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108,929 Words on:
Social
Psychology
A Critical and Creative View
Website Created in August 2008
By David Alderoty
Phone (212) 581-3740
E-mail is RunDavid@Verizon.net
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Chapter
1: The Science of Social Psychology and Examples of Theories in the Discipline
An
Introduction to Social Psychology
Question: Is there a Negativity Bias Also?
Question: Can the Positivity Bias and the Negativity
Bias be Combined into one General Theory?
Can
the Positivity Bias and Negativity Bias be Advanced into one General Theory?
A
Very Important Principle for the Human Behavior Sciences
Other
Ways of Describing a Schema
A
Schema of an Intelligent Person
A
Schema of an Authoritarian Personality
A
Schema Held by a Prejudice Person
Chapter
3: Nonverbal Communications and Self Presentation
Verbal
and Nonverbal Function Together
Chapter
4: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Definitions
of The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
A
General Model of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Related Ideas
Examples
of Sociological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Examples
of Social Psychological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Examples
of a Psychological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Positive Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Social-Psychological
and Sociological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Involving Hostile Interactions
The
Development of One Type of Prophecy From Another
Self-Fulfilling
Prophecies that Emerge From One's Self-Concept
The
General Application of the Concept and the Concluding Words of the Chapter
Following
the Judgment of Others
Chapter
6: Attributions and Related Ideas
Social
Psychological Attributions
Interpretation
of Psychological Attributions
Positive
and Negative Halo Effect and Attributions
The
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Attributions
What
are the Real Causes, the Accurate Attributions
Attributions
and Problem Solving
Factors
that might be Attributed to Internal or External Causality
Chapter
7: The Self and Self Presentation and Related Ideas
What
is the: Social-Concept of an Individual
What
is the Working Self-Concept?
How
do We Learn About Ourselves
The
Dynamics and Components of the Self and Society
Chapter
8: Attitudes and Related Ideas
What
is Cognitive Consistency?
Chapter
9: Prejudice and Related Ideas
What
is the Difference Between Prejudice and Discrimination?
How
do People Become Prejudice
The
Different Types of Discrimination
What
is the Authoritarian Personality
What
Are the Real Causes of Prejudice?
Chapter
10: Social Influence and Related Ideas.
The
General Model of Social Psychological Control
The
Bertram Raven Model of Social Influence
What
is the Milgram Experiment?
The
Ethics of the Milgram Experiment
The
Value of the Milgram Experiment
Chapter
11: Human Relationships and Related Ideas
Genetic
Limitations that Facilitate Interaction with Others:
Emotionally
Based Affiliation Deficiency Loneliness) and Economic Affiliation Deficiency
Self
Disclosure and Related Ideas
Three
General Models of Human Relationships.
Relationships
of a Personal Friendship Nature
The
Power Dynamics in Relationships
Attraction,
Liking and Disliking
Chapter
12: Group Behavior and Related Ideas
The
Definition of a Group and Related Ideas
Question,
are there genetic factors that predispose human beings to a group structure?
What
factors are primary to a group?
Chapter
13: Male and Female Differences, Sexual Discrimination and Related Ideas
Sexual
Discrimination and Related Ideas
Question,
is there discrimination against men?
Chapter
14: Helping Behavior and Related Ideas.
Question,
what steps are involved with helping behavior?
The
socialization process in relation to providing helps
Chapter
15: Aggression and Related Ideas
Chapter
16: Social Psychological Factors that Relate to Health
Health
Behaviors and Related Ideas
Stressful
Life Experiences and Risk of Developing Health Problems
Chapter
17: The Environmental Psychology of Personal Space, Territory Crowding and
Related Ideas
Chapter
18: A General Model of the Social Psychology of Labeling
Part
One: The Basic Thesis of the Model
Part
Two: Additional ideas of the General Model of the Social Psychology of Labeling
Part
Three: The Defining Component and Related Ideas
Part
Four: The Psychological Component and Related Ideas:
Part
Five: The Social Component and Related Ideas
Part
Six: The Social Psychological Component and Related Ideas
Chapter 1: The Science of Social Psychology and Examples of
Theories in the Discipline
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An Introduction to Social Psychology
Social psychologists like all scientists sometimes just
collect data. Such data might simply
serve a descriptive purpose, or serve to develop new hypothetical models
or confirm or disprove existing theories.
However, social psychology is very different from the hard sciences,
which is true of all the human behavior sciences. This difference will be seen in the following
paragraphs.
In the human behavior sciences, including
social psychology, there is not always a known or clearly apparent cause
for a specific phenomenon. Very often
there can be multiple causes for the same phenomenon, as evaluated in different
individuals. Even the same individual
can demonstrate the same behavior under different circumstances for entirely
different reasons. The same behavior
pattern can develop in two individuals as a result of entirely different types
of learning.
As will be seen in the last chapter of
this book (Chapter 19: The Causes of Human Behavior Phenomena as Explained
by a General Model of Socio-Cultural Learning), learning is involved with
all, or almost all, types of human behavior.
Thus, as will be demonstrated in chapter 19 if we look at human behavior
phenomena from the level of various types of learning, the conclusion is that
the behavior is the result of learning.
However, if the problem is examined from a different level, there are
very often multiple causes for the same type of behavior. This can involve different types of learned
behavior patterns and different motivations.
This multiple causality is typical of very
complicated systems, such as human beings, societies, computers and ecological
systems. The type of multiple
causality, I am discussing here is generally not present with the simple
systems that the physicist and chemist work with. A specific chemical reaction generally takes
place for the same reasons each time it is carried out. However, human beings can respond in the
same way for many different reasons.
This can be very confusing to the human behavior scientist that does not
have an understanding of very complicated systems. The confusion will even be worse if they
attempt to think in terms of the relatively simple approach used by the hard
scientist working with atoms and molecules.
In social psychology there may not
be any single theory that successfully explains the cause of
certain phenomena. This even happens in
the hard sciences. That is, something
might happen when a certain set of factors are present, but we may not
understand why it happens. For example,
if we drop a ball, it falls to the floor, but there is no precise explanation
of why this happens. We know when it
will happen, and even how long it will take the ball to fall a given
distance. This is predicted and
mathematically described by
In the physical sciences it is relatively
easy to develop general theories, which apply to a wide variety of
conditions. This might be less true in
social psychology and other human behavior sciences. There is very often no general theory that
can successfully explain the phenomena associated with human behavior. However, there may be a non-general theory
that can explain or at least describe a specific phenomenon, such as helping
behavior, aggression under specific circumstances, etc. These theories are called middle-range
theories. This can be restated as
follows. Middle-range theories
deal with specific aspects of human behavior.
The positivity bias is essentially an example of a middle range
theory, because it focuses on one aspect of human behavior, which is a tendency
for people to evaluate others positively.
This theory is also an example of a descriptive theory. The theory is used as an example in the
following paragraphs and it is explained below.
The positivity
bias (also referred to as the leniency effect or person positivity bias) is a
tendency for people to evaluate others more often in a positive way than in a
negative way. Question: is this theory
really correct? I believe it is most
likely to be correct in certain situations, which perhaps is a disagreement
with the established view. That is, it
probably is not universally true in all psychological, social and cultural
contexts. A more scientific and
accurate statement is the following.
Under certain psychological[1],
social, and cultural conditions people have a tendency to evaluate others more
positively than negatively. (These conditions will be discussed toward the end
of this text.)
Question: what are the causes for the
positive evaluations? If we can
successfully answer this question, the nature of the theory will be advanced
from a strictly descriptive theory to an explanatory theory.
There are most likely multiple causes for
positive evaluations, which are not necessarily the same for different
situations and different people. One or
more of the following ten factors may cause a positive evaluation in a specific
situation.
1) Evaluating people
positively can avoid conflict, and result in rewarding interactions with
others. Evaluating people
negatively can get a person into trouble, especially if the evaluation is
toward an individual with power over the evaluator. However, even evaluating a peer or an
inferior negatively can bring significant undesirable consequences for the
evaluator, in many situations. An
example, can sometimes be seen if a young man implies that he is not attracted
to a young woman on the first introduction.
The results can be extreme hostility and a statement implying murder,
hurled at the man. In general, people
who evaluate others negatively might be more inclined to get into conflict, and
have great difficulties making friends and keeping their jobs.
Even if the evaluation is done in total confidence,
there is always a chance that the evaluation will be revealed intentionally or
accidentally to the individual that is evaluated. Thus, it is generally a commonsense idea,
that it is safer and wiser to present positive evaluations of people.
We
learn to think of people in a positive way to avoid negative consequences. On a conscious and unconscious level we
associate a negative evaluation of another person with a potential penalty
inflicted on us. We also learn that a
positive evaluation will bring rewards, such as a smile, a date, friendship,
cooperation, assistance, and even sometimes a raise in salary.
2) Many of us were taught
from childhood to be positive thinkers.
Most of us were told about the power of positive thinking. This notion is incorporated into practical
psychological theories that the layman is exposed to. Positive thinking is also preached in the
form of various religious doctrines. Positive
thinking in relation to other human beings is taught to most people in the
developing years. Thus, the
individual might evaluate people in a positive way based on the above
idea.
3) We sometimes evaluate
people positively because we like them, and/or empathize with them. This is most likely to be the case if there
is some chance that our evaluation might have some significant consequences for
the person being evaluated. Examples,
where this might apply are on the job and in social situations where new
friendships and mates are being sought.
4) We take pride if we
think of our relatives and friends in positive terms. This positivity reflects on our own
qualities, which makes us feel good.
Negative evaluations of relatives and friends can have the opposite
effect; it is a reflection of our own negative qualities. For example, if our relatives have good
qualities, we may think that are family including ourselves are very cultured,
wise and have a good genetic heritage.
5) People select out and
interact with people they believe to be positive and reject people they think
are negative. Thus, the people
they form relationships with were first evaluated positively and then
relationships were formed. People that
are evaluated negatively, especially on successive interactions, are not likely
to become permanently involved with the individual. Thus, we often evaluate the people that we
selected positively, because that is the reason we selected them in the first
place.
6) We sometimes evaluate
people positively simply because we are accurate and realistic. There are many people we encounter that truly
have positive qualities. There are many
highly moral people in our society.
There are also many people that worked many years advancing themselves
academically and/or socially. These
people and other hard working, gifted, and talented individuals may be
evaluated positively simply as a result of an accurate evaluation. This is not a bias, but it is important to
understand that some positive evaluations are truly accurate.
7) We are motivated to
see certain people in positive ways simply because it is reassuring to do so. It can simply be reassuring, to think of a
partner, our doctor, friends, professors, etc., in positive ways. We depend on such people, and if we evaluate
them negatively, it might result in a considerable amount of worry and anxiety
on our part. If people we depend on are
inadequate, we certainly do have something to worry about. Thus, we think of them in positive terms and may
focus on their positive qualities. Even
if we are fooling ourselves, the positive beliefs might still reduce our worry
and anxiety. (Perhaps this is not really
functional in the long run, but that is not the point of this discussion.)
8) People sometimes
inadvertently or intentionally fool themselves, that an individual has positive
traits, because they must work with the individual. If we are forced to work with someone it
might be more pleasant if we think of them in positive terms. If we think of them in negative terms we are
likely to say and do the wrong things, which will result in conflict. Many of us have simply learned a wise
strategy to deal with people we must interact with who have negative qualities. We simply try to think of them in positive
terms, focus on their good qualities and ignore their negative habits. This facilitates harmonious actions and
statements from us, which will result in a more pleasant situation than would
be possible otherwise.
9) People sometimes
evaluate others more positively because of a positive halo effect. When a person has one or more truly positive
traits that are apparent to others, there is a tendency to evaluate other
aspect of the person positively. For
example, if a person is very physically attractive, he may be evaluated as more
honest, loyal, sociable, pleasant and intelligent than he really is. This of course will result in more positive
evaluations then negative ones.
10) In general, it is
probably more pleasant to evaluate people positively. People feel better if they are in an
environment with pleasant things including other people. As a result, human beings tend to evaluate
everything more positively, according to Boucher and Osgood[2]. This is called the Pollyanna principle. I do not believe that this so-called
principle is really totally correct under all psychological, social and
cultural conditions, but it is sometimes quite true. Hence, people may evaluate things positively
because it makes them feel good, which facilitates more positive evaluations.
NOTE (One can find more factors
than the above, but the ten factors adequately explain the tendency to evaluate
other human beings positively, under certain psychological, social and cultural
conditions.)
The ten factors on the list are all
associated with some type of learning.
We learn from an emotional and intellectual perspective to evaluate
people positively under certain conditions.
We learn that there may be some type of punishment if we evaluate
negatively. We learn that positive
evaluations of others may bring rewards.
Many of us were taught to think of people in positive ways, especially
people we like. We learned that we must
not reveal negative things about our family in public, but it is okay to talk
about positive things. We were taught
what are positive and negative factors and we learned to feel good about the
positives. We were taught to select are
friends and potential mates, based on certain criteria, which relate to
positive evaluations. We learned that
some people have positive traits and truly deserve a positive evaluation. We also learn that it is often wise and
productive to evaluate people positively, even when such an evaluation might be
unjustified. We inadvertently learned
that one positive trait should be associated with another, which is really an
example of an unconscious emotional type of learning. And we learned to fool ourselves (which is
often done unconsciously) with positive evaluations under some conditions. Thus, the above can be summed up in terms of
learning theory.
Question: Is there a
Negativity Bias Also?
Most of us who have had any experience with people are aware
that people often evaluate others negatively. This does not contradict the positivity bias,
as the theory is described above, because the psychological, social and
cultural conditions are different for negative evaluations. However, there is a negativity bias
also[3]. A more scientific and accurate statement
is the following. Under certain
psychological, social and cultural conditions people have a tendency to
evaluate others more negatively than positively. Thus, we can ask the same questions that were
asked with the positivity bias. What are
the causes for the negativity bias? This
will advance this idea from a descriptive theory to an explanatory theory, just
as was the case with the positivity bias.
And once again, we are dealing with a very complicated system that
involves the human mind and the behavior that flows from it. This suggests that the causative factors are
probably multiple in number, as was the case with the previous example. Thus, one or more of the following factors
cause negative evaluations:
1) Negative evaluations
can be the result of frustration with relatives, friends, and employers. Very often people who we are close with or
people who have power over us, such as employers and parents, cause a
considerable amount of frustration. This
frustration increases the amount of negative evaluations, of people in this
category.
2)
We might evaluate a person negatively simply because they really do have
negative qualities. Negative
evaluations can be the result of the evaluator being accurate and
realistic. Most people have at least
some negative qualities and some people have many. There are many individuals in are society who
are not intelligent, who have psychological deficiencies and who are
immoral. Thus, negative evaluations can
be the result of an accurate judgment.
Sometimes accurate negative evaluations are meant as feedback for the
person being evaluated, such as a dance instructor assisting her students, with
constructive criticism. None of the
above is a bias, but it is important to understand that some negative
evaluations are truly accurate.
3) Negative evaluations can
be the result of knowing an individual well enough to be aware of his or her
negative traits. When we get to
know someone well we learn about their negative traits. This can increase negative evaluations.
4) We might evaluate
people negatively simply because we do not like them. People that we do not like, whatever the
reason is, might be negatively evaluated by us.
5) Negative evaluations
are sometimes the result of a specific type of prejudice. In our world there are many varieties of
prejudice. People make negative
judgments as a result of race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation,
country of origin, and many other categories.
Most people fall into at least one or two categories that will result in
prejudicial responses from some people.
Thus, prejudice can account for much of the negative evaluations in our
society.
6) Negative evaluations
of others are often facilitated by jealousy. If someone similar to ourselves out performs
us in an area that is related to our own goals or self image, we may evaluate
them negatively. We might under rate
their achievements, and focus on their negative qualities.
7) Many of us were taught
from childhood to be critical of others under certain conditions. Most of us were taught to be critical of our
own short comings and the weaknesses of others, especially when the
deficiencies can be remedied by effort.
As children most of us were taught to stay away from certain people with
moral or psychological deficiencies.
This critical philosophy often leads to negative evaluations of other
people.
8) There are many people
in are society that were taught to look at the negative side of things. Many of us were brought up in difficult
environments and were taught that life has many negative elements. The idea was that if these negatives were
ignored, the individual is not being realistic, or is not in touch with
reality. This negative philosophy is
probably more prevalent in poor and working class environments. However, the point is that the philosophy is
applied to the evaluation of people and results in more negative
evaluations.
9) The evaluations can be
the result of the forked tail effect.
When a person has one or more truly negative traits that are apparent to
others, there is a tendency to evaluate other aspects of the person
negatively. For example, if a person is
grossly unattractive, he or she may also be seen as unfriendly, hostile,
dishonest, vicious, and lacking in intelligence. This is called the forked tail effect. It is a type of halo effect that involves a
negative halo, which facilitates negative evaluations from others. Thus, one apparent negative can facilitate
additional negative evaluations, which may not be accurate.
NOTE (One can find more factors
than the above, but the nine factors adequately explain the tendency to
evaluate other human beings negatively, under certain psychological, social and
cultural conditions.)
The above nine factors are also essentially
the result of learning, just as was the case with the factors for the
positivity bias. We learn that certain
goals and situations are desirable, and we may be frustrated from obtaining
them by parents or by our boss. We also
learn when to be frustrated with people.
We learn what constitutes a negative quality. Getting to know a person and his negative
traits is a learning process. Knowing a
person well enough not to like him, also involves learning. We learn to be prejudice. We also learn to be jealous, directly and
indirectly. Directly by learning certain
values such as monogamy and indirectly by developing a self image and learning
about what we want to have and achieve.
We are taught to be critical of others, and some of us are taught to be
negative toward the shortcomings of people in general. We inadvertently learn to associate apparent
negative traits with other negative qualities, even if those qualities are not
really present. The above can
essentially be summed up in terms of learning theory, just as was the case with
the previous set of factors for the positivity bias.
Question: Can the
Positivity Bias and the Negativity Bias be Combined into one General Theory?
We can
combine the positivity bias and the negativity bias into a single theory that
is more general than either, as follows.
Psychological, social, and cultural conditions will
influence peoples evaluation of others.
Under some conditions there will be more positive evaluations and under
other conditions there will be more negative evaluations. I will call this model the theory of
negative and positive bias. Now I
will return to the question of what conditions affect a person's evaluation of
others. (In the following discussion all of the possible conditions cannot be
discussed, but some important conditions are explained.)
The psychological conditions: There are many psychological conditions that
will facilitate either positive or negative evaluations of people. The personality of the individual is one
primary factor. Some people simply
learned to be more positive and others more negative. The mood of a person is also a factor. Most people in a good mood will evaluate
people more positively than when they are in a bad mood. A happy well‑adjusted person will
evaluate much more positively than a depressed person.
Another factor that influences the number
of positive and negative evaluations is the psychology of the listener. The listener can consciously or inadvertently
facilitate either negative or positive statements from the person that is
talking to him. Some people simply do
not want to hear negative statements about others. And of course there are people that are just
the opposite. The listener will make his
interests known by body language, such as facial expressions as well as verbal
maneuvers such as changing the subject.
The social conditions: The social conditions where we are most
likely to evaluate people positively are where the positive evaluation has no
negative consequences for us or where a negative evaluation might lead to some
type of penalty for us. These situations
include circumstances where we have no choice of the individuals we are going
to interact with, such as the professor we obtain for a specific subject. A negative evaluation in this situation might
get us into real trouble, and a positive evaluation might even help us get a
good grade. This is even true if the
evaluation is anonymous, because it might be accidentally or intentionally
revealed to the instructor. The same
situation can also apply to the work environment in relation to other employees
as well as the boss.
In many experimental conditions, using
paper and pencil evaluations there is no consequences in providing the
experimenter with positive evaluations.
The positive evaluations might even make us seem well adjusted and
cooperative. In general, any type of
survey, whatever technique it incorporates (including questionnaires and
interviews) to obtain information there is nothing to lose by giving positive
evaluations. And most likely that is
just what the subjects of experiments do in many cases.
In social situations where there are
significant consequences for us, based on our evaluations of others, there is
likely to be relatively strict evaluations, which can result in more
negatives. For example, if we are
choosing an employee, a potential mate, or even a friend our evaluations are
likely to be less positive, and stricter, especially if we have many
choices. In such situations, it can cost
us considerably if we make unrealistic positive evaluations.
If we are talking to a friend, relative,
or therapist we trust in a totally private situation our evaluation of people
will probably be more negative. However,
if we are talking to anybody in an opened social setting, such as a party, our
evaluations may be more positive. We
might complain to a close friend about the negative habits of our husband,
wife, kids, boss or next door neighbor, when we are in a private situation. In a less private situation, such as the
party we might be more inclined to brag about our relatives. If we reveal negative views in private there
is not likely to be any adverse consequences, but there will probably be some
negative responses from others if we reveal negative statements in the more
public situations, such as in a party.
In less private social situations we run the risk of creating a bad
impression or facilitating gossip about our private affairs, if we reveal
negatives about other people we are involved with. If we make negative statements about others
in the party, we also run the risk that this will be revealed to the individual
we are talking about.
Thus, most of the factors associated with
positive and negative evaluations under different social conditions are
determined by the relative risks, costs, actual and potential gains. The above serves to guide us in our choice of
being positive or negative in our evaluations.
This can be summed up by decision-making theory.
The cultural conditions: The tendency to evaluate people positively
and negatively most likely will vary with the specific culture and the
culturally related circumstances. The
many thousands of cultures throughout the world no doubt have many different
norms and values in relation to how people are to be evaluated.
Can the Positivity Bias and Negativity Bias be Advanced into
one General Theory?
The
psychological, social, and cultural conditions will influence
people's evaluation of any entity or set of circumstances. Under some conditions there
will be more positive evaluations and under other conditions
there will be more negative evaluations.
I will call this model the general theory of negative and positive
evaluations. This general theory
applies to people, objects, and situations.
Of course, this theory does not imply that we evaluate everything the
same way. We probably evaluate people
much more generously and positively than objects[4]. There is a special value we place on
people. This can be seen from
commonsense experiences. For example,
when a car is too old to function effectively, we dispose of it. When people are too old to function we try to
restore their function or at the very least maintain their life, even if they
are useless. However, keep in mind that
the above generalized theory applies to people, objects and circumstances.
A Very Important Principle for the Human Behavior Sciences
From the above paragraphs a very important principle for the
human behavior sciences becomes apparent. Generally, a theory in social psychology and
other human behavior sciences is only true under one or more sets of
psychological, social, and cultural conditions.
This also means that most theories in the human behavior sciences will
be untrue under one or more sets of psychological, social and cultural
conditions. A primary objective should
be to understand the conditions where a specific theory is true and the
conditions where the theory is untrue.
Ideally the wording of a theory should state the conditions where the
theory is applicable. Of course, it is
not always possible to (precisely) define the set of conditions where the
theory works and where it fails, in the human behavior sciences.
A related
concept to the discussion of positivity and negativity bias is person
perception. This concept deals with
how we perceive, judge, conceptualize and evaluate other people. In this brief discussion, I will focus on how
we evaluate others. There are a number
of theoretical models that attempt to explain how we make evaluations of
people. One model is called the averaging
principle. This theory implies that
we put a numerical value on various traits and evaluate the person on the
average value of all his traits. Another
model is the additive principle, which implies that we simply add the
value of all the traits. Still another
model is the weighted averaging principle, which implies that we take an
average but give more weight to traits we believe are important for a specific
situation. This is probably the most
accurate model of the three. However, I
believe all of these models are poor representations of what actually takes
place when we evaluate people under normal psychological, social and
cultural conditions. The models
(averaging principle, additive principle, weighted averaging
principle) do, more or less, represent what happens under various
experimental conditions.
Under most psychological, social and
cultural conditions, we probably give different weight to the various traits
that we see in people, as stated by the weighted averaging principle. However, in the real situation we might
totally ignore irrelevant traits. Under
experimental conditions the evidence appears that we tend to take the average
value for traits, but this probably is not true outside of the laboratory.
One component that makes research on how
we evaluate people difficult is that it is not really easy to determine what a
positive and negative trait really is.
This is determined by the psychological, social and cultural
conditions. For example, cautiousness
can be considered a very positive trait if we are hiring an explosive
expert. Most middle aged and elderly
people in our society would consider this a relatively positive trait. However, many young people would consider cautiousness
as a somewhat negative trait, because many of the subcultures of young people
advocate risk taking. Young single
people from some segments of our society might associate cautiousness with a
fear of sexual involvement. We teach
young men that they must be risk takers in times of war. Cautiousness can be associated with a coward,
in many situations that the young individual faces.
Thus, none of the three models represent
the very complicated way people make evaluations under normal psychological,
social, and cultural conditions. Common
sense evaluations can sometimes be more accurate and revealing than the
laboratory research, when we are studying human behavior. This will become apparent in the following
paragraphs.
If I examine my personal methods of
evaluating people, I find I do not use any of the methods described above. Basically, I evaluate the relevant traits,
giving greater weight to the more important traits. I mentally take the net value. I do not take an average value. If certain primary traits are not present the
evaluation is essentially zero, no matter what the net value is. If certain primary negative traits are
present the evaluation is also zero, even if the net value is very high. For example, if I was to hire a mathematics
tutor, I would place great value on his knowledge of mathematics, and his
ability to explain mathematical principles.
These two traits are primary and if either of these were not present I
would not hire him. Then I would
consider less important traits, which I will call secondary traits. If he also was knowledgeable in physics I would
give that secondary trait some value. If
he was skilled in the statistical mathematics used in psychology, I would rate
him even higher. If he was an excellent
football player, that trait would not be relevant. Thus, I would ignore it. If he had a bad temper that secondary trait
would be added with a negative sign along with the other traits. I still might hire him with his temper
problem, if his net score is high enough.
However, if he was also very dishonest and had a history of robbing
homes, I would not hire him under any circumstances. This trait is a primary negative.
A generalization of the above method can
be represented with the following formula.
(The following might be very complicated for those without a
mathematical background.)
P1P2(Wp1P1+Wp2P2+Wt1T1+Wt2T2+Wt3T3)(1-Na/Nb)=V
With this formula a scale is
chosen, which is used to represent the estimated value of the various traits
and their relative weight. The scale
must have a plus and minus range as can be seen in the last sentence of this
paragraph. For the example explained
below, I will use a scale from
+10 to -10. For more complicated situations a scale from
+100 to -100 or even +1000 to -1000 might be appropriate.
The Wp1 and Wp2
are the weighted value of the primary traits.
The primary traits are represented by P1 and P2. (As implied by the increasing subscript there
can be any number of primary traits each represented by a Wp and a P
with an appropriate subscript number.)
For example, one primary trait for the mathematics tutor is mathematical
knowledge, which could be called P1.
If he is very knowledgeable P1=10. The weighted value for this trait is fairly
high (by my standards) thus, Wp1=9.
The second primary factor is his ability to explain mathematical
principles. Let us assume he is
moderately good thus, P2=8.
This trait is extremely important so I would place a weighted value of
10 on it, which means Wp2=10.
It should be noted that if either of these traits were 0 the value of
the equation would also be 0. In general
when one or more primary traits are 0 the value of the equation is 0.
The Wt1, Wt2
and Wt3 are the weighted values of the secondary traits T1,
T2 and T3. (As
implied by the increasing subscript numbers there can be any number of traits
each represented by a Wt and a T with an appropriate subscript
number.) For example, let us assume that
the tutor has a fair knowledge of physics, represented by T1=5,
which is moderately important to me, so the weighted value would be represented
by Wt1=6. If he also has
excellent knowledge in statistical methods of psychology, this could be
represented by T2=10 with the weighted value being represented Wt2=5. If he has a moderately bad temper this trait
can be represented with a negative sign as such T3=-7 with a
weighted value of Wt3=6. If
there are no secondary traits the equation will still work and the value of the
equation could still be quite high if the primary traits are high.
Na is a primary
negative trait, and Na = Nb. If a primary negative trait is present the
equation will be equal to 0 no matter what the values of the other factors of
the equation are. The mathematical
reason for this is the numerator and
denominator of the fraction Na/Nb has the same
value if there is a primary negative, which will always equal 1. In addition, there is a minus sign next to
the fraction, which results in a -1.
This is added to the 1 next to the fraction, which equals 1-1=0. The value of the remainder of the equation
will then be 0, because any number multiplied by 0 is equal to 0. If there are no primary negatives the value
of the fraction Na/Nb will equal 0 in this formula. If there is more than one primary negative,
they can be multiplied together and their product can be represented by the Na
and Nb terms. However, this
only has theoretical value, because the value of the equation will be 0 if
there are one or more primary negatives.
The actual mathematics with the
hypothetical tutor would be:
P1P2(Wp1P1+Wp2P2+Wt1T1+Wt2T2+Wt3T3)(1-Na/Nb)=V
(10)(8)(9(10)+10(8)+6(5)+5(10)+6(-7))(1-0)=16,640.
NOTE (The 0 on the right side
of the equation means there are no primary negatives, which is represented by Na
and
Although the above method might appear
very complicated, most people probably do something very similar in their
mind's: without a tremendous amount of thought, without actually assigning
numbers to the traits, and without being aware of precisely how they are
making the evaluation. The above is
simply a representation of the commonsense method in terms of mathematical
symbols. That is, if we watch people
make decisions and listen to their reasoning we will probably find something very
similar to the above under normal psychological, social and cultural
conditions. However, under laboratory
conditions we might find something similar to the weighted averaging principle.
Left click on these words to hear a sound file of the
following:
There are many ways that a
definition of a schema can be worded.
The following definitions, which are from a number of sources, reveal
this. In Social Psychology 8th
edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears, the following definition appears in
the glossary. "Schema An
organized system or structure of cognitions about some stimulus or type of
stimulus, such as a person, personality type, group, role, or event." In Psychology fourth edition 1994, by
Gleitman, this definition appears in the glossary. "Schema In theories of memory and thinking, a term
that refers to a general cognitive structure in terms of which information can
be organized." A simple dictionary
definition (from the Franklin Language Master LM 5000 electronic dictionary)
"schema: 1) outline 2) mental configuration of experience" In the
college addition, Webster's New World Dictionary of the American language 1966,
the following definition appears for the word schema: "an outline,
systematic arrangement, diagram, scheme, or plan. My general model of a schema is broader than
some of the above definitions, and is presented in the following paragraphs.
A schema is a set of ideas
that relate to an entity. The
term ideas refers to any information that comes to us as a result of
thinking or through the five senses, such as thoughts, images, descriptive
terms or sentences, relationships, steps or motion sequences. (Steps or motion sequences relate to a
certain type of schema that is called a script that involves a set of actions
that relate to an event or goal.) The
term entity in the definition is any object or event. The object can be a person, place or
physical structure. The word event
means any happening, situation or goal.
In general, anything that involves a series of steps is an event. (Scripts are schemas of events.)
Some, but certainly not all, schemas have
specific emotional responses or feelings associated with them. That is, the ideas comprising a schema can
have certain types of emotions associated with them. Another way of conceptualizing this is to
realize that parts of the ideas comprising a schema can be emotional in nature. That is, part of the idea (which is mental
information) can be emotional reactions or feelings. (I will come back to this idea later in this
book, when I discuss attitudes.)
The set of ideas that comprise a schema
can be: highly organized, moderately organized, or very loosely organized. The level of organization and the way the
ideas are organized depends on the specific schema.
The ideas that make up a schema can
often, but not always, be thought of as a mental list, which can usually be
represented as a written list on paper.
(This idea is discussed in detail in the paragraphs that follow.) With more complicated schemas the ideas in
the set can be represented with a diagram.
NOTE (If the above is not clear
to the reader, the following descriptions and examples will clarify the
definition of a schema and the other ideas that were presented.)
Other Ways of
Describing a Schema
The above
definition can be restated in different words as follows. A schema is a mental arrangement of ideas
that relates to an entity. The ideas may
describe the entity or delineate a sequence of steps involved with the entity.
A very practical and simplified
description of a schema is as follows.
Many (but not all) schemas are mental list that relates to an entity. The list either describes the entity or
delineates a sequence of steps that relate to the entity. Each item on the list is one idea. The mental list can be represented on paper,
in terms of a written list of ideas. I
am calling this type of schema a list schema. Most scripts can be represented in terms of a
list of steps, which means they are list schemas. More complicated list schemas might be
represented on paper with the ideas it contains connected to each other by
lines. The lines show the relationships
or connections between the ideas.
Some schemas cannot be accurately
represented by a list, but they can
be well represented with diagrams. I
am calling this type of schema a diagrammatic schema. Both list and diagrammatic schemas can be
created on paper or on a computer screen.
List schemas are very useful for describing things in writing. And diagrammatic schemas are especially
useful in engineering and electronics.
In certain situations a combination of list and diagrammatic schema are
used in one diagram.
Some examples of schemas follow. These examples are all list schemas.
A Schema of an Intelligent Person
A simple schema of an intelligent
person is all of the following:
Gets good grades in school
Is knowledgeable in many areas
Knows how to apply theories
Knows how
to solve problems well
Knows how
to avoid problems
Makes
wise decisions in daily life
A Schema of an Authoritarian Personality
NOTE (The following was originally
written for a psychology course. I am using it here (in a slightly modified
form) because it is an excellent example of a schema that is more complicated
than the previous example.)
An authoritarian personality is a definition that consists of all of the
following characteristics:
An individual that generally submits to
authority without question Such a personality in a certain sense worships
authority. This type of personality
essentially has a strong need or willingness to submit to legitimate authority.
(Perhaps more precisely the individual submits to people if he or she perceives
a legitimate authority.)
An individual that generally is prejudiced toward
minority groups
This prejudice can be focused on Jews, black people, Latins, Asians,
foreigners, and other minority classifications.
An
individual that generally is harsh to inferiors
If he sees himself in a position of authority he will be inclined to be
very strict and penalizing toward his inferiors.
An
individual that generally believes in severe punishment for deviations from
established rules This type of person is likely to vote for
conservative candidates that are advocating strong law and order policies.
An
individual with a generalized hostility The hostility is
focused on minority groups and individuals of lower status. There generally will be no apparent
hostility toward established authority.
A very useful technique when writing a
relatively complicated schema is to underline each item in bold type and
describe the item in regular type as above.
A Schema Held by a
Prejudice Person
The
following is an example of a schema held by a person that is prejudiced against
a hypothetical category of people called Xs. This schema has strong emotional
reactions associated with it. The method
of listing such a schema suggests a methodology for dealing with prejudiced
people or individuals who have an irrational schema about anything. The methodology involves analyzing the schema
into the irrational ideas and emotions that comprise it. Then present the results in a list schema,
with the irrational idea written first, followed by the irrational emotional
responses associated with the idea. Then
write how the irrational idea and emotions can be reduced or eliminated[5]. This should be placed in parentheses to
prevent confusion with the actual schema.
The following schema is an example of all of the above:
All Xs are stupid and cannot be
educated. *Frustration is associated
with this idea. (The irrational idea
and the emotional responses might be reduced by getting to know intelligent Xs
and exposing the prejudice person to statistics that relate to the academic
achievements of Xs. The frustration can
also be reduced by alleviating the overall frustration in the prejudiced
person's life. This is because
frustration can be projected onto a group that is not causing the frustration.)
*IMPORTANT
NOTE (The emotional response is part of the ideas held by this hypothetical
person. That is, the emotional response
does not automatically or logically follow from the idea. For example a person can think that all Xs
are stupid and feel sympathy instead of frustration. This note applies to all of the emotional
responses on the remainder of the list.)
All Xs are lazy Frustration is also associated with this
idea. (This might be partly alleviated if the
prejudiced person gets to know Xs in environments where everyone is treated as
if they have equal status. If this
prejudiced person is exposed to statistics that relate to the industriousness
of Xs, the prejudicial belief of laziness might be reduced or eliminated.)
All Xs are dishonest Fear of being robbed or cheated is associated
with this idea (This might be alleviated if the prejudiced
individual gets to know typical Xs that are hard working and honest.)
All Xs are vicious and dangerous Fear of being injured by an attack is
associated with this idea. (This can be alleviated by
adequate police presence and if the prejudiced person gets to know Xs that are
friendly.)
All Xs are worthless and should not be
treated like humans Hatred is associated
with this idea. (This might be alleviated if the prejudiced
individual gets to know Xs that are average and above in their
achievements. Exposing the prejudice
person to statistics about Xs achievements might also help reduce this
irrational idea and related emotional response.
Reducing stressful frustration in the prejudiced person's life might
also help.)
All Xs are less than human Hatred is also associated with this idea.
(This might be reduced by the same way as the above.)
An
example of a very simple script schema was taken from page 50 of Social
Psychology 8th edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears, and is presented
in a modified[6]
list form below:
The following is a schema that describes
what may happen when ordering Chinese food for a group of people at a
restaurant.
Step 1,
everyone sits down
Step 2,
the waiter brings the menus to the seated group
Step 3,
several people start talking at the same time, while giving their favorite
dishes
Step 4,
after the above continues for a short period of time, other people in the group
say they never know what to have and would someone else just please decide
Step 5,
then the people in the group goes through the menu section by section, haggling
over which items to order
Step 6,
the group comes to an agreement on what to order
Step 7,
one member of the group conveys the negotiated package to the waiter
Role schemas are descriptions that
relate to a role. These schemas are
important for social psychology, and an example using the role of a patrol
officer follows.
Is hired
by the government, usually the city, to monitor a locality with the intent of
enforcing the laws and providing assistance in certain types of emergencies
The
officer can make arrests and give summonses for violations of the law.
The
officer carries a gun, which he or she is given the right to use under certain
conditions.
The officer might carry a nightstick, which he or she
has the right to use under certain conditions
The
officer works as a team member with other police personnel, with much of the
communication carried out by radio.
The
officer might patrol a locality on foot, from a patrol car, with a motorcycle
or in some localities on a horse.
The
patrol officer wears a uniform and badge that makes him or her easily
identifiable.
There are many other examples of
schemas that can be represented by lists such as the following:
Stereotypes
of different classifications of people
Problem
solving methodologies that involve a series of steps (The above fit into the category of script
schemas.)
Schemas
of ceremonies, which are also scripts
The basic
values people of a specific cultural category hold
The
courtship process of a specific cultural group, which is a general script
schema
The role
of a mother
The role
of a father
A basic
description of a good citizen
A basic
description of a street criminal
A basic
description of almost anything
Chapter
3: Nonverbal Communications and Self Presentation
Left click on these words to hear a sound file of the
following:
Human communication can be divided into two categories,
verbal and nonverbal. Verbal
communications involved clearly delineated statements that are usually precise
and involve language, which is a very deliberate action. In many ways nonverbal communication is just
the opposite. It is somewhat vague and
does not involve a true language. Much
of the nonverbal information transmitted in conversations is unintentionally
conveyed.
Verbal and nonverbal communications can
be thought of as two distinct communication systems. Verbal communication can be considered the
information transmission system of the intellect, which I am calling the
intellectual channel[7]. Nonverbal communications can be thought of as
the information transmission system of the emotional part of the psyche, which
will be called the emotional channel in this text. There are situations where these two systems
are not in harmony. The intellectual
channel is saying one thing and the emotional channel is saying something
else. In such situations the verbal
statements will be conveying one idea and the emotional responses might convey
a very different message, which might contradict the statements from the
intellectual channel. It is sometimes
possible to see this in a child who is trying to hide something, or is lying,
to his or her parents. It is much harder
to see this in adult liars.
Adults are generally more skilled in
controlling the nonverbal channel. The
control of nonverbal responses can be used in self-presentation in daily
life. We have some control over all of
the following sub-channels (or factors) of the nonverbal channel:
NOTE (The following three items are listed as paralanguage in
some sources.)
Tone of voice The tone of voice can vary with the emotional state. Sometimes people might consciously control
tone in their efforts to communicate.
This might be done to communicate their state of anger to a
subordinate. They might control their
tone to conceal anger from a superior.
Number of words spoken per interval of
time When people are depressed they may talk
slower than normal. A happy and
enthusiastic person might talk faster.
This sub-channel can also be consciously controlled.
Hesitations and stammering When people are nervous, they may hesitate and
stammer. This might be more likely to
happen if they are unsure of what they are saying and overly concerned about
the response of the listener. This
sub-channel can be difficult to control.
Generally people will try to restrain hesitations and stammering. There are people who have communications
problems that result from a tendency to stammer during ordinary
conversation.
Facial expressions Facial expressions can convey many different emotional responses,
such as happiness, depression, surprise, anger, fear, etc. Facial expressions can be consciously
controlled to convey emotional states.
We might exaggerate our state of anger with facial expressions when
scolding a child. We might try to control
our facial expressions to conceal anxiety or anger in some situations.
Eye movements and direction of the gaze This can involve avoiding eye contact, which can be found
with embarrassment, shyness, and perhaps when harsh news is conveyed to another. This sub-channel can usually be easily
controlled. Very often we might
consciously avoid a direct gaze at another person, to avoid embarrassing him or
her. We might give a cold stare at a
subordinate who is misbehaving. A subtle
type of eye movement over the face of another might indicate a desire to start
a conversation or ask a question.
Hand movements This can involve unconscious or deliberate movements of the
hands. When people are nervous and/or
excited they may move their hands more than they would otherwise. In some cases people might attempt to control
excess hand movements, associated with anxiety, by holding their hands, putting
their hands in their pockets, or concealing their hands behind a desk. Deliberate movements of the hands, such as
waving a finger toward the face of another, while giving a warning, are also
common. Another common hand gesture is
waving a fist in a threatening manner.
The position of the legs, body and
related movements A casual body
posture might convey a relaxed casual attitude, which is appropriate for
informal friendly situations. This might
be associated with various natural body movements. These responses are generally unintentional
and are the most comfortable body positions and movements. In formal situations, we may inhibit the
tendency to take the most comfortable body position and inhibit any body motion
that might look inappropriate. In such
situations we will present a more rigid and formal position of the body.
The distance between the individuals
talking This can very
greatly from one cultural group to another.
In our society business conversations are done with a greater distance
than more personal conversations such as the following. Conversations of close
friends and relatives are done at a closer distance. Conversation between lovers and young
children and parents will be even closer.
Distance can easily be deliberately controlled in self-presentation. For example, deliberately moving closer to a
potential date implies interest and moving away implies disinterest.
What the individual is doing during the
conversation Performing a task
that is not related to an ongoing conversation generally conveys the idea that
the conversation has a moderate to a minimal degree of importance. If all activities are stopped for the
conversation the impression given will be that the verbal exchange is
relatively important. This response is
easily controlled in the process of self-presentation.
The clothes we wear This may not seem like nonverbal communications, but it
is. Our clothes transmit much
information about us. We have
essentially total control over this factor.
The odor of our bodies This factor also transmits a significant nonverbal
message. There are various products that
have pleasant odors to be used on the body.
There are deodorants and antiperspirants to prevent unpleasant body
odors. Obviously, we have control over
this factor.
Additional ideas about verbal and
nonverbal communications are presented in the following paragraphs.
Verbal and Nonverbal Function Together
There are certain psychological,
social, and cultural situations that might result in specific types of
nonverbal communications. However, it is
not really possible to determine very much information from nonverbal
information alone. We might be able to
tell that a person is angry or happy but we cannot tell why they are in this
emotional state without the contribution from the verbal channel. Generally the verbal and nonverbal channels
work together to convey a message. The
intellectual information is conveyed by language[8] and the
emotional content is conveyed through the nonverbal channel.
The Ability and Inclination to Control the Nonverbal Channel
The ability to control the nonverbal channel is a learned
social skill. The level of this ability
and the inclination to use it depends on the specific individual. Some people have the philosophy of presenting
themselves just the way they feel or do not care about their presentation. Such individuals are low self-monitors. And there are other individuals that have an
opposite philosophy, high self-monitors, who are very concerned about
their social presentation. Most likely
the high self-monitors will have the greatest concern about control of the
nonverbal channel, which will probably lead to a greater ability to control it.
Chapter
4: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Left click on these words to hear a
sound file of the following:
Definitions of The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
What is a self-fulfilling
prophecy? In Social Psychology
8th edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears, the following definition
appears in the glossary. "The
tendency for people's expectations to influence their attitudes and
behavior." On page 44 of the same
book this statement appears. "When
a perceiver's false expectations about another person lead that person to adopt
those expected attributes and behavior, this is called a self-fulfilling
prophecy." In Sociology
second edition 1974, by David Popenoe a definition that is based on sociology
appears in the glossary as follows.
"Self-fulfilling prophecy
A false belief regarding a social situation which, because one believes
it and acts upon it, actually becomes true.
A general concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy will be explained
in the remainder of this paper. This
concept is broader then any of the above definitions. It includes both false and accurate beliefs. It also deals with both negative and positive
outcomes, which are the result of behavior flowing from negative or positive
beliefs. That is, the paper contains a
negative and positive version of the self-fulfilling prophecy. This broader concept should be kept in mind
when reading the text that follows.
It should also be understood that this
paper deals with more than the simple idea of the self-fulfilling
prophecy. It deals with many related
ideas, such as how to demolish negative self-fulfilling prophecies.
A General Model of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Related
Ideas
Self-fulfilling prophecies are
situations where beliefs cause one or more individuals to behave in such a way
as to confirm the beliefs. The beliefs
are often incorrect, but the behavior facilitated by the self-fulfilling
prophecy generally results in an actual condition, such as prejudicial racial
beliefs resulting in poverty of minority groups. (The poverty confirms the prejudicial belief
in the minds of racists.) This
definition can be restated as follows. A
self-fulfilling prophecy involves one or more beliefs and behavior flowing from
the beliefs, which result in a condition that confirms the beliefs. Thus, there are three primary components of a
self-fulfilling prophecy, which are the 1) beliefs, the 2) behavior flowing
from the beliefs, the 3) condition that results from the behavior that confirms
the beliefs
In some cases the beliefs might be
partly or completely correct. Most
definitions of a self-fulfilling prophecy would not include situations that
involve correct beliefs. The reason I
include them in my concept is that beliefs can facilitate behavior that can
result in a condition (the outcome or end result), regardless of whether the
beliefs are totally erroneous, partly correct, or perfectly
accurate.
The behavior, which flows from the
beliefs, is the most important component of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The behavior is what causes the end result,
which I am calling the condition in this text.
Sometimes the behavior is obviously destructive or dysfunctional. However, very often the behavior is simply a
failure to take appropriate action. In
some cases the behavior that flows from a belief (of a self-fulfilling
prophecy) can be highly constructive.
This will become understandable after reading the following paragraph.
There is a positive and negative type of
self-fulfilling prophecy, which is based on the way I am defining the
generalized concept. The positive
version involves constructive behavior flowing from positive beliefs, which
leads to a desirable condition. The
negative self-fulfilling prophecy involves dysfunctional or destructive
behavior flowing from negative beliefs, which results in an undesirable
condition. (All of the above ideas will
be clarified later on in the text with examples.)
Any negative self-fulfilling prophecy can
be defined as a problem, which suggests there might be a general
solution. The primary
difficulties resulting from a negative self-fulfilling prophecy are not from
the negative beliefs. The difficulties
(the problems) result from destructive or dysfunctional behavior, which flows
from the beliefs. However, it is
possible to have constructive behavior flowing from negative beliefs, and this
is the general solution. That is, the behavior flowing from the beliefs must be
changed to constructive actions that will improve the condition. It might not be possible or necessary to
change the beliefs. Keep in mind that
the beliefs can be partly or totally correct in some cases. The therapist and/or client might not know if
a belief is in fact totally correct, partly correct, or completely incorrect.
The idea expressed in the first part of
the above paragraph, can be illustrated with this simplified example. If a senator has an erroneous belief that
black people are inferior, the solution is to persuade him to vote for an
increase in educational, medical and financial services to correct or circumvent
their inferiority. In spite of the fact
that the senator's belief is negative and incorrect, the behavior flowing from
the belief can be made constructive, which will alleviate the problem[9].
The primary point to remember is the
behavior flowing from the belief is the primary factor in a self-fulfilling
prophecy. The belief in a certain sense
is not very important; it can be entirely incorrect, partly correct, or highly
accurate. This does not affect the
resulting condition. The most important
factor is the precise nature of the behavior that emanates from the beliefs,
which can worsen or improve a condition.
NOTE (There are some psychologists
that would disagree with the above idea.
There argument would be that beliefs motivate behavior, and to change
behavior you must change the beliefs first. This is only sometimes true. Often it is simply wrong; it depends on the
specific case. The general idea that
beliefs motivate behavior fails in many ways.
People often violate their own beliefs with their behavior. Generally most smokers, drug addicts, and
criminals would not want their children to follow in their footsteps. These people have a belief that is opposed to
their behavior, but it does not stop their destructive behavior. Perhaps their beliefs make them feel
guilty. However, this does not mean that
we should not try to change a person's erroneous negative beliefs. The point is that if such change occurs, it
does not follow that there will be any change in behavior. There may or may not be. The point is that most of the effort must be
focused on changing dysfunctional and destructive behavior to constructive
actions. This also includes much effort
in developing functional behavior patterns.) END OF NOTE
There are three types of
self-fulfilling prophecies, sociological, social-psychological, and
psychological, based on the concept presented in this paper. In the following paragraphs there will be
examples of the various types of self-fulfilling prophecies, which will include
positive and negative versions. The
negative versions will be presented first, because they are more common. In addition, there will be hypothetical
solutions in the examples of the negative versions.
NOTE (The following examples, were carefully
constructed to illustrate and clarify the above ideas. To achieve this some of the examples were
simplified to the point where they might not actually represent the complicated
dynamics and outcomes of real life situations, but they illustrate the principles
of self-fulfilling prophecies quite well.) END OF NOTE
Examples of Sociological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
The best example of a sociological
self-fulfilling prophecy is racial prejudice.
(This example was already used, but it is utilized again here because it
serves as an excellent illustration.)
There was a wide spread belief that black people were inferior to white
people, especially in the southern part of the
The solution: A
constructive solution, based on the erroneous belief, that black people are
inferior, would be to provide additional educational, medical, and economic services
to correct the deficiencies[10]. The result of such actions, if it was carried
out in a truly adequate and constructive way, would be a black population with
an educational and financial level that would be higher than average. Such a result would demolish the original
prejudicial beliefs of inferiority.
A positive version:
A positive version of a sociological self-fulfilling prophecy is when
there are positive beliefs about a segment of the society. The positive beliefs can be held by the segment
or by society in general. The best
examples are seen in elite people and groups that are of high social
status. The most extreme examples
involve royalty. Often the entire
society believes they are superior.
Thus, they are given special privileges.
They have great influence over the political process. Laws are enacted that favor their
interests. These people generally
receive a superior education, a superior upbringing, and obtain higher quality
healthcare. As a result, they truly are
superior, in the sense of their developed intellectual and social skills. Their psychological state and their ability
to do a job well is generally well above average. This further facilitates the belief of
superiority.
Examples of Social Psychological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
A social psychological self-fulfilling
prophecy involves beliefs about one's self in relation to other people, or vice
versa, as the concept is defined for this model. The beliefs result in behavior that
facilitates treatment from others that confirms the belief. Keep in mind that the beliefs might be
erroneous, partly correct, or quite accurate.
For example, if an individual (which I will call Mr. Jones to prevent
confusion) believes that other people do not like him, he might respond as
follows:
He might
not spend any time or effort trying to make friends.
He might
be very cold and unfriendly toward others.
He might
restrict his interactions with people to business situations only, which will
be quick, impersonal, cold and unfriendly.
If
somebody tries to be Mr. Jones's friend, he will interpret the friendly
behavior as strange or suspicious, and respond in a very unfriendly way.
He might
be very unsympathetic and intolerant of the shortcomings of other people.
The behaviors mentioned above would
certainly result in people disliking Mr. Jones, which would result in few if
any friendships. This would be true even
if the original belief was totally erroneous.
After a few experiences with Mr. Jones, most people would respond in a
very cold and unfriendly way. All of the
above would confirm Mr. Jones original beliefs about himself.
The solution: A constructive solution, based on the belief
that the individual is not liked by others, is to do everything possible to
become more socially desirable. That is,
there are ways of becoming more likable.
The individual that believes he is not liked by others (such as Mr.
Jones in our hypothetical example), can become more tolerant of the short
comings of others and behave in a warm and friendly manner. He can seek out social events where he can
meet compatible friends. He can also
make a special effort to maintain friendships.
Take workshops and courses that teach social skills. Become a leader of a community group, with
the aim of making new friends. Offering
friendly help to neighbors and acquaintances is also an effective method of
becoming more likable. If our
hypothetical Mr. Jones followed the above ideas, he would be liked by most
people and would have many friends. This
would happen whether his original belief about himself was erroneous, partly
correct, or completely accurate.
However, the positive results (of the constructive actions mentioned
above) would dispel the original negative beliefs that Mr. Jones had about
himself.
A positive version: A positive version of a social psychological
self-fulfilling prophecy is just the opposite of the above. The individual might believe that he is liked
very much by others. As a result he is
more friendly and tolerant of the shortcomings of human beings. Such an individual will find socializing more
rewarding. The above will result in more
friends, and an individual that behaves in such a way will certainly be liked
very much by most people. This will also
result in more and closer friendships.
This would reinforce the individual's belief that he is liked by others.
Examples of a Psychological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
A purely psychological self-fulfilling
prophecy involves a belief about one's own abilities and potential. For example, if a person believes that he is
lacking in intelligence and overall academic capabilities, he might avoid education. He might spend little or no time on
intellectually related activities. This
will certainly limit his ability to handle any academic material and he will
lack the knowledge to behave intelligently.
Thus, even if the belief was not initially accurate, it will become
true. The solution: The constructive action to take if one
believes that essential abilities are deficient is to spend more time and
effort in actions that will correct the deficiency.
Positive Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
An example of a positive self-fulfilling
prophecy of a psychological nature is just the opposite of the above. This involves an individual that believes he
has superior intellectual abilities. As
a result of his belief he invests much time and effort developing his
abilities. He will spend many hours each
day studying. This will most likely
result in the development of superior abilities, which will take place over an
extended period of time. Such a person
is likely to spend more time in school, and he probably would complete graduate
school and obtain a Ph.D. Thus, the
belief will result in a highly educated and intelligent person, whether or not
the original belief was correct.
However, the original belief of superior intellectual abilities, will be
confirmed in the individual's own mind by his educational attainments.
Social-Psychological and Sociological Self-Fulfilling
Prophecies Involving Hostile Interactions
There are a number of self-fulfilling prophecies involving
hostile interactions. The first
situation is of a social-psychological nature.
It happens when one individual believes that another person is acting
against his interests in a hostile way.
The result is the individual treats the other person in a hostile
manner, which results in mutual hostile interaction. The result is the individual that assumed
hostility will have his belief confirmed.
The solution: The solution to the above problem, which is
based on a belief that another person has hostile intentions, is either to
avoid the person entirely or make every effort to become friendly with him or
her. Even if the original belief was
partly or totally correct, the friendly behavior, which should be coupled with
true kindness, will most likely change the situation into a friendly
acquaintanceship.
Another method that may be a useful
solution, when the hostility is coupled with some type of competition between
two or more people, is the tit-for-tat strategy. This strategy is discussed in Social
Psychology 8th edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears. The strategy involves presenting a
cooperative position initially toward your opponent, with the hope of obtaining
cooperation. However, if your opponent
responds in a competitive manner, you respond in a similar way. Whenever your opponent responds cooperatively
you also respond cooperatively. This
method was experimentally tested by Axelrod in 1984 with the use of an
electronic tournament. He found that the
tit-for-tat strategy was the best strategy to follow in his experimental
game. This strategy may be quite limited
in many real life situations, because when people act hostile and competitive,
they might be under emotional stress.
Such stress can interfere with their judgment and perception of
cooperation. When cooperation is
presented to them, they might interpret it as manipulation and thus might
respond with more hostility. Another
response is the person might not perceive the relationship between his or her
behavior and the response of the opponent.
The perception of the opponent might be that this person sometimes acts
nice and at other times acts hostile.
Another difficulty with this strategy is the opponent might have a
different definition of cooperation. For
example, a superior might consider cooperation complete obedience to their
demands and a strict following of rules.
However, the subordinate might consider cooperation to be an
understanding by the superior that all the demands and rules cannot be followed
100 percent of the time. Of course, this
does not mean that the tit-for-tat strategy does not work. It means the people involved must be in a
state of mind that will allow them to perceive cooperation as a result of their
own cooperative responses. And they must
also perceive hostility as a result of their own hostile responses. In addition, all parties involved must have
essentially the same definition of cooperation.
Incidentally, most of us know from experience that people more or less
respond in a tit-for-tat manner. If you
treat someone rood they will usually return the response. This is especially true if they have the same
level of power as you do. If you treat
someone in a kind and polite way, they are likely to treat you in a similar
way.
Hostility between nations: There is a self-fulfilling prophecy that
involves hostile nations. This is a
sociological self-fulfilling prophecy.
In these situations heads of state of both nations believe that the
other nation will eventually attack their country. The most common response is to increase the
store of weapons, and prepare for war, with the hope that the other nation will
not attack, because of superior armed preparation. However, when one nation sees a buildup of
armaments, they respond by increasing their weapons and preparing for war. Something very similar to the above happened
between
Is there a solution: A solution to this type of problem is
difficult. Because even if the leaders
of both nations do not want war, there is the possibility that new leadership
will obtain power and start a war. However,
this does not mean that such problems cannot be solved. A solution to this type of problem was
proposed by Charles Osgood in 1962 to deal with the military buildup of nuclear
weapons of the
The Development of One Type of Prophecy From Another
One type of self-fulfilling prophecy can lead to the development of
another type. This is often the case
with sociological self-fulfilling prophecies.
That is, a phenomenon often associated with a sociological
self-fulfilling prophecy is the development of a social-psychological
self-fulfilling prophecy. For example,
an individual who is a member of a minority group that receives much
discrimination might believe that everybody is discriminating against him. (This is a psychological phenomenon that will
trigger a social psychological self-fulfilling prophecy in this hypothetical
example.) As a result of the belief he
might act very hostile toward others.
This behavior will certainly result in almost universal discrimination
against this person because of his hostile attitude. It will confirm the original belief of
discrimination, in the mind of this hostile individual.
A sociological or social-psychological
self-fulfilling prophecy can in some cases produce a psychological
version. For example, an individual that
is a member of a minority group might believe the erroneous prejudicial beliefs
held by the society at large. He might
think he is inferior academically and morally and might act in such a way that
he becomes academically and morally deficient.
The psychological version: The above social-psychological
self-fulfilling prophecy would almost certainly trigger a psychological
self-fulfilling prophecy in the child as follows. This label and the respect he receives
because of the label highly intelligent, will encourage him or her to
live up to the label. The child will
think of himself as highly intelligent and will not be afraid to attack
difficult academic material. If the
child has any problems understanding difficult material he or she will
interpret the situation in constructive terms.
The child will assume that the material requires more hours of study to
master. Thus, such a child would most
likely put in the time to master the most difficult material. Once again, even if the original label was
not totally correct, the child would very likely become quite intelligent*.
*NOTE (Question: What would happen in a real situation if we
tell a child of average intelligence that he or she is highly intelligent? The primary idea to understand is that the
factor that is important is the behavior that stems from a belief. More precisely what is important is the
ongoing behavior that takes place from day to day, week to week month to month,
and year to year. If the child's
behavior changes in such a way that he or she spends essentially all his or her
time on academic and intellectually related activities the child's knowledge
and academic ability will increase.
