PART IV: SOCIAL CONTEXT

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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL CONTEXT

Examples of context Macro- and micro-context Dynamics between context and other units What is ‘environment’?

Examples of macro-context Three types of micro-context

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PERSONALITY UNITS AND COURSE STRUCTURE

Stable Variable Inner, private, subjective 2. Cognition & Self

e.g. self-concept, beliefs, goals

1. Motivation

e.g. motives, defenses, psychic structure Major theorists: Rogers, Mischel Major theorists: Freud, McClelland

Outer, public, objective 3. Traits & Temperament

e.g. extraversion

4. Social Context

e.g., culture, ethnicity, power, gender Major theorists: Jung, Eysenck, Gray Major theorists: Mischel, Triandis 3

Virginia Woolf on how she was influenced by her mother: Until I was in the forties . . . The presence of my mother obsessed me. I could hear her voice, see her, imagine what she would do or say as I went about my day’s doings. She was one of the invisible presences who after all play so important a part in every life. . . . Consider what immense forces society brings to play upon each of us, how that society changes from decade to decade; and also from class to class; well, if we cannot analyze these invisible presences, we know very little of [any person about whom we write].

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Other examples of social context: 5

Two Types of Contexts

Microcontexts: Immediate features of the present situation; past and present learning and reinforcement history.

(E.g. responses and habits) Little Albert and Bobo doll experiments.

Macrocontexts: Large-scale, complex, and enduring patterns of environments.

(E.g. gender, social class, religion, race, processes of social identity and influence) Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and gender 6

MACRO-CONTEXT (e.g., gender, SES, power, race, culture) MICRO-CONTEXT

MICRO-CONTEXT

environment (e.g., physical and subjective features of situation, emotional states, group pressure, etc.)

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Environment

Environment Shapes Personality, Personality Shapes Environment Self & Cognition

Person

Motives Traits

Author: O. Schultheiss

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What Exactly is “The Environment”?

Physical:

Climate, geographic region, food supply, etc.

Micro & Macro

Author: O. Schultheiss

Social:

Family, friends, partner, teachers, etc.

Micro

Culture:

TV, books, music, magazines, language, etc.

Macro

History:

Wars, economic changes, inventions, etc.

Macro 9

Illustrations of the Macrocontext: 1. Internment of Japanese Americans

Social context:

War against Japan, racism & prejudice

Internment of Japanese Americans:

Loss of dignity, possessions, role of “outsider”, “enemy”

Some consequences:

Lowered self-esteem, sense of shame; repression, denial (Effects on motives, traits unknown)

Next generation:

Disidentification with American culture, increased power motivation 10

Author: O. Schultheiss

Illustrations of the Macro context: 2. Children of Holocaust Survivors

Social context:

anti-Semitism, Hitler

Internment of Jews in concentration camps:

Loss of dignity, possessions; certain death

Some consequences:

Helplessness, traumatization, depression, guilt (survivors guilt), but also reactance

Author: O. Schultheiss

Next generation:

Increased need for power, enhanced sense of Jewish identity 11

The Microcontext: Some Examples of Immediate, Direct Influences Classical/ Pavlovian conditioning: • Little Albert • Transference

Author: O. Schultheiss

Instrumental/ Operant conditioning: • Reward & punishment Observational learning: • “Bobo doll” study • Violent crime increase in 60s 12

Forms of Operant Conditioning:

a. Positive Reinforcement:

give a reward

to continue desired behavior b. Negative Reinforcement:

take away an unpleasant

stimulus to encourage a desired behavior. Note: Both positive and negative reinforcement strengthen behavior. c. Punishment (Time-Out & Extinction):

giving

an

unpleasant

consequences to

decrease

an undesired behavior. 13

Macrocontext

How Macrocontexts and Microcontexts Interlock:

Microcontext

Personality 14