PowerPoint Presentation for Psychology for Living, 11 th Edition Steven J. Kirsh, Karen Grover...

PowerPoint Presentation for

Psychology for Living, 11th Edition

Steven J. Kirsh, Karen

Grover Duffy, & Eastwood Atwater

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 1

Prepared by Chelsea Hansen, MA

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Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Social Change◦ Living in a Technological World◦ Living with Other Social Changes◦ How Certain Is Our Future?

The Challenge of Self-Direction◦ Self-Direction and Society◦ Positive Psychology and the Humanistic

Perspective◦ The Ambiguity of Personal Freedom◦ Taking Charge of Our Lives◦ Living in Today’s Individualistic Society

Themes of Personal Growth◦ Living with Contradictions and Uncertainty◦ Continuity and Change◦ The Experience of Personal Growth◦ Beyond Individualism

Social changes Social changes — changes in social patterns and institutions in society

Technological, scientific, and social change are occurring worldwide and have far-reaching (global) consequences.

Many changes have resulted in a smaller, more interdependent world community.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Table 1-1: Media in the Home: A Comparison of Three Countries


Late 1800s-reading novels led to over-excited nervous systems and distorted views of reality

Early 1900s-movies let to immorality 1940s and 50s-comic books were too

violent


Despite rapid increases, not everyone has embraced technology.

Some people fear technology, a phenomenon known as technophobia.

Computer use is lower among: ◦ less well educated◦ poor◦ elderly or disabled◦ Hispanic or African American◦ rural areas

Many new jobs and opportunities require a knowledge of technology, creating a digital divide.


Who needs a computer? However, “on-the-go” technology (cell

phones and other wireless handhelds) is reducing this digital divide (Horrigan, 2008).

Horrigan (2008) reports that Hispanics and African Americans lead the way relative to White Americans regarding the use of non-voice applications (e.g., texting, photographing, and emailing) on handhelds.


The world population will continue to climb.› Human population stands at over 6.7 billion.› Almost 150 new people are born every minute!

As the population increases, so too will pollution.

The population will also experience more and more diversity.

Can you think of any other possible changes?


Is the glass half empty, or half full?Change has brought:

› Technological, scientific, medical advances› Accelerated global warming› Economic prosperity› Economic inequality


Self-direction — the need to learn more about ourselves and our world as a means of directing our lives more effectively

Various factors can interfere with our need for self-direction.

Interpersonal or intergroup conflict is but one example.


For example, there are two general types of cultures or societies that sometimes conflict:

Individualistic — — individual gain appreciated more than general societal gain

Collectivistic — collective or societal gain cherished over individual advancement


Traditional examplesIndividualistic = United States

Collectivistic = Japan

What do you think?How do you think access to technology today

may influence these traditional conceptualizations of Individualistic and

Collectivistic societies?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 13Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

What do you think?How do you think the access to technology today may

influence these traditional conceptualizations of Individualistic and Collectivistic societies?

Researchers have noted that the contrasts are

not as sharp between individualistic and collectivistic societies as once thought (Oishi et al., 2005; Oyserman et al., 2002).

It is also important to remember that any label applied to a culture cannot and does not capture the individual variations that exist within that culture. Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 14

Positive psychology is an umbrella term for the study of positive emotions, positive character traits, and positive actions that allow individuals and institutions to thrive (Seligman, 2011).

Goals of positive psychology: Help students flourish, maximize the productivity of workers, and focus on the virtues that people possess (love, compassion, and the capacity for courage)


The humanistic perspective consists of a group of related theories and therapies that emphasize the values of human freedom and the uniqueness of the individual .

Humanism and positive psychology both focus on the potential of health and fulfillment as well as vulnerabilities and maladjustments of individuals.

Positive psychology and humanism focus on personal growth rather than survival.


The phenomenal self is the individual’s overall self-concept available to awareness

Carl Rogers (1980) suggested that it is this “perceived reality,” instead of absolute reality, that determines behavior. Rogers believed that how individuals see and interpret events determines how they respond to them.


People have a need for positive regard or acceptance by others.

The self-image, or the self-concept, is established during childhood and influences quality of life and relationships with others.


