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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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About The Book

Some of the material in this e-book is in a rough draft format, and portions are study notes that I created for my college studies in psychology.  I converted this material in August 2008, into this website.

     This book covers many ideas from the field of social psychology, in a critical and creative way.  Some of the ideas that are presented in this book are general ideas that are widely accepted by social psychologists.  In addition, this book also contains some original theories and some modifications of older theories, as indicated. 

     NOTE (The word chapter and paper are used as synonyms in this book.)

 

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Table of Contents

Read All The Instructions First How To Use This E-Book. 2

This Book Contains Sound Recordings Of The Text 2

Instructions On How To Open Footnotes  4

Instructions On How To Return To The Main Text After Reading A Footnote Or Viewing Another Website. 4

The Best Way To Use This E-Book Is With Internet Searches. 5

Sophisticated Internet Searches. 6

About The Book. 6

The Table Of Contents Consists Of A Series Of Hyperlinks. 7

Chapter 1: The Science of Social Psychology and Examples of Theories in the Discipline. 20

An Introduction to Social Psychology  21

The Positivity Bias. 33

Question:  Is there a Negativity Bias Also?  58

Question:  Can the Positivity Bias and the Negativity Bias be Combined into one General Theory?. 77

Can the Positivity Bias and Negativity Bias be Advanced into one General Theory?  91

A Very Important Principle for the Human Behavior Sciences. 95

Person Perception. 98

Chapter 2: Schemas. 121

What Are Schemas?. 121

Other Ways of Describing a Schema. 129

A Schema of an Intelligent Person. 133

A Schema of an Authoritarian Personality  135

A Schema Held by a Prejudice Person  139

A Simple Script Schema. 147

A Role Schema. 151

Other Examples of Schemas. 154

Chapter 3: Nonverbal Communications and Self Presentation. 157

Human Communications. 157

Verbal and Nonverbal Function Together 176

Chapter 4: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy  181

Definitions of The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy  181

A General Model of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Related Ideas. 186

Examples of Sociological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies. 202

Examples of Social Psychological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies. 210

Examples of a Psychological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies. 220

Positive Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. 223

Social-Psychological and Sociological Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Involving Hostile Interactions. 227

The Development of One Type of Prophecy From Another 241

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies that Emerge From One's Self-Concept 253

The General Application of the Concept and the Concluding Words of the Chapter 263

Chapter 5: The Way We Make Judgments and Related Difficulties from a Social Psychological Perspective. 270

Social Cognition. 270

Social Inference. 275

Schematic Processing. 287

Following the Judgment of Others. 291

The Concluding Ideas. 294

Chapter 6: Attributions and Related Ideas. 301

What Are Attributions?. 301

Psychological Attributions. 304

Social Psychological Attributions. 306

Sociological Attributions. 307

Interpretation of Psychological Attributions. 310

Labeling and Attributions. 312

Positive and Negative Halo Effect and Attributions. 314

The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Attributions. 320

The Accuracy of Attributions. 324

What are the Real Causes, the Accurate Attributions. 328

Attributions and Problem Solving. 331

Factors that might be Attributed to Internal or External Causality. 337

Chapter 7: The Self and Self Presentation and Related Ideas. 342

The Self and Related Ideas. 342

What is a Self-Concept 356

What is the: Social-Concept of an Individual 368

What is Self-Esteem.. 377

What is Social-Esteem?. 380

What is the Working Self-Concept?. 387

What is Self-Awareness?. 389

How do We Learn About Ourselves. 391

What is Social Identity. 393

What is a Self-Schema?. 396

The Dynamics and Components of the Self and Society. 399

Chapter 8: Attitudes and Related Ideas  400

What are Attitudes?. 401

How Do We Develop Attitudes. 427

What is Cognitive Consistency?. 434

What is the Balance Model?. 435

Cognitive Dissonance Theory. 446

Attitude Change Over Time. 453

Chapter 9: Prejudice and Related Ideas. 456

What is Prejudice. 456

Stereotypes and Prejudice. 458

What is the Difference Between Prejudice and Discrimination?. 460

How do People Become Prejudice. 461

Ingroups and Outgroups. 463

The Different Types of Discrimination  470

What is the Authoritarian Personality  493

What Are the Real Causes of Prejudice?  496

Chapter 10: Social Influence and Related Ideas. 500

What is Social Influence?. 500

The General Model of Social Psychological Control 503

The Bertram Raven Model of Social Influence. 529

What is the Milgram Experiment?. 538

The Ethics of the Milgram Experiment 547

The Value of the Milgram Experiment 550

Chapter 11: Human Relationships and Related Ideas. 557

Affiliation. 557

Genetic Limitations that Facilitate Interaction with Others: 561

Emotionally Based Affiliation Deficiency Loneliness) and Economic Affiliation Deficiency. 580