In effect the child will eventually become more intelligent. However, in the real situation children
develop other interests besides academic and intellectually related activities. They like to play with toys and watch
television programs with little if any intellectual content. In addition, they generally put aside all
academic related activities in the summer and during Christmas and Easter
vacations. They generally dislike
academic activities. Thus, they are not
likely to pursue such efforts to the extent necessary to become highly
intelligent. A child that becomes highly
intelligent might spend most of his or her time on academic and intellectually
related activities because he or she obtains some pleasure from such
activities. This enjoyment is enhanced
by the positive rewards the child obtains from the label highly intelligent.
In addition, there are some psychologists
that would disagree with some of the above ideas. They believe that high intelligence is
primarily the result of genetics. They
believe a person of average genetics could not become highly intelligent.
Thus, most likely telling a child he or
she is highly intelligent will not have very much effect on his or her
actual habits and capabilities. Other
people will probably tell the child that he or she is average. If the child attempts to study advanced
academic material, he or she will find it difficult and assume that what most
people were telling him or her was correct.
The child will probably give up and play with toys. However, if the child is given highly
superior academic training all year round from an early age, and only has
educational toys to play with, he or she will probably become highly
intelligent. In such a case the label highly
intelligent will probably further facilitate the child's intellectual
development.) END OF NOTE
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies that Emerge From One's
Self-Concept
The self-concept is a collection of beliefs
we have about ourselves. These beliefs
can cause a self-fulfilling prophecy in some cases. A person that believes he or she is
academically incapable will not study, and will indeed become academically
incapable and vice versa. A person, who
believes he or she is not liked by others, will probably behave in an unlikable
way and vice versa, as was already explained in a previous example. Thus, what a person believes about his or her
limitations and abilities tend to become self-fulfilling prophecies. Hence, the negative self-concept can limit a
person's achievements as a result of the development of one or more negative
self-fulfilling prophecies.
The solution: What is the solution? The solution is to look at negative beliefs
about one's self with the assumption that they have some validity and indicate
a need to make self-improvements.
That is, the aim should be to see that constructive actions stem from
the negative beliefs, which will correct any real or imaginary weaknesses. This will probably prevent or demolish any
negative self-fulfilling prophecy that relates to the self- concept.
Many individuals including some
psychologists would disagree with the above.
A widely held idea is that negative beliefs about the self should be
discarded. The idea is to think
positively. This can result in beliefs
about the self that are fantasies. This
might make the client feel better while fantasizing. It will probably have no real affect on
behavior or on reality in general. One
of the reasons for this is usually the negative beliefs are at least partly
correct, and thinking positively will not change anything. Acting in a constructive manner based on the
negative belief, may eliminate the deficiency.
If the original negative belief was totally incorrect, it will probably
be demolished by success. Even if it was
correct it will very likely be discarded after corrective actions result in
success.
An important point that must be
considered about negative beliefs about the self is they might serve a
function. First they can be very
accurate. Most people have some
weaknesses and deficiencies that cannot be corrected to any significant degree,
with a reasonable amount of effort. Some
people are evaluated by others in negative ways, because of traits that cannot
be corrected. The negative beliefs serve
to prevent frustration and failure in certain cases. That is, without the negative beliefs the
individual might make attempts that will lead to frustration and failure. And even incorrect beliefs about the self can
serve a protective function. They may
prevent difficult efforts that are not necessary. For example, if an individual has an
erroneous belief that he or she is not very intelligent, the belief can serve
as a guide toward a trade and hobbies involving athletic as opposed to
intellectual effort. This may be more
appropriate for his or her personality, interests and social environment.
In general, the self-concept may serve as
a guiding mechanism in a person's life.
Both negative and positive Self-fulfilling prophecies may be generated
as a result of the self-concept. The
issue should be weather or not these prophecies are functional or dysfunctional
in the individual's life situation. If
they are truly dysfunctional they can very possibly be demolished with
appropriate effort.
The General Application of the Concept and the Concluding
Words of the Chapter
Most psychological, social and
organizational, phenomena involve a self-fulfilling prophecy at some level,
which is probably apparent from the above examples. The point to realize is that most (but
certainly not all) problems involving the human mind and the behavior that
flows from it probably involve a self-fulfilling prophecy. However it should be kept in mind that the
contribution to the problem from the prophecy can range from insignificantly
small to very great. With many problems
the contribution is not significant.
As implied in the above paragraph when a
self-fulfilling prophecy is involved with a phenomenon, it may not be the only
causative factor. Usually, but certainly
not always, there are other causative factors involved. This is important to understand when trying
to solve a psychological, social or organizational problem. The erroneous conclusion to avoid is that
such problems can simply be solved with positive thinking. Occasionally it may be possible to alleviate
a difficulty with optimistic thinking, but this is very rare. Usually, the problem must be analyzed from
all angles. And if there is a
self-fulfilling prophecy involved, the dysfunctional behavior that stems
from it, must be considered as a contributing cause to the problem. Usually, but not always, there are other
causes involved. Thus, all the
causes must be analyzed and understood to the maximum feasible level. Then a plan must be created that involves
constructive behavior that will correct the problem. The plan and the actions flowing from it must
be periodically evaluated for effectiveness.
Appropriate corrections must be initiated to correct the portions of the
plan that are not working effectively.
Thus, the self-fulfilling prophecy is one
of many factors to consider when trying understanding the phenomena associated
with human behavior. It is especially
relevant in problem-solving. However,
the self-fulfilling prophecy is usually only one of many contributing causes to
psychological, social, and organizational problems.
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What is social cognition?
From Social Psychology 8th edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and
Sears, the following definition appears in the glossary. "The study of how people form inferences
and make judgments from social information." This can simply be restated as, the
study of how people make inferences and judgments about others.
In reality there are probably many ways
that judgments and inferences are made.
The process, and the information used will most likely vary with the
individual, his or her psychological state, and the social and cultural group
the individual belongs to. This often
results in faulty judgments, which can often be corrected later in time. The most important points to understand are
that the judgments people make in a conventional social environment are usually
made very rapidly and the judgmental process is usually done partly or totally
on an unconscious level. That is, the
person making a judgment may not be aware of the steps and all the details he
or she used to make the judgment. It is
usually necessary to make quick judgments without thinking about the
steps. Some of the many dynamics,
factors and difficulties involved with such judgments are presented in the
following paragraphs, along with related information.
What is social inference? Social
inference is the process that we use to make judgments about people and social
and cultural groups. The process and the
resulting judgments are not necessarily accurate or inaccurate. However, the entire process is influenced by
psychological, social, and cultural conditions, which often cause inaccurate judgments. Social inference can be represented by the
following steps:
(The
following phrases, in quotation marks were taken from page 80 of Social
Psychology 8th edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears.)
1) Information
gathering ("gathering information") Potential problems: ("Using prior expectations to
guide information search") A
primary difficulty with information gathering is we can gather the wrong
information. This can happen for many
reasons, such as faulty beliefs of where to find information or what data to
look for. The faulty beliefs that
interfere with a good information search, could be based on experiences that do
not apply to the current situation.
This difficulty can partly be
circumvented: by carefully assessing beliefs about the information search for
potential problems, by gathering additional information over several days if
time permits, having two or more people search for information independently if
feasible.
2) Selecting
the information to utilize ("decision what information to use")
Potential pitfalls: ("Using mood to guide memory" "Drawing on prior expectations to decide
what is relevant" "Failing to notice
biases in information" "Being
swayed by case history information") More information generally is
gathered than can be evaluated. Thus,
the most relevant or useful information must be selected. This selection process can be influenced by
the current emotional state of the individual, which can result in selecting or
focusing on the wrong information. A
general example, is if we are in a good mood we might remember the positive
information more than the negative and vice versa. Other potential problems include relying on
experiences or expectations that are not relevant to the current
situation. In addition we may be
influenced by irrelevant case histories.
The difficulties can partly be
circumvented: by having two or more people gathering information independently,
and selecting and re-selecting the information over a period of time.
3) Combining
the information that was selected into a meaningful whole. ("Putting the information
together") Potential problems: ("using two little information
"Using the wrong information "combining information
erratically") There are many
problems that can interfere with the process at this point. There can be inadequate information to make
an accurate judgment. The wrong
information may have been gathered. The
information could be combined in the wrong way.
Inappropriate amounts of weight could be placed on some of the
information, which can be to little weight or to much.
These difficulties can partly be
circumvented by evaluating whether the information
is: adequate, is correct, is organized in a way that would allow for an
accurate judgment.
4) Making
a final judgment or decision based on steps 1, 2 and 3. Potential problems: There can be many difficulties making a final
judgment that is truly accurate. All the
potential problems of steps 1, 2, and 3 can cause poor judging.
There are a number of ways of
circumventing the problems of final judgment.
One of them is to make a number of judgments over a period of time, the
longer the time period the better. With
this method the evaluator sees if his judgments are in agreement or are in
disagreement. If they are all
inconsistent there is either inadequate information to make a decision and/or
the information is not organized in a way that would allow for an accurate
judgment, which indicates a need to repeat steps 1, 2, and 3. If the judgment can be experimentally tested
the process can be extremely accurate.
If the test indicates a failure than steps 1, 2, and 3 must be repeated.
Schemas are often used by people in processing information
and making judgments. Schemas can be
involve a four step process discussed above.
Of course they may not be consciously aware of the fact that they are
using schemas. The use of schemas can
reduce processing time and facilitate memory.
However, there can be potential problems using schemas in this way. Often our schemas are simply inaccurate. Many people hold stereotyped prejudicial
schemas about various groups in our society.
The way to reduce these difficulties is to be aware of the schemas we
are using to make a judgment, and then try to consciously evaluate the validity
of the schema. Repeating the evaluation
over time can increase accuracy.
However, there very often is not enough time to do either of the
above. For example, if we see a person
walking toward us, on a deserted dimly lit street at night, who fits our schema
of a mugger, there is little time to make assessments about the accuracy of our
schema. The best judgment in such cases
is to make the safest decision, which in this case is to walk quickly in the
opposite direction.
Following the Judgment of Others
Another technique that people often use to make decisions is
simply to follow the judgments of others, such as friends, the social group,
their leaders and experts. The
disadvantage of this is the judgments can be quite wrong or destructive. This is seen in the social groups of some
young people who get involved with drugs, heavy drinking, and smoking
cigarettes. The most important factor
determining a person's judgments is probably based on the social and cultural
groups that he belongs to.
The way to circumvent the weaknesses of
this is to select social groups that appear to be making wise judgments. In addition use judgments from different
sources, such as various social groups, people from various age groups, experts
and friends. If there is agreement, the
judgment has a greater possibility of being sound. In addition, if other methods are used to
evaluate the judgments the soundness of decisions would increase.
From the above, and our
experiences with living in a social world we know that the judgments people
make are not always accurate and sound.
We see people getting into trouble because of poor judgments, which can
involve criminal acts, drug taking, etc.
In general the quality of our judgments can be increased by all of the
following:
make judgments over a period of time
when possible Many of us have developed the habit of making
quick judgments. This is not always
necessary. When there is time to
postpone a final judgment of a relatively complicated nature, it is best to
postpone it. Making a number of
preliminary judgments over time may increase the soundness of the final
judgment. If all the preliminary
judgments agree the final judgment will be quite simple. If there are many different preliminary judgments,
the actions to take are to postpone the final decision until there is
consistency of the preliminary judgments.
Inconsistent preliminary judgments can indicate emotional conflict
and/or lack of adequate information to make a sound decision.
check to see if there is adequate
information to make a good judgment If the information is inadequate, simply seek
additional information that will help with the decision.
check the validity of the information
that is being used to make a decision if time permits If the information
was obtained from word of mouth or other unreliable sources this step is
especially important. In general, it is
a good idea to make some estimate on the probable accuracy of the
information. If the information that
must be used is of questionable accuracy, the judgment will be of questionable
validity. Such questionable judgments
should not be considered final.
make the safest judgment, when there is
no time to follow the above steps Very often we must make very quick
decisions. If we are in error it can
cost us our lives in some cases. The best
solution is the safest decision possible.
That is, the judging should be based on reducing the risks.
Chapter
6: Attributions and Related Ideas
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Attributions are assessments of
causality of human: traits, qualities, emotions, behavior, etc.
The assessments are not necessarily accurate or inaccurate and are
very often influenced by psychological, social and cultural conditions. The causality can be internal or
external. Internal means that the
cause emerged from within the person, such as an individual who does well in
school because he was born with great ability.
External refers to environmental causality, such as an individual
who got angry because he was severely mistreated by a taxicab driver. Hence, there are internal attributions
and external attributions. Human
beings means in this definition all of the following: the individual (the
self), people in the environment of the individual, as well as cultural and
social groups. Thus, there are three
types of attributions, which are psychological (relates to the self), social
psychological (people in the environment), and sociological (cultural and
social groups). Examples of the three
types of attributions and related information explained in the following
paragraphs.
Psychological
attributions are assessments about the self.
That is, the individual evaluates his emotions, achievements, failures
etc., and comes to a conclusion about the cause. For example, if a person does well in
mathematics he might attribute his success to a natural inborn ability. This is also an example of an internal
attribution. An example of an external
attribution, of the psychological type, is a student who does well in math and
believes it is because he had an excellent math instructor.
Social
Psychological Attributions
Social psychological
attributions are assessments about people in our environment, such as our
relatives, friends, coworkers, classmates, etc.
For example, attributing the financial success of our best friend to his
natural abilities is a social psychological attribution. This is also an example of an internal
attribution. An example of an external
attribution in this category is attributing the high academic achievement of
our neighbor to the tutors that his rich parents hired.
Sociological
attributions are assessments about cultural and social groups. For example, attributing improvements in
academic and economic attainments of African Americans to the efforts of black
people and their civil rights movement is a sociological attribution. This is also an example of an internal
attribution.
An example of an external attribution of a
sociological type, is attributing the above improvements in civil rights to the
efforts of the white legislators that passed the new laws.
Interpretation of Psychological Attributions
Our interpretations of our emotional responses and behavior are
important psychological attributions. We
get cues from our environment on how to interpret are internal responses. For example, if our body is physiologically
aroused, such as a result of a drug or physical exercise, and we are confronted
with an anger provoking situation, we will probably interpret our aroused state
as anger. On the other hand, if an
aroused person is confronted with a friendly and highly attractive member of
the opposite sex, the interpretation might relate to romantic love.
When a
label (such as schizophrenic, hostile, highly intelligent, very friendly) is attached
to a person it can affect the way others interpret the cause of his
actions. The label and/or the
interpretation of others might eventually affect the way the labeled person
interprets his own internal feelings, emotions, and behavior. In general the labels placed on a person can
lead to a positive or negative halo and/or a self-fulfilling prophecy. These topics are discussed in the next two
heading.
Positive and Negative Halo Effect and Attributions
What is the positive halo effect? If a person has positive traits that are
apparent people tend to (inadvertently) attribute other positive qualities to
that person, even if those qualities do not really exist. For example, if a person is very physically attractive
people might also assume that the individual is intelligent, psychologically
well adjusted, sociable, etc. In
addition, people will interpret the shortcomings of people who have one or more
positive traits less severely.
What is the negative halo effect? The negative halo effect, which is very often
called the forked tail effect, is just the opposite of the above. That is, if a person has negative traits that
are apparent people tend to (inadvertently) attribute other negative traits to
that person. For example, if an individual
is very unattractive, people might also assume that the person is unfriendly,
hostile, dishonest, vicious, and lacking in intelligence. In addition, people will interpret the
shortcomings of people who have one or more apparent negative traits more severely.
The positive and negative halo effect
can also be triggered by positive and negative labels. That is, if we attach a positive label to a
person, such as a Ph.D., people have a tendency to assume that there are many
positive qualities associated with the person.
And likewise, if we place a negative label on an individual, such as
mental patient, people will assume that there are many negative qualities
associated with the person.
The important point to understand about
the positive and negative halo effect is that it is a tendency, rather than an
absolute result. When people interact
over a period of time, the tendency to attribute positive and negative traits
that do not exist, most likely will decrease.
This will probably be especially true with practical situations, where a
person's qualities are relevant to a specific job related situation. That is, if positive qualities are
incorrectly assumed to exist that are needed to perform a job, the incorrect
assumption will result in an apparent failure.
However, if negative qualities are incorrectly assumed the person may
not be given the chance to prove himself or herself.
The Self-Fulfilling
Prophecy and Attributions
The
attributions people make about an individual, cultural or social group can
cause that person to behave in such a way as to confirm inaccurate stereotyped
beliefs. For example, if a racist drives
through a very poor black ghetto, he or she may attribute the rundown condition
of the neighborhood and the poverty to lack of intelligence, laziness, and
destructiveness. (A more enlightened
person looking at the same neighborhood, might attribute the conditions, to
prejudice, which results in lack of education, poor job opportunities, and a
failure by landlords to maintain their property.) The self-fulfilling prophecy in this case
develops from the sociological internal attributions about the group, such as
lack of intelligence, laziness, and destructiveness. Employers with such beliefs will not hire
black people, or they may employ them for very low paying jobs, which will
result in all the conditions associated with a poor black ghetto. Some of the people in the ghetto might also
believe in the racist stereotype and inadvertently act the role.
In a very similar way the same process
can happen to an individual. If an
individual is believed to be mentally ill all his behavior might be interpreted
as a result of the condition. This will
most likely result in great emotional stress, which will lead to a true psychological
disorder, even if there was not an actual disorder initially. The patient might eventually attribute his
own emotions, feelings, and behavior to a psychological disorder. At this point, he will be rewarded for his
"insight," by others, which will encourage him to except the role of
a mental patient.
Human behavior scientists often
tend to be more interested in the attributions that people make, as opposed to
the accuracy of the attributions. The reason
for this is attributions influence behavior, whether they are accurate or
not. For example, if a person believes
he does not have mathematical ability, he will most likely avoid math courses. The real cause of his difficulty might simply
be that he never studied basic mathematics, but the incorrect belief will
determine his thinking and behavior.
However, I believe it is interesting to consider the question of
accuracy of attributions.
Question:
How accurate are the attributions that people make? This is hard to determine, but people
probably make more accurate attributions about themselves than about
others. That is, psychological
attributions are probably more accurate on the average. People are probably most accurate about their
achievements. They are probably less
accurate about their failures. We do not
like to attribute failures to ourselves.
Social psychological attributions (attributions about others) are most
likely less accurate. However
attributions about people we know well are most likely more accurate than
people we do not know well. Least
accurate are probably sociological attributions. People are most likely to make incorrect
attributions about other cultural and social groups. This is especially noticeable in relation to
racial, ethnic and religious prejudice.
People tend to make positive attributions about their own group, which
might have some degree of accuracy, and more negative attributions about other
cultural, social and ethnic groups, which probably has little or no accuracy in
most cases.
What are the Real
Causes, the Accurate Attributions
In most
situations, there are probably multiple internal and external contributing
factors involved with most components that relate to human beings. For example, if an individual gets a high
grade in physics, it probably was the result of prior experience in math and
science and hours of studying for the physics examinations, which are internal
causes. In addition, there probably
would be many external contributing factors, such as being in a physics class
that is not too difficult for the student and
an upbringing that taught the student self discipline, which are
external causes.
Attributions and Problem Solving
It is apparent from the above, as well
as the literature on psychology, social psychology, and sociology that our
attributions are far from 100 percent accurate.
In a certain sense, human beings live in an emotional cloud that
blurs reality, in relation to the true factors and dynamics that cause human
problems. This makes such problem
solving difficult, and probably explains our failures to eliminate poverty,
crime, mental illness, war, famine, and environmental pollution. We were able to make tremendous technological
advances, such as landing people on the moon, because there is no emotional
cloud that covers the factors and dynamics that relate to the hard
sciences. This suggests an interesting
question. What assumptions
(attributions) should we make about ourselves, the people around us, and the
cultural and social groups, when engaged in problem solving?
Solving a problem usually starts with
certain assumptions about the cause of the problem. If the problem and solution are based on
incorrect assumptions, the results will probably be failure. The way to get around this difficulty is
to focus on the undesirable conditions that is to be corrected with the problem
solving. In addition, assume that there
are multiple causes for the problem, and list all the possible causes. Then develop multiple solutions to rectify
the possible causes. However, the
primary effort must go toward changing the undesirable condition. For example, the high rate of poverty in some
Puerto Rican community can be thought of as a condition resulting from English
language deficiencies, overall educational deficiencies, prejudice, which
reduce job opportunities, a high crime rate, which worsens the prejudice, lack
of moral guidance and supervision for some of the young people of the
community, insufficient police patrol in the community, widespread drug
availability, etc. Then the effort
should be to correct the above deficiencies.
However, the primary effort should be focused on the original condition
of poverty.
Factors that might
be Attributed to Internal or External Causality
The
following are common factors that people might attribute to internal or
external causality: (I believe that the
manifestations of any of the factors on the list usually involve multiple
causes, which are of internal and external origins.)
·
Academic
success
·
An
academic failure
·
Mathematical
skills
·
Deficiencies
in mathematics
·
Writing
skills
·
Deficiencies
in writing skills
·
Musical
skills
·
Lack
of musical skills
·
Financial
success
·
Financial
problems
·
Good
physical health
·
A
health problem(s)
·
Dental
health
·
Dental
problems
·
Good
psychological health
·
Poor
psychological health
·
An
anger response
·
Frustration
·
Happiness
·
Depression
Chapter
7: The Self and Self Presentation and Related Ideas
Left click on these words to hear a sound file
of the following:
What is self presentation?
Self-presentation is the control of behavior, dress and related
factors, with the aim of presenting a specific image. The control of behavior includes the
way we act and the control of nonverbal and verbal communications. The deliberate way we dress to present
an impression is an important part of self-presentation. The words and related factors in the
definition include other components that we may control to present an image,
such as the way our house is decorated, items we appear to own, the people we
are with, the presentation of formal documents about ourselves, etc. The words with the aim of presenting a
specific image means the impression that the person is trying to make, to
one or more individuals. The individuals
can comprise a group in some cases.
The impression that people try to
usually make is of course a favorable one.
For example, we want to look competent and hard working when we go for a
job interview. However, there are
situations where certain individuals will try to project a relatively negative
image, because it is rewarding for some reason.
For example, a beggar usually wants to look poor, helpless, harmless,
and homeless, which will probably maximize the amount of money he makes from
handouts. A welfare recipient might also
want to look poor, helpless, and deserving of assistance. Some mental patients may want to appear
mentally ill, to obtain financial assistance or to escape responsibility for
their behavior, which might be especially true in criminal cases.
The people we try to impress with our
self‑presentations are people who might be in a position to offer us
rewards (the job interviewer), to punish us if we make the wrong impression
(our parents), or allow us to escape punishment (a jury).
Generally people try to make different
impressions for different situations and for different individuals. For example, a young person going for a job
interview might try to present himself as a responsible and serious
person. To his peers he might present an
image that is just the opposite.
However, I believe that most individuals probably have certain general
qualities they try to present to most people, and there are other qualities
that they may present only in certain situations, such as a job interview.
Generally, people always try to control
their impression at some level when they are with other people. However the level varies from insignificantly
small to very great, depending on the situation. Question: How aware are people of the control
of their impressions? Again the level of
awareness varies from insignificantly small to very great, depending on the
situation. That is, people often control their impressions automatically
without really thinking about it.
In close intimate relationships, such as
in families, the level of control of impressions is usually quite small. This is especially the case with small
children. In such situations the control
of impressions is usually performed on an automatic level, without much
awareness. The opposite extreme, with
respect to impression management, is found in: a real stage performance, a live
television broadcast and large formal ceremonies. Under these conditions people generally
exercise an extreme level of control over the factors that relate to the
impression they are making. Under such
conditions they are generally quite aware of the impression management process
that they are exercising.
The ability to make controlled
self-presentations varies with the individual's acquired ability. That is, this is a learned social skill. The more skillful person will have more
control over his self-presentation.
There are people who would care more about developing this skill and
others who would care less. This is
discussed in the following paragraph.
Some people are very concerned about the
way they come across to others. That is,
they are quite concerned about their self-presentation and invest much effort
to control it. These people are called
high self-monitors. And there are people
with just the opposite philosophy. They
pay little attention to their self-presentation. These people are called low
self-monitors. Most people are
in-between these two extremes.
I believe that there is an additional
dimension to self-monitoring that is quite important. There are high self-monitors that control
their self-presentations for manipulative purposes or to obtain some personal
reward. There is another type of high
self-monitor that controls his or her self-presentations with the aim of
pleasing people and to avoid offending others.
This type of high self-monitor is simply very sensitive to the feelings
and needs of others. And likewise there
are two types of low self-monitors. One
type is simply insensitive to the feelings and needs of others. He does not care if he offends anyone with
his behavior, verbal statements or style of dress, and he acts
accordingly. Another type of low
self-monitor is an individual that has a normal or above level of sensitivity
to others, but for some reason does not have an awareness of the need to
monitor his or her presentations to others.
His or her philosophy might be that it is dishonest to control your
responses to make a good impression.
That is, he or she might say that the honest and proper thing to do is
be yourself.
Under the following headings additional
concepts about the self and related ideas are presented.
A self-concept is a
general schema we have about ourselves. The schema is a collection of beliefs
and facts about the kind of person we are, such as the following schema, which contains
nine items: sensitive to the needs of others, reserved, honest, intelligent,
hard working, American, Jewish, a person who hopes to be a writer and
scientist.
To this point, the definition presented
here of a self-concept is very similar to definitions presented elsewhere, but
the wording is very different. A simple
definition is: "The collection of beliefs we hold about
ourselves." However, the following
paragraphs expand the definition, by considering emotional components. The expanded definition is probably more in
line with what most people really mean when they use the term self-concept.
At least some of the items that comprise
the general schema of the self-concept are tied to emotional components and
related beliefs. The emotional
components can motivate or inhibit the person in certain ways. Activities and goals that contradict the
self-concept will be partly or totally inhibited. Likewise activities and goals that agree with
the self-concept will be motivated. This
can be illustrated by returning to the example of a self-concept, which this
subtopic started with. Each of the
items, comprising the self-concept of the hypothetical person, has some
emotions or beliefs connected, which is illustrated in the following list:
Sensitive to the
needs of others Connected to this item are emotional concerns
that relate to the needs of others. The
individual is empathetic and feels the discomfort or pain of others. Thus, he is motivated to help them.
Reserved Connected to this item is anxiety over the way the self is
presented in social situations. The
individual believes that certain behaviors might offend others. If he offended others he would feel the
discomfort. That is, he would feel quite
embarrassed. In addition, if he came
across offensive he would be quite upset with himself.
Honest This is a fact. The
emotions connected to this relate to a concern for the well-being of
others. The person is empathetic, which
also motivates honesty. If other people
thought the individual to be dishonest he would be quite upset.
Intelligent The individual will most likely feel quite upset if he does
not perform academically and in daily life as an intelligent person should.
Hard working Connected to this item is beliefs and emotions about hard
work. This individual enjoys hard
work. If the individual failed because
he did not work hard he would be upset with himself. Thus, hard work is associated with both
enjoyment and success, which are strong motivating forces.
American This is a fact.
Generally there is little emotion connected to this, for this
hypothetical individual, because it is taken for granted.
Jewish This is a fact in that the individual was born into a
Jewish family. Some of the emotions
connected to this item are an aversion for certain foods that are not kosher,
such as pork and lobster, which is an example of an inhibitory response.
A person who hopes
to be a writer The emotions
connected to this are enjoyment from the process of writing. The individual also enjoys communicating
complicated ideas through written work.
Thus, there is a motivating force for writing.
A person who hopes
to be a scientist The individual enjoys science and the work
associated with the study of science.
Thus, from the above paragraphs we can see
that the self-concept is composed of facts, beliefs, and emotional
components. The beliefs that comprise
the self-concept may have varying degrees of accuracy ranging from extremely
accurate to highly inaccurate. In a
certain sense, it can be difficult to determine what accuracy is in this
regard. The difficulty is people can
have one image of a person and the person himself can see himself very
differently. It does not automatically
follow that other people perceive the individual in a more accurate light than
he sees himself, and vice versa. Of
course, there are certain qualities that are easily evaluated, but there are
many other qualities that are difficult or almost impossible to evaluate
accurately. The following topic will
discuss the related idea of the way people see the individual.
What is the: Social-Concept of an Individual
The self-concept was defined above as a general schema we
have about ourselves. I am defining an
analogous concept here, that relates to the way people see the individual. I am calling this concept the social-concept
of the individual. Thus, the social-concept
of the individual is a general schema that people have about an individual. The general schema is a collection of
beliefs and facts about the kind of person the individual is, such as the
following schema, which contains nine items: sensitive to the needs of others,
reserved, honest, intelligent, hard working, American, Jewish, a person who
hopes to be a writer and scientist. And
just as was the case with the self-concept, at least some of the items comprising the social-concept will
generally have emotional components connected to them. Another term that I will use as a synonym for
the social-concept of the individual is public image.
Unlike the self-concept, we may have
several social-concepts, because different groups of people might see us very
differently. For example, a young
college student living in a dormitory might have one public image in school and
a very different public image back home in the old neighborhood. His parents and the people in the old
neighborhood might see him as a highly intelligent intellectual, conservative,
shy and self-disciplined. His college
classmates and instructors might see him as an average student, who is
exceptionally outgoing, somewhat lacking in self-discipline, and has radical
political beliefs.
An interesting set of dynamics can be
seen if we look at the social-concept of the individual and the process of labeling
the individual. The labels placed on an
individual can dramatically change the social-concept of the individual,
assuming that others know about the label.
This would be true for both negative and positive labels. Two examples are presented in the next two
paragraphs.
A psychiatric label, or simply a label of
mental illness, will most likely change the public image of an individual in
very dramatic ways, which may severely limit his or her functioning in society. The individual that was once thought of as
trustworthy and responsible may be considered as a threat to all who know him
or her, even if there is no evidence to support such a belief. The response of others will damage the
self-concept of the patient, and probably worsen his or her overall
condition. The change in the
social-concept of the individual may severely limit his or her overall life
chances, such as obtaining employment, finding a mate, obtaining meaningful
friendships, etc. The only feasible
remedy for the patient may be to change his or her social network after
recovery.
With a positive label, such as obtaining
an advanced degree, something that is more or less the opposite of the above
might happen. The public image of the
person will change in such a way as to result in an increase in life chances,
such as more opportunities for employment, more choices for a mate, more
choices for friends, etc.
Self-Esteem is a general value an individual attributes to
himself or herself. This general value that a person
assigns to the self is not necessarily based on any, qualities or
achievements. However, desirable
qualities and achievements have a tendency to increase the general value that
an individual attributes to himself or herself.
Negative qualities and undesirable circumstances tend to reduce the
value. The word tendency and tend
was used because this relationship is not always true. Self-esteem is an emotional component and it
is not a logical assessment of true value.
I am defining
an analogous concept of self-esteem here that relates to the way people value
the individual. I am calling this
concept the Social-Esteem and I am defining it as follows. Social-Esteem is a general value people
attribute to an individual.
Unlike self-esteem a person can have several social-esteems, because
different groups of people can place different values on him. For example, a person living in his old neighborhood
with his parents might have a very high social-esteem. In the work place, his boss and coworkers
might place a very low value on him, low social-esteem. This might be
especially true, if he is a poor worker doing a menial job, who cannot get
along with people in the work place.
There is not necessarily a completely
logical process for the assignment of a specific level of social-esteem, placed
on an individual. However, generally low
status people, minority groups, mental patients, criminals and prisoners will
most likely have low social-esteem.
People of high social status, highly successful individuals, scholars
with advanced degrees, and people with other qualities that are desired by
society will usually have high social-esteem.
If we examine history, especially of
foreign countries, we would find that men of low social-esteem were much more
likely to be placed in dangerous combat positions in war, than individuals with
high social-esteem. Some or all of this
may have come about inadvertently, or unconsciously, but the social and
psychological dynamics may be quite cruel.
That is, losing a person that is valued less by society is not as bad as
losing a person that is highly valued.
Thus, a person that died in combat, in some cases, may have
sacrificed his life for a society that did not value him.
The social-esteem might in some cases
change the self-esteem if the values are different. For example, if a person has high self-esteem
but is valued very little by the people in his social network, his self-esteem
might be lowered. Or if a person has low
self-esteem and the people he encounters place a high value on him, his
self-esteem might rise. This
relationship is certainly not a certainty, it is something that may or may not
happen.
What is the Working Self-Concept?
The working self-concept is a portion of the psyche that
guides thoughts, emotions and behavior in a specific context. The portion of
the psyche is related to the self-concept of the individual. There are many such portions, such as the
academic-self (for school) the social-self (for friendly socializing) the
workplace-self (for the workplace), etc.
These portions of the psyche may produce very different thoughts,
emotions and behavior, which will generally be appropriate for the specific
context. The words specific context
in this definition applies to such environments as school, places to socialize,
the workplace, etc.
Self-awareness is a
focus on oneself as opposed to a focus on entities in the external environment. Self-awareness
results in us experiencing ourselves as an entity of our own attention or
scrutiny. Self-awareness is a state that
can vary from one moment to another or from one situation to another. That is, our focus can easily be changed from
ourselves to an external object and vice versa.
Self-awareness may be obtained in many situations, such as if we look in
a mirror or are being watched and evaluated by others. A state of self-awareness can make us more
critical toward our own behavior.
How do We Learn
About Ourselves
We learn about ourselves
through the socialization process. That
is, we learn how other people see us. We
compare ourselves to other people and come to conclusions about ourselves. The way other people treat us is also an
important way of learning about ourselves.
From childhood training we learn about our religious and ethnic
background. We learn about ourselves
by watching how other people react to us.
This is called the looking glass self, which is an idea delineated by C.
H. Cooley (1920). We learn about
ourselves from the feedback other people give us. We also learn about ourselves from watching
our own behavior. We see ourselves doing
certain things, liking certain activities, and disliking various components and
activities that we are confronted with.
Social identity is
a section of a person's self-concept that relates to the social groups he
identifies with. The social groups that the individual identifies
with can include the family, religious affiliations, ethnic groups, etc. The words identifies with in this
definition mean that the individual perceives himself as a part of the social
group or belonging to it. This sense of
association with the group generally includes an emotional attachment to: the
group, the group's values, the groups belief's and the group's customs.
A self-schema is a set of ideas that relate to a specific
dimension or quality (such as sociability) of ourselves. The set of ideas
are elements of the specific dimension or quality that is associated with
ourselves. Such as being kind and
sensitive to the needs of others, being independent, being a good student,
being self-disciplined. All of these are
schemas, which consist of a set of related ideas. For example, being a good student is a schema
that consists of the following ideas (or items): a person that is in school,
attends classes regularly, studies every day and gets good grades. Just as was the case with the self-concept
there are emotional components connected to at least some of the items that
comprise a self-schema, which may motivate or inhibit certain types of
behavior.
The Dynamics and
Components of the Self and Society
Associated with the self there
are many dynamics and components. But an
interesting point to understand is that there is also a set of social dynamics
and components that affect all the dynamics and components of the self and vice
versa. This relationship between the
self and society (or more precisely the social network of the individual) is
important when psychology is applied in practical ways, such as in
therapy. For example, the individual may
have low self-esteem, because the people in his social network or society in
general may place a very low value on him or her.
Chapter 8: Attitudes and Related Ideas
Left click on these words to hear a sound file of the
following:
From Social Psychology 8th
edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears, the following definition appears in
the glossary. "Attitude Enduring response disposition with an
affective component, a behavioral component and a cognitive component." In
the same book on page 169 the difficulty of precisely defining the term is
discussed. "Although most of us
have a sense of what an attitude is, defining it in objective terms has been
surprisingly difficult."
The definition and general concept of attitudes
that follow in this chapter are written in such a way as to circumvent the
difficulties with defining the term in a precise way. To do this the definition is phrased very
differently than the definitions that are listed elsewhere. The concept presented in the following
paragraphs might be slightly different from the concepts presented in other
sources.
An attitude is a schema about an
entity, which includes emotions, and it tends to motivate and/or inhibit
certain behavioral responses.
The schema can be thought of as a mental list of ideas about an
entity. At least some of the ideas on
the list are tied to emotions. The emotions
tend to motivate and/or inhibit certain types of behaviors. The word tends means here that the
behavioral responses that are motivated or inhibited may or may not
occur. That is, when a specific type of
behavior is motivated it may not actually occur because of inhibiting
factors. And when certain behavioral
responses are inhibited the inhibited behavior may occur because of stronger
motivating factors. The factors
can be environmental, such as being forced by authority to behave or not to
behave in a certain way. The factors can
also be psychological, such as an emotional conflict, which involves
conflicting motives. That is, various
psychological (conflicting motives), social psychological (other people), and
sociological forces (such as the law or social norms) can make us go against
our attitudes. The term entity in
this definition means any thing that a person can have an attitude about, such
as an object, individual, group, organization, event, etc.
There are two basic types of attitudes
positive and negative. Positive
attitudes involve positive emotions, which tends to attract the individual
toward the entity involved with the attitude, with the aim of a positive or
pleasant interaction. This also
motivates behavior associated with the entity.
Negative attitudes are more or less just the opposite. Negative attitudes are related to negative
emotional responses about an entity. Such responses tend to motivate us to either:
avoid the entity, dispose of the entity, destroy the entity, display aggression
toward the entity, or neutralize the undesirable components of the entity. Certain types of emotions can inhibit
behavior associated with the entity.
Attitudes also vary in strength. Strong attitudes are associated with powerful
emotions that tend to motivate and/or inhibit certain behaviors in relation to
an entity. That is, strong attitudes are
more likely to affect behavior by motivating and/or inhibiting actions. Weak attitudes are essentially the opposite
of the above. These attitudes involve
emotions that are weak, which means that they have less of a tendency to
influence or inhibit behavior. That is,
the motivating and/or inhibiting forces associated with weak attitudes do not
have much power. The forces are easily
overcome by psychological and/or environmental dynamics.
An attitude can be thought of as a mental
list of ideas about an entity, with emotional responses tied to at least some
of the ideas. This definition is
actually the same as the above but it is worded differently. This wording clearly suggests an easy way of
representing attitudes on paper. That
is, mental lists can be written on paper.
The following examples of positive and negative attitudes, which are
presented in list form, will clarify the preceding four paragraphs.
NOTE (The beliefs and emotions
connected to the underlined ideas, in the following four examples, do not
automatically follow. That is, the
information in parentheses applies to a hypothetical individual. Another individual that has the same ideas as
the hypothetical person, might have different beliefs and emotions connected to
the same ideas.
It is important to understand that
different people that have a positive attitude toward the same entity, do not
necessarily have the same ideas in their attitude schema. The same applies to negative attitudes. Thus, the underlined ideas in the following
for examples only apply to the hypothetical person. For example, two people can have a positive
attitude toward school, but the ideas in their attitude schema about school can
be very different.) END OF NOTE
Example 1) A
Positive Attitude Toward School
The following is a positive
attitude of a hypothetical person toward school:
· school is an excellent way to invest time (Connected to this idea is the belief that time spent in
school is an investment that will result in a more successful future.)
· school is an interesting and exciting place (Connected to this idea are the emotions associated with
interest and excitement.)
· advanced schooling is necessary for social and financial
success (Connected to this
idea is the belief that education is needed to succeed in our society. The emotional feelings associated with the
possibility of social and financial failure might be connected to this
belief. That is, anxiety and worrying
over the future would be precipitated in this hypothetical person, if he or she
did not obtain advanced schooling.)
· school is a friendly and pleasant place (Connected to this idea are pleasant experiences of
friendly encounters with students and instructors. In addition, pleasant emotional responses
stemming from the positive experiences are also connected to this idea.)
· the work associated with school is extremely rewarding (Pleasant experiences and emotions are connected to this
idea. The hypothetical individual
associates pleasant rewards with school work, which are the result of
successful experiences.)
Example 2) A negative Attitude Toward School
A negative attitude about school can be represented with the
following list of ideas:
· school is a waste of time (There might not be any emotions connected to this
idea. It is just a belief.)
· school is boring
(This is an idea connected to the emotional feelings of boredom.)
· school is totally unnecessary after the 10th grade (This idea may not have any emotions connected to it. It is just a belief.)
· school is a painful and anxiety provoking experience (There are a number of emotions tied to this idea, such as
anxiety and various types of emotional pain.)
· school is a very unfriendly place (There might be emotions tied to this idea also, such as
feelings of rejection cause by failures in school.)
· the work associated with school is extremely unpleasant,
nonproductive, frustrating, and it leads to nothing but failure (There is some emotions tied to this idea also, such as
frustration.)
Example 3) A Positive
Attitude Toward a Hypothetical Person
A positive attitude about a
hypothetical person called John is represented with the following five ideas:
John is intelligent (There is no emotional responses connected to this idea.)
John is interesting (There are pleasant emotional responses connected to this
idea, which are based on experiences with John.)
John has a good
sense of humor (There are also
pleasant emotions tied to this idea based on experiences.)
John is an
individual who deserves respect (There
are inhibitory emotional responses tied to this idea, which will inhibit
certain behaviors in the presence of John.)
John is a honest
man (This is essentially a fact,
but there may be some pleasant emotions tied to this idea.)
Example 4) A Negative
Attitude Toward a Hypothetical Person
A negative attitude about the
hypothetical man called John is presented with the following five ideas:
· John can embarrass people with his sense of humor (There are unpleasant emotional feelings tied to this idea,
which is based on experiences with John)
· John has a moderately bad temper (There also is negative emotions tied to this idea, based
on experiences.)
· John can embarrass people with his remarks when he gets
angry. (Once again, there are
unpleasant emotions tied to this idea as a result of experiences.)
· John sometimes belittles people (This idea also has negative emotions connected to it, as a
result of past interactions with John.)
· When you are with John you do not want to upset him because
he will belittle you and severely embarrass you in public. (There are strong inhibitory emotional factors tied to this
idea. These inhibitory factors will
prevent the hypothetical individual, with this attitude, from doing and saying
many things while he is with John.)
Attitudes are learned in the
socialization process from childhood throughout life. We learn a set of ideas and related emotional
feelings about certain entities. The ideas
and related emotions can be positive or negative. For example, a young child learns that
squirrels are nice and mice are not. He
learns to feed the squirrels and he might also learn how to kill mice. He learns this by watching his parents feed
the squirrels, and perhaps listening to his parents talk about the mice problem
they have in their house. He might see
the parents placing traps and poison for the mice. The above will result in a positive attitude
toward squirrels and a negative attitude toward mice. Thus, many attitudes are developed in
childhood in a way that is more or less similar to the above.
However, many new attitudes are developed
during the adolescent years and early twenties mostly from sources outside of
the home. The sources of the attitude
developments are the: school system, the subculture of the young, groups that
young people join, friendship groups, and sometimes the military and job
market. In addition, new attitudes might
be learned from television, the movies and various types of printed material.
However, we learn many attitudes from
experience throughout life. We may have
very bad experiences with one type of entity, which can result in a negative
attitude toward that entity. Good
experiences with an entity can result in the development of a positive
attitude. For example, if we do well in
mathematics courses we might develop a very positive attitude toward
mathematics. If we do poorly in
psychology courses we might develop a negative attitude toward such courses.
A more complicated example is the
attitudes we develop toward a new friend.
This process involves experiences and what we learn about the person
from conversations. For example, if we
meet a new friend, the attitude we develop toward him will depend on the
experiences we have with him and what we learn about his attitudes, and present and past life
situation. If we have pleasant
experiences with him, and he reveals positive or neutral information about his
past we will most likely develop a positive attitude toward him. However, if our experiences with him are
negative and/or we learn very undesirable facts about his past we will most
likely form a negative attitude toward him.
What is Cognitive
Consistency?
Cognitive consistency is
defined in the glossary of Social Psychology 8th edition 1994, by
Taylor, Peplau, and Sears as follows.
"Cognitive consistency
Tendency for people to seek consistency among their attitudes; regarded
as a major determinant of attitude formation and change." Cognitive consistency can also be defined
as a tendency for people to make their attitudes agree with each other. In this process of adjusting attitudes to
produce agreement there may be attitude change.
The balance model can be
explained as follows. Just as we like
are attitudes to agree with each other, we like the attitudes of our friends to
agree with ours. We tend to like people
that have attitudes that are similar to ours.
That is, we like when our friends share the same attitudes that we
have. For example, if we support new
civil rights legislation we would like are (hypothetical) friend Susan to have
similar views about the legislation. If
the views are different we might decide that Susan is not really a very close
friend. Or we might decide she is not a
friend at all. We tend not to like
people with different attitudes, according to the balance model. Alternatively, we might convince ourselves
that she really does have similar views and really does support the new civil
rights legislation, which will allow us to keep Susan as a close friend. Another alternative, is to reevaluate the new
civil rights legislation and decide that Susan is correct. That is, Susan's friend may convince himself
that the new legislation is really not good, thus agreeing with Susan, which
allows the friendship to continue. A
final alternative is to try to change Susan's attitude about the new civil
rights legislation by explaining its good points. This will allow the friendship to continue if
Susan's attitude is changed to favor the legislation.
The balance model can also be applied to
the small social groups that we interact with.
If we join a new social group and find that the overall attitudes of the
group are the same as ours, we may continue to maintain our membership in that
group. On the other hand if we find that
the attitudes of most of the group members are very different from ours, we
will either quit the group, or we might be persuaded by the socializing dynamics
of the group to change our attitudes to agree with the group's.
Question:
Is a balance model an accurate representation of the way people behave
in a real life situation. The model is
probably correct under certain psychological, social and cultural
conditions. This is the same as saying
that the model fails under certain psychological social and cultural
conditions. I believe the model will
most likely work under the following conditions:
If the people with differing attitudes
are relatively young People in their early teens to the early
twenties might consider a disagreement in attitudes more seriously. That is, they may argue about a difference in
attitude, which may result in breaking up a friendship. Alternatively they may be influenced by their
friends to change their attitudes. Most,
but certainly not all, older people (over age twenty-four) are usually more
mature emotionally, and will probably tolerate attitude differences much better
than younger people. They are probably
much less likely to continue an argument over an attitude difference. When there is an attitude difference the
older individuals may decide to (simply) disagree and discuss something else. Thus, people in this age group are probably
less likely to break up a relationship over an attitude difference. This is probably especially true if the
difference in attitudes have little or no significance to the relationship.
If the individuals are emotionally
mature Emotionally mature individuals, regardless of
age, will usually not place an exaggerated significance on attitude
differences, which are not important to the relationship. Such individuals are likely to forget
insignificant attitude differences. They
are not likely to engage in any hostile argumentation over attitude
differences. If such arguments come up
they are likely to agree to disagree and thus end the argument.
If the attitude difference has no
practical significance to the relationship Most people will
probably ignore such attitude differences.
If
the attitude difference does not cause any problems In general when an
attitude difference does not cause any type of problem, including emotional,
the attitude difference will probably not affect the relationship to any
significant degree in most cases. In
such cases the attitude difference might be ignored.
What happens when a person's
behavior contradicts his attitudes? That
is, what happens if there is a discrepancy between an attitude and behavior,
called attitude-discrepant behavior.
According to cognitive dissidents theory, dissonance results. Dissonance is an unpleasant internal
psychological state of disharmony, which can involve tension, anxiety and other
unpleasant feelings. The individual is
thus motivated to reduce the dissonance by some means. The possible ways of reducing dissonance
include all of the following:
The individual might change is
attitudes, so it agrees with his behavior. An example is a
person who has a positive attitude toward maintaining his health. If such an individual started to smoke
cigarettes when he is with his friends, the resulting dissonance can be reduced
if he changes his attitude toward smoking.
He might convince himself that cigarette smoking calms the nerves, which
is healthy. (Of course such a solution
is dysfunctional in this case.)
The individual could change his behavior
so it is consistent with his attitudes. The above example of a cigarette smoker with
a positive attitude toward maintaining his health can be used to illustrate
this alternative. The health conscious
smoker can simply stop smoking, which will reduce the dissidents. (This solution is quite functional in this
case.)
The individual might rationalize his
behavior in the special context in which it is performed. For example, the
health conscious cigarette smoker can tell himself that it is a small and
necessary sacrifice to smoke when he is with his friends. He might convince himself that smoking is
necessary to be sociable with his current circle of friends, and it is worth
the small sacrifice in his health. (This
solution is certainly dysfunctional in this case.)
The individual might simply try not to think
about his attitude and the attitude-discrepant behavior at the same point in
time. That is, the individual might try to reduce
or prevent dissonance by repression of his thoughts. For example, the health conscious cigarette
smoker might try not to think about the adverse health consequences of his
cigarette smoking. In addition, when he
is thinking about his health he may try not to think about his smoking habit.
(Of course this is dysfunctional in this case.)
What happens when a person finds that he
has two or more attitudes that contradict each other? Once again dissonance results. The individual can reduce dissonance by
modifying or totally changing his attitudes so they do not contradict each
other. Another alternative might be
repression of the thinking process, as mentioned above. That is, the individual can try not to think
about both of the conflicting attitudes at the same time.
Attitudes may change over
time. The change can be the result
of dissidents, discussed above. That is, the adjustments in attitudes to
reduce conflict between attitudes and/or behavior results in attitude
change. Attitude change also results
from the socialization process. We often
meet people with different attitudes, this can result in a change in our
attitudes. The mass media can also
change our attitudes over time. In
general, the learning process can change attitudes. For example, when many people learned that
cigarette smoking was truly a significant health risk their attitudes about
cigarette smoking changed.
Chapter 9: Prejudice and Related Ideas
Left click on these words to hear a sound file of the
following:
Prejudice is a
judgment of a person or group based on irrational assessment criteria. The judgment
can be positive, negative or neutral, but generally when the term prejudice
is used in modern times it refers to an unfair negative judgment. The judgment can be quite simplistic, such as
I don't like him because he is black.
The irrational assessment criteria often involves negative
emotions and beliefs about a category of human being. That is, the assessment criteria is
essentially a bias attitude. The
irrational assessment is often that everybody within a certain category, such
as African American, have a certain set of traits, abilities, limitations and
behaviors associated with them. In
reality usually there is only one or two traits that are really associated with
the group, such as African American people have black skin.
Prejudice is often based on a
stereotype of people in a certain category.
The stereotype essentially is a mental list, a schema, of beliefs, such
as the traits, abilities, limitations, and behaviors associated with the
category. Connected to the beliefs are
often emotional components. In cases of
favorable prejudice the beliefs and emotions motivate favorable behavior toward
the individual or group. In the more
common situation of unfavorable (negative) prejudice, the beliefs and emotions
motivate undesirable behavior toward the individual or group.
What is the
Difference Between Prejudice and Discrimination?
Discrimination is the
behavioral manifestation of prejudice.
That is, prejudice by itself, is an irrational judgment, based on a bias
attitude. Discrimination is the action
that can flow from the prejudicial judgment, such as depriving minority groups
jobs or equal educational opportunities.
How do People
Become Prejudice
Prejudice is learned through
the socialization process. People learn
to be prejudiced from their parents while they are children. Prejudice is also learned from friendship
groups, and other people in the social network of the individual. Certain psychological, social, and cultural
factors and dynamics might facilitate the acceptance of prejudicial ideas. In addition, prejudice can be learned from
bad experiences with individuals from a specific category, which can result in
the individual generalizing to all people in that category. For example, if a woman is mistreated by a
number of insensitive and violent males, she might conclude that most men are
insensitive and violent. She may believe
that most men will mistreat her if they have the opportunity.
People in just about any type
of group, such as an ethnic group, racial group, religious group, social group,
etc., tend to favor people within their own group. They tend to look at individuals outside the
group in simplified stereotyped ways.
They look at people inside their group as individuals with more
complicated behavior patterns and personality structures. In general, they tend to favor ingroup
members as opposed to outgroup individuals.
I believe this is probably even more true for high status groups, which
have money and power.
From the above paragraph it becomes
apparent that one of the causes of discrimination is simply favoring ingroup
members over outgroup individuals. This
indirect type of discrimination is especially significant with the higher
status groups, which have money and power.
These powerful people will favor their own members. That is, the people that offer high paying
jobs and leadership positions are in the higher status groups in our society. These people will prefer one of their group
members for any high status position.
Most likely, they will also prefer someone they know quite well. This phenomenon leads to an indirect type of
job discrimination against minority groups and poor working class white
people. It also affects middle class
people to some degree. People in these
lower status groups even if they acquire formal academic qualifications and
experiences for certain higher status positions may not obtain the same level
of advancement, as an individual from an upper class background with less
skills and qualifications. In addition,
the most powerful group has more influence over the legal structure. Thus, laws will be passed that tend to favor
the more powerful group members.
One
of the dynamics behind the favoring of ingroup members over outgroup members is
it is easier to understand and empathize with people that are similar to
ourselves. It is much more difficult to
understand and empathize with outgroup individuals who appear very different
from ourselves. Such people often come
from a different culture, they sometimes speak a different language, and may
have very different customs. This factor
will be greatly intensified if there is a great difference in social status,
educational level, and power between the ingroup and out group members. When there are such great differences there
is a significant risk of the prejudicial attitudes leading to violent conflict. We can see this by examining history. Two examples are American conflicts with the
native Indians and the forceful enslaving of black people by the earlier
Americans. Of course there were economic
reasons behind these actions, but the actions were facilitated by prejudicial
attitudes, and differences in: social status, educational level, and power.
The Different Types
of Discrimination
From the above paragraphs it
becomes apparent that there are different types of discrimination. Some discrimination is the result of a
conscious but irrational prejudicial judgment against people of a specific
category, such as old fashioned racism against black people. However, there are many types of
discrimination that are the result of dynamics and factors that are not
necessarily carried out with a deliberate intention to discriminate. In the following list there are a number of
types of discrimination:
intentional discrimination This is what most
people think of when they hear the word discrimination. This type of discrimination is deliberately
carried out against individuals from a specific human category, such as black
people, women, homosexuals, etc. It is
based on an irrational prejudicial judgment about the people in the category. There is much less of this type of
discrimination in the
What is the solution? The irrational prejudicial judgments behind
this type of discrimination may be neutralized by positive and functional
interactions between people. For the
prejudicial stereotypes to (truly) be demolished it is necessary that the
interactions are on an equal level. For
example, if white students and black students of equal academic status are
mixed in the same classroom, the racial stereotypes will be neutralized. This will be especially true if the students
are also of the same social and income status.
However, if there are significant status differences that are apparent
(especially of an academic nature) the opposite results might manifest.
Education can also reduce this type of discrimination. When people learn about the achievements of minorities
and the dynamics behind irrational prejudicial thinking, improvements in
attitudes toward minorities may result.
Perhaps the most important and effective method involves, rules,
regulations and formal laws that prohibit discrimination. Knowing that the discrimination is illegal
can also help change attitudes.
discrimination resulting from
semi-rational concerns over crime and related difficulties This type of
discrimination is not necessarily based on any irrational stereotypes, but that
of course does not justify it. It is based
on concerns stemming from crime of
economically disadvantaged minority groups.
This situation is seen when a white middle class housing project,
neighborhood or school opens its doors to poor minority groups. The middle class residents might not object
to minority groups of their own socioeconomic and educational status. The people that I am discussing here are not
truly prejudice. However, the poor
underprivileged minority groups invoke a fear of crime in their minds. The result usually is the middle class white
people start moving out. Usually the
crime rate does in fact increase.
The increase in crime is generally caused
by only a very tiny percentage of the population involved. Some of the crime can be cause by violently
predisposed prejudiced white people and the remainder can be caused by severely
disadvantaged and maladjusted young minority individuals. In addition, when a neighborhood contains a
fairly large percentage of poor minority groups, the police might be less
strict in enforcing drug laws, which results in a further increase in
crime. When this happens property values
tend to drop. Landlords might decide
that it does not pay to maintain their properties at a high level, which causes
a still further deterioration in the neighborhood.
With more conventional types of
prejudice, that do not involve any type of real risk, the contact between
minority groups and a white population might reduce prejudice. With the situation described in the above
paragraphs, which is common in many of our cities, the prejudicial attitudes
might very well increase.
What is the solution? The important point to understand is that the
problem discussed above is only caused by a very tiny percentage of the
population, who engage in crime. A large
increase in the number of police and security guards would probably remedy most
of the problem. If the increase was
adequate violent crime and robberies against private individuals would decrease
(as opposed to increasing). This would
reassure all involved, which would result in a reduction in prejudicial
attitudes over time.
discrimination that results from the
fear of competition between groups When two different groups, such as a minority
group and the white population believe they are competing for the same jobs,
educational opportunities or any desirable commodity, prejudicial attitudes
increase. Often there is just as much or
more competition from other members from the same group (such as white people
competing against other white people) as there is from the group that appears
to be competing (such as the minority group).
Thus, the competition from the competing group can be more of a
psychological (that is, imaginary) than a real problem. There can in certain cases be true
competition between people of different groups.
For example, advancement of some white people, might be delayed because
of competition of minorities who have an additional advantage of affirmative
action programs, which are intended to correct the effects of past
discrimination. Such programs can also
affect the availability of jobs for some white applicants. Thus, some white individuals might
truly be put in a position where they are forced to make some sacrifice for
civil rights, which at worst will probably be a delay in advancement or a delay
in finding employment. However, the
primary problem is more psychological than real, because the affirmative action
programs that truly choose minorities over white applicants are rather
limited.
What is the solution? The solution to this problem is to expand the
resources and job opportunities for all.
(Unfortunately, there are many political and economic dynamics that
would limit or prevent the development of such a policy.)
discrimination that results from ingroup
favoritism This
type of discrimination was already discussed, under the heading Ingroups
and Outgroups. This type of
discrimination is inadvertent. The
people who are discriminating can truly claim innocence. They may not be prejudice against any
minority group. However, their
favoritism for members of their own group has the same effect of deliberate
discrimination. This type of inadvertent
discrimination is probably more of a problem in our society than any of the
other types mentioned thus far. This is
especially true in situations where upper class white individuals with great
power make hiring decisions. Keep in
mind that even if these individuals are not prejudice against minorities their actions will still lead to
discrimination, because they will hire ingroup members.
What is the solution? Affirmative action programs can circumvent
some of the problems stemming from a preference for ingroup members. Any dynamics or policy that facilitates the
incorporation of minority individuals into the higher status groups will also
help alleviate this type of discrimination.
discrimination resulting from the design
of the institutions and facilities of our society This type of
discrimination is the result of the way the institutions and facilities are
designed and is generally an unintentional type of discrimination. For example, the school system and the
methods used were designed to educate middle class students that are healthy,
well adjusted, reasonably self-disciplined, and who speak good English. Students that do not fit into this category
will have a very difficult time in school.
The result is they may not be able to obtain an adequate education to
function in our society. Other examples,
of this type of discrimination can be found in the job market. Often testing and screening procedures are
used that discriminate against minorities. (Some of these procedures
have been stopped by legal action in recent years.) The screening procedures can also result in
the placement of minorities in lower paying jobs, or positions that are
undesirable for other reasons.
