Psychology 0f Personal Effectiveness
All You Need To Know About How To Live Happily & Effectively
Timothy W. Starkey, Ph.D., ABAP
Chapter 2 ~ The Choice Is Yours
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Miami Dade College
Psychology CLP 1006
Hialeah Campus
Room 1214
M/W/F
8:00-10:15 AM
May 7- June 16 (2007)
305-279-0758 (Home)
or
305-338-1615 (Cell)
Hours 1:00 to 3:00 PM
On Fridays
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Determinism Vs Free Will
• Determinism - the belief in cause-and-effect relationships for
behavior.
• Determinists believe that all human actions are caused by
something, even if we’re not consciously aware of what the
causes might be.
• Strict determinists also believe that “free will” is an illusion ~ a
belief that most people cling to avoid feeling powerless, or
because of their religious beliefs.
• The theory of “free will” holds that humans can and do typically
ignore so-called determining factors (e.g. genes, childhood
conditioning) and freely choose how and when to act.
• Psychological theories of personality vary from the determinist
end of the spectrum to the free will end. Most personality
theories include both determinism and free will in their
explanation of human behavior(s).
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Mixing Philosophy And Football
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Three Main Determinist Theories
• 1. Biological Theories : these theories hold that we are almost
exclusively a product of our genetic heritage. All of out
behavior, both normal and abnormal, can be traced back to
particular configurations of our genetic makeup.
• Scientific research has produced much support for this theory;
human characteristics such singing ability, athletic skills, sexual
orientation, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, activity level,
temperament, and many, many diseases and medical conditions
are partly or largely genetically determined.
• For example, the concordance rate (e.g. probability that two
people will display the same trait) of schizophrenia is much
higher for identical twins than for fraternal twins, and higher still
than for people in general who are non-related (share no genetic
similarity)
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• 2. Psychic Determinism. Freud believed that you are who you
are because of how you were raised, and because of the
emotionally significant events (e.g. traumas) that occurred
during your formative years. Although many of Freud’s beliefs
have considerable clinical support, they tend to be limited in
their dismissal of significant post-childhood development. They
also tended to be so generally worded that rigorous scientific
testing has not proven possible.
• 3. Behaviorism asserts that we are a product of our conditioning
and learning histories. Strict behaviorists have insisted that only
traits that are measurable (e.g. observable) are fit things for
Psychology to study, and that in fact, only things that are
“measurable” exist. Skinner and Pavlov, in particular, taught
that it is our overall that shapes our personality and behavior.
• For example, one became a “good student” because he/she had
been “rewarded” for successful studying and academic
achievement. One’s “academic “history” caused him/her to be a
good student.
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Free Will and Existentialism
• Persons who believe in the Free Will Theory argue that these
determinist paradigms only tell a part of the story. They may be
accurate in describing some areas of human behavior, but they
leave out a key component of our human existence.
• Some European philosophers in the 19th Century, known as
“existentialists” (John Paul Sarte and Albert Camus), believed
that although life sometimes gives you unpleasant surprises that
are beyond your control, it is still up to you how you deal with
them.
• In the United States, some psychologists (Abraham Maslow and
Carl Rogers) were dissatisfied with both the psychoanalytic and
the behaviorist approaches, and they developed a viewpoint now
called “Humanism”. Humanists were more optimistic about
man’s nature and destiny than were the Existentialists, although
they agreed with them that we became who we are by virtue of
the choices we made along the way.
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Choices…
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Locus of Control
• “Proactivity” (aka freedom of choice) is an important paradigm
guiding the behavior of effective individuals. Obviously, a person
who doesn’t believe that it makes any difference what he does in a
particular situation is less likely to try his best. “Self-efficacy” is a
similar term that refers to one’s belief in oneself as able to deal
with a challenging situation or achieve a challenging goal he’s set
for himself.
• The degree to which one believes that he is or is not responsible
for his behaviors is referred to as the “locus of control” (LOC).
The LOC is on a continuum ranging from external (not at all
responsible for one’s behaviors) to internal (entirely responsible
for one’s behaviors.
• Individuals with an external LOC see themselves as victims, while
persons with an internal LOC believe that they themselves are
ultimately responsible for their outcomes in life.