Self Disclosure and Related Ideas. 597

Three General Models of Human Relationships. 607

Romantic Relationships. 624

Parent Child Relationships. 723

Relationships of a Personal Friendship Nature. 727

The Power Dynamics in Relationships  731

Attraction, Liking and Disliking. 755

Chapter 12: Group Behavior and Related Ideas. 817

The Definition of a Group and Related Ideas. 817

Question, are there genetic factors that predispose human beings to a group structure?. 829

What factors are primary to a group?  831

Chapter 13: Male and Female Differences, Sexual Discrimination and Related Ideas. 927

Male Female Differences. 928

Sexual Discrimination and Related Ideas  982

Question, is there discrimination against men?. 987

Chapter 14: Helping Behavior and Related Ideas. 1011

Helping Behavior 1011

Question, what steps are involved with helping behavior?. 1034

The socialization process in relation to providing helps. 1046

Chapter 15: Aggression and Related Ideas. 1056

Aggression. 1057

Types of Aggressive Acts. 1127

Chapter 16: Social Psychological Factors that Relate to Health. 1145

Health. 1145

Health Behaviors and Related Ideas. 1147

Health Values. 1189

Stressful Life Experiences and Risk of Developing Health Problems. 1218

Chapter 17: The Environmental Psychology of Personal Space, Territory Crowding and Related Ideas  1302

Environmental Psychology. 1302

Personal Space and Territory. 1305

Crowding and Related Ideas. 1335

Chapter 18: A General Model of the Social Psychology of Labeling. 1345

Part One: The Basic Thesis of the Model 1346

Part Two: Additional ideas of the General Model of the Social Psychology of Labeling  1390

Part Three: The Defining Component and Related Ideas. 1418

Part Four: The Psychological Component and Related Ideas: 1434

Part Five: The Social Component and Related Ideas. 1456

Part Six: The Social Psychological Component and Related Ideas. 1583

Chapter 19: The Causes of Human Behavior Phenomena as Explained by a General Model of Socio-Cultural Learning. 1623

 

 


 

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 Newton's law of gravity.  However, the theory does not provide a cause and effect relationship in terms of dynamics.  That is, there is no explanation of why an object falls.  Such theories can be called descriptive theories.  They describe what happens, sometimes in precise mathematical terms.  The same is true with certain theories in the human behavior sciences.  They describe what happens, without an explanation of why it should happen.  However, usually there are some human behavior scientists who will offer hypothetical causes for the phenomena described by descriptive theories.

      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

      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.

 

 

Person Perception

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 Nb.)   The value V has meaning when it is compared to other evaluations.  In this hypothetical example the 16,640 would be compared to the score that other tutors obtained in the evaluation, and the highest score would be the best tutor.    This of course would be based on personal evaluation criteria, because the individual assigns the numerical values of the traits that he believes are relevant to his needs.

 

      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.


 

Chapter 2: Schemas

 

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What Are Schemas?

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.)

 

 

A Simple Script Schema

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

 

 

A Role Schema

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. 

 

 

Other Examples of Schemas

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

 

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Human Communications

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

 

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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 United States.  This belief resulted in behavior that limited educational and occupational opportunities for black people.  The prejudicial belief also resulted in the passing of laws in the South that were essentially designed to exclude black people from the political process.  The above actions served to maintain some black people in an uneducated state of poverty.  This confirmed the original belief, in the minds of prejudice people.  In a self-fulfilling prophecy the false belief often becomes true, which further reinforces the resulting problem.  People without adequate education are truly less capable in relation to both job and academic performance.

      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 Russia and the United States, but fortunately the usual outcome did not take place.  The usual situation is one of the nations will attack the other, because its leaders assume that they will be attacked eventually by the other country sooner or later.  The original intentions of both nations may have been peace, but the belief that the nations will eventually fight each other in a war, results in behavior that eventually creates a war.

      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 United States and the Soviet Union.  The method is called GRIT, which stands for graduated reciprocation in tension reduction.  This is essentially a tit-for-tat strategy applied to nuclear arms reduction.  This was also discussed in Social Psychology 8th edition 1994, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears.  This method coupled with negotiation and cultural exchange programs appeared to reduce the risk of war between the United States and the former Soviet Union.  

 

 

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.

 

 

Chapter 5: The Way We Make Judgments and Related Difficulties from a Social Psychological Perspective

 

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Social Cognition

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.

 

 

Social Inference

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.

 

 

Schematic Processing

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.