What is the solution? First it is important to realize that this
type of discrimination is usually unintentional, but it is a bigger problem
than all the other types combined. The
biggest problem results from educational facilities that are not designed to
correct the educational inadequacies of underprivileged minority students. Thus, to alleviate the problem many of our
city school systems and curriculum would have to be changed to meet the needs
of its students. This would probably
require year round education, and more hours in school each day. In addition, many other institutions of our
society would have to be redesigned to meet the needs of minorities.
What is the
Authoritarian Personality
The authoritarian personality
is a prejudicial personality type that consists of all of the following
characteristics. (The personality type
was originally defined by Adorno et al., 1950.):
· a person who tends to submit to legitimate authority without
question
· a person that is prejudice toward minority groups
· a person that usually is harsh and strict when he is in a
authoritarian position
· a person that believes in severe punishment for individuals
that deviate from the established laws, norms, and values of established
authority.
· a person with a generalized hostility, which is likely to be
focused toward minority groups
· Adorno et al., 1950 also includes mystical and superstitious
cast of mind and personality conflicts.
What Are the Real
Causes of Prejudice?
Most prejudice people are not
authoritarian personality types. That
is, it is certainly possible to be prejudiced and be an anti-authoritarian. That is, there are many psychological,
social, and cultural conditions that can cause prejudice. The authoritarian personality type is one of
many psychological conditions, a personality, that result in prejudice. There are probably many other personality
types that are inclined to be prejudiced.
But the point to understand is that people can be prejudiced and have
normal personalities. Some of the many
factors that increase prejudice are all of the following:
· a difficulty in empathizing with individuals who have
characteristics that are different than ours
· frustration
· incorrect beliefs about certain categories of people
· the tendency for people to scapegoat
· and many other factors.
Chapter 10: Social Influence and Related Ideas
Left click on these words to hear a sound file of the
following:
Social influence is a
controlling process that society and its members use to control others. This process can be divided into three
categories, which are conformity, compliance and obedience to
authority. Conformity is a
tendency for people to align their actions voluntarily with the social groups
that one belongs to. For example, following
the style of dress of one's social group is conformity. Compliance are actions performed as a
result of a request from another individual.
An example, of compliance is, providing our friend with a $10 loan
simply because he requested it. Obedience
is obeying people and the institutions of society that are in a position of
authority. An example is a student that
does a homework assignment because his teacher ordered him to do so.
A more sophisticated model of social
psychological control, which I am calling the general model of social
psychological control is discussed in detail in the next heading. This model is somewhat wider in scope
than the model of social influence presented above. It deals with most if not all of the
controlling processes that society and its members use to control others.
The General Model
of Social Psychological Control
Society and all its subgroups
must have a way of controlling its members.
And the individual must have a method of controlling people in his/her
environment in order to survive. The
infant would die in a short time if it did not have a method of controlling the
people that care for it. Older children
and adults also must control others to survive.
The method of control, based on this model, involves eight basic
elements (or components), that can motivate or inhibit certain behaviors. The eight elements usually work in
combination to motivate an individual to control his or her behavior so that it
complies with the needs of another person or the requirements of his social
group. This will be discussed in more
detail after the list of eight elements (components) are presented, which are
as follows:
1) formal rules This includes the law. Certain norms and values that are considered
very important to a social group also come under this category. The written rules of an organization fit into
this classification. Obedience to an
authority figure based on formal rules is also an example that comes under this
category. Some of the motivating
dynamics behind this category can be a belief in the value of the rules. The individual might believe that following
the rules is better for all concerned.
However, a primary cause for compliance is we all learn to obey formal
rules from childhood. (The penalties for
violating formal rules is placed in a separate category in this model.)
2) informal rules Informal rules are regulations that are
generally not written down in formal documentation. These rules develop as a result of the
practical needs of the social group.
Informal rules sometimes partially or totally contradict formal rules,
which may not be perceived as practical by the group members. Very often people know informal rules
intuitively, but might have a hard time describing them verbally. Obedience to an authority based on informal
rules is also an example that comes under this category. Some of the motivating dynamics behind this
category can be a belief in the value of the informal rules. However, a primary cause for compliance, is
we learn to obey formal rules in the socialization process. The individual might believe that following
the informal rules is better for all concerned. (The penalties for violating
informal rules is placed in a separate category in this model.)
3) suggestion Suggestion as the term is used here means an
influence that is based on persuasion without an apparent[11]
reward, penalty or rule used as a motivating force. That is, the individual just goes along with
the situation or request without evaluation and without analysis. When suggestion is operating the person does
not use logical evaluation to assesse the situation or any implied
request. Essentially the person behaves
somewhat like a hypnotized subject. An
extreme example of this is seen when someone cries at the movies over a
fictional presentation. A less extreme
example is seen when a person copies the fashion and behavior of his friendship
groups without thinking about the reasons he is doing so.
4) general rewards This is a general category in which all
rewards are placed under, except for purely emotional rewards, which are in a
separate category in this model. Rewards
are used to compensate people for complying with a request. The most obvious example is the financial
compensation for a job. Young children
might be given a cookie if they behave themselves. Rewards are given in an exchange process
also, such as giving money for a container of milk at the grocery store. Obtaining services of any type in an exchange
process is also an example. In addition,
rewards are obtained in the competition process of society, such as a
successful competition for: school grades, a job, a mate, etc.
5) general penalties This includes any type of loss or partial or
total destruction of a desired entity.
The entity can be an object, a person, or ourselves. If we do not comply with certain requests,
material items will be taken. For
example, if we park our cars in a no parking zone, we may have to pay a
fine. If we do not pay the monthly
mortgage payments the bank might take our house. If we do not comply with the law the police
might take our very bodies and place it in prison. The most extreme penalty in this category is
the death penalty.
6) emotional rewards We sometimes do something because of the
emotional pleasure we obtain from the action.
This is used as a controlling mechanism.
If we see that somebody is happy because we are complying with their
request, we might be rewarded by their response. In addition, people also do things to win the
acceptance or love of others, which is also an example of emotional
rewards. Babies and young children use
this element quite often. If the adult
complies with the child's needs the child will smile, laugh or give similar
indications of satisfaction, which can be adequate reinforcement to obtain the
needed assistance.
7) emotional penalties If we do not do certain things we may receive
an emotional penalty, such as being embarrassed in public, made to feel guilty,
annoyed with a hostile verbal response from an angry person, or have pain
inflicted on us by an aggressive individual that demands his way, etc. Infants use this technique to control their
parents. If they do not get their basic
needs satisfied they will cry, which serves as a natural adverse stimulus. When the
infant's needs are satisfied the adverse stimulus is terminated.
8) empathy and the
sympathetic understanding of needs
We can sometimes feel a person's needs.
For example, if a person is hungry we may feel discomfort over their
situation. Thus, we may supply them with
food, and relieve their discomfort. This
will also relieve our discomfort and concern over their hunger. In addition, if we understand the needs of a
social group or an individual we may be sympathetic and try to fulfil those
needs.
As already stated the eight components
often, but not always, work in some type of combination to control
behavior. For example, a person might
not steal because:
· its illegal and he respects the law (1) formal rules )
· he does not want to risk going to prison (5) general
penalties)
· it would violate his self-concept of an honest man (7) emotional
penalties)
· he is sensitive to the needs and well-being of others (8) empathy
and the sympathetic understanding of needs)
· Another example is a person might go to work every morning
because all of the following:
· he has children to support (1) formal rules)
· he has a wife to support (2) informal rules)
· he needs the money (4) general rewards)
· he knows that his wife might divorce him if he does not
support her (5) general penalties)
· he does not want to be penalized by the law for not
supporting his children (5) general penalties)
· he finds his work interesting, challenging and enjoys it (6)
emotional rewards)
· he wants to take care of the needs of his wife and children
and provide the highest level of financial support possible (8) empathy
and the sympathetic understanding of needs)
Another example is why a person might
conform to the norms and styles of his social group, which can be as follows:
There usually are formal rules
in a social group that relate to certain
norms. People are taught to obey such
rules from childhood. For example, a
college student is expected to attend certain classes regularly. (1) formal
rules)
Certain norms and styles of
dress are required by certain unwritten rules.
We are also taught to obey such rules from the socialization
process. For example, the college
student is not supposed to embarrass the professor. Another example is style of dress. That is, there is an "appropriate"
style for specific subgroups of college students within a university. (2) informal
rules)
The social group has a strong
suggestive influence on the individual, which facilitates conforming to norms
and styles of dress. (3) suggestion)
General rewards may be offered
by the social group for individuals that conform. An Example is the college student that
conforms to style and norms may have many friends. He may also win higher grades and enhanced
acceptance of his professors. (4) general rewards)
If the individual does not
conform to formal and informal rules, penalties will be inflicted on him. For example, the college student will be
expelled, if he does not obey the formal rules.
If he does not obey informal rules he will probably not have many
friends. (5) general penalties)
By conforming to the norms and
styles of the social group, the individual will probably be liked by many
people in his group. He is more likely
to receive friendly remarks and compliments from other people in the group. (6)
emotional rewards)
If the individual does not
conform to the norms and styles of his social group, he will most likely receive
hostile criticism. He will most likely
find himself experiencing much rejection and loneliness. (7) emotional
penalties)
The Bertram Raven
Model of Social Influence
The Bertram Raven model is more
or less similar to the above, (general model of social psychological control,
which will be abbreviated as G. model) except the Raven model deals more
from the perspective of an individual with social power controlling
another. The G. model deals with control
from a more general perspective, such as an infant controlling its parents, a
more powerful person controlling a less powerful individual, and the group
controlling the individual and vice versa.
In addition, the Bertram Raven model components are not as fundamental. That is, it may take several of the
fundamental components of the general model of social psychological control to
represent one component on the Bertram Raven model. The Bertram Raven model is presented below,
with equivalent elements from the G. model which shows some of the relationship
between the two models. The words in
quotation marks were taken from Social Psychology 8th edition 1994, by
1) "Reward" Definition: "Power based on providing or
promising a positive outcome"
Example given is: "If you brush your teeth every night this week,
I'll take you to the movies on Saturday." (Equivalent element from G.
model is 4) general rewards)
2) "Coercion"
Definition: "Power based on providing or promising a negative
outcome" Example given is: "If
you don't brush your teeth, you can't play Nintendo." (Equivalent element
from G. model is 5) general penalties)
3) "Expertise"
Definition: "Power based on special knowledge or ability" Example given is: "The dentist told you
to brush twice a day, and he knows best."
(Equivalent elements from G.
model is 3) suggestion also 2) informal rules,
because it is the custom to follow the advice of experts and other
knowledgeable people.)
4) "Information"
Definition: Power based on the persuasive content of the message" Example given is: "If you don't brush
your teeth, you'll get cavities that will hurt.
And the dentist will have to drill holes in your teeth to fill the
cavities." (Equivalent elements
from G. model is 3) suggestion also, 5) general penalties
because a very undesirable result is predicted. 7) emotional penalties
are also involved, which involves the future pain of the dentist drilling into
the teeth. The individual might sense
some of this pain in the present, which might motivate him to brush his teeth
to avoid the real pain at a later point in time.)
5) "Referent
power" Definition: "Power based on identifying with or
wanting to be like another person or group" Example given is: "Your big brother Stan
always brushes twice a day." (Equivalent elements from G. model is 3) suggestion, and 2) informal rules could be
involved also. It is very often an informal
rule to follow the ways of a more experienced, knowledgeable, or more
mature person, who is more or less similar to ourselves.)
6) "Legitimate
authority" Definition: "Power based on the influencer's right
or authority to make a request"
Example given is: "I'm your mother and I'm telling you to brush
your teeth-now!" (Equivalent elements from G. model is 1) formal rules, 2) informal
rules There are both formal and informal rules of obedience to a
parent. In addition, the child appears
to be receiving a scolding, which is a 7) emotional penalties.)
What is the Milgram
Experiment?
The Milgram experiment is a
classic in social psychological research, which was performed in the 1960s by
Stanley Milgram. The experiment basically, encouraged people based on orders
from an authority figure, to press buttons on an electronic device that was
supposedly giving painful electric shocks to a subject, that was strapped to a
chair. The shock machine was not really
functional and the subject was an actor (a confederate of the experimenter)
pretending to be in pain when the buttons were pressed. The idea of the experiment was to see to what
extent people will obey orders from an authority figure.
There were 40 real subjects, which were
recruited from newspaper ads. These
subjects were given a logical but false rationalization for the experiment. They were told that the experiment was to
test the effects of punishment on learning.
They were also told that the electric shocks that they were supposedly
inflicting by pressing the buttons on the shock machine would do no permanent
damage. However, the actor (the
confederate) that was supposedly receiving the shocks, falsely indicated that
he had a mild heart condition.
Each of the 40 subjects were given a
sample electric shock, which was real and painful. The subjects were told that the shock they received
was a relatively mild shock, suggesting that the higher settings on the shock
machine would be much more painful. The
idea was to give them a false sense of how painful the shocks that they were to
give to the confederate (the phony subject) can be. Of course the actual shocks the subjects gave
were not real or painful.
The phony shock machine had voltages
ranging from 15 to 450 volts, with words indicating the severity of the
shock. The voltage range from 0 to 240
had the words "slight through very strong shock" from 255 to 300
volts, the words were "intense shock," for 375 to 420 volts, the
words were "danger: severe shock," for 435 to 450 volts there were no
words just "XXX."
The idea was to see how far the real
subjects would go in their compliance with the orders of an authority
figure. The authority figure, the
experimenter, gave the subjects encouraging words to continue giving the
subject higher and higher shocks, words such as "Please continue."
"The experiment must go on."
"It is necessary for you to continue." The experimenter explained to the subjects
that he was taking all the responsibility for the experiment. Under these conditions 100 percent of the
subjects gave shocks to the 240 volt level; 88 percent gave shocks to 300 volt
level; 68 percent gave shocks to the 360 volt level; 65 percent gave shocks to
the 420 volt level, and 65 percent also gave shocks to the 450 volts, which was
the maximum on the phony device.
Under the above conditions the phony
subject, the actor, was supposedly in another room, and the subjects could hear
him groaning and screaming in agony as the phony shocks became more
severe. Actually a tape recording was
used to be certain that all 40 subjects received the same level of moaning,
groaning, and screaming. This experiment
was repeated under slightly different conditions. These conditions involved the confederate,
strapped to a chair that was right next to the real subject. The real subject was instructed to
(physically) take the hand of the confederate, and place it on an electrode
that was supposedly connected to an electric power supply. When this was done the actor behaved as if he
was suffering painful electric shocks.
Under the modified conditions obedience to authority was less than under
the first set of conditions, but many subjects obeyed orders and continued to
give shocks to the confederate until the bitter end.
The Ethics of the
Milgram Experiment
While the subjects were
performing the actions required for the experiment, they experienced great
anxiety and conflict. They were under a
considerable amount of emotional stress.
Some people criticized the Milgram experiment, after the work was published, because of the emotional stress
that was inflicted on the subjects.
Question: were the procedures used in the experiment justified and
ethical? I believe the value of the
experiment justified the stress, which was really quite mild compared to many
real life situations, and had no long lasting effects on the subjects. In real life situations people might suffer
more over school examinations. Perhaps a
much more relevant comparison is the situation people face in times of war. They are ordered to kill the enemy and risk
their limbs and life, which is far more emotionally stressful than the Milgram
experiment. Thus, I believe the
experiment was ethical and justified.
The Value of the Milgram Experiment
The great value of the Milgram experiment is not its
scientific value, in my opinion. It did
not duplicate the real situations people face, when they are ordered to
severely harm or kill other human beings, such as in war. Much more precise and scientifically useful
data could have been obtained by examining the history of wars in our century. Interviewing the Germans, Japanese, and
Americans that engaged in world war II would provide more information. The Germans were not only ordered to fight a
war, some were also ordered to execute innocent civilians, such as the Jews and
gypsies. A number of American
scientists, technicians, and military personnel worked together to create two
atomic bombs, which were dropped on Japanese civilians. These scientists and military personnel were
aware that innocent children, women, and men would be burned alive, and others
would die a slow agonizing death from radiation poisoning. This obviously did not stop them. They were ordered to kill, and so they
killed.
Another important difference between
reality and the Milgram experiment is the fact that disobeying an authority
figure in a real life situation can result in serious sanctions. Disobeying orders to fight in a war can
result in a long prison sentence.
Disobeying the boss in the workplace can result in unemployment. Disobeying the experimenter in the Milgram
experiment had little real or imaginary consequences. The subject may have believed that he ruined
an experiment, which certainly does not compare with a real life situation of
going to prison for several years or losing a job. Thus, in real life situations we not only
obey orders, we are forced to follow orders by the use of severe penalties.
Then what is the value of the Milgram
experiment? The value of the experiment
is the psychological insight that it provided, in my opinion. It makes us see how foolish and destructive
blindly obeying orders can sometimes be.
It is difficult to see this destructive foolishness in war, because
there is always psychological rationalizations created to justify the
destructive military actions.
Chapter
11: Human Relationships and Related Ideas
Left click on these words to hear a sound
file of the following:
What does the word affiliation mean? Affiliation is defined in the glossary of
Question, why do people affiliate with
others? Is this a genetic predisposition
or is it learned? It is learned from
childhood throughout life, partly as a result of genetic limitations and
genetic qualities of human beings.
As a result of this learning process, the individual builds up positive
associations on an intellectual and emotional level in relation to interacting
with other people. This happens as
explained in the following paragraphs.
Genetic Limitations
that Facilitate Interaction with Others:
Human beings do not have the
genetically programmed instincts to assist them in obtaining the necessities of
life. They must learn how to
survive. Much of this learning happens
as a result of interaction with other people.
In the early years of life before an individual is old enough to have mastered
the fundamentals of survival he or she must depend on others. This dependency in effect results in rewards,
such as food, shelter, reassurance, protection from enemies, etc. That is, the human infant and child cannot
survive without ongoing affiliation with parents or other primary care
givers. As the child matures, he or she
is taught to interact with children, teaches and other adults. To gain the knowledge needed to survive
throughout life the human being must learn a tremendous amount of information. The learning process often requires
interaction with other people, which is especially true in childhood. As the child matures, the young individual
learns that he or she must often interact with others to satisfy basic needs
and goals, such as playing in childhood and earning a living in adulthood. People also learn throughout life that the
company of others can be reassuring, especially in fearful or anxiety provoking
situations. The company of others can
distract them from their own anxiety provoking thoughts.
Genetic Qualities that Facilitate Interaction with Others: Certain genetic factors facilitate affiliation between
human beings by means of learning. The
powerful human brain is the result of genetics, which makes learning a tremendous
amount of information possible. This
includes the learning of language, which
certainly facilitates affiliation between people. The structures comprising the human speech
mechanism, such as the vocal cords, related nerves and muscles are also genetic
qualities, which facilitate affiliation between people by means of learning to
communicate with language. The very
ability of the human animal to learn can facilitate affiliation with other
human beings. The reason for this is
learning often requires interaction with others, and as previously stated the
learning is necessary for survival. The
powerful brain also makes complicated and/or massive work projects possible,
and such projects require interaction of a number of workers. The genetically determined sexual desires of
human beings obviously can facilitate interaction with other people. The adolescent quickly learns that he or she
must affiliate with many people to find a suitable mate. This often involves large friendship groups
and many social activities.
The above paragraphs can be summed up by
stating the following. Affiliation is a
learned behavior pattern that is facilitated by genetic limitations and
genetic qualities of the human animal.
The individual learns to affiliate because it is necessary for survival
and it is rewarding to do so. This
learning process results in positive associations on an intellectual and
emotional level in relation to interacting with others. A general example of an intellectual
association is a person learns that certain things are too difficult to do
without the help of other people. The
mature individual learned that he or she cannot obtain the necessities and
luxuries of life without affiliating with others. Emotional associations are a certain type of
learning, such as the individual learns that other people can be: fun,
reassuring and can reduce anxiety.
The result of the many positive
experiences that an individual has during the early years of life interacting
with others, can lead to positive associations and facilitate affiliation in
later life. This can happen even when
the affiliation has no practical necessity.
Of course, there are some individuals that have learned to minimize
affiliation, as a result of negative experiences with others. Since affiliation is essentially the result
of learning it becomes apparent that some people might learn to affiliate more
than others. Some individuals desire
many interactions with others, and some prefer to be alone much of the
time. The way people affiliate is also a
learned response. A person will
affiliate with others in ways that are unique to his or her personality.
Thus, from the above paragraphs it is
apparent that affiliation is a general need that must be satisfied if the individual
is going to survive, reproduce and raise the next generation. Since this need is so essential, each culture
has rules, pathways and methods to facilitate affiliation between people. The concept of culture itself is essentially
the product of affiliation. The
same is true with society in general; its components are products of
affiliation. This includes the food
production system, the manufacturer of material goods, the transportation
system, government, military, the legal structure, the police, religious
institutions and the educational system.
From the ideas presented
in this paper thus far, it is apparent
that there are different types of affiliation, such as parent child, employer
employee, lovers, etc. These variations
in affiliation essentially relate to the type of relationship that people have
with each other. (Relationships are
discussed in detail under the heading that follows.) Generally, each of these types of
affiliation have formal and/or informal rules governing the interactions. These rules are essentially laid down by
culture and society. The formal rules
are either part of the legal rules or the written rules of an organization. An example, of such rules are the legal requirements
of parents in relation to the way they care for their children. These rules, include child support and
prohibit cruel punishment and sexual activity with the child. An example of informal rules of affiliation
are the proper ways of treating a friend.
Generally, this includes some degree of loyalty, revealing information
that is more personal than would be revealed to acquaintances, a greater degree
of tolerance for weaknesses, a general concern and some responsibility for the
well-being of the friend.
From the ideas presented under this
heading it becomes apparent that there are two basic categories of affiliation
needs. One type is practical,
which is affiliation to obtain the necessities and luxuries of life. I am calling this type of affiliation economic
affiliation. NOTE (The term economic
is used in a very general sense in this text. Thus, economics refers to all the
needs a person has that relate to food, shelter, goods, services, education,
entertainment, luxuries as well as employment and money.) The other type of affiliation need is an
emotionally based desire to interact with others. I am calling this type of affiliation emotionally
based affiliation. Under certain
circumstances, the two types of affiliation can be partly or totally satisfied
by one or more personal relationship partners.
For example, all of the economic affiliation needs of children are
generally provided by the parents. In addition,
at least part of the emotionally based affiliation needs are usually satisfied
by the parents. Something similar can be
found in traditional marriages in relation to the needs the husband provides
for the woman. However, very often
the economic affiliation needs of adults are achieved through non-personal
relationships of a business nature. An
understanding of the above concepts (economic and emotionally based
affiliation) are important for the discussion that follows under the next
heading.
Emotionally Based
Affiliation Deficiency Loneliness) and Economic Affiliation Deficiency
Often people fail to have their
affiliation needs satisfied. This
deficiency in affiliation can be divided into to categories Emotionally
based affiliation deficiency, which is loneliness as the term is defined
for this model. The other category is economic
affiliation deficiency, which relates to the affiliation needed to obtain
the necessities and luxuries of life[12]. The following concepts of loneliness and
economic affiliation deficiency are further delineated in the following seven
paragraphs.
Loneliness: Loneliness is defined in the glossary
of
The ability to satisfy emotionally based
affiliation needs, varies with the individual and his or her social
environment. Some people have better
social and relationship skills than others, which certainly can reduce the
chances of being lonely. Some people are
in environments that makes social interaction easy, and other individuals are
in environments that make social interaction difficult or almost
impossible. Perhaps, the best way to
reduce loneliness is to improve your human relations skills by practicing in a
friendly social environment.
Of course, individuals have different
levels of emotionally based affiliation needs. Some people have a much greater need to
affiliate than others. Thus, the amount
of affiliation that a person engages in does not determine whether or not he or
she will feel lonely. A person that has
an emotional need for much affiliation may feel lonely even if he or she spends
much of the time interacting with others.
A person that has a very low level of affiliation need may not feel
lonely, even if he or she spends almost all his or her time alone.
Economic Affiliation
Deficiency: Just as there can be a failure to satisfy the
emotionally based affiliation needs, there can be a failure to satisfy the
economic affiliation needs, which are needed to obtain the necessities and
luxuries of life[13]. As stated above, I am calling this concept economic
affiliation deficiency. This concept
can also be defined as a deficiency in practical affiliations or ties to
other human beings and their organizations that are needed to obtain, goods,
services and employment.
In adult life economic affiliation
deficiency often relates to a failure to obtain an adequate quantity or
quality of the various business relationships a person needs to obtain
satisfactory: employment, goods and services.
The above can also be satisfied by certain categories of close personal
relationships, such as is found in the family.
This is especially the case for children, adolescents and women in
traditional marriages. Thus,
practical loneliness in some cases can also be related to a failure to obtain
an adequate quantity and/or quality of family bonding. This can also involve failures of
communication between family members. In
general, economic affiliation deficiency can be the result of
dysfunctional ways the individual affiliates with others in relation to
obtaining goods, services and employment.
The problem can also include lack of skills in contacting and
communicating effectively with individuals that can satisfy practical
affiliation needs.
Individuals who experience economic affiliation
deficiency may or may not feel lonely, but such individuals will obviously have
financial difficulties, especially in adult life. However, most types of poverty are probably
not primarily caused by economic affiliation deficiency. The primary causes are usually lack of
education and a network including the family that are too deficient in
financial resources and power to help its members succeed financially.
The Utility and Theoretical Value
of the Model: The reader may
question the purpose of the model and the two categories of affiliation
deficiency. There are both practical and
theoretical reasons for the division. An
individual can be deficient in the social skills that relate to one type of
affiliation and be quite strong in the other type. For example, a person may be very skillful in
obtaining and maintaining clothes personal friendships, but may not know how to
obtain and maintain the connections needed for minimum economic success. Such an individual may not be lonely, but he
or she will have problems in obtaining the necessities and luxuries of
life. The opposite example, is an
individual that is skilled in obtaining and maintaining the connections needed
for a high degree of economic success.
However, the hypothetical individual in this example, does not
know how to obtain and maintain the personal relationships he or she seeks and
desires with others. Such an individual
is likely to feel lonely. Of course,
there are individuals that are deficient in the skills that relate to both
economic and emotionally based affiliation.
However, it is important to understand that the two types of
deficiency relate to weaknesses in different categories of social skills[14]. This understanding can help with correcting
such problems in real life situations. positive
self-fulfilling prophecy
Self Disclosure and
Related Ideas
Revealing information about the
self is an important part of affiliation and relationship development. Generally, for people to relate in a close
personal way they need information about each other. People need information about others for many
reasons. Some of the reasons are
emotionally based and some are quite practical, which become apparent in the
following examples. We may want to know
if the individuals we interact with, had similar experiences and/or feelings as
we had. We may want to know if they have
similar interests as ours. We may be
interested in knowing how they feel about us, other people and the world in
general. We might be interested in
learning if they are especially sensitive to certain topics, so we can avoid
offending them. We may be concerned
about their past behavior and personality for reasons of our own personal
security. That is, we may be interested
in knowing if they are honest, trustworthy, mentally stable, and safe to
interact with. It may be quite important
to a young woman to know the academic, occupational and financial status of a
potential mate. In modern times, this
information might also be important to a man looking for a marriage partner,
because it may reveal if the woman can provide a financial contribution to a
marriage if one develops. Thus, revealing of personal information provides a
general picture about the other person, which is quite useful in relating to
the individual.
Thus, self disclosure is quite practical,
useful, and necessary. However, under
various psychological, social and cultural conditions the amount of self
disclosure that is considered appropriate varies. That is, how much to reveal and when to
reveal it, from the perspective of appropriateness is not the same under all
conditions. There are so many variations
that it is certainly not possible to delineate all the different
conditions, but it is feasible to give a few general examples. There are individual differences between
people. Some people are more opened and
ready to reveal and/or listen to personal information. Other people are less interested in the
personal information of others. Some
people simply do not like to reveal personal information about
themselves. Such individuals may
consider personal questions a form of intrusion into their personal
business. There are people who are
embarrassed about their past and there are individuals who are proud of their
achievements and want to reveal this information. There are also some gender differences. There is a small tendency for women to
want to reveal more personal information than men[15] Under some social conditions it is quite
appropriate to reveal much personal information about the self, such as when
talking to a therapist, when talking to a close friend, when talking to a
member of the opposite sex who is a serious prospect for marriage. However, under some social conditions it is
less appropriate to reveal personal information, such as in non-personal
business relationships, in a party involving business associates and in job
interviews. There are cultural
differences in revealing information about the self in the
Three General
Models of Human Relationships
The term relationship is
defined for the models presented in this paper, as two individuals that
affiliate on an ongoing basis. This definition and the models that follow
essentially apply to all types of relationships, such as husband wife, parent
child, doctor patient, student instructor, friendships, etc.
There are two types of relationships
according to the models presented in this text, which are personal and
non-personal. In personal relationships,
the ongoing affiliation is motivated by a number of factors, some of which have
an emotional nature, such as affection, liking, love and mutually shared sexual
desires. There may or may not be other
factors holding the personal relationship together, such as money, services,
etc. Examples are obvious and include:
parent child, husband wife, lovers and friends.
In non-personal relationship the ongoing affiliation is generally
motivated by a relatively small number of factors. Often the primary motivation for the
affiliation is rooted in one factor,
such as the exchange of money for goods or services. The individuals in such a relationship may or
may not have other factors that hold the relationship together. They might like each other or enjoy each
other's company, but if the primary factor, such as money, is eliminated the
relationship quickly ends. Examples of
such a relationship are business relationships, teacher student, doctor patient
and therapist client.
It might be obvious from the above
paragraphs and from personal experience that non-personal relationships often
have some of the elements of personal relationships. For example, people involved in a business
relationship may like each other. They
may feel genuine concern, and affection for their business associate. They might enjoy each other's company and
spend their lunch hour together. The
same is true with personal relationships.
Many personal relationships have some of the qualities of non-personal
relationships. For example, in some
marriages, a husband might provide a high level of financial support for his
wife, with an unstated understanding that she is to provide housekeeping, child
care and sexual services. Such marriages
might break up, if the husband's income is reduced or eliminated as a result of
unemployment. NOTE (The above is not
meant to be a typical description of marriage.)
Three models of human relationships
are presented in the following paragraphs.
The first one is based on exchange theory, the second one is based on
learning theory and the final model is based on theoretical bonds that hold a
relationship together. The three models
apply to both personal and non-personal relationships as these concepts were
defined above.
This model is based on exchange theory: Both personal and
non-personal relationships involve exchange of various factors. In the case of non-personal relationships the
exchange is usually quite obvious.
Usually, goods or services are exchanged for money. Such exchanges are usually mathematically
precise. In personal relationships
exchange is not mathematically precise.
The exchange may not be obvious.
The factors that are exchanged can be intangible, such as affection,
love, smiles, hugs, and compliments. The
exchange can also involve tangible entities, such as money, clothes and
food. The exchange in personal relationships
can also involve services, such as the services a mother provides for her
children or the housekeeping services a housewife provides for her husband.
Also there are costs in maintaining the
relationship that are consciously or unconsciously figured in with the rewards
obtained from the exchange. That is, the
costs are consciously or unconsciously subtracted from the gains that are
received from the exchange.
The equality of the exchange is the
result of the perception of the people involved in the relationship. When the exchange is perceived by one party as
grossly unequal and unfair, the relationship may change to reestablish a more
equal exchange, or it might be ended by one or both partners. However, if the exchange is perceived as
moderately unequal, many people will continue in the relationship. This is likely to be especially true when the
costs of maintaining the relationship is not too great or if the relationship
is relatively satisfying. Also people
may stay in a relationship that is unequal if they do not believe they can find
a better relationship.
The intangible factors that are exchanged
in personal relationships are very different from tangible factors, such as
goods, services and money. The
intangible factors generally can only be supplied by a specific person. For example, the exchange of love, affection,
smiles, and hugs, obviously cannot be provided by any individual. They only have value when provided by a
specific person. However, tangible
factors, such as goods, services and money can be provided by just about any
one who is willing to provide such tangible entities.
This model is based on learning
theory: Another way of looking
at both personal and non-personal relationships is the partners in the
relationship learn to affiliate on an ongoing basis. That is, the individuals learn that the
ongoing affiliation is rewarding in one or more ways. This maintains the relationship. Sometimes, as the relationship changes with
time one or both partners find that the relationship is no longer rewarding or
that it changed to an emotionally painful relationship. This is also a type of learning, which may
lead to a change in the relationship or a termination of it.
This model is based on theoretical
bonds that hold the relationship together Still another way of looking
at relationships is they are a union of two individuals that are held together
by bonds[17]. The bonds are of two types, positive and
negative. Positive bonds are the rewards
people receive in the relationship, such as affection, reassurance, money,
goods, services, etc. The negative bonds
are the various unpleasant consequences that the individual would experience if
the relationship is terminated. This
includes the emotional pain that is often associated with the ending of a
personal relationship.
The typical relationship is probably held
together by both positive and negative bonds.
Some relationships may have significantly more of one type of bond. Some personal relationships are
primarily held together by negative bonds.
The relationship itself, can be quite unpleasant, but the anticipation
or thought of ending the relationship is more painful than maintaining it. This explains why some people stay in
personal relationships that are quite unpleasant.
Thus, the three models cover all types of
relationships in general. Under the
following three headings specific types of relationships will be discussed,
such as romantic relationships, parent child relationships and
friendships.
A romantic relationship is
defined for the following ideas and models as an ongoing affiliation between
two individuals that includes sexually related activities. The primary categories are single and married
couples.[18]
A
Theoretical Model of Romantic Relationships Based on Imprinting:
Romantic relationships in a certain sense are similar to the imprinting
that takes place in certain species of young animals toward a parent. That is, there is a mechanism in some
animals, such as ducks, that result in a strong bond between a parent, which is
not based on a simple reward and punishment process. The animal will follow the parent around even
if the parent does not provide food protection or anything else. That is, the animal will follow the parent
even if there is no reason to do so[19]. The imprinting response in animals can be so
irrational that the animal can be imprinted by an experimenter to an inanimate
object, which is done by exposing the new born animal to the object at the
right point in time. A process that has
some similarities to the imprinting in animals appears to be involved
with romantic relationships in human beings[20].
Of course, the process that takes place
in romantic relationships is not identical to the imprinting that takes place
in animals, but it is similar to it in certain ways. The primary point is there is a process
involved in romantic relationships that has some of the properties of
imprinting. I am calling this process romantic
imprinting. A common phrase that
people use to describe a process that is more or less similar or identical
is falling in love. And from a
negative perspective perhaps some would describe it as falling into
quicksand.
Romantic imprinting usually involves all of
the following:
romantic imprinting takes place by
romantic interaction of the partners over a period of time The romantic
imprinting process involves various types of sexual activity and/or the thought
(fantasy) of sexual activity with the partner.
This is motivated by sexual gratification. There can also be many other motivating
factors involved, such as a belief that the partner is an ideal mate. The time interval needed for the romantic
imprinting to take place is usually in the range of days, weeks or months. However, there are situations where it takes
place in much longer or shorter time intervals.
a strong sexual attraction develops
toward the partner This is especially true in the beginning of
the relationship. The attraction
strengthens the bonds holding the relationship together. This attraction generally increases in the
early stages of the relationship. After
the relationship matures the sexual attraction usually decreases. This can also be stated in terms of
passionate love and companionate love, which is described in
a strong generalized attachment to a
partner develops This attachment is not based on a simple
concept of rewards and punishments once the relationship is established[21]. In this respect it is similar to the
imprinting in animals. The attachment of
course will be strengthened by rewards.
It might also be weakened by pain stemming directly from the
relationship. The romantic bonds in
human beings may also be strengthened in some cases by the anticipation of pain
that would result from breaking up the relationship. The bonds might also be strengthened or
weakened in some cases by the perceived chances of finding another partner if
the relationship is ended. If an
individual perceives that there are few partners available to him or her, the
bonds of the relationship might be strengthened. This is especially the case if the perceived
choices are inferior to the current partner.
The opposite situation might weaken the bonds holding the relationship
together.
the relationship can be irrational in
some cases This is also found in imprinting in
animals. Some romantic relationships can
be highly unrewarding and painful, but the partners may maintain the
relationship for a while or permanently in spite of the discomfort.
higher brain centers, awareness, and at
least some logical thinking are involved In this respect the romantic imprinting is
quite different from the animal imprinting. The human being that gets involved with a
romantic relationship has a human brain, which evaluates and makes conscious
decisions. People in romantic
relationships may receive many rewards by maintaining the relationship. Such rewards can include: money, companionship,
sexual gratification, the opportunity to raise a family, etc. Thus, there is some logical thinking involved
with romantic imprinting. However, as
already pointed out, there can be irrational thinking and behavior involved
with relationships that are held together by romantic imprinting. For example, it is very difficult to end such
relationships, regardless of whether they are pleasant or painful. It can even be difficult to end romantically
bonded relationships when there is only emotional pain involved. This can be the case even if both parties
agree that the relationship should be ended.
Of course, the above is not always the case.
The Selection Process for Romantic
Relationships and Related Ideas: Which do you think makes for happier
individuals and more satisfying social arrangements- the western notion of
romantic love or other arrangements, such as arranged marriages, multiple
marriages, etc.? Some answers to this
question and related ideas are presented in the following twenty-four
paragraphs.
NOTE (There are many exceptions
to the ideas expressed in the following paragraphs. Some of these exceptions are explained in
footnotes. The reader should understand
the necessity of the relatively large number of footnotes in the text that
follows.)
Often, the relative functionality or
dysfunctionality of a cultural component, such as a mate selection method is
determined by psychological, social, cultural, and environmental factors[22]. That is, under certain conditions a cultural
component, may be highly functional, but under other conditions it may be quite
dysfunctional. This idea can be used to
examine the above question about romantic love and the mate selection
process. However, it is first necessary
to discuss the modern western process of romantic love and mate selection,
which is done in the following,
seventeen paragraphs.
The simplest description of the mate
selection system in our society is meeting an appropriate partner, dating,
falling in love and marrying, which is all based on free choice. As will be illustrated in the following
paragraphs, this is an extreme over simplification. This over simplification is especially
apparent, when we consider the many changes that have taken place in our
society since the 60s.
In western society the mate selection
process is perceived to be the result of the individual choice of the
partners. In reality, often the parents
and peer group influence the choice of mate selection, but the individuals
involved may not be aware of the influencing dynamics on their
choice. Even the media, such as
television, movies, magazines, etc., probably have a significant influence on
the mate selection process in modern western society. That is, the individual learns from parents,
friends, television, movies, magazines, books, and even from school, the type
of person who will be considered an appropriate romantic partner for him or
her.
The individual usually finds an
appropriate romantic partner by socializing with people who are also looking
for partners. To facilitate this process
there are many social events that are more or less created with this purpose in
mind. There are school dances,
discotheques, singles bars, discussion groups for single people, personal
growth workshops primarily prepared for singles[23],
outings for singles, vacation resorts designed for single people, membership
clubs for singles, lectures for singles, dating services and personal ads. Most of these events attract people in one or
two age groups, and the people are usually in approximately the same social
class. There are of course other ways
that singles meet. Some people meet by
being fixed up with a potential date, with the assistance of friends or
relatives. Private and semiprivate parties
are often a place where people find dates.
New methods of meeting dates are periodically developed. Two recently created methods are telephone
discussion services for singles and communications with the computer through
the internet. People of course also meet
in places that are not specifically meant for finding dates. Sometimes people find dates by selecting
eligible individuals that live in the same building or neighborhood. High-school and college contain primarily
single people. Thus, school serves as a
series of singles events for some people. The work environment also serves as a place
to meet potential mates. However, with
recent changes in values the workplace and even the school environment might be
risky places to attempt to meet a potential mate. Such an attempt can be misinterpreted as
sexual harassment[24]. This is especially true, for higher status
males in a managerial or in an instructional role[25]. However, there is usually some risk taking
involved no matter where single people choose to meet.
A general dynamic that is involved
with the mate selection process in our society is risk taking[26]. This is true for both sexes. The male may face some embarrassing
rejections, which can range from a polite no to a nasty refusal, such as are
you crazy. The refusal could be stated
in an especially loud voice so all can hear.
The risk taking for the female is far greater. Of course, she may face some embarrassing
rejections also. Some women in our
modern times either hint or ask for a date or phone number. However, the primary risk that women face in
the mate selection process in our society is not simply related to
embarrassing rejections. Often people
date total strangers, who do not know each other's acquaintances, friends or
parents[27]. In such situations the woman has no way of
knowing if she is dating a man that might rape her or cause other physical
harm. There are risks that involve
honesty. The dating partner may not know
if he or she should reveal certain facts about himself or herself or when to
reveal them. Some dating partners may
tell false information in relation to education, occupation and financial
status. Such information is usually a
primary concern of the woman, but it can also be a concern for males. Other problems related to honesty include:
the individual may not consider his or her date a serious potential for
a romantic partner, may have other relationships or be married. Another category of risk, is unwanted
pregnancy. Most birth control methods
are far from perfect. Some women forget
to use birth control. Men often do not
use condoms, which can fail as a result of punctures. The biggest risk for sexually active singles
involves the possibility of exposure to a sexually transmitted disease. AIDS is of course the greatest risk in this
category, because the disease is not curable and often fatal. This risk has changed the sexual behavior of
many single men and women in western society.
Risks are certainly not the only
difficulty that the singles face. In our
society it is necessary to compete for a mate[28]. An individual's physical looks, financial
status, occupational level, educational attainment, intelligence, social
skills, and just about everything else counts in this competition. Of course, each individual places his or her
own value on the qualities that he or she personally desires in a mate. However, those who are weak in certain
qualities may have a difficult time finding a romantic partner[29]. There are some people who fail to find a
suitable mate. Many people are very
aware of the desirable qualities and the competition for mates with those
qualities. However, there are people who
have no awareness of the competitive dynamics and they find suitable partners
with relative ease. But the high
standards and competition cause serious problems for some individuals.
There are people who do not have enough
of the qualities that are valued in the mate selection competition, within
the subculture and social class they
belong to. An example is a man from
an upper middle class environment who has little education, and earns much less
money than his upper middle class friends.
These people may have to remain single or change the places they search
for a mate. They may also have to change
the standards they use for mate selection.
However, most people eventually adjust to
the choices that are available to them.
This adjustment can result in a preference for a mate with a similar
level of qualities. Some examples are as
follows. A person who did not go to
college might decide that college graduates are too intellectual, picky and
bossy and do not make good mates, resulting in a preference for people who did
not go to college. A homely person might
decide that attractive people are not good mates because they can easily
cheat, resulting in a preference for people who are homely. A person that is not very intellectual or
intelligent might define intelligence in terms that are different from the
intellectual's definition. The less
intelligent person might consider intelligence in terms of being street smart
and knowledgeable about sports, resulting in a preference for potential mates
that meet such criteria. Members of the
opposite sex who have superior qualities may also be perceived as, not
very interesting, snobbish and unfriendly.
The reason for this is that such individuals (with superior qualities)
are generally not interested in forming a romantic relationship with the person
with lesser qualities. Thus, they may
come across to the person with lesser qualities in the undesirable terms
described above. This can lead the
individual with lesser qualities to prefer others who are similar to himself or
herself. Some people adjust by simply
realizing that they have the best chance of obtaining a mate who has
approximately a similar level of positive and negative qualities as
theirs. Such people may conduct their
search accordingly. However, there are
members of both sexes that pursue mates who have qualities superior to
theirs. In this respect women and men
are likely to have different experiences as explained in the following two
paragraphs.
NOTE (Keep in mind that the dynamics explained in the
following two paragraphs do not always manifest. There are many exceptions.)
If a female pursues males who have
qualities that are superior to hers, sooner or later she will probably find a
man who will form a romantic relationship with her. However, the relationship may not be
considered serious by the male. He may
consider it as a casual relationship that offers sexual gratification. He may continue his search for a mate that he
considers appropriate for a permanent relationship. Such a man may even be married in some cases. All of the above may not be revealed,
but the female might sense as the relationship develops over time, that the man
is not truly interested in a serious relationship with her[30].
Males who find
themselves in a subculture and social environment where they are pursuing women
that have qualities that are superior to theirs, will usually have experiences
that are quite different from women
under similar circumstances[31].
They will usually be rejected rather quickly.
If they persist in their search, they will probably sooner or later find
a woman interested in them as a platonic friend. The male may continue the relationship,
dating the woman, with the hope, which is often futile, that it will develop
into a romantic relationship[32].
The differences expressed in the two
paragraphs above are related to a difference in sexual values between men and
women. Men are often, but certainly
not always, more willing to get sexually involved. However, there are of course many men in our
society that have highly conservative sexual values, and would not be willing
to involve themselves in a casual romantic relationship. The opposite is also true. There are women who are very casual about
sex, and they may have sex with a male friend, with no intention of forming a
serious or ongoing romantic relationship with him.
Probably the individuals that are most
likely to find a mate and have a successful relationship are individuals that
search for a romantic partner that has positive and negative qualities, values,
beliefs, interests and goals that are similar to theirs. This is especially the case if they like
their own qualities. Most people
probably more or less fall into this category (individuals selecting a mate
based on similarity) as they mature to the point where they are seriously
searching for a marriage partner.
Thus, from the above it is apparent that
most people adjust to the problems, risks, rejections and other difficulties of
the western mate selection system. Most
single people sooner or later meet one or more, individuals that they get
romantically bonded to. The romantic
bonding develops generally as stated in the previous discussion of a
theoretical model of romantic imprinting, which is briefly summarized in the
following sentence. Various types of
sexual activity and/or thoughts of such activity with a specific partner over a
period of time often leads to the sensation that people call romantic love in
western society. When romantic love
develops the couple might decide to marry.
In more recent times, in western society, alternatives to marriage are
also considered by people in love, such as moving in to the same living
quarters without marrying. This is
sometimes done for one of the following reasons: as a permanent arrangement, as
a test of marriage compatibility, as a temporary arrangement until the couple
decides to break up. Another alternative
to marriage in modern western society is maintaining a boyfriend-girlfriend
relationship in separate living quarters, with no intention of marriage. A less common version of this, which is only acceptable
by a minority of the singles population, is multiple relationships. For example, a woman might have several
boyfriends that she is sexually involved with.
This is probably less common than it was at one time, because of the
manifestation of the AIDS virus.
As implied above there are many types of
relationships in our modern society, besides a traditional marriage. This can cause a major problem for people
searching for a relationship. Both males
and females have no way of knowing what a potential date wants unless it is
honestly revealed. There are males,
especially those who might pursue women in singles bars, who want sex for one
night. And there might be some women
with similar goals. (This is probably much
less common than it was in the 70's and 80's, because of the manifestation
of AIDS.) There are people who are
looking for a casual romantic relationship.
Some people on the singles scene are simply looking for friends. Others want a monogamous relationship without
marriage. And there are people who are
hoping to find a member of the opposite sex to marry and raise a family.
Much of what has been discussed, such as
dating, marriage and raising a family obviously cost money. Traditionally, the male would pay the bills. In recent years there has been some changes in
this regard. Women sometimes pay their
share in the dating process. This is
more likely to be the case in platonic relationships and less likely to be so
in true romantic relationships. However,
even in romantic dating relationships the woman may contribute some
money toward the date, which may be just a fraction of the bill. In marriage, the male is expected to support
the family, but a financial contribution from the woman as a result of her
employment is rather common. However,
often, but certainly not always, the male is expected to be the primary source
of money for all types of romantic relationships. This is especially true for a marriage and
family that include children. If the
male cannot provide more than 50 percent of the financial support in a romantic
relationship, which includes marriage, the relationship is often, but certainly
not always, ended by the woman. The
reasons for this may or may not be directly cause by financial
factors. That is, in some cases the
emotional problems stemming from the economic difficulties, which can result in
hostile arguments, might be the actual cause of the termination of the
relationship.
However, women usually consider the
earning power of a man a primary factor, especially in the upper working,
middle and upper middle class categories.
This is usually quite obvious in social events intended for singles that
already completed school. One of the
first questions that a woman often asks a man she just met is what do you do
for a living. In some cases this may be
motivated by a desire to maintain a conversation, but the question also has the
practical value of assessing the man's financial status. The interest in financial status is probably
greatest when the woman is looking for a serious relationship, such as
marriage.
The most common relationship in our
society is generally thought to be monogamous.
However if you examine statistics of single and married people in our
society an interesting conclusion is apparent.
Most people have more than one romantic relationship in a lifetime. Some people have many romantic relationships
throughout their lives. Thus, an
accurate description of the most common type of relationship in our society is
serial monogamy.[33] That is, it is quite common for people to
have multiple sexual partners over a lifetime, but most people engage in sexual
activity at a given period of their life with only one partner. The above is quite obvious when we examine
the behavior of single individuals and the divorce rate of married
couples. Of course, there are also many
people in our society that find one partner and stay with that partner for
life.
Thus, the western, notion of the mating
process (romantic love and mate selection) as it is actually carried out, (with
a small number of exceptions) can be summarized as follows. It is either serial monogamy or monogamy,
with the partners choosing their own mates, which is usually based on romantic
love, with their choices based on the influence that is provided by society at
large. Question, how functional is this
western system of romantic love and mate selection. From the above paragraphs, it is apparent
that there are some dysfunctional elements involved in the system. A more precise answer is it can be quite
functional for some people, and quite dysfunctional for others. I will summarize the dysfunctional and
functional aspects of the western system in the following two lists. These lists also contain a functional dysfunctional
comparison between the western method and a system of arranged marriages by
relatives, such as exists in some oriental countries.
The dysfunctional aspects of the modern
mate selection system include all of the following:
people making poor choices in relation
to mate selection Romantic love can
interfere with a person's judgment, which can result in making a poor choice in
relation to selecting a partner. This is
especially the case with younger people, who do not have the experience and
maturity to make good decisions. This
difficulty would be solved by a system of arranged marriages.
out of wedlock pregnancy This is a major
problem in our society. It is especially
serious for the less educated individuals, who are also younger in age. This difficulty would most likely be
eliminated by arranged marriages, especially if marriage was started early in
life.
the emotional trauma from breaking up
long term relationships such as seen in some divorces This can cause
serious psychological difficulties in some cases, for the separating
partners. The separation may trigger, or
cause a serious case of depression or other psychological disorder. It can also cause emotional problems for
children in some cases. This would
not necessarily be solved by arranged marriages. It is possible that it would even increase
as a result of arranged marriages, such as if the matches were poorly made. It might be reduced by a system that
encouraged: better choices, marrying at an older age, correcting relationship
problems with counseling, and a system that discouraged divorce.
children growing up in single parent
households Children usually develop better when there
are two parents. Single parent
households often result in poverty and lack of supervision. This lack of supervision in single parent
households can lead to an increase in crime as the children mature. Much of the difficulties associated with
single parent households would be solved by a system of arranged marriages. There may be still some single parent
households, as the result of death or divorce, but the numbers would probably
be greatly reduced.
psychological difficulties stemming from
the system, such as failures to find a mate, rejection and divorce Single people must
learn to cope with rejection. Some
singles receive a huge amount of rejection.
This can cause psychological problems, such as low self-esteem and
depression. This difficulty can
probably be reduced or eliminated by a system that involved arranged marriages. This would probably be especially true if the
matches were carefully made, and the system discouraged divorce.
embarrassment of facing rejection and
competition This is a relatively minor problem compared
to the other dysfunctions mentioned.
However, it can affect some people more than others. It can stop some individuals from searching
for a mate. As implied above, it may
have in significant psychological problems for some people.
not knowing the kind of relationship that
your dating partner wants Of course, this is probably one of the less
severe problems, because it is possible to ask.
However, often before such information can be politely asked the
individuals must invest time in at least one date. There is always the risk that a partner will
lie, such as a man telling a woman that he is looking for marriage, with the
hope of obtaining premarital sex. This
difficulty would obviously be eliminated by a system of arranged marriages.
the difficulties of dating strangers This can be
especially difficult for women. A female
can be risking rape and/or physical harm in her dating efforts. Even if no such harm ever manifests, the
woman may suffer a considerable amount of fear and emotional stress over the
potential hazard. This difficulty
would also be eliminated by a system of arranged marriages.
ambiguity about proper sexual values and
behavior The various cultures, subcultures and other
divisions of our society have different norms and values about proper sexual
behavior. The most conservative segments
of our society such as certain religious groups do not consider any sexual
activity before marriage acceptable. The
opposite extreme is found in some singles scene segments, where if there is no
sexual activity involving the genitals by the third date, the assumption may be
that one or both parties are not interested in forming a relationship. (This assumption is probably much less common
than it once was, because of the manifestation of AIDS. Many cautious couples wait until the
relationship is developed and then both partners have an AIDS test before the
sexual aspect of their relationship starts.)
The ambiguity about proper sexual behavior can be a problem for both men
and women. If a potential partner acts
too soon it may lead to the termination of a developing relationship, which is
most likely to happen if the man acts to soon.
If the woman makes herself sexually available to early, she may be
rejected as a serious relationship partner by some men. This difficulty would be eliminated by a
system of arranged marriages that incorporated a single set of sexual values.
In spite of the dysfunctions of the
western method of mate selection, there are also many functional elements,
which manifest for some people.
Basically, the mate selection method in our society offers much
choice. People who make carefully
thought out intelligent choices may find the system highly functional. This functionality includes all of the
following:
a feeling of free choice The emotional
feeling of being free is strongly valued in our society. This includes the individual's freedom to
choose a partner of his or her own choice.
It also involves the other choices presented under the next entry on
this list. Free choice would be
eliminated with most systems of arranged marriages. The decision of whom to marry, and even when
to marry are usually made by the parents.
a choice of the type of relationship, such
as boyfriend girlfriend living separately, platonic relationships, multiple
sexual relationships, living together, and marriage Everybody is not
emotionally and financially prepared or suitable for marriage. Some people have a philosophy that is incompatible
with marriage and long term commitment.
Other people simply are not emotionally stable enough to maintain a
marriage or other long term commitment.
There are even people who are afraid of sex or cannot find a romantic
partner. There are also people who do not
want to or cannot form any type of long term relationship. In our modern society nobody is forced into
any type of relationship. Most people
have the potential to find a partner for almost any type of relationship, such
as the relationships listed above. The
freedom gives everybody a chance to make the most realistic and best choice for
themselves. Most individuals who want a
long term commitment, such as marriage, succeed in finding a partner. The choice of the type of relationship would
be eliminated by arranged marriages. In
a system that only allowed arranged marriages, some people who are not
emotionally or financially prepared for marriage might be forced into marriage. This would be quite dysfunctional, and it
would most likely lead to divorce. A
system that allowed parents to arrange marriages, would leave some people
without any relationship, if the parents thought they were unsuitable for
marriage. This would be especially
unfair if their offspring felt differently or if the young person improved with
maturity.
when a person chooses their own partner
the relationship might work out better If an emotionally mature individual chooses
his or her own partner the long term outcome will probably be more
successful. This may be especially true
for marriage. This assumption is based
on a study that was cited in
the opportunity to end undesirable
relationships in a relatively easy manner Many relationships turnout to be quite
unsuccessful, unpleasant and even dangerous for one partner, which is usually
the woman. Some relationships can even
be quite destructive for the children.
The solution in our modern society is relatively simple, end the
relationship. If it is a marriage, there
is the option of annulment (for new marriages), separation or divorce. Divorced people can usually find another
partner and remarry. This is even true
for people with children. This option
would probably be eliminated by most strict systems of arranged marriages,
unless such a system made divorce acceptable and relatively easy. If marriage was arranged by the parents the
individual may have great difficulty marrying after divorce if his or her
parents were deceased.
choice to raise a family without
marriage Many people in our society do not like this
option. However, it is an option that
some people take. Some women cannot find
a partner that is suitable for the long term emotional and financial
responsibilities of marriage. They want
to have children, and they raise their family out of wedlock. Some women get pregnant, and their boyfriend
deserts them. They, have the option to
raise a child, which is far more acceptable in our society then it was
once. This option would be eliminated
by a strict system that involved arranged marriages, and did not allow for
alternative methods of child rearing.
However, the option would be needed less, because it might be almost
guaranteed that a woman who wanted to raise a family, would have a husband
chosen for her very early in life.
a choice of arranged marriages Arranged marriages
are certainly not common in our society.
However, there is no law against arranging marriages. Or having parents or relatives assist in the
mate selection process (semi-arranged marriages). Most likely, there are people from some
cultures or religious cults that have arranged marriages in the
Thus, as can be seen from the above
lists, there are both functional and dysfunctional components in the western
method of mate selection. The same is
also true for a system that consists exclusively or primarily of arranged
marriages, which limits free choice. In
our society, the concept of free choice is highly valued. I believe a system that is strictly based on
arranged marriages would never work in western society. It would violate our value of free choice. However, there are societies where such a
system has worked in a highly functional way for hundreds of years. Such societies have norms, values, and
environmental conditions that are different from ours, which makes arranged
marriages functional for them. Question,
are there other alternatives? The answer
to this question is discussed in the next paragraph.
Polygyny is a type of polygamy, which is
a man who has more than one wife. This
is acceptable in some societies.
Polygyny might be functional in some societies when there are more
females than males, which often results from males dying in war. Polygyny is especially functional in some
societies for wealthy men, who can afford to support a number of wives. This method would generally not work in our
society. It violates our basic norm of
monogamy and it is illegal. However,
there are some males who have a number of female partners in our society. This is even the case with certain religious
cults, such as some segments of the Mormon cult, who believe that having
multiple wives is an acceptable form of marriage.
Polyandry is a type of polygamy in which
a woman has multiple husbands. This is
acceptable in some societies. Something
similar exists in a very small scale, for some young women in our society that
have a number of boyfriends. However,
multiple sexual relationships of any type violate the basic values of our
society. Thus, polyandry would not
generally work in western society.
Question, is there any method of mate
selection that would work better, in western society, than the current
method? I believe a better method can be
created by slightly modifying the current system we have in our society. Such a method, perhaps would be more or less
the same basic system that we have now, with some modifications added. Some of the dysfunctional elements can
probably be greatly reduced. Divorce,
out of wedlock pregnancy, and many other problems can probably be reduced by
education, counseling and closer supervision by parents.
The phrase parent child
relationships, includes natural and surrogate parents, as the concept is used
here. With parent child relationships
there is also a bonding that is in certain ways similar to the imprinting that
takes place in certain animals. I am
calling this parent child imprinting.
Of course, there are major differences between animal imprinting and
parent child imprinting. Obviously, the
differences are partly the result of the powerful human brain and practically
no inborn instincts are involved with humans.
The parent child imprinting starts at
birth. First the parent is imprinted to
care for the child. The child has little
awareness of who is the parent in the first hours of birth. However, the child becomes quickly imprinted
toward its mother in a matter of months.
This bond usually strengthens with time and then may start to decline in
adolescents. However, the bonds between
parents and offspring usually remain relatively strong throughout life.
The strength of the parent child
imprinting can be seen when young children are separated from their parents for
a period of days, weeks or months. The
young child may suffer emotional problems and beg to see its parents. This can even be the case if the child was
taken out of a destructive household by court order. Thus, such bonds are not necessarily rooted
in rational thinking or a simple reward punishment concept. The child can perceive more punishment with
its parents, but in spite of the pain the child may still want its
parents. Such parents might also be
greatly upset about having their child taken from them, even though they were
hostile toward their child and were unable to care for it.