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The Choice of Coming To Class Or Not
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Cognitive Behaviorism
• Cognitive Behavorists (Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck) broke with the
earlier “orthodox” behaviorists over the issue of “covert
behavior” (e.g. thoughts or emotions). They believed that the
internal processing of the organism mediated in some way the
“response” made to the “stimulus”.
• In this sense, they replaced the early “traditional” behaviorists’
S-R paradigm with their own S-O-R paradigm.
For example, suppose a stimulus imposes upon you, but before you
can respond, you have a thought about that stimulus, you imbue
it with meaning. It is then that thought that leads to your
particular response.
Most psychologists believe that human behavior is the result of both
determining (biological and psychosocial) forces and our
inherent ability to choose. The degree to which a particular
behavior arises from one or the other depends on the particular
person involved.
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Three Ways To Increase Proactivity
• The easiest and quickest way to increase your “proactivity” is to
concentrate on three (3) key things:
• 1. Your thoughts - you cannot generally control what happens to
you in life, but you can usually control what thoughts pass through
your consciousness. If you find yourself dwelling on a particular
negative or unpleasant thought, try “thought stopping”. Some
studies suggest that 80% or more of what we worry about vever
happens anyway. Learn to prioritize your worrying ~ save your
“worry time” for the stuff that really matters.
• 2. Your language - too often we word our speech in the passive
mode. “He made me angry” or “I just couldn’t get up and go to
class” Take control of your behaviors… make yourself the “actor”
and not the “subject” of your life. When “passive” speech becomes
too ingrained, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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• 3. Your actions - set goals for yourself and achieve them; make promises to
yourself and then keep them (start small if necessary). Recognize the value of
your word… to others, and most of all, to yourself. Don’t set goals that you
don’t really want to do what it takes to achieve. Don’t say “I’ll call you” and
then not do it. Don’t set yourself up for failure… decide what you want, and
then go for it. If you decide to lose 10 lbs, then start dieting and exercising and
LOSE THE 10 LBS. Effective people do the things that ineffective people
don’t feel like doing. Just because “you don’t feel like it” is no reason (e.g.
excuse) for not doing it. Don’t let yourself down.
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• Catastrophizing (Albert Ellis) refers to giving yourself negative
messages about a situation before that are greatly exaggerated. On
a 10 point scale (1= no threat and 10=worst possible), it’s
consistently rating things 2 or 3 points higher than what they
actually warrant. It’s actually “talking yourself” into being upset.
• Self-talk (called “automatic thoughts” by Beck) is that constant
babble of running commentary that goes on in your head all day
long.
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Common Irrational Thoughts
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Correlation
•The correlation coefficient assess the extent that individuals’ scores on one variable are
systematically related to scores on another. (e.g. if one goes up or down a lot, the other
goes up or down a lot too)
•It involves the calculation of what is called a “correlation coefficient”, which is
represented by “r”, and which may range from -1.0 to +1.0
•An “r” of “0” means that there is no systematic relationship between the two variables at
all
•High positive correlation indicates the variables vary together in the same direction
•High negative correlation indicates the variables vary together in opposite directions (if
one increases, the other is likely to decrease)
•CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN
CAUSATION!
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Examples of Correlations
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The Importance of Language
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Steps for Eliminating Erroneous
Thinking & Decisions
• 1. Look for evidence ~ don’t rush to judgment. Separate what you’re
“observing” from what you’re “inferring”. See if the negative
thought “fits the facts”.
• 2. Generate other alternatives ~ consider other possibilities. Most
things have multiple causes. Remember that correlation does not
necessarily mean causation!
• 3. Realistically consider what your situation is if the negative
thought is true… or if it is false. Ask yourself what the “worst case”
could be… and then assess how likely it might be.
• 4. Evaluate usefulness ~ sometimes the consequences of holding a
belief are worse than the belief itself (whether it’s true or not). There
are times when the best strategy is to distract yourself from a belief
instead of tackling it head on (e.g. when you’re about to attempt a
difficult dive from the 10 meter board in front of thousands). 20
Some Tips for Optimism
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End of Chapter 2
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