what's up internet and welcome back I'm Tim stemman and this is get psyched with me Tim Stedman so in today's unit review we're diving into unit four social psychology and personality or as I like to call it the Ultimate Guide to figuring out why every group of friends has that one annoying kid and you know if you're sitting there thinking nah my gang doesn't have one of those well I've got some bad news for you anyways by the end of this video you'll have a solid grasp of how social dynamics shape Behavior what makes your personality tick and how to apply it all so you can show that AP exam who's boss so grab your review guide settle in and let's get psyched about unit 4 [Music] all right let's kick off this review by diving into social psychology we're starting with attribution theory which is basically how we explain the behavior of others and ourselves attribution is all about those little Stories We Tell ourselves to figure out why someone acted the way they did these explanations or attributions come in two main flavors dispositional and situational think of it kind of like this dispositional attributions are when we blame someone's Behavior on who they are as a person things like their personality their mood or their intelligence just to name a few like when your classmate forgets they're part of the group presentation and you start thinking to yourself well of course they forgot the inside of their backpack looks like it requires a hazmat suit just to safely go through it situational attributions on the other hand take a step back and consider the circumstances maybe they forgot their part because they were dealing with uh I don't know a family emergency or maybe their dog really did he their homework this time H probably not the dog thing actually for some of you it's honestly less believable that you took your workout at home in the first place to even allow your dog to get to it anyways here's where it gets interesting the kind of attribution we make doesn't just explain one situation it actually reflects something deeper about how we see the world and this brings us to explanatory style which is basically the lens through which you interpret life's events think of it as your brain's go-to narrator for explaining the Good the Bad and the weight why did I agree to do this group project in the first place there are two main Styles optimistic and pessimistic if you've got an optimistic explanatory style you see setbacks as temporary specific and external so let's say you bomb a test instead of spiraling out of control you think H it's just one bad day the questions were weird and next time I'll crush it optimism helps you bounce back and keeps your confidence intact but if you lean towards a pessimistic explanatory St style things start to sound a lot more gloomy same test different story you think to yourself I failed because I'm just bad at everything this is who I am and it'll never change yikes right that kind of thinking can really mess with your motivation but here's the good news your explanatory style isn't set in stone psychologists have found that with practice you can reframe your thinking and shift that pessimistic attitude towards more of an optimistic one and why does this matter well the the way you explain events both good and bad can influence your confidence your mental health and how you tackle challenges in the future and before we move on we're going to talk about something that can totally warp our attributions attribution biases these are the little mental shortcuts or even traps that our brain falls into when trying to figure out why people do what they do there are a few major ones you'll need to know starting with fundamental attribution error this is when we overestimate someone's person personality and underestimate the situation like let's say someone cuts you off in traffic you immediately think to yourself wow what a terrible driver but maybe they're rushing to the hospital or late to pick up their kid the situation matters but we tend to focus on their disposition instead next up is the Actor Observer Bias now this one's sneaky because it's like the two-faced cousin of the fundamental attribution error when we're the actor in a situation we generally blame external factors for our actions but when we're The Observer we blame the person for example if you show up late to class it's because you're alarmed didn't go off or something but if someone else is late it's because they're just irresponsible right and finally we have the self-serving bias which is exactly what it sounds like we take credit for our success but blame external factors for our failures Ace a test I'm a genius fail it the teacher didn't prepare us for it it's your brain's way of protecting your self-esteem but it doesn't always lead to an accurate picture of reality so whether it's rushing to judgment making excuses or giving ourselves a little too much credit attribution biases can really shape how we see the world now that we've tackled attribution biases let's shift gears to another key concept the locus of control now this is all about where you believe control over your life comes from is it yourself or the universe if you got an internal locus of control you believe that you're in charge of your own death Destiny you know you get a bad grade on a test you'll think to yourself well I didn't study enough next time I have to study a little bit more to get a better grade this mindset is great for taking responsibility and staying motivated because you see yourself as the one steering the ship now on the flip side there's the external locus of control this is when you think outside forces are controlling the shots same bad grade but this time you say the test was unfair the teacher hates me and Mercury's in retrograde or something I think that's a thing that people say brings bad luck or something I really don't know now people with an external Locust might feel like life is just happening to them which can sometimes lead to feeling stuck or unmotivated and here's the kicker most of us fall somewhere in between the two maybe you take credit for studying hard but you also acknowledge that your teacher writes confusing questions understanding your locus of control isn't just about personality it can also influence how you handle challenges set goals and even how you bounce back from failures now let's talk about person perception which is just going to be how we form impressions of other people and decide what they're like now this is a huge part of social psychology because let's face it our first impression can be pretty powerful when we meet someone we often make snap judgments based on things like their appearance body language or even the tone of their voice but here's the thing those initial Impressions aren't always accurate and they're heavily influenced by our own experiences biases