Textual Notes - Social Processes
Textual Notes - Social Processes
SOCIAL PROCESS
STRUCTURE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Social perception (or person perception) is the study of how people form impressions of and
make inferences about other people as sovereign personalities. People learn about others' feelings
and emotions by picking up information they gather from physical appearance, verbal, and
nonverbal communication. Facial expressions, tone of voice, hand gestures, and body position or
movement are a few examples of ways people communicate without words. A real-world
example of social perception understands that others disagree with what one said when one sees
them roll their eyes. There are four main components of social perception: observation,
attribution, integration, and confirmation.
Observations serve as the raw data of social perception—interplay of three sources: persons,
situations, and behavior. These sources are used as evidence in supporting a person's impression
or inference about others. Another important factor to understand when talking about social
perception is attribution. Attribution is expressing an individual's personality as the source or
cause of their behavior during an event or situation. To fully understand the impact of personal
or situational attributions, social perceivers must integrate all available information into a unified
impression. To finally confirm these impressions, people try to understand, find, and create
information in the form of various biases. Most importantly, social perception is shaped by an
individual's current motivations, emotions, and cognitive load capacity. Cognitive load is the
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complete amount of mental effort utilized in the working memory. All of this combined
determines how people attribute certain traits and how those traits are interpreted.
The fascination and research for social perception date back to the late 1800s when social
psychology was first being discovered. As more and more research on social perception is done,
the realization of its significance in understanding and predicting our social world continues to
grow. This overview article aims to inform readers about the processes of social perception along
with brief descriptions to relevant and related theories.
Observation
The processes of social perception begin with observing persons, situations, and behaviors to
gather evidence that supports an initial impression.
To encode means to communicate nonverbal behavior, while to decode means to interpret the
meaning or intention of the nonverbal behavior. Decoding sometimes is inaccurate due to affect
blend, (a facial expression with two differently registered emotions), and/or display rules,
(culturally dictated rules about which nonverbal behaviors are acceptable to display). Other
nonverbal cues such as: body language, eye contact, and vocal intonations can affect social
perception by allowing for thin-slicing. Thin-slicing describes the ability to make quick
judgements from finding consistencies in events based only on narrow frames of experience.
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Attribution
With the observations drawn from persons, situations, and behavior, the next step is to make
inferences that identify an individual's inner dispositions.
One common bias people exhibit in attribution is called the fundamental attribution error. The
fundamental attribution error is the tendency for people to attribute others' actions or behaviors
to internal traits as opposed to external circumstances. An example of how this may manifest in
the real world as pointed out in research by Furnham and Gunter is how one's view of the
justness of poverty may be affected by one's financial status: one who has not experienced
poverty may see it as being more or less deserved than might someone who has been
impoverished at some point. In this way, fundamental attribution error can be a barrier to
empathizing with others, as one does not consider all the circumstances involved in the actions of
others.
External attribution, also called situational attribution, is the inference that an individual is
acting a certain way due to the situation he or she is in; the assumption is that most individuals
would respond in the same way in that similar situation. Essentially, people first assume that a
person's behavior is due to his or her personality, and then attempt to modify this attribution by
also factoring in the person's situation.
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small number of favorable outcomes. There are three factors that people use as a basis for their
inferences:
1. An individual's degree of choice
2. The expectedness of the behavior
3. The intentions or motives behind the effects or consequences of the behavior
If a single individual and a large majority of individuals behave similarly in reaction to a specific
stimulus, then the individual's behavior is attributed to the stimulus and is high in consensus. The
individual's behavior due to this specific stimulus should be compared to the individual's
behavior in reaction other stimuli within the same broader category. This helps judge whether the
level of distinctiveness information is high, and thus attributed to the stimulus. Lastly,
consistency information is used to see what happens to the behavior at another time when the
individual and the stimulus both remain unchanged.
Integration
Unless a snap judgement is made from observing persons, situations, or behavior, people
integrate the dispositions to form impressions.
A concept called, priming also affects a perceiver's impressions of others. Priming is the
tendency for recently perceived or implemented concepts or words to come to mind easily and
influence the understanding of the new information. Trait information also impacts people's
impressions of others, and psychologist Solomon Asch was the first to discover that the existence
of one trait tends to indicate the existence of other traits. Asch claimed that central traits exist
that exert a strong effect on the perceiver's overall impressions. Lastly, the sequence in which a
trait is realized can also influence the trait's impact. Research shows that there is a tendency for
information presented at the beginning of a sequence to have a greater effect on impressions than
information presented later on, a concept called primacy effect.
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Implicit personality theory
Implicit personality theory is a type of model people use to group various kinds of personality
qualities together. Put in another way, implicit personality theories describe the way an observer
uses the traits displayed by another person to form impressions about that other person. People
pay attention to a variety of cues, including: visual, auditory, and verbal cues to predict and
understand the personalities of others, in order to fill in the gap of the unknown information
about a person, which assists with social interactions.
Certain traits are seen as especially influential in the formation of an overall impression of an
individual; these are called central traits. Other traits are less influential in impression formation,
and are called peripheral traits. Which traits are central or peripheral is not fixed, but can vary
based on context. For instance, saying that a person is warm versus cold may have a central
impact on an individual's impression formation when paired with traits such as "industrious" and
"determined", but have a more peripheral impact when paired with traits such as "shallow" or
"vain".
Kim and Rosenberg demonstrate that when forming impressions of others, individuals assess
others on an evaluative dimension. Which is to say that, when asked to describe personality traits
of others, individuals rate others on a "good-bad" dimension. People's implicit personality
theories also include a number of other dimensions, such as a "strong-weak" dimension, an
"active-passive" dimension, an "attractive-unattractive" dimension, etc. However, the evaluative
"good-bad" dimension was the only one that universally appeared in people's descriptions of
others, while the other dimensions appeared in many, but not all, people's assessments. Thus, the
dimensions included in implicit personality theories on which others are rated vary from person
to person, but the "good-bad" dimension appears to be part of all people's implicit personality
theories.
Confirmation
After making and integrating attributions, individuals form impressions that are subject to
confirmation biases and the threat of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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2.1.2 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE SOCIAL PERCEPTION
Accuracy
The accuracy of social perception relates to the connection between judgments people make of
others' psychological attributes, and the reality of those attributes with regards to the people
being judged. There are three slightly varying approaches to interpreting accuracy the:
pragmatic, constructivist, and realistic approaches. Empirical research suggests that social
perception is mostly accurate, but the degree of accuracy is based on four major moderator
variables. These moderators are attributes of the: judge, target, trait that is judged, and
information on which the judgment is based. The Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM) explains that
these moderators are a result of the process for accurate judgment. The process of accurate
personality judgment starts with the target revealing relevant information, which then must be
available to a judge, who then identifies and uses it to form a final judgment.
Testing
TASIT (The Awareness of Social Inference Test) is an audiovisual test that In the past for the
clinical assessment of social perception. The test is based upon several critical components of
social perception that are crucial for social competence using complex, dynamic, visual, and
auditory cues to assess these critical components. The test assesses the ability to identify
emotions, a skill that is impaired in many clinical conditions.
It also assesses the ability to judge what a speaker may be thinking or what their intentions are
for the other person in the conversation, also referred to as theory of mind. Lastly, the test was
developed to assess the ability to differentiate between literal and non-literal conversational
remarks. The test is divided into three parts to measure; emotion, social inference – minimal, and
social inference enriched. The test is composed of scenes, or vignettes, and those being assessed
are asked to identify the emotions, a, feelings, beliefs, intentions, and meanings of the
interactions. They are also assessed on more complex interactions to assess ability to interpret
sarcasm. The results of this testing assess the level of social perception of an individual.
TASIT has adequate psychometric properties as a clinical test of social perception. It is not
overly prone to practice effects and is reliable for repeat administrations. Performance on TASIT
is affected by information processing speed, working memory, new learning and executive
functioning, but the uniquely social material that comprises the stimuli for TASIT provides
useful insights into the particular difficulties people with clinical conditions experience when
interpreting complex social phenomena.
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Inaccuracy/distortions
Bias
People are prone to numerous types of confirmation biases—tendencies to construe, find,
and formulate information in ways that prove existing opinions. Preconceived prejudices,
stereotypes, and discrimination otherwise known as social biases can contribute towards these
tendencies. People are also subject to exhibiting belief perseverance, the tendency to hold false
convictions even after they have been disproved.
Self
Availability heuristic – Tendency to place more importance and reliance on more immediate
memories when evaluating specific topics, methods, concepts, or decisions. It is a mental
shortcut that operates on the notion that if something can be recalled, then it must at least be
as important as alternatives that are less easily recalled.
Dunning–Kruger effect – An effect by which test takers fail to understand their poor
performance because they suffer a double fault: A.) Shortfall of knowledge prevents them
from producing correct responses & B.) Shortfall of knowledge prevents them from
recognizing their lesser responses when compared to those of others.
Overconfidence bias – When one's confidence in their ability is greater than their actual
ability.
Egocentric bias – The tendency to rely too heavily on one's own judgements and abilities,
stemming partially from the need to satisfy one's ego.
Defensive attribution hypothesis – Tendency of people to attribute more blame to the
perpetrator of an accident as the consequences become more severe. However, if people
perceive that they are more similar to the perpetrator characteristically or circumstantially,
they rate the perpetrator as less culpable for the accident as the severity of consequences
increase. If people perceive themselves as less similar, they rate the perpetrator as more
culpable.