Usually, but probably not always, the
child imprinting is stronger toward the mother than the father. This might be because in American society the
child usually spends more time with its mother.
Relationships of a
Personal Friendship Nature
Friendships develop as a result
of interactions of a friendly nature over time.
This results in the individuals learning about each other and emotional
bonds often develop. This process can be
called friendship imprinting.
People that are likely to interact
together in a friendly way over a period of time are more likely to become
friends. Often such relationships
develop as a result of common interests or needs that can be better satisfied
with a friend. In childhood, friends
serve as playmates. In adolescents and
early adult life and beyond friendships can help in the mate selection
process. People often seek same sexed
friends to search in a team like fashion for dates. This provides added security and assists in
starting conversations with members of the opposite sex. Often the most outgoing member may start the
conversation and the less outgoing members may join in.
A primary function served by friends
throughout life relates to the learning that takes place in the socialization
process. We learn a considerable
quantity of practical information from our friends, such as social skills,
norms, values, what are realistic expectations in relation to various life
endeavors, etc. We may also learn about
ourselves from our friends. That is, the
feedback we obtain can give us important personal information about
ourselves. Of course friends often give
information or feedback that is distorted by their personal perceptions, but on
the average what we learn from our friends
is quite valuable.
The Power Dynamics
in Relationships
People in any type of
relationship in a certain sense have power over each other. This applies to all types of relationships
according to the model I am presenting here, including friendships, marriage,
boyfriend girlfriend and parent child relationships. The power that I am talking about in this
text is basically social power within a relationship. Social power is defined in the glossary of
Social norms: Social norms are rules that relate to the
standards of behavior that are expected of us by the social groups we interact
in. These rules (norms) often relate to
our role in the social group. We generally
learn these rules in the socialization
process. There are norms that relate to
power, which generally depend on the role of the individual. For example, a student is expected to follow
orders from his instructor while he or she is in class, an employee is expected
to take orders from his employer, children are expected to be influenced and
obey their parents. Traditionally,
girlfriends and wives are expected to follow the lead of their boyfriends or
husbands. This norm has generally
changed, where the expectation is usually but not always more of an equal
sharing of relationship power.
Problems that can develop from power
stemming from social norms: Problems
can result when people in a relationship do not share the same norms about
power. For example, an individual in the
late teens, living with parents, might believe that he or she does not have to
follow the orders of parents. However,
the teenager's parents might believe that a teenager that is living in their
house must follow their rules. Another
example can be seen when a husband has traditional beliefs about masculine
authority in marriage, and the wife has a modern view of equal power. The husband might view his wife as
disobedient and rebellious. The wife may
see her husband as inappropriately bossy.
This of course would most likely lead to conflict.
Relative resources: Relative resources is relationship power
based on the possession of: additional, more or better resources. That is, one of the relationship partners has
a greater quality or quantity of resources, which are valued by both
partners. For example, a teenager living
with his parents may have less power, because his parents own the house,
furnishings, and have money, which is made available to the teenager. The teenager is probably aware that his
parents can cut his allowance, and even evict him from their house if he does
not obey (at least some of) their orders.
Another example, is a man who provides all of the financial support for
his wife. This power advantage would be
especially true if the couple has no children, and the wife has no intention of
working. The husband may feel especially
powerful, if he has traditional values, and the woman may feel vulnerable to his
power if she feels that she cannot support herself at the same level that her
husband provides.
Problems that can develop from power
stemming from relative resources:
Problems can result from relationship power stemming from relative
resources, if resentment and rebellious behavior results from the power
difference. This can lead to arguments
threatening to cut off resources, such as a parent threatening to cut the
allowance of their teenager if he or she does not follow their wishes. A woman who is supported by her husband can
result in conflict and worry that is very similar to the scenario presented in
the above example involving the teenager.
Such conflict can cause the less powerful person to worry about the
possibility of having resources cut off by the more powerful person.
The
principle of least interest: This is
relationship power stemming from the relative interest of the individuals
involved in a relationship. The person
that is least interested in maintaining the relationship has more of this type
of power. That is, the person who cares
most about maintaining the relationship will have less power. The idea behind this type of power is that
the individual who is most concerned about maintaining the relationship, will
be willing to comply more with the other partner's demands, desires and needs in
an effort to maintain the relationship.
The individual that is less concerned about maintaining the
relationship, will be less willing to comply with the demands, desires and
needs of the more interested partner. Often
the less interested partner believes he or she has more and better choices for
a relationship partner, than the partner that is more interested in maintaining
the relationship. For example, a
highly attractive woman with many above average qualities will have more power
than her boyfriend, if the man is homely with average qualities. The reason for this, according to the
theory, is the more attractive woman would have many more choices available
to her in relation to mate selection than her homely boyfriend. In addition, she could most likely attract
men with qualities that are above average, but the homely man may have
difficulty attracting average women. The
man knows he probably cannot find a more desirable mate, but the woman knows
she can most likely find a more desirable mate with relative ease. Thus, the man will be more interested in
maintaining the relationship than the woman.
NOTE (The concept presented above, the principle of
least interest, is intuitively known by many single people. Sometimes single individuals attempt to use
this principle to gain more control in a relationship, by pretending that they
are not particularly interested in their boyfriends or girlfriends. They may try to convey to their partner that
they have many other desirable choices for a mate. Whether such strategy actually works is
another question. The goal is to try to
motivate the partner to invest more effort to maintain the relationship. Of course, it can have the opposite
effect. The partner may decide to
abandon the relationship and find a boyfriend or girlfriend that is more
interested in him or her.) END OF NOTE
Problems that can develop from power
stemming from the principle of least interest: When two people are in a relationship where
there is a significant difference in interest in maintaining the relationship,
many problems can develop. The more
interested person can be investing a tremendous effort to maintain a
relationship that is not likely to last.
This can lead to worry, frustration, hostility and conflict, which can
facilitate the process of ending the relationship. Of course, a relationship that is moderately
out of balance with respect to this type of power, may last.
The three types of relationship power: In actual practice the three types of power
may work together. Thus, if one partner
has more of one type of relationship power it might be balanced by a different
type of relationship power that is possessed by the other partner. For example, a partner who has much power as
a result of the principle of least interest, may have less power
as a result of social norms and/or relative resources. That is, the other partner in the
relationship may have substantially more power as a result of social
norms and/or relative resources, which could balance the
power the other partner has.
Question, can you think of any
relationships in which concerns for power do not play a role? According to the model I presented above,
power is involved in all relationships.
However, in some relationships the partners may not be aware and/or
concerned about power. Such
relationships might be quite equal in power.
In addition, there are partners in certain relationships who simply do
not make any obvious attempts to exercise their power. Their influence and control of the
relationship is done in a discreet and nonthreatening manner. Of course, there are relationships that are
at the opposite extreme, where the partners are quite aware of the power
balance in the relationship. In some
relationships power is exercised in an obvious and threatening way, such as a
parent threatening her child with physical punishment and/or a reduction in
allowance, if demands are not complied with.
Research into power
in relationships: There has been
some research carried out on power in relationships, which is presented in
Attraction, Liking
and Disliking
Question, what factors make a
person attractive and likable and what factors make a person unlikable? We learn from childhood throughout life that
certain traits in human beings are rewarding, other traits are more or less
neutral, and some traits are likely to lead to unpleasant experiences. Thus, we tend to be attracted and like people
with certain traits and dislike people with other traits. That is, certain traits (positive qualities)
tend to motivate people to affiliate with an individual. Such traits may motivate people to attempt to
form close personal relationships with the individual with the positive
qualities. Other traits tend to lead to
disliking and motivate us to avoid affiliating with an individual with the
undesirable qualities. Positive, neutral
and negative traits are delineated in the three lists presented below.
The traits people like in others are
generally all of the following[35]:
· honesty Exceptions to this might include honesty that
is insulting, such as telling someone that you see them as ugly. Another exception might be honesty that
results in revealing the personal secrets of family, romantic partners, friends
and associates to others.
· understanding People often like when their actions,
motivations and weaknesses, are comprehended and accepted sympathetically by
others. However, a simple comprehension
of the above by an individual, without acceptance, would probably not lead to
liking. That is, if someone understands
our actions, motivations and weaknesses and does not accept them, we probably
would not like that person.
· loyalty There might be exceptions to this. People certainly like others to be loyal to
them. However, most people do not like
the idea if the loyalty is to another individual at their expense.
· intelligence An exception to this might be when the higher
level of intelligence results in attitudes, behavior, goals, and views that are
different from the less intelligent people.
In such cases the more intelligent individual may be disliked by the
less intelligent people in his or her environment and vice versa.
· dependable People certainly like others they can depend
on. This liking can be both of a practical and emotional nature.
That is, a dependable person is a valuable entity to have around,
especially in emergencies. A dependable
person can also be emotionally reassuring.
· considerate People probably like this trait because it is
practical and emotionally reassuring.
That is, you will be treated better if you are around considerate
people, which can also be emotionally rewarding.
· warmth This trait is perhaps hard to define, because
people may have slightly different definitions for the word warmth. The concept is delineated in
· friendly This probably results in liking because
people like to be accepted by others. A
person with a friendly attitude will generally give the impression that he or
she is accepting of others. The
friendliness will also convey the impression that people in the company of the
friendly person are liked. This will be
rewarding to others, which should facilitate liking of the friendly
person.
· happy One of the reasons this might facilitate
liking is it might make others happy.
That is, happiness often acts as if it is contagious.
· humorous There might be some exceptions to this. Certain humorous verbalizations, mannerisms,
and attitudes can be insulting to some people.
A humorous perspective of a young person, might be insulting to a more
mature person with a serious attitude.
Older people with a humorous attitude about certain aspects of life
might be considered immature or maladjusted by their peers. Thus, usually a humorous person must come
across to others in a manner that is considered appropriate for the
psychological, social and cultural circumstances for liking to result.
· responsible There might be some exceptions to this
amongst some groups of individuals that are not responsible in their
actions. This would probably be
especially true for some rebellious delinquent groups that value a high level
of risk taking. However, even such
groups would probably value an individual that is responsible in relation to
their rebellious group.
· physical similarities Certain physical similarities can sometimes
increase liking. Examples are similar: body
type, age, height, etc.
· similarities in culture, values, beliefs and goals There are probably
many reasons why this facilitates liking, some are as follows: the
similarities, reduce conflict, involve common knowledge that facilitates
objectives; easier to communicate as a result of using the same linguistic
expressions; a reinforcement of beliefs, values and goals as a result of
experiencing others who value similar beliefs, values and goals; prolonged
contact in similar cultural environments.
Another set of factors that might cause individuals who are of similar
culture to like each other is they may be rejected, mistreated or misunderstood
by others outside of their own culture.
This would certainly make people of their own culture seem more desirable.
· similar interests in activities or hobbies This facilitates
positive interaction as a result of shared interests, which may require others
for partners or require others for maximum satisfaction.
· physical attractiveness There are probably
some exceptions, where physical attractiveness does not lead to liking. Some possible examples are when it leads to
jealousy between two friends of different attractiveness levels, which can
happen when the friends are both competing for mates. Another exception is when an individual of
lower attractiveness level believes he or she is likely to be rejected by the
more attractive person.
· exposure to an individual over a period of time An important exception
to this happens when the individuals are involved in conflict from the first
meeting onward. In such situations
exposure over a period of time will most likely result in an increase in
hostility and a greater degree of unfriendliness. Exposure to an individual over time is most
likely to lead to liking when the encounters are pleasant or constructive.
The traits people generally dislike
in others are all of the following:
· ill-mannered An exception to this might be with some
people who have similar ill-mannered behavior patterns. That is, some individuals in this category
might not mind ill-mannered behavior that is similar to theirs.
· unfriendly Most people would certainly not like this
trait. However, many of us would prefer that
certain people, such as the neighborhood derelict, would be unfriendly, in the
sense of not trying to be our friend.
· hostile Hostility can be quite unpleasant and
threatening. One of the reasons for this
is it is not always easy to determine the extent or actions that will follow
from the hostility.
· loud-mouthed An exception to this might be with some
people who have similar loudmouth verbal habits. That is, some people in this category might
not mind this unpleasant habit.
· selfish This trait is obviously unpleasant for many
reasons. The trait can convey
unfriendliness and hostility.
· narrow-minded An individual with this trait can be
perceived by others as stubborn and/or unwilling to listen and learn about new
ideas.
· conceited This trait would be especially annoying to
others when the conceit also puts others in an inferior position. However, it would probably be tolerated more
if it does not make others feel inferior.
· insincere This trait relates to being dishonest about
one's feelings and intentions. The trait
can be a significant problem for an individual who has an insincere partner in
a romantic relationship.
· unkind Such a person may be perceived by others as
selfish and insensitive to the needs of others.
· malicious This trait relates to an individual with
hateful feelings, which may result in vicious behavior. Certainly it is obvious why people generally
do not like others with this trait.
However, malicious people, with similar malicious attitudes, such as
certain juvenile gangs, might like each other as long as the maliciousness is
focused on people outside of the group.
· obnoxious This trait relates too unpleasant, disgusting
or annoying behavior, which is unnecessary.
· dishonest A dishonest individual can be a great burden
to people, especially if the dishonesty is associated with factors that are
significant to others, such as stealing.
If the dishonesty has no practical significance, such as a person that
lies about his or her past, the dishonesty may be tolerated by others, even if
they are aware that the individual is lying.
Of course, this may still increase
the level of disliking.
· cruel A person that has this trait well be
considered mean, and potentially destructive to the well-being of others.
· exposure over a period of days, weeks, months or years to
one or more individuals in an unfriendly conflict situation Such interactions are likely to lead to disliking as
time passes. However, under some conditions such
interactions can result in resolving or reducing the conflict, which can result
in a decrease in the level of disliking.
Such reduction in conflict can even sometimes lead to cooperation and
liking. (All of the above is easily seen
in international conflict.)
The following traits can generally be
perceived as slightly positive to slightly negative. The perception depends on various factors,
such as the psychological, social, and cultural context:
· persistent This would probably be considered a positive
trait by most people when it relates to obtaining an important goal. It would probably be perceived as negative by
most people when the persistent effort relates to a goal that is destructive,
such as a persistent drug addict, who does just about anything to obtain money
for his drugs. It will also most likely
be perceived as negative when it is annoying, such as a salesman that is
persistent in trying to sell you items that you are not interested in. A general example is when a person is
persistent in trying to persuade you to do something you do not want to do.
· conventional This trait would probably be more often considered positive by conservative people
and older individuals. The trait would
probably also be considered positive when the conventional behavior relates to
behavior that is considered proper by society.
The trait would probably be considered negative by radical groups and
some young people. The trait would
probably be considered negative by many adolescents and people in their early
twenties when it relates to conventional styles of dress and behavior that are
out of style in the adolescent peer group.
· bold This trait would probably be considered
positive when it is associated with behavior that is considered necessary or
constructive. The trait would probably
be considered negative when it is associated with behavior that is unnecessary,
destructive or annoying.
· cautious This trait would be considered positive by
many mature adults. It would be
considered especially positive by most people when the cautiousness is clearly
related to avoiding a hazard that is obvious, serious, and highly
unnecessary. It would probably be
considered less positive or negative when the cautiousness is related to
avoiding a hazard that is not obvious or not serious. Also it would probably be considered somewhat
negative by many people, when it relates to avoiding risks that are commonly
accepted by our society, such as driving an automobile, drinking alcoholic
beverages, etc. It would be considered
negative by most people when the cautiousness is related to avoiding imaginary
or insignificant risks. Many young
people would consider cautiousness a negative trait, when it relates to
avoiding the risks commonly taken by the peer groups of teenagers and people in
their early twenties. These groups often
consider risk taking a desirable quality, which is the opposite of
cautiousness. People in these groups
often are faced with situations that demand risk taking. This includes social risk taking and in the
military young people are expected to risk their lives. Some groups of young people often advocate
the opposite of cautiousness when it relates to cigarette smoking, drinking
alcoholic beverages, driving and automobile and rebellious activities that can
sometimes be illegal.
· excitable Probably most people, especially teenagers
and young adults would consider this trait positive when the excitability
relates to behavior that they consider to be harmless and fun. When the excitability relates to unpleasant,
destructive, abnormal or highly inappropriate behavior, most people would
consider it negative.
· quiet This trait would probably be considered
positive when the quietness is associated with not being annoyed by an
individual that could be potentially annoying.
Also quietness can be associated with a calm, nonaggressive and polite
person, which would be considered positive by most people. This trait may be considered negative by many
when it is believed to be motivated by social anxiety and lack of social
skills.
· impulsive This trait may be considered positive by some
people when the impulsiveness is related to frivolous behavior in an
environment where such behavior is considered appropriate. The trait might be considered more positive
by individuals that are young and impulsive.
The trait will probably be considered negative by most mature people in
the work and school environments. The
trait would also probably be considered negative by most people, if the
impulsive behavior relates to serious actions, decisions or if it involved
destructive behavior.
· aggressive This trait may be considered positive when it
relates to competitive behavior that is considered appropriate. Such as an aggressive executive or salesmen,
who is more successful than his or her competitors. However, this trait is likely to be
considered negative, when it relates to embarrassing, inappropriate, harmful or
illegal behavior.
· shy This trait might be considered positive by some
people when it is associated with a sensitivity to the feelings of others. That is, a shy person may be considered
reserved because he or she does not want to: offend, embarrass, or annoy
others. As a result such a person is
cautious with their verbalizations and actions.
They come across to others as quiet, very polite and kind. They are probably less likely to interrupt or
get into arguments with others. All of the above is certainly positive. However, shyness can be considered quite
negative, when it is associated with social anxiety and lack of social
skills. In its extreme form, some people
will consider it a mental illness.
· emotional This trait may be considered positive by some
people when it relates to pleasant emotions, such as happiness, laughter and
romantic passion. This is especially the
case if the emotions are considered appropriate for the situation. The trait will be considered negative when it
relates to undesirable or inappropriate emotional responses.
· naive This trait may be considered positive when it
is associated with innocence. This is
especially the case with children and teenagers. The trait implies in such cases that the
individual did not have certain experiences that might corrupt his or her moral
behavior. Naiveness implies that the
individual did not engage in certain immoral behavior because he or she is
ignorant of such behavior. The trait can
be considered negative, when the ignorance of immoral behavior, results in the
naive individual being swindled or mistreated by immoral people. In such cases the naive individual may be
considered stupid, which is certainly a negative trait.
· daydreamer This trait can be considered positive when it
is associated with constructive daydreaming, such as performed by a poet,
writer and scientist. The trait may also
be considered somewhat positive by some people when the daydreaming is
interesting and/or fun to talk about.
The trait may be considered negative by most people when it is used to
escape from: responsibilities, unpleasant work activities, academic study or an
unpleasant situation that must be faced to resolve it.
· materialistic This trait might be considered positive by
some people, because we do live in a society that is in a sense quite
materialistic. The trait may be
associated with an individual that is trying to obtain a high degree of
financial success. In our society this
is certainly considered positive by most people if the financial success is
obtained through hard work and honest effort.
However, a materialistic person can be evaluated quite negatively, when
the effort to obtain material resources and money is not through hard work and
an honest effort. For example, a woman
who is trying to obtain wealth by searching for a rich man, may be evaluated
quite negatively. She would most likely
be evaluated negatively by men in her own social class, which she rejects
because they do not possess wealth. Such
a woman would be called a gold digger.
Materialistic attitudes and behavior would also most likely be
considered negative by many spiritual and intellectual individuals that focus
their efforts on the non-material aspects of life.
· rebellious The trait might be considered positive by
many liberal Americans when the rebellious attitudes and behavior are
controlled, legal and focused on major dysfunctions in our society. This trait might be considered positive by
some adolescents and young adults, who focus their rebellious attitudes toward
dysfunctional components of society. The
rebellious attitudes may also be considered positive by some juvenile
gangs. The trait would probably be
considered quite negative by most adults in our society when the rebellious
attitudes and behavior are not controlled, illegal, and are not focused on
factors that they perceive as dysfunctions.
The negative assessment of the trait would probably be voiced most
strongly by individuals that are conservatives in their political views.
· lonely This trait probably would not be considered
positive by most people. However, many
people in our society would not negatively evaluate a lonely person. The loneliness could easily be attributed to
the structure of our society, rather than a deficiency in the lonely
person. A lonely individual might even
be perceived as an individual that is friendly and willing to make social
contact with any appropriate individual.
Such a friendly attitude could certainly be evaluated positively by most
individuals. However, the trait may be
considered negative, when the loneliness is attributed to inadequacies in the
individual. This negative evaluation may be especially prominent when the
lonely person is perceived to be rejecting and unfriendly to most people.
· dependent The trait may be perceived as neutral or even
positive by some individuals when the dependency is appropriate according to
the norms of our society. For example, a
young college student who is still dependent on his or her parents will
probably not be evaluated negatively. A
woman who is taking care of children and is dependent on her husband for
support, will also not be evaluated negatively by most people. However, when the dependency is inappropriate
according to the norms of our society, the trait would probably be evaluated
negatively by most people. For example,
an unemployed adult that is not in school and is still depending on his or her
parents for support will probably be evaluated negatively by most people.
The essence of the lists can be summed up
as follows. Individuals that provide the maximum amount of reward at the lowest
possible cost will probably be liked the most.
(The word cost means here the undesirable obligations and
experiences that individuals might inadvertently or intentionally impose on the
people they interact with.) The individuals
that display values, beliefs, goals and behavior patterns that do not
contradict the views of the people they affiliate with, will be liked more than
individuals that do otherwise. Individuals
that avoid conflict and get to know the people they interact with over an
extended period of time, will be liked more than individuals that do
otherwise.
Chapter 12: Group Behavior and Related Ideas
Left click on
these words to hear a sound file of the following:
The Definition of a
Group and Related Ideas
Question, what is a group? This term is defined in
For the general model of groups I am
presenting in this text, the definition of groups is more general than
the definition presented in most social psychology books, and is as follows. A group is an aggregate of people
who interact with each other directly and/or indirectly, with some degree of
cooperation and awareness of a social structure that relates to the aggregate
of people. The interactions can
involve one or more of the following: verbal, nonverbal or written
communications, as well as shared or cooperative behavioral interactions. The communications and interactions may or
may not influence some or all of the group members. The awareness of a social structure can include
one or more of the following: an awareness of the identity of the group,
its basic norms, values, goals, how to participate in it, and how to access the
group physically or electronically. Some
modern groups are only accessed electronically, which is familiar to people who
communicate over the internet[36]. Thus, according to the above general
definition, all of the following are groups: two or more people bonded in
friendship, the family, the students in a specific class, a jury, all the
people in the workplace, *the people that work in a corporation, *an
organization, *the students and faculty in a university, *the government, *the
military, *the police force. Thus,
groups can range in size from two people to millions (such as the military)
with this more general definition.
*NOTE (The last six examples with the * sign would not be
classified as groups with a more conventional social psychological definition
of groups. In addition, the fifth
example, all the people in the workplace, would only be classified as a group
with the more conventional definitions if
the number of people were small enough in number, thus permitting face
to face interaction.)
Question, why do human beings
interact in groups? There are
many reasons for this, which include the following. It is easier to complete certain tasks when
working in a group. The superior skills
of some members can compensate for skill deficiencies in some of the group
members. Related to this idea is the
concept of specialization. By working in
groups, it is highly functional to have certain individuals specialize and/or
become experts in certain areas, which can involve specific skills or
knowledge. Working in groups is usually
safer, because if a hazardous condition or accident occurs, there is the power
of all or most of the members to deal with the problem. It is often more effective to learn in a
group situation. This makes it quite
possible for one person to learn from another.
It can often be quite satisfying to work and play in groups. We learn from childhood that interaction with
others can be rewarding, which may result in a desire to interact in
groups. Most individuals could not
survive without the complexed system of groups, that exist in a civilized
society. However, groups are so
essential for survival that even uncivilized societies have group structures.
Question, are there
genetic factors that predispose human beings to a group structure?
The answer is there are no inborn instincts
that make human beings join groups.
However, there are genetic limitations, such as lack of basic survival
instincts, that make it necessary for human beings to be part of a group. Human beings are born into a group, which we
call the family. If the infant is
rejected from this group, without a substitute family, it will quickly die. This is not the case with animals that are
born with effective survival instincts, such as fish, amphibians and
reptiles. Thus, groups are so important
for human beings, all societies and their cultures facilitate group
structures.
What factors are
primary to a group?
The following six factors are present in most
if not all groups. If one or more of
these factors are missing in a group, it may not be a true group according to
the definition and model that I am delineating in this text. The factors are as follows:
people that
interact in the group This is obvious. Without group members there is certainly no
group. However, an important idea can be
added here, which is that people must know how to interact in the
group. Thus, new members must be
socialized into the group. That is, they
must be taught all of the following: their roles within the group, the norms,
values, beliefs, goals, and many other ideas that relate to the group. In simple groups, most people more or less
already know how to interact. In more
complicated groups it can take quite a while to learn all the information
needed to be a fully functional member.
a space where the
people meet There are groups that rent or own their own
rooms, buildings and land. However,
there are some groups, such as most friendship groups which do not have a
regular physical meeting space. Such
groups may meet in various physical facilities throughout town, such as on the
street, in school, in the park, in someone's house, etc. In modern times, computer groups developed,
which involve communications through the internet. The space that such groups use is electronic
in nature.
rules Most groups have a
set of formal and/or informal rules.
Formal rules are generally the written rules of the group. Some groups just have informal rules, which
are not written, such as is found in friendship groups. It is not uncommon for the formal
rules of a group to be contradicted by the informal rules of the
group. For example, in a work
environment the written rules may require all maintenance personnel to remain
on the job until official quitting time.
However, the informal rules may allow the maintenance workers to leave
as soon as the days work is completed.
values Most, if not all,
groups have values. Values as the term
is used here means the relative importance that is placed on certain entities,
actions or achievements. For example, a
highly competitive college places much value on excellent academic
achievement. The same college may place
a much lower value on social popularity, and it may place a highly negative
value on the use of recreational drugs. Thus,
values can be positive or negative.
It is important to understand that the values of a group can only be
understood in terms of comparing its values with other values. For example, if you evaluate the opinion of
most group members, regardless of the group they are in, they will place a high
value on education. However, if you
evaluate the relative importance of education versus a job after high-school,
you will find a difference between groups.
Some will say that a college education is much more important than a job
after high-school. Others would say that
if you have a reasonably good job after completing high-school, why would you
want to invest time and money going to college.
goals Most, if not all,
groups have formal and/or informal goals.
There are often collective group goals, such as a corporation trying to
make a large profit. However, there are
also goals of the group members. That
is, people join groups because of personal goals. For example, an individual may become part of
the workforce of a corporation to earn a living, to advance in a specific
career related field, etc. Many simple
groups do not have specifically defined goals, such as most friendship
groups. However, this does not mean that
no goals are involved. There are
unstated or undefined goals involved, which can be having fun, preventing
loneliness, meeting new people through friends, etc.
the reward
structure (This is a relatively complicated component,
which will require four detailed paragraphs to explain.) Question, what does the phrase reward
structure mean. In this text it
is defined as a structure of rewards and penalties that influence the behavior
of the members of a group. This can
be described more precisely as follows.
Groups have ways of rewarding its members for proper behavior and
achievements that are valued by the group.
Groups also have ways of penalizing its members for certain failures and
behaviors. The rewards and penalties
provided by the group can be formal and/or informal. These rewards and penalties usually affect
each member of the group, including the leader.
However, the rewards and penalties are not necessarily the same
for each individual in the group. That
is, the reward structure that applies to an individual usually depends on his
or her role and/or status in the group.
For example, employees in a small business will generally receive
rewards and penalties from the boss and other workers. The boss can praise the workers and/or give
them a raise. The boss can also penalize
his workers by criticizing them in a hostile way, by reducing their salary or
firing them. Employees also may reward
each other, which is usually in an informal way, such as by being helpful and
kind to fellow workers. The employees
may also penalize other workers, such as for breaking informal rules, with
hostile remarks, social ostracism, or informing the boss about misbehavior of
the worker. The boss may also receive
rewards and penalties from his employees and customers. If the boss is kind and fair to the employees
and customers he or she may be well liked and the employees and customers will
be loyal to the firm. Loyal customers
will result in more money for the boss.
The employees can further reward the boss by working hard, by not
quitting, by treating the customers in such a way that they continue to do
business with the firm. Thus, there is a
structure where everyone involved can more or less reward or penalize a member
to some degree, which can serve as a mechanism to control or influence the
behavior of all the group members. That
is, in the above example, the boss can control or influence the behavior of the
employees and the employees can control or influence the boss to a certain degree. In addition, the employees can also control
or influence each other. That is, all
the members of a group can more or less control or influence each other by a
series of formal and/or informal rewards and penalties. The difference between formal and informal
rewards and penalties are explained in the next paragraph with a series of
examples.
Formal rewards and penalties are
generally part of the written rules of the group. (The plus sign in all the following examples
indicate a reward and a minus sign indicates a penalty.) +A corporation might pay highly efficient
workers more money than ordinary employees.
+The manager of the plant might advance such workers to higher
occupational positions. -The same
company might penalize workers that are frequently late or do poor quality
work, by paying them less or firing them.
+A college will give high grades to students that do well in their
academic work. -The college will
give poor grades to students that do not demonstrate adequate level of
academic performance. -Such students may
be expelled from the college.
Examples of informal rewards and
penalties include the following. +A worker will generally receive compliments
and be liked by other employees if he or she is friendly and helpful to other
employees. +In the family, children
might receive the praise of their parents if they are helpful and
obedient. -Children might be given a
spanking if they are disobedient. There
are of course many other possible examples.
From the above examples it may appear
that reward structures are highly functional entities. This is often true. However, it is important to understand that
the reward structure of a group can be partly or totally dysfunctional. This can happen under the following
conditions. When functional behaviors
are penalized or not rewarded at least some dysfunction is likely to
result. An example is when a student
does high quality creative work, and his or her instructor gives the student a
low grade because the student strayed slightly from the curriculum. Another example is when an employee finds a
more efficient and effective way of doing his or her job, but the supervisor
criticizes the worker because the method the worker is using is different from
the less efficient standard procedure.
The reward structure can also be dysfunctional when neutral behaviors or
other irrelevant factors are rewarded, such as paying employees who are poor
workers more money because of seniority or paying superior workers less money because
they have recently been hired. Reward
structures can also penalize people for neutral qualities, such as a company
that discriminates on the basis of race or sex.
In such cases superior workers may be paid less, or receive little
opportunity for advancement because of discrimination based on irrelevant
factors. Another example of dysfunction
is seen when destructive behaviors are not penalized or when such behavior is
rewarded. An example, is when employee
theft is not penalized. Still another example
is when employees take excessively long lunch breaks, resulting in a failure to
complete a reasonable amount of work.
Thus, the above are factors that are
usually, if not always, present in groups, as the concept was defined
for this model. However, there are many
factors and ideas that relate to groups that are not necessarily present in all
groups. These factors and ideas are presented in the following list:
one or more group
leaders According to
From the above it is apparent that there
are several ways leaders can be categorized.
First, there are formal and informal leaders, as already stated. Second, there are leaders that serve a
general social function. This is called social
leadership, and it involves various human relationship factors, such as the
concern of emotional and interpersonal dynamics. In addition, there are leaders that deal with
tasks and goals of the group. This is
called task leadership. In many groups,
but certainly not all groups, the task leader is a formal role, and the
social leader is an informal role. Most
formal groups, especially medium to large groups, have both formal and informal
leaders.
the assets owned by
the group This factor does not apply to all groups,
because some groups do not own any assets.
However, most major groups, in our society own some assets, which can be
machinery, tools, furniture, stocks, bonds, money, etc. This applies especially to organizations. Friendship groups usually do not own any
assets. Of course the individual members
may own assets, but that is not the property of the group.
social facilitation Under some
conditions people perform better in the presence of other individuals, than
they perform when alone, which is called social facilitation. There are many
reasons for this phenomenon. A general
example is seen when certain individuals perform better when they are competing
with others. Another general example is
seen when individuals demonstrate better performance when being watched by
others. It is more likely to happen when
the individual is highly skilled and does not respond with a nervous
reaction that interferes with performance.
This can be the result of a skilled individual trying to demonstrate his
or her skill to others, for the purpose of making a favorable impression on the
observers. Thus, from the above it
becomes apparent that working in a group of some type can often result in
better performance. However, just the
opposite can also be true, under some conditions. This is discussed in the next item on this
list.
Social inhibition Sometimes the presence of others can interfere with the
performance of a task. A general example
is when the individual is not especially skilled at the task and
responds to being watched with a nervous reaction that interferes with the
task. Another general example is when an
individual is distracted by the people watching him or her, resulting in a loss
of concentration on the task that the individual is trying to carry out.
Social loafing Sometimes when people perform in groups the quality or
quantity of work they do decreases as a result of social loafing. That is, they do not work as hard as they can,
which is usually the result of not being observed. That is, social loafing is most likely to
take place when the individual's work cannot be easily evaluated in a way that
is separate from the group performance.
For example, a group of people pushing a car does not allow anyone the
awareness of how much force each person is putting into the task. Thus, there can be a tendency to reduce the
effort each person puts into the task.
The concept of social loafing should be a
great value to managers, who structure work activities. It is a good idea to structure tasks so the
work put into them by each individual can easily be evaluated. If this is not done there is a risk that
social loafing will reduce work output.
Patterns of group
communications There are many
ways that people in a group communicate.
One method is seen in the typical classroom, where the instructor does
most of the talking. When the instructor
leads a discussion he or she generally asks the questions and decides which
student will have the opportunity to answer the question. Another version is seen in certain discussion
groups where each person has equal status, which allows anyone to speak or ask
questions. Such groups are often
arranged in a circle. These groups often
have a group facilitator who does not lead or dominate the discussion. The facilitator's main job is to keep the
conversation going without talking more than other group members. Some facilitators try to talk less than the
other people in the group. Another type
of group communications is seen in certain friendship groups, where one
individual is the unofficial leader of the group. This pattern can involve everyone in the
group communicating with the leader.
Some of this communication might be done by phone from a group member to
the leader, which can involve planning group activities. People in such a group will generally
communicate most with the leader and less with other members of the group. There are of course almost an infinite number
of patterns of group communications. In
many groups the pattern of communications changes with the circumstances the
group is faced with at a particular point in time.
Group cohesiveness This concept relates to the forces that hold a group
together. There are internal forces of
attraction, such as liking other group members, enjoying group activities,
being proud of the group, a positive sense of community that is held by the
members of the group, taking pride in being a member of the group, and in
general obtaining various rewards from the group. External forces can also partly or totally
hold a group together. Two examples of
external forces are a limited number of alternative groups that are available
to the members and the members of the group feel protected from unfriendly
outsiders as long as they remain in the group.
Thus, cohesiveness can maintain the group, and lack of cohesiveness can
result in the group losing members and it may ultimately fall apart. Lack of group cohesiveness is essentially the
opposite of the above. The members may
not like each other, there may be hostile internal conflict, the group may fail
to satisfy the needs of its members, and there may be more interesting and
attractive groups that are available to the members.
Competition There are two types of competition that relate to some
groups, which are internal and external competition. One type of competition is between group
members; this is internal competition.
The other type is competition with outsiders and other groups, which is
external competition. Competition can be
openly recognized by the group and its members.
Two examples of openly recognized competition are an election for a
group leader or when a small business competes against similar companies for
customers. However, sometimes
competition in groups is not openly recognized, such as when people
compete to speak in a group, or when people compete for informal leadership in
the group. A good example of competition
within a group is seen in competitive colleges when the instructor marks the
students on a graph. The grade an
individual student obtains is determined by his or her performance as compared
to the performance of other students. An
example of external group competition can also be seen in competitive colleges
that try to compete with other colleges to obtain the best students. Of course, there are some groups that for all
practical purposes do not have any significant internal or external
competition. This might include certain
friendship groups, but certainly not all such groups. That is, there can be some competition even
in a group of friends, in relation to who talks more or who will take the
informal leadership role.
Problem solving in
groups and related ideas: Often people try to solve problems in
groups. This potentially offers certain
advantages, when compared to problem solving alone, without any help from
others. For example, there is the
combined judgment and experience of all the group members. If one individual is not knowledgeable, or
just not sure about something, he or she can rely on the knowledge or expertise
of other group members. Thus, from the
above it would appear that problem solving in groups is highly functional, and
under certain psychological, social, and cultural conditions it certainly
is. However, under some conditions
problem solving in groups can be highly dysfunctional or can lead to
dysfunctional actions. There are many
reasons for this, which are discussed in the following paragraphs.
In
One of the primary dysfunctions in
problem solving is probably related to the tendency to follow the most
prestigious and/or powerful members of the group. That is, there is a tendency to go along
with, and obey the higher status people in a group. This becomes highly dysfunctional, when one
or two prestigious or powerful group members makes a poor decision, which can be accepted and reinforced by the
other members of the group. Members with
less status in the group may be severely criticized or expelled from the group
if they disagree with the higher status people in the group. Keep in mind that often the highest status
person in a group is the boss, who has the power to advance other group members
or fire them. In fact, group norms often
informally or even formally prohibit disagreement with the boss or other high
status individuals. Many of us learned
from childhood and personal experience that if you disagree with authority you
may be officially or unofficially punished.
We learned that it is safer to agree with the more powerful and
prestigious people in our environment.
Many of us also learned that such agreement is proper behavior.
Another dysfunction of group problem
solving and decision making is related to the idea expressed in the above
paragraph. Members with less prestige
and power are likely to be partly or totally ignored in group problem solving
and decision making. This is especially true in very large groups. Even if the lower status person manages to
express his or her ideas to the group, there is a fairly high probability that
his or her ideas will be judged as unrealistic or not useful. This can happen even if the ideas are of high
quality and potentially quite useful[38]. One of the reasons it is easy for high status
group members to overlook good ideas of lower status members, is related to the
fact that good ideas must be developed and implemented. This involves effort, time and usually an
investment of money. It also usually
involves some risk and experimentation.
Thus, it is easy for the high status group members to focus on the above
and declare that the idea is simply not
feasible. Of course, it is most likely
that if the same idea was proposed by a high status member of the group, such
as the boss, the other members will assume that effort, time and money must be
invested to implement the idea. The
group members will also assume that some experimentation and risks must be
taken to implement the ideas that are proposed by high status members.
The concept of group polarization and the
more specific idea of risky shift can be applied to the dynamics described in
the two preceding paragraphs[39]. If the higher status individuals in the group
appear to be inclined to take riskier courses of action, after a group
discussion the entire group may agree or believe that a riskier course of
action is sensible and justifiable. Even
if some lower status members disagree, they will probably not voice their
opinion. If they do initially they will
most likely be criticized for their position, which will probably lead them to
agree with the higher status group members. This is polarization toward a
riskier course of action, which is risky shift.
Essentially the same dynamics will most likely happen if the higher
status group members are leaning toward a more conservative and less risky
course of action. That is, if the boss
and similar high status individuals in the group are thinking of more
conservative and safer plans, the other members will most likely agree after
a group discussion. This is group
polarization toward a more conservative position. Probably, in most cases, if a lower
status person is suggesting a riskier or more conservative course of action, he
or she will not be taken very seriously by the other group members.
Another factor that sometimes interferes
with group problem solving is the norms of the group. Groups often have established ways of thinking
and solving problems. There are certain
methods that the group does not use because they may not know how to use them
or they violate the tradition and/or values of the group. Thus, groups often
have established ways of doing things, which can interfere with problem
solving.
Another factor that can sometimes
interfere with problem solving in groups is the level of cohesiveness. Under some psychological, social and cultural
conditions a high level of group cohesiveness can actually interfere with good
problem solving. This is most likely to
happen when the individuals have an unstated rule of agreeing with the group
leader and other high status people in the group. A lack of group cohesiveness can also
probably cause difficulties with problem solving under certain psychological,
social and cultural conditions. For
example, if the lack of group cohesiveness results in one or more of the
following, major difficulties in problem solving can result:
· difficulties in communications
· hostile reactions from group members
· a unwillingness to invest the time and effort needed for
problem solving
· a general lack of interest in the group
Most of what was discussed to this point
can be used to explain the dynamics behind some groupthink situations. If the higher status group members are
supporting a specific view and ignoring certain negative factors, the other
members will do the same, and will most likely reinforce the thinking of the
higher status members. Groupthink is
most likely to happen in groups that have strong leaders. Other factors expressed in
A highly cohesive
group of decision-makers" The group members might want to maintain the
high level of cohesion by agreeing with each other. Agreeing with the leader and other high
status group members may be especially important to the members of the group.
Insulation of the
group from outside influence" A insulated group does not have to be
particularly concerned about the opinion or disagreement of outsiders. The outsiders have no power, as far as the
group members are concerned. In
addition, outsiders may not even know about the group and its decisions.
A directive
leader" A strong leader that directs the other
members of the group, conveys to the other group members that the leader is
giving orders or simply will not tolerate any significant disagreement. In such situations both the leader and his
loyal followers may interpret disagreement as insubordination or as a destructive
hostile response. The individual that is
disagreeing or questioning the leaders ideas may be considered a threat to the
group. Thus, if he or she continues to
question the leader's statements, he or she may be expelled from the group.
Lack of procedures
to ensure careful consideration of the pros and cons of alternative
actions" If a serious consideration of the pros and
cons of alternative actions are considered it can interfere with the
perspective of the strong directive leader.
It can also result in disagreement, and conflict. Thus, in groups that are vulnerable to
groupthink, norms may have developed that prohibit serious consideration of
alternative ideas and actions.
High stress from
external threats with little hope of finding a better solution than that
favored by the leader" People often go along with poor solutions to
a problem because there appears to be no choice. When there is stress from external sources,
especially if time limitations are involved, it is even easier to except the
solution of the leader, because failure to do so can be more threatening.
Question, what is brainstorming? Brainstorming is a common problem solving
technique that is used by groups of various types. The technique involves the organizing of a
group of people, who suggest various ideas to solve a problem. Each idea that a group member gets is voiced
to the group. There is one individual
that writes the ideas on a blackboard, so all the members can see the ideas
that have been suggested. Group members
are allowed to create modifications and combinations of the ideas that have
already been suggested. All ideas are
accepted, excluding ideas that are essentially duplications of suggestions that were already voiced. When there is an adequate list of suggestions
the group meeting is terminated. The
list of ideas are evaluated by a different group, or the same group at a
different point in time. During the
evaluation impractical ideas are removed from the list. The remainders of the ideas are further
evaluated. The best ideas are selected
and developed further, so they can be use to solve the problem in a realistic
and practical way.
Question, is brainstorming an effective
technique? Some studies have indicated
that brain storming is not the most effective technique of problem solving[41]. People working alone can often come up with
more solutions to a problem than people working in brain storming groups. The reasons for the relative inefficiency of
brain storming include the following[42]:
· The interfering effects of other group members There can be many factors that interfere with concentration
when a person is in a group. People in
groups; usually focus some of their attention on the other group members, which
can be distracting under some conditions.
The remainder of the items on this list can also be classified as the
interfering effects of other group members.
· Only one person can talk at a time When a person in a brain storming group comes up with an
idea, there is a waiting period before the idea can be verbalized to the
group. The reason for this is obvious,
two or more people cannot talk in a group simultaneously. During the waiting period the individual must
keep the idea he or she created in memory, which may interfere with the
development of a new idea during this waiting period. While other people are talking it is also
possible that some ideas will be forgotten.
· The distracting effect of listening to other people while
trying to come up with creative ideas
Listening to other people can cause some individuals to forget their own
creative ideas. Listening to other
people may also interfere with the individual's ability to think. In theory, the opposite suppose to be the
case. That is, the ideas that are
verbalized in a brainstorming group are supposed to stimulate the creative
thinking of all the members. If this
happens, its benefit may be offset by the distracting effect of listening to
others.
· people in brain storming groups may not voice their ideas
because they may be embarrassed to do so, or they may be concerned about
criticism In theory a member of a brain storming group
can say any idea that he or she gets.
Criticism is not allowed during a brain storming session. However, in a real situation, people may be
critical. The criticism may not be
voiced, but people are aware that others are listening and evaluating. The above is probably most likely to affect
low status members of the group.
· Ideas produced by lower status members of the brain storming
group, may be favored over the ideas of the lower status members This factor is probably present in most groups, as
explained earlier in the text.
· In brain storming groups, people have no time to develop and
refine their ideas To develop
good ideas, even if they are tentative, it takes a considerable amount
of time. This is especially true with
more complicated ideas that are useful in the real world. When people work alone they have the time to
think. Keep in mind, that one hour in a
brain storming session does not mean the person has one hour to think. Most of the time will be consumed in waiting
to talk or listening to ideas of other group members.
Question, do brainstorming groups serve
any function? The studies do not
indicate that brainstorming groups do not work at all. The scientific evidence suggests that
individuals working alone can do better than the same number of individuals in
a brainstorming group. Thus, such groups
can often come up with useful ideas, at a less efficient level than individuals
working separately. However,
brainstorming groups may serve a social psychological function in some cases,
besides the creation of new ideas. That is,
when a group or organization is faced with a problem, people gathering together
in a brainstorming session might be emotionally reassuring in some cases. The brainstorming group may have the effect,
in some cases, of reducing worry and anxiety.
A modification of the brainstorming
group might make it more effective. Instead
of having each person gather in a conventional face to face group, the members
can work alone on a computer network that permits all members to see each
other's suggestions on a computer screen.
It is important that the sources of the ideas are concealed. This type of electronic group does not need
time limitations, because people can type their ideas into the computer system
at any point in time. When there are
enough good ideas, the material can be turned over to a committee to select the
best ideas and develop them so they can be used in an effective and realistic
way. This is essentially what is done
with most brainstorming groups.
A simpler version of the above method can
be done without computers. Just have
individuals working alone, who periodically place their ideas anonymously in a
suggestion box. Periodically all the
ideas are typed and distributed to the other group members, which is done to
stimulate the creative thinking process of all the members. When there are enough good ideas, just as
with the above, the material is turned over to a committee to choose the best
ideas and develop them so they can be useful.
Question, how can some of the
dysfunctions found in group decision-making be reduced or eliminated?
All of the following may help to reduce the
difficulties:
· The group leader should initially act as a facilitator,
encouraging other members to voice their opinions, ideas and questions.
· Encourage all the group members to present their ideas and
give their opinion
· Encourage outsiders, especially impartial experts, to
participate in the group, giving their opinions, criticisms, and ideas
· Divide the group into two or more committees to determine a
significant issue than after each committee has come to an independent decision
about the issue, they can meet to work out differences, with the goal of
obtaining a mutually acceptable course of action.
· Have one group member assigned the role of a devil's
advocate to challenge the ideas of the group
All of the above can probably
reduce some of the dysfunctions found in group problem solving and decision
making. However, it does not totally
solve the problem I suggested in the beginning of this paper. That is, human beings have a learned tendency
to follow the leader and other high status people in the groups they interact
in. The solution to this difficulty can
be solved with the following five step method:
1) Ask the group members to
work on a specific problem or issue independently.
2) Tell each member to gather
his or her own information.
3) Have each group member write
down his or her thoughts, disagreements, questions, and opinions, in a way that
is totally anonymous. The material
should be typed to prevent recognition of the contributor from handwriting.
4) The written material is sent
to the group anonymously, such as through the mail without a return address.
5) The anonymously written material is then
evaluated by the group. Ideally, a
second group should do the evaluation and the final decision making. This can eliminate the problem of favoring
the ideas of high status people over other group members, because nobody will
no who submitted the information.
Chapter 13: Male and Female Differences, Sexual
Discrimination and Related Ideas
Left click on
these words to hear a sound file of the following:
There are many similarities and
differences between males and females, but there are actually more similarities
than differences. That is, both sexes
have all the qualities that we associate with human beings. Of course, there are also significant
differences between the sexes. Some of
these differences are innate and others are the result of culture and
learning. Some of the differences
between the sexes might be the result of relative weaknesses that are
genetically determined[43]. Many of the differences between men and women
are only statistically true. That is,
males and females have certain quantitative and qualitative differences that do
not always apply to many individuals.
For example, men statistically are physically stronger than women, but
there are many women that are much stronger than most men. And there are also many men that are weaker
than most women. A more obvious example
can be seen on the jogging field.
Statistically men can run faster than women, but it is apparent that
many women can run faster than men. There
are also many differences between the sexes that are essentially prejudicial
beliefs, which sometimes may become self-fulfilling prophecies. The following list contains a number of
differences between males and females:
The most obvious
differences are related to the physiology of men and women. Men are genetically
different from women in obvious ways.
Each sex has a specific role in the biological reproduction
process. In addition, men are usually,
but certainly not always, stronger and taller than women. This tendency is also the result of
genetics. However, all the remaining
items on this list are essentially not determined directly by genetics. Most of the items are either the result of
the socialization process. However, in
some cases the genetically determined factors mentioned above have an indirect
affect in the manifestation of a tendency.
This will become obvious as you read the remainder of the items on the
list.
NOTE: The following
Twenty-three items on this list are modifications of a table of
"Common Gender Stereotypes" (table 12-1 on page 375) presented in
Men tend to be more
aggressive than women. This is not just a belief; there is good
statistical evidence to support this idea[44]. One theory is that the differences in sex
hormones make men more aggressive. This
may or may not be true. Most likely it
is a contributing factor, but there are probably other causes. Another possible cause or contributing factor
to the relative difference in aggressiveness between the sexes may be related
to the differences in physical strength.
That is, women may learn to be less aggressive and more passive from
early childhood throughout adult life, because they are weaker than men. In primitive or uncontrolled social
situations it can be quite dangerous if a woman behaves aggressively,
especially when dealing with certain males.
Even physical aggression against other women may be risky, because of
certain weaknesses in physical anatomy, such as the breasts. In addition, a female acting aggressive
toward another female is at risk of male intervention, which certainly can
result in physical injury to the aggressive woman. Another contributing factor to male
aggressiveness can be the learning process starting from childhood throughout
life. That is, just as females are
socialized to be non-aggressive, males are socialized to be aggressive. Little boys are given guns to play with, and
they are often told that they will grow up to be soldiers. In most subcultures in our society boys learn
to wrestle and fight with other boys.
Boys are inadvertently or intentionally encouraged to watch violent
movies and television programs, which show a male role that is violent. The hero is often quite violent, which shows
a proper male role as a violent one.
Often, in the late teens and early twenties males are drafted into the
armed forces, where they learn how to kill other human beings. They are told that killing the enemy to
defend your country is honorable. Even
males that never serve in the armed forces learn about the concept of killing
the enemy. Unfortunately, there are some
males that see society and its institutions as an enemy, with undesirable
consequences, which are of a criminal nature.
It is believed that
women are more emotional than men. In our society, men and women often express
their emotional responses differently.
Men learn to conceal certain emotional responses, such as crying, and
women learn to display them[45]. This difference probably has no genetic
basis. It is probably the result of the
socialization process in our society.
It is believed that
men like math and science more than women. This is probably the
result of prejudicial beliefs. It is
very easy to convince an individual that they are weak in these subjects,
because they take more effort to learn than most course material taught in
school. Thus, when women experience the
normal difficulties in these subjects they may be convinced by others that
women are naturally inferior in math and science. But, when men experience the same
difficulties in these subjects they may be told that math and science requires
more time and effort to learn. Thus,
women may be taught to attribute the difficulty to lack of ability, and men may
be taught to attribute the difficulty to the nature of math and science
subjects. As a result of such beliefs
many women may study these subjects less, because they believe little or no
success can result. This of course may
lead to failure if such a woman takes math or science courses. However, a man that is convinced that science
and math requires more time and effort, may invest more time and effort, which
is likely to result in success. Thus,
the belief that men are better in math and science may be a self-fulfilling
prophecy in many cases. All of the above
may discourage women from developing an interest in math or science and it
might encourage men to develop scientific and mathematical interests.
NOTE (There is a common
argument about the capabilities of males and females in relation to math and
science. The argument fails, but it is
interesting, parts of the argument might be correct and it goes as
follows. Basically the idea is that men
do better in math and science because they have superior visual spatial
abilities than women. Those who present
this argument in a more sophisticated fashion will say that the left and right
hemispheres of male and female brains are different. The argument goes that the right half of the
male brain is specialized for visual spatial reasoning, and the left side is
specialized for languages, which suppose to account for the superior visual
spatial abilities of males. With women
both sides are specialized for language.
The argument continues that women do better in literature and
language because they have superior linguistic abilities, which is supposedly
related to having a left and right hemisphere that is specialized for language. The argument fails because science and
math usually[46] do not involve any more visual spatial
abilities than literature. Most
people that studied advanced mathematics and science courses are aware of
this. There is some two and three
dimensional geometry involved in math and science, but these courses are
primarily based on symbolic representations that are essentially linguistic in
nature. That is, studying these subjects
involves learning a set of principles, a new language and symbolic reasoning
that works with the principles and language.
Thus, if women have superior linguistic abilities they should do better
in math and science than men. The
argument fails further as follows. In
literature, there is a considerable amount of visualizing that is necessary. That is, it is often necessary to visualize
how characters appear, how they walk, how they move, how they physically
interact, etc. The physical space that
the characters interact in can also be important. What makes this more complicated is that the
visual relationships are constantly changing throughout a piece of
literature. All of this involves visual
spatial abilities, which are far more involved than one would usually find in
math or science. Thus, women should have
more difficulty in literature than in math and science. Keep in mind that in math or science there is
usually just a few lines, graphs, or diagrams that are clearly written on
paper, which does not compare with the complicating changing visual factors
involved in literature. Thus, the
argument fails. Of course, the
differences between men and women in relation to math and science are most
likely the result of the socialization process and the general views of our
society.) END OF NOTE
It is believed that
men are more ambitious than women. This belief can serve as a self-fulfilling
prophecy. If people think men are more
ambitious than women, the males will be encouraged more in school and in the
work environment. Women may be
discouraged by those who believe that women are less ambitious, because the
assumption might be that a female will sooner or later give up her career to
marry and raise a family.
It is believed that
men are more objective than women. This is probably just a prejudicial belief,
especially in contemporary times.
However, it may be that men were traditionally trained to be more
objective than women. Another
possibility is that men may be more willing to present their opinions in an
objective way. Traditionally, women
might have been more comfortable under certain conditions in presenting their
opinions in an emotional way.
It is believed that
men are more dominant. Traditionally, this was probably true. It may still be true today under certain
psychological, social and cultural conditions.
The causes for this difference might be the result of the fact that most
men are stronger than women. Thus, there
may be or have been more of a willingness of women to allow men to take the
dominant role. This may have been
especially true when physical strength was important to do a task or earn a
living. In addition, women may have been
willing to allow men to take the dominant role because of a fear of the
superior physical strength of most males.
In modern times, women may allow men to take the more dominant role
because of tradition. In addition, it is
often easier and quite acceptable for a woman to take the passive role, and
allow the man to take the dominant role.
Another factor is men, even in modern times, often have more power than
women, which can result in a woman allowing a man to display more dominant
behavior.
Men tend to take
the leadership role more than women. The factors that relate to this are
essentially the same as the factors presented in the preceding heading. (It
is believed that men are more dominant.)
It is believed that
men are more competitive than women. This may have stemmed from traditional
beliefs, which may have resulted from the fact that men usually have more
physical strength than women. In earlier
times physical strength was needed for many competitive situations, including
the military and the job market. Thus,
under earlier conditions men had the type of power needed to be more
competitive and women did not. The
traditional beliefs still might manifest today under certain psychological,
social and cultural conditions.
It is believed that
men are more self-confident than women.
This may have been traditionally true, especially during the era when physical
strength was a primary factor for survival and success on the job. In modern times this may be less true. In many situations in our times women may be
more confident than men. Many would
disagree with this assessment, because the conclusion that one arrives at is
likely to be determined by the specific set of individuals that one is
interacting with. In general, it is
probably most likely that people who are confident have a reason to be
confident, and vice versa. Specifically
when someone is in a social and cultural environment where their assets are
highly valued, self-confidence is likely to develop. And of course just the opposite is true. However, an individual's psychological state
can cause him or her to have more or less confidence than would be justified by
the social and cultural conditions that the individual is faced with. Another important idea is that there are
differences in the way people project confidence. Some people have little self-confidence, but
they are skilled in displaying a state of self-confidence to others, which does
not really exist. Other individuals may
be very self-confident, but openly verbalize the few insecure feelings they
have to others. Such individuals may
come across as lacking in self- confidence.
Thus, women that are more opened about their feelings may project lack
of self-confidence to others, which may falsely indicate lack of
confidence. Another important factor is
the way the individual is brought up.
Some people are trained from childhood to have self-confidence or to
project it[47]. Others are taught just the opposite. This of course can determine how much
self-confidence a man or woman appears to have.
It is believed that
men are more logical than women. This is primarily a prejudicial belief. However, parents and teaches who believe that
men are more logical than women, may train males to be more logical and women
to be less logical.
It is believed that
men are more independent than women. This might have been especially true in the
past. Women were supported and protected
by men. Thus, the male developed more
independence than women. In modern times
this is probably much less true. Women
have the opportunity of earning a reasonably good living, and physical
protection is probably less of a concern than it was in the earliest of
times. However, in the city,
women are still often concerned about walking in the street alone, especially
at night. They often must depend on a
male to accompany them for safety or they may use an automobile to avoid the
streets and public transportation[48].
It is believed that
women are gentler than men. The level of gentleness can be determined by
the role at an individual is taking. If
a woman is taking the nurturing role of children she will probably appear more
gentle than a male in a non-nurturing role.
However, if the situation is reversed the man will probably appear more
gentle than the woman[49]. In addition, the fact that woman are usually
weaker than men, may motivate women to be gentle. If a woman is not gentle, that is, harsh,
under some social and cultural conditions her physical safety might be
threatened.
It is believed that
women tend to cry more easily than men.
This is most likely a learned response, which differs in various cultures. That is, males are taught not to cry as they
reach late childhood to early adolescents.
Females are given the freedom to express their sadness, frustration or
dissatisfaction by means of crying, regardless of age. Such emotional expression may be
inadvertently rewarded by providing assistance for a crying female. Of course, as females mature into adulthood,
the expectation is that they will only cry about highly significant
events. However, a male that is older
than 12 or 13 will probably receive at least some ridicule if he cries. There can be exceptions to this of
course. In extreme cases, such as the
death of a close family member, some crying might be quite acceptable. This is especially true if it is done in
private.
It is believed that
women are more likely to enjoy art and literature. This may be true
with specific women and it may be quite false with other women. There are many males that also enjoy art and
literature. Most of us probably have
known both male and female art and literature instructors.
It is believe that
women use less harsh language than men. There are of course many women that do not
use harsh language, but there are also many men that do not use such
language. In general, this factor varies
with the individual regardless of whether the person is a man or woman.
It is believed that
women tend to be more tactful. This might be true under some conditions, but
when it is true it is the result of learning.
Being more tactful may be a survival advantage for women in certain
uncontrolled social environments, because women usually have less physical
strength than men. In addition, often
women have less social and economic power than men. Thus, behaving in a tactful way might be a
necessity for women under certain social and cultural conditions. Of course, there are women that are not at
all tactful, and there are men that are highly tactful.