and expectations now let's add in the mere exposure effect which is basically our brain saying hey the more I see this thing the more I like it ever notice how you might start liking a song you didn't care for at first just because it keeps on playing on the radio well the same thing happens with people the more we're exposed to someone whether it's a classmate cooworker or that person you always see in line at Starbucks the more likely we are to view them positively this is why advertizers and influencers love repetition the more you see their product the more likely you are to trust it and in social situations it explains why familiarity can lead to Stronger connections and even friendships so person perception and the mere exposure effect both remind us how much of what we think about others comes down to things we don't always realize now another fascinating part of person perception is going to be the self-fulfilling prophecy this is when your expectations about someone actually influence their behavior making your original belief come true if a teacher thinks a student is really bad at math they might avoid trying to help them in class because they just think well it's pointless they're not going to try anyways this leads to the student not trying at math which then causes the student to fail their math tests reinforcing the teacher beliefs that they are not good at math it's a vicious psychological feedback loop that proves the teacher's initial belief even if it wasn't accurate to begin with now if the teacher were to have treated the student like they were capable and confident the student would be more likely to act that way now let's talk about social comparison which is how we evaluate ourselves by looking at other people there are two main types upward social comparison and downward social comparison upward social comparison is when you compare yourself to someone who's doing better than you in some way you know maybe they're better at sports academics or have more Instagram followers is Instagram still even cool I have no idea anyways this can be motivating because it gives you something to aim for but let's be real it can also make you feel like you're not not measuring up to your own expectations now on the flip side we have downward social comparison where you compare yourself to someone who's doing worse off this is like looking at a classmate who didn't study at all for the test and thinking well at least I'm doing better than that jabroni this one's great for a quick confidence boost but it doesn't exactly push you to improve now there's also something called relative deprivation which is when you feel like you're missing out because you're comparing yourself to others who seem better off for example you might have a perfectly good car but seeing your buddy roll up in a shiny new one suddenly makes you feel like yours isn't good enough it's not that your situation has changed just your perception of it based on the comparison this shows how social comparison can shape not just your confidence but also your sense of satisfaction with what you already have so whether it's a self-fulfilling prophecy or comparing yourself to others these Concepts show how much our social environment shapes our perception of ourselves and those around us now next up we have attitude formation and attitude change which is going to talk about how we develop our opinions and beliefs and what it takes to shift them we're going to start with a key concept stereotypes a stereotype is a generalized belief about a group of people sometimes these beliefs can seem harmless like assuming all tall people are good at basketball but they can also lead to more harmful behaviors like prejudice and discrimination Prejudice refers to having a negative attitude towards someone based on their group member ship and discrimination takes that prejudice a step further turning it into unfair Behavior or actions thinking someone isn't smart because of their background is going to be Prejudice now refusing to work with them because of that belief that's going to be discrimination so as you can see stereotypes prejudice and discrimination are all connected and they show us how powerful our attitudes can be now that we've covered the basics of stereotypes prejudice and discrimination let's dig a Little Deeper into the implicit biases and mental shortcuts that fuel these attitudes so first let's talk about implicit bias those unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect how we think and behave without us even realizing it for example you might assume someone is more qualified for a job because they went to a prestigious School even though their actual experience might not match up now the tricky thing about implicit biases is that they do operate under the radar you might not even be aware you're doing it and yet it can have a huge impact on the decisions we make and how we treat others well surprise surprise I forgot to include something in the unit review yet again shocking I know right but hey wouldn't be a real AP psych review video if I got it right on the first try and you know what I'm handling it pretty well hanging out in this dope field with a couple of dinos behind me they're pretty chill not bad anyways before we cut back to the actual review video we do need to talk about something called the just World phenomenon this is just going to be the belief that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people which sounds nice but it's not necessarily the truth in reality this mindset leads to something known as victim blaming it's like hearing about someone who just lost their job and you thinking to yourself it's probably because they weren't working hard enough or like blaming someone who was mugged in the middle of the night for being out there in the first first place people tend to think this way because it's comforting it makes them feel as long as they do everything right nothing bad will ever happen to them but the truth is unfortunately bad things happen for all kinds of reasons and to all types of people sometimes it's circumstance sometimes it's luck [Music] sometimes another mental shortcut to know about is the outgroup homogenity bias this is when we see members of an outg group who are people that aren't part of our group as being all the same thinking all people from your rival High School are snobby or everyone from their football team plays dirty those are all oversimplifications that can lead to unfair assumptions in contrast we tend to show ingroup bias where we favor the people in our group and believe they're better than others I'd say the best example here is where you know let's say you're just sitting in class and like an erase or hit your back you turn around get real angry at the guy behind you your about to like start yelling at him and anything whatever but then like