 

 

The Concluding Ideas

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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What Are Attributions?

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

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

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.  

 

 

Labeling and Attributions

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.  

 

 

The Accuracy of Attributions

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

 

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The Self and Related Ideas

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.

 

 

 

What is a Self-Concept

 

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.    

 

 

What is Self-Esteem

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.  

 

 

What is Social-Esteem?

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.

 

 

 

What is Self-Awareness?

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.

 

 

What is Social Identity

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.

 

 

 

What is a Self-Schema?

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

 

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What are Attitudes?

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.) 

 

 

How Do We Develop Attitudes

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.

 

 

What is the Balance Model?

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.

 

 

 

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

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.

 

     Attitude Change Over 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

 

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What is Prejudice

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. 

 

 

Stereotypes and Prejudice

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. 

 

 

Ingroups and Outgroups

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 United States at this time, as compared to the past.  In the past it was the primary type of discrimination in America.  The enslaving of black people is the most extreme example of intentional discrimination.

      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

 

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What is Social Influence?

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 Taylor, Peplau, and Sears, and the model is as follows:

 

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:

 

Affiliation

What does the word affiliation mean?  Affiliation is defined in the glossary of Taylor's Social Psychology as the basic human tendency to seek the company of other people.  However, affiliation is defined for the ideas and models presented in this paper as the tendency for human beings to interact with others.  That is, interaction with others and affiliation have the same meaning in this paper.  This more generalized definition applies to most if not all types of affiliation between human beings, such as the interactions between: parent child, husband wife, boyfriend girlfriend, doctor patient, therapist client, employer employee, instructor student, salesperson customer friends, acquaintances, and a casual conversation between strangers.

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology as "The psychological discomfort we feel when our social relationships lack some essential feature.  This deficit may be quantitative (too few relationships) or qualitative (unsatisfying relationships)."  For the ideas and models presented in this paper the term loneliness was defined as a failure to satisfy the emotionally based affiliation needs.  This will result in the psychological discomfort mentioned in the definition in Taylor's Social Psychology.  The failure to satisfy the emotionally based affiliation needs, can be the result of a deficiency in the quantity or quality of the affiliations that an individual obtains.  For example, a deficiency in quantity means the person does not have enough interaction with others.  A deficiency in quality means that the interactions with others are not emotionally satisfying.

      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 United States and Japan[16].  Americans will reveal more information, and the information generally will be provided at an earlier point in the development of the relationship, than it would be in Japanese culture.  Americans will expect information to be revealed at a relatively early point in the development of a relationship.  As a result, Americans often ask personal questions, which would be considered inappropriate in Japanese culture.  For example, on the first introduction, it is rather common for Americans to ask what do you do for a living and where did you go to school.

 

 

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.           

 

 

Romantic Relationships

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 Taylor's Social Psychology.  Passionate love is the highly emotional and sexual feelings that are present in the beginning of a romantic relationship.  As the relationship matures, the passionate love may be reduced, and replaced with companionate love, which is less passionate, but perhaps more practical.  This type of love involves, affection, caring, warmth, understanding and acceptance of the partner's limitations.

 

     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 Taylor's Social Psychology.  Specifically, the study (Xiaghe & Whyte 1990) involved the change in the marriage selection method in modern China from arranged marriages to marriages where the partners had more choice in the mate selection process.  Women who had more choice reported a higher level of marital satisfaction according to the study, when compared to women who had less choice in the selection of their husbands.  Women that had more of a choice in the selection process, were less likely to divorce than women who had little choice in the selection of their mates. 

 

     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 United States.  However, if there were only arranged marriages in our society, the entire concept of  free choice, as we know it, would be changed.  It is very different to choose to have a marriage arranged for you, as opposed to having an arranged marriage more or less forced on you.   

 

 

      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.

 

Parent Child Relationships

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 Taylor's Social Psychology as follows.  "Social power  This refers to one person's ability to influence deliberately the behavior, thoughts or feelings of another person."  I will call this type of power when it applies to the individuals in a relationship relationship power.  There are three components that are important for relationship power, which are: social norms, relative resources, and the principle of least interest[34].  These three factors are discussed in the following six paragraphs.

       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 Taylor's Social Psychology.  Most of the research in this area involves marriage or dating couples.  The majority of American married couples, 64 percent, in a survey of 3000 couples, conducted by Blumstein & Schwartz in 1983, describe their marriage as more or less equal in power.  However, some couples, 27 percent, described their marriages as dominated by the male.  A minority, 9 percent, of the couples described their marriage as dominated by the female.  A similar survey on single dating couples in college, was conducted by Peplau in 1984.  This survey indicated 49 percent of women thought their relationships were equal.  However, a slightly lower figure of 42 percent of the men reported equal power.  When the relationships were not equal the male had more power according to the survey.  

