PART IV:
SOCIAL CONTEXT
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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL CONTEXT
Examples of context
Macro- and micro-context
Dynamics between context and other units
What is ‘environment’?
Examples of macro-context
Three types of micro-context
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PERSONALITY UNITS AND COURSE STRUCTURE
Stable
Inner,
private,
subjective
2. Cognition
1. Motivation
& Self
e.g. motives,
e.g. self-concept, defenses, psychic
beliefs, goals
structure
Major theorists:
Rogers, Mischel
Outer,
public,
objective
Variable
Major theorists:
Freud, McClelland
3. Traits &
4. Social Context
Temperament
e.g., culture,
e.g. extraversion ethnicity, power,
gender
Major theorists:
Jung, Eysenck,
Major theorists:
Gray
Mischel, Triandis
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Virginia Woolf on how she was influenced by
her mother:
Until I was in the forties . . . The presence of my mother
obsessed me. I could hear her voice, see her, imagine what
she would do or say as I went about my day’s doings. She
was one of the invisible presences who after all play so
important a part in every life. . . . Consider what immense
forces society brings to play upon each of us, how that
society changes from decade to decade; and also from class
to class; well, if we cannot analyze these invisible
presences, we know very little of [any person about whom
we write].
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Other examples of social context:
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Two Types of Contexts
Microcontexts:
Immediate features of the present situation; past and present learning
and reinforcement history.
(E.g. responses and habits)
Little Albert and Bobo doll experiments.
Macrocontexts:
Large-scale, complex, and enduring patterns of environments.
(E.g. gender, social class, religion, race, processes of social
identity and influence)
Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and gender
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MACRO-CONTEXT
(e.g., gender, SES, power, race, culture)
MICRO-CONTEXT
immediate features of the
MICRO-CONTEXT
environment (e.g., physical and
subjective features of situation,
emotional states, group pressure,
etc.)
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Environment Shapes Personality,
Personality Shapes Environment
Self & Cognition
Environment
Person
Motives
Traits
Author: O. Schultheiss
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What Exactly is “The Environment”?
Physical:
Climate,
geographic
region, food
supply, etc.
Micro & Macro
Author: O. Schultheiss
Social:
Family,
friends,
partner,
teachers, etc.
Micro
Culture:
TV, books,
music,
magazines,
language, etc.
Macro
History:
Wars,
economic
changes,
inventions, etc.
Macro
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Illustrations of the Macrocontext:
1. Internment of Japanese Americans
Social context:
War against Japan,
racism & prejudice
Internment of
Japanese Americans:
Loss of dignity, possessions,
role of “outsider”, “enemy”
Some consequences:
Lowered self-esteem, sense of
shame; repression, denial
(Effects on motives, traits unknown)
Next generation:
Disidentification with American
culture, increased power motivation
Author: O. Schultheiss
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Illustrations of the Macro context:
2. Children of Holocaust Survivors
Social context:
anti-Semitism,
Hitler
Internment of Jews in
concentration camps:
Loss of dignity, possessions;
certain death
Some consequences:
Helplessness, traumatization,
depression, guilt (survivors guilt),
but also reactance
Next generation:
Increased need for power,
enhanced sense of Jewish identity
Author: O. Schultheiss
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The Microcontext: Some Examples of Immediate, Direct
Influences
Classical/
Pavlovian
conditioning:
Instrumental/
Operant
conditioning:
• Little Albert
• Transference
• Reward &
punishment
Author: O. Schultheiss
Observational
learning:
• “Bobo doll”
study
• Violent crime
increase in 60s
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Forms of Operant Conditioning:
a. Positive Reinforcement: give a reward to
continue desired behavior
b. Negative Reinforcement: take away an
unpleasant stimulus to encourage a
desired behavior.
Note: Both positive and negative
reinforcement strengthen behavior.
c. Punishment (Time-Out & Extinction):
giving an unpleasant consequences to
decrease an undesired behavior.
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How Macrocontexts and
Microcontexts Interlock:
Macrocontext
Microcontext
Personality
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