your friend who sits two rows over there is like no buddy it was me ha then you're like oh bro ha then you're like fine you know cuz your buddy part of your in group who's messing with you and you're both laughing you're cool with that but the other guy behind you who's part of your out group you know that's just disrespectful you can't do that and then there's ethnos centrism which is when someone judges another culture based on the values and Norms of their own this lead to the belief that one's own culture is superior which isn't just inaccurate but it can also block us from learning about the richness of other cultures so whether it's implicit biases outgroup homogenity ingroup favoritism or ethnocentrism these Concepts all show how easily our attitudes can be shaped by the groups we belong to or even the ones we don't now that we've covered how groups and biases shape our attitudes let's dig into how we hold on to those attitudes even when the evidence says we shouldn't this brings us to two big Concepts belief perseverance and a term we've seen before making a comeback confirmation bias belief perseverance is when you refuse to let go of belief even after being presented with evidence that proves it wrong it's like doubling down on a bad opinion for example you might believe your favorite celebrity is a great person and when a scandal breaks you think wow those stories must be fake they're just out to get them wonder who I could be talking about could actually apply to a lot of people so use your imagination then we've got our old science practice one buddy confirmation bias which if you remember is when you actively seek out information that supports what you already believe while ignoring anything that contradicts it let's say you think pineapple on Pizza is disgusting it's not by the way every time you see a negative meme or post about it you might say ah exactly I knew it was terrible everyone agrees with me but then you might scroll right on past all the positive reviews about pineapple pizza both of these biases are great at protecting our egos but they're not so great for staying objective and when they team up it becomes even harder to challenge our beliefs or even change our minds now let's talk about what happens when our attitudes and actions don't line up a little psychological phenomenon called cognitive dissonance this idea comes from Leon festinger a psychologist who found that when our beliefs and behaviors don't match it creates this uncomfortable tension in our minds imagine you've been telling yourself all week that studying for a test is super important but instead of hitting the books you binge watch an entire season of your favorite show the night before now you're sitting there feeling guilty thinking huh I probably should have studied a little bit more that guilt and discomfort well that's cognitive dissonance kicking in so how do we deal with this tension well we usually try to resolve it in one of a few ways you might change change your behavior like deciding to study extra hard next time or you might adjust your beliefs telling yourself that test wasn't going to count for much anyways who cares another option is Shifting how you see the situation thinking at least I got a mental break I probably needed it anyways festinger's work showed us that people will go to Great Lengths to avoid feeling this internal conflict even if it means bending the truth a little at least to themselves all right now let's shift gears into social influence which is just the way way our thoughts feelings and behaviors are shaped by the people around us start we're looking at social norms which are just the unwritten rules about how we're supposed to act in society think about it you don't wear pajamas to school actually well never mind some of you probably do bad example a better example would probably be holding the door open for someone as they're walking behind you these are all examples of social norms and they help keep Society Running smoothly but sometimes social norms aren't so obvious for example in a classroom there's a norm to sit quietly while the teacher is talking even though nobody handed you a rule book on day one this brings us to social influence Theory which explains how and why we follow these Norms so there are going to be two key types of influence to know we've got the normative social influence and the informational social influence normative influence happens when we go along with the group because we want to fit in or avoid standing out like laughing at a joke you didn't really understand you're not totally sure why it's funny but everyone else is dying laughing so you just play along with it informational influence on the other hand happens when we look to others for guidance because we think they know better picture this you're at a sushi restaurant for the first time and you're not sure how to go about eating it well you might glance at the person next to you and copy what they're doing with both types of influences we're adjusting our Behavior to match the people around us so whether it's following an unspoken rule laughing along with the group or copying what someone else is doing so norms and social influence are always at play now let's talk about persuasion which is all about how we influence people to change their attitudes or behaviors there are two main paths to persuasion the central route and the peripheral route the central route to persuasion focuses on logic evidence and critical thinking this is where the quality of the argument really matters if you're trying to convince your parents to let you stay out past curfew you might hit them with well-reasoned points like well all my homework's done and I'll text you every hour to check in so you know I'm safe you know things like that this approach works best when the person you're persuading is motivated to listen and actually cares about the issue then there's the peripheral route to persuasion which focuses on less logical more superficial cues here it's not about the quality of the argument it's about things like who's delivering the message how attractive or popular they seem or even how cool the ad looks think about you're a favorite celebrity or influencer hyping up a product you're not buying it because they gave you a detail breakdown of the features you're buying it because they're relatable funny or just someone you want to be like this approach is especially effective when the audience isn't deeply invested in the topic oh and one more thing the peripheral route is often tied to the halo effect which is just where one positive quality about a person like their Charisma or looks makes us assume everything else about them is great too this is kind of like when I ask you to subscribe to the channel am I giving you a detailed logical argument about why you should hit that button not really instead