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03
Mar 24

Is Eyewitness Testimony Trustworthy?

An account provided by individuals of an event they have personally observed, is referred to as eyewitness testimony in legal terminology. They might be asked to explain a robbery trial or a traffic accident that they witnessed, for instance. This covers information on the crime scene, the identity of the offenders, etc. Research on eyewitness testimony is crucial for understanding human memory and cognitive psychology. Eyewitness testimony is typically given careful consideration by juries, who view it as a trustworthy source of information. However, studies in this field have shown that a variety of psychological factors can influence eyewitness testimony, none more so than Reconstructive Memory.

Knowledge of the validity of eyewitness testimony requires a knowledge of, Frederic Bartlett’s theory of reconstructive memory, which claimed that recall is open to individual interpretation based on taught or cultural norms and values, as well as how we view the world.

Individuals organize information according to what makes the most sense to them. We try to fit information into schemas, which are ways of organizing data, to make sense of it. Schemas are conceptual “units” of information that correlate to individuals, things, or circumstances that are encountered often. Prejudice and social values may have an influence on these schemas. Thus, schemas have the power to skew new or unintentionally “unacceptable” information to make it “fit in” with our preexisting knowledge or schemas. Consequently, this may lead to eyewitness testimony that is not trustworthy.

The legal community, law enforcement, and psychologists have collaborated to try and improve the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness memory significantly improved when researchers Geiselman, Fisher, MacKinnon, and Holland used an interviewing technique they called the Cognitive interview (CI). The strategy aims to inform witnesses of all the circumstances surrounding a crime without fabricating information or creating false memories. This method involves the interviewer getting to know the witness before posing any questions. The witness is then given the opportunity to provide an unrestricted account of what happened. The interviewer then probes further to get further details from the witness and reassures them that it’s okay to express uncertainty and move on. This method leads the witness, instead of following a strict expectation that the witness must recall every detail.

Correct implementation of the cognitive interview results in increased efficiency and accuracy of eyewitness testimony without the generation of extra false information.

 

References

Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Geiselman, R.; Fisher, Ronald; MacKinnon, David; Holland, Heidi (1986). “Enhancement of eyewitness memory with the cognitive interview”. American Journal of Psychology. 99 (3): 385–401

Ghetti, S.; Goodman, G. S.; Schaaf, J. M.; Qin, J. (2004). “Issues In Eyewitness Testimony”. In O’Donohue, W. T.; Levensky, E. R. (eds.). Handbook of Forensic Psychology. San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press. p. 532.

Wells, G. L.; Memon, A.; Penrod, S. D. (2006). “Eyewitness Evidence: Improving Its Probative Value”. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 7 (2): 45–75.

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08
Feb 23

Comprehending Infidelity

What is it about infidelity that has made it one of the top reasons why relationships and marriages don’t work out in the United States? Do people thrive off the rush of meeting an attractive stranger? Are their partners just not doing it for them anymore? Maybe it’s not even that big of a deal to them, or maybe they can just blame it on the alcohol. A popular saying suggests that “once a cheater always a cheater,” but applied social psychology could possibly help this change this behavior. At the very least, it’ll help those prone to infidelity recognize why this is so.

The theory of planned behavior, i.e., “theory of reason action” informs the reasoning behind the factors that influence people’s intention to engage in certain behaviors. (Gruman et al., 2016, p. 72). These intentions are able to be modified over time by evaluating three aspects that influence people’s behavioral intentions: 1) what is a person’s attitude towards infidelity? 2) How do people’s peers feel about and respond to infidelity? 3) How much self-control does a person feel that they have in high-risk situations (Gruman et al., 2016)? Let’s say that someone has a very lackadaisical attitude towards infidelity. They might not necessarily feel monogamy is important or feel that one person can’t satisfy all their needs. If this same individual has peers who hold the same attitudes towards infidelity, combined with the lack of perceived self-control is someone who is at high risk for engaging in extradyadic affairs without their partner’s knowledge.

