PSYC 4800

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PSYC 4800

• Beyond the Individual Level

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Its all about me me me me me

• Social bonds are natural part of human nature
• Psychology Western society devalues social
  bonds and subscribes to individualism
• Self-made man
• Erikson
• Autonomy
• Self-esteem
• Developmental Psychology
• Separation
• Individuation
• Not all cultures subscribe to individualism

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Moving Beyond the Individual

• Environment
• Although it implies the physical, social
  environment is most important in community
  psychology
• Lewin argued Bf(P,E)
• Behavior is a Function of the Person and his/her
  Environment
• Moos later introduced the concept of climate
• Barker researched behavior settings

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Behavior Settings

• Behavior Settings
• Small social systems with prescribed behaviors
• Can be official or unofficial
• Barker argued for genotype (e.g. resteraunt) and
  phenotype (Chucky Cheese vs. Chilis vs.
  Pappadeauxs)
• Each setting has a form and a function
• Each setting has roles and scripts
• Underpopulation vs. Overpopulation
• can be biased

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Social Climate

• Rudy Moos
• Coined term social climate to illustrate that
  each setting has its own personality
• Argued for person-environment fit
• Created several measures of social climate
• Highlighted the importance of experience vs.
  observation
• Components
• Relationship orientation
• Personal development
• System maintenance/change

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Understanding Ecology

• Interaction vs. Transaction
• On-going bidirectional
• Ecology
• Transactions between individual and environments
• Kellys ecological analogy
• Interdependence
• Adaptation
• Cycling of Resources
• Succession

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Bronfenbrenners Ecological Model
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Bronfenbrenners Ecological Model
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Bronfenbrenners Ecological Model

• Levels
• Individual
• biological, psychological, genetic
  predispositions
• Microsystem
• Settings in which the individual directly
  interacts
• Mesosystem
• Transactions between microsystems
• Exosystem
• Settings that affect the individual but they may
  not directly interact with these settings
• Macrosystem
• Society, culture, norms
• Chronosystem
• zeitgeist