 

 

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 Taylor's Social Psychology as follows.  "People appear warm when they like things, praise them, and approve of them in other words, when they have a positive attitude toward people and things."  My perception of the concept is a person that is positive, personal, friendly, sympathetic, kind, understanding and accepting of others.  Warmth is projected to others when the above traits become apparent to people.  This projection is often accompanied by reinforcing body language, such as a friendly smile and appropriate eye contact.  A person that is expressing warmth does not exhibit hostility or convey rejection.  He or she appears to accept an individual with his or her negative traits.  Such a person would not appear to be hostile or highly critical toward the deficiencies of others.

 

·      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 Taylor's Social Psychology as: "Group  A social aggregate in which members are interdependent (have mutual influence on each other) and have at least the potential for mutual interaction."  For the model I am presenting I will use a more general definition than most social psychologists would use.  However, I will discuss a concept that is similar to the one presented in Taylor's Social Psychology, which is a face to face group.  In my model, a face to face group is only one category of group.  However, when most social psychologists talk about groups they are generally talking about face to face groups, where people have more or less equal opportunity to influence and interact with each other.  These are the types of groups that can easily be created for experimental purposes, and they often range in size from two to twenty.  As the number of people increases in such groups, the nature of the group tends to change to a social structure that is different from a face to face group.  For example, ten people working together in a small office may constitute a face to face group, but several thousand people working in the same organization would not constitute such a group.  In a face to face group people can get to know each other as individuals, and can talk to each other in a direct way, which is generally not feasible in  an organization comprised of several thousand people.  Examples of face to face groups are the family, the students in a classroom, a couple, a jury, a discussion group, two people working together on a project, etc. 

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology: "All groups, even those that say they are leaderless, have some leadership structure."  I believe a more accurate description is most groups have some leadership structure, but there may be some unusual groups that for all practical and theoretical purposes have no significant leadership structure[37].  Large complexed groups usually have many leaders, such as an organization.  Even most friendship groups have one or more individual that tends to lead in certain respects, such as in conversation or in planning activities.  However, there are groups that do not have a leader.  Some friendship groups essentially have no leader.  There are certain small work groups, that have no leader either.  But with most groups even if there is no official leader, at least one individual intentionally or inadvertently takes the leadership role.  Often in groups that have no official leader, there can be several people who take the leadership role at various points in time.  This can relate to the situation that the group is dealing with at a specific point in time.  For example, in a work group, the individual that is most knowledgeable about a specific task may lead the group while performing that task.  When the group changes to a new task, it may unofficially change to a different leader, who is knowledgeable about the new task. 

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology and similar books, a number of dysfunctions are delineated in terms of definitions, such as groupthink and risky shift.  The first term is defined in Taylor's Social Psychology as: "Groupthink The impairment in decision making and sound judgment that can occur in highly cohesive groups.  Group members ignore contradictory information, ostracize dissenters, and unify around their decision even if it is irrational."  Risky shift is defined in the same glossary as: "Risky shift After taking part in a group discussion of an issue, people are sometimes willing to support riskier decisions that they were before the group discussion.  This is part of a more general process of group polarization, which can lead either to riskier or more cautious decisions, depending on the initial views of group members."  These definitions by themselves do not really explain the dynamics of group dysfunction in relation to problem solving.  I will explain some of the factors that can be the primary causes of failure to solve problems in groups in the following paragraphs.  I am not initially delineating the difficulties groups have with problem solving and decision making in terms of groupthink or risky shift, but I will return to these concepts as I develop my thesis.   Note (Problem solving also includes decision making in this text and vice versa.)

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology[40], include the following:

 

 

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:

 

Male Female Differences

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 Taylor's Social Psychology.  

 

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:

 

Helping Behavior

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 Taylor's Social Psychology defines the term  altruism as follows:

 

"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 Taylor's Social Psychology, it is possible to argue that altruism in the absolute terms of the definition does not really exist.  One can say that with this definition people may sometimes appear to be altruistic, but in reality they are not. With the definition I created the concept of altruism is seen in the real world rather frequently.  We often read stories in the newspaper about an individual that risked his or her life to save the life of a stranger.  A very dramatic example of altruism is presented in Taylor's Social Psychology, where a truck driver stopped his vehicle to help a man stuck in a crashed delivery van, which was on fire.  The truck driver risked his life, in his effort to rescue the man from the burning vehicle, which exploded a few seconds after the rescue.  The most extreme examples of altruism are often seen in war.  There have been cases where a soldier placed his body over a grenade that was just about to explode, which was done to shield the other soldiers from the explosion.  In this extreme example of altruism, the soldier is sacrificing his own life to save the lives of the people around him.  Other extreme examples of altruism are seen in the family during emergencies.  I know of a situation where a mother ran into a burning house to try to find and rescue her child.  The woman's face was burned and severely scarred for life, but it turned out that her child was still in school, so the sacrifice was unnecessary.  Less dramatic examples of altruism are seen all the time in our society, such as: when people contribute money to charity[56] and when an individual helps a stranger, such as when a person asks for direction.  The most common example of altruism is seen when parents care for their children, which involves a great sacrifice in time, effort and money for at least 18 years[57]. 

