Chapter 14: The Behavioural/Social Learning Approach: Relevant Research Flashcards
1
Q
gender roles
A
different expectations our cultures has for the way men and women are supposed to act
2
Q
gender roles for men
A
aggressive, independent, and unemotional
3
Q
gender roles for women
A
passive, dependent, and affectionate
4
Q
how do behaviourists explain gender roles?
A
the lifelong process of gender-role socialization
5
Q
how do children and adults acquire and maintain gender roles?
A
through operant conditioning and observational learning
6
Q
gender roles in infancy
A
- Even before they learn to talk, parents speak to their sons and daughters differently
- At as young as 25 months, girls are more likely to receive dolls and toy furniture, whereas boys are more likely to be given sports equipment, toy tools, toy cars, and trucks
- Girls are more likely to wear pink clothing and boys are more likely to wear blue clothing
7
Q
gender roles and Christmas toys study
A
- Most children ask for toys for Christmas that are traditionally associated with their gender, and most of the time that’s what they get
- The few children who asked for toys not usually associated with their gender were much less likely to get what they wanted
8
Q
when do children become aware of their gender roles?
A
Even before they enter kindergarten, children are aware of gender-role expectations
9
Q
gender roles and free-play period study
A
During a free-play period, children choose the toys traditionally associated with their gender and most boys explain that their fathers wouldn’t approve of them playing with girls’ toys
10
Q
“really liking” a toy study
A
After being told that the other gender likes a certain toy, both girls and boys in preschool say that they liked the toy less
11
Q
who are childrens’ most influential models?
A
- When children are very young, parents are their most influential models
- Later, children learn gender roles through watching siblings, playmates, neighbours, and TV characters
12
Q
what is needed for children to model gender-specific behaviour?
A
- children must first notice that behaviour is performed more often by one gender
- This leads them to conclude that a certain gender will be rewarded for the behaviour, while the other gender will not be
13
Q
do most adults follow gender roles?
A
yes, most adults act in ways that society deems gender-appropriate
14
Q
masculinity vs. femininity
A
the continuum of individual differences in the extent to which men and women behave in a masculine or feminine manner
15
Q
what does contemporary research call the masculinity vs. femininity dimension?
A
agency vs. communion
16
Q
agency
A
independence, assertiveness, and control
17
Q
what is agency similar to?
A
masculinity
18
Q
communion
A
attachment, cooperation, and interpersonal connection
19
Q
what is communion similar to?
A
femininity
20
Q
are masculinity and femininity independent?
A
- Initial research measured masculinity and femininity on a single continuum
- Now, psychologists think of masculinity and femininity as two separate traits
- Most research supports the notion that masculinity and femininity are two independent concepts that range from high to low
21
Q
masculinity and femininity in women over time
A
Women tend to increase in both masculinity and femininity as they move through their middle adult years
22
Q
high masculinity, high femininity
A
androgynous
23
Q
high masculinity, low femininity
A
masculine
24
Q
high femininity, low masculinity
A
feminine
25
low femininity, low masculinity
undifferentiated
26
according to early gender-role researchers, what makes a psychologically healthy individual?
when their gender role behaviour matches their gender
27
MMPI on gender type
- One of the original scales on the MMPI is the Masculinity-Femininity Scale
- Scoring too far on the wrong side of the scale for one’s gender was seen as indicative of psychological disturbances
28
according to contemporary research, what gender type experiences the highest level of well-being?
when they are both masculine and feminine (androgynous category)
29
why do masculine & feminine gender types experience lower well-being?
they cannot engage in appropriate or adaptive behaviour
30
why do androgynous people have higher well-being?
they have the flexibility to respond as needed in either a traditionally masculine or traditionally feminine matter
31
what gender type is most liked?
androgynous people
32
why are androgynous people more liked?
they are described as more competent, intelligent and successful
33
what gender type is most liked romantically?
androgynous people
34
what does contemporary research show about masculine-feminine interactions?
masculine male and feminine female social encounters were the least enjoyable
35
what gender type results in the highest level of relationship satisfaction?
- Researchers find the highest level of relationship satisfaction among people who are married to either an androgynous or a feminine spouse
- This is consistent across heterosexual and homosexual couples
36
Why do feminine or androgynous people make preferable romantic partners?
