Social Psychology and Personality Disorders Review Flashcards

Social Psychology and Related Concepts

• Social Psychology: Study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in social contexts.

• Attribution Theory: A framework for understanding how individuals explain the causes of behavior.

• Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to attribute others' behavior to their character while attributing our own behavior to situational factors.

• Attitudes: A person's evaluation of objects, people, or issues, influenced by beliefs and emotions.

• Zimbardo's Prison Study: Investigated the psychological effects of perceived power, showcasing how quickly individuals could conform to roles of prisoners and guards.

• Asch's Conformity Study: Demonstrated the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect an individual’s judgment.

• Milgram's Obedience Study: Showed that people are willing to follow orders to harm others, exploring the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience.

• Social Facilitation: Improved performance on tasks in the presence of others, often seen in simple tasks or well-practiced abilities.

• Social Loafing: Tendency of individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone.

• Deindividuation: Loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations, often leading to atypical behavior.

• Bystander Effect: Phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

• Prejudice: A preconceived negative judgment or opinion about an individual or group based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, or religion. Current trends indicate changing rates of prejudice and discrimination.

• Mere Exposure Effect: Psychological phenomenon where individuals tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them.

• Attraction Theories: Examines whether opposites attract or if people with similar backgrounds and values tend to form relationships (birds of a feather flocks together).

Classical Perspectives on Personality

• Personality: Individual's characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior.

• Psychoanalysis: Freud's theory that unconscious motives control behavior.

• Psychodynamic Perspective: Focuses on how inner forces and conflicts shape behavior and personality.

• Freud's Three Systems:

  • Id: Primitive impulses and desires.
  • Ego: Reality-oriented aspect that mediates between the desires of the id and the morals of the superego.
  • Superego: The moral conscience of an individual consisting of internalized societal and parental standards.

• Five Psychosexual Stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital—each characterized by different erogenous zones.

  • Oedipus Complex: A child's feelings of desire for the opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward the same-sex parent.

• Defense Mechanisms: Psychological strategies used to cope with anxiety and protect the ego (e.g., repression, denial, projection).

• Rorschach Inkblot Test: A projective psychological test consisting of inkblots used to assess personality and emotional functioning. The reliability of this test has been questioned.

• Humanist Psychology: In contrast to psychoanalytic theory, focuses on individual potential and stresses the importance of growth and self-actualization (e.g., Maslow and Rogers).

  • Self-Actualization: Realizing one's potential and self-fulfillment.
  • Unconditional Positive Regard: Accepting and valuing a person without conditions or strings attached.

Contemporary Perspectives on Personality

• Traits: Consistent patterns of thoughts and behaviors characterized by certain traits.

• Big Five Personality Factors: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (OCEAN model).

• Person-Situation Controversy: Discussion regarding how much of a person's behavior is determined by personality traits vs. situational factors.

• Locus of Control:

  • External Locus: Belief that outcomes are determined by external forces.
  • Internal Locus: Belief that outcomes are largely a result of one's own efforts and actions.

• Self-Serving Bias: Tendency to attribute positive events to one’s own character while attributing negative events to external factors.

Psychological Disorders, Anxiety, and Mood Disorders

• Psychological Disorders: Conditions characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

• Medical Model: Conceptualizes psychological disorders as diseases that can be diagnosed, treated, and cured.

• Diagnosis and Classification: Use of standardized criteria (e.g., DSM-5) for diagnosing mental health issues.

• Types of Anxiety Disorders:

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  • Panic Disorder
  • Phobias
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Learning Perspective on Anxiety Disorders: Suggests that anxiety behaviors are learned responses to environmental stimuli.

• Biological Perspective on Anxiety Disorders: Examines the role of genetics, brain chemistry, and physical changes in relation to anxiety.

• Mood Disorders: Conditions primarily involving disturbances in mood, the two major types being Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.

• Biological Factors Underlying Mood Disorders: Involves chemical imbalances in the brain, genetics, and hormonal changes.

• Explanatory Style and Depression: The way individuals interpret life events can affect their mood; those with a pessimistic explanatory style may be more prone to depression.

Schizophrenia and Related Disorders

• Schizophrenia: A severe mental disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and other cognitive difficulties.

  • Subtypes: Can include paranoid, disorganized, and catatonic schizophrenia among others.

• Causes of Schizophrenia: Multi-faceted, including genetic predisposition, brain abnormalities (e.g., neurotransmitter imbalances), and psychological stressors.

• Dissociative Identity Disorder: Characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states or an experience of possession.

• Antisocial Personality Disorder: A condition marked by patterns of disregard for others, manipulation, and violation of social norms. Factors include biological influences, environmental factors, and childhood experiences.