It is believed that
women tend to be more interested in their own appearance than men. In the past, this
was probably quite true. It might still
be true in modern times. However,
another possibility is that men do not express or reveal their concern about
their own physical appearance, as women do.
It is believed that
women are more aware of the feelings of other people. This is probably
only true under certain conditions. It
might be the result of the fact that women usually have less physical, social
and economic power than men. Thus, a
concern about the feelings of others, especially the more powerful individuals,
can be a survival advantage. However,
another contributing cause is most likely the result of the fact that women
often take the role of a caregiver for children, a husband, and the sick. Part of this role is to be concerned about
the feelings of others.
It is believed that
women have a stronger need for security than men. This is most likely
learned and it probably only holes true under certain psychological, social and
cultural conditions. The cause might be
the result of differences in physical strength between men and women. This was probably more true in the past. Another factor is men have had more social
and economic power traditionally. This
might still be true today for many individuals.
Thus, a woman might have a greater need for security as a result of
social, cultural and economic conditions.
If the woman wants to raise a family, the need for security might even
be greater.
It is believed that
women are more talkative than men. This might only be true in certain situations
and with certain women. Some studies
have shown that women reveal slightly more than men[50]. This is especially the case when women are
talking to other women. However, the
difference is much smaller than many people would expect.
It is believed that
women are neater than men. This might be true in certain segments of
society. When it is true it is almost
certainly the result of learning.
It is believed that
women are more dependent than men. This was traditionally true as far as
economics was concerned. In the past,
women did not have the same opportunity to earn money as men did. There were high salary jobs available to men
and there were low salary jobs available to women. Occasionally a woman would obtain a high
status job that paid well, but that was the exception to the general
situation. Thus, women had to depend on
men. This may even be true in modern
times for some women, because of a tradition that was past down and because
economic equality in the job market has not been obtained. In addition, women are physically weaker than
men and thus they may depend on men for physical protection[51].
Men and women dress
differently. This of course is the result of the
socialization process. Women learn to
dress one way and men learn to dress another way. There are some exceptions to this with some
of the bohemian like subcultures in our society. In such subcultures often, but not
necessarily always, the men and women both dress in old jeans.
Sexual
Discrimination and Related Ideas
The concept of sexual
discrimination has developed and changed in recent years. That is, what is considered sexual
discrimination in modern times was considered proper and legal behavior in
earlier times. For example, in the past
it was considered perfectly proper to pay women less because they were not
going to support a family. If they were
single the assumption was that sooner or later they will marry and be supported
by their husbands. A related assumption
was that such women would sooner or later get pregnant and leave the job. This did not justify paying women as much as
men or advancing them in job rank in the view of employers of this earlier
period. And the opposite was also
assumed by such employers. That is, men
had to be paid more because they will support a family. It was assumed that men would stay on the job
longer than women. This justified, in
the view of the employers of the period, the advancement of men to higher
positions, which may have resulted in equally qualified women being rejected
for such advancement. Another
discriminatory assumption was that men were more capable at the more difficult
tasks involving intellectual or physical power.
Even though these assumptions are obviously unfair and discriminatory,
it was not considered illegal or improper at the time. Of course, it certainly is unfair and
unjustified. If we go back further
in time, we find that women were not allowed to vote or even own property.
Various political movements changed the
view of our society, which lead to changes in the law. Now we can all recognize the injustice of
the way women were treated in relation to certain economic, political and
social aspects of life.
Question, is there
discrimination against men?
In general the most common assumption held in
our society is probably that there is little or no discrimination against
males[52]. That is, it is probably assumed by most
people that men are generally treated fairly with perhaps a few isolated
exceptions. However, if we examine
the reality from a perspective that is somewhat different than the generally
held view, it appears that there is much discrimination against men. All of the following are unrecognized
examples of discrimination against males:
Men are drafted to
fight in wars and women are not. This often means that some men will lose
their limbs and become cripples for life.
It also means some will die in their late teens or early twenties. However, in the earliest of times, before
there were machines and guns to fight wars, the practice of using only men to
fight was quite logical. Physical
strength was a primary component of a good soldier, and most men are much
stronger than women. Women in the
earlier period would have a significantly less of a chance of surviving than
men in military combat, because they would encounter stronger male enemy
soldiers. Thus, the discrimination made
sense in that earlier period. However,
the less rational discriminatory policies of the military in modern times are
based on the traditions that developed during this earlier period.
Traditionally men
were expected to provide most or all of the financial support for their family. In the earlier
period this may have been quite rational, because earning a good living was
often based on the physical strength of the worker. However, after machines replaced manual
labor, both women and men have equal potential to earn a living, at least in
theory. Often, the discrimination
against women in the job market does make it harder for a female to earn a good
salary.
Jobs for males are
usually more dangerous than jobs for women. Traditionally, are
society is more likely to risk the life of a male than a female. Another factor is of course that men may be
more willing to take dangerous jobs because of the influence of society on
their self-concept. Under some circumstances the male may have little choice in
accepting a dangerous job, such as in the military, or because of economic
factors and job availability.
There is probably
more stress put on males than on women in our society. This is reflected in
the earlier death rate for men. Of
course, there may be other causes involved in the death rate differences
between the sexes, such as the ideas presented above.
Males are often
depicted on television, in the movies and other mass media as vicious, immoral
and violent. Women are sometimes depicted in sexual roles,
but so are males. In fact when a woman
is depicted in a sexual role, she usually has a male partner depicted in a
sexual role. In spite of what some
people believe, sexual roles and the related behavior are normal for both men
and women. However, men are often
depicted in the mass media in abnormal ways. It is not considered normal or proper for
anybody to behave in the vicious, immoral or violent ways men are depicted in
the media.
Men are treated
more harshly than women in the social world. This is probably the least important item on this list, but
it is still a form of discrimination.
This discrimination may partly be the result of the way men are depicted
in the mass media.
Men are usually
given harsher jail sentences than women.
This is obvious to anybody that reads the newspapers or listens to the news on
radio or television. Female criminals
usually get much milder sentences than men.
Male murderers are more likely to be executed than female murderers.
In divorce most of the
time it is the man that must pay alimony to the woman. This can be
especially unfair when the woman initiates the divorce, and in effect throes
the man out of his house. This can even
be more unjust when the divorce was caused or triggered by financial problems
that were beyond the control of the man, such as a man who loses his job as a
result of undesirable economic conditions of the national economy.
There is also job
discrimination for males, but this is not usually recognized by society in general. If a male applies
for a job that is traditionally held by women, there is a high probability that
he will experience discrimination even
if he is qualified for the job*.
*NOTE (This is based on a study
conducted by Cash, Gillen, and Burns in 1977.
Men were rated as better for masculine jobs and females were rated
higher for jobs traditionally held by females.
In another study investigating the same idea, which was conducted by
Levinson in 1975, revealed that 28 percent of the women inquiring about jobs
that were traditionally for men were discouraged by a potential employer. However, 44 percent of the men inquiring
about jobs that were traditionally for women were discouraged by the potential
employer. Thus, males experienced more
discrimination in this study than females.) END OF NOTE
Overall, there is probably much more
discrimination against men than women.
This is apparent from the above list.
However, many of us may not really see the above items as
discrimination. It may be seen as the
natural role of males in our society, but this is the way we saw the
discriminatory roles that society put women into in the past. Thus, it truly is a form of discrimination,
but there are many people in our society that would disagree with this view.
My conclusion is that the above does not
excuse or justify discrimination against women.
However, we need a men's movement just as we have a women's
movement. The reduction of
discrimination against men does not necessarily compete with the primary goals
of the women's movement. That is,
discrimination against men does not necessarily help women, and discrimination
against women does not necessarily help men.
I believe any type of discrimination is dysfunctional for society in
general.
Question,
what factors increase and what factors decrease the likelihood that an
individual will be treated and evaluated according to the sexual stereotype of
his or her gender. One of the
most important factors is how much information and individual or group has
about the person in question. If we know
much about an individual we are less likely to treat and evaluate him or her
with a sexual stereotype. However, if we
know little or nothing about a person we are more likely to treat and evaluate
him or her according to sexual stereotype.
This tendency can even be seen in the way babies are treated. This was revealed in a study conducted by
Condry and Condry in 1976[53]. In this study a videotape of babies were
presented to adults. One half of the
adults were told that they were watching a film of a little boy and the other
half were told that they were watching a film of a little girl. The adults that believed they were watching a
videotape of a boy, interpreted the behavior of the child as more active and
forceful then the individuals who thought they were watching a film of a little
girl. The child's reaction to a
jack-in-the-box toy was thought to be a fear response by the adults who thought
they were watching a little girl.
However, the adults who thought they were watching a little boy were
more likely to interpret the child's response as anger. A similar study was conducted by Vogel et
al., in 1991. This study involved both
college students and children as observers.
The infants that were observed were rated as "smaller, nicer,
softer, and more beautiful" when the college students and children thought
they were watching a little girl.
However, when the film was presented to individuals that were mothers
the evaluations of the infants were not based on stereotypes. This was most likely the result of knowledge
and experience with children, which the mothers certainly had. In general, a person's knowledge and experience
can allow them to make more accurate judgments about human beings, without
relying on prejudicial stereotypes.
In spite of tradition and prejudicial
beliefs about females, the roles in our society are changing for women. Perhaps a more accurate description is the
roles for women are expanding. It is
still considered proper for a woman to be a housewife who is supported by her
husband. However, in modern times it is
quite proper for a woman to take just about any job related role that men
take. To a lesser extent the roles of
men are also expanding. It is probably
more acceptable for a male to care for children than it was in the past. But it is probably quite unacceptable in most
of the subcultures in our society for a male to become a househusband who is
supported by his wife. There is of
course still discrimination based on sex, but it is illegal, and can often be
circumvented by a determined man or woman.
Chapter 14: Helping Behavior and Related Ideas
Left click on
these words to hear a sound file of the following:
NOTE (The word help, helping,
and helping behavior are used in a very general way in this text. These words relate to situations where one or more human beings
provides assistance, goods or services for one or more individuals that need assistance. (The term also applies to animals as well as
human beings in some cases.) This
applies to situations where there is no apparent reward, as well as situations
where there is and obvious reward, such as an exchange of money. The generalized concepts of helping used in
this text also includes situations where an individual is ordered to help or
where the assistance is part of one's job.
However, I will deal with specific examples, as the text progresses,
where helping behavior is of a specific type, such as altruistic.) END OF
NOTE
We live in a world where we
cannot survive without the help of others.
Perhaps more precisely, we cannot survive without the help of others
because of our genetic limitations, such as lack of basic survival instincts. Unlike the more primitive animals, such as
fish, amphibians and reptiles, we cannot obtain food at birth, without
assistance from others. We cannot even
shelter ourselves from enemies or harsh weather conditions in the early years
of life, without help. We must receive
help from other human beings to survive.
The help we receive is essentially altruistic[54]
in nature in the early years of life.
As we grow older we still cannot survive
without the help of others. In adult
life, an individual is not skilled and knowledgeable enough to create all the
necessities needed to maintain life.
Usually the individual becomes skilled in one or two areas and can
produce goods or services related to the skill.
For example, a farmer that is skilled in growing corn cannot survive on
corn. Such a farmer cannot survive
without shelter medical care, and other types of food besides corn. In addition, the farmer would have great difficulty
growing corn without machinery and fertilizer, which he or she must obtain from
others who have specialized skills. Thus, the point is that human beings
cannot survive without the help of others.
In adult life often help is exchanged with others by means of an
economic system, which involves money.
In childhood and in emergencies the help we receive is often of an
altruistic nature. But what is
altruism? Is there such a thing as
altruism in the real world? This is
discussed in the following three paragraphs.
The glossary of
"Altruism An act performed voluntarily to help another
person when there is no expectation of receiving a reward in any form."
It is possible to argue that
the concept of altruism as defined above does not exist[55]. When people offer helping behavior, one can
argue that there is always some expectation of a reward involved. The reward can be simply the satisfaction
gained by helping another person. The
reward can also include feeling good about yourself for helping another person. The individual that provides help can also
receive rewards from others, such as compliments and favors provided in the
future. An individual that helps others
may also be liked by others, which can lead to new friendships. This is certainly a reward. In addition, perceiving an individual in an
undesirable situation can cause discomfort for the perceiver. This can motivate the perceiver to help the
individual that is in stress. There are
of course many other examples, but the basic idea of the argument should be
clear at this point. The above suggests
the need for a slight modification in the definition of altruism. Thus, I will present a modified definition as
follows:
Altruism is helping
behavior that is essentially motivated by a concern for the well-being of one
or more individuals.
This definition does not imply
that there is no reward involved. The
reward is directly connected with the well-being of another person. That is, helping a person can be rewarding. In addition, the word essentially is
use in this definition to suggest that there might be other motivations and
non-material rewards involved, such as feeling good about the self for helping,
receiving compliments from others for helping, making friends because of
helping, etc. However, the idea behind
this definition of altruism is that the primary motivating force is the result
of the concern for one or more individuals in an undesirable situation. And the primary reward is connected to successfully
helping another person. Such success can
be quite rewarding.
Thus, with the definition presented in
the glossary of
Thus, the general idea of altruism does
exist in the real world and is rather common, if the definition is broadened
slightly. An alternative to broadening
the definition of altruism is to use a more general term instead. Prosocial behavior is such a term, and
it is defined in the glossary of
"Prosocial behavior An act that helps or is intended to help
others, regardless of the helper's motives.
Prosocial behavior is a broader category than altruism."
What term is most appropriate for
scientific study, altruism or prosocial behavior? In
· helping behavior that appears to be primarily motivated by a
concern for the well-being of another individual This fits the
slightly generalized definition of altruism, which I defined above. The person may be also motivated by
non-material gain, such as a reinforcement of a positive self-image,
compliments from others, a positive feeling of successfully helping another
person, etc.
· helping behavior that appears to be primarily motivated by
an exchange of money, goods or services This is probably the most common type of
helping. This type of helping most often
involves an individual helping another for money. In general, this type of helping is part of
our economic system, where people help others for money, and goods and services
are exchanged for money.
· helping behavior that appears to be motivated by both a
concern for the well-being of another individual and for material gain There are many
services that sometimes, but certainly not always, come under this
category. Often doctors and dentists provide
services for some indigent patients for little economic reward.
Thus, I will use the word helping
and/or helping behavior or some variation of these terms in the
remainder of this text.
Question, what steps are involved with helping
behavior?
Before an individual helps he
or she may go through the following five steps consciously and/or
unconsciously:
1) perceiving a need Before an individual provides help a need for
help must be perceived. In some cases
the perception of need is the result of a request for help. In other cases, such as in emergencies, it is
visually apparent that a person needs help.
2) decision-making in
relation to providing help The
individual must make a decision whether or not to provide help. The individual must decide if he or she wants
to take the responsibility for helping.
The individual may feel it is his or her responsibility to help, if
there is nobody else that can help. The
decision to help or not to help is also determined by step 3, which follows.
3) evaluating the costs
and benefits of helping The
individual will generally make an evaluation of the costs and benefits of
helping. The word costs is used
in a very general way in this discussion and includes how much: time, money,
risk and effort will be required to help.
In addition, the precise nature of the risk will usually be an important
consideration. The benefits of helping
include how much help can the individual provide. This is a very important consideration. That is, the individual must consider whether
he or she is capable of providing help that will be beneficial for the
person who needs assistance. This
consideration is often based on relevant skills, resources and strengths of the
individual. The individual also may consider
the benefits he or she will personally gain from providing help. Benefits can include feeling good about the
self, the satisfaction of successfully providing help, compliments from others,
the chance to make a new friend, and in some cases money is an important
consideration. Money is often a
significant consideration to people that help others as a profession, such as
lawyers, doctors and dentists. Another
important motivation behind certain categories of helping can be found in
relationships. Often if one partner
provides help it strengthens the relationship, which is an example of a
benefit. If the partner does not provide
assistance, the relationship may be weakened or destroyed. Thus, sometimes there is a great cost in not
providing assistance.
4) Deciding how to help
the individual must decide how he or she is going to help. That is, the individual must decide precisely
what actions to take to be helpful.
Individuals that think in a sophisticated way will also exclude certain
courses of action, because they are likely to be ineffective or risky.
5) Taking action to help
the last step involves taking the action needed to provide assistance. During this period of action, the helper may
modify his or her actions in various ways as a result of feedback. The individual may even decide to stop
helping for various reasons, such as more capable helpers appear to be
available, the person in need of help refuses assistance, the task is more
difficult or dangerous than the helper originally thought it was, etc.
A five step list that is less detailed
and more or less similar to the above is presented in
1) "PERCEIVING A NEED: Does someone need help?" If the answer is no the sequence ends. If the answer is yes the person goes onto the
next step on the list.
2) "TAKING PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY: Am I
responsible?" If the decision is no
the sequence ends here. However, if the
person decides to take responsibility he or she will go on to step 3, which
follows.
3) "WEIGHING THE COSTS AND
BENEFITS: Is helping
worthwhile?" Obviously if the
answer is no the sequence ends here, but if the answer is yes the person goes
onto step 4.
4) "DECIDING HOW TO
HELP: What should I do?" If the person does not know what to do the
sequence ends here, but if the individual knows what to do he or she goes onto
the final step on the list.
5) "HELP IS GIVEN"
There are of course other factors
involved in helping behavior besides the five steps listed on the two
lists. In the following list there are
other ideas that relate to helping behavior in general.
The socialization
process in relation to providing helps
Most people learn from childhood that they
are expected to be responsible to some degree for the well-being of the
individuals around them. However, the
extent that this idea is taught and learned by children varies greatly from one
family to another. Some people are
taught to be very sensitive and concerned for the needs of others. Some individuals learn to be concerned only
about their own family. Other
individuals learn to be concerned only about themselves. In addition, people learn when they should
feel responsible for the well-being of a person in need of help. They also learn when not to feel
responsible for a person who needs help.
Social norms, values and beliefs in
relation to providing help
This idea is closely related to the item discussed above. It is more or less the result of the average
way people in our society have been socialized.
Essentially there are certain norms values and beliefs that are society
in general has in relation to helping.
Helping another person is usually considered an honorable act. However, in many cases there are no clearly
defined norms that indicate when to help.
In such cases, it is the individual's specific values and beliefs that
determine whether he or she will provide assistance.
The bystander effect When there are many bystanders watching a person who needs
help the chances of help being provided may be reduced, because of the
bystander effect. This can be explained
as follows. When there are many people
that can provide help, and there is little or no communications between the
people involved, everyone may assume that someone already provided help, such
as calling the police in an emergency.
In addition, if there are many people, such as a crowd, watching an
individual who initially appears to need help, the conclusion after a short
period of observation may be that the person in distress does not need
help. This conclusion can be the result
of the bystanders watching each other.
That is, each person in the crowd may conclude that if nobody in the
crowd is providing help, no assistance is needed. The individuals in the crowd may also feel
that it is not their responsibility to provide help, because so many
other people can provide the help. This
is called diffusion of responsibility, which is the next item on this list[59].
Diffusion of responsibility in relation
to providing help If there are
many other individuals that can provide help the chances of a specific
individual, or even any individual, providing help may be reduced as a result
of diffusion of responsibility. That is,
if the individual believes others can help, he or she may think why I should be
the one to help. That is, the individual
will not feel responsible in relation to providing help. The individual also may feel that some of the
other individuals can provide better help than he or she can. Thus, the individual may not feel responsible
or obligated to provide help.
Helping behavior in animals This might sound
strange to some readers. Many people
believe that animals act like animals, and do not help each other. However, this is simply not true. There are many species of animals that help
each other in some form or another. In
Chapter 15: Aggression and Related Ideas
Left click on
these words to hear a sound file of the following:
What is aggression? Aggression is defined in
Aggression is any behavior that is
motivated by hostility and/or a desire to punish, and is intended to cause one
or more of the following to one or more individuals: discomfort, emotional
stress, pain, destruction of property, personal injury, death, etc.
The word hostility is a primary
component in the above definition. The
hostility can be one of two types. The
first type I am calling emotional hostility. People who are experiencing emotional hostility
have an emotionally based urge to inflict some type of, destruction, discomfort
or pain on another person. The urge is
usually based on anger, hatred, revenge, fear, or some combination of these
factors. This type of hostility is often
seen when individuals get into arguments or fights. It is seen in the family and in street
brawls. This type of hostility is also
seen in animals when they angrily attack another living creature. The second type of hostility is nonemotional
in nature. This type of hostility is
often seen in war. The bomber pilot who
drops bombs on a city might not feel any anger or emotional feelings associated
with emotional hostility whatsoever. The
bomber pilot may not have any emotional desire to hurt or kill the people that are
about to be bombed. In fact he or she
might feel sorry for the people that are about to be injured or killed with the
bombs. However, the pilot may have a
strongly held intellectual belief that it is necessary to drop the bombs and
injure and kill the enemy. I am calling
this type of hostility, intellectual hostility. This type of hostility is also seen in
animals when they kill another animal to eat[61]. Another example is when human beings kill
cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys to eat.
Thus, there are two very distinct types of hostility, one is emotional
hostility and the other is intellectual hostility, according to the
model that I am presenting in this text.
A concept that is related to intellectual
hostility is instrumental aggression.
This type of aggression is aggressive behavior that is primarily carried
out to achieve a goal. For example, the
pilot dropping bombs on the enemy may be doing it because it is a well paying
job. Another example is a robber may mug
people because he or she wants money. Thus,
instrumental aggression is motivated by intellectual hostility.
In many situations there can be both
intellectual and emotional hostilities motivating aggressive behavior. For example, one country may attack a
neighboring country because it wants to obtain more land. In addition, there may be great hatred,
(emotional hostility) toward the people of the country that is being
attacked. The hatred may be the primary
reason that the attacking country is willing to try to steal land from their
neighbor.
Aggression can be further subdivided into
controlled aggression and uncontrolled aggression. Controlled aggression is defined here
as aggressive behavior that is carried out with the intent to cause short term
discomfort. This type of aggression is not
meant to cause serious harm or damage to the opponent. Generally, in controlled aggression there is
some concern for the well-being of the opponent. Controlled aggression is common in the
family, amongst friends, especially amongst children, and amongst room
mates. This type of aggression is even
common between animals. It is especially
common amongst both human and animal siblings.
Controlled aggression in its mildest form is often a form of competitive
playing, which can range from mild verbal aggression to playful but competitive
wrestling. In its more severe form
controlled aggression can include caustic verbal remarks and physical combat
intended to cause mild to moderate pain to the opponent, without any
significant physiological damage. The
second type of aggression, uncontrolled aggression is meant to cause
significant damage to the opponent, as the concept is defined here. This type of aggression is not
controlled to minimize damage to the opponent.
It is often controlled in such a way as to maximize damage. People or animals engaged in this type of
aggression have little if any concern about the well-being of their
opponent. This type of aggression can
lead to significant damage to one or both opponents. This type of aggression can result in loss of
blood, permanent physical damage to the body or death.
From the above paragraphs it becomes
apparent that there is aggression inflicted by an individual and aggression
inflicted by larger social units, such as face to face groups, organizations,
governments and nations. (I am calling
these larger social units in this text groups for simplicity.) Thus, there is a need to make further
definitional distinctions of the term aggression. The first type of aggression is interpersonal
aggression, which is being defined for this text as follows. Interpersonal aggression is any type of
aggression carried out by an individual, such as a hostile argument between two
friends, a mother spanking her child, a mugger robbing a pedestrian, one man
getting into a personal conflict with another individual and murdering him,
etc. The other type of aggression I
am calling inter-group aggression,
and I am defining it as follows. Inter-group
aggression is any type of aggression carried out by one group against
another, such as conflict leading to aggressive behavior between two
organizations or two nations that are fighting a war against each other.
The definitions in the preceding
paragraphs delineate the concept of aggression in a very precise way. However, the definitions do not explain the
causes of aggression. In the following
paragraphs I will discuss this aspect of aggression, starting with
interpersonal aggression.
What are the major causes of
interpersonal aggression and violence in our society? The answer can be found in the following
list:
The socialization process People in our society are socialized to some extent to be
aggressive, under certain circumstances.
Children are sometimes told to hit back if other children hit
them*. They learn that it is sometimes
justified to act aggressively toward others.
We learn that verbal behavior of an aggressive nature is acceptable, or
semi-acceptable in many situations. We
even learn that under some conditions, such as self-defense, it is proper to
injure or kill another person. The basic
learning and acceptance of aggressive behavior is facilitated to some degree by
the mass media[62]
and the toys children play with. Of
course, we also learn to control are aggressive feelings. Most of us learn that aggression is not
tolerated or legal in many situations.
*NOTE (A child is probably more likely to
be taught to hit back an aggressive child, in certain subcultures in our
society, such as the working class. In
some subcultures the child is likely to be told just the opposite. That is, not to hit back an aggressive
child. In such environments the proper
action may be to report the aggressive actions to an adult authority figure,
such as the teacher. This is generally
considered proper behavior in most middle and upper class subcultures. However, one child reporting another child's
aggressive behavior to an adult authority figure may be considered
inappropriate (ratting) in certain working class subcultures. Adults, in such subcultures may consider the
child that rats as inadequate, because he or she is bothering adults to deal
with matters that the child himself or herself suppose to be able to take care
of with some counter-aggressive action.
Of course, counter-aggressive action may be severely punished in many
middle class subcultures. The above
obviously can cause very significant problems when a child is from a working
class home where self-defense is advocated and the child attends a school where
the middle class nonaggressive values are strictly enforced.) END OF NOTE
Differential socialization Everybody is not socialized in the same way. Some people learn and practice a very
different set of controls and behavior in relation to aggression. Some people learn to be criminals, who attack
people to obtain money, such as a mugger and the hit man. There are other individuals who learned to
express their aggressive impulses by hitting the person that upset them. Some of these people may believe that they
are disciplining the person they are hitting.
Examples are a man who beats his wife and parents that severely hit
their children[63].
The failure of the socialization process This is similar to the above. Some people do not learn to control their
aggressive impulses. Most people in this
category learned appropriate control of their aggressive impulses under some
conditions, but under other conditions they did not learn self-control. For example, some people can control their aggressive
feelings in public and on the job, but they did not learn to control their
aggressive impulses in relation to their family.
Sources of frustration that provoke
anger We live in a society that can
be quite frustrating. People often are
misjudged to some degree, which can result in being fired or receiving a low
grade in school. There are people that
are not able to deal with the complexities of our society, which can result in
many frustrating experiences, including poverty and school failure. There are people who cannot find employment
no matter how hard they try. People
often reject other people, which can be quite frustrating. Often such rejection can be the result of
factors that are beyond the control of the individual. An example is a man who loses his job and
cannot find new employment, because of the economic conditions of the
economy. If the man is married this can
lead to family conflict and divorce. In
addition, to the above, there are many milder sources of frustration in our society,
such as waiting for a bus that is late, waiting on line for an excessively long
time, dealing with electronic equipment that does not operate properly,
etc.
The perception of being attacked
or abused by one or more individuals Some people rightly or wrongly perceive
themselves as being attacked at some level by other people in their
environment, which can provoke them to act aggressively. There are individuals with misconceptions
about others or who have diagnosed cases of mental illness who can misinterpret
the daily interactions with others as aggression toward them. For example, some people may misinterpret the
pushing that happens in a crowd. Such
people may think that an individual in the crowd intentionally pushed
them. This misinterpretation can lead
the confused individual into some type of aggressive action, which can range
from a verbal attack to a physical confrontation.
NOTE
(The following five headings were taken from a discussion on page 434,
{Cultural Highlight: Is the
An uneven distribution of economic resources We
lives in a society of people who are very rich and very poor, with the majority
of the population somewhere in-between these extremes. In many of our large cities, such as
The
A relatively young
population Younger people,
from 15-29, have more energy and less experience in controlling aggressive
impulses than older people. The younger
people may be living in non-family situations, which may offer less of a
controlling influence on aggressive behavior.
Of course, most people in this age group are not particularly
aggressive, but probably a higher percentage of people in this group are
aggressive. This is especially true if
they have certain types of mental disorders or if they have criminal tendencies.
Officially
sanctioned aggression and violence, such as war, violent police action, the
death penalty, etc Officially
sanctioned aggression can probably facilitate interpersonal aggressive behavior
of many individuals. This is probably
especially true when it comes to war.
People learn how to kill in the training provided by the military. In actual war situations people practice
killing. When these people return to
civilian life they are trained killers.
Of course, most individuals in this category do not act aggressively
in civilian life. However, a tiny
percentage of former military personnel may attack civilians, with the skills
and emotional programming that they obtained in the military.
The availability
of guns The availability of weapons makes it easy to kill
or injure another person. Of course,
almost anything can be used as a weapon, but the availability of guns makes
killing or wounding another person easy.
If a deranged person gets angry and he or she has a gun, serious
aggressive acts can be performed with a pull on a trigger.
The mass media Does the mass media facilitate aggression? This is not really as easy to answer as it
appears. There are some experts that
believe the violence on television and the movies have little if any affect on
interpersonal aggressive behavior.
However, there are experts that believe just the opposite. Laboratory studies of the affect of violent
films on viewers do not duplicate the long term exposure to these films, which
happens to people who watch these films.
That is, studies are limited to a few weeks to a few hours, but in real
life situations people watch violent television programs and movies for many
years. Some people start watching media
violence in early childhood and continue throughout life. In addition, there are as many different
personality types as there are people.
It is very likely that people will respond in very different ways to
media violence. Some people might learn
to hate violence. Such people may even
learn how to avoid violence, by becoming more conscious of potential conflict
situations and leaving the scene or
defusing the situation before aggressive feelings develop. And there are probably some people that
develop the idea that violence or a milder form of aggression is an appropriate
way of settling disputes. Some of these
people may also learn how to commit violence.
There is some evidence that at least a few crimes that happened were
copies of violent scenarios presented in the mass media. Of course, there are probably many people
that are not affected by the media violence one way or the other. But what do the studies say? The 1972, Surgeon General's Scientific
Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior stated the following:
"[There is] a
preliminary and tentative indication of a causal relation between viewing
violence on television and aggressive behavior; an indication that any such
causal relation operates only on some children (who are predisposed to be
aggressive); and an indication that it operates only in some environmental
contexts.
This study was criticized
because some people who worked on it were employed by television
networks." Another study found a
relationship between media violence and aggressive behavior more substantial. This study was conducted by the National
Institute of Mental health in 1982, which is as follows:
"the consensus
among most of the research community is that violence on television does lead
to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the programs.... A
causal link between televised violence and aggressive behavior now seems
obvious"
This research was criticized
because many of the scientists involved in the study were convinced, before the
study started, that media violence increased aggressive behavior. This certainly could have affected the
results of the study. But what is the
most likely reality? The answer one
arrives at is essentially a matter of opinion.
I believe that certainly some people will behave more aggressively as a
result of watching violent media presentations.
I also believe that the violence on television and in the movies has a
long term influence on the attitudes that people have about violence in
general. The media presents violent
behavior to our society from early childhood throughout adult life. This probably affects our values to some
extent. It probably makes most of us
more willing to use and accept violence to some degree. We see the hero use violence, thus aggressive
behavior may appear more acceptable than it would be otherwise. Of course, the movies are reinforcing the
view our society has about violence. And
at the same time it is also convincing many of us that violence is not really
so bad, that violence is sometimes quite okay.
It is interesting to compare our attitudes
toward media violence and our attitudes toward sexual behavior. It is more acceptable in our society to show
the hero killing people than to show the hero making explicit love. This is especially true if children are
watching. In this sense our society
appears to be more comfortable with killing than with sexual activity. This becomes especially obvious when we
examine movies and television programs that were made primarily for children. We would see the cowboys killing people by
the hundreds. These cowboys were often
the good guys killing the Indians. In
recent times there may have been some change in media presentations
specifically made for children. However,
viewing violence, including mass murder, is still considered far more
acceptable for children than viewing explicit love making.
Now I will discuss the factors that can
cause inter-group aggression. However,
it is necessary to remember the definition of inter-group aggression,
which is aggression between the following: face to face groups, organizations,
nations, etc. The word group will be
used to refer to all of the above in the discussion that follows for simplicity
purposes, including nations. The
discussion is presented in terms of factors that can cause inter-group aggression. Some of these factors can also cause
interpersonal aggression, but they were not placed on the previous list to
avoid repetition. When a factor applies
to both interpersonal and inter-group aggression the text will indicate the
fact. The list of factors are presented
below:
The personality of
the leader(s) A group can get
into conflict with other groups simply because of the personality of the
leader. Some leaders have an aggressive
militaristic attitude and are willing to take chances that relate to attacking
other groups. This is sometimes seen in
countries that get into war. However,
often, but certainly not always, groups that have aggressive leaders, have
those leaders because the people have aggressive attitudes. This is discussed in the next item on this
list.
A buildup of
aggressive attitudes of the members of one group toward the members of another
group (This can also apply to
interpersonal aggression when the buildup of aggressive attitudes relates to
individuals.) Often group conflict is
the result of the attitudes of the members of the group, which can be quite
hostile toward other groups. Such groups
are likely to select a militaristic leader with an aggressive attitude toward
the enemy group. This is of course very
often seen in nations.
A fear of being
attacked by another group
(This can also sometimes apply to interpersonal aggression, when two or more
individuals are afraid at each other will attack.) The fear of being attacked by another group
can cause the members of the fearful group to attack first. Even if the fearful group does not attack
first, it can provoke an attack by another group, if it openly prepares for an
attack. For example, a fearful country
that believes it will eventually be attacked by a neighboring country might
increase its arms and military preparation.
The increase in armaments of the fearful country can make the
neighboring country fearful of attack.
This may convince the neighboring country to attack first. Thus, fear of being attacked, can sometimes
be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of
course, sometimes the fear of being attacked is an accurate assessment, but in
actual situations people really do not know if they will or will not be
attacked.
A scarcity of
resources that are wanted by two or more groups This is often one of the reasons nations get into war. The problem can be especially significant
when both groups believe they have a legal or moral right to the
resources. This is seen in the conflict
between the Israelis and Arabs; both sides believe they have a moral right to
the same land area. Of course, there are
situations where a more powerful group simply steals the resources from another
group. This is discussed under the next
heading.
A difference in power
between two groups that are competing for resources (In our society this usually does not apply to
interpersonal aggression because there are legal and moral controls that
prevent it. However, occasionally it
might apply, under certain circumstances.)
A more powerful group may be inclined to find a reason to use its power
in an aggressive way to obtain resources that other groups want. Often the more powerful group will find
reasons to justify its action. This type
of conflict often happens between nations, especially when there is a
difference in industrial and educational level, which is discussed under the
next heading.
A difference in
industrial and educational development between two groups A higher level of industrial and educational development
generally means more knowledge, money, and power. Groups in such situations often do not
respect and empathize with groups that have a lower level of industrial
development and education. This can
easily result in conflict, especially if the more industrialized and educated
group wants to obtain resources from the less industrialized group. An extreme example of this was seen in the
A lack of empathy
in relation to members of another group
(This can also apply to interpersonal aggression.) Before this item is
explained, it is necessary to present a definition of empathy. Empathy is defined in the Franklin Language
Master LM 5000 electronic dictionary as the "capacity for experiencing the
feelings and thoughts of another."
The capacity to feel the discomfort of another can prevent aggressive
behavior. When this capacity is missing
there is a greater chance of aggression breaking out between groups. Empathy is often low or absent when there are
significant differences of one or more of the following: educational level,
level of industrialization, race, religion and culture. Group members are more likely to empathize
with groups that are similar to theirs.
They are much less likely to empathize with groups that are different
from theirs.
Racial and/or
ethnic differences (This can
also apply to interpersonal aggression.) These differences tend to reduce
empathy as explained above. Human beings
tend to understand and sympathize with people who are similar to them. Also ethnic differences often relate to
differences in language, customs and culture, which can make understanding and
settling conflicts more difficult. This
can result in aggressive behavior between groups that differ in this way.
Differences in
religious beliefs (This can
sometimes apply to interpersonal aggression also.) Groups can get into conflict
as a result of differences in religious beliefs and behavior stemming from those
beliefs. In addition, people of a
specific religion often tend to think of themselves as superior. This often means they see people who have
different religious beliefs as more or less inferior. This attitude can make a group, especially a
nation, less concerned and empathetic of other groups that have different
religious beliefs. Thus, aggressive
behavior may not be inhibited between such groups. If there is any conflict aggressive behavior
may manifest. Sometimes the aggressive
behavior is actually caused by differences in the religious beliefs of two
groups.
An aggressive set
of beliefs or philosophy
(This can also apply to interpersonal aggression.) Sometimes a group simply has a set of beliefs
or philosophy that is quite aggressive in nature. Such groups may be quite willing to engage in
aggressive behavior if there is any possibility of gaining something. And groups with aggressive beliefs and/or
philosophy will most likely be willing to engage in aggressive behavior if
there is even a small chance of losing something. The differences in beliefs and philosophy as
far as aggression is concerned, can be seen by comparing
There are many different types of aggressive behavior
ranging from a spanking to war. In the
following two lists the various types of aggressive acts are listed. The acceptability of the act in relation to
our society is also discussed. In the
first list there are acts that relate to interpersonal aggression. In the second list there are acts that relate
to inter-group aggression.
The following list contains ten acts that
involve some type of interpersonal aggression:
An exchange of
verbal insults This is quite
common in our society, especially in the family and amongst acquaintances. People engaged in this type of aggression may
not want to harm their opponent, so they use insulting verbal remarks. However, in certain conflicts the insulting
remarks are followed by some type of physical aggression, which is generally
unacceptable according to the generally accepted norms of our society. In general, this type of aggression, verbal
insults, can be considered totally unacceptable to mildly acceptable in our
society. It may be considered acceptable
when an authority figure scolds a subordinate.
It will usually be considered unacceptable if the subordinate hurls
insults at the authority figure. It is
usually considered mildly unacceptable if two individuals of equal status
engage in an exchange of verbal insults.
A spanking A spanking is probably the mildest form of physical
aggression. This type of aggression has
been a form of punishment used by parents on their children. In its mildest form it may be considered acceptable
in our society, if the child was truly disobedient. In its more severe forms it may be considered
child abuse. Also, a spanking inflicted
on an individual other than a child will generally be considered highly
inappropriate. For example, a husband
spanking his wife will generally be considered spouse abuse.
A one to one fight
with boxing and/or wrestling
This type of aggression is usually carried out by young males. It is generally considered quite
inappropriate in middle class society, unless it is performed under controlled
conditions as a competitive sport.
However, in some of the subcultures in our society this type of
aggression may be mildly acceptable, such as in certain segments of the working
class. That is, if the boxing and/or
wrestling is used for self-defense or if to males decide they want to fight
each other, it might be considered acceptable in some segments of the working
class.
A mugging This type of aggression is relatively common in many of our
large cities. Of course, this type of
aggression is never considered acceptable.
Rape This type of aggression comes in a number of forms. The most obvious form is a deviant stranger
that attacks a woman. However, most
rapes are of a different category.
Probably the most common form is date rape, where a dating partner
commits the crime. Some forms of date
rape are obviously rapes, where the man knowingly forces a woman to have
sex. A more common type of date rape is
the result of confusion that men and women have about courtship behavior. The major problem with date rape is that in
many cases the man does not really know that he is committing a crime. The macho thinking of some men: is that a
little persuasive force is okay, and no does not necessarily mean no when a woman
says it in relation to sex. Most men are
probably more likely to think in such terms if the woman initiated or accepted
some sexual activity, such as kissing, which can certainly be thought of or
misunderstood as a sequence leading to sexual intercourse. If the woman was in fact willing and wanted
to be persuaded with a little force, as many men believe, the macho behavior
described above might be an acceptable courtship ritual. Some women might see such a ritual as
acceptable with certain men that they want to be sexually involved with. However, if the woman does not think in such
terms, a little persuasive force is indeed a criminal act of rape. Rapists of this type may strongly deny that
they raped their date, because they did not know they were doing so. They thought they were involved in an
acceptable courtship ritual. What makes
this type of problem so complicated, is that at an earlier point in time there
may have been more women who considered the aggressive macho behavior as an
acceptable or semi-acceptable courtship ritual.
A knife fight Of course, this type of aggression is almost never
considered acceptable in our society.
Perhaps under unusual conditions one person in such a fight might be
considered in a self-defense situation.
A gun fight Of course, this is also generally considered unacceptable,
but when police engage in such fights it is usually considered acceptable by
most people in our society. The use of a gun may also be considered acceptable
under certain self-defense situations.
Murder This of course is the most severe type of interpersonal
aggression, which is not considered acceptable unless it was done in
self-defense.
The following list contains examples of
aggressive acts that relate to inter-group aggression:
A gang fight This is of course
not considered acceptable in our society.
Gang fighters will be prosecuted if they are captured by the police, regardless of whether
or not they had a legitimate grievance.
Civilized society does not tolerate wars between groups of its citizens.
The action of the
police against organized crime This is considered highly acceptable by most
people in our society.
War between nations War is considered a
bad situation by most nations. However,
it is in a certain sense considered highly acceptable, which is probably one of
the major reason there are so many wars.
It is considered highly honorable to fight in a war. Even if the nation you were fighting for lost
the war, it is still considered fairly honorable. If we compare the attitude toward war and
gang fights we can gain some interesting insights. When individuals engage in gang fighting they
will be condemned by society, regardless of whether they win or lose. Gang fighters will even be condemned if they
had a legitimate grievance against the competing gang. All involved in a gang fight may receive
severe jail sentences after the gang fight is over. Contrast this with war. After the war is over all concerned are more
or less considered heroes. They may receive
financial rewards in the form of education, pensions or reparations. This is a major reason for war; it is really
an acceptable form of aggression as far as most of society is concerned.
1234567
Chapter 16: Social Psychological Factors that Relate to Health
Left click on
these words to hear a sound file of the following:
Question, what does health have
to do with social psychology, or what does social psychology have to do with
health? Our behavior and thinking have a
significant influence on our health. And
much of our thinking and behavior are the products of social and psychological
dynamics. We learn from others how to
perceive, interpret and behave in relation to health related matters. In addition, our interpretation of how
healthy we are, or how sick we are, is also at least partly influenced by
social psychological factors. The way we
interpret symptoms is greatly influenced by the way others interpret
similar symptoms. The social
psychological connection involved with health will become more apparent in the
following paragraphs.
Health Behaviors
and Related Ideas
What are health behaviors? This term is defined in
For this text, the concept of health
behaviors will be defined in a slightly different way than the definition provided
by
If we compare the lists of health
behaviors taken from
Examples of positively motivated health
behaviors are as follows:
Eating a balanced
diet In general, people more or
less tend to eat the same way as their family and friends do, whether the diet
is balanced or not. People sometimes
simply eat a balanced diet simply because they live in a culture, or
subculture, that consumes food that happens to be nutritionally balanced. However, in the
Controlling calorie
intake to maintain proper weight People
who successfully control their calorie intake may have developed the habit from
childhood. Many, people in our society
consume excessively large amounts of calories.
Much of this problem is the result of extremely high calorie foods,
which are sold with mass marketing techniques.
A relatively small quantity of such foods each day will result in an
excessively high calorie intake, which will eventually result in
overweight.
Controlling the
intake of fat and cholesterol
This is often the result of awareness that developed from various educational
sources, such as advice from physicians, reading, television programs on
health, etc. Cultural factors are also
important here. People that come from
cultures or subcultures that have a philosophy of controlling factors in their
lives are probably more likely to modify their diets to control fat and
cholesterol.
Exercising to
maintain or improve health
The main influencing factor that probably determines this health behavior is
knowledge and awareness that the individual gained through reading, the mass
media, from physicians and from friends.
People that have family and friends that exercise regularly or wish they
had time to exercise regularly, are probably more likely to engage in this type
of behavior.
Minimizing exposure
to pollution Before this
behavior can be carried out, the individual must be aware of how exposure to
pollution can be minimized. Such
awareness can develop from reading, physician's advice, and other sources of
education. Basically, this health
behavior can involve using an air purifier, using a water purifier, minimizing
exposure to household chemicals, and moving to an environment that is less
polluted. From a more general social
perspective, this health behavior can involve supporting: organizations, laws,
legislation and political candidates that are involved with anti-pollution
efforts. NOTE (It could be argued that
this is not really a single health behavior, because it involves a number of
different types of actions. However,
whether or not this item fits the exact definition is not really
important. The important point is that
various social psychological factors results in awareness that results in a
desire to minimize exposure to pollution.) END OF NOTE
Taking nutritional
supplements Taking vitamins
and/or minerals is a common health behavior, which has been around since
nutritional supplements have been sold on the mass market. Some people, including authorities believe
that nutritional supplements can improve health and prevent disease. There are other people, including experts who
believe that vitamin pills and/or mineral supplements have little or no effect
on health. Most likely the correct
answer depends on the eating habits and overall health of the individual. Certainly a healthy individual that always
manages to eat a perfectly balanced diet, with adequate levels of calcium and
other minerals, probably will not benefit from nutritional supplements. Of course, many people do not consistently
eat the perfect diet. These people might
benefit from nutritional supplements.
However, the primary interest in this text is: what social psychological
factors influence this health behavior.
The advertising and the mass marketing strategies of some of the
companies that make nutritional supplements are of course a factor. People in our environment are also a primary
influence with this and other types of health behavior. That is, if we know people who take vitamins
and know experts who support the use of nutritional supplements, we are
probably more likely to use nutritional supplementation and vice versa.
Eating
health foods Whether or not
this truly improves health is not important here. Some people believe that certain foods,
usually purchased in a health food store, improve or help maintain health. Some of these foods were grown with natural
fertilizers and without insecticides.
There are some foods that supposed to improve health by providing the
body with more energy or vigor. The
factors that relate to this health value are probably friends that eat
health foods. Other important factors in
influencing this behavior are leaders in the health food movement and
literature supporting health foods.
Examples of negatively motivated
health behaviors are as follows:
Not over eating This is difficult for many people in our society, because
of the tremendous abundance of tasty and high calorie food. As a result most adults are at least a few
pounds over weight. However, most people
occasionally engage in this health behavior for a while, such as while
dieting. There are some people that
generally do not over eat and they maintain ideal weight throughout
life.
Not consuming an
excessive quantity of salt
This is not always a clearly defined behavior from a quantitative perspective
because some people need more salt than others, such as people who exercise or
work in hot environments. And there are
people who retain salt in their body and thus need much less of it. However, most people probably have a rough
idea of what is too much salt for them.
There are individuals that are very conscious of this health behavior
because they have high blood pressure or because members of their family have
the problem.
Not consuming an
excessive quantity of sugar
Many people try to engage in this health behavior. Such people have some help from the mass
production and marketing system*, which produces many sweet products that do
not contain sugar. There are to main
sugar substitutes on the market, which are saccharin and aspartame
(Nutrasweet), which are a help to many people in controlling their sugar
intake. *NOTE (It is interesting to note, that the marketing and production
system also can make it very difficult to follow this health behavior, because
of the tremendous amount of foods produced with large quantities of
sugar.)
Not consuming an
excessive quantity of spices
The quantity of spices a person consumes is often partly determined by the
culture the individual comes from. Some
cultures simply use many more spices than other cultures. Thus, some people may engage in this health
behavior without being aware of it, because their culture does not use an
excessively large quantity of spices.
People sometimes consciously engage in this behavior after a physician
warns them of the health risks involved with excessive consumption of spices.
Not drinking or
minimizing the use of: coffee or other caffeine containing products Coffee, tea and other products that have caffeine in them are
commonly available in our society.
People are often influenced by the behavior of their family and friends
to start consuming caffeine containing products early in life. Drinking coffee may be considered a pleasant
sign of growing up by a child. Caffeine
containing products, especially coffee, serve a practical purpose for some
individuals, which is maintaining alertness.
Thus, it is difficult to practice the health behavior of not
using or minimizing the use of caffeine containing products, but some health
conscious individuals do just that.
Not drinking
alcoholic beverages, or not drinking excessively Just as is the case with coffee, drinking alcoholic
beverages may be considered a pleasant sign of growing up by some young
people. The consumption of alcohol is
often facilitated by the behavior of family members and friends. The level of alcohol consumption or
abstention from drinking is often greatly influenced or determined by the
culture or subculture that an individual belongs to. Thus, some people may not drink alcoholic
beverages or drink very little because of the influence of cultural factors in
their environment. Also, there are
health conscious individuals that intentionally engage in this health
behavior. However, there are far more
people who drink small quantities of alcohol than there are people who do not
consume any alcohol.
Not smoking or not
smoking excessively Smoking
cigarettes is often considered a sign of growing up by people in early to
middle adolescents. The development of a
smoking habit is often partly or totally the result of the influence of the
peer group[67]. Once people start smoking it is usually quite
difficult for them to break the habit.
However, there are many people in our society that do not smoke or smoke
very little. The influence of mass media
campaigns suggesting the risk of cancer and other health problems has had some
influence on certain individuals, in relation to following this health
behavior.
Not taking illicit
drugs Probably most people in our
society follow this health behavior.
However, there are large numbers of individuals, especially young people
that take illicit drugs. The influence
of the peer group is probably one of the primary factors in determining whether
an individual takes illicit drugs. Of
course, an individual that grows up with a strong negative philosophy in
relation to illicit drugs will probably reject a peer group that uses drugs.
Not taking risks
with dangerous sports This health
behavior is easy to follow if you are not particularly good at sports. Most people fall into this category,
especially after their mid-teens.
However, there are individuals that get involved in dangerous sports for
a hobby, on an advanced amateur level, or on a professional level, who constantly
experience health related problems as a result.
These people may experience much reinforcement from society in engaging
in dangerous sport related activities.
Often professional boxers are paid huge sums of money to continue in the
profession until they are brain damaged.
Motorcycle daredevils may be paid huge sums until they severely injure
or get killed in the sport. Thus, most
people can easily engage in the health behavior of not taking dangerous
risks with sports, but for some individuals it is extremely difficult to give
up a sport that is in effect destroying them.
Not taking risks
with automobiles There are many
people in our society who do not use automobiles or are careful drivers. Thus, this is a common health behavior. However, there are many people who do not
follow this health behavior. They
occasionally or often take significant risks with automobiles. Common risks are speeding and driving after
drinking alcoholic beverages. People who
do not drive can be subjected to the risk if they are in the automobile of a
friend or acquaintance that takes risks with the automobile. Thus, to engage in this health behavior (not
taking risks with automobiles) it is necessary to be aware of the driving behavior
of people who may serve as a chauffeur.
Not taking
unnecessary risks in general
There are people who are generally conscious of unnecessary risks and no how to
avoid them. Most young people probably
do not engage in this health behavior as often as older people do.
Thus, there are many health behaviors,
but these are obviously not the only category of behavior that affects
health. That is, health behavior was
defined as: behavior that is intended to maintain or increase health, excluding
actions that relate to medical treatment for a diseased condition. Thus, there is another category of behavior
that relates to treatment of a medical condition. I am calling this behavior treatment
seeking behavior. That is, treatment
seeking behavior is the behavior of a person seeking medical help for a
diseased condition.
From a social psychological perspective
it is interesting to note that treatment seeking behavior is greatly affected
by culture, subculture as well as the friends and family of the
individual. That is, culturally related
beliefs and the attitudes of family and friends influence the individual in
determining what is an illness and what is a sickness that requires
professional medical assistance. Most
likely poor people, who have little education, will be quite reluctant to
interpret a condition as a disease requiring medical treatment. Educated, middle and upper class people are
probably more likely than the uneducated poor to interpret a condition as a
disease requiring medical assistants. Of
course, free medical services coupled with appropriate educational advertising
campaigns can make the poor more willing to define conditions in terms of
disease needing medical treatment.
What does the
term health value mean? I am
defining the concept for this text: as a guiding principle that guides a
person's actions in relation to either a specific health behavior or to
treatment seeking behavior for a specific medical condition. (See the definitions of health behavior and
treatment seeking behavior on page 288.)
Such a guiding principle has a relative degree of strength in relation
to other desires and motivations. That
is, an individual with a specific health value that is very strongly held will
follow the guiding principle in spite of distracting desires and
motivations. However, an individual who
has a weakly held health value, may ignore the value when stronger desires and
motivations are in conflict with it. It
is quite common for people to have health values that are not actualized, or
only occasionally actualized. Thus,
each health value that an individual has, as the term is defined for this text,
has a specific level of strength, which determines the probability of a person
adhering to the value at any point in time.
Thus, some values are strongly held, some are moderately adhered to, and
some are weak and are only occasionally followed. All of the health behaviors described on the
preceding two lists have health values associated with them. Some additional examples are as follows:
A guiding principle
in relation to cleanliness
This health value is especially important in our society. Clean food, a clean body and clean clothes
are considered extremely important.
Unclean food can truly be a health problem. Bacteria can easily grow when food is not
kept clean, which can result in food poisoning.
A clean body might also be associated with contamination of disease
causing microorganisms. Of course,
cleanliness is valued also because it is simply more aesthetically
pleasing. This can be especially
important in a society that is crowded into cramped working quarters,
classrooms, and similar crowded locations.
This is especially the case with the body. One of the contributing factors to the
development and maintenance of the cleanliness value is we have a rich society
that can afford the luxury of indoor plumbing, and clothes washing
machines. This technology makes it easy
to follow the cleanliness value. In more
primitive societies, without indoor plumbing and washing machines, cleanliness
can be extremely difficult to maintain.
A guiding principle
in relation to brushing the teeth regularly to prevent tooth decay Our society is very concerned with good dental health. This concern is facilitated by education,
dentists and the mass media. On
television, in newspapers and magazines the association of popularity and
sexuality are conveyed in relation to healthy teeth and a clean odor free
breath. Education, dentists and
toothpaste ads, tell us the way to maintain good teeth to brush teeth
regularly. In addition, we are taught
that brushing teeth can reduce expensive dental problems and help eliminate bad
breath. Thus, brushing teeth regularly
is a major health value that is carried out by most people in our society. More primitive societies may not be aware of
the health advantages of regular brushing of the teeth. Such societies may accept decaying teeth and
the loss of teeth as a natural result of maturing and aging. However, many primitive societies do not
consume sugar in the large quantities that are consumed in our society. Thus, some of these societies may have less
of a problem with tooth decay than we would if we did not brush our teeth
regularly.
Regular checkups at
the dentist All of the factors
mentioned for the previous item on this list apply to this health values. However, this value is probably less often
actualized, because it takes time and money.
But most people in our society tend to see the dentist on a more or less
regular basis. Poorer and more primitive
societies are not likely to have this health value because of the expense of
regular dental checkups and the expense of dental work.
A guiding principle
to try to save teeth that are weakened by dental disease This value can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars,
depending on the problem and the number of teeth involved. Thus, the value is a primary component of
people who are middle class and above.
Severely weakened teeth are more likely to be extracted than saved if
the patient is poor. This is most likely
to be the case in most poor societies, cultures and subcultures.
Regular checkups at
a physician's office This health
value is not always actualized, because of time, money and fear of adverse
indications from the checkup. However,
most people in our society more or less see doctors on a regular basis. This is probably more the case for
individuals that are older and have some medical problems. Regular medical checkups may not be part of
the value system of many uneducated and poor societies, cultures and
subcultures. The reason for this is lack
of available physicians and limitations in financial resources.
NOTE (Following examples of
health values are often naturalized or only occasionally actualized in our
society. However, there are of course
many individuals who do successfully actualize these values in our society.
The interesting idea about these often
non-actualized values is that the values may have developed because of
deficiencies and failures in our society to maintain certain health
standards. For example, we have
difficulty maintaining proper body weight, so we have an often non-actualized
value of maintaining a slim body.
Another example is we have a health value that relates to the elimination
of air pollution, which may have developed because we pollute the air and water
significantly more than other societies.
Societies that do not have such problems, may not develop
un-actualized health values of this type.)
A guiding principle
to maintain a slim body that is of proper weight This is a major health value in our society that people
constantly fail to actualize.
However, we consider it quite important, but only a minority truly
maintains ideal body weight throughout life.
The reason we have this health value is simply because many people in
our society are overweight, which is the result of an abundance of food, an
excessive quantity of high calorie junk food and lack of exercise. The value of maintaining a slim body of
proper weight is perpetuated and strengthened by physicians and the mass
media. The message of better health and
better looks in relation to proper body weight is received through magazine
articles, advertising, especially ads using slim models, television and the
movies. Another reason we have this
often un-actualized value is that we are a highly educated people, as a result
we are aware of the medical consequences of overweight. Societies that are less educated, less
wealthy, have less labor saving technology and less food may not have the value
of maintaining a slim body, because in these societies most people do not have
to worry about overweight.
A
guiding principle in relation to maintaining a body that is physically fit The factors involved with this health value essentially
includes all of the factors mentioned for the previous item on this list. The value is often not actualized in our
society. That is, we live in a society
that tends to facilitate an overweight body that is not physically fit,
but we are aware that this is quite unhealthy.
We are aware that a body that is not physically fit can mean less
energy and a shorter life. Thus, are
society associates health, a pleasant sense of youth, long life and beauty with
a physically fit body. This image and
the implied value is transmitted and reinforced by the mass media, by
advertising, and by physicians.
Societies, cultures and subcultures that have a lifestyle that involves
much physical labor and low calorie foods may not have the same concern
for a physically fit body that are society has.
Such people may not have any need to be concerned about physical
fitness. In addition, societies,
cultures and subcultures that are less educated may be less aware of the consequences
of poor physical fitness. Thus, the
members from such groups may not have the value of maintaining a body that is
physically fit. However, in some cases
they may be in good physical shape because of the physical labor they must
perform to obtain the necessities of life.
A guiding principle
in relation to reducing stress
We live in a society that tends to produce a considerable amount of emotional
stress on its members, but our medical advisers convince us that this is
unhealthy. Thus, we have another health
value that is often not actualized.
However, many services and products are sold to the people in our
society to reduce stress, such as psychiatric treatment involving
tranquilizers, psychological methods of relaxation, hypnosis, music created to
facilitate relaxation, books and recordings on how to relax, etc. Societies that function with a more relaxed
philosophy and tempo may not have this value of reducing stress, because it is
simply not needed. That is, such
social environments may not produce an excess amount of emotional
stress, which means there is no need to reduce it.
A guiding principle
in relation to the elimination of pollution The
If we examine the above paragraphs dealing
with health behavior (positively motivated health behavior and negatively
motivated health behavior) treatment seeking behavior and health values, we can
find some interesting relationships from a social psychological
perspective. These factors are the
result of the influence family and friends have on us. Our culture, subculture, and education are
also important in determining our health behaviors, treatment seeking behaviors
and health values. Thus, the social
psychological relationship between health becomes more obvious. However, in the following paragraphs the
social psychological dynamics in relation to health will be seen from a
different perspective, which is even more dramatic.
Stressful Life
Experiences and Risk of Developing Health Problems
The relationship between physical health and
social and psychological dynamics can be seen in relation to various types of
stressful life experiences, which affect health in significant ways. The following list was taken from
"1) death of a
spouse 100” This is obviously a very traumatic event. The health problems associated with this is
obviously the great emotional impact of the loss, which can affect the
biochemistry of the body in adverse ways.
