Social Psychology and Psychological Disorders

Social Psychology Person Perception: Formation of Impressions

  • Understanding how we perceive and make judgments about other people's behaviors and traits.

    • Example Scenarios:

    • If a professor entered class yelling and slamming things:

      • First impression: "She is a crazy, mean person."

      • Alternate scenario: "She is just having a really bad day."

Attribution Theory

  • Refers to how we explain the behavior of others based on various factors:

    • Internal/External Causes: Attributions may be due to personal characteristics (internal) or situational factors (external).

    • Stable/Unstable Causes: Attributions can be stable (unchanging) or unstable (subject to change).

    • Controllable/Uncontrollable Causes: Factors may be within a person’s control or outside of it.

Attribution Errors

  • Fundamental Attribution Error:

    • Tendency to overestimate internal traits and underestimate external situational influences on others' behaviors.

    • This error tends to lessen with closer relationships.

Person Perception Errors

  • Self-fulfilling Prophecy:

    • Expectations about others can lead individuals to behave in ways that confirm those expectations.

  • Self-serving Bias:

    • Tendency to attribute personal successes to internal factors while blaming failures on external factors.

  • Dunning-Kruger Effect:

    • Individuals with low abilities tend to overestimate their competence, mistakenly assessing their abilities as superior.

Imposter Phenomenon

  • Characterized by an inability to recognize one’s accomplishments, leading to a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud.

Beautiful-is-good Stereotype

  • The belief that physically attractive people possess positive traits and characteristics.

Persuasion

  • Elaboration Likelihood Model:

    • Distinction between central and peripheral processing of persuasive messages.

    • Factors affecting attitude change:

    • Message Source: Credibility and attractiveness of the source.

    • Message Characteristics:

      • Emotional appeal (particularly fear).

    • Target Characteristics:

      • Younger individuals and those with weaker beliefs are more prone to persuasion.

Techniques of Persuasion

  • Foot-in-the-Door:

    • Compliance with a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a larger request later.

Conformity

  • Reasons for conformity and influence:

    • Biological: Group membership activates brain reward pathways.

    • Psychological Influences:

    • Informational Social Influence: Desire to be correct leads individuals to rely on group knowledge.

    • Normative Social Influence: Desire to be liked encourages conformity to the group.

    • Social Differences: Individualistic vs. collectivistic cultures influence conformity levels.

Obedience

  • The Milgram Experiment:

    • Participants acted as teachers administering shocks to learners.

    • Shock levels ranged from 15 to 450 volts, revealing insights into the willingness to obey authority despite ethical concerns.

Cognitive Dissonance

  • Occurs when an individual holds two contradictory beliefs or attitudes, causing psychological discomfort.

  • Effort Justification:

    • People rationalize the effort put into achieving goals by amplifying the value of those goals.

Cult Psychology

  • When Prophecy Fails: A case study of a doomsday cult whose leader received a prophecy of planetary destruction but believed followers would be saved.

Psychological Disorders

Defining Abnormality

  • Criteria of Abnormality:

    • Deviant: Behavior is unusual and not aligned with societal standards.

    • Dysfunctional: Impairs day-to-day functioning.

    • Personal Distress: Individuals experience sorrow and despair.

    • Dangerous: Behaviors may lead to self-harm or harm to others.

The DSM-5

  • The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association:

    • A system for diagnosing and classifying psychological illnesses.

    • Strictly descriptive; avoids discussing causal factors.

    • Limitations: Inflexible, requires meeting multiple criteria for diagnosis;

    • "Meet 5 of the criteria…"

    • Labeling Risks: Impacts perceptions by staff, clinicians, and society; influences aspects like insurance and employment.

Biopsychosocial Model

  • A holistic approach considering biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors impacting mental health.

Case Study Example: Alan

  • Evaluation considerations before prescribing antidepressants:

    • Biological: Medical history, age, lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking, high blood pressure).

    • Psychological: Past mental health history, existing mental illnesses, and belief systems.

    • Sociocultural: Level of social support, job security, cultural/religious influences on mental health.

Specific Psychological Disorders

Schizophrenia

  • Characterized by disturbances in thought and language, inability to discern reality.

    • Typically diagnosed in early adulthood (ages 18-25).

    • Positive Symptoms: Include hallucinations, delusions, agitation, disorganized thinking, and unusual movement.

    • Negative Symptoms: Include social withdrawal, flat affect, and inappropriate emotional responses.

    • Causes: Environmental (e.g., drug use) and biological factors (e.g., genetic predisposition, brain structure anomalies).

Mood Disorders

Major Depression

  • Severe depression lasting at least two weeks, characterized by:

    • Sad mood, loss of interest or pleasure, weight changes, sleep issues, feelings of worthlessness.

Bipolar Disorder

  • Distinct episodes of mania and depression:

    • Mania: Extended elation, high energy, impulsive behavior, and reduced need for sleep.

Dissociative Disorders

  • Memory loss or identity change due to dissociation from consciousness.

    • Results from extreme stress.

    • Dissociative Identity Disorder:

    • Involves multiple distinct personalities within a single person.

Anxiety Disorders

  • Characterized by uncontrollable anxiety, disruptive to daily life:

    • Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Constant worry and restlessness lasting 6+ months.

    • Panic Disorder: Occurrence of panic attacks characterized by intense fear and physiological symptoms.

    • Phobias: Intense, irrational fears disproportionate to actual threats. Commonly feared objects include heights, spiders.

Causes of Anxiety Disorders

  • Neurotransmitter deficiencies and an overactive autonomic nervous system.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD)

  • Obsessions: Persistently unwanted thoughts or ideas.

  • Compulsions: Repeated behaviors to reduce anxiety associated with obsessions (e.g., checking behaviors).

    • Related disorder behaviors include hoarding, skin picking (excoriation), and hair pulling (trichotillomania).

Personality Disorders

  • Inflexible and maladaptive traits impairing functioning: Typically rooted in childhood experiences.

    • Antisocial Personality Disorder: Disregard for societal norms, lack of remorse, often manipulative.

    • Borderline Personality Disorder: Characterized by emotional instability, identity confusion, intense relationships.

Perspectives on Mental Illness

  • Biological Perspective: Consider health history, potential physical ailments contributing to symptoms.

  • Psychological Perspective: Explore mental history and cognitive frameworks impacting mental health.

  • Sociocultural Perspective: Evaluate social support systems and cultural influences on mental health outcomes.

Chapter Summary

  • Media portrayals often misrepresent psychological treatment, emphasizing unrealistic solutions.

  • Therapy encompasses a wide range of techniques (both pharmacological and psychological) to address mental illness.

  • Various mental health providers offer diverse approaches to treatment including psychiatrists, social workers, and psychologists.

  • Past views of mental illness attributed causes to supernatural factors, leading to inhumane treatment methods.

  • Development of the medical model transformed perceptions of mental illness, though environmental factors are often overlooked.

  • Emphasis on evidence-based treatments ensures efficacy and effectiveness in mental health practices.

  • The biopsychosocial model enhances treatment strategies by integrating biological, psychological, and social factors.

  • Psychopharmacotherapies: Include antipsychotics affecting dopamine, antidepressants (MAOIs, TCAs, SSRIs), and anxiolytics reducing anxiety through GABA.

  • Psychotherapy: Addresses psychological aspects of mental illness through diverse methods including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) aiming at reframing negative thought patterns.

  • Social approaches to therapy consider the individual's environment and the availability of supportive resources.

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