Tag Archives: perspectives

Evolutionary Perspective

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The Evolutionary Perspective is one that looks at the biological bases for universal mental characteristics that are shared by all humans.  One thing studied in depth through this perspective is relationships.  Researchers look at mental strategies that go into different events.  Relationships can cause such a wide range of feelings, thoughts, and almost anything you can imagine.  No two relationships are the same.  Some might have similar aspects, but all in all, you have to learn to deal with things on your own.  Studying relationships is one of the best studies that can be done because it gives the opportunity to look into different relationships and see how people react.  Forgiveness in relationships is an important aspect and one that has been studied in different relationships.  Having information from these studies can allow people who have been through similar events compare their reactions to those of others. For example, the book looks at how likely you would be to forgive a sexual infidelity.  What about an emotional one?  Answers vary from person to person.

Real-life examples are the best way to compare things to your individual life.  One real-life example I can offer up is this:  A friend of mine, we’ll call her Grace, had dated a few guys in her past, but they were all wrong for her and did not treat her the way she deserved to be treated.  Grace started dating another boy her senior year of high school, he was the complete opposite of her past boyfriends, and they have been dating for a little over a year.  The two go to different colleges and do not see each other that often, once every few weeks.  One day, Grace’s boyfriend admits to considering asking another girl to go a “date-night” function at his school.  How would you react if you were Grace?  She reacted as someone who knows her would expect.  Even though her boyfriend did not even go through with it, my friend felt hurt and betrayed.  It was merely a thought, but it still happened.  A relationship consists of two people; no more need to be concerned.

Researchers predict that women find it harder to forgive men who make emotional mistakes. Grace took a while to come to it, but she finally forgave her boyfriend because she cared greatly for him and did not want to let a thought ruin what they had.  If this boyfriend had been like the others, she would not have been surprised and would have ended the relationship on the spot, but she was so emotionally invested, she did not want anything to happen.  Previous studies show that most women would react the same as she did.  Although it is difficult to prove why women feel the way they do, the mental strategies of most women are easily proven similar.  The real-life example provided shows a strong correlation to researchers predictions and findings through different studies.   Having a solid real-life experience that relates to research done on a topic allows more people to understand how women may feel about similar experiences in their own lives.

**Sources – Psychology Text Book

Ciccarelli, Saundra K., and J. Noland. White. “Chapter 1.” Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. 16-18. Print.

 

 

Sociocultural Perspective

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When looking at modern perspectives of psychology, one of my favorite ones to study is the idea of sociocultural, or how others influence you and you influence others. While it is somewhat of an obvious perspective, I find it to have such a strong influence on people. Even though I also believe that the other six modern perspectives are all important, I find myself relying on this one most often. Many times after meeting new people or learning things about old friends, I will find myself justifying their actions based off of what I have learned about their social factors and culture. I feel that learning about one’s social factors in their life can help tell you a great deal about their behaviors and why people act the way they do.

One sociocultural factor that I truly believe had an impact on me was my mother and her hatred for all seafood. For the last twenty one years of my life, my mom cooked dinner almost every night and had never made a seafood dinner. She hates to eat any sort of fish, cannot stand the smell, and so she also hates to cook it and actually refuses to. Since I have grown up never trying seafood and never having to smell it’s fishy aroma, I also have adopted this attitude. I cannot stand to smell the stench that seafood produces and any seafood that I have newly and recently tried I hate. To be completely honest though, I think a majority of this notion is in my head as it was what I was raised hearing and what became a part of my culture. Some seafood does not have the fishy taste and I still claim I do not like it but often I wonder to myself if that is actually true or if it is just too unfamiliar for me to say I like it? Fish was never a food served at dinner or social gatherings in my culture, so therefore I have learned to never eat fish for dinner or at social gatherings. I do think everyones social factors and cultures have such a strong impact on their lives and decisions, and now I have evidence to blame my mother for being the sociocultural reason that I will not touch seafood either.