Psychology 2035A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Social Cognitive Theory, Personal Unconscious, Unconscious Mind

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2035A/B
• Professor: Maxwell- Smith

Document Summary

Define the term theory, and explain how research psychologists create theories: theory = a set of propositions logically organized to explain events, relationships among events, and predict the occurrence of the events, ex. What are the factors that drive how much time people spend on social media: how to create a psychological theory, specify the focus. Time spent on social media: identify and define variables. Popularity validation from others, activates dopamine, social rewards. Self-esteem gives a sense of self-worth, comparing yourself to others: specify relations between variables. Does each variable have a positive (+) or negative (-) relationship with. Popularity (+) as popularity increases, social media use increases. Narcissism (+) as narcissism increases, social media use increases. Self-esteem (+) as self-esteem increases, social media use increases. Identification = bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with another person or group: ex. an insecure young man joins a fraternity to boost his self-esteem.