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology as follows:

 

"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 Taylor's Social Psychology and the studies in the book both terms are used.  However, prosocial behavior is probably a better term, because it is more general, and it eliminates the question of motivation.  I believe that both altruism and prosocial behavior are not the ideal terms for scientific study.  Simpler and more descriptive terminology would be an improvement.  The best terminology might simply be helping behavior, with three different categories, such as the following:

 

·      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 Taylor's social psychology and it is as follows[58]:

 

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 Taylor's Social Psychology there are a number of examples, such as the following.  Termite soldiers defend the hive at the expense of their own lives.  Certain species of baboons respond to threat in a unique fashion.  The most dominant males take the most risky position in the pack when a threat is perceived.  Dolphins will try to keep an unconscious dolphin afloat so he or she can breathe.  They do this until the dolphin recovers and can obtain air from the surface of the water by himself or herself.  In addition, most of us know from personal observation that animals will protect and take care of their young.  Thus, even animals appear to be altruistic under some conditions[60].  

 

 

Chapter 15: Aggression and Related Ideas

 

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Aggression

What is aggression?  Aggression is defined in Taylor's Social Psychology as follows.  "Aggression  Any action intended to hurt another person."  This is a simple but fairly good definition.  However, like most definitions it is not perfect.  For example, an experimenter might intentionally cause pain, which is certainly a form of hurting, to an experimental subject for the purpose of scientific study, which is certainly not aggression.  A neurologist might try to inflict mild pain on a patient to assess the neurological response to pain, which is also not aggression.  The intent and the specific motivation involved is an important component in defining aggression.  The hurting must be done with a hostile intent to define it as aggression.  Thus, I will define aggression in a more precise way in the following paragraph.

      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 United States the Murdering Society?} in Taylor's Social Psychology.  The headings are used in a slightly different manner in this list.  The original discussion in Taylor' Social Psychology was dealing with the high murder rate in the United States.  Specifically, the discussion pointed out that "the United States has the dubious distinction of leading the world in murder rate".  {Taylor's discussion is based on a study conducted by Gartner, 1990.}  The discussion deals with the possible causes for the high murder rate in our country.  The causes mentioned were essentially the following five headings.) END OF NOTE

 

     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 New York City, you can see a mansion with the wealthiest people as occupants.  Outside the mansion you might see a homeless person begging or sleeping on the street.  The variations in economic conditions for the people in our society can be very frustrating, which can lead to aggressive behavior.  For individuals that are dishonest the economic variations may provoke criminal attacks to obtain money, such as mugging.  The frustrations associated with the economic variations are greatly increased by the perception that some[64] of the poverty is related to the discrimination of minority groups.  Some of the aggressive people from these groups may lash out on any individual whom they perceive as an authority figure.   

 

The United States has a low level of social integration Our society has many different types of people, who speak different languages and are members of various ethnic groups.  The divorce rate in our society is also quite high.  These factors and many other factors that were mentioned cause disorder in both the individual and society in general.  Such a disorderly state can lead certain individuals into acts of violence.  More specifically, the disorderly state can interfere with all of the following: the socialization process, formal education, employment, which can lead to poverty, mental illness as well as criminal activity.  This can lead to acts of aggression.

 

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 United States with the slave trade that developed. This involved enslaving people from another nation.  

 

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 Sweden with the nations that got involved in world war II.

 

 

 

Types of Aggressive Acts

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.  

 

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Chapter 16: Social Psychological Factors that Relate to Health

 

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Health

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 Taylor's Social Psychology as follows.  "Health behaviors are actions undertaken by people who are healthy to enhance or maintain their good health."  Taylor mentions seven health habits, which are good examples and are as follows: sleeping 7 to 8 hours a night, not smoking, eating breakfast each day, having no more than one or two drinks each day, getting regular exercise, not eating between meals, and being no more than 10 pounds overweight[65].

