Psyphopathology

• Statistical Infrequency


  states that abnormal behaviour is rare
• statistical deviation


  When an individual has a less common characteristic
• what is abnormality?

  - deviation from social norms

  - failure to function adequately

  - deviation from ideal mental health

  - statistically rare behaviour or trait
• statistics


  used to measure how common behaviours or traits are when measured in comparison to the rest of the population
• social norm


  unwritten rule for expected social behavior. when a person violates social norms their behaviour is seen as abnormal
• what's an example of abnormal behaviour?

  seeing someone naked in the streets of london = abnormal

  
  

  seeing someone naked in an african tribe = normal as it's part of their culture
• evaluation of deviation from social norms

  - social norms differ between cultures ~ what is considered normal in one culture may be considered abnormal in another = e.g homosexuality is illegal in 75 countries however in the rest of the world it's not considered abnormal. so no global standard for defining behaviour as abnormal so abnormality is not standardised

  
  

  - social norms change over time causing hindsight bias e.g homosexuality was seen as a mental illness in the UK until 1973 but it's now considered as normal behaviour

  
  

  - not all statistically infrequent traits are negative such as having a high IQ - rare but highly desirable characteristic

  
  

  - statistical deviation labels people, labelling people may make them feel outcasted to everyone else leading to low self esteem

  
  

  - can diagnose an intellectual disability disorder (real life application) in a normal distribution 5% of people have an IQ of less than 70 so people within this range are seen as abnormal and can get diagnosed with an intellectual disorder