Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.2.2 - Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995) The Role of Pets in Preadolescent Psychosocial Development: Aims - To investigate the impact of pet ownership on adolescent personality provided evidence in terms of self-esteem and a more positive self-concept. Procedures - 130 pupils aged 8-13 white american, divided into two groups, pet owners and non pet owners and then matched on marital status, wealth and siblings. Results - 1. Higher self esteem was reported in pet owners than non pet owners. 2. 11 years old with pets had more positive self concept. 3. Higher autonomy was reported by pet owners of all ages. Conclusions - Pet owning adolescents would report higher levels of autonomy and self esteem than non pet owners. Pets provide unconditional positive regard for pet owners. Strengths - The results of the experiment were content with the hypothesis. Well known scales were used which is a reliable way of measuring. Can be used to
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Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.2.1 - Vohs and Schooler (2008) The Value of Believing in Free Will: Encouraging a Belief in Determinism Increases Cheating - Aims - To investigate whether inducing participants to believe that human behaviour is predetermined would encourage treating. Procedures - In experiment 1: Participants read either text that encouraged a belief in determinism (i.e that behaviour is the result of environmental and genetic factors) or neutral test. Results - In experiment 2: Participants who read determinism text cheated by overpaying themselves for performance on a cognitive task, participants who read free will did not. Participants in the anti-free will condition reported weaker free will beliefs than the other participants in the control condition. Conclusions - The more participants endorsed statements of free will, the less they paid themselves.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.6 - Understand the use of trait theory as a measure of personality, including strengths and weaknesses of trait theory: b) Allport (1936) cardinal, central and secondary personality traits - In 1936 allport found that one English dictionary alone contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He categorised these traits into three levels. Cardinal Traits - These are traits that dominate an individuals whole life, often to the point where an individual becomes known specifically for these traits. These are rare and tend to develop later in life. Central Traits - These are general characteristics that form the basic foundations of personality. These central traits, whilst not as dominating as cardinal traits, are the major characteristics you might use to describe another person. Terms such as 'intelligent', 'honest', 'shy' and 'anxious', are considered central traits. Secondary Tr
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.5 - Understand how personality can be measured, including: a) Personality scales - Finding scales to measure particular personality constructs. Personality scales will measure where you are on a spectrum for a particular personality trait. Measuring on an individual trait is more reliable as it generalises less. b) Personality types - This is a more generalising approach as they group together multiple traits rather than measure them individually. They are more used to roughly fit people into a category.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.4 - Understand the role of internal and external influences on the self and self-esteem, including: a) temperament - Your temperament permanently effects your behaviour and in a big way. It may determine the nature of the situations you get yourself into and how you react to them and what effects they have on you. Your temperament also effects your self esteem. b) Experience - Experiences shapes the way you think about the world and yourself as it shapes your schema. It is not just dependent on experience alone its how you perceive these experiences and whether you learn from them or not. Childhood experiences shape our base schemas and temperament as this is where we develop most of our understanding of things.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.3 - Understand the Humanistic Theory of Self, including strengths and weaknesses of each theory: a) Humanistic explanations of the development of self-esteem - Humanistic theories look at the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self efficiency and self actualisation. Rogers (1951) believed feelings of self worth developed in early childhood and were formed by interactions of the child with their mother or father. b) Humanistic explanations of the development of personality - This is defined as 'the organised', the consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about ourselves. The self is the humanistic term for who we are as a person. It can be likened to the 'soul'. It is mainly influenced by our experiences in life and how we perceive them. Two primary sources are childhood experiences and evaluation by others. We want to feel, experience and behave in ways that are consistent with our self image. Rogers (195
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.2 - Understand the role of identity and free will in the development of self, including strengths and weaknesses of each theory: Erikson (1959) - 1. Trust vs Mistrust - Hope / Anxiety - 0 to 1 ½ 2. Autonomy vs Shame - Will / Inadequacy - 1 ½ to 3 3. Initiative vs Guilt - Purpose / Insecurity - 3 to 5 4. Industry vs Inferiority - Competency / Inferiority - 5 to 12 5. Identity vs Role Confusion - Fidelity / Identity Crisis - 12 to 18 6. Intimacy vs Isolation - Love / Loneliness - 18 to 40 7. Generativity vs Stagnation - Care / Disconnected - 40 to 65 8. Ego Integrity vs Despair - Wisdom / Despair - 65+ Strengths - Changed how people think of later years in life. Realistic personality development. Provides a framework. Weaknesses - They are very vague descriptions. Does not explain the causes. Does not explain how it effects you in the future. Baumeister (2008) - Some actions are freer than others and the difference is palp