Forer effect (Barnum effect) – Placing high belief in a general, vague description thinking it
was meant specifically for an individual. For instance, people interpret horoscopes as
applying to their specific situation, when in actuality the horoscope was written to apply to a
wide range of people's experiences.
Counterfactual thinking – Tendency to think up alternative events or outcomes that might
have happened, but did not.
Belief perseverance – Tendency to continue to maintain one's beliefs despite firm
contradictory information.
Self-fulfilling prophecy – Method by which an individual's expectations about other
individuals or themselves eventually cause actions in ways that confirm those expectations.
Correspondence bias – Tendency to draw inferences about a person's characteristics from
behaviors that could be explained by the situation alone.
Group
Status quo bias – Tendency to favor current or certain circumstances because they are
familiar. Any changes to these circumstances are perceived as a loss.
Ingroup bias – Tendency to favor ones own group members and their actions over those of
outsiders.
Stereotyping – Attributing traits to people based on certain traits of the group they are
perceived to belong to.
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Interaction
Halo effect – Tendency for the observed overall impression of an individual to affect the
observer‘s feelings and thoughts about other attributes or traits of the individual.
False-consensus effect – Tendency for people to overestimate the magnitude to which people
share their behaviors, opinions, and attributes.
Base-rate fallacy – Tendency to prefer specific information over Base rate or generic
information.
Psychological projection – A defense mechanism people unconsciously use to grapple with
challenging feelings or emotions by attributing them to others. This incorporates Blame
shifting.
Actor-Observer bias – Tendency of those acting in a situation to blame their actions on the
situation, while those observing have the tendency to place the blame on the actors.
2.2 COGNITION
Cognition is "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through
thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses many aspects of intellectual functions and
processes such as attention, the formation of knowledge, memory and working memory,
judgment and evaluation, reasoning and "computation", problem solving and decision making,
comprehension and production of language. Cognitive processes use existing knowledge and
generate new knowledge.
The word cognition comes from the Latin verb cognosco (con, 'with', and gnōscō, 'know'; itself a
cognate of the Greek verb, gi(g)nόsko, meaning 'I know, perceive'), meaning 'to conceptualize' or
'to recognize'.
The beginnings of the studies on cognition
The word cognition dates back to the 15th century, when it meant "thinking and awareness‖.
Attention to cognitive processes came about more than eighteen centuries earlier, however,
beginning with Aristotle (384–322 BC) and his interest in the inner workings of the mind and
how they affect the human experience. Aristotle focused on cognitive areas pertaining to
memory, perception, and mental imagery. He placed great importance on ensuring that his
studies were based on empirical evidence, that is, scientific information that is gathered through
observation and conscientious experimentation. Two millennia later, as psychology emerged as a
burgeoning field of study in Europe and then gained a following in America, other scientists like
Wilhelm Wundt, Herman Ebbinghaus, Mary Whiton Calkins, and William James would offer
their contributions to the study of human cognition.
Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) emphasized the notion of what he called introspection: examining
the inner feelings of an individual. With introspection, the subject had to be careful to describe
his or her feelings in the most objective manner possible in order for Wundt to find the
information scientific. Though Wundt's contributions are by no means minimal, modern
psychologists find his methods to be quite subjective and choose to rely on more objective
procedures of experimentation to make conclusions about the human cognitive process.
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William James (1842–1910) is another pivotal figure in the history of cognitive science. James
was quite discontent with Wundt's emphasis on introspection and Ebbinghaus' use of nonsense
stimuli. He instead chose to focus on the human learning experience in everyday life and its
importance to the study of cognition. James' most significant contribution to the study and theory
of cognition was his textbook Principles of Psychology that preliminarily examines aspects of
cognition such as perception, memory, reasoning, and attention.
In psychology
When the mind makes a generalization such as the concept of tree, it extracts similarities from
numerous examples; the simplification enables higher-level thinking (abstract thinking).
In psychology, the term "cognition" is usually used within an information processing view of an
individual's psychological functions (see cognitivism), and it is the same in cognitive
engineering; in a branch of social psychology called social cognition, the term is used to
explain attitudes, attribution, and group dynamics.
Human cognition is conscious and unconscious, concrete or abstract, as well as intuitive (like
knowledge of a language) and conceptual (like a model of a language).
While few people would deny that cognitive processes are a function of the brain, a cognitive
theory will not necessarily make reference to the brain or to biological processes
(compare neurocognitive). It may purely describe behavior in terms of information flow or
function. Relatively recent fields of study such as neuropsychology aim to bridge this gap, using
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cognitive paradigms to understand how the brain implements the information-processing
functions (see also cognitive neuroscience), or to understand how pure information-processing
systems (e.g., computers) can simulate human cognition (see also artificial intelligence). The
branch of psychology that studies brain injury to infer normal cognitive function is
called cognitive neuropsychology. The links of cognition to evolutionary demands are studied
through the investigation of animal cognition.
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Common experiments on human cognition
Serial position
The serial position experiment is meant to test a theory of memory that states that when
information is given in a serial manner, we tend to remember information in the beginning of the
sequence, called the primacy effect, and information in the end of the sequence, called the
recency effect. Consequently, information given in the middle of the sequence is typically
forgotten, or not recalled as easily. This study predicts that the recency effect is stronger than the
primacy effect, because the information that is most recently learned is still in working memory
when asked to be recalled. Information that is learned first still has to go through a retrieval
process. This experiment focuses on human memory processes.
Word superiority
The word superiority experiment presents a subject with a word, or a letter by itself, for a brief
period of time, i.e. 40ms, and they are then asked to recall the letter that was in a particular
location in the word. By theory, the subject should be better able to correctly recall the letter
when it was presented in a word than when it was presented in isolation. This experiment focuses
on human speech and language.
Brown-Peterson
In the Brown-Peterson experiment, participants are briefly presented with a trigram and in one
particular version of the experiment, they are then given a distractor task, asking them to identify
whether a sequence of words are in fact words, or non-words (due to being misspelled, etc.).
After the distractor task, they are asked to recall the trigram from before the distractor task. In
theory, the longer the distractor task, the harder it will be for participants to correctly recall the
trigram. This experiment focuses on human short-term memory.
Memory span
During the memory span experiment, each subject is presented with a sequence of stimuli of the
same kind; words depicting objects, numbers, letters that sound similar, and letters that sound
dissimilar. After being presented with the stimuli, the subject is asked to recall the sequence of
stimuli that they were given in the exact order in which it was given. In one particular version of
the experiment, if the subject recalled a list correctly, the list length was increased by one for that
type of material, and vice versa if it was recalled incorrectly. The theory is that people have a
memory span of about seven items for numbers, the same for letters that sound dissimilar and
short words. The memory span is projected to be shorter with letters that sound similar and with
longer words.
Visual search
In one version of the visual search experiment, a participant is presented with a window that
displays circles and squares scattered across it. The participant is to identify whether there is a
green circle on the window. In the "featured" search, the subject is presented with several trial
windows that have blue squares or circles and one green circle or no green circle in it at all. In
the "conjunctive" search, the subject is presented with trial windows that have blue circles or
green squares and a present or absent green circle whose presence the participant is asked to
identify. What is expected is that in the feature searches, reaction time, that is the time it takes
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for a participant to identify whether a green circle is present or not, should not change as the
number of distractors increases.
Conjunctive searches where the target is absent should have a longer reaction time than the
conjunctive searches where the target is present. The theory is that in feature searches, it is easy
to spot the target, or if it is absent, because of the difference in color between the target and the
distractors. In conjunctive searches where the target is absent, reaction time increases because
the subject has to look at each shape to determine whether it is the target or not because some of
the distractors if not all of them, are the same color as the target stimuli. Conjunctive searches
where the target is present take less time because if the target is found, the search between each
shape stops.
Knowledge representation
The semantic network of knowledge representation systems has been studied in various
paradigms. One of the oldest paradigms is the leveling and sharpening of stories as they are
repeated from memory studied by Bartlett. The semantic differential used factor analysis to
determine the main meanings of words, finding that value or "goodness" of words is the first
factor. More controlled experiments examine the categorical relationships of words in free recall.
The hierarchical structure of words has been explicitly mapped in George Miller's Wordnet.
More dynamic models of semantic networks have been created and tested with neural
network experiments based on computational systems such as latent semantic
analysis (LSA), Bayesian analysis, and multidimensional factor analysis. The semantics
(meaning) of words is studied by all the disciplines of cognitive science.
Recent developments
An emergent field of research, referred to as "Team Cognition", is arising in military sciences.
"Team cognition" indicates ―an emergent property of teams that results from the interplay of
individual cognition and team process behaviors [...] [Team cognition] underlies team
performance‖
Metacognition
Metacognition is "cognition about cognition", "thinking about thinking", "knowing about
knowing", becoming "aware of one's awareness" and higher-order thinking skills. The term
comes from the root word meta, meaning "beyond". Metacognition can take many forms; it
includes knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or problem-
solving. There are generally two components of metacognition:
(1) knowledge about cognition and
(2) Regulation of cognition.
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Some evolutionary psychologists hypothesize that humans use metacognition as a survival tool,
which would make metacognition the same across cultures. Writings on metacognition date back
at least as far as two works by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC): On the Soul and
the Parva Naturalia
Interpersonal attraction is the attraction between people which leads to the development
of platonic or romantic relationships. It is distinct from perceptions such as physical
attractiveness, and involves views of what is and what is not considered beautiful or attractive.