- Feminine people score high on being sensitive to others’ needs
- Androgynous people are more aware of and better able to express romantic feelings
- Feminine and androgynous individuals communicate well
37
what characteristics in a partner are associated with the highest levels of relationship satisfaction?
expressiveness & sensitivity
38
the social pressure to act masculine or feminine today
Rewards for gender-appropriate behaviour and punishments for gender-inappropriate behaviour are still handed out by society today, which can have negative consequences for both men and women
39
The pressure to act masculine can lead to:
- Stress
- Poor health
- An ever-present fear of being ridiculed or failing to meet a “macho” standard
- A need to reassert one’s masculinity
- Risk-taking
- Aggression
- Working excessively long hours
- Failing to seek help for medical problems
- Poor academic performance
40
The pressure to act feminine can lead to:
- Pressure to be the perfect, traditional mother and sometimes sacrifice career opportunities to do so
- Lowered sense of well-being and self-esteem
- Being overly concerned about one’s appearance
- Psychological disorders (ex. Eating disorders)
41
what is the long-term solution to the pressure to act in a gender-appropriate manner?
removing the pressure
42
what is the short-term solution to the pressure to act in a gender-appropriate manner?
parents and friends should become more aware of the subtle ways that they reward and punish behaviour they consider gender-appropriate or inappropriate
43
what do unmitigated communion and agency involve?
- taking the traits of agency and communion to the extreme
- being low on the other dimension
44
unmitigated communion
- involves becoming so concerned with taking care of others that they sacrifice their needs and interests
- they also have difficulties asserting themselves
45
People high in unmitigated communion:
- Score low on measures of well-being and self-esteem
- Have fragile senses of self-worth that are highly dependent on events outside of their control
- Have higher levels of depression
46
unmitigated communion and depression
- High scores of unmitigated communion predict higher levels of depression 10 years later
- This might explain the higher rates of depression found in women
47
unmitigated communion and one's needs
People high in unmitigated communion may neglect their needs when they are sick and self-attention is called for
48
unmitigated communion and arthritis study
Women high in unmitigated communion who were diagnosed with arthritis became more psychologically distressed than other patients as the disease progressed
49
unmitigated communion and diabetes study
High levels of unmitigated communion in teenagers predicted more depression and anxiety one year after being diagnosed with diabetes
50
unmitigated agency
involves being insensitive toward the needs of others, narcissistic, and self-focused
51
what is the result of unmitigated agency?
strained social interactions
52
people high in unmitigated agency:
- have few close friends and are reluctant to seek or receive help from others
- they do not do well physically or psychologically when facing medical problems
53
Bandura's four-step model of the observational learning of aggression
Argued that people must go through each of the four steps before exposure to aggression leads them to act aggressively
54
what are the four steps in Bandura's model?
1. attend to the aggressive action
2. remember the information
3. enact what they have seen
4. expect the results will be forthcoming
55
what actions hold our attention best?
more intense actions
56
when are we more likely to attend to aggressive models?
when we're frustrated
57
how do we keep aggressive acts in our minds?
practice and mental rehearsal
58
children imitating aggression with toys study
children were most likely to imitate aggression when it was an act they liked and when it was performed with a toy they liked, presumably because they remembered these acts better
59
ability to carry out aggressive acts
We don’t carry out aggressive acts if we can’t do so
60
expectations of the consequences and aggression
Individuals must expect that the aggressive act will lead to rewards, not to punishment
61
why do we rarely progress through all four stages of enacting aggressive behaviour?
Most of the time, circumstances prevent people from progressing through all four stages
62
how to aggressive children learn what consequences to expect?
by watching children their age or slightly older
63
real-life violence and aggression in children
The more children are exposed to real-life violence, the more likely it is that they will turn to violence themselves
64
justification of violence
- People are more likely to imitate aggressive behaviour that is portrayed as justified
- The more adolescents generally believed that violence was sometimes justified, the more likely they were to become physically aggressive over the next 6 months
65
viewing aggression and acting aggressively
Viewing aggression increases the likelihood of acting aggressively, especially over a short period
66
limitations of mass media aggression and aggressive behaviour research
- Most of this data comes from controlled laboratory experiments
- The effects are typically short-lived
- The opportunity to hurt another person provided by the experimenter is unique
67
long-term field studies on aggressive behaviour and viewing aggression on TV
- Long-term field studies find significant evidence that watching a lot of aggressive television leads to more aggression in adults and children
- A longitudinal study found a significant relationship between the amount of TV the participants watched as children and the likelihood that they would have been convicted for criminal behaviour by age 30
- The more TV the 8-year-old had watched, the more serious the adult crime
- The percentages of men and women who engaged in some sort of aggression increased dramatically with an increase in television viewing at age 14
68
what kinds of TV programs to aggressive people prefer?
aggressive TV programs
69
what happens to long-term field studies on aggressive behaviour and TV when controlling for initial aggression levels?
findings still show that watching TV causes later aggressive behaviour
70
what happens to long-term field studies on aggressive behaviour and TV when controlling for other influences on aggressive behaviour?
there is still an association between TV viewing and aggression
71
are the acts that children view on TV the same aggressive acts that they commit?
- often they are not
- exposure to violence might make violent thoughts more accessible
72
violent video games and aggression findings
Numerous studies show a connection between playing violent video games and aggression
73
the impact of watching vs. playing violent video games on aggression
Participants who play violent video games are more aggressive than those who simply watch someone else play
74
why is video game violence particularly concerning?
it rewards aggression
75
violent video games and rewards study
participants who had been rewarded for video game violence gave louder and longer blasts of noise than participants who either had been punished for violence or who played the nonviolent game
76
teens who play violent video games are:
more likely to engage in high-risk behaviours like binge drinking, are more likely to argue with teachers, and are more likely to get into physical fights
77
young adolescents who play violent video games
show a significant increase in violence
78
what teens showed the highest rate of delinquent behaviour?
those who played violent video games
79
learned helplessness
the cognitive, motivational, and emotional deficits that follow a perceived lack of control over important aversive events
80
how did the study of learned helplessness begin?
with laboratory animals
81
learned helplessness in animals
- Harnessed dogs were subjected to a series of electric shocks from which they could not escape
- At first, the animals tried to escape but then accepted that they couldn’t do anything to avoid the shocks
- After multiple trials, the animals received shock in a situation where they could escape
- However, they resigned to their helplessness and didn’t try to escape
82
learned helplessness in humans
- Participants were told that they could turn off a loud noise by solving a problem
- Some participants quickly worked through problems, while others were given unsolvable problems
- Found that participants who had felt helpless performed significantly worse on a second set of problems than participants who quickly worked through the first set of problems
83
learned helplessness in new situations
Humans generalize their perception of learned helplessness in one situation to a new, controllable situation
84
learned helplessness in humans vs. animals
Humans are as susceptible as laboratory animals to learned helplessness
85
can we develop learned helplessness by observing?
Sometimes, people experience learned helplessness by simply observing other people who are exposed to unpleasant uncontrollable events
86
learned helplessness in the eldery
The lack of motivation and activity seen in many retired individuals may be a form of generalized learned helplessness
87
what populations heavily experience learned helplessness?
the elderly & people with mental illnesses
88
learned helplessness and the elderly study
- increased the amount of responsibility in control typically exercised by residents on a floor of a nursing home and found that those who lived on this floor reported feeling happier
- 93% showed improved adjustment compared to 21% in the control group
- 18 months later, the happiness and activity levels remained
- Only 15% of the responsibility-induced residents had died during the 18 months compared to 30% of the control group
89
learned helplessness and the middle-aged and older adults longitudinal study
middle-aged and older citizens who felt a sense of mastery over their lives were significantly more likely to survive over five years than those who expressed a general sense of helplessness
90
learned helplessness and the eldery studies takeaway
sometimes letting people take care of themselves is in everyone’s best interests
91
___ is a cause of depression
Exposure to uncontrollable events
92
neurotransmitters and learned helplessness depressed individuals
Investigators find changes in neurotransmitters and receptors in animals exposed to inescapable shocks are similar to what we see in the neurotransmitters and receptors of depressed individuals
93
what neurotransmitter is most associated with learned helplessness and depression?
serotonin
94
duration of depression vs. learned helplessness
Clinical depression often lasts considerably longer than learned helplessness in laboratory settings
95
why does depression last longer than learned helplessness?
- There are many causes of depression, only one of which is learned helplessness
- People suffering from depression continually relieve the initial helplessness induction
96
learned helplessness over time in rats study
Rats who were exposed periodically to the location in which their initial learned helplessness experience occurred had no decline in their learned helplessness over time
97
what inspired locus of control?
Julian Rotter’s concept of generalized expectancies
98
internals
generally believe that they control what happens to them
99
externals
generally believe that what happens to them is under the control of outside forced
100
are internals or externals happier?
Researchers find that, with a few expectations, people with an internal locus of control tend to be happier
101
are internals or externals more likely to suffer from psychological disorders?
People suffering from psychological disorders tend to be more external
102
locus of control and depression study
- found a correlation of .31 between high external locus of control scores and measures of depression
- This may be because those with an external locus of control find themselves in situations similar to that of learned helplessness
102
locus of control and depression in cancer patients study
studied recently diagnosed cancer patients’ levels of depression. Found that for externals, the more severe the diagnosis, the more depressed they became. For internals, the severity of the disease had no impact on their depression scores because they believed they could still control the course of the disease
103
locus of control and suicidal patients studies
- recordings of suicidal patients found that they described themselves in more external terms as they became more suicidal
- suicide attempters often experience an increase in events outside their control just before the attempt
- external adolescents and college students report more suicidal thoughts than internal
104
why shouldn't we overinterpret findings about mental illness and locus of control?
- Most external people are happy and well-adjusted
- The relationship is correlational
- The strength of the relationship between locus of control and depression varies from culture to culture
105
the tendency for externals to experience depression and culture
The tendency for externals to experience more depression than internals is weaker in collectivist cultures
106
locus of control and academic performance
- Internal students received higher grades and better teacher evaluations than externals
- This relationship is especially strong among adolescents
107
Why do internals do better in school?
- They see themselves as being responsible for their achievements
- They tend to attribute high test scores to their abilities or to studying hard
108
internal students and finishing their degrees study
Internal students are more likely to complete their degrees in a timely fashion and apply to graduate school
109
locus of control and performance in the workforce
Higher performance is also found for internal workers
110
Internals in the workforce are more likely to:
- Own their own business
- Find higher job satisfaction
- Find new employment when they lose their jobs
111
Internals in the workforce are less likely to:
- Miss work
- Complain about work-related stress
- Experience burnout
111
the tendency for internals to achieve higher and culture
this relationship appears to be widespread
112
locus of control and job satisfaction study
found that managers across 24 countries who experienced a great deal of control over their work environment reported consistently higher levels of satisfaction with their jobs than managers who felt they had little control
113
locus of control and psychotherapy
- Clients tend to become more internal as they pass through successful psychotherapy
- Externals sometimes do better when control remains in the therapist’s hands
114
locus of control and arthritis study
external patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis became less depressed when their spouses provided them with a lot of support and assistance, but internal patients showed an increase in depression when their spouse gave them the same amount of assistance. The assistance was seen as helpful by the externals but as an indication of dependence by the internals
115
health and locus of control
People with an internal locus of control are in better health than those with an external locus of control
116
locus of control and health longitudinal study
A longitudinal study found that locus scores taken at the beginning of the study were strong predictors of what participants would suffer from heart attacks and cancer by the end of the study
117
locus of control and lifespan
Internals live longer than externals
118
locus of control and views on maintaining health
- People who take an external orientation toward health believe there is little they can do to improve their physical condition or avoid disease
- People with an internal locus of control believe that they have a significant role in maintaining their health and hence, they are more likely to partake in health-maintaining behaviours
119
locus of control and health habits
- Several studies find that internals practice better health habits than externals
- College students who had an external locus of control toward their health were more likely to smoke, drink, skip breakfast, eat fatty foods, and consume less fruit and fibre
- Internals are more likely to exercise and are generally more physically active
120
locus of control and stress
Internals are less likely to suffer the health-harming consequences of stress because they are more confident in their ability to control stressful situations
120
locus of control and stressed business executives study
Internal business executives in high-stress positions were less likely to become ill than externals in the same positions
121
locus of control and seeking information about health
Internals are more likely to seek information about health problems
122
when are health messages most effective?
A match between locus and control and health message is the most effective approach
123
locus of control and mammogram health messaging study
internal women were more likely to get a mammogram within the next 6 months when they received internal messaging and external women were more likely to get a mammogram when they received external messaging
124
why do some studies find weak or no health difference between internals and externals
Believing that your actions can affect your health is not good enough. You also need to place great value on good health
125
how does Rotter's theory explain health-related behaviours with locus of control?
those who value their health and believe there is something they can do to control it are the ones who engage in health-conscious behaviours (ex. Eating more vegetables, performing breast self-examination, and making an effort to stop smoking)
126
what are the reasons behind gender roles?
- Biological differences between the sexes
- Lifelong process of gender-role socialization
127
impact of the androgyny model
Challenges the assumption that a person’s gender should match their gender type
128
congruence model
states that masculine men and feminine women are the most well-adjusted
129
masculinity model
maintains that being masculine is the key to positive mental health
130
androgyny model
people whose behavioural repertoires lack either masculine or feminine behaviours are ill-prepared to respond to many situations they encounter
131
how do children learn aggression?
by imitating aggressive models
132
internal locus of control
- People can affect what happens to them
- Good and bad experiences are of people’s own making
133
external locus of control
people believe that what happens to them and others is outside of their control
134
why is there a connection between locus of control and depression?
learned helplessness
135
locus of control and expectancies
Internals are good at adjusting their expectancies following feedback
136
locus of control and acheiving goals
Internals pay attention to information that will help them reach their goals
137
locus of control and ambition
Internal students are more ambitious than external students