I'm hoping my charm humor and the sheer relatability of this video will convince you to stick around so if you haven't subscribed yet consider this your cue to do so because we've got plenty more psych packed content to help you crush that AP exam coming up now let's talk about two common persuasion techniques that use these principles we've got the foot in the door technique and the door and the face technique the foot and the door technique works by starting small you get someone to agree to a small request first then follow up with a bigger one if a friend asked to borrow your notes for one class you're likely to say yes then later they ask for your notes for the whole semester and you're more likely to agree because you've already said yes once the door in the face technique takes the opposite approach here you start with a big request that you know will get rejected then you follow it up with a smaller more reasonable request this is like asking your parents for a $100 allowance increase and when they say no you're crazy get out of here with that nonsense you counter it and say how about you give me an extra 20 instead the second request feels more manageable by comparison even if it's still more than what you were originally getting whether it's appealing to logic playing on emotions or using smart techniques persuasion is everywhere and lucky for you now you know exactly how it works now we're going to talk about Conformity which is when we adjust our Behavior or thinking to align with that of the group sometimes Conformity is harmless like joining in on a standing ovation at a concert other times it can push people to make choices they wouldn't otherwise make now this brings us to Solomon Ash's famous line length experiment in this study participants were asked to compare the lengths of lines but here's the twist most of the participants were secretly in on the experiment and deliberately gave the wrong answers the real participants who didn't know this often conformed to the group even when the correct answer was painfully obvious why you may ask well it comes down to the two types of social influence we were talking about earlier the normative social influence and the informational social influence remember normative influence is when people con form because they want to fit in or avoid standing out while informational influence happens when people think the group knows better than they do Ash's experiment showed just how powerful the need to fit in can be even when it means you're going against your own judgment in one of my older videos with short hair Mr stemman I actually recreated the experiment you can check it out in the description box below not going to lie Pretty cringey dramatic Recreation so be warned now let's move from Conformity to obedience which is all about following orders from an authority figure this brings us to Stanley mgr's obedience experiment mgram wanted to see how far people would go when an authority figure told them to do something even if it felt wrong in the experiment participants were instructed to deliver electric shocks to a learner whenever they answered a question incorrectly now what the participants didn't know was that the shocks weren't real and the learner was just acting the results a shocking number of participants shocking get it CU like they were shocking people beep that was me doing my own beep because I'm assuming the a shocking number of participants kept delivering the shocks even when the learner appeared to be in serious pain simply because the experimentor told them to keep going mgram study revealed just how much were influenced by Authority and it raised important questions about personal responsibility and moral decision-making in the face of pressure now we're going to take a look at how groups can influence behavior we're starting with a big picture concept individualism versus collectivism which are two different ways that cultures shape how people see themselves and their role in a group in individualistic cultures like the us or many European countries the focus is on personal goals and Independence here people are encouraged to stand out make their own decisions and prioritize what's best for them in contrast collectivist cultures like those found in many parts of Asia Africa and Latin America value group Harmony and cooperation in these cultures the focus is on working together putting the group's needs first and maintaining strong social ties now neither approach is better than the other they just highlight different ways people interact with the world and that's where multiculturalism comes into play multiculturalism is the idea that different cultural perspectives and practices can coexist and even Thrive together a Multicultural Society might celebrate a variety of traditions like hosting festivals for different holidays or encouraging diverse voices in decisionmaking understanding these Dynamics helps us see how cultural values shape group Behavior whether it's prioritizing Personal Achievement focusing on the group or embracing The Best of Both Worlds now how about we take a closer look at how groups can shape individual Behavior sometimes for the better and sometimes not so much first up we have group polarization which happens when discussions within a group push members towards more extreme opinions if a group of friends starts talking about a new movie and they all kind of like it they might leave the conversation raving about how it's the best film ever group discussions tend to amplify the group's initial attitudes then there's group think which is when the desire for Harmony in a group leads to bad decision making picture a team project where nobody speaks up against a flawed idea because they don't want to rock the boat the result the group moves forward with a choice that isn't well thought out just to keep everyone happy next is the fusion of responsibility which is when people in a group feel less accountable because responsibility is shared it's why someone might not step into help during an emergency they assume someone else will take care of it this ties closely to social loafing where people put in less effort when working in group than when they're working alone think about those dreaded group projects where at least one person just coasts along while everyone else does all the work then we have deindividuation which happens when being part of a group leads people to lose their sense of self-awareness this can result in Behavior they wouldn't normally engage in like yelling at a rival team during a sports game even though they're usually the Cal and quiet type but it's not all bad sometimes being in a group can actually improve performance a phenomenon called social facilitation for example you might find yourself running faster out of track meet because you're motivated by the crowd cheering you on