Knopp et al., reviewed data that identified risk factors associated with the likelihood that one would engage in extradyadic affairs (2017). These include lack of commitment to the relationship and a decline in sexual satisfaction, having liberal attitudes towards infidelity, being around social norms that agree with the behavior, and certain personality characteristics, are all factors that increase the risk of infidelity (Knopp et al., 2017). This study examining the likelihood of prior infidelity being a factor in future infidelity, also found that not only are people at high risk of engaging in extradyadic relationships who have previously done so, those who had knowledge of a previous partner infidelity or had a suspicions, were also at high risk of having those same experiences (Knopp et al., 2017)!

Obviously, those who happen to engage in serial infidelity can greatly benefit from assessing these three dimensions of behavior intentions: their attitude toward the behavior, social norms about this behavior, and how much self-control one has towards this behavior (Gruman et al., 2016). But those who seem to find themselves on the unfortunate end of dealing with an unfaithful partner could also benefit from using this same framework to evaluate their attitudes and its possible effect on their tolerance for the behavior. If these techniques don’t seem to work, an ethically non-monogamous relationship may be the one for you!

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.

Infidelity rates by country 2023. (n.d.). 2023 World Population by Country (Live). https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/infidelity-rates-by-country

Knopp, K., Scott, S., Ritchie, L., Rhoades, G. K., Markman, H. J., & Stanley, S. M. (2017). Once a cheater, always a cheater? Serial infidelity across subsequent relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46(8), 2301-2311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1018-1

 

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18
Mar 19

Social Media and What We Know

Social media is a relatively more recent phenomena and upon further research, there appears to be many pros and cons to the use of such programs. Some of the more popular social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. One pro of social media is that it connects people who might have a harder time connecting; whether that be due to physical proximity or something more daunting such as social anxiety. People, and more specifically teens, are “hardwired for socialization, and social media makes socializing easy and immediate. Teens who struggle with social skills, social anxiety, or who don’t have easy access to face-to-face socializing with other teens might benefit from connecting with other teens through social media” (Hurley, 2019). This can in turn reduce feelings of loneliness and help them to build stronger kinships with friends online so that when they come across them offline they feel more comfortable in engaging with said friend.

 

Use of such platforms can have positive effects and be used to connect and create friendships with others, but it can also be a way to fight negativity and hate by providing an avenue to confront cyberbullying, trolls, and toxic comparisons (Hurley, 2019). For clarification purposes, trolls are persons whose goal is to attack other people strictly for the sake of making them feel bad about themselves.

 

In some cases, it is hard to decipher if social media is to blame for proposed negative side effects. Studies have shown that “Facebook and self-esteem may be related in terms of Facebook usage, causing lower self-esteem, but this may also mean that people with low self-esteem use Facebook more often. In other words, it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to conclude which variable is the cause and which is the effect” (Pantic, 2014). This can complicate the process of determining whether social media is the “cause” or rather the “facilitator” in demonstrating a person’s already present struggle with their mental health or behavioral state. However, data can be said to link a person’s frequency of viewing his or her profile, including one’s own pictures, biographical data, relationship status, friend count, etc. could “lead to either a short-term or a long-term reduction in self-esteem” (Pantic, 2014). This more clearly demonstrates that at the very least, a correlation is present.

Another positive to the modern age of socialization is the ability for the younger generations to “build on social communication and friendships taking place at school or during sports and other activities and extend it to the online world. They are not necessarily meeting new people so much as enriching their currently existing friendships. Because of this, barring teens from social media use could potentially deprive them of valuable learning experiences and limits their social lives” (Mir & Novas, 2018). These platforms are at this point a staple in American society and restricting access to these forums can have damaging effects on a person’s capacity to participate with the larger collective; causing possible feelings of social seclusion and dejection. “A study from Nottingham Trent University revealed typical addictive behavior including neglect of personal life, escapism, and mood-modifying experiences appeared to be present in some people who used social media networks excessively” (Knudson, 2017).

