DISS LT2

• Rational choice theory (RCT)


  A theory first idealized by Adam Smith in the 18th century, proposing that the market could benefit if left alone with their decisions
• Rational choice theory (RCT)


  • Individuals use their personal preferences to choose a course of action to acquire personal interest, power, and wealth
  • Used to understand the behavior of society in the context of individual actions through rationality according to their self-preference, to what is more beneficial to them
• Rationality


  Following reason or logic, weighing the cost and benefits of a choice
• Two fundamental principles of RCT

  • Rationality/Goal Orientation
  • Self-interest
• Rationality/Goal Orientation


  Our decisions are goal-oriented; people's interest leads to collective action; Collective action produces a collective goal
• Self-interest


  People determine their wants and needs which affect their decisions; People tend to evaluate the benefits and risks of their actions for their interests before making a decision; People can determine which action or decision yields the best consequence
• Methodological individualism


  An assumption that events, no matter how complex, can be explained by individual actions or interactions
• Strategic actions


  States that an individual is both strategic and rational; people are wealth maximizers who pick good strategies or decisions to get the best returns while thinking about the risks
• External factors


  Beliefs, values, and environments that affect our decisions
• RCT is a theory that states that we do actions based on what we deem as profitable or good for us while considering external factors
• Hysteria


  A mental condition characterized by the individual's excessive or ungovernable emotional expressions
• Symptoms of hysteria


  Symbolic representations of traumatic, and often sexual, memories
• Talking cure


  A new kind of psychological treatment for hysteric patients, based on the patient talking about whatever came to mind such as memories, dreams, thoughts, and emotions and analysing the data to help understand the patient better
• Free association


  The patient talking about whatever comes to mind
• Psychoanalysis


  A comprehensive theory that is based on the approach in which the therapist helps the patient better understand them through the examination of deep personal feelings, relationships, and events that have shaped motivations and behaviors
• The mind


  • Conscious
  • Preconscious (subconscious)
  • Unconscious
• Conscious


  Things we immediately know about (our current thoughts, feelings, and perceptual focus)
• Preconscious (subconscious)


  Things we could be aware of if we wanted or we tried (recent memories and knowledge)
• Unconscious


  Things we are not already aware of like memories or experiences are stored since birth, due to traumatic experience, conscious forgetting, or no longer being important
• Freudian slip


  Verbal or memory mistake that is considered to be related to the unconscious mind
• Psyche


  The totality of the human mind, from the conscious and unconscious human mind
• Human psyche


  • Structured into three systems that are important to the development of human personality
  • From the interactions and conflicts between these elements, the personalities of humans arise
• Id


  • A part of the unconscious that responds to the basic urges, desires, and impulses
  • Seeks immediate gratification without regard for social norms or consequences
  • Has libido or the energy created by survival and sexual instincts that shape human behavior
• Ego


  • Rational and reality-oriented
  • Keeps the id in check, ensures that we respond to the need of the id in a socially acceptable manner
• Superego


  • Serves as a conscience, where morality and higher principles reside
  • Encourages us to act in socially and morally acceptable ways
• Psychosexual development


  1. Oral stage

  2. Anal stage

  3. Phallic stage

  4. Latency stage
• Oral stage

  • Birth to approximately 18 months
  • Erogenous zone: mouth
  • Pleasure is derived from the use of the mouth in activities such as sucking, chewing, and biting
  • Personality being developed: independence
  • Fixation consequences: seeks oral stimulation; gullible, smoking, drinking, nail-biting
• Anal stage


  • 18 months to 3 years of age
  • Erogenous zone: bowel and bladder control
  • A child is being toilet-trained
  • Pleasure is derived from bowel movement
  • Personalities being developed: independence, self-control, and a sense of accomplishment
  • Fixation consequences: stringent, orderly, obsessive
• Phallic stage


  • 3-6 years of age
  • Erogenous zone: genitals
  • A female develops penis envy
  • A woman realizes she does not possess a penis, and experiences envy of the male
  • A child develops an attraction to their parents of the opposite sex and sees a jealous relationship with the parent of the same sex
  • Personalities being developed: self-awareness of physical differences, social roles
  • Fixation consequences: Oedipus complex (a child's sexual attitude towards the parent of the opposite sex and hostility toward the parent of the same sex); Electra complex (a girl feels they compete with their mother for possession of their father)
• Latency stage


  • 6-12 years of age
  • Erogenous zone: diverted (since sexuality is dormant during this period, the drive is diverted into intellectual pursuits and social interactions)
  • Personalities being developed: social skills
  • Fixation consequences: immaturity and inability to form fulfilling relationships as an adult
• Psychosexual development


  The different stages of personality development based on the developing pleasure-seeking areas known as the erogenous zone
• Libido


  The energy created by survival and sexual instincts that shape human behavior
• Psychosexual stages


  • Oral stage
  • Anal stage
  • Phallic stage
  • Latency stage
  • Genital stage
• Genital stage


  • Erogenous zone: maturing sexual interests
  • Sexual urges return
  • Personality being developed: sexual maturity
  • Fixation consequences: sexual perversion, difficulty in forming a healthy sexual relationship
• Gender


  Socially constructed roles, behaviors, expressions, and identities
• Traditional Gender ideology


  Attitudes regarding the appropriate roles, rights and responsibilities of men and women in society
• Patriarchy


  A social organization wherein a male heads a certain unit of society
• Patriarchy


  • Men dominate in private (household) and public spheres (government, education, media, etc.) through privileges
  • According to feminist theory, some societies are systematically patriarchal
• Intersectionality theory

  Posits that an individual or a group of individuals has overlapping identities that interrelate and reinforce each other to create marginalization (able to do things or have access to basic services or opportunities)
• Identities in intersectionality

  Class, gender identity, ethnicity, race, culture, language, etc.