another group related concept is The False Consensus Effect which is when people overestimate how much others agree with their beliefs or behaviors it's like thinking everyone loves ketchup on a hot dog right when in reality opinions are actually split now let's talk about superordinate goals which are shared goals that bring people together even if they don't use usually get along for instance two Rival Sports Teams might team up for a charity event setting aside their competition to achieve a common purpose and finally there are social traps where short-term self-interest leads to long-term negative consequences think about something like over fishing everyone wants to catch as much as they can but if no one practices restraint the fish population collapses and no one benefits in the end so whether it's working together toward a goal falling into group things or dealing with freeloaders in a group project group dynamics can shape behaviors in surprising ways now let's switch gears and talk about industrial organizational psychologists or IO psychologist for short these are the people who focus on applying psychology to the workplace to make it more efficient productive and let's be real a little less stressful first let's take a look at their job responsibilities IO psychologists might study employee Behavior design better training programs or even help improve teamwork and leadership in organizations they're basically the workplace version of psychologists figuring out what makes employees tick and how to help them Thrive one big part of their role is employment selection and recruitment this means they help companies find the right people for the job by developing fair and effective hiring practices they might create assessments to test a candidate skill or design interview questions that predict how well someone will fit into the company culture IO psychology also focus on work life balance which has become a huge priority in recent years you know they might recommend flexible schedules Mental Health Resources or even suggest changes to company policies to help employees balance their work and personal lives and of course they study burnout which happens when employees are overworked stressed and completely exhausted burnout doesn't just hurt the individual it also impacts the company through reduced productivity and higher turnover rates so whether it's improved improving hiring practices helping employees manage stress or creating healthier workplaces IO psychologists play a key role in making the workplace better for everyone now how about we talk about pro-social Behavior which is any action intended to help others whether it's donating to charity holding the door open or helping a friend with their homework these actions show how we can be motivated to do good one type of pro-social behavior is altruism which is helping others with no expectation of personal gain stopping to help someone and change a flat tire even though it makes you late is an altruistic act assuming you're not expecting them to venmo you later on sometimes though pro-social behavior is influenced by social debt which is when you feel obligated to help someone because they've helped you in the past this leads us to two key Norms that drive pro-social Behavior the social reciprocity norm and the social responsibility Norm the social reciprocity norm is all about give and take it's the idea that if someone does something nice for you you're expected to return the favor if a friend buys you coffee you might feel compelled to treat them next time it's like an Unwritten rule of fairness now the social responsibility Norm on the other hand is about helping those who depend on us even if they can't pay us back think about helping an elderly neighbor carry their groceries you're not expecting anything in return you're doing it just because it feels like the right thing to do so whether it's pure altruism repaying a favor or helping out of a sense of Duty pro-social Behavior reminds us of the power of kindness and the unspoken rules that keep Society Running smoothly next up we've got the bystander effect which is one of the most fascinating and frustrating Concepts in all of social psychology the bystander effect happens when people are less likely to help someone in need because there are other people around it's like everyone just assumes somebody else will handle it imagine you're in a crowded hallway and someone drops all their books you might hesitate to help because you figure someone else closer to them will just jump in and help out this hesit can be influenced by two key factors situational variables and attentional variables situational variables include things like the size of the group The more people there are the less responsibility each person feels this ties back to the diffusion of responsibility we talked about earlier the setting also matters in a familiar environment like your school or neighborhood you might feel more inclined to help because you're comfortable and know the people around you in an unfamiliar setting you're more likely to hang back and wait to see what others do then there are the attentional variables which are all about where your focus is if you're distracted or in a rush you might not even notice someone needs help at all or you might notice but underestimate how serious the situation is like thinking someone lying on a park bench is just taking a nap when they might actually need some help the bystander effect teaches us an important lesson when we see someone in need it's easy to assume someone else will take action but sometimes stepping up and being the one to help can make all the difference all right that wraps up our look at Social Psychology now we're going to shift gears and dive into personality which is the unique patterns of thinking feeling and behaving that make you well you all right so let's kick off our dive into personality with one of the most famous and debated theories out there Freud's psychodynamic Theory at its core Freud's theory focuses on the idea that our personality is influenced by unconscious drives childhood experiences and inner conflicts that we're not always aware of Freud believed the Mind operates on three levels of consciousness first there's the conscious level this is everything you're currently aware of like the fact that you're watching this video right now then there's the preconscious level which includes memories and thoughts that aren't actively on your mind but you can bring them up whenever you need to for example if I asked you to think about what you had for breakfast you'd pull that info from your preconscious into your conscious finally there's the unconscious level which is where things get deep this is the part of your mind that holds hidden desires fears and unresolved conflicts so things you're not necessarily aware of but Freud