Measurement
In social psychology, interpersonal attraction is most-frequently measured using the
Interpersonal Attraction Judgment Scale developed by Donn Byrne. It is a scale in which a
subject rates another person on factors such as intelligence, knowledge of current events,
morality, adjustment, likability, and desirability as a work partner. This scale seems to be directly
related with other measures of social attraction such as social choice, feelings of desire for a
date, sexual partner or spouse, voluntary physical proximity, frequency of eye contact, etc.
Kiesler and Goldberg analyzed a variety of response measures that were typically utilized as
measures of attraction and extracted two factors: the first, characterized as primarily
socioemotional, included variables such as liking, desirability of the person's inclusion in social
clubs and parties, seating choices, and lunching together. The second factor included variables
such as voting for, admiration and respect for, and also seeking the opinion of the target. Another
widely used measurement technique scales verbal responses expressed as subjective ratings or
judgments of the person of interest.
Causes
There are many factors that lead to interpersonal attraction. Studies suggest that all factors
involve social reinforcement. The most frequently studied include physical
attractiveness propinquity (frequency of
interaction), familiarity, similarity, complementarity, reciprocal liking, and reinforcement.
The impact of familiarity, for example, is shown in the way physical proximity and interaction
enhances cohesiveness, a social concept that facilitates communication and positive attitude
towards a particular individual on account of similarities or the ability to satisfy important goals.
Similarity is believed to more likely lead to liking and attraction rather than differences.
Numerous studies have focused on the role of physical attractiveness to personal attraction. One
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finding was that people tend to attribute positive qualities such as intelligence, competence, and
warmth to individuals who have a pleasing physical appearance.
Propinquity effect
The propinquity effect relies on the observation that: "The more we see and interact with a
person, the more likely he or she is to become our friend or sexual partner." This effect is very
similar to the mere exposure effect in that the more a person is exposed to a stimulus, the more
the person likes it; however, there are exceptions. Familiarity can also occur without physical
exposure. Recent studies show that relationships formed over the Internet resemble those
developed face-to-face, in terms of perceived quality and depth.
Exposure effect
The exposure effect, also known as the familiarity principle, states that the more a person is
exposed to something, the more they come to like it. This applies equally to both objects and
people. A clear illustration is in a 1992 study: the researchers had four women of similar
appearance attend a large college course over a semester such that each woman attended a
different number of sessions (0, 5, 10, or 15). Students then rated the women for perceived
familiarity, attractiveness and similarity at the end of the term. Results indicated a strong effect
of exposure on attraction that was mediated by the effect of exposure on familiarity. However,
exposure does not always increase attraction. For example, the social allergy effect can occur
when a person grows increasingly annoyed by and hypersensitive to another's repeated behaviors
instead of growing more fond of his or her idiosyncrasies over time.
General
The proverb "birds of a feather flock together" has been used to illustrate that similarity is a
crucial determinant of interpersonal attraction. Studies about attraction indicate that people are
strongly attracted to lookalikes in physical and social appearance. This similarity is in the
broadest sense: similarity in bone-structure, characteristics, life goals and physical appearance.
The more these points match, the happier people are in a relationship.
The lookalike effect plays the role of self-affirmation. A person typically enjoys receiving
confirmation of aspects of his or her life, ideas, attitudes and personal characteristics, and people
seem to look for an image of them to spend their life with. A basic principle of interpersonal
attraction is the rule of similarity: similarity is attractive — an underlying principle that applies
to both friendships and romantic relationships. The proportion of attitudes shared correlates well
with the degree of interpersonal attraction. Cheerful people like to be around other cheerful
people and negative people would rather be around other negative people. A 2004 study, based
on indirect evidence, concluded that humans choose mates based partly on facial resemblance to
themselves.
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According to Morry's attraction-similarity model (2007), there is a lay belief that people with
actual similarity produce initial attraction. The perceived similarity is either self-serving, as in a
friendship, or relationship-serving, as in a romantic relationship. In a 1963 study, Theodore
Newcomb pointed out that people tend to change perceived similarity to obtain balance in a
relationship. Additionally, perceived but not actual similarity was found to predict interpersonal
attraction during a face-to-face initial romantic encounter.
In a 1988 study, Lydon, Jamieson & Zanna suggest that interpersonal similarity and attraction
are multidimensional constructs in which people are attracted to people similar to themselves in
demographics, physical appearance, attitudes, interpersonal style, social and cultural background,
personality, preferred interests and activities, and communication and social skills. Newcomb's
earlier 1961 study on college-dorm roommates also suggested that individuals with shared
backgrounds, academic achievements, attitudes, values, and political views typically became
friends.
Physical appearance
The matching hypothesis proposed by sociologist Erving Goffman suggests that people are more
likely to form long standing relationships with those who are equally matched in social
attributes, like physical attractiveness. The study by researchers Walster and Walster supported
the matching hypothesis by showing that partners who were similar in terms of physical
attractiveness expressed the most liking for each other.
Another study also found evidence that supported the matching hypothesis photos of dating and
engaged couples were rated in terms of attractiveness, and a definite tendency was found for
couples of similar attractiveness to date or engage. Several studies support this evidence of
similar facial attractiveness. Penton-Voak, Perrett and Peirce (1999) found that subjects rated the
pictures with their own face morphed into it as more attractive. DeBruine (2002) demonstrated in
her research how subjects entrusted more money to their opponents in a game play, when the
opponents were presented as similar to them. Little, Burt & Perrett (2006) examined similarity in
sight for married couples and found that the couples were assessed at the same age and level of
attractiveness.
A speed-dating experiment done on graduate students from Columbia University showed that
although physical attractiveness is preferred in a potential partner, men show a greater preference
for it than women. However, more recent work suggests that sex differences in stated ideal
partner-preferences for physical attractiveness disappear when examining actual preferences for
real-life potential partners. For example, Eastwick and Finkel (2008) failed to find sex
differences in the association between initial ratings of physical attractiveness and romantic
interest in potential partners during a speed dating paradigm.
Quality of voice
In addition to physical looks, quality of voice has also been shown to enhance
interpersonal attraction. Oguchi and Kikuchi (1997) had 25 female students from one university
rank the level of vocal attraction, physical attraction, and overall interpersonal attraction of 4
male students from another university. Vocal and physical attractiveness had independent effects
on overall interpersonal attraction. In a second part of the same study, these results were
replicated in a larger sample of students for both genders (62 subjects, 20 males and 42 females
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with 16 target students, 8 males and 8 females).Similarly, Zuckerman, Miyake and Hodgins
(1991) found that both vocal and physical attractiveness contributed significantly to observers'
ratings of targets for general attractiveness. These results suggest that when people evaluate one's
voice as attractive, they also tend to evaluate that person as attractive.
Attitudes
According to the law of attraction by Byrne (1971), attraction towards a person is positively
related to the proportion of 'attitude similarity' associated with that person. Based on
the cognitive consistency theories, difference in attitudes and interests can lead to dislike and
avoidance whereas similarity in attitudes promotes social attraction. Miller (1972) pointed out
that attitude similarity activates the perceived attractiveness and favorability information from
each other, whereas dissimilarity would reduce the impact of these cues.
The studies by Jamieson, Lydon and Zanna (1987–88) showed that attitude similarity could
predict how people evaluate their respect for each other, and also predict social and intellectual
first impressions – the former by activity preference similarity and the latter by value-based
attitude similarity. In intergroup comparisons, high attitude-similarity would lead to homogeneity
among in-group members whereas low attitude-similarity would lead to diversity among in-
group members, promoting social attraction and achieving high group performance in different
tasks.
Although attitude similarity and attraction are linearly related, attraction may not contribute
significantly to attitude change.
Activity similarity was especially predictive of liking judgments, which affects the judgments of
attraction. According to the post-conversation measures of social attraction, tactical similarity
was positively correlated with partner satisfaction and global competence ratings, but was
uncorrelated with the opinion change and perceived persuasiveness measures.
When checking similar variables they were also seen as more similar on a number of personality
characteristics. This study found that the length of the average relationship was related to
perceptions of similarity; the couples who were together longer were seen as more equal. This
effect can be attributed to the fact that when time passes by couples become more alike through
shared experiences, or that couples that are alike stay together longer.
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Similarity has effects on starting a relationship by initial attraction to know each other. It is
shown that high attitude similarity resulted in a significant increase in initial attraction to the
target person and high attitude dissimilarity resulted in a decrease of initial attraction. Similarity
also promotes relationship commitment. Study on heterosexual dating couples found that
similarity in intrinsic values of the couple was linked to relationship commitment and stability.
Social homogamy refers to "passive, indirect effects on spousal similarity". The result showed
that age and education level are crucial in affecting the mate preference. Because people with
similar age study and interact more in the same form of the school, propinquity effect (i.e., the
tendency of people to meet and spend time with those who share the common characteristics)
plays a significant impact in spousal similarity. Convergence refers to an increasing similarity
with time. Although the previous research showed that there is a greater effect on attitude and
value than on personality traits, however, it is found that initial assortment (i.e., similarity within
couples at the beginning of marriage) rather than convergence, plays a crucial role in explaining
spousal similarity.
Active assortment refers to direct effects on choosing someone similar to oneself in mating
preferences. The data showed that there is a greater effect on political and religious attitudes than
on personality traits. A follow-up issue on the reason of the finding was raised. The concepts of
idiosyncratic (i.e. different individuals have different mate preferences) and consensual (i.e. a
consensus of preference on some prospective mates to others) in mate preference. The data
showed that mate preference on political and religious bases tend to be idiosyncratic, for
example, a Catholic would be more likely to choose a mate who is also a Catholic, as opposed to
a Buddhist. Such idiosyncratic preferences produce a high level of active assortment which plays
a vital role in affecting spousal similarity. In summary, active assortment plays a large role,
whereas convergence has little evidence on showing such effect.