 

Posting in social media forums has been reported to generate feelings of satisfaction with one’s self, which can subsequently become habitual, and consequently become time consuming. “An individual may spend increasing amounts of time online to generate the same pleasurable effect as before, taking over the majority of their attention and time” (Knudson, 2017). This takes time away from other, perhaps more healthy activities that an individual could be participating in.

 

“Social media has also been found to be associated with self-image. A study found that greater Instagram use was associated with greater self-objection and concern about body image” (Mir & Novas, 2018). This is one of the more heated topics as body dysmorphia has recently hit mainstream awareness. Most people (especially women) who are active in social media would quickly be able to confirm that they are regularly inundated with posts regarding what “beautiful” women look like. These societal pressures can play an active role in distorting self-perception and formation of toxic behaviors related to poor self-esteem; including but not limited to development of eating disorders.

 

It would appear that there is much more research to be done surrounding the effects of social media involvement; and it looks to be clear that a main factor that demands much of the focus would be activity participation and time spent on the sites in question.

 

Resources:

Hurley, K. (2019, March 7). Social Media and Teens: How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health? Retrieved March 17, 2019, from https://www.psycom.net/social-media-teen-mental-health

 

Pantic, I. (2014, October 01). Online social networking and mental health. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183915/

 

Mir, E., & Novas, C. (2018, October 17). Social Media and Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Mental Health. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from http://www.center4research.org/social-media-affects-mental-health/

 

Knudson, L. (2017, September 07). How Social Media Addiction Affects Your Health and Well-Being? Retrieved March 17, 2019, from https://www.psychreg.org/social-media-addiction-health-wellbeing/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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17
Feb 19

Ageism in the Workplace

I am going to start this out with a personal story: the setting is a corporate office. I am sitting across the table from my manager and longtime friend. It is time for my yearly review. I have worked for the company for nearly four years.

I am a 28 year old woman and sitting across from me is a man approaching his 67th birthday.

He begins by paying me many compliments, and gushes about what a great employee I have been. I thank him and say what a pleasure it has been working here. He continues by telling me how critical I am to the team and reminds me of all of the policy and operational changes I have implemented over the years and how those changes have really helped the company. I thank him again and begin to state that I love working here and see myself moving up within the company, hopefully one day soon. He looks a bit troubled by my comment and then gets up to close the door. After the door is closed, he looks me in the eye and says that he would like to “level with” me. He then tells me that while he thinks that I have done an incredible job, there are others within the agency, such as his boss (whom I also do quite a bit of work for) that have actually advocated against me to a certain degree. I asked what he meant, and he stated that they “see me as a child, and that is all they will ever see me as”.

This was a devastating blow, as I had just let him know that I was looking for advancing my career within the company. His boss, is a 78 year old woman. Her and my boss have both stated in multiple meetings that “millennials are all idiots who don’t know anything about real world experience or how to actually put in a hard day’s work”. I have butted in on occasion, as one of two under 40 year old employees in our department to state that that is simply not true, however they respond with “we weren’t talking about you, no need to be defensive”; but now it seems that this is exactly what they were talking about. Those in power in my department happen to be two generations ahead of me, and now I am told that it does not matter how hard I work or how much qualifying experience I have—I will never be able to move up at this company because of my age.

“Age discrimination involves treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of his or her age” (U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2019). There are some laws that have been put into effect that are meant to keep discrimination out of the workplace. “The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. It is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if both workers are age 40 or older” (U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2019). However, this does not protect those who are discriminated against for being too young. “The Supreme Court has established that an employer does not violate the ADEA by providing preferential treatment to older worker over younger ones, even where the younger workers are over the age of 40” (Midwest New Media, 2019).

Social dominance theory indicates that all individuals belong to groups and each group provides resources, both physical and cognitive, for the people that belong to the group; therefore people are motivated to protect the group, so that it in turn can protect them. In this theory, people are believed to be always motivated to protect the group(Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012). This theory also indicates that society is arranged by systems of group-based hierarchies and the persons within those groups are typically motivated to behave in ways that perpetuate and continue those established hierarchies. Age demographic is an easily discernable factor in identifying an individual belonging to one group or another.