      For this text, the concept of health behaviors will be defined in a slightly different way than the definition provided by Taylor, which is as follows.  Health behavior is any behavior that is intended to maintain or increase health, excluding actions that relate to medical treatment for a diseased condition.  Thus, this definition excludes medical treatment for an existing illness, which was also the case with the definition Taylor provided.  However, my definition makes it clear that people with medical problems, who are not healthy, can also engage in health behavior[66].  Examples, of health behavior are jogging or exercising to maintain health, eating a balanced diet, controlling calorie intake to maintain proper body weight, controlling the level of fat and cholesterol in the diet, taking vitamin pills, etc.

      If we compare the lists of health behaviors taken from Taylor's Social Psychology with the above, we see an interesting difference between some of the behaviors.  My examples of health behaviors were intentionally chosen to involve actions that are carried out to obtain or maintain health.  I am calling this type of health behavior positively motivated health behavior.  There are also health behaviors that involve the inhibition of unhealthy actions, such as not drinking alcoholic beverages, not smoking, etc.  I am calling this type of health behavior negatively motivated health behavior.  The following two lists contain examples of each type of health behavior.

      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 United States there are many different styles and habits of eating, which are often the result of individual habits, which could have developed from the influence of one or more family members or friends.  Another major influence on diet in our society is the mass media and mass marketing of food.  The biggest problem in our society is the mass marketing of high calorie candies, which usually contain little or no vitamins or minerals.  These candies generally contain sugar and sometimes fat, often in the form of chocolate, which certainly justifies the name junk food.  The junk food often interferes with eating lower calorie foods that are more nutritious.  Of course, many people eat a balanced diet in spite of the negative influences from our society.  Such individuals may deliberately choose the foods they eat based on information they have gained from the educational system or from reading. 

 

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.

 

 

Health Values

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 United States produces a tremendous amount of environmental pollution.  Our machines and mass production methods produce solid, liquid and gaseous chemical waste products that pollute our land, water and air.  We have become aware of a major health problem, which has resulted in an often un-actualized health value that prohibits pollution.  This health value is written into many laws that prohibit or minimize pollution.  Of course, the pollution problem continues in spite of the health value and the law. The reason for this is there are stronger values our society has in relation to: mass production, mass consumption, the use of labor saving machinery, the use of automobiles, the use of disposable packaging, air-conditioning in the summer, heating in the winter, etc.  However, there appears to have been a small amount of progress in reducing environmental pollution over the last several years.  There are, and have been, societies that never had a significant pollution problem and thus never needed to create a health value that relates to controlling pollution.  Of course, most societies today have a pollution problem, because environmental pollution can spread through water and air from one region to another.   

 

     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 Taylor's social psychology, which consists of various stressful life events[68]. The list is written in decreasing order of health risk.  That is, the items on the top of the list have relatively high health risks associated with them.  And the items on the bottom of the list have lower health risks associated with them.  In addition, the numbers on the left of the underlined words are numbers that indicate relative risk of developing a health problem.  For example, the death of a spouse has a 100 on the left indicating a high health risk.  The last item (minor violations of the law) has the number 11 indicating a relatively mild health risk results from this item.  The list has 43 items and is as follows:

 

 

"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

 

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Environmental Psychology

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. 

 

 

Personal Space and Territory

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 Taylor's Social Psychology there are three major types of territories listed, which are primary, secondary and public.  The three categories of territory are discussed in the following paragraphs.

     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.  

 

 

Crowding and Related Ideas

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 Taylor's Social Psychology is as follows.  "Crowding refers to the psychological state of discomfort and stress associated with wanting more space than is available."  That is, crowding is an adverse emotional response to the perception of high social density.  The actual density may or may not be high, but the individual(s) perceives the density as high and feels uncomfortable as a result.

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology the idea of loss of control is discussed in relation to crowding.  When an individual feels that he or she has lost control as a result of high social density, he or she is likely to feel crowded.  There were some experiments conducted by Sherrod in 1974 that provided some support for the above.

        Another explanation of the sensation of crowding from Taylor's Social Psychology relates to the personality of the individual.  Some people like or have a need for high degrees of stimulation.  They may prefer the stereo on loud while they are doing homework.  They may prefer exciting activities.  According to the theory these people would not mind high social densities.  They would find it pleasantly stimulating.  However, the opposite personality type, who has little need for high degrees of stimulation from the environment, will not like high density social environments.  Such an individual will feel uncomfortably stimulated.  Thus, they will feel crowded under such conditions.  It should be kept in mind that extremely high social densities can have an adverse physiological effect as a result of forces on the body.  Such forces can range from mild impacts resulting in minimum physiological consequences, to severe forces that can result in serious physiological damage, which can result in death.  We all occasionally here about people getting trampled to death in extremely crowded environments.  In such cases, the concept of crowding is not just a psychological state of mind.  Of course, such extreme conditions are quite rare, but when the social density reaches fairly high levels, the fear of adverse physiological consequences can be a cause of feeling crowded.  Such fears may be set off from associations obtained from news reports about people getting trampled to death in crowds. 