Complementarity
The model of complementarity explains whether "birds of a feather flock together" or "opposites
attract".
Studies show that complementary interaction between two partners increases their attractiveness
to each other. Complementary partners preferred closer interpersonal relationship. Couples who
reported the highest level of loving and harmonious relationship were more dissimilar in
dominance than couples who scored lower in relationship quality.
Mathes and Moore (1985) found that people were more attracted to peers approximating to their
ideal self than to those who did not. Specifically, low self-esteem individuals appeared more
likely to desire a complementary relationship than high self-esteem people. We are attracted to
people who complement us because this allows us to maintain our preferred style of
behavior, and interaction with someone who complements our own behavior likely confers a
sense of self-validation and security.
Similarity or complementarity
Principles of similarity and complementarity seem to be contradictory on the surface. In fact,
they agree on the dimension of warmth. Both principles state that friendly people would prefer
friendly partners.
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The importance of similarity and complementarity may depend on the stage of the relationship.
Similarity seems to carry considerable weight in initial attraction, while complementarity
assumes importance as the relationship develops over time. Markey (2007) found that people
would be more satisfied with their relationship if their partners differed from them, at least in
terms of dominance, as two dominant persons may experience conflicts while two submissive
individuals may have frustration as neither take the initiative.
Perception and actual behavior might not be congruent with each other. There were cases that
dominant people perceived their partners to be similarly dominant, yet to independent observers,
the actual behavior of their partner was submissive, i.e. complementary to them. Why people
perceive their romantic partners to be similar to them despite evidence of the contrary remains
unclear.
Evolutionary theories
The evolutionary theory of human interpersonal attraction states that opposite-sex attraction most
often occurs when someone has physical features indicating that he or she is very fertile.
Considering that one primary purpose of conjugal/romantic relationships is reproduction, it
would follow that people invest in partners who appear very fertile, increasing the chance of their
genes being passed down to the next generation. This theory has been criticized because it does
not explain relationships between same-sex couples or couples who do not want children,
although this may have something to do with the fact that whether one wants children or not one
is still subject to the evolutionary forces which produce them.
Evolutionary theory also suggests that people whose physical features suggest they are healthy
are seen as more attractive. The theory suggests that a healthy mate is more likely to possess
genetic traits related to health that would be passed on to offspring. People's tendency to consider
people with facial symmetry more attractive than those with less symmetrical faces is one
example. However, a test was conducted that found that perfectly symmetrical faces were less
attractive than normal faces. According to this study, the exact ratio of symmetric to asymmetric
facial features depicting the highest attraction is still undetermined.
It has also been suggested that people are attracted to faces similar to their own as these features
serve as cues of kinship. This preference for facial-resemblance is thought to vary across
contexts. For example, a study by DeBruine et al. (2008) found that individuals rated faces which
had been manipulated to be similar to their own as having more prosocial attributes, but were
less likely to find them sexually attractive. These results support "inclusive fitness theory",
which predicts that organisms will help closely related kin over more distant relatives. Results
further suggest inherent mate-selective mechanisms that consider costs of inbreeding to offspring
health.
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Breaking up
There are several reasons that a relationship, whether friendly or romantic, may come to an end
(break up). One reason derives from the equity theory: if a person in the relationship feels that
the personal costs of being in the relationship outweigh the rewards there is a strong chance that
this person will end the relationship. For instance, the costs may outweigh the rewards due to
guilt and shame.
Social motives are complex motive states. They are called social because they are learned in
―social groups‖, especially in the family.
Social motives are also called as learned motives or secondary motives. There are many social
motives. Murray has classified social motives into 17 different types. Morgan et al has classified
social motives into the following types namely.
(a) Need for achievement
(b) Need for power
(c) Human aggression
(d) Need for affiliation
We will, briefly, discuss these above mentioned social motives.
People with a strong achievement motive choose tasks which are neither very easy nor very
difficult but the one which they are confident of accomplishing through their best efforts.
The need for achievement is considerably influenced by the following factors:
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It is another factor which influences the need for achievement. Women generally show a low
level of need for achievement as compared to men. Horner found that in many women the need
for achievement is suppressed due to the fear of success because success in a conventional task
does not always bring social success.
David McClelland, Atkinson and Litwin has done considerable work on the need for
achievement. Mc-Celland has observed that need for achievement is related to economic growth.
Societies with a high need for achievement have a high rate of economic growth than societies
with a low need for achievement.
Psychologists have developed tests to measure social motives in general and need for
achievement in particular. Projective tests are generally used to measure the need for
achievement. One of the well-known projective tests is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
Characteristics of People who have high need for achievement:
(1) Those that have a high need for achievement prefer to work on moderately challenging tasks
which promise success. They do not like to work on very easy tasks where there is no challenge
and so no satisfaction of their achievement needs. Nor do they like very difficult tasks, where the
likelihood of their success is low.
(2) High achievers like tasks in which their performance can be compared with that of others.
They like feedback on how they are doing.
(3) Those high in need for achievement tend to be persistent in working on tasks they perceive as
career-related or as reflecting those personal characteristics (such as intelligence) which are
involved in ‗getting ahead‘.
(4) When such individuals are successful, they tend to raise their level of aspiration in a realistic
way so that they will move on to slightly more challenging and difficult tasks.
(5) Individuals with a high need for achievement like to work in a situation in which they have
some control over the outcome. They are not gamblers.
Following are some of the ways in which people with high motivation express themselves:
(1) By impulsive and aggressive action.
(2) By participation in competitive sports such as hockey, football, boxing swimming, etc.
(3) By joining organizations and holding office in the organizations.
(4) Among men, by drinking and sexually dominating women.
(5) By obtaining and collecting possessions, such as fancy for cars, guns, elaborate stereo sets,
numerous credit cards, and the like.
(6) By associating with people who are no particularly popular with others and who perhaps, are
more easily controlled.
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(7) By choosing occupations such as teaching, diplomacy, business, clergy, etc. in which, people
in high need for power, have a chance to have an impact on others.
(8) By building and disciplining their bodies; this seems especially characteristic of women with
strong power needs.
Related to power motivation is a concept of Machiavellianism. The term machiavellianism has
been coined in psychology to describe people who express their power motivation by
manipulating and exploiting others in a deceptive and unscrupulous fashion.
Need for affiliation has also been studied to a very great extent by McClelland and Atkinson
using the TAT cards and other related projective technique.
Bandura‘s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation,
imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and
cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation.
People learn through observing others‘ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors.
―Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one
forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded
information serves as a guide for action.‖ (Bandura). Social learning theory explains human
behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and
environmental influences.
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Attention various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid. Includes
distinctiveness, affective valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value. One‘s characteristics
(e.g. sensory capacities, arousal level, and perceptual set, past reinforcement) affect attention.
Retention — remembering what you paid attention to. Includes symbolic coding, mental images,
cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal
Reproduction — reproducing the image. Including physical capabilities, and self-observation of
reproduction.
Motivation — having a good reason to imitate. Includes motives such as past (i.e. traditional
behaviorism), promised (imagined incentives) and vicarious (seeing and recalling the reinforced
model)
Bandura believed in ―reciprocal determinism‖, that is, the world and a person‘s behavior cause
each other, while behaviorism essentially states that one‘s environment causes one‘s behavior,
Bandura, who was studying adolescent aggression, found this too simplistic, and so in addition
he suggested that behavior causes environment as well. Later, Bandura soon considered
personality as an interaction between three components: the environment, behavior, and one‘s
psychological processes (one‘s ability to entertain images in minds and language).
Social learning theory has sometimes been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive
learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation. The theory is
related to Vygotsky‘s Social Development Theoryand Lave‘s Situated Learning, which also
emphasize the importance of social learning.
Social Learning Theory is a theory of learning and social behavior which proposes that new
behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. It states that learning is a cognitive
process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct
instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. In addition to the
observation of behavior, learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and
punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement. When a particular behavior is
rewarded regularly, it will most likely persist; conversely, if a particular behavior is constantly
punished, it will most likely desist. The theory expands on traditional behavioral theories, in
which behavior is governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the important roles
of various internal processes in the learning individual.
In the 1940s, B.F. Skinner delivered a series of lectures in Sunyani Fiapre, Ghana on verbal
behavior, putting forth a more empirical approach to the subject than existed in psychology at the
time. In them, he proposed the use of stimulus-response theories to describe language use and
development, and that all verbal behavior was underpinned by operant conditioning. He did
however mention that some forms of speech derived from words and sounds that had previously
been heard (echoic response), and that reinforcement from parents allowed these 'echoic
responses' to be pared down to that of understandable speech. While he denied that there was any
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"instinct or faculty of imitation", Skinner's behaviorist theories formed a basis for redevelopment
into Social Learning Theory.
At around the same time, Clark Lewis Hull, an American psychologist, was a strong proponent
of behaviorist stimulus-response theories, and headed a group at Yale University's Institute of
Human Relations. Under him, Neil Miller and John Dollard aimed to come up with a
reinterpretation of psychoanalytic theory in terms of stimulus-response. This led to their
book, Social Learning Theory, published in 1941, which posited that personality consisted of
learned habits. They used Hull's drive theory, where a drive is a need that stimulates a behavioral
response, crucially conceiving a drive of imitation, which was positively reinforced by social
interaction and widespread as a result.