However, another important component is the change can also affect the
*health habits of the surviving spouse.
One of many possible examples is seen when the deceased spouse was the
individual that prepared food for the family.
The survivor may not know how to, or have the patients to, prepare
healthy meals. However, many of the
adverse physiological effects may be the result of the stress distracting or
interfering with **normal health habits.
For example, it may be quite difficult for the individual to get enough
sleep. The distracting circumstances
associated with the loss of a spouse, in certain cases, might make the
survivor, ***careless in certain ways, which can result in increased risk of
accidents.
*NOTE (The words Health
habits are used in most of the items on this list. The health habits mean in this text all of
the following: eating the right amount of food, eating nutritious food, getting
enough sleep, not over sleeping, getting enough exercise, taking
medication that is needed to maintain health, visiting the doctor and dentist
when necessary, not drinking alcoholic beverages or controlling the
amount of alcohol consumed, not smoking or not smoking excessively,
not taking illicit drugs, etc.
Many of these health habits may not be followed under distracting
and/or stressful circumstances, which will be apparent after reading the
remainder of this list.) END OF NOTE
**NOTE (When the word normal
is used in this section {Stressful Life Experiences and Risk of Developing
Health Problems} it means what was normal for the individual before the
life changes took place. The term normal
is used mostly to describe changes from normal health habits and changes from normal
levels of cautiousness in this section.
This simply means that the individual is not following his or her usual
behavior pattern in relation to health habits and/or levels of cautiousness.)
END OF NOTE
***NOTE (Many of the life
changes on this list might interfere with the normal level of cautiousness that
people normally display in their daily lives.
That is, when people are experiencing distracting unpleasant
circumstances they might become careless in some cases. When people are experiencing pleasant life
changes, there can also be distractions that can interfere with the normal
level of cautiousness. That is, some
people might become careless as a result of distractions from pleasant
circumstances. In addition, some
individuals may be inclined to engage in risky behaviors when they are
experiencing a pleasant life change, such as engaging in dangerous sports
activities, driving just after drinking alcoholic beverages or speeding in an
automobile. All of the above can of
course increase the rates of injuries resulting from accidents.) END OF NOTE
"2) Divorce 73”
The factors involved with this may be very similar or identical to item 1 on
this list. However, the relative
strengths of the factors are probably less severe in most cases.
"3) Marital
separation from mate 65” The health related factors are also probably
similar to the first and second items on this list, but less severe.
"4) Detention in
jail or other institution 63” Obviously the emotional impact of being
put in jail or confined to any institution can affect a person’s health. However, imprisonment can involve exposure to
dangerous people, other prisoners, and the emotional trauma of imprisonment
might interfere with health habits. The
individual may also become somewhat careless in some cases. The carelessness can include getting into
hostile physical conflict with other prisoners, which can result in physical
injury.
NOTE (The idea that jail leads to an
increase in health risks was of course made by the original authors (Holmes
& Rahe) of the list. I tend to
believe that for certain individuals, jail or some other type of
institutionalization can result in a reduction in health risks. People that engage in dangerous crimes and/or
take dangerous drugs are placing their health and lives in extreme danger. Such people can be shot or injured by the
police, by the people that they are robbing, or by other criminals. It is not unusual for criminals to
kill other criminals. It is not
unusual for young hoodlums to die in gang fights. It is not unusual for drug addicts to
die as a result of heroin overdose. In
addition, people that are mentally deranged may intentionally kill themselves
or engage in behavior that places a significant risk on their health. Such people should have a significantly
reduced health risk if they are institutionalized. In addition, prisoners and mental patients
will most likely get more nutritious food and better medical care when they are
confined in an institution. However,
people who engage in white collar crimes or display harmless mental
abnormalities would probably have a significantly increased health risk if they
are put in jail or confined in any other type of institution.
"5) Death of a close
family member 63” The physiological impact of the severe emotional
stress probably causes the increase in health risk. However, the emotional stress resulting from
the loss can disrupt the health habits that the individual normally follows. Under these conditions some individual may
become careless in his or her behavior resulting in an increase in the
likelihood of injury.
"6) Major personal
injury or illness 53” The physiological impact of the injury and
related emotional trauma probably accounts for the increase in health
risk. In addition, the emotional stress
and the handicapping effect of the injury can interfere with normal health
habits. Under these conditions some
people might be so distracted about their illness or injury they may become careless,
resulting in further injury.
"7) Marriage 50”
The emotional excitement can interfere with normal health habits. In addition, marriage can result in many
types of problems, including financial difficulties, which can have a negative
emotional impact. The emotional stresses
associated with these difficulties can have a negative physiological impact on
the body. However, the primary
difficulty might be that such problems interfere with the normal health
habits. When a marriage is going fine
and the individuals are happy, there may be a tendency to engage in more risk
taking in some cases, such as drinking and driving, speeding, taking sports
related risks on vacation, etc. This can
result in physical injury. When there
are marital problems, people may simply become more careless in many areas of
life, which can result in physical injury.
"8) Being fired from
work 47” The emotional impact can have adverse physiological effects
and can also interfere with normal health habits. The distractions can result in carelessness,
which can increase the rate of injuries in some cases.
"9) Marital
reconciliation with mate 45” The factors involved with this may be very
similar to the factors involved with marriage.
See item 7 on this list.
"10) Retirement from
work 45” This can result, in some cases, in lack of exercise, an
excessive number of hours spent sleeping and depression. All of which can have an adverse effect on
health. In addition, the change in
routine might interfere with the normal health habits of the retired
person.
"11) Major change in
the health or behavior of a family member 44” This can be emotionally
stressful, and emotional stress can have an adverse physiological impact on the
body. However, probably a primary cause
of the increase in health risk is an interference in the normal health
habits. In addition, the new
circumstances may, in some cases, interfere with the normal level of
cautiousness as a result of various distractions. The resulting carelessness might increase the
rate of accidents.
"12) Pregnancy 40”
There can be some adverse physiological effects and health risks associated
with pregnancy. However, the emotional
impact is probably an important factor in many cases. The emotional impact can have an adverse
physiological effect and can also interfere with normal health habits in some
cases. In addition, if there is much
emotional stress and distractions associated with the pregnancy, there might be
a tendency to be distracted from the normal levels of cautiousness, resulting
in an increase in the rate of accidents.
The last two points might be more likely to be the case if the pregnancy
is unwanted; the woman is uneducated and poor.
"13) Sexual
difficulties 39” This can result in conflict between partners, which
can result in emotional stress. And as
suggested with the other items on the list, the emotional stress can have an
adverse physiological effect and it can also interfere with normal health
habits. However, often sexual
difficulties can be a sign of the development of emotional or physiological
problems, which may be the primary cause of the increase in health risk in some
cases.
"14) Gaining a new
family member (e.g., through birth, adoption, oldster moving in) 39”
This can lead to problems and conflict, which can have the adverse emotional
impact on the mind and body. However,
probably the major difficulty is a disruption of the old routine, which can
interfere with normal health habits. The
resulting distractions might also result in a reduction in the normal level of
cautiousness, which can increase the rates of accidents in some cases.
"15) Major business
readjustment (e.g., merger, reorganization, bankruptcy) 39” This can be
either exciting or upsetting, with the overall stress interfering with normal
health habits. The disruptions from
bankruptcy and related losses can result in extreme emotional stress and
depression in some cases. This certainly
can increase health risks. In addition,
the distractions associated with the problem, might result in carelessness,
which can increase the rate of accidents in some cases.
"16) Major change in
financial state (e.g., a lot worse off or a lot better off than usual) 38”
This can also be exciting or upsetting, with the overall stress interfering
with the normal functioning of the body.
The stress can also interfere with normal health habits. A significant reduction in financial
resources can also result in depression in some cases, which is a health
problem that can facilitate other medical problems. The distractions, emotional stress or
excitement, resulting from a change in financial status, can interfere with the
normal level of cautiousness. This can
result in an increased chance of getting into an accident.
"17) Death of close
friend 37” The emotional impact can interfere with normal physiological
functions. The impact can also interfere
with normal health habits. Such
unpleasant circumstances can result in many distractions, which can interfere
with the normal level of cautiousness in some cases. This of course can result in an increase in
the chances of getting into an accident.
"18) Changing to a
different line of work 36” This can involve many challenges, which can
be exciting, frustrating or emotionally upsetting. The new line of work can also involve
adjusting to a new work environment, a new boss and a new set of
coworkers. This is likely to lead to
additional stress. The stress and the
distractions resulting from the new work environment can interfere with normal
health habits. The distractions may also
interfere with the normal level of cautiousness in some cases, resulting in an
increase rate of accidents.
"19) major change in
the number of arguments with spouse (either a lot more or a lot less than usual
regarding childrearing, personal habits) 35" It is obvious that an increase in the number
of arguments can be emotionally stressful.
It is also apparent that emotional stress from the additional arguments
can affect health in undesirable ways. However,
it is a mystery why fewer arguments can result in an increase in health
risks. Perhaps, the reduction of
arguments is really the result of a lowered amount of energy caused by a
developing illness. Any distractions
that develop as a result of any of the above may interfere with the normal
level of cautiousness, resulting in an increase in the rate of accidents.
"20) Taking out a
mortgage or loan for a major purchase (e.g., for a home, business) 31”
Loaning money may be emotionally stressful because it involves risk. A borrower may lose his or her home,
business, car, etc. In addition, the
item that is purchased, such as a home or business, may involve additional
worries and distractions. All of the
above can have an adverse physiological impact on the body. In addition, the above can also cause
distractions that interfere with normal health habits. The distractions can also interfere with the
normal level of vigilance in relation to safety, which can result in an
increase in the chances of getting into an accident.
"21) Foreclosure on
a mortgage or loan 30” This will be emotionally stressful for most
people, which can have an adverse physiological impact on the body. The emotional stress can also distract from
normal health habits. Any distractions
that result can also interfere with the normal level of cautiousness in some
cases.
"22) Major change in
responsibilities at work (e.g., promotion, demotion, lateral transfer) 29”
This can probably distract from normal health habits. It may cause some emotional stress also,
which can have an adverse physiological impact on the body. The distractions that result from this change
can also interfere with the normal level of cautiousness in some cases. This can increase the chances of getting into
an accident.
"23) Son or daughter
leaving home (e.g., marriage, attending college) 29” Although this is a
very different situation than the previous item on this list (item 22), the
basic factors and there relative strength are probably approximately the
same. That is, worry and distraction
from normal health habits might be the reason for the increase in health
risk. In addition, the resulting
distractions can interfere with the normal level of cautiousness, resulting in
accidents.
"24) Trouble with
in-laws 29” Arguments and related problems can cause emotional stress,
with its adverse physiological impact.
In addition, the above can interfere with normal health habits. The resulting distractions can interfere with
the normal levels of cautiousness in some cases, resulting in an increase in
the rate of accidents.
"25) Outstanding
personal achievement 28” Outstanding personal achievement can result in
many new opportunities, friends and acquaintances. This can distract from normal health habits. In effect the individual may not have enough
time to eat properly and obtain enough sleep.
The excitement and other distractions from the achievement can interfere
with the normal level of cautiousness in some cases.
"26) wife beginning
or ceasing work outside the home 26" A wife who begins to work outside of the home
can be upsetting her husband, if he has traditional values. This can have some minor emotional impact,
with its physiological consequences. It
can also distract from normal health habits, especially eating. This can be especially the case when the wife
formerly prepared the food for the family.
When a wife ceases working outside of the home there is a reduction in
the family income. This can be
emotionally stressful, which can distract from properly carrying out normal
health habits. In addition, the stress
can have some adverse physiological consequences. In some cases, the resulting distractions
might interfere with the normal level of cautiousness, resulting in an increase
in the chances of getting into an accident.
"27) Beginning or
ceasing formal schooling 26 Beginning formal schooling can interfere
with normal health habits. There may
simply not be enough time to sleep 8 hours and eat carefully prepared
meals. The distractions can also
interfere with the normal level of cautiousness in some cases.
"28) Major change in
living conditions (e.g. building a new house, remodeling, deterioration of home
or neighborhood) 25” There may be a number of mild health risks
involved here. Remodeling may involve
exposure to dust and paint fumes. A
deteriorating home or neighborhood in some cases might also involve an
increased exposure to dust and some other pollutants. However, probably the primary portion of the
increased health risk comes from emotional factors and distraction from health
habits. In addition, the distractions
that result from this life change can in some cases interfere with the normal
level of cautiousness. This of course
can result in an increase chance of getting into an accident.
"29)
Revision of personal habits (dress, manners, associations, etc.) 24"
Such changes may simply be the result of a undiagnosed medical or psychiatric
condition. Thus, this item might suggest
a undiagnosed medical problem, as opposed to increasing health risks.
"30) Trouble with
the boss 20” This can be emotionally stressful with its adverse
physiological consequences. Trouble with
the boss can also cause many distractions that can interfere with normal health
habits. The distractions can also
interfere with the normal level of cautiousness, resulting in an increased rate
of accidents.
"31) Major change in
working hours or conditions 20” This can interfere with normal sleeping
habits in some cases. It can also interfere
with other health habits. A change in
working conditions can sometimes be emotionally stressful, which can have an
adverse impact on the body. This and
related factors can also interfere with normal health habits.
"32) Change in
residence 20” There can be many mild factors that can lead to
physiological stress as a result of change of residence. The change itself can be time consuming,
which can interfere with normal health habits.
There can be some emotional stress adjusting to new living quarters, in
a new part of town, with new neighbors.
And as was stated in the other examples, emotional stress can be a
distraction from normal health habits, and it can also have an adverse
physiological impact. The change in
residence can also produce many distractions, which can interfere with the
normal level of cautiousness. This can
result in an increase in the rate of accidents in some cases.
"33) Changing to a
new school 20” The factors involved with this are similar to the above
(item 32 on this list).
"34) Major change in
usual type and/or amount of recreation 19” This can in some cases
involve a sudden increase in physical exercise, which can have adverse
physiological consequences for some individuals. The change in the usual type of recreation
can also involve risks of physical injury, such as an individual that takes up
skiing, mountain climbing, swimming, etc.
An increase in the amount of recreational activities can also
increase risk of physical injury. Even
if the individual is experienced in certain recreational activities, such as
skiing, spending additional time with the activity will probably increase risk
of physical injury. In addition, an
increased amount of certain recreational activities can over stress the
body. If a person jogs, hikes or swims
excessively, there can be an adverse physiological stress on the body, in some
cases. Some recreational activities are
destructive by nature. Such activities
include an increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages, an increase in
the number of cigarettes smoked, and the use of illicit drugs.
A reduction in the amount of recreational
activities can be the result of the individual feeling less energetic, which
can be the result of an undiagnosed illness that is in its developmental
stage. A reduction in recreational
activities can also be unhealthy when it results in lack of exercise.
"35) Major change in
church activities (e.g., a lot more or a lot less than usual) 19" An increase can be mildly stressful, which
can have some adverse physiological consequences in some cases. This can also interfere with normal health
habits. The resulting distractions might
interfere with the normal level of cautiousness in some cases. A reduction in the usual amount of church
related activities can be the result of the individual feeling less energetic
in some cases. This loss of energy can
be related to the development of an undiagnosed illness. In addition, a reduction in church activities
can result in boredom and depression for some individuals. This can obviously have adverse physiological
consequences. Especially, if the
depression develops to an advanced clinical stage.
"36) Major change in
social activities (e.g. clubs, dancing, movies, visiting) 18" The factors involved with this are probably
essentially the same as the above (item 35 on this list).
"37) Taking out a
mortgage or loan for a lesser purchase (e.g., for a car, TV, freezer) 17”
There might be some emotional stress in relation to paying back the loan, which
can have a negative physiological impact on the body. The emotional stress may also interfere with
normal health habits in some cases. The
distractions from the above might interfere with the normal level of
cautiousness in some cases, which can increase the rate of accidents.
"38) Major change in
sleeping habits (a lot more or a lot less sleep, or change in part of day when
asleep) 16” This can have an adverse physiological impact on the
body. It can also result in an inability
to obtain an adequate number of hours of sleep, which can result in sleepiness
during the day. The sleepiness might
make the individual more susceptible to accidents and certain illnesses.
"39) Major change in
number of family get-togethers (e.g., a lot more or a lot less than usual) 15”
An increase in the number of family get-togethers can result in some mild
stress in some cases. One source of the
stress can be conflict between family members or an effort to avoid conflict. A decrease in the number of family
get-togethers may in some cases be the result of a conflict, which may produce
emotional stress. Loneliness resulting
from fewer family get-togethers can also be emotionally stressful in some
cases. Thus, the resulting stress can
have an adverse impact on the body and can interfere with normal health
habits. Any distractions that may
develop may interfere with the normal level of cautiousness, resulting in an
increased rate of accidents.
"40) major change in
eating habits (a lot more or a lot less food intake, or very different meal
hours or surroundings) 15"
There are many possible reasons why this item may be correlated with an
increase in health risks. When the
variations in eating habits are related to a change in appetite, the change may
be the result of an undiagnosed medical condition that is still in its
developing stages. In addition, eating a
lot more food than usual can cause an increase in weight, which is certainly
unhealthy. A large reduction in the
normal calorie intake, such as is often intentionally done in crash diets, can
have an adverse physiological impact on the body.
"41) Vacation 13”
The activities, excitement and frustrations associated with a vacation can
produce emotional stress, with its adverse physiological consequences. However, the activities as well as the
emotional stress can distract the vacationer from normal health habits in some
cases. In addition, on vacation some
people might expose themselves to activities that are more physiologically
stressful than their bodies can tolerate.
For example, an individual may swim and jog more while on vacation. Some people on vacation may also expose
themselves to additional risk, such as risks associated with: skiing, hiking,
swimming, mountain climbing, the drinking of excessive quantities of alcohol,
taking illicit drugs, etc.
"42) Christmas 12”
Holidays often result some emotional stress, with its adverse health
effects. The preparation for Christmas,
such as buying gifts can be stressful and time consuming. Spending money on gifts and holiday
decorations can cause financial problems for some people, which can produce
even more emotional stress. Some people
may feel lonely and rejected because they feel they have not been included in
Christmas celebrations, which can lead to emotional stress and/or
depression. Thus, the emotional stress
and other factors resulting from Christmas can have an adverse physiological
effect and interfere with normal health habits.
The distractions and rushing to complete shopping before the official
start of the holiday can interfere with the normal level of cautiousness,
resulting in an increased rate of accidents.
"43) Minor
violations of the law (e.g., traffic tickets, jaywalking, disturbing the peace)
11” This can be emotionally stressful, with its adverse physiological
effects. The stress coupled with other
distractions associated with the legal problems can interfere with normal
health habits. The resulting
distractions might interfere with the normal level of cautiousness in some
cases. This can result in can in the
rate of accidents.
If we examine the 43 items on the list,
we see some common causes for an increase in health risks. The first factor is perhaps obvious in our
modern times. Emotional stress is
produced by changing circumstances, and such stress can have an adverse
physiological effect on the body. The
next factor is that changes in life and related distractions, coupled with the
resulting emotional stress or excitement, often distract an individual from
proper health habits. People might eat
to much, eat foods that are not nutritious, not sleep adequately, exercise less
than usual, drink excessive quantities of alcoholic beverages, smoke
excessively, etc. During such
distracting stressful or exciting life changes, people may go back to unhealthy
habits, which they formerly had. For
example, the former alcoholic may start drinking again. The person, who finally succeeded in breaking
the smoking habit, may resume the habit once again. The thin person that was once fat may resume
his or her excessive eating habits and become fat again. Another factor that is apparent from some of
the 43 items on the list is life changes often result in a reduction of the
normal level of cautiousness, which can result in an increased rate of
accidents. People who are distracted by
changing life circumstances may become careless and/or not evaluate risks as
carefully as they normally would. In
pleasant life experiences such as a vacation, people may be more willing to
take risks. Examples are seen when
people engage in risky sports while on vacation, such as skiing or mountain
climbing.
In general there probably is a tendency
for people to become more careless in situations that are distracting and
unpleasant. This is very different from
deliberate risk taking. Most people
probably would not deliberately engage in risk taking when they are
experiencing unpleasant life changes.
The deliberate risk taking is probably more likely to occur when a
pleasant life experience is happening, such as the vacation mentioned
above. These pleasant life experiences
can also be distracting, which can result in carelessness in some cases.
Thus, we can see from the above paragraph
that there are three major factors that can increase the chances of becoming
ill as a direct or indirect result of changing life circumstances. These factors are: emotional stress; being
distracted from carrying out normal health habits; and a reduction in
the normal level of cautiousness, which consists of carelessness and/or
deliberate risk taking. It is
interesting to note that the three factors can be controlled or eliminated with
awareness and the application of appropriate techniques. This will be discussed in the following three
paragraphs.
Emotional stress can be greatly reduced
with many methodologies, such as muscle relaxation techniques, hypnosis,
meditation, listening to relaxing music, etc.
In addition, there are medications that can help relax an individual who
is experiencing extreme emotional stress that cannot be easily controlled by
other methods.
Maintaining good health habits under
distracting and stressful life changes can be achieved by all of the
following:
Become more aware
of the tendency human beings often have to stray from good health habits, under
stressful and distracting conditions
Just being aware of the tendency may help you maintain good health habits.
Make every effort
to reduce the distractions and to relax and concentrate on normal health habits Concentrate especially on getting adequate rest and sleep
under these conditions. Also it is
probably advisable to avoid all intoxicants under such conditions. Lack of sleep or the use of intoxicants can
make it even more difficult to concentrate on maintaining good health habits.
When faced with
distracting and stressful circumstances put more time and effort into
maintaining healthy habits
Try to be stricter with yourself about health habits. This can involve efforts to improve health
habits. However, the more time and
effort will probably only serve to maintain the normal health habits. At the very least the investment of effort
and time will reduce the level of deterioration of the health habits during the
stressful and distracting life situation.
The reduction in cautiousness that can be
associated with certain life changes can be reduced or eliminated by all of the
following:
Become aware of the
tendency to be careless under stressful and distracting conditions Just being aware of the tendency can serve to reduce
accidents and the resulting medical problems.
become aware of the
inclination to take unnecessary risks under pleasant conditions Often people may
take unnecessary risks on vacation or when experiencing other pleasant circumstances. This is likely to be especially true if
alcohol or other intoxicants have been consumed. Just being aware of this tendency can reduce
the health risk to some extent. Avoiding
or at the very least, minimizing the use of alcohol or any other intoxicating
substance can reduce the tendency to take unnecessary risks.
Put more time and
effort into cautiousness and make every effort to reduce risks That is, under stressful, distracting or under certain
pleasant conditions, invest more time and effort in safety. Make every effort to be more cautious than
usual to offset the tendency for carelessness and increased risk taking. In addition, simply doing things slower and
more cautiously can reduce the chances of undesirable consequences. This can include planning more time to do
things in a cautious way. For example,
if you are planning to drive to a specific destination, allow more time to do
this.
Try and avoid any
activity that involves a normal level of risk if you cannot concentrate, took
any intoxicating substance or did not get adequate sleep. This can include
avoiding the use of an automobile, not using dangerous machinery, not using
fire, etc.
Chapter 17: The Environmental Psychology of Personal Space,
Territory Crowding and Related Ideas
Left click on
these words to hear a sound file of the following:
Environmental psychology is the
study of the environment in relation to human behavior. There are many environmental factors that can
affect the way people think, act and interact with others. Many of these factors are of a physical
nature, such as the architectural layout of rooms, temperature, humidity, noise
levels, lighting, etc. However, many of
the environmental factors are simply other human beings. This chapter does not deal with the physical
entities. It focuses on the
environmental impact that results from having other people in the
environment. Thus, personal space,
territory, high social density and crowding are discussed in this chapter,
under the headings that follow.
There are two basic concepts that relate to human behavior
and space. One is personal space and the
other is territory. Personal space
is a concept that relates to the way people behave toward others in relation to
the distance they maintain in interpersonal interactions, which can range from
0 to more than 25 feet. Territory
relates to the claim a person has to a specific area, such as a seat, a room, a
house, etc. These concepts are discussed
in more detail under the remaining sub-headings of this chapter.
Personal Space: Individuals have a
tendency to try to optimize their physical proximity to others. The optimized proximity (distance) depends on
the circumstances. That is, people will
move closer or farther away to reach the optimum distance for the specific set
of circumstances they are faced with.
There are four general distances; (zones) defined by anthropologist
Edward Hall[69]
(1966) for interpersonal interaction, which are intimate distance, personal
distance, social distance and public distance. In addition, I am defining a fifth spatial
zone that is relevant for modern electronic communications, which I am calling
electronic distance. These five
interpersonal zones are discussed in the following eight paragraphs.
Intimate distance is from 0
to approximately 18 inches. Examples of
this type of distance are seen with a mother and her infant, between lovers,
when children are playing games that involve physical contact, and in various
types of aggressive behavior involving physical contact, such as
wrestling. Usually, people who interact
in this spatial zone have a primary relationship with each other. That is, very often they are family members,
lovers or close friends who are playing.
When people engage others in this spatial zone they are often, but not
always, expressing some type of affection or aggression. In some cases the affection can be sexually
related[70],
and in some cases the aggression can be of a playful nature.
Personal distance is from
18 inches to 4 feet. This is the
distance people generally use for friendly conversations. Friends and acquaintances, often maintain
this distance. Relatives also often
communicate in this spatial zone.
Social distance is from 4
to 7 feet. This zone perhaps should be
named the business distance. That
is, this is the distance used in formal business discussions, and similar
meetings. Often, there is a desk between
the people involved in this type of interaction, which serves to define the
distance. People who interact in this
zone usually have a business relationship with each other.
Public distance is the zone
from 12 to 25 feet. This is the spatial
zone used in classrooms, and similar lecturer oriented situations. The physical arrangement of the lecture hall
can serve to define the distance between the speaker and the audience. The relationship between the people who
engage in this zone is generally a secondary relationship, such as a teacher
and her students. Most of us did much of
our formal learning in this spatial zone[71]. However, public distance is certainly not
limited to the classroom. People
interact in this zone in any situation where there is a lecturer in an area the
size of a classroom. The people
interacting in this zone may or may not know each other. For example, teachers and students
interacting in this zone may know each other, but people attending a one time
lecture will probably not have any relationship with each other.
Electronic distance is the
distance that is maintained in situations where there is a need for a device to
communicate. The device is usually
electronic in nature, which is the reason for the terminology electronic
distance. This distance can range
from 25 feet to many thousands of miles.
The shorter distances in this range are found in large lecture halls where
amplifying equipment is needed to communicate with an audience. Longer distances, in the range of many miles
or even many thousands of miles, are seen with television, radio, telephone,
and communications by computer.
Electronic distance can involve mass communication, which is primarily a
one way communications process, such as with television or radio
broadcasts. Electronic distance can also
be personal as happens with one to one communications with telephones and one
to one communications with computers.
With mass communications, the people generally do not know each
other, but with telephone and computer they may have a close primary or
secondary relationship with each other.
This is probably more the case with the telephone than with the computer.
In modern times, electronic distance has
become a common occurrence, and it appears to be coming more popular as time
proceeds. Electronic distance may be
replacing some of the other zones of interaction. This was first apparent with radio and
television, where people started to focus on performers on the radio or
television set. This was done at the
expense of interactions in closer spatial zones with people in their own
physical environment. That is, radio and
television competes with closer interactions and probably reduces interactions
that take place at closer spatial zones.
In addition, it is often more convenient
to communicate by telephone or computer.
Electronic distance eliminates all the problems of traveling. The telephone and computer can even eliminate
the need to attend work or school in person in some situations. The individual can show up electronically.
The increased use of electronic distance
may be highly functional in many cases, but it may also be quite dysfunctional
under some conditions. The closer
spatial zones[72]
of interaction, which might be replaced by electronic distance, offer certain
psychological and social advantages over electronic distance. The closer spatial zones may be more
psychologically stimulating and challenging than electronic distance, which
might make people feel and function better in the long run. People who are interacting in the closer
spatial zones must learn to deal with their own and the emotional responses and
needs of others. With electronic distance the above is usually not very
important, because there is no face to face contact, and the duration of
interaction is likely to be more limited.
This might in fact be an advantage under certain conditions, but in the
long run it might be somewhat dysfunctional.
It eliminates the need to develop the high level of social skills,
awareness and sensitivity to other human beings that are generally required
with the other spatial zones. In
general, the socialization process, (the learning of norms, values, appropriate
behavior and social skills, which begin from early childhood and continues
throughout life) happen in the closer spatial zones. When people interact in the closer spatial
zones they tend to supervise the behavior of each other and offer corrective
feedback. An obvious example is seen
when parents are interacting with an image on the television set instead of
interacting with their children. This
can result in the children receiving less than adequate supervision and guidance
unless there is an alternative individual to provide the supervisory
function. A less obvious example, are
individuals who attend work or school electronically. Such individuals perhaps can often be
supervised by the material that is transmitted by the computer, but there is
still less supervision than in a regular job situation. This may be a serious problem for some
individuals (especially those who have less ability to discipline themselves)
and their supervisors.
Another advantage to the closer spatial
zones is it is relatively easy to meet new people, which may happen in a
totally unplanned way. This results in
the development of many different types of acquaintanceships and friendships,
which may be helpful in school, the business world, and in the mate selection
process. This process of meeting people
and getting to know them is much less likely to happen through electronic
interactions. Of course, some people do
meet through telephone communications services and through computer communications,
but this generally only works for individuals who are intentionally seeking
another individual, usually for a potential mate.
Of course, there are many true advantages
to electronic distance, and some of these advantages were implied above. A few are as follows. Electronic distance saves time, especially in
relation to the time that would be needed for traveling to see an individual in
person. Electronic distance reduces the
difficulties of relating to people.
Prejudice, physical looks, and inappropriate body language are not
factors in electronic communications that do not transmit images. Electronic distance allows one way
communications simultaneously with a large number of people, such as with
television and radio broadcasts.
Electronic communications makes it easy to listen to top experts and
famous people through television and radio broadcasts.
Territory: What is territory? Territory is an area that an individual
permanently or temporarily claims as theirs. The claim can involve verbal statements,
various territory markers, and behavior indicating possession of the
space. In
Primary territory
is space that is essentially owned or least and utilized by an individual or
group. This space is private and is not
opened to the public. Examples are an
apartment, a house, a private office, etc.
An important distinguishing component of primary territory is as
follows. The claim an individual has
to such territory is reinforced by formal rules and norms. Violation of such rules can result in
imprisonment.
Secondary territory is
space that is semi-public in nature and is shared by specific individuals. Examples are the seats in a classroom. Students more or less tend to use the same
seat each time they attend a lecture held in a specific classroom. They make an informal claim to the territory,
the seat, by using it regularly. That
is, they essentially make a territory claim for the seat at a specific time
each week. However, they do not have any
formal rights to the claim. If another
student gets to class early and wants to take the seat he or she may do so
according to formal rules. But
such a student might be violating the informal norms of the group. Such violations might result in
minimal informal penalties, such as dirty looks and/or some critical verbal
responses.
Public territory
is a public area where the general public has access. Examples are: a park, the beach, the waiting
area in a bus station, areas in the public library, etc. Individuals in this type of territory may
make a temporary claim for a specific section of it. This is done by placing the body and/or
various items owned by the individual, which serve as territory markers on the
space. For example, an individual may
make a territory claim on a library table by placing his or her books on the
table. Individuals may also reserve a
seat, while it is unoccupied for a short time interval, by placing their coat
on the seat to indicate that it is claimed territory. There are no formal or informal rules or
norms that protect the claim once the individual leaves and removes his or her
territory markers. Unlike the secondary
territory, discussed in the previous paragraph, the individual cannot claim the
space at a specific time every week.
That is, there are no norms or rules protecting the territory, after the
individual removes his or her belongings and leaves.
What is crowding (including its
various verb forms)? The answer to this
question appears obvious. However, the
correct answer, from the perspective of social psychology is not
obvious. Before the word crowding
and its various verb forms are defined it is necessary to define social
density. Social density is the
number of people that occupy a specific area.
It can be represented in terms of the number of people per unit area,
such as one of the following: 3 people per square meter; 70 people per acre;
100,000 people per square mile. The
common definition of a crowded space is an area that has a high or very high
social density, but that is not the correct definition from the perspective
of the social psychologist. The
definition provided in
There might be situations where an
individual feels comfortable in a space that has a very high social
density. Such an individual is not
experiencing crowding. That is, he or
she will not feel crowded according to the definition of the social
psychologist. Of course, the individual
would almost certainly be aware of the very high social density, but it
certainly does not follow that discomfort should result. The individual might feel very comfortable in
a high social density situation. This
can be especially true when the high concentration of people are associated in
the individuals mind in very positive terms, such as may happen in a political
or religious movement.
Crowding might be more likely to be
experienced if the high concentration of people evokes negative associations in
the individuals mind. For example, a
conservative individual walking down the street, who unintentionally encounters
a large number of liberal and radical protesters might feel crowded. However, most of the liberal and radical protesters
might feel invigorated by the large turnout of political protesters, and most,
if not all, will not feel crowded.
In
Another explanation of the sensation of
crowding from
Chapter 18: A General Model of the Social Psychology of
Labeling
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these words to hear a sound file of the following:
Part One: The Basic
Thesis of the Model
In this paper I am presenting a
general model of the social psychology of labeling. That is, the model deals with the psychological,
social and social psychological aspects of the labels that are placed on human
beings. The basic idea of the
psychological and social impact of labels comes from the critics of psychiatric
labels such as Dr. Thomas S. Szasz and D. L. Rosenhan, whose ideas are
incorporated into sections of this paper, as indicated. These and other individuals argue that
psychiatric labels tend to have a negative impact on all concerned. The negative impact can result in a
self-fulfilling prophecy. This is probably
true in many, but certainly not all cases, and I believe it is only a small
part of the picture. The model I am
going to develop is more general, more elaborate and involves the
dysfunctional and functional aspects of all types of labels. This includes, but is not limited to,
labels associated with: occupations, titles, medical conditions, social roles,
achievement, lack of achievement, as well as psychiatric conditions. Thus, the thesis is very different from the
relatively simple concept of the critical view of psychiatric labels.
The basic thesis of this paper is
presented in the following list form, and it may not be totally
understood until the later paragraphs are read, which describes the fundamental
premises in detail. The following can
also be thought of as an outline or summary of the paper:
· Labels have four primary components, which are the defining
component, the psychological component, the social component
and social psychological component, which can have an impact on the
labeled individual that is independent of any realities that the label
may represent.
· A label may have functional or dysfunctional consequences,
depending on the circumstances.
· Labels can represent realities and/or delineate
fantasies, superstitions and other
erroneous beliefs as if they were realities.
· A label can also represent a subjective assessment, which
may be conveyed with the aid of the label as if it was an absolute scientific
assessment of reality.
· We are all labeled, with a number of labels, by the people
in our social environment, by the roles we take on, and by our own thinking,
actions and verbal remarks.
· NOTE (The following is discussed in part two under the
heading Additional ideas of the General Model of the Social Psychology of
Labeling)
· Labels have schemas associated with them.
· When people hear about an individual's label, they can make
a logical or semi-logical or irrational evaluation based on the label.
· Labels and their associated schemas have a suggestive
influence on human beings, which can range in strength from very great to
zero, and can guide thinking and behavior in a way that can range from rational
to irrational.
· Labels have an intended utility, which is the
defining function of the label.
· The basic five factors that apply to labels (the defining
component or utility, the psychological component, the social component, the
social psychological component, and suggestive influence) also apply to all
entities and events that nvolve human interaction.
· The items an individual owns and the events an individual
gets involved with, can lead to labeling of the individual.
The four components of a label, the defining
component, the psychological component the social component
and social psychological component, and some of the other concepts of
the thesis will be briefly explained in the remainder of this section. Additional ideas that relate to the basic
thesis will be presented in part two of this paper.
The defining component of a label
delineates or describes something that relates to the individual, such as
behavior, intelligence, strength, occupation or the social, psychological,
psychiatric, or medical condition of the individual.
The psychological component of a
label is the impact that the label has on the individual's psychological
adjustment, mental state, thinking, perceptions, responses and behavior.
The social component is the affect
that the individual's label has on other people in relation to the way the
labeled individual is treated by others as a direct or indirect result of the
label. That is, this component relates
to the social consequences for the labeled individual, which result from his or
her label. This means that an individual
might be treated in a specific way because of the way he or she is labeled.
The social psychological component
is the psychological impact on the labeled individual as a result of the
social component mentioned above. That
is, it is basically the psychological effect that manifests from the way the
labeled individual is treated by society as a result of his or her label. The treatment can range from highly positive
to severely negative depending on the label.
This also involves the labeled individual's perceptions and interpretations
of the treatment, which has an impact on the individual's mental state,
emotional reactions, adjustment and perceptions.
The relative impact of the psychological,
social and social psychological components of a label as it is applied to an
individual under a given set of circumstances can range in strength from very
strong to zero. Very strong means, that
the component has a very strong and significant impact. Zero means the component has no impact. The impact also has a relative degree of positivity
or negativity, which can range from very positive (desirable) to very negative
(undesirable). It should be understood
that these three components of a given label may not all have the same
strength. For example, the psychological
component of a label might be very weak and somewhat negative, the social
component might be moderately strong and positive, and the social psychological
component might be weak and positive. It
is not important whether the above combination can actually exist with a real
individual with a label. However, it is
important to understand that the components of a label can have different
degrees of impact, which can even involve some components being positive and
some negative.
The phrase that appeared in the thesis
sentence the realities that the label delineates embodies a very
important concept. Labels often
delineate accurate or semi-accurate realities, such as a person's physical or
mental handicap, the medical condition of a patient, an individual's
occupation, a person's ability in a specific area, an individual's weakness in
relation to certain activities, etc.
Of course, these realities can have an impact on the individual that is
independent of the label, which can be of a psychological, social, and
social psychological nature. That is,
just as a label can produce a psychological, social, and social psychological
impact, so can the reality produce its own psychological, social and social
psychological impact. What was stated in
the previous paragraph, about the relative strength of the impact of labels and
its positivity or negativity also applies to the impact produced by the
reality.
Thus, it is important to understand that
the impact from the label and the impact from the reality are two distinct sets
of factors, and should not be confused.
In addition, there may be some significant impact from the reality
itself, which is essentially not of a psychological, social or social psychological
nature. An example will clarify the
above. If an individual is mentally
retarded and is not labeled as such, there still will be a psychological,
social and social psychological impact as a result of the intellectual
weaknesses that comprise mental retardation.
This impact would be in addition to the problems produced directly by
the mental disability, such as an inability to read, write, and adequately
carry out certain basic personal care functions. If such an individual is eventually labeled
as retarded, the label will have its own independent psychological, social, and
social psychological components.
A functional label for a negative
condition, such as the mental disability mentioned above, would reduce or
eliminate the negative psychological, social, and social psychological impact
that results from the actual condition and guides the individual toward
constructive treatment of the condition[73]. Such a label may also inform others, what are
appropriate and inappropriate expectations of the labeled individual, which may
reduce the negative social impact of the individual's condition. Thus, a functional label for a negative
condition reduces the problems associated with the condition.
A dysfunctional label, for a negative condition,
does just the opposite of the above.
That is, a dysfunctional label would increase or create one or more
negative impacts, which could be of a psychological, social and/or social
psychological, nature. A label can also
be defined as dysfunctional if it does not guide the individual toward optimum
corrective action or treatment, or if it guides the individual toward
inappropriate or dysfunctional treatment.
A functional label for a positive
condition, such as a specific occupation or ability, will guide the individual
toward appropriate roles and actions to make maximum use of his occupational
position or ability. Functional labels
also inform others on how to interact with an individual. Some examples are as follows. If someone is labeled, chief executive
officer, president, or boss, we know that they are to be treated with respect
and they may have power over our employment and occupational advancement. If someone is labeled teacher, professor, Ph.D.
or highly intelligent, we know that we can obtain certain types of information
and guidance from them.
Dysfunctional labels for a positive
condition are essentially just the
opposite of the above. It does not
provide information needed for optimum and/or proper interaction.
Another important idea of the thesis of
this paper is that some labels represent little or no reality. That is, labels can sometimes delineate
fantasies, superstitions and other erroneous beliefs as if they were realities. For example, if an individual is labeled with
a term suggesting that the individual is possessed by the devil or by evil
spirits, the label is of this nature.
However, such labels still can have very significant psychological,
social and social psychological impacts.
For example, people have been executed because of superstitious or
erroneous labels, such as in the
Some labels are very subjective in
nature. For example, if someone is
labeled good, bad, kind, evil, etc., the label is quite subjective. One person's definition of a good person
might be another person's definition of an evil person. However, subjective labels, whether they are
positive, neutral or negative have their own psychological, social, and social
psychological impact, just as if the label represented an absolute scientific
reality.
Thus, labels tend to have impacts whether
they are positive, neutral, negative, true, false or superstitious in
nature. The psychological, social and
social psychological components can have a major impact on the way the labeled
individual functions in society and the type of life that the individual
lives. This applies to all of us,
because we are all labeled.
People in our environment observe our
physical structure, behavior, achievements, failures, social status, mental and
physical health and they put labels on us.
We also put labels on ourselves by the way we behave and interact with
others. This includes the type of roles
we take on and the type of occupation we choose. We may also label ourselves by telling others
about our label, which can be done indirectly or directly. For example, we can tell others directly that
we are a baseball fan, a movie enthusiast, a single person, a married person, a
photographer, a republican, a democrat, etc.
If we tell a person we are smart, intelligent, creative, kind, etc., we
might prefer to do it indirectly, to avoid being labeled conceded. This indirect communication can involve
talking about related experiences that will convey the message that we are
labeled in a certain way. For example,
an individual who wants to convey the idea that she is labeled intelligent,
might talk about experiences that relate to school.
Another way people often intentionally
label themselves is with
documentation. For example, when an
individual attends school to obtain a degree, with the aim of using the diploma
to obtain employment or advanced education, the individual is in the process of
creating a label for herself. People
often hang such documentation (bachelor degree, masters degree diplomas and
Ph.D. certifications) on their walls, in an effort to label themselves as
indicated by their diplomas in the minds of others. Some people with disabling medical conditions
may go to their doctor to obtain written documents labeling them disabled, such
as for obtaining disability benefits or to be excused from military service.
Thus, we often label ourselves
intentionally and unintentionally, but we are often labeled by others. When other people label us, one of two basic
processes are generally involved. One is
conscious labeling and the other is unconscious labeling. That is, people label others either
consciously or unconsciously, which is discussed in the following three
paragraphs.
Consciously
labeling another person
involves deliberately analyzing and/or evaluating the individual with the
intention of labeling him or her. At
the simplest level, this type of labeling may be done in a casual and
unscientific way in the evaluator's mind.
However, this type of labeling can be more sophisticated and might
involve carefully carried out interviews and/or testing in some cases to determine
the appropriate label. It can involve careful observations of the individual to
obtain information needed for the labeling.
After enough information is gathered than a label may be applied. This more sophisticated version of conscious
labeling is the method that scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and
physicians evaluating abnormal physiological conditions, use when they label a
person.
Unconscious labeling
involves a casual and unintentional process and is more or less the opposite of
the above. It does not involve
deliberate evaluation and analyzing. The
person that labels another unconsciously usually has no deliberate intention of
labeling anyone. Unconscious
labeling takes place when one individual obtains information about another
individual by observation, interaction, or from other sources. The information is usually obtained in a
casual and unintentional way, which often involves various types of face to
face interaction. Some examples will
clarify the process of unconscious labeling.
If we interact with a hypothetical person named John, we may
consistently perceive him as a kind individual.
Thus the label kind will be associated with John in our
minds. We may tell other people that
John is kind, which will spread the label to other people’s consciousness. Another example is if we talk to a
hypothetical person named Susan we may obtain certain information during the
conversation that result in unconscious labeling. Susan may reveal the way she labeled
herself. She may say that she has a
masters degree. Then we may associate
the label masters degree, with Susan.
She may say I am a teacher then we may associate the label teacher with
Susan. We may taste Susan's cooking and
decide she is a very good cook. Then the
label good cook will be associated with Susan in our mind. We may also notice during the conversation
that Susan is a very friendly person.
Than we may associate the label friendly person with Susan.
It should be understood that the above
does not suggest that conscious labeling is necessarily more accurate than
unconscious labeling. Either method can
have an accuracy ranging from very great to zero. Of course, consciously labeling someone in a
sophisticated way is probably more accurate on the average. However, such methods have been known to
result in erroneous labels, which will be seen later in this text when the D.
L. Rosenhan's research is discussed.
Thus, we intentionally and
unintentionally label ourselves and people consciously and unconsciously label
us. The question to keep in mind in the
labeling process is how are we labeling ourselves and how are we labeling other
individuals, and what are the consequences of the labeling? That is, what are the psychological, social
and social psychological impacts of the abels we are applying to ourselves and
to other people?
Part Two: Additional
ideas of the General Model of the Social Psychology of Labeling
Labels have schemas associated
with them. That is, when an individual
hears or reads about a label a list of information and ideas associated with
the label are activated within the mind.
The information and ideas that an individual associates with a specific
label can include one or more of the following: scientific information,
rational ideas, irrational ideas, erroneous ideas, logical associations,
prejudicial beliefs, superstitions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs,
irrational associations, emotional feelings and responses. It is important to understand that each individual
is likely to have a somewhat different schema associated with a specific
label. Labels that are highly scientific
might elicit almost identical schemas in the minds of scientists, but this is
not the case with most labels that are applied to human beings.
We can look at labels and the information
and ideas associated with them from a slightly different angle than the above,
which is as follows. Labels can provide
information, about an individual, which can range from highly accurate to completely
inaccurate. When people learn about an
individual's label there can be a logical or semi-logical or irrational
evaluation based on the label. The
results of such an evaluation is partly determined by the relative degree of
accuracy of the label, the skill of the evaluator, and the time and effort the
evaluator invests in the evaluation.
There is more to labels and the schemas
associated with them than the above would suggest. Labels and there associated schemas have a suggestive
influence on human beings, which can range in strength from very great to
zero. That is, in general, a label can
have suggestive influence over the labeled individual and the people who know
of the individual's label. The
suggestive influence can guide thinking and behavior in a way that can range
from rational to irrational. The
resulting behavior and thinking can also range from highly functional to
completely dysfunctional[75],
which depends on the label, the people involved, and the social and
psychological conditions. The suggestive
influence in general can be seen as part of the psychological, social or social
psychological components of a label.
The above is more understandable when we
consider that the suggestive influence does not involve logical thinking and
evaluation. It involves a type of
non-logical thinking and responding, which may also involve emotional reactions
and responses, in some cases. Much of
the suggestive influence involves relatively simple thinking that may be based
on simple associations, which may or may not be rational.
Thus, labels have psychological,
social and social psychological components, in addition to a suggestive
influence. The suggestive influence
can have intellectual and emotional factors.
This can guide behavior in a way that can range from rational to
irrational, which can be functional or dysfunctional. In addition, a label has
an intended utility, which is the defining function of the label.
An interesting observation can be made
here, if the underlined words in the above paragraph are examined. These words represent the major factors of
labels and are the psychological component, the social component,
the social psychological component, suggestive influence, and intended
utility. It turns out that these
five factors apply to all entities and situations, not just labels. That is, these five factors apply to any
object or event that involves human interactions. If we can understand this general principle
about all entities and situations that involve human interaction, we can
understand labels and their manifestations better, which is the reason for this
diversion from the primary topic. Some
examples will clarify this important principle, which are presented in the
following four paragraphs, with the five primary factors underlined.
If an individual buys a new luxury car,
it will have a psychological impact on the buyer. For example, the buyer might feel better
about himself because of the luxury associated with the car. He might also feel more relaxed because he
does not have to ride crowded public transportation to and from his
workplace. The car will also have a social
and social psychological impact.
To clarify further, the social impact might involve making new
friends, because people see the driver as a high status person with an
expensive car. The perception of high
status, resulting from the ownership of the car, can trigger many positive
associations in the mind's of some people.
The car owner may also make new friends because people may want
transportation. The social psychological
impact in this example is the way the car owner responds to the above increase
in the friendliness of others, which resulted from the ownership of the
car. The car also has a suggestive
influence on the owner and other people, which will guide behavior to some
degree. The car has its obvious utility
of transportation.
A simple toy, such as a ball can have a
significant psychological, social and social psychological
impact for the child that owns it. The
psychological component involves the development of skills and coordination and
satisfaction as a result of playing with the ball. The social component involves making new
friends as a result of playing ball with others. The social psychological component involves
the child's response and adjustments that result from the social component,
which are the friends and their reaction to the child with the ball. This can involve the praise or criticism the
child received from others as he was playing ball with friends. This will involve emotional adjustment and
learning appropriate roles and status, particularly in relation to playing
ball. If the child was a good ball
player, he probably received much praise from others, which can facilitate the
development of self-confidence and a positive self-image. If the child was a poor ball player he
probably received criticism from the other players, which will facilitate the
development of a lack of self-confidence and a negative self-image. Owning the ball and all of the manifestations
that result from owning it can have a suggestive influence on behavior
and thinking. The child might want to
play ball as soon as he sees the ball.
The child's friends might also want to play ball as soon as they see the
child with the ball. The child might
even want to play ball when he has school work to do, without thinking about
the consequences. The utility of
the ball is a toy that provides exercise and can be used to play competitive
games.
A
wedding is a good example of an event with a significant psychological, social
and social psychological component, for the bride and groom. Such an event also usually has a strong suggestive
influence for the individuals that are about to be married. (The details of the above are long and
obvious and I will not discuss them.)
The utility of the event is to celebrate, take marriage vows and
to declare to all present that the couple will be married.
A person's job can also have a
significant psychological, social and social psychological
impact. The exact nature of such an
impact depends on the specific job and work environment. A job can also have a suggestive influence
on the worker and the people who know the worker. The utility of the job for the worker
may be just to earn money.
Another interesting observation can be
made, if the examples presented in the four preceding paragraphs are examined,
which are a luxury car, a ball, a wedding and a job. All of these items can lead to the
development of one or more labels for the individuals who are involved with the
items. The person who buys the
luxury car may be labeled as: a car owner, a luxury car owner, a rich person
with a luxury car, a high status person with an expensive car, a friendly
person who drives his friends to work, an unfriendly person who will not drive
friends and acquaintances anywhere, a snob who will not allow acquaintances in
his luxury car. The child who owns the
ball can be labeled a ball owner, a good ball player, a poor ball player, a
friendly person who owns a ball, an unfriendly person who will not share his
ball with others. The wedding will
result in the man being labeled a groom, a husband, and maybe ultimately a father. The woman will be labeled a bride, a wife and
maybe ultimately a mother. The job may
result in the worker being labeled according to an occupational role or title,
such as a lawyer, doctor, or policemen.
The job can also result in being labeled a good worker, a poor worker or
an employee.
All of the above labels, or any label
that results from the ownership of an item or the involvement with an entity or
event, will have a psychological, a social, and a social psychological
component, which may or may not be significant.
The labels that result from the above process can also have a suggestive
influence on behavior. These labels,
just like any other label, have a utility, which is its defining
component. That is, the labels clearly
defined something about the individual, which is the utility of a label.
Thus, the general principle to keep in
mind is that owning an item or interacting with an entity or an event can lead
to labeling. This labeling does not
always happen, and it sometimes may happen at an insignificant level. If you own an item that does not have much
significance to the people in your environment you are not likely to be
labeled as a result. For example, nobody
will probably label you for owning a pencil, because it is not very significant
from the point of view of others.
However, you probably would be labeled if you owned an airplane, because
this has some social significance. If
you own an entire airline you almost certainly will be labeled with a number of
labels, because this has a great deal of social significance.
Now that the basic concepts of the thesis
have been delineated in parts one and two, I will go into more detail about the
four components of a label in the remainder of this paper. Each component will be discussed in a
separate part of this paper as follows: the
defining component and related ideas in part three, the psychological
component and related ideas in part four, the social component in
part five, and the social psychological component in part six. Under these sections some of the ideas
already presented will be repeated and elaborated on in greater detail.
Part Three: The
Defining Component and Related Ideas
The defining function of
a label describes or delineates something about a person, which may be
accurate, partly accurate, completely inaccurate, superstitious, positive,
neutral or negative. Labels are used to
delineate a person's: occupation, title, medical condition, degree of
intelligence, mental status, and just about any condition, behavior or quality
that can be associated with an individual that has relevance to others.
Usually labels are used to describe or
delineate something about a person that has significance to society or
other people that interact with the labeled individual. For example, it is significant to others if
an individual is labeled a murderer, a holy person, the boss, a police officer,
insane, a cancer patient. Thus, the defining
component gives us information about how to interact with the labeled
person. With the murderer we will be
cautious and avoid being in the same space as she is occupying, unless we are
law enforcement officers. We may go to
the holy person for religious advice and ceremonies. We follow the orders of the boss. We go to a police officer for protection from
criminal behavior, and we make sure we are not violating the law when we see a
police officer. This may mean that we
slow are automobiles down to the legal speed limit when we see an individual
that has the symbolic indications of the label police officer. We know that we should not take the person
labeled insane very seriously, and we also know that such an individual may be
quite irrational, irresponsible, and unpredictable. The person labeled cancer patient has a label
that is significant to the medical personnel who must treat the patient. This label also has significance for,
insurance companies and the friends and family of the patient, who may be
providing financial assistance, comfort and sympathy for the ailing
individual. Sadly, this label may also
have significance because insurance companies, employers, and acquaintances
might want to avoid dealing with the problems of an individual labeled cancer
patient.
If a condition or factor associated with
a person does not have significance to society or other people in the
social environment it is not likely to be labeled. For example, there is no label for a
person who has an inconspicuous birthmark, even if it is known to exist by
doctors, family and friends. An
individual that behaves in a harmless but odd way in private will most
likely not be labeled, even if she tells others of the odd behavior,
because her behavior has no significance to other people. Of course, doing the same odd behavior in
public, even if it is harmless, might result in a label, such as crazy or
mentally ill, because public behavior has some significance to society.
The individual may also apply labels to
himself or herself However, even when the individual applies a label to the
self; it is likely to be based on what the society believes to be
important. This is because the
individual is a member of society and he or she shares the culture, norms,
values and beliefs of the society.
The labels that result from the self
labeling process can be divided into three basic categories, which are 1) totally
private label, 2) an informal public label, 3) a formally
documented label. These three
categories will be discussed in the following four paragraphs.
The totally private label is a descriptive designation that the individual places on
himself or herself without any intention of telling anybody about the
label. Perhaps in some cases the
individual might reveal the label he or she placed on the self to some family
members, close friends or therapists.
However, such disclosures would not be done regularly and it
would not be done to persuade others to accept the label, and if it is,
than it would not fit the definition of a totally private label, as the
concept is defined for this text.
Totally private labeling is often done unconsciously as we think about
our abilities, weaknesses, goals and desires.
That is, as people think about certain qualities in relation to
themselves they more or less label themselves.
For example, some people will decide that they are highly intelligent
and they may privately label themselves accordingly. And some individuals may decide that they are
lacking in intelligence or are average and may privately label themselves in
such a way.
An informal public label is
when an individual privately labels herself and then directly or indirectly
tells others about the label, or conveys the basic ideas that relate to the
label to other people. Using the example
of intelligence, if the individual decides that she is somewhat unintelligent,
she may convey the idea to others, which may be done to avoid intellectually
challenging situations that are likely to lead to failures. It may also be done to avoid the
misunderstandings and embarrassment that may result from such failures.
A
formally documented label is a label that an individual intentionally obtains or applies to the self
with the help of documentation. Examples
are as follows. An individual may spend
many years in school to obtain the label Ph.D., which is documented with the
Ph.D. certificate of certification.
Similar examples include high-school diplomas, bachelor degrees and
master’s degrees. An individual may
label herself disabled and obtain certifying documentation from her physicians,
such as to obtain disability benefits.
Formally documented labels are usually
the most important of the three types of labels, followed by an informal public
label. The totally private label is
usually the least important label.
There are of course many other types of
labels and variations in the way they can be categorized. This includes labels based on superstitions,
fantasies and other erroneous beliefs held by a group or the entire
society. That is, people can be labeled
based on some type of erroneous belief that is part of the belief system of a
society[76]. Thus, when such beliefs are associated with
an individual in certain social environments the individual will be labeled
accordingly. Whether or not a label
represents reality or fantasy does not necessarily diminish the impacts
of: its psychological component, its social component and its social
psychological component, which will become more apparent in the paragraphs
that follow.
Part Four: The
Psychological Component and Related Ideas:
The psychological component
is the impact that the label has on the individual's thinking, learning,
behavior, perceptions and emotional states.
Since everyone has their own unique psychological makeup, it certainly
does not follow that two individuals with the same label will have similar
psychological responses to the label. It
is of course possible that in some cases there certainly may be
similar psychological responses, but in other cases there may be great
differences between the way individuals respond to their identical
labels. Some people may not even
have any psychological reaction to a label and another individual's thinking,
learning, behavior, perceptions and emotional states may be greatly influenced
or changed by the same label. In
addition, people with the same label might respond in ways that are very
different, such as functional, dysfunctional, no psychological response, happy,
depressed, displaying specific behavioral responses, etc.
Of course, we might be able to make some
reasonably good guesses on the way people on the average might respond
to different labels placed on them. This
is done, with the examples of the psychological component of labels in this
sub-section. However, it should be
understood that the general model presented in this paper, does not
attempt to predict the exact nature of the psychological component for specific
labels. It just states that a label
has a psychological component, which can range in strength from very strong to
zero. Very strong means here
that the psychological component of the label has a great influence on the
individual's psychological adjustment, thinking, learning, behavior,
perceptions, responses and emotional states.
Zero means that there is no influence or impact from the label on
psychological adjustment, thinking, learning, behavior, perceptions, responses
and emotional states.
The concept of the psychological
component can be clarified with some examples, which follow. However, the ideas presented in the above
paragraph should be kept in mind when reading the material that follows.
A good example to illustrate the
psychological component is the label intelligent. If someone is labeled intelligent, he will
probably develop a high self-esteem, be confident, and may take on challenging
intellectual activities. If the
individual who has been labeled intelligent finds a specific task difficult, he
may attribute the difficulty to the task, as opposed to attributing it to lack
of personal ability. This may result in
a persistent effort to master the task.
An individual who was labeled as
unintelligent, stupid or lacking in intelligence may respond and behave just
the opposite as the above. That is, he
might develop a low self-esteem, lack confidence especially in relation to
academic activities, attribute difficult tasks to lack of ability, give up
easily, and avoid intellectual and academic pursuits. This might even happen if the person
in reality has excellent intellectual abilities. If the individual is lacking in intellectual
abilities, but is within the normal range of intelligence, the problem will
probably be made worse by the label unintelligent or stupid.
Probably the labels that will produce the
strongest psychological component are labels that are associated directly or
indirectly with a psychiatric diagnosis, such as mental patient, mentally ill,
a clinically depressed person, schizophrenic, manic depressive, etc. The word indirectly was used in the above
sentence to imply that there may be additional labeling by family and friends
of the patient as well as other laymen as a result of the psychiatric
diagnostic label. The most obvious
examples of such labels are crazy, nuts, insane, a mad man, etc. This labeling process, carried out by laymen,
could also be precipitated by the reality associated with the abnormal behavior
of a psychiatric patient. However,
whatever the reason for the label or the source of the label, it is likely to
have a significant psychological impact on the labeled individual.