 

 

 

Chapter 18: A General Model of the Social Psychology of Labeling

 

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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 Salem witch trials of the late 1600's.  There have also been people who became powerful and famous because they had positive labels of an erroneous or superstitious nature attached to them, such as divine, holy, saint or labels that conveyed supernatural powers[74].  The point is that a label does not have to represent any reality for it to have a psychological, social, and social psychological impact.

      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 United States.  This involved hospitals on the east and west coast in five different states.  The hospitals ranged from new  to old, from research-oriented to a non-research orientation, from good staff to patient ratios to poor staff to patient ratios.

      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.  

 

 

Chapter 19: The Causes of Human Behavior Phenomena as Explained by a General Model of Socio-Cultural Learning

 

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 Taylor' Social Psychology is: "General tendency to express positive evaluations of people more often than negative evaluations." Perhaps a more realistic definition would be a general tendency for people to express positive evaluations or respond positively to others under certain conditions.  The tendency to evaluate others positively is most likely the result of social learning.  However, there probably is some emotional learning involved in many situations.  This becomes obvious because it is embarrassing* to evaluate others negatively under many conditions.

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology is:  "The process by which people use information to make inferences about the causes of behavior or attitudes"  I defined attributions earlier in this book as: 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.

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology as:  "The collection of beliefs we hold about ourselves."  This term can also be defined as a general schema that we have about ourselves.  The self-concept is probably the result of social learning.  By interacting with others we learn about how they see us.  We also perceive our own behavior, interests, goals, successes and failures,  which is probably primary in developing a self-concept.  We also learn about other people and their achievements and failures, which provides us with standards to compare ourselves with others.  All of the above probably is involved in forming a self-concept. 

 

Self-esteem:  Taylor's definition, as presented in Social Psychology is:  "The value a person places on himself or herself."  Perhaps a better definition would be the emotional evaluation of the self in relation to other people, which results in a set of emotional feelings about the value of the self.  Self-esteem is most likely the result of social and emotional learning.  The emotional learning in this case stems directly from the way people treat the individual, according to the individual's perceptions, especially in relation to the individual's successes and failures.  Individuals that perceive much reward and acceptance from others, especially in relation to their successes, will probably have high self-esteem.  People that perceive much intentional and/or unintentional rejection and harsh criticism, especially in relation to their failures, are likely to have low 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 Taylor's Social Psychology as:  "In the study of the self, that part of an individual's self-concept which derives from his or her membership in a social group or groups, together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership."  This concept can also be defined as follows.   Social identity is a part of the self-concept that relates to the group(s) the individual belongs to and identifies with on an emotional level.  Social identity is most likely the result of social and emotional learning that takes place within the group. 

 

Self-schema:  This term is defined in Taylor's Social Psychology as:  "A cognitive structure that represents how one thinks about one's self in a particular domain and how one organizes one's experience in that domain."  I defined this concept in more detail earlier in this book as follows. 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, etc.  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 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 Taylor's Social Psychology as:  "Those aspects of the self-concept that are salient in a particular situational context and that guide an individual's thoughts, emotions and actions in that context."  I defined this concept in more detail in this book as follows.  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, a place to socialize, the workplace, etc.

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology as:  "The state of experiencing one's self as an object of one's own attention."  I defined this concept in more detail earlier in this book, which is as follows.  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 manifest 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.

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology as: "Enduring response disposition with an affective component, a behavioral component and a cognitive component.  We develop and hold attitudes toward persons, objects, and ideas."  I defined this term in a somewhat different and more detailed way earlier in this book, which is as follows.  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.

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology as: "The basic human tendency to seek the company of other people."  This is most likely the result of social and emotional learning.  That is, we learn to depend on people starting from birth.  This dependency continues to some extent throughout life.  However, before adulthood is reached human beings depend heavily on parents and other authority figures.  This teaches a general dependency on other human beings.  In addition, children and teenagers learn the benefits of socializing with each other.  To find a mate it is necessary to socialize. 

       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 Taylor's Social Psychology as:  "An act performed voluntarily to help another person when there is no expectation of receiving a reward in any form."  This is probably the result of social and emotional learning.  Specifically, people learn to empathize with other people, which probably involves social and emotional learning.  The person that acts truly altruistically may feel discomfort in seeing, hearing or knowing that another person is suffering, which motivates the altruistic individual to provide assistance to the suffering person.