Julian B. Rotter, a professor at Ohio State University published his book, Social Learning and
Clinical Psychology in 1954. His theories moved away from the strictly behaviorist learning of
the past, and considered instead the holistic interaction between the individual and the
environment. In his theory, the social environment and individual personality created
probabilities of behavior, and the reinforcement of these behaviors led to learning. He
emphasized the subjective nature of the responses and effectiveness of reinforcement types.
While his theory used vocabulary common to that of behaviorism, the focus on internal
functioning and traits differentiated his theories, and can be seen as a precursor to more cognitive
approaches to learning.
Within this context, Albert Bandura studied learning processes that occurred in interpersonal
contexts and were not adequately explained by theories of operant conditioning or existing
models of social learning.[ Specifically, Bandura argued that "the weaknesses of learning
approaches that discount the influence of social variables are nowhere more clearly revealed than
in their treatment of the acquisition of novel responses." Skinner's explanation of the acquisition
of new responses relied on the process of successive approximation, which required multiple
trials, reinforcement for components of behavior, and gradual change. Rotter's theory proposed
that the likelihood of a behavior occurring was a function of the subjective expectancy and value
of the reinforcement. This model assumed a hierarchy of existing responses and thus did not
(according to Bandura) account for a response that had not yet been learned. Bandura began to
conduct studies of the rapid acquisition of novel behaviors via social observation, the most
famous of which were the Bobo doll experiments.
Theory
Social Learning Theory integrated behavioral and cognitive theories of learning in order to
provide a comprehensive model that could account for the wide range of learning experiences
that occur in the real world. As initially outlined by Bandura and Walters in 1963 and further
detailed in 1977, key tenets of Social Learning Theory are as follows:
1. Learning is not purely behavioral; rather, it is a cognitive process that takes place in a social
context.
2. Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing the consequences of the
behavior (vicarious reinforcement).
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3. Learning involves observation, extraction of information from those observations, and
making decisions about the performance of the behavior (observational learning
or modeling). Thus, learning can occur without an observable change in behavior.
4. Reinforcement plays a role in learning but is not entirely responsible for learning.
5. The learner is not a passive recipient of information. Cognition, environment, and behavior
all mutually influence each other (reciprocal determinism).
Exactly what information is gleaned from observation is influenced by the type of model, as well
as a series of cognitive and behavioral processes, including:
Attention – in order to learn, observers must attend to the modeled behavior. Experimental
studies [have found that awareness of what is being learned and the mechanisms of
reinforcement greatly boosts learning outcomes. Attention is impacted by characteristics of
the observer (e.g., perceptual abilities, cognitive abilities, arousal, past performance) and
characteristics of the behavior or event (e.g., relevance, novelty, affective valence, and
functional value). In this way, social factors contribute to attention – the prestige of different
models affects the relevance and functional value of observation and therefore modulates
attention.
Retention – In order to reproduce an observed behavior, observers must be able to remember
features of the behavior. Again, this process is influenced by observer characteristics
(cognitive capabilities, cognitive rehearsal) and event characteristics (complexity). The
cognitive processes underlying retention are described by Bandura as visual and verbal,
where verbal descriptions of models are used in more complex scenarios.
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Reproduction – By reproduction, Bandura refers not to the propagation of the model but the
implementation of it. This requires a degree of cognitive skill, and may in some cases
require sensorimotor capabilities. Reproduction can be difficult because in the case of
behaviors that are reinforced through self-observation (he cites improvement in sports), it can
be difficult to observe behavior well. This can require the input of others to provide self-
correcting feedback. Newer studies on feedback support this idea by suggesting effective
feedback, which would help with observation and correction improves the performance on
participants on tasks.
Motivation – The decision to reproduce (or refrain from reproducing) an observed behavior
is dependent on the motivations and expectations of the observer, including anticipated
consequences and internal standards. Bandura's description of motivation is also
fundamentally based on environmental and thus social factors, since motivational factors are
driven by the functional value of different behaviors in a given environment.
The theory builds on extant social theory by suggesting that social learning abilities, like
Bandura's cognitive processes required for modeling, correlate with other forms of intelligence
and learning. Experimental evidence has shown that humans over imitate behavior compared to
chimpanzees, lending credence to the idea that we have selected for methods of social
learning. Some academics have suggested that our ability to learn socially and culturally have led
to our success as a species.
When the primate witnessed another individual cracking nuts with a hammer, the mirror neuron
systems became activated as the primate learned to use the hammer to crack nuts. However,
when the primate was not presented with a social learning opportunity, the mirror neuron
systems did not activate and learning did not occur. Similar studies with humans also show
similar evidence to the human mirror neuron system activating when observing another person
perform a physical task. The activation of the mirror neuron system is thought to be critical for
the understanding of goal directed behaviors and understanding their intention. Although still
controversial, this provides a direct neurological link to understanding social cognition.
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Applications
Criminology
Social Learning Theory has been used to explain the emergence and maintenance of deviant
behavior, especially aggression. Criminologists Ronald Akers and Robert Burgess integrated the
principles of Social Learning Theory and operant conditioning with Edwin
Sutherland's Differential Association Theory to create a comprehensive theory of criminal
behavior.[24][25] Burgess and Akers emphasized that criminal behavior is learned in both social
and nonsocial situations through combinations of direct reinforcement, vicarious reinforcement,
explicit instruction, and observation. Both the probability of being exposed to certain behaviors
and the nature of the reinforcement are dependent on group norms.
Developmental psychology
In her book Theories of Developmental Psychology, Patricia H. Miller lists both moral
development and gender-role development as important areas of research within Social Learning
Theory. Social learning theorists emphasize observable behavior regarding the acquisition of
these two skills. For gender-role development, the same-sex parent provides only one of many
models from which the individual learns gender-roles. Social Learning Theory also emphasizes
the variable nature of moral development due to the changing social circumstances of each
decision: "The particular factors the child thinks are important vary from situation to situation,
depending on variables such as which situational factors are operating, which causes are most
salient, and what the child processes cognitively. Moral judgments involve a complex process of
considering and weighing various criteria in a given social situation."
For Social Learning Theory, gender development has to do with the interactions of numerous
social factors, involving all the interactions the individual encounters. For Social Learning
Theory, biological factors are important but take a back seat to the importance of learned,
observable behavior. Because of the highly gendered society in which an individual might
develop, individuals begin to distinguish people by gender even as infants. Bandura's account of
gender allows for more than cognitive factors in predicting gendered behavior: for Bandura,
motivational factors and a broad network of social influences determine if, when, and where
gender knowledge is expressed.
Management
Social Learning Theory proposes that rewards aren't the sole force behind creating motivation.
Thoughts, beliefs, morals, and feedback all help to motivate us. Three other ways in which we
learn are vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. Modeling, or the
scenario in which we see someone's behaviors and adopt them as our own, aide the learning
process as well as mental states and the cognitive process.
Media violence
Principles of Social Learning Theory have been applied extensively to the study of media
violence. Akers and Burgess hypothesized that observed or experienced positive rewards and
lack of punishment for aggressive behaviors reinforces aggression. Many research studies have
discovered significant correlations between viewing violent television and aggression later in life
and many have not, as well as playing violent video games and aggressive behaviors.[27][28] The
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role of observational learning has also been cited as an important factor in the rise of rating
systems for TV, movies, and video games.
Within this formula there are at least three doubters that represent the demographic group within
the target population. One of these doubters will accept the value less than halfway through, the
second will accept the value two-thirds of the way through and the third doubter does not accept
the value and is seriously punished. This doubter is usually killed. Positive social behaviors are
reinforced with rewards and negative social behaviors are reinforced with punishment. At the
end of the episode a short epilog done by a recognizable figure summarizes the educational
content and within the program viewers are given resources in their community.
Any effort to change beliefs must be directed towards the sociocultural norms and practices at
the social system level. Before a drama is developed, extensive research is done through focus
groups that represent the different sectors within a culture. Participants are asked what problems
in society concern them most and what obstacles they face, giving creators of the drama
culturally relevant information to incorporate into the show.
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Psychotherapy
Another important application of Social Learning Theory has been in the treatment and
conceptualization of anxiety disorders. The classical conditioning approach to anxiety disorders,
which spurred the development of behavioral therapy and is considered by some to be the first
modern theory of anxiety, began to lose steam in the late 1970s as researchers began to question
its underlying assumptions.
For example, the classical conditioning approach holds that pathological fear and anxiety are
developed through direct learning; however, many people with anxiety disorders cannot recall a
traumatic conditioning event, in which the feared stimulus was experienced in close temporal
and spatial contiguity with an intrinsically aversive stimulus. Social Learning Theory helped
salvage learning approaches to anxiety disorders by providing additional mechanisms beyond
classical conditioning that could account for the acquisition of fear.
For example, Social Learning Theory suggests that a child could acquire a fear of snakes by
observing a family member express fear in response to snakes. Alternatively, the child could
learn the associations between snakes and unpleasant bites through direct experience, without
developing excessive fear, but could later learn from others that snakes can have deadly venom,
leading to a re-evaluation of the dangerousness of snake bites, and accordingly, a more
exaggerated fear response to snakes.
School psychology
Many classroom and teaching strategies draw on principles of social learning to enhance
students' knowledge acquisition and retention. For example, using the technique of guided
participation, a teacher says a phrase and asks the class to repeat the phrase. Thus, students both
imitate and reproduce the teacher's action, aiding retention. An extension of guided participation
is reciprocal learning, in which both student and teacher share responsibility in leading
discussions.