believed had huge influences on your behavior Freud argued that much of what drives our personality is buried in the unconscious it's like the iceberg analogy what you see above the surface is just a small part of the whole picture and according to Freud if you want to understand what makes someone tick you have to dive beneath the surface and explore these unconscious forces now let's talk about something Freud believed we all use defense mechanisms these are unconscious strategies our mind uses to protect us from anxiety or uncomfortable thoughts and feelings so here are the big ones that you need to know denial is refusing to accept reality for example if you fail a test you might insist the great is wrong this can't be happening displacement is redirecting emotions to a safer Target like yelling at your sibling because you're mad at your teaching for giving you a bad grade projection involves blaming others for your own feelings someone who is constantly telling lies might accuse everyone around them of being Liars projecting their own poor qualities onto others rationalization is creating excuses for bad behavior didn't study for a test you might say well I work better under pressure anyways and then you'd probably fail regression is reverting to Childish behaviors think slamming a door or throwing attention when things don't go your way repression is burying distressing memories or thoughts in the unconscious it's like locking those feelings in a mental Vault so you don't have to deal with them and finally sublimation is turning negative urges into something productive or socially acceptable for example channeling anger into playing sports or writing music Freud believed these defense mechanisms help us cope but overusing them can lead to problems because you're not really addressing the root issue now that we've talked about Freud's ideas let's look at how psychologists assess personality from psychodynamic perspective one method Freud inspired is the use of projective tests these are tests designed to reveal the unconscious Mind by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli the most famous example is the RoR Shack ink blot test where you're shown a series of ink blots and asked to describe what you see the idea is that your interpretations reflect hidden thoughts feelings or desires buried in your unconscious another popular test is the Thematic app perception test or or tat for short in this test you're shown a series of ambiguous images like a person sitting by a window and asked to tell a story about what's happening psychologists then analyze these responses to uncover patterns that might reveal something about your personality or unconscious conflicts now while these tests are creative and unique they are also a bit controversial critics argue that projective tests can be subjective since interpretations often depend on the psych psychologist analyzing the results two different psychologists could analyze the exact same patient and have completely different conclusions still projective tests are an important part of psychology's history and give us insight into the ways we've tried to uncover the mysteries of the unconscious mind now let's move from Freud's focus on the unconscious to something a little more uplifting humanistic psychology this perspective championed by psychologists like Carl Rogers and Abraham maslo focuses on personal growth Free Will and the belief that people have an inherent desire to become their best selves one of the key Concepts in humanistic psychology is unconditional positive regard a term coined by Carl Rogers this is the idea of being fully accepted and valued no matter what kind of like having a best friend who supports you unconditionally Rogers believed that this kind of acceptance is crucial for people to grow and develop closely tied to this is the self-actualizing tendency which comes from maso's Theory self-actualization is the drive to reach your full potential to grow learn and to become the best version of yourself imagine a musician constantly striving to improve their craft or someone working toward a meaningful goal that aligns with their passions and values humanistic psychologists believe that when people experience unconditional support they're more likely to embrace their self-actualizing Tendencies and live more fulfilling authentic lives so while Freud focused on hidden conflicts humanistic psychology ology shifts the spotlight to personal growth emphasizing what's possible when people feel supported and valued now let's dive into the social cognitive theories of personality which focus on how our thoughts behaviors and environments interact to shape who we are this approach was theorized by Albert bandura who also gave us that famous Bobo dial experiment but today we're focusing on his concept of reciprocal determinism reciprocal determinism is the idea that our personality is shaped by the interactions between our Behavior thoughts and environment here's a quick example let's say I decide I want to play hockey that's my thought which leads me to join a hockey team playing on the team changes my behavior I spend more time practicing and competing and that behavior creates an environment where I'm surrounded by other players which makes me even more interested in hockey see how it all connects now let's talk about three key Concepts that are Central to the social cognitive perspective we've got self-concept self-efficacy and self-esteem self-concept is your understanding of who you are it's like the mental blueprint of your identity your traits roles and values for instance you might think of yourself as someone who is kind creative and good at problem solving that self-concept shapes how you interact with the world self-efficacy is your belief in your ability to succeed at a specific task for example if I feel confident in my ability to score a goal I'm more likely to give it my best shot on the other hand if I think there's no way I can do this I might not even try and finally there's self-esteem which is how much value or worth we place on ourselves High self-esteem means we generally feel good about who we are while low self-esteem might make us doubt our abilities or worth it's an important part of overall well-being and influences how we handle challenges social cognitive theories remind us that personality isn't just about who we are inside it's about how we interact with the world around us and how those experiences shape our sense of self now let's shift to trait theories of personality which focus on identifying consistent patterns in how we think feel and behave a trait is basically a stable characteristic that influences how you act across different situations for example someone who's highly organized is likely to keep their room tidy show up to appointments on time and plan their week in advance one of the most