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PART II COGNITIONS & THE SELF. PERSONALITY UNITS AND COURSE STRUCTURE. Stable. Variable. Inner, private, subjective. 2. Cognition & Self e.g. self-concept, beliefs, ideals Major theorists: Rogers, Kelly. 3. Motivation e.g. motives, defenses Major theorists: Freud, McClelland.
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PART II COGNITIONS & THE SELF
PERSONALITY UNITS AND COURSE STRUCTURE Stable Variable Inner, private, subjective 2. Cognition & Self e.g. self-concept, beliefs, ideals Major theorists: Rogers, Kelly 3. Motivation e.g. motives, defenses Major theorists: Freud, McClelland Outer, public, objective 1. Traits & Temperament e.g. extraversion, neuroticism Major theorists: Jung, Eysenck, Gray 4. Social Context e.g., culture, ethnicity, power, gender Major theorists: Markus, Stewart
KEY DEFINITIONS • BELIEFS • ATTITUDES • VALUES • PROTOTYPES • STEREOTYPES
KEY DEFINITIONS COTINUED.. • SCHEMAS (SELF- & OTHER-) • ATTRIBUTIONS • SCRIPTS • AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC • SOCIAL COGNITION
George Kelly’s Theory ofPersonal Constructs GEORGE KELLY (1905-1967)
What is a construct? • are cognitions that people create and actively impose on the world to make sense out of it. • are personal; representing the idiosyncratic ways that people sort out the people and events they encounter. • evolve over time and across repeated experiences.
Personal constructs are bipolar BAD GOOD LOUD QUIET DISGUSTING LOVELY
What else are personal constructs? • Bipolar • Emergent pole/Implicit pole • Dichotomous • Both conscious and unconscious
Kelly’s Fundamental Postulate “People’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings (their personalities) are determined by the constructs they use to anticipate or predict events”
Using Constructs in Life... Hypothesize(implicitly) that a construct will fit an event. Test the hypothesis by applying the construct and predicting a consequence. Construct confirmed or disconfirmed? Does the construct have predictive efficiency?
Our personalities are defined by the type of constructs we have.
Constructive Alternativism • There are infinite number of ways to construe events. • We are capable of combining, recombining, and even totally revising our constructions in an ongoing cycle of meaning-making.
Characteristics of Personal Constructs:Range of convenience • Set of events for which a construct is useful. • Range of Convenience (Is it limited in scope or useful across many situations?)
Characteristics of Personal Constructs:Permeability • The degree to which a construct is able to incorporate new experiences.
Our personalities are defined by the type of constructs we have and how we operate them. Individual differences exist in terms of • permeability • consistency • comprehensiveness • hierarchy
Personal constructs fit together differently... BAD GOOD Intelligent Interesting Stupid Materialistic Critical Deep Talkative Energetic Naïve Ignorant Shallow Cruel
John Dan GOOD vs. BAD GOOD vs. BAD Generous vs. stingy Loving vs. unloving Friendly vs. unfriendly Accepting vs. rejecting Accepting vs. rejecting Generous vs. stingy
We have different views and ways of doing things... Cognitions (beliefs, attitudes, values, self/other schemas) constitute the information that guides people’s behavior
People are like scientists…. “Humans are intuitive scientist: have theories (constructs)about themselves and others, formulate hypothesis based on these theories, gather info to test these hypothesis, and then confirm/revise these theories”
MEASUREMENT OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS: ROLE REPERTORY TEST
COGNITIVE STYLES: • NEED FOR COGNITION(Cacciopo & Petty, 1982) • Tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking (cognitive persistence, cognitive confidence, cognitive complexity) • INTEGRATIVE COMPLEXITY (Tetlock, 1979) • Ability to deal with and integrate multiple perspectives, hypothetical situations, and new interpretations
Lazarus: Appraisal and Stress 1) Primary appraisal: Process of perceiving an impending threat 2)Secondary appraisal: Process of determining what should be done (of many) to deal with threat 3)Coping: Effort to do what’s been chosen as best way to handle threat 4)Reappraisal: Reinterpret the meaning of events, when occurring or following the event
Our cognitions impact our behavior, well-being, and even, our health • Reformulated learned helplessness theory (Abramson, Selgiman, & Teasdale, 1978) • Finding positive meaning (reappraising) (Affleck & Tennen, 1996) • Health outcomes from finding meaning (Folkman, Chesney, et al, 1996)
Applying one’s personal constructs to life decisions …. What do I want to major in? Who can help me with this problem? Do I want to date that person? How do I want to think about that situation? Do I want to take that class? What do I really want out of life?