Title: Personality Psychology Concluding Lecture Personality, Culture, and Religion
1Personality PsychologyConcluding
LecturePersonality, Culture, and Religion
Hallelujah Pachelbels Canon
2Final Quiz Questions
- How are Western and Eastern wisdom traditions
wise from a goal-regulation and personality
development perspective? - Describe experimental evidence that idealistic
and ideological extremes arise from goal
regulation processes (i.e., P x E, personal
project, goal-priming, behavioral neuroscience,
and neuroscience evidence).
3Overview
- Review
- Various Threats ? Defensive Extremes (PxE)
- Same Threats ? Approach Motivation (PxE)
- Behavioral Neuroscience (right line bisection)
- Neuroscience (Left EEG rEEGACC) (PxE)
- Same Threats ? Religious Zeal (PxE)
- Self-Affirmations Eliminate Distress and
Extremism - Healthy-Minded Religious Devotion
- Eastern and Western
-
4Rigid Conviction (at low implicit)(McGregor
Marigold, 2003, JPSP)
5Fascist Consensus (at low implicit)(McGregor,
Nail, Marigold, Kang, 2005, JPSP)
6Line Bisection Task Behavioral Neuroscience
Measure of Relative Cerebral Hemisphericity
- Please quickly look at each of the lines below
and then make a short tick-mark on each line that
divides it in half - __________________________________
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7Behavioral Neuroscience
8r Left EEG (F7F8). Line-Bisection Task .38
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10Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)
Uh-Oh detection and correction Left EEG, r
-.53, with ACC
11Academic Goal Frustration ? Religious Zeal
- Which religious belief system do you most
identify with? - Jewish (20)
- Christian (45)
- Muslim (5)
- Buddhist (10)
- Atheist (20)
12Religious Zeal (scale from 1-5)
- Confident
- Aspire to live and act according to
- Grounded in objective truth
- Most people would agree if understood
- If publicly criticized would argue to defend it
- Would support a war to defend
- Would sacrifice my life to defend
- Believe in my heart more correct than others
13Results
Academic goal frustration caused Overall zeal
3.0 ? 3.6 Support for war 1.8 ? 3.0
14Approach Personality x Academic Threat
15Religious Zeal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Religious Zeal is also negatively correlated with
ACC r -.63
16Highest Happiness from Contemplating Perfect
Ideals and Abstract, Absolute Truth
17Defensive Pride and Idealism
XXP
18Authoritarian IdeologyInsecure Attachment and
Narcissism
19What Causes Religious Extremism?
20Reactive Zeal
- Religious rapture is a unifying statesand and
grit of selfhood disappear - Excessively intense thoughts repress
conflictmental dams
- Religious zeal is used as a displacement goal
- Caused by important goal frustrations
- Activates clear approach-motivation processes
- Relieves sensitivity to uncertainty and anxiety
- Liberates vigorous (myopic) action
21Self-Affirmation Manipulations that Decrease
Reactive Ideological Extremes
- Love
- Self-Worth
- Values Affirmation
- Group-Identification and Consensus
- Same domains as defensive zeal (and stages)
- Like zeal, self-affirmations relieve distress
- Self-affirmations only work in the West
- Among Eager, Idealistic People (see next)
22Salience of Dilemma after Conviction Expression
23Salience of Dilemma after Pride
Expression(McGregor, 2006, BASP)
24Self-Affirmations, Goal Theory, and Personal
Growth (in West)
- Recall, completed goals fade
- Approach state also relieves uh-oh (ACC) and
avoidance vigilance - Allow openness to other information
- Less defensive, more generous
- Paradox in West, affirm self-goals so people can
let them go (i.e., past their fixationsrecall
Rogers).
25Healthy-Minded Religious Devotion
traits
religious commitments
spiritual values
goals
roles
relationships
cultural
view of
myth history
self in future
Narrative Integrity, Meaning, and
Resilience Stories We Live By
26Philosophies, Religions, Cultures as Stories We
Live By
- What to do?
- Intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict
- Way of Life Saved from chaos Hope for peace
- Ritual reminders in community worth-ship
- Eastern and Western solutions
27Western Culture and Religion from
- Greek idealism
- Pythagoras (582-500 BCE) Introspection and
idealism from India to Greece Socratic (470-399
BCE)/ Platonic (427-347 BCE) idealism for social
utopia (Platos republic)make a better, more
ideal world - Abstract principles and categories, logical
analysis, right and wrong, individually realized,
logosguides action - Highest happiness from contemplating
self-realized, logical, abstract, ideal/essential
truth (Plato and Aristotle)
28And from
- Empowering, Generative, Judaic Monotheisms (J, C,
I) - Dominant, nature transcending, powerful, loving
will of God. Humans in Gods image - Creeds, beliefs, the word, logos, people of the
book. Ideals guide powerful action. - World is very good. Let them have dominion
over all the earth. - God shapes history Exodus from Egyptian slavery
as metaphor. Gods justice mercy as the
righteous ideal - Freedom, self-responsibility, align with Gods
willfrom wrestling with God to social justice
and prophetic power - Salvation by alignment with Gods will, and yoke
ego (Islam peace by submission to God) thy
will be done - Mistakes imperfections covenant of forgiveness
grace along way - Salvation not from being perfect but from active,
hopeful, ideal approach
29Exodus Deliverance from Bondage
30Healthy Minded Monotheism (J, C, I)
- Affirmation from a merciful God promotes healthy
personality development (Erikson, Rogers, Maslow) - Basic Trust Grace, B-love, chosen, no death,
father - Autonomy/Initiative Freedom to choose good and
evil - Industry/Self-worthy Gods love, intervention,
suffering - Identity Clear values of one God law guide
action - Intimacy brothers, compassion, examples,
relations, e.g., Jesus, Mary, Muhammed. - Generativity Cup runs over with gratitude,
empowered compassion, charity, justice, mercy,
peace - Integrity Energy, light, vision, vitality,
actualization, peak experience. - Cf. Hindu path of desire to path of renunciation..