Self-actualization is the process of fulfilling our inborn potential.

Maslow (1971) developed this concept within his hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, people must meet basic, lower-level needs before moving on to self-actualization.

Maslow believed that self-actualized people have reached a healthier level of functioning than the average person.Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 19

Traits of self-actualized people: Appreciation for everyday realities, greater acceptance of themselves and others, high creativity, and high resistance to conformity (Delle, Massimini, & Bassi, 2011). Self-actualized people accept responsibility for their lives and carefully scrutinize the alternatives available to them. They are able to admit when they are wrong.


In the United States, independence, freedom, and rugged individualism are celebrated.

Freedom, however, can be ambiguous. Freedom, while laudable, can also make us

anxious, lonely, and insecure. Some escape burden of freedom by

forming dependencies (relying on the internet for everything)


Freedom can overwhelm us when making important life choices, and lead to various strategies and outcomes:› “freezing up”› “drifting” (some drop out)› “shared decision making” (committees)› “appeal to some type of authority” (religion)

Thus, we need to learn how to relate to others and to cooperate with them despite our desire for personal freedom.


Acting on our personal freedom entails taking charge of and being responsible for our own and sometimes others’ lives.

An important and relevant concept is altruism, the desire to help others at a cost to ourselves (Koltko-Rivera, 2006).


Altruism generally plays a larger role in collective than in individualistic societies.

Taking charge of our lives means: › We can and must choose for ourselves.› Assuming responsibility for our choices› Keeping commitments and promises to

others› Taking calculated risks in spite of

uncertainty


Living in a time of increasing technological advancement provides us better and faster means to connect with others, even those who are a world away.

However, the cumulative impact of these social changes has given rise to newer social values.

With this technology are we more…◦ …self-absorbed and isolated?◦ …future-oriented?◦ …now-oriented?◦ …concerned with personal rights?◦ …concerned with social responsibilities?


Each of us faces challenges and uncertainties.

Life experiences also teach valuable lessons about how to alter our self-direction and personal growth.


Messages are usually too vague to be useful

Not based on scientific research Many encourage a narcissistic

approach to life Bright-Sided: How Positive

Thinking is Undermining America; Barbara Ehrenreich


A key issue regarding human development is how much people change (or stay the same) over the course of their lives.

Longitudinal studies (which follow the same individual for a long period of time) of personality development have found key traits that remain stable over a lifetime (e.g., introversion/extroversion, anxiety, and depression).


At the same time, other studies claim that there are features of human development that fluctuate across time (self-esteem, sense of personal mastery or control over the environment, and values).› Individuals who believe that they can change are

more open to learning, willing to confront challenges, and better able to bounce back from failures.

› Conversely, those who believe that their traits are fixed have a more difficult time facing stressful challenges.


The experience of growth typically follows a three phase cycle:

› Acknowledging the change› A sense of dissatisfaction› Reorganizing our experience


The Experience of Personal Growth

Phase 1 Acknowledging the change:

› The first step in personal change. Change occurs all the time, but we are reminded to think about change in times of uncertainty and during decision-making.

› This phase involves the realization that things are different from what they were or what we believed they were.



Phase 2 A sense of dissatisfaction:

› Many people respond to the challenge of change by being defensive or dissatisfied as well as by feeling anxious, but this need not be the case.



Phase 3 Reorganizing our experience:

› This final phase can be gratifying as we acquire new ideas and hence alter our behaviors, relations with others, attitudes, and values.



Growth is supposed to enlarge our self-understanding and enhance our relationships with others.

The result of this contradiction has been a recent reassessment by Americans of the need to balance the desire for personal achievement with the need to be a good member of the world community.


This is the end of Chapter 1. You should now be able to:

› Explain how technology is changing the way we communicate and live.

› Discuss other recent social changes unrelated to technology.

› Explain the concept of self-direction.› Compare individualistic and collectivist societies.› Define positive psychology.› Summarize the humanistic perspective.› Discuss what it means to take charge of your life.› Describe some of the problems of using self-help books.› List some characteristics that change over time and list

some that remain the same.› Describe the three-phase cycle by which we experience

personal growth.› Explain why it is important to move beyond individualism.Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 35

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