1 PART II COGNITIONS & THE SELF

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3 Inner, private, subjective Outer, public, objective StableVariable 1. Traits & Temperament e.g. extraversion, neuroticism Major theorists: Jung, Eysenck, Gray 3. Motivation e.g. motives, defenses Major theorists: Freud, McClelland 4. Social Context e.g., culture, ethnicity, power, gender Major theorists: Markus, Stewart 2. Cognition & Self e.g. self-concept, beliefs, ideals Major theorists: Rogers, Kelly PERSONALITY UNITS AND COURSE STRUCTURE

4 KEY DEFINITIONS BELIEFS ATTITUDES VALUES PROTOTYPES STEREOTYPES

5 KEY DEFINITIONS COTINUED.. SCHEMAS (SELF- & OTHER-) ATTRIBUTIONS SCRIPTS AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC SOCIAL COGNITION

6 COGNITIVE REVOLUTION

7 George Kelly’s Theory of Personal Constructs GEORGE KELLY ( )

8 What is a construct? are cognitions that people create and actively impose on the world to make sense out of it. are personal; representing the idiosyncratic ways that people sort out the people and events they encounter. evolve over time and across repeated experiences.

9 GOOD BAD QUIET LOUD LOVELY DISGUSTIN G Personal constructs are bipolar

10 ‘A submerged pole’ is similar to which Freudian concepts?

11 What else are personal constructs? Bipolar Emergent pole/Implicit pole Dichotomous Both conscious and unconscious

12 Kelly’s Fundamental Postulate “People’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings (their personalities) are determined by the constructs they use to anticipate or predict events”

13 Using Constructs in Life... Hypothesize (implicitly) that a construct will fit an event. Test the hypothesis by applying the construct and predicting a consequence. Construct confirmed or disconfirmed? Does the construct have predictive efficiency?

14 Our personalities are defined by the type of constructs we have.

15 Constructive Alternativism There are infinite number of ways to construe events. We are capable of combining, recombining, and even totally revising our constructions in an ongoing cycle of meaning-making.

16 Characteristics of Personal Constructs: Range of convenience Set of events for which a construct is useful. Range of Convenience (Is it limited in scope or useful across many situations?)

17 Characteristics of Personal Constructs: Permeability The degree to which a construct is able to incorporate new experiences.

18 Our personalities are defined by the type of constructs we have and how we operate them. Individual differences exist in terms of permeability consistency comprehensiveness hierarchy

19 GOOD BAD IntelligentInteresting StupidMaterialistic Critical Deep Talkative Energetic Naïve Ignorant Shallow Cruel Personal constructs fit together differently...

20 GOOD vs. BAD Generous vs. stingy Friendly vs. unfriendly Accepting vs. rejecting GOOD vs.BAD Generous vs. stingy Loving vs. unloving Accepting vs. rejecting John Dan

21 Cognitions (beliefs, attitudes, values, self/other schemas) constitute the information that guides people’s behavior We have different views and ways of doing things...

22 Hey…..I like your constructs!

23 “Humans are intuitive scientist: have theories (constructs) about themselves and others, formulate hypothesis based on these theories, gather info to test these hypothesis, and then confirm/revise these theories” People are like scientists….

24 MEASUREMENT OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS: ROLE REPERTORY TEST

25 COGNITIVE STYLES: NEED FOR COGNITION (Cacciopo & Petty, 1982) Tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking (cognitive persistence, cognitive confidence, cognitive complexity) INTEGRATIVE COMPLEXITY (Tetlock, 1979) Ability to deal with and integrate multiple perspectives, hypothetical situations, and new interpretations

26 Application of Kelly’s work Lazarus: Appraisal and Stress

27 Lazarus: Appraisal and Stress 1) Primary appraisal: Process of perceiving an impending threat 2) Secondary appraisal: Process of determining what should be done (of many) to deal with threat 3) Coping: Effort to do what’s been chosen as best way to handle threat 4) Reappraisal: Reinterpret the meaning of events, when occurring or following the event

28 Our cognitions impact our behavior, well-being, and even, our health Reformulated learned helplessness theory (Abramson, Selgiman, & Teasdale, 1978) Finding positive meaning (reappraising) (Affleck & Tennen, 1996) Health outcomes from finding meaning (Folkman, Chesney, et al, 1996)

29 Applying one’s personal constructs to life decisions …. What do I want to major in? Do I want to date that person? How do I want to think about that situation? Do I want to take that class? What do I really want out of life? Who can help me with this problem?