 

Personal space:  This concept is defined in Taylor's Social Psychology as:  "The physical space immediately around their bodies that people treat as though it were a part of themselves.  There probably is both social and emotional learning involved with this process.  People learn what is considered an appropriate distance between themselves and others under different types of social interactions.  If an individual is to close or to far away, to another for the specific social interaction under way, the people involved will feel uncomfortable and adjust their distance to the socially accepted standard.  The uncomfortable feeling certainly suggests that there is some emotional learning involved with one's concept of personal space.

 

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.

    [2]  As explained in Social Psychology 8th edition, page 39, by Taylor, Peplau, and Sears.

    [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 Taylor's Social Psychology.  The study was a meta-analysis of 205 studies involving self-disclosure, conducted by Dindia & Allen in 1992.  The actual difference between men and women was statistically significant but small.  In addition, there is some evidence that women reveal more personal information to close women friends, from a survey conducted by Caldwell & Peplau in 1982.  This survey suggests that men are more likely to enjoy sharing various activities with a close male friend as opposed to a personal conversation.   

      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 Taylor's Social Psychology.

    [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.

    [34] These three factors are delineated in Taylor's Social Psychology.

    [35]  The first 11 items on this list were taken from a table presented in Taylor's Social Psychology.  The first 13 items on the list that deals with the undesirable traits (the second list) that relate to disliking was also taken from the same table.  The same is true with the third list, which delineates traits that are sometimes perceived as positive and other times perceived as negative.  Some items from the table, as printed in Taylor's Social Psychology, were eliminated because they were more or less synonyms for other traits on the list.  The comments at follow each item is my statement.  There are additional items on the three lists in my text, which are present in most books on social psychology, including Taylor's Social Psychology.

      The table in Taylor's Social Psychology was originally part of a survey that was carried out by Norman Anderson in 1968.  This survey originally contained 555 personality traits, which were presented to college students.  Such a methodology and sample can perhaps be questioned in relation to validity.  However, the items on the abbreviated list presented in Taylor's Social Psychology appear to agree with the common sense notion of liking and disliking.  Thus, I believe they are probably fairly accurate approximations of what people actually like in others.

    [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 Taylor's Social Psychology is: "Source Adapted Janis, 1982, p. 244."  

    [41]  Studies were first conducted by Berry, and Block in 1958.  These studies were later confirmed by Mullen, Johnson, and Salas in 1991.  The source of this information is from Taylor's Social Psychology.

    [42]  The first three ideas on this list are rephrases of ideas presented in Taylor's Social Psychology, which was the conclusions of studies done by Michael Diehl and Wolfgang Stroebe in 1991. 

    [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 Taylor's Social Psychology as "Around the world, males tend to be more aggressive than females in both childhood and adolescents."  In addition, Taylor presents FBI statistics, which reveal that men carry out: 90 percent of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, 91 percent of robberies, 87 percent of aggressive assaults, and 89 percent of violent crime.

    [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.  

    [48]  I found this to be true with the women I knew in New York City.

    [49]  This is based on ideas presented in chapter 12 of Taylor's Social Psychology, especially the ideas that relate to social roles  and tasks that are performed by an individual.

    [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.

    [53]  This study is described in Taylor's Social Psychology.

    [54]  This word will be defined in detail after the next paragraph.

    [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.

tations of rewards in parenthood.

    [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 Taylor's Social Psychology.

    [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.

    [64]  The word some is used here because many poor people are not from minority groups.

    [65]  Taylor obtained the seven health behaviors from a study conducted by Belloc and Breslow in 1972.  The study found that the more often people followed the seven health behaviors mentioned, the more energy they had and the better there health was.

    [66]  Taylor's definition gives the impression that people who are not healthy cannot engage in health behavior, which is a deficiency in the wording.

    [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. 

    [69]  This is as presented in Taylor's Social Psychology.

    [70]  Of course, this does not imply that all sexual interactions are associated with affection.

    [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.

    [79]  An example similar to this was presented in Taylor's Social Psychology.

    [80]  This term is used in Taylor's Social Psychology on page 39, which starts with a discussion of the halo effect and then deals with the converse concept, which is as follows:

"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 Taylor's Social Psychology, page 377, where this experiment is described.

    [82]  These experiments are described in Readings in Social Psychology, Perspective and Method edited by Bryan Byers 1993 chapter 4.  The original author is D. L. Rosenhan titled On Being Sane in Insane Places.

Thus, I am using this terminology in the following discussion.  

    [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.

    [93]  This research was discussed in detail in part five of this paper.

    [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. 

    [105]  The original theory was developed by Heider.