Question

MCAT Psychology Tutorial: Self-Identity

Answer 1

\({\bf{Terminology:}}\)
- self-concept: how one perceives oneself as an individual and within the greater social context
- self-schemas: characteristics (like race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc.) used to develop a self-concept
- identity: an individual's assessment of their own ideas, abilities, and value
- looking-glass self: people adjust their identity in accordance with others' evaluations
- social identity: the groups one associates with and how that influences one's identity
> belonging to a group provides validation/belongingness

- in-group bias: positive feelings towards members of one's own group
- out-group bias: negative feelings towards members of another group

\({\bf{Self-Esteem:}}\)
- self-esteem: individual's self-evaluation of one's own values, talents, purpose
> strongly influenced by one's childhood upbringing
> intensifies in adolescence when one is comparing their own beliefs/behaviors/etc. with their peers'; peer acceptance is critical
> as one ages, self-esteem becomes less influenced by others and more dependant on their own beliefes/relationships
> may strongly change under very stressful life events

\({\bf{Self-Efficacy:}}\) the sense of agency one has over one's life
- strong self-efficacy: an individual believes they have the power to control one's life situations/goals, sees poor life circumstances as an opportunity to change one's actions
- weak self-efficacy: an individual does not believe they can control their life, is less likely to take actions to improve their life

\({\bf{Locus~of~Control:}}\) whether an individual sees the forces that control their life as being external or internal (probably easier to see with example)
- internal locus of control: the factors that control one's life are internal, like personality, work ethic, etc.
- external locus of control: the factors that control one's life are external, like luck, genetics, etc.
> when individuals lose decision-making power over their lives, they are more likely to slip into an external locus of control attitude

Answer 2

\({\bf{Identity~Formation:}}\)
- individuation: the process by which an individual develops characteristics distinct from others
- many different models/theories but generally seem to agree that identity formation occurs in stages

\({\bf{Freudian~Model~of~Identity~Formation:}}\) (getting into some weird psychoanalytical/sexual stuff here so be warned)

- five stages, each associated with an erogenous body part
- each stage is characterized by a conflict that must be resolved to progress and develop a stable personality
- fixation: unsatisfied or improperly satisfied sexual needs
- neurosis: mental instability caused by fixation
- libido (sexual drive) determines the progression through the five stages
- id (base/subconscious desires), ego (societal expectations, controlling of the id), and supergo (higher level morals); id must be controlled by the ego/supergo in a stable person

1. oral stage (0-18 mos), id-based, infant gets information about the world using their mouths
- conflict: an infant will gradually rely less and less on the caregiver and must learn to adjust
- fixation results in: over-dependence on others, increase in behaviors involving the mouth (smoking, eating, get your mind out of the gutter)

2. a*** stage [censored] (18 mos to 3 years), toilet-training and learning of self-control
- conflict: new expectations of behavior and control of bodily functions
- fixation results in: obsessive personality (if parents are too strict) or carelessness (if parents are too lax)

3. phallic stage: (3-6 years) learning about the differences between men/women/boys/girls; Oedupus/Electra complex (attraction towards the opposite-sex parent)
- conflict: inadequacy/confusion towards the opposite sex
- fixation results in: abnormal sexual ideas/urges

4. latency stage (6 years to puberty): lowering of libido and development of personal interests and relationships with others, increased immportance of the ego
- conflict: reconciling personal desires with societal expectations
- fixation results in: (it's not entirely clear from the book but I would guess poor relationships in adulthood, lack of self-identity, etc.)

5. genital stage (puberty onwards): increased attraction towards the opposite sex, independence
- conflict: learning how to manage sexual feelings/conflicts
- fixation results in: failure to develop normal relationships as well as failure in one's career/intellectual life

A lot of this is not widely used/accepted anymore but this is still important because he was one of the first to connect one's personality/sexual feelings with one's childhood upbringing.

Answer 3

\({\bf{Erikson's~Stages~of~Identity~Formation:}}\)
- places less emphasis on the id and more on the ego and social interactions
- does not stop at puberty/adolescence

- trust vs mistrust (birth to 18 mos) regarding the care it is given

- autonomy vs shame (18 mos to 3 yrs) regarding a child's desire to explore the world and the caregiver's desire to keep them safe

- initiative vs. guilt (3 to 5 yrs) regarding a child's desire to get what they want and the consequences/punishments associated with their actions

- industry vs inferiority (5-12 yrs) regarding a child's learning and feedback from adults regarding their learning

- identity vs role confusion (13-19 yrs) regarding individuality and how that may conflict with what their parents/teachers/etc. expect from them
> considered the most important in identity formation
> identity crisis: conflict between individual's experimentation with roles and expectations
> identity achievement: adults/peers support the appropriate level of experimentation

- intimacy vs isolation (20-39 yrs) regarding an individual's desire to be validated by others and seek relationships/freindships

- generativity vs stagnation (40-64 yrs) regarding an individual's desire to be productive and contribute to society

- ego integrity vs despair (65 yrs) regarding an individual's assessment of their life's achievements vs the thought of their death

Not perfect but generally more accepted and useful for identifying maladaptive behaviors and ideas.

Answer 4

\({\bf{Other~Influences~on~Identity:}}\)
- mimicking the behaviors of others
> deferred imitation: in infants, the ability to observe and replicate a behavior after some time has passed
- mirror neurons
- role taking: adopting the ideas/obligations of others in their role (their social schema)

- the generalized other: one's evaluation of societal values and how that influence's one's life
- reference group: a group that is used as the guide/reference for comparing one's own ideas/values, etc.

\({\bf{Sociocultural~Influences:}}\)
- socialization: learning how to adapt to societal norms
- agents of socialization: individuals or institutions that determine social norms, like families, friends, schools, the media, etc. most influential one is the family.

Answer 5

Anyway, that's the end of my tutorial, I hope it was a helpful resource. Source material is the 2nd Edition Barron's Prep book for the new MCAT