widely accepted trait models is the Big Five Theory which breaks personality into five main traits we've got openness conscientiousness extroversion agreeableness and neuroticism if you want to remember them just think of the acronyms Ocean or canoe so openness is about curiosity and creativity people high in openness love new experiences while those low in openness prefer routine and tradition conscientiousness refers to being organized dependable and goal oriented oriented High conscientiousness means you're probably great at meeting deadlines while low conscientiousness might mean you're a bit more spontaneous or a little forgetful extroversion is all about energy and sociability high extroversion means you thrive in social situations while low extroversion or introversion means you recharge by spending time alone agreeableness is about kindness and cooperation people high in agreeableness are empathetic and helpful while those lower in this trait might be more skeptical or competitive neuroticism measures emotional stability High neuroticism means you're more prone to stress and mood swings while low neuroticism means you tend to stay calm Under Pressure cool as a cucumber so now how do psychologists measure these traits that's where self-report inventories come in these are questionnaires where people answer questions about their own thoughts feelings and behaviors one popular example is the neop which is used to assess the big five traits to make sure these tests are accurate psychologists use tools like factor analysis and standardization factor analysis helps identify patterns in responses to ensure the questions measure the right traits for example questions meant to assess extraversion should all cluster together and show consistency standardization ensures that the test is administered and scored the same way every time so results are fair and comparable psychologist also focus on reliability and validity reliability means the test produces consistent results for instance if you take the same personality test twice your results should be pretty similar validity means the test measures what it's supposed to measure in other words a test for extroversion should actually tell us about how outgoing someone is not how much they love pizza with pineapples on it trait theories and self-report inventories give us valuable insights into the unique patterns that Define who we are helping us understand not just our strengths and weaknesses but also how we interact with the world all right let's dive into into motivation which is the process that drives us to act whether it's acing a test hitting the gym or grabbing the last slice of pizza before anyone else does now motivation is all about what pushes us toward our goals and psychologists have come up with some key theories to help explain it first up is Drive reduction theory which suggests that our behavior is motivated by biological needs when something's out of balance like when you're hungry or thirsty it creates a state of tension called a drive that pushes you to fix it for example if your stomach starts growling during class your body is signaling that it is time to eat once you grab a snack that drive is reduced and balance or what psychologists call homeostasis is restored next is the arousal theory of motivation which focuses on finding the right level of excitement or stimulation so we all have an optimal level of arousal we're trying to maintain too little arousal like sitting in a boring lecture and you might start daydreaming or dozing off too much arousal like cramming for an exam at 3:00 a.m. can lead to stress and overwhelming and being overwhelming now the York Dodson law is going to explain this perfectly moderate arousal leads to the best performance not too much not too little for example if you're about to take a big test a little bit of anxiety can sharpen your focus but too much might make you freeze up now we're going to talk about sensation seeking which is all about the need for excitement and new experiences sensation Seekers are the people who love roller coasters skydiving or even trying out bizarre food challenges psychologist break sensation seeking into four categories experience seeking thrill and Adventure seeking disinhibition and boredom susceptibility for example someone high in thrill and Adventure seeking might be the first to volunteer for a zipline Adventure while someone with boredom susceptibility might constantly need something new to stay engaged and finally the there's self-determination Theory which looks at the differences between two types of motivation intrinsic and extrinsic intrinsic motivation is when you're driven by personal satisfaction or interest for example practicing guitar because you love music extrinsic motivation is when you're driven by external Rewards or pressures like practicing guitar because you want to win a competition or impress your friends next up we have incentive theories now unlike the drive reduction theory which focuses on reducing tensions from unmet needs incentive motivation explains how external rewards like money and praise can pull us toward a goal it explains how even if we are not biologically in need the promise of a reward can still drive behavior and finally we have good old instincts so before modern theories of motivation psychologists explain behavior through Instinct Theory this Theory suggests that certain behaviors are biologically programmed and happen without learning these instincts like new newborns grasp reflex or Birds migrating seasonally are hardwired for survival even though instincts play a role human behavior is far more complex than just these automatic responses however understanding these different types of motivation help us figure out what keeps us going whether it's a biological need the thrill of Adventure or the satisfaction of mastering something we love next up we're going to talk about luan's motivational conflict theory which is going to explain how make decisions when we're faced with competing goals or desires according to Luen there are three main types of motivational conflicts we are going to have approach approach avoidance avoidance and approach avoidance an approach approach conflict happens when you have to choose between two appealing options imagine it's Friday night and your friends invite you to a concert but your family plans a movie night with your favorite snacks both sound great but you can only pick one next is the avoidance avoidance conflict which is when you're stuck choosing between two equally unappealing options for example you've got a history essay due tomorrow and you also need to clean your room neither sounds fun but you have to pick one because procrastination isn't a real option right and finally there's the approach avoidance conflict which is when a single option has both appealing and unappealing