For example, a person that has been
labeled as a clinically depressed individual may learn to attribute his
dissatisfaction with a specific situation or with life in general as a result
of an illness, which may not really
exist. This may not happen at
first, but the patient may learn to attribute all his dissatisfactions to a
sickness. Many would argue, such as Dr.
Thomas S. Szasz, that there is no illness involved. Perhaps in certain cases there is a true
biochemical sickness causing the problem, but this is probably rare. In most cases of depression the patient probably
has a more or less legitimate dissatisfaction with certain aspects of his or
her life circumstances[77]. Attributing the depression to an illness,
which may not exist, may discourage the individual from making
constructive changes in his life. The
patient that is convinced that his depression is caused by an illness, has no
reason to try to determine what he is unhappy about, and make the needed
changes. In many cases the patient
probably was originally quite aware of the cause of his depressed feelings, but
the diagnostic label might convince them that the real cause is an illness. That is, the patient may be convinced,
perhaps with the help of his doctor in some cases, that the sadness is all
coming from internal sources, such as irrational thinking or an abnormal
biochemistry. This may sometimes in fact
be the case, but probably more often it is not the primary or only cause. Thus, the psychological component of the
label associated with depression, might reduce or eliminate any motivation the
patient had to make constructive changes in life, and result in attributing
their sadness to a nonexistent disease.
However, the label might guide the individual toward psychiatric
treatment, which may prevent the problem from worsening or it might result in
an improvement in the overall condition.
That is, whether such a label has negative or positive consequences
would depend on the individual and the people in his environment.
NOTE (The primary cause of
depression, and related conditions I believe is usually not caused by a
biological disease or triggered by biological factors, as some psychiatrists
believe. My theory is it is the result
of a failure of the individual to satisfy his major needs. This is probably often coupled with
maladaptive coping strategies, which includes certain thinking patterns. According to this theory, everyone has
different major needs. When one or
more of such needs are not satisfied, or stop being satisfied, the individual
will become depressed if he perceives no chance of changing
circumstances to satisfy the need(s). If
there is an ongoing challenging struggle to satisfy the need, even if the
effort is only slightly successful, it will probably reduce the chances of
depression developing or reduce the severity of the condition. For example, if a man is divorced he will
become seriously depressed if he had a major need to be married to his wife and
he perceives no chance of getting back with her, and does not believe he can
satisfy his major need in another way.
That is, he gives up trying to satisfy his major need, because he
believes it is impossible or far too difficult to satisfy. The depressed state that develops, could
eventually result in a dysfunctional biochemical impact on the nervous system,
which perhaps is equivalent to an illness.
However, the condition was not caused by this dysfunctional
biochemical manifestation, but it might worsen or perpetuate the condition.
If the
unsatisfied need was not a major one or if the individual believed he
was going to find an alternative way to satisfy it, the individual would
probably not become depressed in the psychiatric sense, according to this
model. This would probably be especially
true if the individual found the situation somewhat challenging and put up a
struggle that was partly successful. Of
course, such an individual may display the normal types of sad feelings that
people experience during unpleasant periods of life.) END OF NOTE
In general psychiatric diagnostic labels
can have a very strong psychological component.
Such a component can manifest in a loss of confidence, a withdrawal from
social interactions and the development of psychological problems that may
worsen the condition of the patient.
However, in some cases the psychiatric labels may have a beneficial
psychological result.
Beneficial results from psychological
labels are probably more likely to result, when the condition is severe or when
the psychiatric disorder is truly the result of a physiological disease. In such cases, the label might serve to
excuse the patient for his abnormal responses and disabilities that result from
the condition. The label might guide the
behavior of the individual toward proper treatment of his condition.
Psychiatric labels also usually have
strong social components, which is discussed in the next sub-heading.
Part Five: The
Social Component and Related Ideas
The social component is
the component of a label that has social impact, and it relates to the way an
individual will be treated by others as a result of the label he or she
has. That is, the social component
is the way the label influences the responses of others in relation to the
labeled individual. Still another way of
stating this is: A label can influence
the way people think about, interact with, and respond to an individual, which
is the social component of the label.
In a sense the social component is
analogous to the psychological component that was already discussed under the
previous sub-heading. The social
component relates to the response of society in relation to the labeled
individual. The psychological component
relates to the response of the individual in relation to his or her own label,
and just as the psychological component can very greatly with the same
label placed on different individuals,
so can the social component.
The reaction various people have to an
individual with a specific label will not necessarily be the same. For example, an individual with the label police
officer, might be respected, liked and treated in a very desirable way by
some people. However, other people might
fear and dislike the individual labeled police officer. This may result in unpleasant treatment for
the police officer. In extreme cases the
treatment can result in personal injury or death. This can happen strictly because of the label
and nothing more in some cases. Thus, a
label can have a very strong impact on the way an individual is treated by
others. A person can be loved, honored,
rewarded, ignored, penalized, tortured or killed just because of the label he
or she has. This suggests a tremendous
variation in the relative impact and nature of a label's social component.
Just as with the psychological component,
this model does not predict the exact nature of the social component of a
label. It just states that a label
has a social component, which can range in strength from very strong to zero. Very strong means the label has a
great influence on the way others treat the labeled individual. Zero means that the label has no
impact or influence on the way the labeled individual is treated. However, just as was done with the
psychological component, it is possible to make some good guesses on the way
people will treat others with specific labels.
But there is also some good experimental evidence on how people respond
to the social component of some labels.
The experimental evidence will be presented after some examples on the
way most people are likely to respond to certain common labels[78].
The social component can be easily seen
in the way people are likely to treat a person labeled highly intelligent. They may attribute many positive qualities to
the individual, which he or she may or may not have. That is, a label that is generally
perceived by society to be positive, may tend to result in perceptions of other
positive qualities, which the labeled individual may or may not have. This is a very important property of positive
labels, and it is called the halo effect.
Partly as a result of the above, the
individual labeled intelligent will probably be respected more than others, may
be given special privileges, and her actions, achievements and failures will be
interpreted in terms of the label. If
the individual fails at a task the interpretation of others might be that the
task was unreasonably difficult, the individual did not apply herself, or that
the individual was lazy. If an
individual with the label intelligent constantly fails, people may think she is
lazy, or is suffering from a psychological or psychiatric disorder that is
interfering with success. In general,
failures or misbehaviors that are obvious and very significant might have a
worse impact on an individual that has one or more highly positive labels. For example, a person that is obviously
dishonest, deviant and steals will be considered even more negative by others
if she is also labeled intelligent[79].
Thus, positive labels do not
automatically lead to praise and rewards from society. The individual labeled intelligent may be
worked harder during the school years.
Parents and teaches may expect more from the child and adolescent that
is labeled intelligent. If the
expectations are not met, punishment may be inflicted on the labeled
individual.
However, there are probably far more
rewards than penalties involved with positive labels, such as intelligent. If an individual labeled intelligent is
reasonably successful her negative qualities will probably be less noticeable
by the people she interacts with. This
can be thought of as the result of the halo effect discussed above.
The label of stupid or unintelligent or
its equivalent would probably have a social component that is more or less the
opposite of the above example. The
individual may be perceived as having many negative traits by others,
regardless of whether the individual truly has such traits. In general, there is a tendency, which
is not absolute, for people to perceive many negative traits in an individual
labeled with a negative label, regardless of whether the individual has such
traits. This tendency has been
called the fork tailed effect[80],
or the negative halo effect. This may
also make it difficult for others to perceive the positive qualities of the
individual who is labeled with a negative label such as unintelligent.
The person labeled as unintelligent may
be excused for doing poor work, which will be more likely to be the case if the
individual appears to be working hard.
This is especially likely to be true when the individual is attending
school. People, especially instructors
and parents might be more lenient with a child or adolescent that is
labeled unintelligent, in certain areas.
The assumption is that such an individual simply is not capable
of succeeding, especially in school.
This assumption in some cases might be quite true, but in most
cases it probably is untrue and the assumption is dysfunctional in such cases.
Thus, sometimes a negative label can give
an individual some freedom and relief from the norms and requirements of the
society. This may in fact be functional
and justifiable in some cases, especially if the negatively labeled individual
truly cannot meet the standards, such as with a mentally retarded individual.
However, in many cases, a negative label
resulted from dysfunctional behavior patterns that were learned. The unintelligent individual in some cases
may have learned to avoid studying and attending school regularly. Such individuals may come from a poverty
stricken and culturally deprived environment.
In such cases, the freedom provided by a negative label, such as
unintelligent, can be quite dysfunctional, unless corrective educational goals
and methods are provided.
As already stated, there is some research
that shows the social component of labels.
The researchers obviously were not working with the general model I am
presenting in this paper, and they were not trying to demonstrate the social
components of labels. They were essentially evaluating prejudice and the
dysfunctional effects of psychiatric diagnostic labels. However, from the perspective of the general
model of the social psychology of labeling, the social components and related
consequences and dynamics are revealed by the research which follows.
An interesting experiment that
demonstrates the social component of a label was carried out by Philip Goldberg
in 1968. He actually wanted to evaluate
whether females were biased in their evaluations of other females. The experimenter presented a series of professional
journal articles to a number of female college students. The subjects were supposed to rate the
articles for persuasiveness, style and competence. The experimenter presented the same articles
to the subjects with either false male authors or false female authors. When the articles had male names printed on
them as authors the subjects rated the articles higher than when female authors
were printed on the articles.
From the perspective of the general model
of social psychology of labeling, the above can be explained as follows. The masculine names elicited in the minds of
the subjects the label male author, which had a positive suggestive
influence that resulted in a higher rating.
When the female names were put on the articles, the label female
author was elicited in the minds of the subjects. The feminine label apparently had a negative
suggestive influence, because they rated the articles lower than when male
names were on the same articles.
Another experiment that also shows the
social component of gender related labels was carried out by Berna Skrypnek and
Mark Snyder in 1982. A female was paired
with one male in each experimental trial.
However, both subjects did not know the true gender of their partner. That is, the female and the male subjects
never saw each other or heard each other's voice during the experiment. They were put in separate rooms. The subjects communicated with each other
through a special communications system that consisted of a series of lights. The subjects were told that they must decide
who will do various tasks that the experimenter designated. They were to do this by discussion and
negotiation by communicating with their partner through the system of
lights. Some of these tasks were
traditionally performed by males (such as fixing a switch), others were
neutral, and some were traditionally performed by females (such as
cooking). "The rules set by the
experimenter gave the man greater initiative in the bargaining process."[81] The idea of the experiment was to manipulate
the male subject's beliefs by telling them that their unseen partners were
either a typical man or a typical woman, which are labels. (The female subject was not told anything
about the partner or the experiment.)
When the label typical woman was applied the male subjects
selected the masculine tasks and left the female tasks for the woman. When the label typical man was applied
the tasks were more randomly divided amongst both partners.
The results of the above are certainly not
surprising. The males, were college
students and they were probably using the assumption that a typical woman
would be more skilled in performing tasks that females traditionally
perform. They probably felt that their
skills in performing such tasks were inadequate. They also probably felt that they could carry
out the tasks traditionally performed by males much better than a typical woman
could.
The above experiment was carried on to a
second phase. The second phase of the
Berna Skrypnek and Mark Snyder experiment involved changing the bargaining
power in relation to choosing the tasks.
In this phase of the experiment the women had more control over choosing
the tasks than the men did. Women that
were labeled as typical women, in the first part of the experiment, behaved as
typical women would behave, and they chose tasks that are traditionally
performed by females. However, women
that were treated like males, as a result of the labeling process in the first
part of the experiment, behaved less like typical women. They chose more male tasks than the women
that were labeled as typical women.
This shows the social psychological component of the label, which will
be discussed in more detail in part six of this paper. The basic idea is the way an individual is
labeled and treated by others affects the individual's thinking and
behavior. In this experiment the
behavior that was influenced by the masculine label resulted in the women
displaying choices that were less likely to be associated with typical women. And the women that were labeled with the
feminine label behaved as the label, typical women, would predict.
Gender labels are commonly used in our
society and the above experiments are interesting, but the results are not really surprising. Experiments that involved psychiatric labels
produced results that were more astonishing than the experiments involving
gender labels.
The labels with the most dramatic
negative social components are probably psychiatric diagnostic labels and the
layman's version of these labels.
Obvious examples are schizophrenic, manic depressive, mentally ill,
crazy, nuts, etc.
There is good research dealing with
psychiatric labels. This research was
carried out by D. L. Rosenhan dealing with the reactions of the staff in
psychiatric hospitals to patients who falsely and secretly obtained formal
admission to the psychiatric wards by mimicking a symptom of schizophrenia[82]. (The phrase phony patients and pseudopatients
will be used as synonyms in this text.)
Actually the phony patients only stated that they heard voices,
which is a symptom of schizophrenia.
When they were asked what the voices were saying, their answers' were
"empty" "hollow" and "thud", and they indicated
that the voices were unfamiliar and were the same sex as they were.
After the pseudopatients were admitted to
the psychiatric hospital they behaved in a way that was totally normal. In fact, the phony patients were told in
advance by the experimenter that they were to try to be discharged from the psychiatric
hospital by behaving in a normal way, with the goal of convincing the hospital
staff that they were sane[83]. Failure to follow such orders would increase
the stay at the mental hospital, which was unpleasant for the
pseudopatients. Thus, the phony patients
were motivated to behave in a normal way.
Hence, the pseudopatients indicated that they did not hear any
more voices and felt fine after they were admitted to the psychiatric hospital,
as they were instructed to do by the experimenter. The phony patients did display some genuine
mild nervousness just after being admitted, but this reaction quickly faded as
they became accustomed to the environment.
The normal behavior demonstrated by the
phony patients while in the psychiatric hospital was confirmed by the notes
that nurses routinely take of the patients.
However, the false symptoms the pseudopatients described to gain
admission into the psychiatric facility resulted in the phony patients being
labeled as schizophrenics.
Just about everything the pseudopatients did or said were
erroneously interpreted as a sign of mental illness, especially as a sign of
schizophrenia. That is, the staff in
effect was misinterpreting much of what they observed in terms of the label
schizophrenic. When the phony patients
were observed taking notes it was interpreted as part of their illness by the
staff. When the pseudopatients were
interviewed by psychiatrists the interpretation of their history and their past
interactions with relatives were interpreted according to the label
schizophrenic. It is interesting
to note that the real patients were suspicious of the pseudopatients, because
the pseudopatients were taking a large amount of notes, suggesting that they
were doing a study. Most likely the real
patients did not know that the pseudopatients were labeled schizophrenics, or
if they did they were not responding to the label. Thus they interpreted the note taking as some
type of normal behavior[84]. The real patients accused the pseudopatients
of being journalists or professors checking up on the hospital. The pseudopatients assured them that they
were real patients. They explained that
they were sick when they entered the hospital, and they explained further that
they were fine now. Thus, the real
patients were not influenced by labels, but the staff was so influenced because
they knew of the label.
Another factor that may have contributed
to the erroneous conclusions of the staff is the time spent with patients was
rather limited. When people have
little time to make an evaluation, they are more likely to respond to the
prejudicial beliefs that are often associated with labels. In addition, time limitations can prevent an
evaluator, such as a psychiatrist, from accurately analyzing and evaluating the
behavior and verbal responses from the patient.
The inability to analyze and evaluate, because of time limitations, can
result in being influenced by means of the suggestive influence of a
label. The real patients spent more time
with the pseudopatients than the hospital staff did, and this may have been the
reason that the patients were more accurate in their assessments.
The pseudopatients were even given
medicine as a result of the label schizophrenic or mentally ill. This medication included Elavil, Stelazine,
Compazine, Thorazine and other medications.
Nearly 2100 pills were given to the phony patients. However, only two of these pills were
swallowed and the remainder were secretly disposed of.
The response of the hospital staff to the
phony patients was not unique to a specific institution. Rosenhan carried out the experiment described
above in 12 hospitals throughout the
There were eight pseudopatients involved
in the experiment. The average stay at
the hospital was 19 days. The range was
from 7 to 52 days. The time interval of
the hospitalization should have been more than ample time to determine that the
patients did not have a serious mental disorder. Keep in mind that once they were admitted
they behaved in a totally normal way.
The only abnormality was presented during admission, which was only a
claim of hearing voices, which was "empty" "hollow" and
"thud" and nothing more. These
phony patients did not suggest suicide, or any other destructive actions
at any point during the experiment.
The pseudopatients had no
psychiatric history and were psychologically normal people. Four of these individuals were mental health
professionals themselves, specifically one was a psychiatrist and three were
psychologists. These individuals did not
reveal their true occupation to the staff at the hospital because it may have
interfered with the experiment. The
other pseudopatients were involved in respectable endeavors and roles in
society, which was a graduate student in psychology, a pediatrician, a
housewife and a painter. Five of the
phony patients were male and three were female.
Thus, there certainly were nothing unusual or abnormal about these
individuals. And there apparently was no
logical reason for the diagnosis that they were discharged with, which was
schizophrenia in remission.
The experiment did reveal valuable
information, and it met the primary purpose of the research, which was
basically to see if the mentally ill can be distinguished from normal people,
by mental health professionals. The idea
was also to determine to what extent mental disorders are in the minds of the
observer or within the individual designated mentally ill.
That is, a major question the researchers
were interested in was to determine to what extent is mental disorders the
result of the context and the observer as opposed to an abnormality within the
patient. The exact words used by the
experimenter are: "At its heart, the question of whether the sane can be
distinguished from the insane (and whether degrees of insanity can be
distinguished from each other) is a simple matter: do the salient
characteristics that lead to diagnoses reside in the patients themselves or in
the environments and contexts in which observers find them?"
The results of the research clearly
indicated that the observers within a specific environmental context can result
in the diagnosis of a mental disorder.
This is essentially the same as saying that the disorder was the result
of the observers and the environment, which was certainly true under the
experimental conditions. However,
this experiment did not prove that this is the case with all mental disorders. It just proved that it is possible
that the diagnosis of a mental disorder could be the result of irrational
evaluations of observers within an environment under some conditions.
A reasonable conclusion can be determined
if the possible causes of a mental disorder are analyzed as follows: 1)
biological causes, such as abnormal biochemistry affecting the central nervous
system, or damage to various portions of the brain; 2) psychological causes,
such as maladaptive learning, thinking and behavior; 3) social factors, such as
the evaluations of the people within an environment of an individual, which
could be based on observations of behavior that is perceived to be abnormal
according to social norms, or it could be the result of irrational thinking on
the part of the evaluators, such as responding to prejudicial beliefs or to a
label. If we examine the literature of
just about any psychology text, it appears that there are some mental disorders
that involve 1, 2, and 3. However, most
mental disorders probably only involve 2 and 3 as significant factors[85]. There are of course mental conditions that
only annoy the individual with the disorder.
The manifestations of such conditions may not be observed by
others and may only involve 2, psychological causes. There can also be mental conditions that only
involve 1, biological causes, such as a case of very mild senility,
which may not have any significant social consequences, under certain
conditions. And there are most likely
cases that involve only 3, social factors, as was proved possible by the
Rosenhan research.
Thus, it is unreasonable to
conclude based on the Rosenhan research that all mental disorders are the
result of social factors, such as prejudicial beliefs or an irrational
evaluation based on a label. A
reasonable conclusion is that some mental disorders might be worsened by prejudicial
beliefs associated with the label. In
addition, there might be some mental disorders that are solely the
result of a label. This can happen when
an individual suffered a stressful experience that was mistakenly diagnosed as
a major mental disorder, resulting in a label that causes others to
misinterpret and respond negatively to the labeled individual. Such incorrect diagnoses might happen when
people in the environment do not understand the stressful circumstances that
the patient experienced. Another
possibility can be found when an individual had a psychiatric condition and
recovered, but the label from the condition may persist in the minds of the
patient's doctors, family and friends, with the belief that the label is still
an accurate representation of the mental state of the patient. This thinking can also involve the idea that
the patient is still mentally ill but her illness is in a temporary state of
remission.
Any of the circumstances described in the
above paragraph can result in misinterpretation of the patient's actions and
negative evaluations and treatment of the labeled individual. In such cases the labeled individual may be
inadvertently forced or coaxed into a role of a mental patient for many years
or even for life. This can involve the
patient truly believing that the diagnostic label is a valid representation of
her mental condition. Even when the
patient does not agree with the accuracy of the diagnostic label, she may learn
to accept the label and play the role of a mental patient because there may be
some rewards in doing so, such as receiving acceptance from therapists,
receiving sympathy from her family, obtaining prescription drugs, and receiving
disability benefits. There also may be
some penalties inflicted inadvertently if the patient does not accept
her status as indicated by the psychiatric diagnostic label. Such penalties can involve criticisms and
other negative treatment based on the belief that the patient is not
psychologically stable enough to accept reality in relation to her psychiatric
disorder.
There is additional information and
conclusions from the results of Rosenhan's research, which are discussed in the
following two paragraphs.
The inability of mental health
professionals to distinguish sane from the insane was experimentally tested in
a way that was quite different from the first set of experiments. In the later experiments the staff of a
psychiatric hospital were told that phony patients would be admitted, and their
job was to see if they could spot them.
In reality, no phony patients were admitted, but the staff found many
patients that they believed might be phony, that is, normal. Keep in mind that these patients believed to
be phony were real patients. Thus, the
results of Rosenhan's research certainly indicate that mental health
professionals in psychiatric hospitals may not be able to distinguish
the sane from the insane. They appear to
be influenced by the social component of labels, which is the case with most people
in our modern society.
The influential impact from the labels in
the first experiment was so strong that the psychiatrists prescribed medication
for the pseudopatients, as already explained.
Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that real patients may sometimes be
given inappropriate or unnecessary medication as a result of a label. It is also reasonable to conclude that
sometimes patients may be confined in psychiatric hospitals unnecessarily as a
result of a label. Of course, the
opposite is also true in some cases.
That is, mental patients may be inappropriately discharged from
psychiatric hospitals, which can result in the patient living on the street or
hurting herself or harming another individual.
This certainly suggests that there is a difficulty in distinguishing
relative degrees of sanity from insanity.
That is, sometimes psychiatric patients are mistakenly considered
mentally stable enough to be released from a psychiatric hospital, but in
reality they are in effect quite insane, and cannot function satisfactorily
outside of a psychiatric facility.
There are many possible criticisms that
can be aimed at the research and conclusions of D. L. Rosenhan, but every
argument I have heard or can think of fails.
The most obvious criticism can be based on the fact that the
pseudopatients applied for admission in a psychiatric hospital complaining that
they were hearing voices, a symptom of schizophrenia. One can argue that the phony patients fooled
the psychiatrists. However, this argument
fails, because the pseudopatients only said that they heard voices, which was
minimized to only three words, empty, hollow and thud. This could be the result of many conditions,
such as lack of sleep or some unknown minor disturbance, but the diagnosis that
they were discharged with was schizophrenia in remission.
If we compare the pseudopatients phony
symptoms with other branches of medicine we can see an interesting
difference. Most of us at one time or
another had a false symptom of a major disease or know someone who did. Common examples of false symptoms are a lump
that looks like cancer or a pain in the chest that seems to be a heart
problem. Such false symptoms are usually
quickly diagnosed as insignificant problems, after a very short period of
medical evaluation. They usually do not
hospitalize people with such false symptoms, and if they do it is for a short
period of testing, which usually is less than two or three days. Compare this short stay with the length of
time the pseudopatients had to stay at the psychiatric hospital, which was an
average of 19 days, with a range from 7 to 52 days.
There is a difference between the person
with the false medical symptom and the pseudopatients in the experiment. This difference is people who have medical
symptoms are not labeled, they are tested. For example, no physician would label a
person a cancer patient, if the patient simply has a lump. After a period of careful testing such a
patient might be scientifically diagnosed and labeled. Doctors are cautious about applying labels
that relate to medical conditions because there are consequences to such
labeling. There can be even greater
consequences to a psychiatric diagnostic label, but cautiousness in labeling
does not appear to be present, if Rosenhan's research results are
typical of psychiatric hospitals. What
happened in the experiment is the pseudopatients were labeled based on a false
symptom, without any attempt at a scientific evaluation. Once the pseudopatients were labeled, the
suggestive influence of the label guided the thinking, perceptions and
evaluations of the staff in relation to the phony patients.
There is no valid scientific reason why
the false symptoms that Rosenhan's pseudopatients presented to the staff of the
psychiatric hospitals should have not been recognized. A mental health professional responding in a
logical way, would first determine if the patient was at risk of intentionally
or unintentionally harming herself or another individual, or if there was a
potential risk that the patient would destroy property or violate the law in
some way. The next step would be to look
for other symptoms of schizophrenia or of mental instability, which was not
present in the pseudopatients. Since, these
phony patients only were instructed to say they were hearing voices, the
logical conclusion should have been: they do not have a mental disorder that
requires hospitalization.
However, it is probably not easy for
anyone, even a mental health professional, to react totally logically when
evaluating people who violate cultural norms.
We live in a society where people do not hear voices, or if they
do, they do not talk about it.
And if they do talk about hearing voices, they must be mentally ill or schizophrenic[86]
according to our normative system. If we
accept the fact that there may be some culturally based superstition
involved with certain aspects of psychiatric diagnostic labels, and that the
hospital staff was probably influenced by such a label, the reason for the
incorrect diagnoses is clarified.
One can conclude from the research and
from many other sources that much of the concept of mental illness is
culturally based[87]. That is, our culture has certain concepts on
what constitutes schizophrenia and we have a label for it. When we detect certain symptoms the belief is
that the patient is schizophrenic. And
the irrational reverse also may hold true in many contexts, as suggested by the
research. That is, when we see a person
labeled schizophrenic we perceive symptoms associated with the patient, whether
the symptoms exist in reality or not.
The counter argument to the idea that
many mental disorders are culturally based is as follows. In extreme cases of mental illness, such as
an individual that is totally: mad, insane and irrational, or severely mentally
retarded, there will be universal agreement in all cultures that the individual
is mentally ill or mentally dysfunctional.
Although this is true, the argument fails for the following
reasons. Such extreme cases are
moderately rare and do not generally apply to most individuals labeled
mentally ill. Obviously it did not
apply to the phony patients in the Rosenhan experiments. This research and the resulting article were not
dealing with the extreme cases of mental dysfunction. Rosenhan's study was dealing with the more
common situations found in mental hospitals and psychiatric clinics. That is, most psychiatric patients are fairly
rational in most respects, and the irrational components of their thinking and
behavior can often be seen as culturally based, and nothing more. For example, if an individual is faced with
extreme failure and loss in some cultures, suicide might be considered a
rational choice to avoid further unpleasant consequences and suffering. However, in our society such an individual
would be diagnosed as having clinical depression. This might be quite functional, if we succeed
in preventing the suicide, but it is important to realize that the diagnosis is
not a medical one. It is a culturally
based assessment. This is probably true
to some extent with most, but not all, psychiatric diagnoses.
Another interesting experiment that shows
the effect of the social component of labels was mentioned by Rosenhan in his
article, and was carried out in a medical school. A young woman stopped people and asked
directions to the clinic, indicating that she was looking for either an
internist or a psychiatrist. When she
indicated that she was looking for an internist she got more cooperation than
when she stated she was looking for a psychiatrist. The request for assistance to find a
psychiatrist in effect resulted
in a labeling process, where the young woman was labeled mentally ill,
by the individuals she spoke to for information[88]. The label of mentally ill, probably
resulted in anxiety and irrational concerns in the minds of the people she
asked for help, which resulted in less cooperation, than when she asked for
help to find an internist.
The information and conclusions discussed
about psychiatric labels in this section can be reinforced and amplified by the
addition of the basic ideas of Dr. Thomas S. Szasz. The following ten points in quotation marks are
from Dr. Szasz's book The Myth of Mental Illness Revised Edition, 1974[89]:
"1. Strictly
speaking, disease or illness can affect only the body; hence, there can be no
mental illness." The term mental illness is deceiving, because
most mental illnesses are not diseases, in the sense of an affliction of the
body. Mental disorders are usually
caused by psychological and social factors.
Generally, such disorders consist of thinking and behavior that is
considered abnormal, and there is no biological cause for the condition.
However, there are many mental health
professionals that prefer to believe that there is a biological cause to
psychiatric disorders. There view is
that the abnormal condition is a biological weakness that was triggered by
environmental stresses. This view is
advocated by drug companies because it serves as a justification for
administering medication. Such a view
may also be supported by some psychiatric patients and their families, because
it allows them to escape the responsibility for their maladaptive thinking and
behavior.
"2
"Mental illness" is a metaphor.
Minds can be "sick" only in the sense that jokes are
"sick" or economies are "sick"." The term mental
illness is not literal or scientific terminology. In reality, the individual's behavior may be
considered inappropriate or dysfunctional by others, and might be classified as
a mental illness. In addition, there are
obviously people that consider their own thinking, behavior and life situation
as a mental disorder, which is not a biological illness.
Thus, the concept of mental illness is
deceiving. In general, most mental
illnesses can be more accurately classified as psychological or psychiatric
disorders. Specifically, these disorders
are not biological in nature, they are manifestations of thinking and
behavior. Of course thinking and
behavior can have biological consequences, such as a person that drinks
excessive quantities of alcohol or takes drugs.
Other examples are emotional stress or depression can have a negative
biological impact on the body. However,
it is important to realize that the causes of such conditions are
generally psychological in nature.
There are mental health professionals and
patients that prefer to believe that there is an inborn biological
predisposition for such conditions. I
believe this is a rationalization in most cases, which allows all concerned to
escape responsibility for inappropriate behavior. It is easy to support this type of
rationalization by studying family histories and individuals from similar
cultures and subcultures, which can falsely suggest that there is a biological
predisposition leading to psychological and psychiatric disorders. In some cases, there really may be such a
biological connection, but generally this belief is probably quite false. Psychological and psychiatric disorders are
essentially thinking and behavior patterns that are learned, and such learning
can be learned from family members, from a culture and from a subculture.
"3.
Psychiatric diagnosis are stigmatizing labels, phrased to resemble medical
diagnosis and applied to persons whose behavior annoys or offends others." The labels used by
psychiatrists to label their patients are often deceiving. In addition, such labels give a false
impression of a medical condition. In
reality, the psychiatric patient is labeled because he is displaying behavior
that other people find annoying or offensive.
Basically, such behavior violates the norms of society, and thus the
individual is considered mentally ill and is labeled with a psychiatric
diagnostic label. I would add, some
people have thinking, behavior patterns, nervous reactions or general life
problems, which only bother them and nobody else. Such individuals may seek the treatment of a
psychologist or psychiatrist and thus receive a diagnostic label.
Dr. Szasz's point about psychiatric
labels being stigmatizing is reinforced by the model of labeling presented in
this text and Rosenhan's research.
"4. Those who
suffer from and complain of their own behavior are usually classified as
"neurotic"; those whose behavior makes others suffer, and about whom
others complain, are usually classified as "psychotic." This point is quite
clear, but I believe that there are many exceptions, which Dr. Szasz probably
realize, because he used the word usually. There are many cases where an individual
classified as a neurotic bothers others.
This can be especially true if the individual is in an authority
position, such as a parent, a boss, a supervisor or a professor. In addition, there may be some individuals
that are classified as psychotic, who are very withdrawn, and do not interact
with others, and bother nobody. However,
generally, an individual that displays behavior that is considered very strange
and bothers others, will probably be classified as psychotic. This may be even more likely if the
individual is in a low power position, such as an individual that is poor. And most people that are discontented with
their own lives and behavior would most likely be classified as neurotic, as
opposed to psychotic. This would
probably be even more likely if they are in a high power position.
"5. Mental
illness is not something a person has, but is something he does or is." The point is that
what is generally called mental illness is the result of an ongoing pattern of
abnormal behavior, which is more or less intentionally carried out by the
individual. If the individual did not
display such abnormal behavior he would not be classified and labeled as
mentally ill. People may say such an
individual: is a schizophrenic, is neurotic, is crazy, etc.
"6. If there
is no mental illness there can be no hospitalization, treatment, or cure for
it. Of course, people may change their
behavior or personality, with or without psychiatric intervention. Such intervention is nowadays called
"treatment," and the change, if it proceeds in a direction approved
by society, "recovery"or "cure." " The point is that what is called mental illness
is abnormal behavior and it does not make sense to cure behavior. Hospitals and the philosophy that prevails in
such facilities are centered around treating disease, and abnormal behavior is not
a disease. In addition, behavior and
personality can be changed by the individual with or without help from a
psychiatrist. If there is an improvement
in behavior or personality, especially if it resulted from psychiatric
intervention, it may be considered a recovery or a cure. However, such terms (recovery, cure)
are inappropriate and deceiving. Nobody
can cure behavior or personality, but it can be changed or improved.
"7. The
introduction of psychiatric considerations into the administration of the
criminal law-for example, the insanity plea and verdict, diagnosis of mental
incompetence to stand trial, and so forth-corrupt the law and victimize the
subject on whose behalf they are ostensibly employed." The point is
psychiatric diagnostic labels and related
philosophy are dysfunctional in relation to the legal system. The defense can always claim insanity, and
support the plea with the help of a well‑paid psychiatrist and
lawyer. The prosecution will claim that
the suspect is sane, which will also be supported by a well‑paid
psychiatrist. In addition, the process
is quite irrational and it appears to be based on superstitious beliefs about
abnormal behavior. An individual that
intentionally carries out a relatively complexed criminal act obviously is
aware of what he is doing. The fact that
their personality and behavior may be abnormal and irrational does not justify
a lighter sentence. It justifies a
longer incarceration time, because such an individual is usually somewhat
unpredictable and may be difficult or impossible to rehabilitate.
"8. Personal
conduct is always rule-following, strategic, and meaningful. Patterns of interpersonal and social
relations may be regarded and analyzed as if they were games, the behavior of
the players being governed by explicit or tacit game rules." The basic idea is
that human behavior, especially when it involves interaction with others, can
be conceptualized and studied as if it is a set of games. A normal person plays games that are not
offensive to others and the game rules he follows are accepted by society as
proper. An individual that is considered
mentally ill, plays games that are offensive to others, and he follows rules
that are not accepted by society. I will
add that normal people are more likely to play functional games and individuals
with mental disorders are more likely to play dysfunctional games.
Perhaps a better and more accurate term
than games would be strategies.
That is, human beings learn, develop and use strategies to satisfy their
emotional needs and obtain the things they want in life. Some people use functional and rational
strategies that are acceptable by society.
These people are labeled normal or sane.
People that have been labeled mentally ill were probably so labeled
because they use dysfunctional and/or irrational strategies that are not
acceptable by society.
"9. In most
types of voluntary psychotherapy, the therapist tries to elucidate the
inexplicit game rules by which the client conducts himself; and to help the client
scrutinize the goals and values of the life games he plays." A psychotherapist
can analyze the games that an individual plays and make the client more aware
of the games and its relative degree of dysfunctionality with the goal of
helping the client develop more functional strategies.
"10. There is
no medical, moral, or legal justification for involuntary psychiatric
interventions. They are crimes against
humanity." I believe this statement is certainly true
sometimes. No doubt, there have been
people who have been misdiagnosed and labeled and kept in mental
hospitals. The Rosenhan's research
suggests just how this could happen. An
individual that is quite functional, harmless and somewhat unusual in his
communications style and behavior, could easily be misdiagnosed and labeled as
mentally ill, and confined to a mental hospital. Such an individual may be given inappropriate
medication for a disorder that does not exist.
However, I believe just the opposite is
sometimes true. That is, there are cases
where it is immoral, cruel and irrational not to confine certain
individuals to a mental hospital or some other psychiatric facility. There are people who simply cannot function
in our society. If they are not
institutionalized they may well sleep on the streets and not be able to
take care of their basic survival needs.
Such individuals are likely to suffer from malnutrition and other
medical problems, because of their inability to take care of themselves. In the winter such individuals may freeze to
death on the city streets. Some of these
people are alcoholics or drug addicts, and if they survive the winter months,
they may sooner or later die from their addiction. It is immoral not to institutionalize
such people. Another situation where it
is morally justified to institutionalize and individual against her will, is
when the individual is obviously dangerous to others or to herself.
I believe after discussing the Rosenhan's
research, Dr. Thomas S. Szasz views and other ideas dealing with the
dysfunctional aspects of psychiatric diagnostic labels, it is necessary to give
a complete picture of these labels.
Psychiatric diagnostic labels are not always dysfunctional. Unlike the phony patients in the Rosenhan's
research, real patients usually have real problems. However, the problems are usually not
caused by any physiological disease. The
problems are generally the result of dysfunctional psychological and social
factors, which do not make them necessarily any less severe than difficulties
caused by abnormal physiology. Such
problems can have an adverse impact on the body in some cases and cause
physiological malfunctions. The most
dramatic examples of this are seen in people addicted to drugs.
Psychiatric diagnostic labels might guide
some individuals toward proper treatment for their condition. The diagnostic labels can serve to obtain
justified and needed assistance from insurance, government agencies and other
sources. The psychiatric labels can also
sometimes serve to explain a patient's inability to behave normally and to
perform certain tasks in a normal way.
Psychiatric labels can be used in a more
functional way if we accept the fact that they are part of a classification system
that is very rough and approximate in nature.
These labels only represent a precise set of symptoms in textbooks and
articles on psychology and psychiatry.
It is also necessary to realize that these labels, designate
dysfunctional thinking and behavior patterns, which are not biologically based
diseases, with some exceptions. There
are many erroneous ideas connected to these labels. If we keep the above in mind, we can deal
with the labels and the people that were labeled with psychiatric diagnoses in
a more functional way.
NOTE (There are many mental
health professionals that would disagree with all of the above. They believe that psychiatric diagnostic
labels represent fairly precise diagnostic labels of biologically based
diseases that affect behavior and thinking.)
Psychiatric diagnostic labels are often
used in scientific research as well as in clinical work as if they were precise
labels. This of course is likely to
result in faulty research and inappropriate clinical treatment. The alternative to using such labels is to
describe the patient's history, and current problems in written language. For example, if a hypothetical
individual named Harry is suffering from major depression, the condition might
be described as follows:
NOTE (This hypothetical history
is simplified for the purpose of brevity and ease of comprehension. A real case history should contain a little
more detail, such as dates, the age of the people involved, the length of time
that various situations lasted, etc.) END OF NOTE
Harry never had any diagnosed
psychiatric difficulties until recently.
The factors that appear to have led to his current condition started
when he was having difficulties with his business, which eventually lead to a
bankruptcy. This failure and the related financial problems lead to conflict
with his wife. Harry tried to resolve
his financial difficulties by obtaining employment. This effort lasted three months and lead to
failure. Because of the financial
problems, Harry could not pay his mortgage, which led to a foreclosure on his
house. This led to severe conflicts with
his wife, who eventually filed for divorce.
After the divorce, Harry moved into a small apartment and was still
unemployed, and was obtaining some financial assistance from his parents. He was not sleeping or eating well because of
emotional stress that resulted from the above problems. This lead to a depletion of energy and drive,
which made the problems even harder to deal with. Thus, he totally gave up
trying to rectify his financial difficulties.
At this point in time he had an argument with his parents over the
financial assistance they were providing.
During this argument Harry threatened suicide, which led to his
hospitalization.
The above description reveals much more
than the label major depression. There
are people who would be labeled with major depression that have a very
different set of problems than Harry.
Some individuals, who are labeled as having major depression, may have a
history of using ineffective strategies that lead to failures. Such individuals may also have inadequate
coping strategies to deal with their failures.
This was not the case with our hypothetical Harry.
Thus, descriptions are more precise than
psychiatric diagnostic labels, which can disguise the real causes for
psychiatric disorders. The description
of Harry's problems indicates a series of causes, where one problem caused
another, which may be found in many patients classified with psychiatric
diagnostic labels. By looking at the
description, we no that Harry is not really sick, but we certainly do not want
him to commit suicide. Thus, people like
our hypothetical Harry need much help to overcome their problems.
In general, by understanding the set of
problems and the true causes of a psychiatric condition, it is possible to
provide much better assistance for the troubled individual. In addition, by understanding the true
dynamics causing such problems, it will reduce the proliferation of erroneous
interpretations of research results and misconceptions about psychiatric
disorders.
Part Six: The Social
Psychological Component and Related Ideas
The social psychological
component is the most complicated of the four primary components of a label. It is difficult to define this concept, in a
clear way, in a single sentence. The
simplest definition is as follows. The social
psychological component is the psychological impact of the social component
on the labeled individual. This can
essentially be thought of as the psychological influence and effect of the
feedback stemming from the label, as the labeled individual perceives it. The word feedback means here the
responses of other people, as the labeled individual senses and interprets the
responses. Below there is a more
complexed and detailed definition, involving one long paragraph.
NOTE (The words that are double
underlined in the following paragraph have special meaning, which will be
defined within the paragraph.)
The social psychological component
is the psychological impact on the individual that results from the way
other people respond to the individual's label. The impact is the influence and/or
results, which can be direct or indirect in nature. Direct means as a direct result of the
way people respond. Indirect
means as an indirect result of the way people respond. For example, if an individual is labeled as
mentally ill and lives in a small town, where everyone knows each other's
business, he may not be able to find employment. This will have a direct psychological impact
on the individual. The poverty that
results from the inability to obtain employment in this example, is an indirect
impact of the label, mentally ill.
The word impact is the psychological affect and result. This is the labeled individual's responses
and adjustments, which are the result of the way people respond to
the individual as a consequence of the label.
The adjustments are both short and long term and could be either
functional or dysfunctional, and can include: the roles the individual takes
on, the roles the individual avoids, the way the individual deals with problems
and life in general. The words respond
to in the definition and explanations appear to have an obvious meaning,
but a clarification is very necessary.
The words mean as the individual perceives the way others respond to him
or her. That is, the perception of
the labeled individual is a primary factor in the social psychological
component of a label. This is the case
whether the perception is accurate or not.
For example, an individual that is accurately labeled as very severely
retarded will probably not be capable of perceiving the true social
reactions of people to his condition.
Thus, the social psychological component may have very little impact in
such cases. At the other extreme, some
people may falsely perceive mistreatment and prejudicial responses as a result
of their label[90]. However, even though the perceptions may not
be reality based the psychological affect and results may be the same, or
almost the same, as if the perceptions were reality based. In actual situations, people usually do truly
to act in more or less moderately precise ways to the way individuals are labeled. Thus, the perception of the labeled
individual is usually, but not always, the result of reality or reality with
some perceptional distortions mixed in.
As with the other components of a label,
the model I am presenting in this text does not reveal the actual social
psychological component of a specific label.
The model just predicts that all labels applied to human beings have a
social psychological component, with an impact that can range in strength from
very great to zero. Very great means
of course, that there is a very significant social psychological impact from
the label. And zero means there is no
social psychological impact from the label.
Thus, the following examples of the
social psychological component should be considered either as good guesses or
hypothetical examples.
The label intelligent was used to
illustrate the psychological and social components. Intelligent is also a good label to
illustrate the social psychological component.
If an individual is labeled intelligent, and does fairly well
academically, the feedback he is likely to get from others will probably be
positive, which will have an overall positive impact on the individual's mental
state. Such an individual is likely to
be encouraged by others in intellectual and academic areas. This encouragement will usually motivate the
individual to invest time and effort in developing his intelligence. If such an individual is a child or a
teenager, and does not make an investment in time and effort to develop his
intelligence, the result might be punishment from instructors and parents. Thus, the person who has been labeled
intelligent, will probably be rewarded most of the time for behaving intelligently
and punished for behaving unintelligently, which would probably persuade such
an individual to behave according to his label.
An example that is similar to the above
can be presented from the negative label unintelligent. The person labeled unintelligent, will
probably be inadvertently coaxed into a mental state and behavior pattern that
reflects low intelligence. Such an
individual will probably not receive much encouragement from others to
perform well academically or intellectually.
If such an individual is a child or teenager, his instructors and
parents would probably not punish him for not doing well in school. The individual with the label unintelligent
might simply learn to behave according to his label.
A general principle can be seen from the
above and throughout this paper, which is that labels often produce a
self-fulfilling prophecy. The social
psychological component is usually a primary part of such a self-fulfilling
prophecy. Specifically, the reactions of
others can affect the labeled individuals thinking and behavior in such a way
as to make the individual's label accurate.
This can happen in some cases even if the label originally was totally
inaccurate.
The above can be summed up with the
following generalization. People have
a tendency to intentionally or
inadvertently persuade the labeled individual to behave according to his
or her label. The word tendency
is used because the above is not an absolute reality. There are situations where people will
probably do just the opposite. For example,
counselors and social workers might intentionally coax an individual to think
and behave in a way that is just the opposite of a negative label, such as a
juvenile delinquent in a good rehabilitation facility[91].
In general, the social psychological
component has a tendency, which is not absolute, to influence the
labeled individual to behave according to his or her label. For example, a person labeled police
officer, will get feedback from his superiors that will persuade the
individual to behave according to his proper role. Some of this feedback can be of an official
nature. That is, the superiors may see
that the labeled individual follows formal rules as dictated by his label. The individual will also get informal
feedback from others that will influence him toward the behavior dictated by
his label. The police officer will be
treated like a police officer by his fellow workers and by the public. This will influence the police officer to
behave like a policeman or policewoman.
An important principle is suggested
from the above paragraph, which is there are different formal and/or informal
rules for each type of label. Some
examples will clarify the above.
Obviously, there are many formal rules for the person labeled police
officer. Such an individual must carry a
gun, must patrol certain areas, must respond to emergencies, must observe and
enforce the law, etc. However, there are
also informal rules for the individual labeled police officer. He is expected to behave in a certain way by
his coworkers and the general public.
His coworkers might expect him not to report misconduct by other police
officers, such as a police officer using excessive force to make an arrest.
(Occasionally informal rules violate formal rules, such as in the above
example.)
There are also expectations associated
with labels that do not fall under the category of either formal or informal
rules. These expectations can be
very subtle in some cases and can
sometimes be difficult to describe, partly because they may not be
defined in any verbal terms. Some
examples are: we expect a mental patient to behave like a mental patient, we
expect an unsupervised criminal to behave like a criminal, we expect an intelligent
person to behave intelligently, an unintelligent individual to behave
unintelligently. A more subtle example
of expectations can relate to body language, that is related to a label. For example, we expect a person labeled
police officer to present a certain type of body language, such as facial
expressions, posture, positioning of arms, etc.
This can become obvious if a police officer displays a body language
that deviates from the expectations. To
make this obvious to yourself, think of a police officer presenting the body
language of a receptionist, a waitress or a dancer.
The point is basically, we expect people
to behave according to their label even when the label is a negative one. For example, if a person labeled mental
patient behaves in a normal way, people might think he is trying to hide
his mental illness[92]. Perhaps the patient might be accused of
behaving normally to be released from a mental hospital. This or a similar response from others, might
anger, frustrate, or depress the patient, in such a way that the patient is
acting mentally ill once again.
The point of the above three paragraphs,
from the perspective of the social psychological components of labels, are that
the formal rules, informal rules, and expectations are factors that other
people intentionally or inadvertently use to guide the behavior of the
labeled individual. This can be
functional or dysfunctional depending on the circumstances and the label. We want the police officer to live up to his
label, but we do not want the mental patient to live up to his
label. Obviously, in the case of the
police officer, most of the controlling feedback is generally functional. However, in the case of the mental patient,
such feedback can be quite dysfunctional, because it maintains the
dysfunctional emotional responses and behavior of the patient.
The above principle probably is important
for most negative labels and it can be summarized as follows. Society often, but not always,
inadvertently treats people with negative labels in such a way as to make the
label correct. If the individual
deviates from the label he may get feedback that consciously or unconsciously
influences him to behave according to the label. Some of this tendency can be seen from
Rosenhan's research, which is explained in the following paragraph[93].
The phony patients in Rosenhan's
experiments were treated as though they were incompetent and insane, even
though they were perfectly normal. The
phony patients did not respond in a very significant way to this
treatment, because they were aware that they were participating in an
experiment. If the pseudopatients thought they were real patients, the
treatment they received would have probably had a significant psychological
impact on their thinking and behavior[94]. They most likely would have been quite
frightened, nervous, angry, depressed and defensive, which can certainly be
interpreted or misinterpreted as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder. This would most likely result in more severe
treatment from the staff of the psychiatric hospital, which can include, a
longer hospital stay, more medication, shock therapy, a worse diagnosis, and
even more treatment as an incompetent individual. This could worsen the mental state of the
individuals even further, which could result in one or more of the following: a
general anxiety, eating difficulties, an inability to sleep adequately, a
tendency to sleep excessively, depression or an increase in the level of
depression, and increase in the level of anger, and possibly aggressive verbal
remarks hurled at the staff. This of
course would result in even worse treatment by the staff, which would worsen
the mental state of the hospitalized individuals. Eventually, the hospitalized individuals
would most likely accept the label mental patient and the psychiatric
diagnostic label applied to them. At
that point they might adjust to their status as mentally ill individuals, which
would probably result in some reduction of the above symptoms. The doctors would most likely interpret the
results as an improvement, which would eventually result in a release from the
mental hospital. Something very similar
to the above is probably involved with most real mental patients to some
degree.
Although portions of the above are
somewhat hypothetical, it illustrates two very important principles about the
social psychological component of labels.
Labels can cause self-fulfilling prophecies, which was already
discussed, and vicious cycles[95]. The vicious cycle can be described as
follows. The individual is treated in a
certain way by other people because of his label, which might be either
positive (functional) or negative (dysfunctional). The thinking and behavior of the individual
is influenced toward a specific direction by the treatment he receives from
others, such as positive or negative. (I
will use negative to illustrate the principle further.) The negative behavior that results from the
above, influences others to treat the labeled individual in an even more
negative way. This even more negative
treatment can worsen the individuals thinking and behavior. Then the worsened behavior results in other
people treating the individual even more negatively. This can repeat continuously in a series of
cycles worsening a problem. Keep in
mind, as indicated above, such a cycle can also go in a positive direction,
where constructive and positive behavior is reinforced in a series of
cycles. Perhaps the word vicious is not
appropriate in the terminology, when the cycle is positive, but nevertheless
there can be a positive cyclic sequence that produces an increasingly
successful and functional situation.
Being aware that a label can sometimes
cause a self-fulfilling prophecies, and/or a vicious cycle, can be quite
useful. Such an awareness or insight might be useful in preventing a negative
self-fulfilling prophecy from developing.
It might also be useful in preventing or stopping a negative vicious
cycle. And just the opposite may also be
true. The insight might be useful in
creating positive versions of self-fulfilling prophecies and vicious cycles[96]
that go in a constructive direction.
Left click on
these words to hear a sound file of the following:
The Introduction and Basic
Thesis: After reading through the chapters of this book, the question that
arises is why do human beings think and behave the way they do? Is there one general model that can explain
human thinking and behavior patterns, including normal and pathological
behavior? There certainly would not
be universal agreement amongst experts or laymen on this question. The thesis that I am presenting is most
human behavior and its variations develop as a result of learning*. However, I am using the concept of learning
in a very general sense. Specifically, I
am referring to a general model of learning that is discussed in the following
paragraphs along with related ideas. Thus,
the model delineates human behavior and its variations in terms of various
types of learning and a number of related factors. Of course, the model does not provide the
very precise cause and effect information that relates to each individual human
behavior phenomena, but it does provide a framework to study such
phenomena.
*NOTE (Some people believe
variations in biology generally determine variations in human behavior. If you are such a believer, you can think of each
individual with a biologically based predisposition that facilitates the
learning of certain behavior patterns and hinders the learning of other types
of behavior patterns.
An additional thought that may go through
the reader's mind is the source of this model.
Some of the elements of this model
are similar to learning theory, B. F. Skinner's ideas and the ideas of
Ivan Pavlov. However, the model is NOT
based on the above. It is a new
formulation that incorporates modifications of some older ideas. Thus, to understand this model, the reader
should not try to find the older ideas and definitions, but in some
parts of the paper some similarities will be obvious.
Some of the older ideas, such as some of
the concepts from Skinner and Pavlov
were created as a result of experimentation with animals. Efforts were made to apply these ideas to
human beings. This is really not a good
strategy, because human beings have very sophisticated brains, very complicated
societies, cultures, subcultures and spoken and written language. Human beings also engage in very complicated
evaluative and analytical thinking[97]. Animals are very much controlled by inborn
instincts, which is not the case for human beings. Thus, when I was creating the model I am presenting
in this text, I focused on the human qualities that distinguish human beings
from other living creatures.) END OF NOTE
I am calling the model I am presenting in this paper the General
Model of Socio-Cultural Learning.
Based on this model there are three types of learning, all of which can
affect or determined human behavior and thinking. That is, the way an individual thinks and
behaves develops as a result of learning according to this model. This includes normal and abnormal behavior
and thinking patterns. The three types
of learning are academic, social
and emotional and are explained under the following sub-headings:
Academic learning: This type of learning involves deliberate
effort to learn, and generally involves conscious evaluation as well as
analytical thinking. When people study a
subject they are involved in academic learning.
When subjects are learned in school or through self-study the learning is
academic. The learning of technical
skills, reading, writing, arithmetic, and just about any subject is an example
of academic learning. Any information an
individual obtains through logical thinking, deliberate observation,
self-evaluation and self-analysis, is also academic learning, based on the way
the term is defined for this paper. This
type of learning can be facilitated by rewards and punishments that reinforce
the appropriate learning activities.
Generally deliberate learning, even if it is of an unusual type, does
not lead to psychological disorders.
However, a deficiency in this type of learning can lead to dysfunctional
or pathological behavior in some cases, such as an individual that does not
have enough formal academic skills to function in our society. This can lead the individual into criminal or
other abnormal behavior if certain social and psychological dynamics are
present.
Social learning: Social learning is a
learning process that results from interactions with others and it does not
involve a deliberate effort to learn, as the concept is defined for this
model. Social learning often involves
suggestion. Usually, people who
are learning something with this process do much less evaluating and analyzing
then they would with academic learning.
They may in fact do essentially no evaluative or analytical thinking in
some cases. They may just copy the
behavior patterns of other people or follow the directions of others. We copy and follow the behavior patterns of
family, friends and acquaintances. We
also might, to some extent, copy the behavior patterns of celebrities and
fictitious characters from novels, movies, television and advertisements. All of the above can result in learning. This type of learning can also be facilitated
by rewards and punishments that reinforce the appropriate learning activities,
such as parents giving their children an allowance for following their orders.
Much of social learning takes place in a
very informal way. We learn much of our
culturally related behavior patterns and knowledge, such as social skills, basic
language skills[98],
beliefs, through the social learning process.
Most of us learn functional thinking and behavior patterns through the
social learning process. However, some
of us learn dysfunctional thinking and behavior patterns through this process. For example, some of us learn: to steal, to
attack other people, to take drugs, to drink excessive quantities of alcoholic
beverages, to smoke cigarettes, to overeat, to think negatively, all by means
of social learning. In general, many of
the conditions that are called mental illnesses are partly or totally caused by
dysfunctional social learning[99]. However, very often emotional learning is
involved also. In general, emotional
learning is often intermingled with social learning to form a normal or abnormal
behavior pattern. Emotional learning is
discussed under the next heading.
Emotional learning: IMPORTANT NOTE (The words stimuli and
stimulus are used in the following text in a very general sense and it
means anything that is sensed, experienced or perceived, such as any entity,
class of stimuli, event, set of circumstances, general concept, idea, thought,
schema, etc. The word emotional and
emotionally are also used in a very general sense.) END OF NOTE
Emotional learning is any learning that results in an
emotional response to certain stimuli. This type of learning involves the formation
of an automatic association between a stimulus and an emotional response. This learning can take place without any
conscious effort, logical evaluation or analytical thinking. However, certain types of complex emotional
learning may involve some evaluation, and analytical thinking. The simplest type of emotional learning is a
conditioned response, such as the classical conditioning experiments that Ivan
Pavlov carried out. However, emotional
learning can sometimes be much more complicated than a simple conditioning
process. Examples of emotional learning
and the discussions in the following paragraphs will make this clear.
An example of what is not emotionally
learned will clarify the concept further.
If a mother places applesauce directly into the mouth of her infant and
the baby salivates the response is not the result of emotional learning. However, if after a number of experiences
with applesauce the child sees the spoon filled with applesauce approaching his
mouth and he salivates the response is the result of emotional learning? This example is a relatively simple
conditioned response, but emotional learning often involves a specific type of
response to a general category of stimuli.
That is, the concept of emotional learning is somewhat broader than the
simplest classical conditioning theory, because it deals with stimuli that were
not directly conditioned. The following
example will clarify this.
There are many different types of stimuli
that can evoke the anger response. We
learn that certain types of treatment are unfair and improper, and many of us
emotionally learned to get angry when we encounter people behaving in such a
way. However, there is essentially an
infinite number of ways we can be mistreated.
Often words of another person can evoke the anger response, or just
about any other response in human beings.
The above example suggests that the
individual can emotionally learn to respond to general concepts or
categories under specific situations with specific emotional
responses. This obviously can involve
language, as well as evaluative and analytical thinking. Evaluative and analytical thinking can be
especially involved in evoking a complexed emotionally learned response, such
as when an employer evaluates an employee's inadequate job performance and gets
angry as a result.
Addictive behavior, such as from taking
certain drugs or smoking cigarettes, is also partly the result of a certain
type of emotional learning[100]. If the individual does not get the drug there
are various responses of discomfort and/or craving for the drug, which are
examples of emotionally learned responses.
Such an individual can, with great willpower, avoid the drug. However,
the emotionally learned responses will automatically manifest, until the
addiction is abolished. Abolishing an
addiction is also a type of emotional learning.
In general, abolishing any type of
emotional response fits the definition of emotional learning. This is even true if the response was
inborn. For example, a new born baby may
be frightened by very loud thunder,
which is most likely an inborn response to any unexpected loud noise. The process of learning not to be
afraid of loud thunder is an example of this type of emotional learning. However, emotional responses to stimuli
whether they were inborn or emotionally learned are generally not under the
direct control of the individual.
Abolishing such automatic responses can be quite difficult.
An important distinction between a
response that is academically or socially learned, and one that is emotionally
learned is the extent of control the individual has over the response. (The
word response is used here in an extremely general sense, and it
includes reactions as well as complex behavior patterns.) A response that is academically learned, such
as doing mathematical calculations, is under the total control of the
individual. That is, the individual can
generally stop such a response with essentially no effort, if he or she wants
to. An academically learned response can
also be started if the individual chooses to do so, which may require some
effort. A response that was socially
learned, such as talking to colleagues about frivolous matters at work, can
generally be controlled or stopped by the individual with effort, with the
level of effort varying from minimal to very great depending on
circumstances. The individual could also
start a socially learned response if he or she chooses to do so. However, with a response that is emotionally
learned, the individual essentially has no immediate control over the
response. The response is essentially
automatic and has nothing to do with whether the individual wants the responds
to manifest or not. With an emotionally
learned response, when certain stimuli or events manifest the response is
automatically triggered. For example, a
person who has claustrophobia might be able to force himself or herself into a
small elevator, but the fear response will be automatically triggered. In general, there is little or no control
over the automatic response that is triggered, from emotional learning, but
there is an exception to this. Certain
individuals who have training in special mind control techniques, such as
self-hypnosis, can partly or even totally control an emotionally learned
response. However, there are few people
who can do this successfully.