Additionally, teachers can shape the classroom behavior of students by modeling appropriate
behavior and visibly rewarding students for good behavior. By emphasizing the teacher's role as
model and encouraging the students to adopt the position of observer, the teacher can make
knowledge and practices explicit to students, enhancing their learning outcomes.
Compared with other bio-inspired global optimization algorithms that mimic natural evolution or
animal behaviors, the social learning algorithm has its prominent advantages. First, since the
self-improvement through learning is more direct and rapid than the evolution process, the social
learning algorithm can improve the efficiency of the algorithms mimicking natural evolution.
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Second, compared with the interaction and learning behaviors in animal groups, the social
learning process of human beings exhibits a higher level of intelligence.
By emulating human learning behaviors, it is possible to arrive at more effective optimizers than
existing swarm intelligence algorithms. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness
and efficiency of the social learning algorithm, which has in turn also verified through computer
simulations the outcomes of the social learning behavior in human society.
Socialization theory, the notion that boys and girls become different because boys are reinforced
by parents, teachers, and the media for being "masculine," and girls for being "feminine," is
probably the most widely held theory of sex differences in personality The theory can be
summarized as follows: Boys are given baseball bats and trucks. Girls are given dolls. Boys are
praised for engaging in rough-and-tumble play. Girls are praised for being cute and obedient.
Both socialization and social learning theories hold that gender roles have their roots in early
sex-differentiated learning experiences—in short, boys are encouraged in one direction, girls are
encouraged in another direction.
Boys are punished for crying. Girls are comforted when they cry. Over time, according to
socialization theory, children learn the classes of behaviors deemed appropriate for their sex.
In Bandura's (1977) social learning theory, a variant of socialization theory, boys and girls also
learn by observing the behaviors of others, called models, of their own sex. Boys watch their
fathers, male teachers, and male peers. Girls watch their mothers, female teachers, and female
peer models. Boys see their fathers work. Girls see their mothers cook. Over time, even in the
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absence of direct reinforcement, these models provide a guide to behaviors that are masculine or
feminine.
Some empirical evidence exists to support socialization and social learning theories of sex
differences. Studies of socialization practices have found that both mothers and fathers
encourage dependency more in girls than in boys (Block, 1983). Furthermore, parents encourage
girls to stay close to home, whereas boys are permitted or even encouraged to roam. Other
studies suggest that fathers engage in more physical play with their sons than with their
daughters (Fagot & Leinbach, 1987).
Finally, it is clear that parents provide "gendered toys" to their children. Boys generally receive a
greater variety of toys, more cars and trucks, more sports equipment, and more tools than girls do
(Rheingold & Cook, 1975). Girls receive more dolls, pink clothing and furnishings, strollers,
swings, and household appliances. There is considerable empirical evidence that is consistent
with socialization and social learning theory.
Cross-cultural evidence for different treatment of boys and girls exists as well. In many cultures,
fathers do not interact with their daughters as much as with their sons (Whiting & Edwards,
1988). Girls in most cultures tend to be assigned more domestic chores than boys. Boys are
permitted in most cultures to stray farther from home than are girls (Hoyenga & Hoyenga, 1993).
Finally, boys in most cultures are socialized to be more competitive than are girls (Low, 1989).
In a large study of socialization practices across cultures, Low (1989) found that, in 82 percent of
the cultures, the girls were trained to be more nurturant than the boys, and there were no cultures
that showed the opposite pattern. Interestingly, in the majority of the cultures, the girls were
socialized to be more sexually restrained than the boys—that is, the parents tried to teach their
daughters to delay having sexual intercourse, whereas the boys were encouraged to have sexual
intercourse (Low, 1989). In summary, the cross-cultural evidence tells us that patterns of
socialization found in the United States are not unique.
One potential difficulty, however, pertains to the direction of effects— whether parents are
socializing children in sex-linked ways or whether children are channeling their parents' behavior
to correspond to their existing sex-linked preferences (e.g., Scarr & McCartney, 1983). Perhaps
the interests of the children drive the parents' behavior, rather than the other way around. Parents
may start out by giving a variety of toys to their children; however, if boys show no interest in
dolls and girls show no interest in trucks, then over time parents may stop purchasing masculine
toys for their daughters and feminine toys for their sons. The simple theory that the causal arrow
runs one way—from parents to children—is at least open to question.
Another problem for traditional theories of socialization is that they provide no account of the
origins of differential parental socialization practices. Why do parents want their boys and girls
to grow up differently? Are these sex-linked socialization practices limited to America and other
Western cultures, or are they seen universally? Ideally, a comprehensive theory of the origins of
sex differences should be able to account for the origins of sex-linked socialization practices. In
sum, parents undoubtedly treat boys and girls differently, supporting the theory of sex-linked
socialization of personality, but the origins of these practices currently remain a mystery.
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The men and women assigned to the supervisor role displayed significantly more dominance,
whereas those assigned the supervisee rol displayed significantly more submissiveness
(Moskowitz, Suh, & Desaulniers, 1994) These findings are especially important in that the
design of the study was within subject. That is, when the roles were reversed, the people who
formerly displayed dominance displayed submissiveness when they were put in a supervisee
role, whereas the people who formerly were submissive became more dominant when they were
assigned to the supervisor role.
Like socialization theory, however, social role theory fails to provide an account of the origins of
sex-linked roles. Who assigns the different roles? Why should men and women passively accept
the roles they are assigned? Why don‘t children follow the role of sitting quietly on airplanes or
eating their spinach? Why do women assume domestic roles more than men? Are these roles
found in all cultures?
Social role theory, however, is becoming increasingly testable, as family and occupational roles
change.
Women are assuming breadwinning roles more often than in the past, and men are assuming
greater responsibility for domestic duties. With these changes, if social role theory is correct, sex
differences should diminish as well. In other words, researchers 20 years from now should find
smaller sex differences in assertiveness and tender -mindedness than they do today. If, on the
other hand, sex differences persist, despite increased equality in role assignment, this will
constitute empirical evidence against social role theory.
Pro-social behavior, or ―Intended to benefit another", is a social behavior that "benefit[s] other
people or society as a whole", "such as helping, sharing, donating, co-operating, and
volunteering". Obeying the rules and conforming to socially accepted behaviors (such as
stopping at a "Stop" sign or paying for groceries) are also regarded as prosocial behaviors. These
actions may be motivated by empathy and by concern about the welfare and rights of others, as
well as for egoistic or practical concerns, such as one's social status or reputation, hope for direct
or indirect reciprocity, or adherence to one's perceived system of fairness.
It may also be motivated by altruism, though the existence of pure altruism is somewhat
disputed, and some have argued that this falls into philosophical rather than psychological realm
of debate. Evidence suggests that pro sociality is central to the well-being of social groups across
a range of scales, including schools. Pro-social behavior in the classroom can have a significant
impact on a student's motivation for learning and contributions to the classroom and larger
community. Empathy is a strong motive in eliciting pro-social behavior, and has deep
evolutionary roots.
Pro-social behavior fosters positive traits that are beneficial for children and society.
Evolutionary psychologists use theories such as kin-selection theory and inclusive fitness as an
explanation for why pro-social behavioral tendencies are passed down generationally, according
to the evolutionary fitness displayed by those who engaged in prosocial acts. Encouraging
prosocial behavior may also require decreasing or eliminating undesirable social behaviors.
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Although the term "prosocial behavior" is often associated with developing desirable traits in
children, the literature on the topic has grown since the late 1980s to include adult behaviors as
well.
Reciprocal altruism suggests that "such helping is driven by a genetic tendency". Thus some
professionals argue that altruism may not exist, and is completely motivated by
reciprocity. Either reciprocity or altruism may motivate many important prosocial behaviors,
including sharing.
The decision model of bystander intervention noted that whether or not an individual gives aid in
a situation depends upon their analysis of the situation. An individual will consider whether or
not the situation requires their assistance, if the assistance is the responsibility of the individual,
and how to help.
This model, proposed by Latane and Darley, describes five things that must occur in order for a
person to intervene:
1. Notice the situation
2. Construe it as an emergency.
3. Develop feelings of responsibility.
4. Believe they have skills to succeed.
5. Reach a conscious decision to help.
The number of individuals present in the situation requiring help is also a mediating factor in
one‘s decision to give aid, where the more individuals are present, the less likely it is for one
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particular individual to give aid due to a reduction in perceived personal responsibility.[19] This is
known as diffusion of responsibility, where the responsibility one feels for the person(s) in need
is divided by the number of bystanders. Another factor that comes into play is evaluation
apprehension, which simply refers to the fear of being judged by other bystanders. Finally,
pluralistic ignorance may also lead to someone not intervening. This refers to relying on the
reaction of others, before reacting yourself.
Additionally, Piliavin et al., (1981) noted that individuals are likely to maximize their rewards
and minimize their costs when determining whether or not to give aid in a situation – that is, that
people are rationally self-motivated. Prosocial behavior is more likely to occur if the cost of
helping is low (i.e. minimal time, or minimal effort), if helping would actually benefit the
individual providing the help in some way, and if the rewards of providing the help are large. If it
is in an individual‘s interest to help, they will most likely do so, especially if the cost of not
providing the help is great.