Discrimination is not always black and white and thus our laws regarding it should perhaps not be so black and white.“In the recent discrimination case, General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc v. Cline, No. 02-1080, 540 U.S. (2004) the company and its union negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that offered retirees health benefits only to those employees who were at least 50 years of age at the time of the agreement. A group of employees who were in their forties sued, claiming that the age requirement constituted illegal age discrimination in violation of the ADEA. The Supreme Court held that the ADEA only prohibits discrimination in favor of younger employees and does not address discrimination that favors older workers” (Midwest New Media, 2019). Meaning that the ADEA does not protect anyone of being discriminated against for being too young, even the person is over 40.

“As of 2017 –56 million Millennials (those ages 21 to 36 in 2017) were working or looking for work. That was more than the 53 million Generation Xers, who accounted for a third of the labor force. And it was well ahead of the 41 million Baby Boomers, who represented a quarter of the total. Millennials surpassed Gen Xers in 2016” (Fry, 2018). This is the largest demographic who is entering or has entered the workforce and there are no protections for anyone in this age group in reference to policies concerning age discrimination. “More than one-in-three American labor force participants (35%) are Millennials, making them the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data” (Fry, 2018). I personally have been effected by the lack of protections for those who the older generation might consider as “under-aged”. It is sad to me that there is nothing I can do at this point besides look for other employment if I would like to move up in my career, but it seems under the current protections that is all I can do.

 

References:

U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2019). Age Discrimination. Retrieved February 14, 2019, from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm

 

Fry, R. (2018, April 11). Millennials are largest generation in the U.S. labor force. Retrieved February 14, 2019, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/11/millennials-largest-generation-us-labor-force/

 

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: Sage.

 

Midwest New Media. (2019). Workplace Fairness. Retrieved February 14, 2019, from https://www.workplacefairness.org/age-discrimination#7

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10
Apr 17

Physical Attractiveness Stereotype — Amendment Needed?

We’ve all heard the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”, and while that may be true, it’s often difficult to ignore physical characteristics when meeting new people. The first piece of information that we receive when meeting someone new is his or her looks, which is why we are prone to be influenced by physical attractiveness. This notion is called primacy effect (Schneider et. al., 2012). Try to think back to a social event that you attended recently where you were introduced to new people, and think about your initial impressions of them. I think it would be difficult for us to have based a first impression on somebody’s personality rather than his/her looks.

When you thought back on a particular social event, did you feel like you favored some people over others? Were these favored people more attractive? I think we all would like to believe that we don’t care about looks, or that we don’t make conclusions about a person based on their looks. But unfortunately, this phenomenon is quite a regular response. People tend to associate good looks with other good qualities about the person (Schneider et. al., 2012). A study found that attractive people are expected to be better people – more sensitive, sexually responsive, interesting, and sociable. These common beliefs underlie what’s called the physical attractiveness stereotype. This is good news for individuals who are ‘better looking’, but not so much for others who do not fit this category. When two individuals, one good-looking and the other not, with similar resumes apply for a position, employers generally prefer the more attractive applicant, since they perceive that they will be better employees.

Even though this often seems to be the case for more attractive individuals, I have had experiences that are just the opposite of this stereotype. This is not to say that I’m calling myself America’s (or Armenia’s) next top model – but I feel I am on the more attractive spectrum. I like pampering myself, dressing nicely and applying makeup, not to please anyone else, but because that’s how I like to see myself. When I attend public seminars or talks and meet people there, I always get talked down to and feel like they dumb down their conversation when I am being addressed. When I tell them that I study at Penn State, or when I start talking about a topic passionately and knowledgably, I see a perplexed expression on their faces. I think this is a prevalent opinion in this part of the world – that pretty women, or women who look like they’ve taken some time to look presentable, are usually ‘dumb blondes’, or only care about their looks. This has particularly been an issue for me in the workplace. A couple of years ago when I applied for a job at an online based news agency in Armenia (Civilnet), my interviewer was not taking me seriously, and thought that the only reason I was there was to be on TV, when in fact I was applying to be a writer for their column on political issues in Syria. When I gave him my portfolio of my writing, I recognized that same perplexed visage.