31Islam
- Peace and Surrender
- From Chaos to Harmony in Mecca
- People of the Bookno doubt in this book
- Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammed (Koran and
Hadith) - 5 Pillars
- Creed
- Prayer
- Charity
- Fasting
- Pilgrimage
32Sick Souled Monotheism (in J, C, I)
- Punitive God of Sin, shame, guilt
- Non-affirming, threatening God causes insecurity,
impedes healthy psychosocial development - Introjection of shoulds
- Zealous idealism and intolerance as defense
- Insecurity and Battle for God (Karen Armstrong)
- Ideological warfare more common in the West.
33Self-esteem Canadian sample
34Independent self-construal (Markus Kitayama,
1991)
Father
Mother
x
x
x
x
x
Sibling
Self
X
X
x
X
X
X
X
x
x
x
Co-worker
Friend
x
35Interdependent self-construal
Mother
Father
x
X
x
X
x
x
x
Self
Sibling
x
X
x
X
x
x
x
Co-worker
X
x
Friend
36Self-esteem Japanese sample
37Eastern Cultures Religions India
- Hinduism (Oldest)
- Four Wants pleasure, success (path of desire),
duty, Being (path of renunciation) Mukti
liberation from limitations - Let people accomplish lower stages, they will
want more - Four paths (Yogas yokes) to true Being, suited
to personalities knowledge (O), love (A), work
(E), meditation (I) - Maya illusion vs. True Being (Atman and
Brahman) - Sounds Greek. Is this where Pythagoras got
inspiration? - Advocates balanced engagement, e.g., Dancing
Shiva, i.e., Not identifying with fruits of
action. GOALS! - See notes field below for related reading
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39Eastern Cultures Religions India
- Buddhism (566-486 BCE He Who is Awake)
- Pragmatic psychology for well-being
- Reaction against Hindu authority, ritual,
tradition, fatalism, superstition. - Four Noble Truths and Eightfold path (from
wandering about to intentional living) - Do not over-attach to goals and fruits of goals
- Meditation and mindfulness noticing and
centering on breathing (left hemisphere!) - Strive with awareness middle way
- See Shivas dance
40Eastern Culture Religion Chinese
- Confucius (552-479 BCE), after collapse of Chou
dynasty, Period of Warring States, solve social
chaos - human animal without instincts requires
tradition for social harmony lover of the
ancients. - Correct attitudes by following tradition
- Perspective-taking man-to-manness, compromise,
social sensitivity - Putting others at ease graciousness, face
- Propriety situational, relational, and role
norms - Doctrine of mean between extremes avoid pure
values/ fanaticism - concrete, holistic, collectivism (vs. abstract,
analytical, individualism)
41Eastern Culture Religion Chinese and Japanese
- Taoism Lao Tzu (Grand Old Master) contemporary
of Confucius - Tao Te Ching (the Way and its power)order life
in sync with natural world (not transcending and
imposing will on it) - Yin Yang allow contradictions, avoid clear
categories, no absolutes (sometimes, some
situations) - Creative quiet, mystery, simplicity, humility,
spontaneous flow - No self-assertion, competition, or
conqueringinstead, befriend emptiness (cups,
doors, windows). Water metaphors. - Zen Buddhism 12 Century Japan (Buddhism Taoism
Zen) - Inspired by Buddhas Lotus sermon, Koans (one
hand clapping) meaning of Zen (lifted little
finger, kicked a ball, slapped in face). - Grapple with uncertain, experiential truth
beneath words and categories. Kick habit of
logical analysis. Silence and no words - Contrast this to Judaic people of the book, the
word, logos.
42Goal Theory Interpretation
- East and West agree that narrow ego-self striving
is problematic - Western solutions bolster identification with an
ideal self, which ultimately transcends itself - Eastern solutions treat self as illusion
- At best, both facilitate well-being, lack of
defensiveness, openness, and compassion
43Compassion
- Axial age and Great Transformation (Armstrong)
- Emphasis on compassion discourages fanatical
intolerance (West) and also aloof personal
enlightenment (East) - Non-divisive ideal that directly discourages
ego-self-focus - Compelling exemplars to emulate
- Theraveda?Mahayana Buddhism (Bodhisattvas)
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