With emotional learning we learn to like
certain things and dislike other things on an emotional level. We learn to be afraid of certain things and
not to be afraid of other things. We
learn to worry and manifest nervous reactions under certain circumstances, such
as when threatened with the possibility of physical harm or failure. We learn that death is bad, and when someone
dies that is close to us we experience great sadness. We learn to like certain foods and to dislike
other foods.
Certain pathological conditions can
develop from certain dysfunctional emotional learning patterns, such as
phobias. For example, some of us learn
to be afraid of small spaces or high places through emotional learning. Most normal people experience an
uncomfortable sensation to the discomfort of others, but some violent people
experience positive or neutral sensations to the pain and suffering that they
inflict on their victims.
Some very common and normal examples of
emotionally learned responses are as follows.
We get angry under certain conditions.
We are embarrassed under certain social conditions. We might salivate when we hear the dinner
bell. We might get sexually aroused when
experiencing certain stimuli that we associate with our sexual
experiences.
The three types of learning: The three types of learning,
academic, social and emotional take place over a period of time involving a
number of repetitions. Generally, the
greater the number of repetitions the stronger the learning will be engraved in:
the memory, the thinking patterns and the behavior patterns of the
learner. After many repetitions specific
thinking and behavior patterns develop that cannot be easily changed.
NOTE (The thinking and behavior
patterns associated with psychological disorders are very often so deeply
ingrained in the individual, because they were in the process of developing for
many years. This can make constructive
changes extremely difficult, even with therapeutic methods. However, the therapist and patient might
unrealistically hope to abolish a dysfunctional thinking or behavior pattern in
a few dozen hours of therapy spread over a period of months, which is likely to
lead to failure in many cases. Success
will probably result if specific dysfunctional behavior and thinking patterns
are precisely identified and the patient engages in ongoing practice to
counteract the undesirable patterns throughout his or her daily life. This of course involves incorporating the
constructive behavior into daily life, which means in effect continuous
practice, which will eventually result in many hundreds or thousands of hours
of practice.) END OF NOTE
One of the most important ideas of the
model I am presenting is that the three types of learning, academic, social and
emotional, may work together to form thinking and behavior patterns. Even more often, social and emotional
learning function together to form thinking and behavior patterns. In general, two or three types of learning are
most likely to be involved with complex behavior and thinking patterns. With simpler thinking and behaviors one type
of learning may be involved. In
addition, with certain material that is purely academic to the learner, there
may only be academic learning involved.
Thus, according to this model both normal
and abnormal behaviors are essentially learned.
This usually, but not always, means that mental health and mental
illness are essentially the results of learning. The exception, of course is when there is
clear evidence of a physiological disorder causing the mental illness.
Specifically, most mental disorders are
most likely primarily the result of dysfunctional social and emotional learning
and/or deficiencies in functional social and emotional learning. Deficiencies in academic learning can also
facilitate the dysfunctional social and emotional learning in some cases. The individual may have learned such
dysfunctional behavior patterns, in a family or social network that
inadvertently taught the dysfunctional behavior and thinking patterns.
NOTE (The idea presented in the
above paragraph can be applied to the treatment of a psychological disorder as
follows. Try and determine what
precisely are the dysfunctional thinking and behavior patterns that may have
resulted from the dysfunctional learning.
In addition, determining if there are any deficiencies in the normal
social and/or emotional learning. This
information by itself will not solve any problems, but if it is used to devise
a plan that will lead to the development of new thinking and behavior patterns
that will circumvent and/or correct the dysfunctional patterns than success
will probably result. This is assuming
that the new thinking and behavior patterns are practiced throughout daily
life.) END OF NOTE
Another primary idea of the general model
of socio-cultural learning is that there are four primary factors that
determine what people will learn, which the individual’s are: culture,
subculture, social network and the individual uniqueness of the person. These factors are explained under the
following four sub-headings.
The Culture: The three types of learning
take place within a cultural context.
This greatly affects what is learned.
For example, the culture determines the language, customs, values,
beliefs and certain culturally related behavior patterns, that the individual
will learn. Social learning is probably
affected most by culture, followed closely by academic learning. Emotional learning is probably affected least
by culture in most cases. However, this
does not mean that culture does not have a significant impact on emotional
learning. Emotional learning is probably
most dramatically affected by culture in the developments of food preferences
and aversions. (Of course, this also
involves social learning.)
In general, culture is often, but not
always, the strongest determinant of human behavior. This can be seen by comparing the many
different cultures throughout the world.
The impact of culture is most dramatically seen when comparing primitive
cultures with modern industrialized societies.
The difference is so great that many people believed, and some still do,
that the difference is do to genetic variations. However, we know from historical records that
the offspring of people from primitive cultures can be educated to the same
level as people from modern societies.
In such cases, there behavior and mental achievement is similar to
people from modern cultures. This
usually only happens when educational and financial opportunities are at a
equal or near equal level to the people from modern cultures.
The Subculture: The subculture that the
individual is in, will modify what he or she is likely to learn to an
additional extent over the culture. That
is, the individual generally is part of a subculture, which further determines
what will be the nature of the learning.
For example, an individual may learn a specific dialect of a language or
a special jargon as a result of the subculture he or she belongs to.
Social learning is probably directly
affected more by subculture than academic learning or emotional learning. However, academic learning can be affected
indirectly by subculture to a very large degree, by the norms, values and
overall resources of the subculture.
This indirect effect that subculture has on academic learning can result
in advanced degrees and financial wealth for some people, and for others
illiteracy, school failure and poverty.
Thus, often an individual’s achievements and/or failures are partly or
totally determined by which subculture he or she happened to be born into.
The Social Network: The social network is the people the
individual has face to face interactions with, such as family, friends and
acquaintances. This is explained in the
following three paragraphs.
During childhood, the family generally
sets the basic learning pattern, such as beliefs and future learning goals for
the child. The pattern set by the family
is probably the most primary and significant factor in the development of the
individual, in most cases. This pattern
can restrict certain types of learning and facilitate other types of learning
throughout life. For example, an
individual from a healthy family environment, will learn a general pattern
consisting of a set of values and beliefs that will restrict the child from
certain types of social learning, such as stealing and taking illicit
drugs. The same general pattern might
encourage the child to invest his or her time in studying to achieve a high
level of academic success. In spite of
the importance of the pattern set by the family, much, but certainly not
all, of this process is very often done in an inadvertent way by the
parents. This can involve the children
copying some of the behavior patterns of the parents. Whether the pattern is primarily
inadvertently created or intentionally created, some families can place much
emphasis on deliberate learning and others may place more emphasis on social
learning.
During adolescence and beyond friends and
acquaintances have a primary role in the development of thinking and behavior
patterns, which may be greater than the parental role at this point in the
individual's development. However the
pattern that developed in the family remains with the individual at some
level. That is, in childhood
individuals develop predispositions to take on certain roles and behavior
patterns and tendencies to avoid certain roles and behaviors. The predispositions that develop into actual
roles and behavior patterns may be determined by the friends and acquaintances
the individual encounters throughout adolescents and adult life.
In general, the
social network can probably affect the three types of learning to almost any
degree. Whether the individual develops
into a professional, a craftsman, a laborer, a welfare recipient, a mental
patient, a thief, a murderer or drug addict is most likely determined by the
social network*.
*NOTE (I am aware that many articles and some mental health
professionals would disagree with this view.
Specifically, individuals that believe the primary determinant of human
behavior is the innate biology of the individual will strongly disagree with my
point of view. However, there is good
historical evidence that an individual's social network including the family,
are primary predictors of the development of the individual. Of course, those who believe in the innate
view, would insist that the social networks are made up of people with
different innate tendencies and abilities.
But the historical evidence is that changes in economic factors and
education within a subculture and the social networks that comprise it, can
lead to very significant changes. This
includes changes in behavior patterns and levels of achievement.) END OF NOTE
The Uniqueness of the Individual: The fourth factor
that affects all types of learning, including the development of thinking and
behavior patterns, is the uniqueness of the individual. This factor can be subdivided into a number
of smaller factors, such as the birth order of the individual, physical
appearance, the size of the individual, physical strength, innate tendencies to
respond in certain ways, acquired tendencies, relative degree of innate ability
to learn certain material, acquired ability, primary motivations and secondary
motivations. Thus, the uniqueness of the
individual is a relatively involved subtopic, which will be discussed in the
following eighteen paragraphs, which includes the explanatory notes.
The birth order can be a significant
factor that influences learning and the development of thinking and behavior
patterns. Individuals that were first born into a family are likely to receive
more parental attention. When later
siblings are born into the family the first born will have more power and
status than the new born. The relative
advantages that the first born receives might affect the development of
thinking and behavior patterns in significant ways in many cases. This might result in greater confidence,
higher self-esteem and less flexibility when dealing with others[101]. The later born individual may learn to be
more cooperative and flexible, which may be necessary to deal with the more
powerful older sibling. However, the
point is not how the birth order will affect psychological
development. The important idea is that
birth order can affect the thinking and behavior patterns that the
individual learns in significant ways.
This learning is primarily the result of social learning, which is
probably apparent from the above discussion.
This social learning will most likely have some influence on emotional
learning.
Physical appearance can affect the way
other people treat the individual, especially in the developing years from
childhood through early adulthood. There
are probably many ways that this can affect the learning and development of
thinking and behavior patterns. A few
possibilities include the following.
There is a tendency for people to associate more positive traits with
more attractive individuals and negative traits with less attractive
individuals. (This is the positive and negative halo effect that was discussed
earlier in this book.) In addition, a
more attractive person might receive many rewards in some cases simply because
he or she is attractive. This is
especially likely to be true in adolescents and early adult life especially in
relation to members of the opposite sex.
These additional rewards might in some cases distract the
attractive individual from academic learning and in other cases lead to greater
self-confidence in all areas, which might possibly help in academic
learning. A less attractive individual
in some cases might develop better social and academic skills to
circumvent the problems associated with the lower level of attractiveness. In other cases the lower level of
attractiveness might lead to a general lack of self-confidence, which may
interfere with academic learning and the development of social skills. Once again, the point is not how physical
looks can affect the development of thinking and behavior patterns. The idea is that physical looks can
affect this type of development in at least some cases.
The physical size of the individual can
also have an effect on the learning and development of thinking and behavior
patterns. The physical size for males,
and probably to a lesser extent for females, is often associated with the level
of power of the individual, in the mind's of others. This can affect the opportunities made available
to the individual, the self-confidence of the individual, and thus affect
social learning in many ways. For
example, an individual that is perceived as more powerful because of his or her
size might be favored for leadership roles.
This can facilitate learning, which can lead to the development of
thinking and behavior patterns needed for the leadership role.
Physical strength can affect the way the
individual is treated, which can affect the learning of behavior and thinking
patterns. This is probably especially
significant in childhood, where some physical fighting takes place. It can also be significant for children,
adolescents and adults in relation to sports related activities, which can
affect the learning and development of certain social and sports related
skills.
Under certain conditions a high level of
physical strength might motivate aggressive behavior toward others. This might be seen with certain adolescents
and young adults in poverty stricken areas of our cities. Such individuals might have a relatively high
status amongst the criminal subculture of their community. They may be encouraged to join gangs or
engage in various criminal activities of an aggressive nature. Of course, this does not mean that all poor
people who are physically strong will become criminals. The determining factor is the overall social
learning of the individual, especially in relation to actualized moral
values. If the morality, or perhaps more
precisely the lack of morality, is consistent with criminally aggressive
behavior, and the individual has the physical capabilities to engage in such
behavior, there is a high probability that the individual will do so if there
are significant rewards involved.
Innate tendencies to respond in certain
ways can affect the development of thinking and behavior patterns. For example, some newborns may be more
irritable than others. The difference in
irritability can affect the way the individual is treated by others, which can
have some affects on the development of thinking and behavior patterns of the
individual. This will be especially true
if the irritability remains throughout life.
Some individuals may have more energy, which could possibly manifest as
an energetic active individual that participates in many activities. This might facilitate the learning of many
skills as a result of the participation.
Other individuals have a lower energy level, which might motivate them
to be more selective in the activities they get involved with. Such people might choose activities that
require little energy.
As can be seen from the above paragraph
the innate tendencies to respond in certain ways, can also have an indirect
affect on the development of thinking and behavior patterns by affecting social
learning. That is, innate tendencies can
affect the way other people respond to the individual, which can affect the
development of the thinking and behavior patterns of the individual. However, variations in innate tendencies
amongst individuals probably have much less affect on the development of
thinking and behavior patterns than many people believe. NOTE (Some people believe variations in
biology generally determine variations in human behavior. If you are such a believer, you will not agree
with the view presented in this paragraph.
I am aware that there is much literature supporting the biological
perspective, but historical evidence indicates that biological variations are not
the cause of variations in human behavior in most, but not all, cases. I believe one of many misconceptions that
perpetuates the biological perspective is that there is confusion between
acquired tendencies and innate tendencies.
A similar confusion also exists between acquired abilities and innate
abilities.
Much of the variations in innate tendencies
are probably overridden by environmental factors in most, but not all
cases. This becomes obvious, when we
get to know a person under one set of environmental conditions and at a later
point in time we see the person under a very different set of conditions. For example, there have been many cases where
individuals marry under highly favorable economic conditions, which later
change to an adverse condition, such as a business failure, severe financial
problems, bankruptcy and unemployment.
This environmental change can cause the couple to display personality
traits that were totally different under the favorable conditions. In addition, the couple may display a great
increase in the strength of their negative traits, such as an individual that
was mildly irritable becoming extremely irritable. Changes that result from the environment may
involve a person that appeared to be friendly, pleasant, tolerant,
self-confident individual under highly favorable conditions, displaying extreme
irritability, intolerance, depression, anxiety under the unfavorable
conditions. Another example, is when a
person that appears energetic (which may be mild anxiety in reality) under
favorable conditions, changes to an extremely nervous person under unfavorable
conditions. A highly orderly and
self-disciplined person (which perhaps might be compulsive behavior well
channeled) might become dysfunctionally compulsive under stressful conditions*. Dramatic changes in thinking and behavior
patterns are more likely to happen when there are extreme environmental changes
for relatively long periods of time. The
exact change that manifests is not the point, the important idea is that
environmental factors can have very significant influence on the way people
behave, think and respond. This suggests
that what is confused with innate tendencies in many, but not all cases, may be
the response to the environment and the result of learned behavior and thinking
patterns.
*A counter argument to the idea I am
presenting here is as follows. People
display their variations in innate traits in different ways under various
environmental conditions, which can involve both qualitative and quantitative
changes. This counter argument fails
because the idea I am presenting is not that there are no variations in innate
tendencies amongst people. The argument
is that the environment is the primary influencing force that determines a
person's thinking and behavior patterns.
This does not mean that there are no variations in innate
tendencies involved at some level.
Another counter argument is some people
believe they can perceive the innate tendencies of an individual, such as a
high degree of nervous energy, under all environmental conditions. But such tendencies whether they are innate
or not, are not thinking and behavior patterns.
Thus, this counter argument fails also.
It should also be kept in mind that there
are variations in acquired tendencies that are quite strong and they may be
apparent under many environmental conditions.
These tendencies are probably very often confused with innate
tendencies.) END OF NOTE
Acquired tendencies are probably very
often confused with innate tendencies.
People can learn to be nervous, calm, energetic, lazy, outgoing,
sociable, shy, compulsive, etc. There
are many people and even studies that falsely indicate that many of the above
traits are innate. Perhaps in certain
cases, some of these traits might have innate roots. However, many of us know people who have
changed such traits as a result of environmental variations or intentional
effort. For example, there are people
who have been shy and became outgoing, and vice versa. However, the important point here, is that
there are certain acquired tendencies that can affect the development of
thinking and behavior patterns. Acquired
tendencies can probably have more of an influence on development than innate
tendencies in most cases[102].
The relative innate abilities of the individual
can directly and indirectly affect the
development of various thinking and behavior patterns, by facilitating certain
types of learning and inhibiting other types of learning. That is, the individual may have physical or
mental potential of an innate origin that is greater than or less than average
in one or more areas. This can affect
the development of various thinking and behavior patterns. For example, if an individual has a natural
ability to learn faster than others, he or she may simply learn more strategies
to deal with the problems of life. Such
an individual might do better in school than others. The above is the direct result of an innate
ability of learning faster. An indirect
result might be the development of a high degree of self-confidence as a result
of social learning. That is, others will
most likely treat the fast learner in a superior way. Such an individual may receive many rewards
from others as a result of intellectual accomplishments. And just the opposite is also the case, with
a slow learner.
NOTE (Many people believe that
success in specific areas are the result of innate abilities that are superior
to the average, and failures may be attributed to lack of innate ability. This is probably not true in most cases. Success in our society usually depends on:
developing a favorable psychological state during childhood, opportunities,
financial resources, education, the development of appropriate secondary
motivations and development of acquired abilities. These factors are usually determined by the
individuals social network, especially the family. The
differences of innate abilities between a successful individual, and a
failure are probably small or nonexistent in most cases. This becomes obvious when we examine people
who received extensive training over a prolonged period of time. Such people can develop capabilities that did
not exist before they started the training.
This is acquired ability.
Thus, what often is confused with
innate ability, is acquired ability.
However, acquired ability cannot easily be acquired. It can take years of study and practice to
develop. Once it develops it may appear to be a natural or innate part of the
individual. This will be especially
true if the individual developed the ability early in life. Such a person might be considered gifted by
others for his or her ability, with the false assumption that the ability was
the result of nature. Some people will
believe that the individual had innate abilities that others do not have, which
the individual developed with years of practice. This sometimes might be true, especially in
cases of extremely high achievements at the world class level. However, in many cases the individual
probably started with no more innate ability than the average person, which is
probably especially the case in situations where the developed ability does not
approach a world championship level.) END OF NOTE
Primary motivations are important factors
that facilitate the learning process and the resulting development of thinking
and behavior patterns. Primary
motivations are innate and include the desires to: eat, drink liquids, maintain
proper body temperature, sleep, exercise, have sex, urinate, defecate,
etc. There are probably some variations
in the relative strength of primary motivations between individuals. Such variations may count for some of the
differences in thinking and behavior patterns that develop in people. For example, if an individual has a high
primary motivation for physical exercise, it might motivate the individual to
learn how to play various sports. This
can also result in the individual learning a set of social skills that relate
to communicating with others under the casual conditions of an amateur
game. Such differences in primary
motivation can probably be overridden by environmental factors. For example, an individual with a high
primary drive for physical exercise, might simply become overweight because of
the high calorie foods of his or her culture.
Overweight can simply make exercise very difficult, uncomfortable and
even painful. This will inhibit the
individual from engaging in physical exercise.
Secondary motivations develop as a
result of learning. People can
develop secondary motivations from social, academic and emotional
learning. Some examples are as
follows. A secondary motivation that can
be learned socially is the desire to maintain moral values[103]. A secondary motivation that can be learned
academically is the desire to maintain safety standards. An example of a secondary motivation that can
be learned emotionally is a phobic desire to avoid confined spaces, such as
elevators.
Many, or all, of the secondary
motivations might be ultimately based on primary motivations at some
level. Human beings must learn the
methods of satisfying the primary motivations, which will result in secondary
motivations. For example, an individual
may learn that to satisfy his hunger needs, have a place to sleep and obtain a
mate, he or she must have money, which can produce the secondary motivation to
obtain employment. This can motivate the
desire for higher education for some people, another secondary motivation,
because a college education will increase the chances of obtaining a high
paying job.
An interesting phenomenon of secondary
motivations is related to the fact that
motivations that motivate the same behavior, such as a desire for a college
education, are not necessarily the same.
For example, one individual may desire a college education simply
because he or she thinks that it will result in a higher paying job. Another individual might have a desire for
higher education because he or she enjoys academic pursuits, and is hoping to
obtain a job in an academically related field.
Another important idea to keep in mind
about human motivation is that very often there are a number of motivations
behind an individual's desires and resulting behaviors. For example, an individual might desire a
higher education because of all of the following: a desire to obtain a high
paying job after completing college, a desire for academic pursuits, a desire
to please parents, a desire to find a mate while in college, and a desire to
increase social status by obtaining a college degree. Thus, the important idea
to keep in mind is that human motivation is a complexed process and can involve
many smaller motivations forming one larger motivation, such as was indicated
in the example.
Variations in secondary motivations can
influence or determine the learning that the individual engages in. Secondary motivations can also determine how
much time and effort the individual devotes to various academic or social
activities, which facilitate academic or social learning. That is, most of the learning that develops
is primarily motivated by secondary motivations[104]. This is probably one of the primary
determining factors for success or failure in our society.
The Model Applied to Human Behavior Concepts: One of the primary
purposes of this model was to explain the reason certain phenomena associated
with human behavior takes place. I will
briefly explain some of the phenomena that were discussed in this book, with
the general model of socio-cultural learning in the list that follows this
paragraph. The explanations also have
descriptions that serve as a review of the phenomena. Whenever a behavior pattern is implied in any
of the items on the list, the assumption should be that there is a motivation
connected with the behavior.
The positivity
bias: The definition from
The learning associated with the
positivity bias is primarily influenced by the norms of the social network, the
culture and subculture that the individual has been functioning in. We learn from parents that there can be
negative consequences if we evaluate others negatively. We may also learn something similar from
other authority figures and friends. We
also learn this from experience. The
negative consequences are most likely to result if negative evaluations are
openly made of authority figures, and to a lesser extent for people that have
equal status to the evaluator. That is,
most of us have expressed negative evaluations at one time or another toward authority
figures or equals. This can result in
some negative consequences for the evaluator, such as criticism against the
evaluator and/or rejection of the evaluator.
This teaches us to be cautious with negative evaluations and to be
liberal with positive evaluations, under many social conditions. We also learn that when we evaluate others
positively we often receive smiles and compliments, which encourages us to
develop and maintain the habit of evaluating others positively.
*NOTE (Embarrassment as the
term is used here, refers to an
uncomfortable emotional response that is associated with the
presentation of the self in a way that might be considered socially inadequate
and/or undesirable. Embarrassment is at
least partly the result of emotional learning because there is an automatic
physiological response of an emotional nature.
Such a response probably is learned by the association of punishment
with the presentation of the self in a socially undesirable way. This also
obviously involves social learning. This
punishment is intentionally or inadvertently inflicted on children, adolescents
and to a lesser extent on adults when they present themselves in certain
undesirable ways to others. The
punishment can simply be partial or total rejection. In the case of children and adolescents the
punishment is usually inflicted on them in the form of verbal criticism or even
a slap on the face by parents or other authority figures. Normal adults may occasionally receive
adverse verbal remarks when they present themselves in socially undesirable
ways. Children and adults that present
themselves in ways that are considered highly undesirable by society receive
more severe punishment, such as institutionalization in a psychiatric facility
or prison. Thus, the ability to
experience the embarrassment response, might develop from social and emotional
learning, which involves the association of punishment or perhaps the
possibility of punishment, with the undesirable presentation of the self.)
END OF NOTE
The negativity
bias: I defined the negativity bias as the tendency
for people to evaluate other individuals negatively under certain
circumstances, in chapter 1 of this book.
The negativity bias is most likely the result of social learning in most
cases. That is, our parents and friends
teach us to evaluate negatively under certain circumstances, such as when an
individual presents himself or herself in a socially unacceptable way. There is emotional learning involved with the
negativity bias in many cases, such as when an anger response* is evoked along
with the negative evaluation.
*NOTE (In any situation where
the anger response is evoked there is some emotional learning involved by
definition. Such learning can involve
what we believe to be fair and proper or appropriate behavior. Our anger response can relate to what we
believe is the proper way a person should present himself or herself to
others. That is, if someone fails to
follow what we learned to be proper we may get angry. This is most likely to be the case if their
behavior inconveniences or threatens us at some level.) END OF NOTE
Schemas that people
have about others: We usually learn such schemas through the
process of social learning, from people in our social network. We might also learn some of these schemas
academically in some cases. Examples of
academically learned schemas are the formal descriptions of the various
psychiatric disorders described in psychology textbooks.
Attributions: The definition in
the glossary of
Thus, we learn how to interpret
information about ourselves and others, in relation to what we believe are the
causes. We may learn to attribute the
causes to internal or external factors.
Much of this learning is the result of social learning from our social
network. This learning is influenced by
our culture and subculture.
The way we present
ourselves to others: This is the result of social learning, but
some emotional learning is also involved.
This learning is influenced by the norms and values of our social
network, culture and subculture. It is
also influenced by our motivations.
Basically people find that presenting themselves in certain ways is
rewarding and presenting the self in other ways results in no reward or a
penalty.
High self-monitors: High self-monitors
are individuals that are concerned about the impression they make on
others. Such people might find that
their ability to make a certain impression is highly rewarding. Such individuals make an effort to control
their communications and body language to make the impression they desire. The high self-monitor probably usually
develops the related motivation and skills from social learning. However, the utility and methods that are
associated with high self-monitoring can be learned academically from certain
self-help books and personal development workshops.
Low self-monitors: Low self-monitors
are individuals that do not make much of an effort to control the impression
they make on others. The lack of concern
about impression management of the low self-monitor is probably learned from
experience (social learning) in the social network. Such an individual might have learned from
experience that if he or she behaves in a casual way the resulting behavior is
acceptable to the people he or she cares to impress. Such an individual probably does not have the
motivation to impress many people of diverse backgrounds.
The self-concept: This term is defined
in
Self-esteem:
Social-esteem: I defined
social-esteem as a general value people attribute to an individual, earlier in
this text. This is also primarily the result of social and emotional
learning. There might be some academic
learning involved also in some cases, such as when we read about a famous
individual's achievements. However, in
most cases, the development of social-esteem develops by social learning,
especially from face to face interactions.
This learning process often involves the development of positive and
negative emotional associations in relation to the individual. That is, people learn about an individual and
inadvertently develop positive and negative assessments. The positive assessments generally would have
positive emotional associations and the negative assessments would have
negative associations. The more positive
assessments, the higher the social-esteem would be, and vice versa.
Social identity: This term is defined
in
Self-schema: This term is defined
in
The self-schema most likely involves at
least some social learning, in most, if not in all cases. The social learning influences how the
individual thinks about himself or herself in a particular domain. It might also involve some emotional learning
as a result of various experiences that relate to the domain. The creation of the self-schema might also
involve some self-evaluation of a logical nature, in at least some cases, which
is a type of academic learning.
The working
self-concept: This term is defined in
The working self-concept most likely
involves social learning and emotional learning that takes place in the
relevant environment. There probably is
some academic learning involved in the development of certain working
self-concepts, such as it relates to a practical knowledge of one's role and
duties in a specific social environment.
Self-awareness: This term is defined
in
The tendency to go into a state of
self-awareness probably develops as a result of social learning, in most
cases. There may be some emotional
elements involved also. For example,
some people might focus their attention on their own behavior because they are
afraid that they are going to make embarrassing social blunders. Such, individuals may have learned from
experience that they do indeed make embarrassing errors when dealing with
others.
Attitudes: The word attitude is
defined in
There are two basic types of attitudes
positive and negative. Positive
attitudes involve positive emotions, which tends to attract the individual
toward the entity involved with the attitude, with the aim of a positive or
pleasant interaction. This also
motivates behavior associated with the entity.
Negative attitudes are more or less just the opposite. Negative attitudes are related to negative
emotional responses about an entity.
Such responses tend to motivate us to either: avoid the entity, dispose
of the entity, destroy the entity, display aggression toward the entity, or
neutralize the undesirable components of the entity. Certain types of emotions can inhibit
behavior associated with the entity.
From the above definitions and
descriptions it is apparent that attitudes are at least partly the result of
emotional learning. Social and/or
academic learning is also involved with attitude formation.
Cognitive
consistency As defined in
Taylor'Social Psychology, "Tendency for people to seek consistency among
their attitudes; regarded as a major determinant of attitude formation and
change." This involves evaluation
of one's attitudes, which can lead to learning.
Because evaluation is involved, some of the learning involved may be
classified as academic according to the classification system of the model I am
presenting. However, the primary
learning process involved in most cases is probably emotional. The influence from friends may also play a
role in this process, which is social learning.
See the next item on this list.
The Balance model:[105] This theory was
described earlier in this book as follows.
Just as we like are attitudes to agree with each other, we like the
attitudes of our friends to agree with ours.
We tend to like people that have attitudes that are similar to
ours. That is, we like when our friends
share the same attitudes that we have.
For example, if we support new civil rights legislation we would like
are (hypothetical) friend Susan to have similar views about the
legislation. If the views are different
we might decide that Susan is not really a very close friend. Or we might decide she is not a friend at
all. We tend not to like people with
different attitudes, according to the balance model. Alternatively, we might convince ourselves
that she really does have similar views and really does support the new civil
rights legislation, which will allow us to keep Susan as a close friend. Another alternative is to reevaluate the new
civil rights legislation and decide that Susan is correct. That is, Susan's friend may convince himself
that the new legislation is really not good, thus agreeing with Susan, which
allows the friendship to continue. A
final alternative is to try to change Susan's attitude about the new civil
rights legislation by explaining its good points. This will allow the friendship to continue if
Susan's attitude is changed to favor the legislation.
The balance model can also be applied to
the small social groups that we interact with.
If we join a new social group and find that the overall attitudes of the
group are the same as ours, we may continue to maintain our membership in that
group. On the other hand if we find that
the attitudes of most of the group members are very different from ours, we
will either quit the group, or we might be persuaded by the socializing dynamics
of the group to change our attitudes to agree with the group's.
From the above description it is obvious
social learning is a primary part of the balance model. Emotional learning is also associated with
attitudes and friendships. Thus,
emotional learning is a primary component also. Academic learning can also be
involved in some cases. For example, a
friend may logically teach us the ideas behind his point of view. The knowledge we gained and the related logic
can convince us to change our view.
Attitude change
over time: Attitude change can be the result of social
learning. This might involve the balance
model discussed above. Academic learning
can also result in an individual changing his or her attitudes. When people get more information they may
change their attitudes. Since attitudes
involve emotions at some level, attitude change must also involve some
emotional learning.
Prejudice: People usually learn
to be prejudiced through the socialization process, which means social learning
is involved. This learning usually takes
place within the social network, which includes the family. The subculture of the individual can also be
a determining influence in the development of prejudicial beliefs. For example, certain southern communities
were traditionally more prejudiced against blacks than most northern
communities. People that are members of
such a subculture will most likely be influenced toward prejudicial thinking
and beliefs. Often a prejudice person
also has negative emotional feelings, such as hostility, toward the group he or
she is prejudiced against. Thus, some
emotional learning is often, but not always involved.
The authoritarian
personality: This personality type was defined and
explained earlier in this book as follows.
The authoritarian personality is a prejudicial personality type that
consists of all of the following characteristics. (The personality type was originally defined
by Adorno et al., 1950.): a person who tends to submit to legitimate authority
without question; a person that is prejudice toward minority groups; a person
that usually is harsh and strict when he is in a authoritarian position; a
person that believes in severe punishment for individuals that deviate from the
established laws, norms, and values of established authority; a person with a
generalized hostility, which is likely to be focused toward minority groups;
Adorno et al., 1950 also includes mystical and superstitious cast of mind and
personality conflicts. Such a
personality develops as a result of social learning within the family. There is obviously emotional learning
involved also with the development of the authoritarian personality type.
The Milgram
experiment: This experiment was essentially set up to
measure the obedience to an authority figure.
The subjects were falsely told that they were to give painful electric
shocks to another person as part of a learning experiment. This involved pressing buttons or placing the
hand of the individual to be shocked over a phony electrode. Thus, the
experimental subjects were falsely lead to believe that they were causing pain
to another individual. The experimenter
was interested in determining to what extent the subjects would follow orders,
which related to giving painful electric shocks. The experimenter found essentially that
people followed orders even when it involved hurting another individual. These subjects were normal and, such orders
appeared to violate their basic values at some level. However, most of the subjects followed the
orders.
The reason the subjects followed the
orders, and the reason people follow orders of authority figures in general, is
they learn to do so during the socialization process, which takes place from
early childhood throughout life. People learn that the actions and orders of
authorities are considered to be correct by society, and a failure to follow
such orders can lead to significant penalties.
Some people might be embarrassed or fearful if they fail to follow the
orders of authority figures. We also
learn that some rewards might be obtained by being a good person that follows
orders. This learning starts in
childhood when we learn to obey our parents and our teaches. We also learn that we must obey are employer,
if we want to keep our job. Those who
serve in the military learn the same lesson over again in a stricter
setting. From the above it is obvious
that the type of learning involved is social learning. However, emotional learning is also involved
at some level in many cases. Many of us
might feel emotionally compelled to follow orders.
Affiliation: This concept was
defined in
A part of the motivating dynamics behind
the desire to affiliate, may be the result of certain genetic deficiencies in
human beings. That is, there are many
lower animals that have the genetically predetermined instincts and structures
that make survival independently of other members of their species relatively
easy, from birth throughout life. Human
beings simply do not have such capabilities, and they must learn to affiliate
with others to survive.
All of the above facilitate a generalized
tendency to want to affiliate with other human beings, which is primarily the
result of social and emotional learning.
This desire is not just based on the utility, there is usually strong
emotional learning involved. People
develop strong emotional bonds with other people. These bonds can motivate people to help each
other.
Romantic
relationships: Romantic relationships are strongly motivated
by inborn sexual desires as well as many other primary and secondary
motivations. The basic desires are
purely the result of the genetic makeup of human beings, but the way the desires
are channeled and the resulting structure of romantic relationships are the
result of the socialization process.
This process includes, but is not limited to, the learning that develops
with friendships, which is described under the next heading. That is, romantic relationships have some of
the qualities of a friendship, coupled with many other factors.
Relationships between the opposite sex
involve many norms and social skills, which develop as a result of social
learning. Some academic learning may
also be involved with modern people.
This can involve learning how to relate, communicate, and sex education,
which are sometimes taught in classrooms, in workshops and in books.
One of the most interesting aspects of
the learning involved with romantic relationships is the bonding process
between the male and female. This is
generally called falling in love, and it is a type of emotional learning, that
results in a strong emotional bond, which tends to hold the couple in their
relationship. These emotional bonds can
be so strong in some cases, that it may be difficult to break up a
relationship, even if it is highly undesirable from the perspective of both
partners.
Friendships: Friendships form as
a result of a social and emotional learning process of the people
involved. That is, when people get to
know each other, in situations where friendships develop, there is a learning
process involved. The individuals
involved learn they are rewarding to each other at some level. The learning process that leads to
friendships usually involves the gradual revealing of personal information over
a period of time. The people involved
learn about each 'other's' strengths, weaknesses and habits. They learn about each other's common
interests. They learn about what they
can enjoy together and they may also learn about what they cannot enjoy
together.
Power dynamics in
relationships: When an individual develops any type of
relationship with another person, there may be a social learning process that
takes place in relation to power dynamics.
There probably usually is some emotional learning also. The individuals may learn who has more
power. This learning process can include
the development of an awareness of which partner has: more desirability, more
choices for other relationships, more resources, more knowledge, etc. This awareness can control the power balance
in the relationship. The individual that
has more of the desirable items on the above list, can have more control over
the relationship. This process can be
explained further as follows. The
awareness of who has more desirable qualities and resources, can result in the awareness
of who can lose more if the relationship ends.
The individual that can lose more obviously has less power in the
relationship. The less powerful person
thus might work harder to maintain the relationship. The more powerful person might not feel
compelled to work as hard as the less powerful person because he or she has less
to lose if the relationship ends.
There are probably many relationships
where the people involved do not learn about, or think about the relative
degrees of power of themselves and their relationship partner. There are probably many relationships where
even if there is awareness of the power difference of the partners, no
power is deliberately exercised over the less powerful partner.
Altruism: This concept is
defined in
Personal space: This concept is defined
in
Labeling: This is the process
of placing a label on an individual, such as applying a medical diagnostic
label to a person, applying a derogatory term to an individual, or
complementing a person by using a positive term. Labeling is the result of academic, social
and emotional learning. Some labels are
learned academically, such as the diagnostic labels used by physicians and
psychologists. However, such labels,
will usually have very strong social and emotional impact when applied to the
patient. In general, most labels that
are applied to human beings have strong social and emotional impacts, which
suggests that there is much social and emotional learning associated with the
label. Labels can often have a strong
suggestive influence that can circumvent logical thinking. People that are labeled a certain way may be
evaluated by the schema associated with the label, as opposed to their real
traits. Experimental evidence indicates
that this can happen in some cases even if the label does not represent any
reality whatsoever.
Thus, according to the general model of
socio-cultural learning, the general cause of most of the phenomena associated
with social psychology is the result of specific types of social learning,
which is generally associated with reinforcing motivations that facilitate the
learning. In addition, emotional
learning is also usually involved, but it usually stems from or is greatly
influenced by the social learning. Some
of the emotional learning that results may serve as a motivating force for
certain types of behavior. Academic
learning can also be involved, with the social psychological phenomena but to a
lesser extent than social and emotional learning. This framework and the information provided
by the entire book, can be used to understand and solve many problems
associated with human behavior, if it is appropriately applied.
[1] Psychological conditions include: the state of mind of
the person, his personality, values, attitudes, and other factors in the
environment that will affect the emotional state and thinking of a person.
[3] This idea might not be in the literature, and it might
be difficult to prove experimentally, but we know it to be true if we examine
our experiences with people. Human
beings often negatively evaluate and complain about other people. Most of us listened to many such complaints, over the years, from
people discussing their family, coworkers and friends, in private one to one
conversations.
[4] Sears states
that there exists a special positivity bias that we use to evaluate people,
which is more generous than the way we evaluate objects. This is explained in Taylor Peplau, Sears, Social
Psychology eighth edition, page 40.
[5] Of course, to actually reduce or eliminate irrational
beliefs in a real life situation might require the expertise of a mental health
professional.
[6] The original was
not presented in a list format with a series of numbered steps. Some of the wording was changed to fit the format in this paper.
[7] Of course it is possible to transmit information
through this channel that is not generally considered intellectual, such as a
person describing their emotional reactions.
However, any description of such emotional reactions is an intellectual
description of the emotions that a person is experiencing.
[8] Of course, it is possible to convey emotional
information with language also, such as direct verbal explanations of emotional
disturbance.
[9] Of course, this is a simplified example to explain a
general idea. In an actual situation, a
prejudiced senator would probably be unwilling to invest money for the
services needed to help the victims of discrimination.
[10] Of course, the real cause of the deficiencies are the
racial discrimination of the past and to a lesser extent of the present. This resulted in poverty and deficiencies in
education for some black people.
[11] It can be argued that there are some hidden motivating
forces, such as the possibility of some type of reward for compliance involved
with the suggestion process in at least some cases. In addition, one can devise theoretical
motivating forces for compliance involving suggestion. However, these motivating forces are not
apparent with suggestion as the concept is defined here.
[12] The following text will be easier to comprehend, if the
reader reads the last paragraph of the preceding heading. This section defined two types of affiliation
needs, emotionally based and economic.
In addition,
as previously stated, the term economic is used in a very general
sense in this text. Thus, economics
refers to all the needs a person has that relate to food, shelter, goods,
services, education, entertainment, luxuries as well as employment and
money.
[13] Economic
affiliation was already defined in the last paragraph under the previous
heading (Affiliation) as the affiliation needed to obtain the necessities and luxuries of
life. This is often achieved by adults
in non-personal business relationships.
However, some personal relationships, such as is found in the family,
can satisfy economic affiliation needs, as well as emotionally based
affiliation needs.
[14] Of course, there are certain basic social skills that
are common to both categories, but there are many skills that are unique to
each category.
It is also
worth noting that the social skills a person needs to obtain emotionally based
affiliation and economic affiliation are not necessarily the same for
all individuals. The specific skills
relate to a person's social status, culture and roles in the social
environments that the individual interacts in.
[15] The idea that
women reveal more than men is a widely held belief. There is some scientific data to support this
belief, discussed in
In actual
practice, an individual man may reveal more personal information than a woman,
and vice versa. Studies of this nature,
that show small statistical differences between men and women, generally do not
have much practical application. The
reason for this is a rather high percentage of the population would behave in a
way that would be different than the statistical average.
[16] The difference between American and Japanese culture in
relation to self disclosure is discussed in
[17] This model
applies to both personal and non-personal relationships. However, the model offers more insight into
personal relationships than it does for non-personal relationships.
[18] Some readers
might question the above definition, because some single couples do not engage
in sexual activity and some married couples have stopped all sexual activities
after a number of years of marriage.
However, there are no deficiencies in the definition that I
presented. Relationships that do not
involve sexual activity, including marriage relationships are not
classified as romantic relationships according to this definition. They are classified as platonic
relationships.
[19] Of course, in a
natural environment there are good reasons to follow the parent, such as for
food and protection.
[20] Of course, this
does not
imply that there are similar mechanisms involved in animal and romantic
imprinting. Most likely there are
chemical substances (such as hormones) and neurological mechanisms involved in
the animal imprinting just as is the case with romantic bonding. However, the exact nature of the mechanisms
in the animal and human imprinting are probably quite different.
[21] Before the relationship is established, there is the
reward of sexual gratification, which motivates the sexual activities that
causes the romantic imprinting.
[22] There are of
course exceptions to this. That is,
there may be certain cultural components, that are dysfunctional under most if
not all psychological, social, cultural, and environmental conditions. Such components may or may not
be perceived as dysfunctional by the specific society that practices the
dysfunctional component.
[23] I ran two
ongoing weekly workshop series in the 80s that were primarily aimed at the
needs of singles. The series ran for
approximately three and one half years.
From the study I did for these workshops and the discussions with the
individuals that attended I learned much.
Some of the information I gathered is presented in this paper. One of the most important ideas that became
apparent to me, which is incorporated into this text, is that the various
categories of men and women, experience the mate selection process
differently. Some people find it to be
fun, some find it quite unpleasant, some people are successful, others fail to
find a suitable mate, etc.
[24] As this paper
continues, I discuss many dysfunctions of the modern mate selection system in our
society. The dysfunctions are not meant
to convey the idea that people suffer with the process of mate selection. There are also many functional elements that
will be discussed later in the text. In
fact, there are many people that experience the entire process as highly
functional. Most people probably enjoy the search for a mate, which can be
challenging, exciting and fun. The
search can involve going to many social events, making new friends, and dating
many potential partners. Of course there
are also some people who find the whole process quite unpleasant.
[25] Of course, there
are people who may not perceive such a risk, because there are different norms
in each work or school environment. In
addition, some individuals are extremely tactful and may be able to obtain
dates in the work or school environment with little or no risk.
[26] Some people may
have no awareness of the risks, others may have an exaggerated perception of
the risks. In addition, some people find
their dates within a relatively safe environment that involves little risk,
such as a small suburban community.
Other people might find their dates in environments that involve much
risk, such as a large city environment filled with strangers.
[27] The dating of
strangers is probably more common in the large cities, which is probably
especially the case for people who do not have a large network of friends. There are of course some people that
generally date individuals that they know from their peer group or individuals
that are known to their friends or relatives.
This might be more common in smaller communities.
[28] Of course, this
competition is not a true competition, in the simple sense of a competitive
game. There are both competitive and
cooperative dynamics involved in the mate selection process. The individual usually has no awareness of
who the competitors are. People are seeking partners with qualities that are
not the same, which is more of a search than a competition. When people choose a mate they often make a
decision based on only a few partners that have a cultural and social
background that are similar to theirs.
Often, the choice was even made from only one or two possibilities. This suggests that there is some competition
also. Thus, the image that some people
have of everybody competing for the most desirable person is not an
accurate picture. People have different
opinions about what would be the most desirable romantic partner for them. Perhaps a more accurate description of the
mate selection process, is a search for a mate that has qualities the
individual desires. This does, as
suggested above, involve some indirect competition, because there are
some qualities that most people value.
However, there are many qualities that are not universally
valued, such as a specific: personal philosophy, religion, values, goals,
beliefs, behavior patterns, etc.
However, I use the word competition in the text, and the reader
should understand the actual concept that I am referring to from this footnote,
which was written to prevent confusion.
[29] This is of
course not always the case. An
individual who lacks qualities that are desired can be successful in his or her
search for a romantic partner if the individual finds dating partners who are:
similar to himself or herself and/or finds dating partners who value the
qualities that he or she does have. In
some cases, even qualities that are perceived to be negative by most people can
be considered desirable by some individuals.
[30] Of course, there
are many other reasons why a man may not be interested in forming a serious
relationship. Often it is do to the
personal philosophy of the man, and it is in no way a reflection of any
perceived inadequacies in the woman.
[31] Of course, this
is not always the case. There are
probably situations where men have experienced something similar to what a
woman experiences. And there are
probably some cases where women experience what is about to be described for
men.
[32] Of course, there
are probably some cases where a romantic relationship does develop. In addition, there are situations that
resemble the above, but the causative dynamics are different. For example, the woman might want to be a
friend with the man simply because she is very conservative about sexuality.
[33] I cannot
remember where I originally read about this idea, but I believe it was in a
sociology book.
[35] The first 11
items on this list were taken from a table presented in
The table in
[36] In small groups
of an electronic nature, people may get to know each other as individuals over
a period of days, weeks or months, which is similar to what happens in more
conventional face to face groups.
er in the conversation, but it is certainly possible
that there is no leadership in some groups of this nature. A more important idea is to realize that
groups can have a leadership structure that can range from zero, or near zero,
to very large and elaborate leadership structures. The most elaborate structures can involve
many levels of leadership, such as is found in the military.
[38] Of course, there
are many exceptions to this. There are
times when the ideas of low status group members are accepted by the entire
group, and utilized in the solution of a problem. One of the key factors of acceptance of the
ideas of the low status member is often related to whether one or more high
status group members supports the suggestion of the low status group member.
There is a practical principle here. If
you are a low status person in a group and you want to win acceptance for your
idea, the best method may be to gain the acceptance of at least one high status
group member on a one to one basis. This
must be done before you present your idea to the entire group. It may even be better if the high status
person presents your idea to the group with his or her recommendation.
[39] There can be
other dynamics, factors and theories of what causes risky shift and groupthink,
than the ideas delineated in this book.
[40] The original
source, as stated in
[41] Studies were
first conducted by
[42] The first three
ideas on this list are rephrases of ideas presented in
[43] This is a
general principle that was used in other parts of this book to explain
differences between humans and animals.
Very often a living entity adapts a specific behavior pattern to
compensate for genetic deficiencies. For
example, human beings, especially the infant, does not have the basic instincts
to survive without learning and the help of others. However, fish, amphibians and reptiles have
strong genetic traits that permit them to survive from the time of birth
throughout adulthood, with little or no learning or assistance from other
living entities. This principle can
easily be applied to some gender differences.
For example, women are physically weaker than men on the average as a
result of genetic differences. This
generally means that women have less physical power in relation to men. This might influence society to teach females
to behave in a less aggressive way.
Females may also be quite aware of their relative physical weakness in
relation to males. This can influence
them to develop behavior patterns that are less aggressive than that of males.
(Hormonal differences can also be an influencing factor in this case, but that
is besides the point.) This and related
ideas will be discussed later on in the main text.
[44] Most of us are
aware that males are more aggressive than females on the average. This idea is expressed in
[45] Of course, some
women learn to conceal some emotional responses also, such as anger. In addition, emotionally mature women in
highly responsible positions in the business world might also conceal emotions
similar to the way men do.
[46] There might be
some unusual exceptions to this, such as certain branches of engineering and
organic chemistry. But these subjects
have a symbolic language that helps any visualization that may be required. In addition, these subjects do not involve as
much visual spatial material as art.
Many people believe women are good at art. Thus, even with the science subjects that
have many visual components the argument fails.
[47] An individual
can have much self confidence but may not convey (not project) it to
others. And just the opposite is
possible. A person can lack
self-confidence and falsely project much self-confidence to other people.
[49] This is based on
ideas presented in chapter 12 of
[50] One of these
studies, carried out by Dindia and Allen in 1992, involved a meta-analyses of
205 studies of self-disclosure. The study revealed a statistically significant
difference that was small. Basically
women tended to reveal slightly more than men statistically speaking. This was especially the case when they were
talking to other women. Of course, from
a practical point of view such small statistical differences do not provide
useful information. A specific man or
woman may reveal more or less information.
A primary factor is probably both the individual and who he or she is
talking to.
[51] It has been my
experience that female friends and relatives often request, or sometimes even
demand, that a male accompany them when they have to walk the city streets at
night. Thus, this is certainly a type of
dependence, which may be quite rational and functional. The streets of our cities are often dangerous
for a female who is alone.
[52] Of course most
people realize that there may be discrimination against both men and women
because of their race, ethnic background, or religion. However, that is not the type of
discrimination that I am discussing here.
[55] Of course, most
people would realize that if you examine certain definitions in extremely
precise ways, there may be no entity that precisely fits the
definition. There are two ways of
looking at such problems. One way is to
see the difficulty as the result of living in an imperfect universe. Another way of looking at the problem, is the
definition is slightly deficient in its wording. I prefer to see it in terms of a deficiency
in definition, which can usually be corrected.
I attempt such a correction for the word altruism later on in the
text.
[56] One can argue
that people contribute money to charity to get a break on their taxes. However, this is not always true. In addition, the amount that a contributor
saves on taxes is not likely to equal the amount they contributed.
[58] Slight
modifications were made in this list.
Basically numbers and some explanatory statements were incorporated into
the list.
[59] Both the
bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility were extensively studied by
researches, which included laboratory experimentation. Some of the researchers involved in these
studies include, Darley & Latane, who originally defined the bystander
effect, 1968; Korte, 1971; Ross,1971; Baumeister et al., 1988. The source for this information is from
[60] Of course, one
can argue that animals are controlled by instinct or there is some motivating
force behind their helping behavior.
However, such behavior can still be classified as altruistic if the
general definition I provided is used.
[61] Of course,
nobody could really be sure that the animals are not angry. When they attack another animal for food they
are usually quite aroused. It might in
fact be that with some animals the distinction between a angry attack and an
aroused animal attacking for food is only in the mind of the human
observer.
[62] Of course, this
does not necessarily mean that the mass media causes children to be
aggressive. It does mean that the mass
media reflects and reinforces the values of our society to some extent. This issue will be discussed in detail later
on in the text.
[63] There are some
people that would argue that inappropriate aggression in the family is the
result of certain types of neurological impairments or inborn biological
tendencies. This is probably only true
in very rare cases. In addition, in this
discussion, under this heading, I am discussing only the cases that are caused
by differential socialization.
[65]
[66]
[67] Of course, there
are usually other sources of influence, such as family members that smoke and
advertising.
[68] The original
source of this list is Holmes & Rahe (1967). The original format of the
list was modified for my book. However,
the actual words and numbers in quotation marks have not been changed. The ) on each number was added. The underlining and bold type was also my
additions. The words under each item are
some of my speculations about the possible reasons that an
increase in health risk manifests. There
are probably additional causes in many cases.
[71] Of course, the
students are often much closer to each other than they are to the teacher. The closest student may be a matter of inches
away from another student, which is the result of the layout of the desks. In addition, younger students, from nursery
school to the third grade, may be crowded into very close intimate distances
and may be occasionally required to hold each others hands. As students advance in age the spatial
distance that they are crowded into is usually increased somewhat, which allows
greater distances between students. Specifically,
desks and chairs are larger with more space between students and the room might
be larger also. Older students are
usually not required to hold each others hands.
[72] The phrase the closer
spatial zones means all of the spatial zones except for electronic
distance. In terms of measurement the
closer spatial zones are 25 feet or less.
[73] A definition of
a functional label for a negative condition is implied here. Thus, the ideas presented in the paragraph
are true by definition. The same
definitional truism applies to the other concepts of the relative degree of
functionality and dysfunctionality of labels, which are presented in the next
three paragraphs.
[74] A religious
person might insist there are people who are truly divine, holy or who are
saints, but the point is there are people who had such labels who were not
of such a nature.
[75] Functional
is usually, but not always, correlated with rational thinking and actions. However, there are situations where rational
thinking and actions of individuals has a dysfunctional effect on a
system. An example is individuals
withdrawing money from a bank that does not appear to be as financially sound
as its competitors, which is certainly rational behavior. (For the purpose of illustration assume that
the bank deposits are not insured.) This
behavior might put the bank out of business and it probably would not have enough
money to return all the money to the depositors. A similar idea applies to dysfunctional and
rational behavior. That is, dysfunctional
is often, but not always, correlated with irrational thinking and actions. However, there may be certain situations
where irrational thinking and behavior has a positive effect on the system. For example, if the individuals put more
money into the bank mentioned above, it would not be rational, but if everyone
did so it might prevent the bank from going out of business, and it would also
probably prevent the depositors from losing money.
[76] This is easily
seen if we examine primitive societies.
It is very difficult to see the fantasies and superstitions and other
erroneous beliefs of our own society, because we are likely to see them as
realities.
[77] There are many
mental health professionals that would disagree with this statement and the
other ideas presented here about mental disorders. They prefer to believe that most mental
disorders, including depression are biological in nature and were triggered by
environmental stresses. This view
appears to be advocated by drug companies, especially in their advertisements
aimed at psychiatrists and their patients, because it provides justification
for the use of drug treatment for mental disorders. Such a conceptualization also allows the
patient and his family to escape responsibility for the cause of the emotional
problems.
[78] The examples are
perhaps somewhat hypothetical or contain some good guesses on the way people
might be treated with certain labels.
[80] This term is
used in
"The
converse (what might be called a "negative halo" or a "forked
tail" effect) is that someone labeled "bad" is seen as having
all bad qualities."
[81] This sentence
was taken from
[82] These experiments
are described in
[84] The reason that
the real patients probably did not know that the pseudopatients were labeled
schizophrenics is because psychiatric diagnoses would generally be considered
confidential and not revealed to other patients. Even if they did no of the label they
apparently did not respond to it as the staff did. The real patients were responding to the
reality, which was the actual behavior of the pseudopatients.
[85] There are many
mental health professionals that would disagree with the view that: most mental
disorders are caused by psychological and social factors. However, Dr. Szasz, a psychiatrist and the
author of the Myth of Mental Illness, essentially makes some of the same
points about the psychological and social causes of mental illness that I am
making here. A detailed discussion of
his work will be presented later on in this subsection.
[86] If we think
about it, we will realize we may hear voices in our dreams and also see things
that do not exist in reality.
(Rosenhan makes a somewhat similar point in his article
describing his experiments.) In
addition, if we anticipate what people will tell us, under a specific set of
conditions, we are in a sense hearing voices.
Thus, a fairly good argument can be made that hearing voices as described
above, is normal, but in our culture describing the above in such terms in a
certain sense violates a social norm. It
could be argued that the phony patients were violating a major norm, when they
stated they were hearing voices.
However, such a norm, is culturally based and violating it should not
be considered dangerous. Thus, the phony
patients should have not been hospitalized if true rational evaluation was
applied. Perhaps outpatient evaluation
would be justified to determine if there were any additional problems besides
the reported experience of hearing voices.
[87] This is a common
argument that has been widely publicized, and it is also presented in
Rosenhan's article.
[88] Keep in mind
that an individual can label another person inadvertently or
unconsciously. That is, when an observer
perceives certain verbal statements or behaviors they may label an individual
based on their perceptions, without analyzing or evaluating logically.
[89] The words that
are not in quotation marks are my statements or my interpretations of Dr. Szasz
ideas, which I formulated after reading his book.
[90] An individual
can have an erroneous interpretation of the responses of others for many
reasons. However, probably the primary
cause in most cases is the result of earlier experiences. For example, a person labeled with an ethnic
or racial label, who experienced discrimination in one environment, might
falsely sense discrimination in another environment that consists of people who
are not prejudiced.
[91] In most
situations probably counselors and social workers inadvertently coaxe
their clients to behave according to their negative labels, to at least some
degree. Thus, the example deals with an
ideal rehabilitation facility.
[92] Of course, some
psychiatrists would assume that they cured the patient or that the patient's
illness is in remission, and accept the patient's normal behavior as
legitimate.
[94] Of course, it
would be quite unethical to commit phony patients to a psychiatric facility in
such a way that they (the pseudopatients) believed they were real
patients. However, such an experiment
would probably reveal the social psychological component of being labeled
mentally ill quite well. Thus, since the
pseudopatients new they were in an experiment, the following is a good guess of
what would probably happen if they thought they were real patients.
[95] Of course,
labels do not always cause self-fulfilling prophecies, and labels probably only
occasionally cause vicious cycles.
[96] Usually
self-fulfilling prophecies and vicious cycles are used in describing dynamics
that lead to an undesirable outcome.
However, there are positive versions of the above. For example, an employee labeled highly
successful might become highly successful because his or her employer advances
him or her to higher occupational levels within the work environment. The employer and managers will encourage such
an individual to work hard and develop needed skills. An example of a positive vicious cycle is
seen when an individual opens a small business that is highly successful and
takes all the profits and puts it back into the business, which includes expanding
the business. This can involve many
cycles of increasingly larger sized businesses.
Each cycle involves opening a larger business, increasing the number of
customers, saving the profits, than taking the profits to repeat the cycle with
a still larger business.
[97] Some people will
argue that animals have some of the qualities mentioned, such as societies and
language as well as the capacity to evaluate and engage in some analytical
thinking. However, the level of these
factors in animals are extremely primitive.
[98] Basic language
skills are also learned academically, such as in school. However, much of the basic language is
learned by copying the speech of other people, without deliberately analyzing
and studying the language, which is the social learning process.
[99] Of course, this
does not mean all mental disorders are caused by dysfunctional social
learning. However, if there is no
obvious physiological cause, and abnormal behavior is involved, almost
certainly dysfunctional social learning and/or dysfunctional emotional learning
caused the condition. Some people would
disagree with this, because they believe there is a biological cause for almost
all mental disorders, which has not been discovered to date. They would mention studies in brain chemistry
as proof of the validity of their view.
[100] Social learning
generally causes an individual to start taking drugs or smoking cigarettes, but
after exposure to these substances emotional learning takes place, which is the
addiction.
[101] Throughout the
discussion on the uniqueness of the individual, there will be examples on how
various factors can affect the learning of thinking and behavior patterns. These examples should be considered in many
cases as either, illustrations of possible outcomes that might manifest in
certain cases, speculations or hypothetical examples. It should be kept in mind that the purpose of
the examples is to illustrate how the factor under discussion can affect the
development of thinking and behavior patterns.
[102] People that
believe in the innate theories of human development would disagree with this
view.
[103] The examples of
how secondary motivations can be learned, is not meant to imply that these are
the only ways that the motivations can develop.
For example, a motivation to maintain high moral values can develop as a
result of academic learning, if the individual is taught the practical utility
of the moral values as well as the personal advantages the individual will gain
from following them.
[104] This does not
apply directly to emotional learning.
However, emotional learning can sometimes develop indirectly and
inadvertently as a result of a secondary motivation. For example, an individual might initially
attend college because he or she believes it will result in a high paying job,
but after a period of time the student might develop emotional attachments to
other students and the college in general.
In addition, the student might learn to enjoy some of the subjects that
he or she studies in college.