aspects you're thinking about grabbing another slice of pineapple pizza then you think to yourself hey maybe this is bad for my health there is both a posit and negative result that may occur luan's Theory shows how motivation isn't just about what we want it's also about weighing our options and dealing with the push and pull of competing desires now let's take a closer look at the biological and environmental factors that influence motivation especially when it comes to something we all love food first with the biological side well our bodies have an amazing system that tells us when to eat and when to stop eating and it's all thanks to Horn hormones and brain structures so two key hormones play a role here grin and leptin grin often called the hunger hormone is what makes your stomach growl when you're hungry it signals your brain that it's time to eat on the other hand there's leptin which tells your brain when you've had enough think of leptin as the body's stop signal to help prevent overeating in addition to hormones certain brain structures are also involved specifically the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland the hypothalamus acts like the command center for Hunger it processes signals from gin and leptin helping you decide whether to grab a snack or to skip it meanwhile the pituitary gland plays a supporting role regulating other hormones that influence Energy and Metabolism but motivation isn't just about biology it's also shaped by environmental factors for example the presence of food alone can trigger hunger even if you weren't that hungry to begin with ever walk into a kitchen smell fresh cookies and suddenly feel like you need one now another Factor the time of day we're often conditioned to eat at specific times like lunch at noon even if we're not that hungry and finally social Gatherings can influence eating habits at a party you might find yourself snacking more than usual not because you're starving but because everyone else is eating too so whether it's hormones telling you when to eat or your environment tempting you with smells and sights motivation is shaped by a fascinating combination of biological and external factors now it's time to dive into our final topic for unit four which is emotion this is all about those powerful experiences that influence our thoughts behaviors and even physiology at its core emotion can be broken into three main components a physiological experience a cognitive experience and cognitive labeling let's break that down the physiological experience includes the physical changes that happen in your body during an emotion when you're scared your heart might race your palms sweat and your muscles tense up then there's the cognitive experience which is how you interpret the situation imagine you're walking in the woods and you hear rustling behind you you start to think is that a squirrel or something way scarier and finally there's cognitive labeling which is when your brain names the emotion you're feeling if you decide it's a squirrel you might label your emotion as relief but if you think it's a bear you're labeling it as fear an interesting Theory tied to this is the facial feedback hypothesis this suggests that your facial expressions can actually influence your emotions for example smiling even when you don't feel happy can actually make you feel more positive it's like your brain gets a signal from your face saying hey we're smiling so we must be happy so emotion isn't just about how we feel it's a mix of physical reactions thoughts and even the expression we show to the world moving on we are going to talk about the broaden and build Theory which explains how positive emotions can do more than just to make us feel good they can also help us grow and Thrive according to this Theory positive emotions like Joy love or excitement don't just improve your mood in the moment they also broaden your thinking helping you see new possibilities and come up with Creative Solutions for example if you're feeling happy you might be more open to trying something new like joining a club or tackling a tricky project positive emotions also build your resources over time like strengthening your relationships skills or resilience imagine you're feeling optimistic about a group project you're more likely to collaborate effectively with your classmates building teamwork skill and maybe even forming stronger friendships but it's not all about positivity negative emotions also have their benefits they can help you focus prepare for challenges and take action in stressful situations for instance feeling nervous before a big presentation might motivate you to practice more and perform better the next time so the broaden and build Theory shows us that emotion both positive and negative are more than just reactions they're tools that help us adapt learn and grow now let's explore how emotions are influenced by both Universal human experiences and cultural differences first we have the idea of universal emotions which are emotions that everyone experiences no matter where they're from psychologist Paul emman identified six basic emotions that are recognized across all cultures these are going to be anger happiness surprise disgust sadness and fear for example a smile is a universal sign of Happiness while a frown signals sadness no matter where you go in the world people can usually recognize those emotional Expressions but while emotions themselves are Universal Display rules or the social norms about how and when to express emotions can vary a lot between cultures in some cultures it's considered polite to hide strong emotions while in others expressing emotions openly is encouraged in Japan people may suppress feelings like anger to maintain group Harmony while in the US it's more common to express frustration directly and finally there are cultural influences on how we elicit emotions as different societies shape what triggers emotional responses how emotions are expressed and which emotions are deemed appropriate in various situations so while the basic emotions we feel are shared across Humanity the way we express and interpret those emotions is deeply shaped by our cultural background and thank Freud that's a wrap on you for social psychology and personality we've explored everything from why people act differently in groups to the traits that make you unique to what drives your emotions and motivations now whether you're decoding a group project disaster reflecting on what makes you tick or tackling your AP Psychology exam you've got the tools to crush it now remember the key to Understanding Psychology is realizing how much of our behavior is shaped by a mix of who we are how we think and the world around us I'll see you next time for our final unit review on unit five mental health and stress until then peace [Music] [Applause] [Music]