People are also more likely to help those in their social group, or their "in group". With a sense
of shared identity with the individual requiring assistance, the altruist is more likely to provide
help, on the basis that one allocates more time and energy towards helping behavior within
individuals of their own group. The labeling of another individual as a member of one‘s "in-
group" leads to greater feelings of closeness, emotional arousal, and a heightened sense of
personal responsibility for the other‘s welfare, all of which increase the motivation to act
prosaically.
Researchers have also found that social exclusion decreases the likelihood of prosocial behavior
occurring. In a series of seven experiments conducted by Twenge et al., (2007) researchers
manipulated social inclusion or exclusion by telling research participants that other participants
had purposefully excluded them, or that they would probably end up alone later in life.
They found that this preliminary social exclusion caused prosocial behavior to drop significantly,
noting that "Socially excluded people donated less money to a student fund, were unwilling to
volunteer for further lab experiments, were less helpful after a mishap, and cooperated less in a
mixed-motive game with another student. "This effect is thought to be due to the fact that
prosocial behavior, again, is motivated by a sense of responsibility in caring for and sharing
resources with members of one's own group.
Individual factors
Individuals can be compelled to act prosocially based on learning and socialization during
childhood. Operant conditioning and social learning positively reinforces discrete instances of
prosocial behaviors. Helping skills and a habitual motivation to help others is therefore
socialized, and reinforced as children understand why helping skills should be used to help
others around them.
Social and individual standards and ideals also motivate individuals to engage in prosocial
behavior. Social responsibility norms and social reciprocity norms reinforce those who act
prosocially. As an example, consider the child who is positively reinforced for "sharing" during
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their early childhood years. When acting prosocially, individuals reinforce and maintain their
positive self-images or personal ideals, as well as help to fulfill their own personal needs.
Agreeableness is thought to be the personality trait most associated with inherent prosocial
motivation. Prosocial thoughts and feelings may be defined as a sense of responsibility for other
individuals, and a higher likelihood of experiencing empathy ("other-oriented empathy") both
affectively (emotionally) and cognitively. These prosocial thoughts and feelings correlate with
dispositional empathy and dispositional agreeableness.
Other factors
In addition to situational and individualistic factors, there are some categorical characteristics
that can impact prosocial behavior. Several studies have indicated a positive relationship
between prosocial behavior and religion. In addition, there may be sex differences in prosocial
behavior, particularly as youths move into adolescence.
Research suggests that while women and men both engage in prosocial behaviors, women tend
to engage in more communal and relational prosocial behaviors whereas men tend to engage in
more agentic prosocial behaviors. A recent study examining workplace charitable giving looked
at the role of both sex and ethnicity. Results showed that women gave significantly more than
men, and Caucasians gave significantly more than minority groups. However, the percent of
minority individuals in the workplace was positively associated with workplace charitable giving
by minorities. Culture, sex, and religion are important factors to consider in understanding
prosocial behavior on an individual and group level.
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Additionally, children's prosocial behavior is typically more centered around interest in friends
and concern for approval, whereas adolescents begin to develop reasoning that is more
concerned with abstract principles such as guilt and positive affect.
Parents can set examples that children carry into their interactions and communication with
peers, but parents are not present during all of their children's peer exchanges. The day-to-day
constructions of fairness standards are done by children in collaboration and negotiation with
each other. Recent research demonstrates that invoking the self-using subtle linguistic cues (e.g.
identifying someone as a "helper" versus labeling the action, "helping") fosters the perception
that a behavior reflects identity, and increases helping, or prosocial, behaviors in children
significantly across tasks.
Consistent with previous analyses, this study also found a tendency toward higher prosocial
behaviors in young adolescent girls compared to their male classmates. The earlier maturation in
females may be a possible explanation for this disparity. A more recent study that focused on the
effects of pubertal timing found that early maturation in adolescents has a positive impact on
prosocial behaviors. While their findings apply to both genders, this study found a much more
pronounced effect in males. This suggests that earlier onset of puberty has a positive correlation
with the development of prosocial behaviors.
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If teachers make space for prosocial behavior in education and social learning, then they can
illustrate that what students are learning will have a direct impact on the world that they live in.
This would be considered a mutually constituting relationship, or a relationship in which both
individuals and culture develop interdependently. In other words, what students are learning in a
classroom could be intimately connected with a purpose towards a greater cause, deepening the
learning itself.
Studies by Yeager et al. test the effects of having a self-transcendent purpose for learning, with
the results showing that such a purpose for learning led to fewer future college dropouts,
increased high school math and science GPAs, and persistence on boring tasks. This self-
transcendent purpose may not only encourage persistence on boring tasks, but may help to make
boring tasks more meaningful and engaging.
A person's ideas and opinions are largely shaped by the world that they grow up in, which in turn
determines what sort of change they want to instill in the world. For example: a girl who grew up
in poverty becoming a social worker. The environment she grew up in gave her an awareness of
the workings of poverty, motivating her to instill change in either the institutions that cause it, or
help those affected by poverty.
There aren't many opportunities to make prosocial contributions in school; which makes school
feel isolated and irrelevant. By encouraging students to find a self-transcendent purpose in their
learning, we enable them to enjoy their learning and make connections to community
contributions.
Another study on the topic was conducted by University at Buffalo, Iowa State
University and University of Minnesota professors. They studied children for two years for the
purpose of investigating the role of media exposure on prosocial behavior for young boys and
girls. The study concluded that media exposure could possibly predict outcomes related to
prosocial behavior.
Other experimental research has suggested that prosocial video games may increase prosocial
behavior in players although some of this work has proven difficult to replicate. However other
scholars have been critical of this work for tending to falsely dichotomize video games into
prosocial/violent categories despite significant overlap as well as methodological flaws in the
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experimental studies .For instance a study by Ferguson and Garza found that exposure to violent
video games was associated with increased prosocial behavior, both on-line as well as
volunteering in the real world. The authors speculated this may be due to the prosocial themes
common in many violent games, as well as team oriented play in many games.
Legislation
In the United States, in an effort to get stations to air education and prosocial programming for
children, the Children's Television Act was adopted in 1990. It states that channels must produce
and air programming developed specifically for children as a condition to renew broadcast
licenses. After discussions as to what the definition of "specifically designed for children" really
means, in 1996 guidelines were passed to correct this ambiguity.
Influence of observation
People are generally much more likely to act pro-socially in a public setting rather than in a
private setting. One explanation for this finding has to do with perceived status, being publicly
recognized as a pro-social individual often enhance one's self-image and desirability to be
considered for inclusion in social groups. Other research has shown that merely given people the
"illusion" that they are being observed (e.g., by hanging up posters of "staring" human eyes) can
generate significant changes in pro-social acts such as charitable giving and less littering.
Pictures of human eyes trigger an involuntary neural gaze detection mechanism, which primes
people to act pro-socially.
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has shown that guilt often leads to prosocial behaviors, whereas other negative mood states, such
as fear, do not lead to the same prosocial behaviors.
A recent pilot study examined whether an intervention increasing prosocial behavior (kind acts)
in young adults with social anxiety both increase positive would affect and decrease social
anxiety in participants. Participants randomly assigned to a 4-week Kind Acts intervention,
where individuals were instructed to engage in three kind acts each day twice a week over the 4
week period, showed both higher self-reported positive mood and increased satisfaction with
relationships at the end of the intervention. This intervention demonstrates ways in which
prosocial behavior may be beneficial in improving mood and mental health.
Other research suggests that cultivating positive emotions, such as gratitude, may also facilitate
prosocial behavior. A study by Bartlett & DeSteno examined the ability of gratitude to shape
costly prosocial behavior, demonstrating that gratitude increases efforts to assist a benefactor
even when such efforts are costly (i.e., hedonically negative), and that this increase is
qualitatively different from efforts given from just general positive affective state. They also
show that gratitude can increase assistance provided to strangers, not just close social
ties. Awe is another positive emotional state that has been closely linked to inspiring generosity
and prosocial behavior. Piff et al. studied this phenomenon through experiments using economic
and ethical-decision making games and explain, "When people experience awe they really want
to share that experience with other people, suggesting that it has this particularly viral component
to it... awe binds people together—by causing people to want to share their positive experiences
collectively with one another."
In regards to the lack of prosocial behavior in psychopathy there are several theories that have
been proposed in the literature. One theory suggests that psychopaths engage in less prosocial
behavior (and conversely more antisocial behavior) because of a deficit in their ability to
recognize fear in others, particularly fearful facial expressions. Because they are unable to
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recognize that their actions are causing another distress, they continue that behavior in order to
obtain some goal that benefits them.
A second theory proposes that psychopaths have a sense of "altruistic punishment" where they
are willing to punish other individuals even if it means they will be harmed in some way. There
has also been an evolutionary theory proposed stating that psychopaths‘ lack of prosocial
behavior is an adaptive mating strategy in that it allows them to spread more of their genes while
taking less responsibility for their offspring. Finally, there is some evidence that, in some
situations psychopaths‘ behavior may not be antisocial but instead it may be more utilitarian than
other individuals. In a recent study, Bartels & Pizarro (2011) found that when making decisions
about traditional moral dilemmas such as the trolley problem, individuals high in psychopathic
traits actually make more utilitarian (and therefore more moral in some views) choices. This
finding is particularly interesting because it suggests that psychopaths, who are often considered
immoral or even evil, may actually make better moral decisions than non-psychopaths. The
authors of this study conclude that individuals high in psychopathic traits are less influenced by
their emotions and therefore make more "mathematical" decisions and choose the option that
leads to the lowest number of deaths.
