Social Psychology & Personality - Key Concepts

Humanistic Approach

• Focuses on conscious, self-motivated ability to improve.
• Carl Rogers: Acceptance, genuineness, and empathy are needed to reach full potential.
• Self-actualization: Inborn desire for self-improvement; rare to achieve.

Social-Cognitive Perspective

• Thoughts, behaviors, and environment interact in a reciprocal cycle (reciprocal determinism).
• Emphasizes observational learning, self-efficacy beliefs, and personal goals.
• Self-efficacy: Belief in one's ability to succeed; influences approach, motivation, effort, persistence, and performance.

Trait Theory

• Gordon Allport: Three categories of traits: cardinal, central, and secondary.
  • Cardinal: Direct most activities (e.g., Mother Teresa's selflessness).
  • Central: Core of personality (5-10 traits, e.g., sociability, honesty).
  • Secondary: Less influential, affect behavior in fewer situations (e.g., preferences).
• Traits influenced by heredity: social potency, traditionalism.
• Temperament: Innate disposition consistent from infancy.

Big Five Personality Factors (OCEAN)

• Openness: Open-minded, curious, creative.
• Conscientiousness: Ambitious, persevering, responsible.
• Extraversion: Friendly, gregarious, energetic.
• Agreeableness: Trusting, straightforward, considerate.
• Emotional Stability: Relaxed, calm, patient.

Personality Inventories & Tests

• Consider test creation, applicability, result interpretation, reliability, and validity.
• Factor analysis: Statistical method to identify clusters of related items on psychological tests.

Motivation

• Motivation: Need or desire that energizes or directs behavior.
• Intrinsic motivation: Based on personal enjoyment.
• Extrinsic motivation: Desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishment.

Theories of Motivation

• Instinct theory: species-specific behavior ensures survival.
• Drive theory: Reduce internal tension caused by unmet biological needs.
• Incentive motivation: External goals and/or rewards.
• Curiosity theory: Knowledge base increases, curiosity also increases.
• Sensation theory (Arousal theory): Maintain an optimal level of arousal.
• Competence and achievement motivation: Motivated to achieve.
• Self-efficacy: Belief in the ability to meet demands of a situation.

Drive-Reduction Theory

• Psychological needs cause stress; motivation to reduce this negative experience.

Arousal Theory

• Maintain an optimal level of arousal.
• Yerkes-Dodson Law: Moderate difficulty tasks yield highest performance; high arousal for easy tasks, low levels for difficult tasks.

Instinct Theory

• Species-specific behaviors motivate survival, e.g., sucking reflex in babies.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

• Type of conflict that motivates behavior.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

• Muscular feedback to the brain influences emotions.

Broaden and Build Theory

• Positive emotions broaden awareness and encourage exploratory thoughts.

Attribution Theory

• Explains the causes of behavior and events.

Explanatory Style

• Way people explain events optimistically or pessimistically.

Attribution Errors

• Actor-Observer Bias: Attribute others' behavior to disposition, own behavior to situation.
• Fundamental Attribution Error: Overemphasize dispositional factors, underestimate situational factors.
• Self-Serving Bias: Take credit for successes, blame failures on external factors.

Locus of Control

• Internal: Control consequences of behavior, better academic achievement, positive attitudes.
• External: Consequences outside control, resigned to conditions.

Stereotype Threat

• Awareness of stereotypes leads to self-imposed performance obstacles.

Theories of Prejudice

• Observational learning and social identity.

Reducing Prejudice

• Increase contact (contact hypothesis).

Factors Leading to Attraction

• Positive evaluation, shared opinions, good physical appearance, familiarity, proximity.

Cognitive Load Theory

• Too much information at once, student's working memory can become overloaded, leading to little or no comprehension of material. Teach from both a visual and auditory perspective, as these use two separate spaces for memory and therefore allow more room in the working memory.

Just-World Phenomenon

• Belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve.