Psychology Theories

Psychology Theories
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Self Esteem and Self-Efficacy

1. Compare and contrast the concepts of self esteem and Self Efficacy. Include in your discussion the relationship between self-efficacy and locus of control. Further review the evidence that supports the “dark side of high self-esteem.” And explain how the self-serving bias is related to self-esteem.

Self esteem can be loosely defined as the regard one has for himself. If a person regards themselves highly, they are said to have high self esteem. Self esteem can refer to how a person regards himself in respect to specific areas or how he generally feels about himself (Kassin et al, 2011). For example a person can have high self esteem about his intelligence but low self esteem in relation to his looks. Self efficiency on the other hand is used to refer to ones belief in his ability to undertake a specific task or his feelings of competence in different situations. Self efficiency usually corresponds to the level of competence of an individual. Just like self esteem, the feeling of self efficiency can vary from situation to situation. For example a person may feel capable of public speaking but not of competing in a particular sport. Self esteem is a more permanent feeling than self efficacy. Self efficacy is related to locus of control in that people who believe in their self efficacy also believe that events in their lives are as a direct result of their actions or abilities.
Although the importance of high self esteem has been emphasized overtime, it has also been argued that high self esteem can be counterproductive, even self destructing. This is because evidence shows that the more the self esteem, the greater the chances of ego threats. Scholars have suggested that high self esteem can lead to depression especially in children who at one time are feeling so good about themselves and the next minute they feel bad because of changing circumstances and emotions. This makes them feel a loss of control which can lead to depression (Kassin et al, 2011). High self esteem can lead to narcissism. This is when one develops excessive preoccupation with himself as a result of feeling too good about themselves. High self esteem can also lead to dependence. This is when one keeps expecting others to notice just how good they are at something or other and expects them to commend them for their good work. High self esteem can also lead to apathy and fragility. Self serving bias is a tendency by people to attribute their success to internal factors while blaming their failure to external factors. Self serving bias is related to self esteem in that people who have this tendency do it as a way of enhancing or protecting their self esteem.

Groups

7. Describe how normative and informational influence processes can help us understand group polarization. Describe Group think. List and describe each of the symptoms of groupthink. Summarize Newell and Lagnado’s (2003) view of how groupthink symptoms contributed to the Iraq war.

Group polarization is defined as the inclination for group members to make decisions that are more severe than the initial prevailing opinions of the members. Group polarization leads to decisions that are either greater in risk if initial inclinations were risky or are greater in caution if initial inclinations were cautious (Kassin et al, 2011). Informational influence can impact on group polarization. This view holds that people become more convinced of their attitudes after listening to strong arguments in support of their views. People base their choices by weighing the pros and cons as seen in the arguments of other group members. The weight of evidence provided through group discussions can make most group members to shift to stands they had not initially had. Normative influence on the other hand holds that group polarization occurs based on the desire by individuals to be accepted ad seen in a favorable way by their group. Through observing positions of others, individuals take a stand similar to the rest of the group, only more extreme so that they are viewed favorably by majority of the group.
Group think is an extreme kind of group polarization. This is when individual members of a group suppress their divergent views about a decision made by a group for fear of disrupting the harmony in the group or fear of being perceived unfavorably. This is when group members reach a decision without making crucial evaluation of alternative view points in a bid to reduce conflict and reach a consensus (Sanderson, 2010). Individuals in the group loose uniqueness, creativity and independent thinking. There is an ‘illusion of invulnerability’, a feeling of exaggerated certainty that a good decision has been reached. This feeling is brought about by a dysfunctional ‘ingroup’ that considerably overrates its ability in making decisions while underrating the ability of the opponents. According to Irving Janis, there are eight symptoms of groupthink. The first symptom is illusions of invulnerability which creates too much optimism and encourages taking of risk. The second symptom is unquestioned belief in the integrity of the group which leads to individual members to not put the consequences of their actions into consideration. The third is rationalizing warnings that could challenge the assumptions made by the group. The fourth symptom is stereotyping opponents as evil, weak, spiteful, biased, or stupid. The fifth symptom is self censorship of opinions that are not in line with apparent group agreement. The sixth symptom of groupthink is illusions of unanimity among members of the group where silence is seen as agreement. The seventh symptom is direct pressure to conform given on individuals who question attitudes of the group, implied in terms of disloyalty (Kassin et al, 2011). The eighth symptom is mind guards who appoint themselves as shields against dissenting information.
According to Newell and Lagnado, groupthink contributed to the Iraq war because the Bush administration failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq even after appearing very confident in the existence of the weapons before the war. This simply means that the Bush administration and relevant agencies had signs of groupthink. They examined only a few alternatives, selectively collected information, members had pressure to conform, withheld criticism and used collective rationalization. They unanimously agreed that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, something which contributed to the war, only to find out later that there were no such weapons.

Altruism

9. Review the research on the role of the number of bystanders in helping. Be sure to include a discussion of noticing, interpreting and assuming responsibility. Identify the steps in Darley and Latané’s “decision tree” of helping. Based on this model, how could you increase your chances of getting someone to help you in an emergency? In addition to reducing the ambiguity of the situation and increasing personal responsibility, explain at least two other ways to increase helping behavior.

Altruism is the selfless consideration for the welfare of others, for example donating blood. Research has shown that the probability of bystanders helping is inversely related to numbers. That is, the less the number of bystanders, the more likely they will help. The opposite is also true. In order for a bystander to help, he must notice an event, interpret the incident as an emergency and assume responsibility for providing help (Kassin et al, 2011). If the numbers of people who can assume responsibility are many, the likelihood of helping is lowered. The steps in Darley and Latané’s “decision tree” of helping include noticing an incident, interpreting the incident as an emergency, taking responsibility and then deciding and implementing a cause of action (Kassin et al, 2011). In order to increase the chances of one getting help, one needs to make sure that there is no ambiguity in his call for help and ensure that he increases personal responsibility. He also needs to appeal to people who are similar to him, appear to deserve help and increase the guilty feelings in bystanders.
Persuasion

11. You have been hired to develop an informational campaign to prevent junior high school students from taking up smoking. Your boss wants you to use a scare-tactic approach. What must you do to construct a fear-appeal that is maximally effective? Describe how both self-esteem and age play a role in persuasion. Be sure to compare and contrast the life cycle explanation and the generational explanation.

An appeal to fear is a fallacy in which one tries to create support for an idea by using propaganda and deception in an attempt to increase fear towards something (Sanderson, 2010). The fallacy is based on the argument that A is true, A is also frightening therefore B is true. In order to create a fear appeal to prevent junior high school students from taking up smoking, I need to exploit existing fears to marshal support for my warning. I should also create the false illusion that my suggestion is the only alternative. I will do a campaign that says ‘smoking causes cancer, stop smoking if you do not want to die early’. This will work out fine because it is based on the fact that smoking can cause cancer and everyone knows that cancer kills so the only option is not to smoke. Individuals who have relatively low or moderate self esteem are easier to persuade than those with high self esteem (Kassin et al, 2011). The age of those being persuaded also determines if or not they will be persuaded. The life cycle explanation holds that attitudes change with age. For example people become more conservative as they get older. The generation explanation holds that attitudes that older people adopted when they were younger remain largely unchanged and because young people adopt different attitudes now, a generation gap develops.

Attitude Inoculation

12. Explain the principles and techniques you would use to become a cult leader. Now imagine you are a parent and you want to keep your child from ever joining a cult, how could you do this. Then explain attitude inoculation and how it affects persuasive appeals.
In order to become a cult leader, I would need to employ persuasive tactics and control mechanisms. This I would do by ensuring that only my cult has access to the ‘truth’. My cult would have its own world view and jargon. I would create my own reality so that all other sources of information are discredited and eliminated. This would ensure that I control the type of information that my followers get access to. I would then create an ingroup who are the chosen ones. These are the people who strictly follow my teachings. This would help to ensure that people do not think for themselves but are striving to follow my teachings so they can be part of the ‘ingroup’. I would also send members to teach the unredeemed. This will not only bring new members to the cult but will serve as self persuasion for the members. This will make them end up really believing what I teach them.
In order to ensure that my child does not join a cult, I would ensure that they have high self esteem. This is because people with high self esteem are not easy to persuade. I would also make sure that he has a strong emotional and social support at home. This is because people who join cults do so they can feel like they are a part of a family. I would also teach my child on how to critique events. This will ensure that he has a mind of his own as most people who join cults are gullible. Attitude inoculation is exposing people to a situation where they have to defend their attitudes. This ensures that when bigger attacks on attitudes come, such people have refutations ready (Sanderson, 2010). This concept operates on the notion that defending ones attitudes overtime can make them stronger. This protects people from persuasive attacks.

References
Kassin, S., Fein, S. & Markus, H.R. (2011). Social Psychology (8th Ed). New York, NY: Wadsworth. ISBN-10: 0495812404; ISBN-13: 9780495812401

Sanderson, C. A. (2010). Social psychology. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.