Although I think that the physical attractiveness stereotype is in fact a phenomenon that does occur, I feel like it should take into consideration how attractive women are perceived in society sometimes. What do you think?

Thank you for reading!

Hilda Yacoubian

References:

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

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09
Feb 17

So, What’s Your Opinion?

The chapter started off with giving us a snippet of Deena’s struggle with social anxiety and depression for us to keep in mind while reading the rest of the chapter. I, however, ended up reading the chapter relating the concepts to my own anxiety instead.

One of the main reasons that I changed my major from Journalism to Psychology is because of the fact that I have battled with anxiety and many different phobias for as long as I remember. Majoring in psychology has actually played a pivotal role in my ‘recovery process’, even though many family members and even therapists urged me not to switch majors, thinking that being more submerged in the context of psychology will be detrimental. I proved them all wrong.

A lot of social psychological theories have helped me understand the roots of my anxiety and the mechanism behind the physical symptoms that accompany a panic attack, and it has been life changing. One question that used to keep me up at night was: “Why do I care so much about what other people think about me all of sudden? Why does it matter so much?” Before my anxiety worsened, I didn’t give a s*** about what other people thought of me, and I used to behave exactly the way that I wanted to. But as my anxiety symptoms increased, so did my concern about what other people thought about me. As I talk to more people who also have different types of anxiety, I noticed that they exhibited the same trend– they also started worry compulsively about other people’s impressions. At around this same time this happened, I also noticed my avoidant behavior when it came to social events, especially with a lot of new people, because of my fear that I would completely embarrass myself – either faint, throw up on someone, or run away – and that everybody would remember it until eternity. Of course for those of you who have never experienced anxiety, these circumstances don’t sound horrifying or don’t qualify as ‘worst-case scenarios – but it can be extremely debilitating.

There is an existing theory about what I’m experiencing, and it is illustrated in chapter 5 of our textbook, called self-presentation theory (SPT), developed by Leary and Kowalksi (Schneider et al., 2012). SPT underlies the origins, maintenance, and treatment of social anxiety; and according to SPT, it becomes more probable for people to experience anxiety or a fight-or-flight response in social situations when two conditions are present: high self-presentational motivation and low self-efficacy (Schneider et al., 2012). What self-presentational motivation refers to is how much people worry about what others think about them, and when people have high self-presentational motivation, it means that they are very concerned about their image in the eyes of other (Schneider et al., 2012). As for self-efficacy, it refers to the level of confidence that a person has about exhibiting a particular image of themselves to other people. As you probably guessed, having low self-efficacy means that people don’t feel confident that they are portraying the image that they would like others to have of them, whether that is being interesting, loyal, responsible, or sexy (Schneider et al., 2012). As if feeling these two conditions wasn’t enough, they work together to create a main symptom of social anxiety, which is anticipatory embarrassment. Anticipatory embarrassment is what led me to avoid social situations, because I was convinced that if I did go, I would completely humiliate myself in one way or another, and that it would not only haunt me forever, but would also result in “irrevocable social rejection” (Pg. 91, Schneider et al., 2012).

Now you are probably thinking that my social life looks pretty bleak – but I think you’d be happy to know (or maybe not) that I’m fighting my anxiety head on, and pushing through the debilitating and suffocating burden that is panic attacks. Majoring in psychology has truly been an amazing experience for me, and I cannot wait to be there for other individuals who are fighting the same battle, and extend my hand to pull them out of the rabbit hole.

I would also like to say that if anybody has any questions about anxiety in general, or would like to hear some tips about how to help a loved one or for yourself, I will be more than happy to help in any way that I can, with not only the knowledge that I obtained from my psychology courses, but also from the many personal experiences I’ve had with anxiety.

Hope everybody has a great weekend!

Hilda

References:

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

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