.

What is true of high need for power except?

Increased testosterone after losing.

What does not explain the reduction in violence over time?

Increased nationalism.

What does self-organization refer to?

Changing behavior to fit the environment.

What is the difference between collectivism and individualism?

Cultures valuing group harmony vs. cultures valuing independence.

What type of aggression do women show more of?

Indirect aggression.

What type of aggression do men show more of?

Physical aggression.

What changes occur in control across the lifespan?

Increasing primary and secondary control in youth; declining in older age.

*Refers to goal striving- how people try to achieve a goal

Volition

*Increased memory for unfinished tasks, first demonstrated with kids interrupted before finishing making something with clay

Ziegarnik Effect

*Alternative goals are made more accessbile in memory to the extent that they do this

Facilitates goals

*An example of this if-then plan would be "Whenever I want to smoke a cigarette, I will chew gum instead"

Implementation intentions

*This phase of the Rubicon Model is motivational in nature and involves deliberation of whether to pursue a goal or not

Predecisional

*Power that derives from liking or identifying with the person

Referent power

*An asymmetric game in which one player can veto an offer from the other player

Ultimatum game

*It is acceptable to defend prperty or identity with violence

Culture of honor

*Refers to the notion that national identity is tied to ethnicity or race

Blood and soil nationalism

*Those who seek high status possessions and leadership roles, for example

High power motive individuals

*Differences between men and women in assertiveness have changes in this way in recent decades

Become smaller

*According to this theory, gender differences are ultimately due to the arbitrary assignment to roles

Social role theory

*This principle suggests that behavior can "evolve" within a culture as a result of individuals influencing each other

Self-organization

*Construals of the self which incorporate roles and relationships, and which are more common in Eastern cultures

Interdependent

*Eating junk food, talking to friend, or being creative, for example

Ways people try to improve mood/emotion regulation

*Describe the fact the we habituate to positive events, returning to our typical affective baseline

Hedonic treadmill

*Explains why individuals in a positive mood are more creative

Hedonic contingency theory

*Dysphoric individuals show less of this memory bias

Fading effect bias

*These individuals seem to be better at ignoring threatening information

Repressors

*An everyday term for effortful self-control of behavior

Willpower

*Performance decrements that supposedly result from previous attempts to control impulses, thoughts, emotions, or performance

Ego depletion

*Self-imposed rewards and punishments, goals shielding, or setting implementation intentions, for example

Self-regulation strategies

*Expressing important values, which has been shown to reduce biased attributions and self-handicapping, and increase delay of gratification

Self-affirmation

*Effort is likely too invested in these when expectancy for a goal is very high or very low

An alternative goal

*A bias in attribution that individuals take credit for success and blame failure on others

Self-serving bias

*Arguments or evidence suggesting one's existing characteristics are superior are held to be more true or important

Motivated reasoning

*Although it can reduce the risk of depression, it seems to have negative consequences for risk taking and interpersonal relationships

Pursuing self-esteem

*According to this theory, defensive behavior is motivated by anxiety caused by thoughts about mortality

Terror Management (TMT)

*Responding to a threat leads to this kind of behavior in a difficult video game among high self-esteem individuals

Risky behavior

*Deprivation of meaningful social relationships

Loneliness

*This type of negative social event leads to increased conformity and reduced self-control

Rejection/ostracism

*This type of conformity results in longer lasting beliefs, such as when a situation is ambiguous

Informational conformity

*Social groups meet these three types of needs

Identity, tasks, and intimacy

*Identifying oneself as more similar to the group sterotype

Self-stereotyping

*Tasks that require good performance by the best member of the group

Disjunctive

*The hidden profiles effect occurs because groups may not do tis with information

Share

*Large numbers entering or leaving a space can result in crushes because people have difficulty doing this, particularly under pressure

Coordinate actions

*Diversity can improve this group if members are given equal status and respect

Creativity

*Alternative approches to this include situation selection, situation modification, appraisal, and attention deployment

Inhibitory self-control