The theories discussed above are not intended to be a comprehensive list but instead to provide a
sense of how psychopaths differ in their approach to social interactions. As with most
psychological/social phenomenon it is likely a combination of these factors that lead to
psychopaths lack of prosocial behavior. Further research is needed to determine the causal nature
of any one of these individual deficits as well as if there is any way to help these individuals
develop more prosocial patterns of behavior.
Helper's high
Psychologists have shown that helping others can produce "feel-good" neurotransmitters such
as oxytocin and that, similar to any other pleasurable activity, the act of volunteering, giving and
behaving pro-socially can become addictive.
Some work has been done on utilizing this principle through the concept of helper therapy, in
which therapeutic benefits are gleaned from assisting others. Community health workers have
been found to gain helper benefits that include positive feelings about self, a sense of belonging,
valuable work experience, and access to health information and skills through their prosocial
vocation, which may buffer against the various stressors inherent in this line of work.
In addition, Helper therapy may also be highly beneficial for distressed adolescents experiencing
suicidal thoughts. Studies indicate that when help-seeking youth use online community forums,
the help-seekers often begin to provide support for other help seekers, and develop a reciprocal
prosocial community battling depression together.
Prosocial dissidence
Stefano Passini and Davide Morselli argue that groups will obey authority so long as its system,
basis, and demands are viewed as legitimate. Passini and Morselli distinguish between anti-social
disobedience, which they see as destructive, and prosocial disobedience, which they see as
constructive. "Disobedience becomes prosocial when it is enacted for the sake of the whole
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society, including all its different levels and groups. In contrast, anti-social disobedience is
enacted mainly in favour of one's own group, in order to attain individual rights."
A main difference between anti-social and pro-social dissidence is the way that they relate to
authority; anti-social dissidents reject authority and disobey its norms and laws, while pro-social
dissidents understand the important roles that societal laws play in maintaining order, but also
recognize and address the flaws in authoritative reasoning. Pro-social protests, if viewed in a
positive manner, can increase freedoms and equality for the general public, and improve
democratic institutions.
Aggressive behavior can cause physical or emotional harm to others. It may range from verbal
abuse to physical abuse. It can also involve harming personal property.
Aggressive behavior violates social boundaries. It can lead to breakdowns in your relationships.
It can be obvious or secretive. Occasional aggressive outbursts are common and even normal in
the right circumstances. However, you should speak to your doctor if you experience aggressive
behavior frequently or in patterns.
When you engage in aggressive behavior, you may feel irritable and restless. You may feel
impulsive. You may find it hard to control your behavior. You might not know which behaviors
are socially appropriate. In other cases, you might act aggressively on purpose. For example, you
may use aggressive behavior to get revenge or provoke someone. You may also direct aggressive
behavior towards yourself.
It‘s important to understand the causes of your aggressive behavior. This can help you address it.
Workplace deviance can sometimes take the form of aggressive behavior. In diverse work
environments, deviance may occur when workers display intolerance of co-workers of different
nationalities or cultures.
Some common examples include: sexual harassment, bullying and showing open hostility
towards co-workers.
Unproductive Behavior
Actions that disrupt or minimize productivity are also a form of workplace deviance. Common
examples of this type of deviant behavior include: Workers who waste their time by standing
around the water cooler, taking the "scenic route" while making sales calls or extending the time
it takes to complete a task that slows down productivity.
Some other examples include showing up late for work, calling in sick when in perfect health,
sneaking out early or taking long lunch or coffee breaks.
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Abuse of Property
It includes using company vehicles for personal errands, damaging company equipment or
defacing work areas, taking home office supplies or failing to return items borrowed from the
company and many more.
Company Politics
This occurs in many workplaces and is considered as a part of workplace deviance. A worker
may spread false rumors or gossip about another in an effort to gain promotion or more favorable
work assignment.
Supervisors who are partial towards one employee over another or prevent deserving employees
from career advancement are also guilty of committing a deviant act.
Employees who are actively engaged in gossip sessions can have a negative impact on employee
morale.
As an adult, you might act aggressively in response to negative experiences. For example, you
might get aggressive when you feel frustrated. Your aggressive behavior may also be linked to
depression, anxiety, PTSD, or other mental health conditions.
Brain damage can also limit your ability to control aggression. You may experience brain
damage as the result of:
stroke
head injury
certain infections
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certain illnesses
Different health conditions contribute to aggression in different ways. For example, if you have
autism or bipolar disorder, you might act aggressively when you feel frustrated or unable to
speak about your feelings. If you have conduct disorder, you will act aggressively on purpose.
Causes in Children
Aggression in children can be caused by several factors. These can include:
poor relationship skills
underlying health conditions
stress or frustration
Your child might imitate aggressive or violent behavior that they see in their daily life. They may
receive attention for it from family members, teachers, or peers. You can accidentally encourage
it by ignoring or rewarding their aggressive behavior.
Sometimes, children lash out due to fear or suspicion. This is more common if your child has
schizophrenia, paranoia, or other forms of psychoses. If they have bipolar disorder, they might
act aggressively during the manic phase of their condition. If they have depression, they might
act aggressively when they feel irritated.
Your child might also act aggressively when they have trouble coping with their emotions. They
might find it especially hard to deal with frustration. This is common in children who have
autism spectrum disorder or cognitive impairments. If they become frustrated, they may be
unable to fix or describe the situation causing their frustration. This can lead them to act out.
Children with ADHD or other disruptive disorders may show a lack of attention or
understanding. They may also appear impulsive. In some cases, these behaviors may be
considered aggressive. This is especially true in situations when their behaviors are socially
unacceptable.
Causes in Teens
Aggressive behavior in teenagers is common. For example, many teens act rudely or get into
arguments sometimes. However, your teen might have a problem with aggressive behavior if
they regularly:
yell during arguments
get into fights
bully others
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Puberty can also be a stressful time for many teens. If they don‘t understand or know how to
cope with changes during puberty, your teen may act aggressively. If they have a mental health
condition, it can also contribute to aggressive behavior.
Your doctor may recommend psychotherapy to help treat aggressive behavior. For example,
cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you learn how to control your behavior. It can help
you develop coping mechanisms. It can also help you understand the consequences of your
actions. Talk therapy is another option. It can help you understand the causes of your aggression.
It can also help you work through negative feelings.
In some cases, your doctor may prescribe medications to treat your aggressive behavior. For
example, they may prescribe antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), such as phenytoin and carbamazepine.
If you have schizophrenia, Alzheimer‘s, or bipolar disorder, they may prescribe mood stabilizers.
They may also encourage you to take omega-3 fatty acid supplements.
Your treatment plan will vary, depending on the underlying causes of your aggressive behavior.
Speak with your doctor to learn more about your condition and treatment options.
Over the last forty years, case study research has undergone substantial methodological
development. This evolution has resulted in a pragmatic, flexible research approach, capable of
providing comprehensive in-depth understanding of a diverse range of issues across a number of
disciplines.
Change and progress have stemmed from parallel influences of historical transformations in
approaches to research and individual researcher's preferences, perspectives, and interpretations
of this design. Researchers who have contributed to the development of case study research
come from diverse disciplines with different philosophical perspectives, resulting in a variety of
definitions and approaches. For the researcher new to using case study, such variety can create a
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confusing platform for its application. In this article, we explore the evolution of case study
research, discuss methodological variations, and summarize key elements with the aim of
providing guidance on the available options for researchers wanting to use case study in their
work.
Case study research has grown in reputation as an effective methodology to investigate and
understand complex issues in real world settings. Case study designs have been used across a
number of disciplines, particularly the social sciences, education, business, law, and health, to
address a wide range of research questions. Consequently, over the last 40 years, through the
application of a variety of methodological approaches, case study research has undergone
substantial development. Change and progress have stemmed from parallel influences from
historical approaches to research and individual researcher's preferences, perspectives on, and
interpretations of case study research.
In this article, we examine each of these issues in turn, with the aim of improving our
understanding of case study research and clarifying the requisite tenets to consider when
designing a case study. We begin with an overview of the history and evolution of case study
research, followed by a discussion of the methodological and philosophical variations found
within case study designs. We end with a summary of the common characteristics of case study
research and a table that brings together the fundamental elements that we found common in all
case study approaches to research.
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Figure 1: The history and evolution of case study research (JOHANSSON, 2003, p.7)
2. Foundational Concepts
While over time the contributions of researchers from varied disciplines have helped to develop
and strengthen case study research, the variety of disciplinary backgrounds has also added
complexity, particularly around how case study research is defined, described, and applied in
practice. In the sections that follow, the nature of this complexity in explored.
In modern field of computational intelligence, the Social Learning Theory is adopted to develop
a new computer optimization algorithm, the social learning algorithm. Emulating the
observational learning and reinforcement behaviors, a virtual society deployed in the algorithm
seeks the strongest behavioral patterns with the best outcome. This corresponds to searching for
the best solution in solving optimization problems. Compared with other bio-inspired global
optimization algorithms that mimic natural evolution or animal behaviors, the social learning
algorithm has its prominent advantages.
First, since the self-improvement through learning is more direct and rapid than the evolution
process, the social learning algorithm can improve the efficiency of the algorithms mimicking
natural evolution. Second, compared with the interaction and learning behaviors in animal
groups, the social learning process of human beings exhibits a higher level of intelligence. By
emulating human learning behaviors, it is possible to arrive at more effective optimizers than
existing swarm intelligence algorithms. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness
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and efficiency of the social learning algorithm, which has in turn also verified through computer
simulations the outcomes of the social learning behavior in human society.
2.10 QUESTIONS
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