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Week 14 – Individuality development

MGMT341 – Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Summary of week 13

Following the Stoics, Ellis insisted that it is not what happens that upsets and distresses people, but beliefs they develop about what happens

One’s beliefs about events are under one’s control

What really matters is to remember that one is always able to talk to oneself in ways that are self-promoting, rather than self-defeating

Rhetoric, then, is remedy to life’s problems

But what of the formative parts of life? Why do different people develop differently and live so different lives?

Learning objectives

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

The birth of ‘I-consciousness’

Life crises, or the continuing struggle for identity

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Piaget was a Swiss psychologist remembered for his studies in child development; before him, children were assumed to differ from adults only in what they knew, not in the ways they thought

Yet children of different ages perform differently on IQ tests, even when answering their questions do not require specific knowledge but only reasoning

Piaget showed that children process information about the world in ways which differ markedly but those of adults but which are consistent and stable for a given age, because linked to biological maturation

Piaget’s ideas have been very successful

They have led to what is often called today ‘child-centered’ education: the idea that children’s psychological development must determine teaching and not the other way around

Piaget’s early theories were used by Elton Mayo in his analysis of the Hawthorne Studies; Abraham Maslow retained Piaget’s later conception of staged cognitive development when working on his hierarchy of needs

Piaget’s theory on the development of the sense of causation has remain a classic to this day

Stages of cognitive development (1)

After observing children (including his own) in daily situations, Piaget proposed four stages in cognitive development, each with several sub-stages

Later psychologists such as Erik Erikson (1902-1994) and Walter Mischel (b. 1930) have proposed other models of progressive psycho-cognitive developments but remain indebted to Piaget

During the ‘sensorimotor’ stage (0-2), infants dissociate themselves from their environment and learn object permanence

That is, infants progressively understand that objects continue to exist even when they are not perceived

During the ‘pre-operational stage’ (2-7), the child learns to speak and process information yet struggles with logic and to see things from different perspectives

Children tend to take everything at face value even if they have received information that goes against a surface interpretation and believe that everyone sees the world as they do, from the position they currently occupy

Stages of cognitive development (2)

In the ‘concrete operational stage’ (7-11), children learn to use logic appropriately, but struggle with abstract reasoning

That is, they are capable of solving logical questions only when these relate to concrete concepts (tangible objects)

Piaget’s final stage is the ‘formal operational stage’ (11 up to 20)

At this stage, children (young adults) are able to engage in progressively more difficult formal, abstract thinking and address purely logical questions

This kind of thinking, required in science, mathematics, literature, etc. involves hypothetical (‘what-if’) situations that are not found in reality

To support his ideas, Piaget devised many experiments, some of which are still used today to assess children’s intellectual development

Videos here and there

The sense of causation

Central to Piaget’s work is his view on the development of the sense of causation

Piaget theorised that even infants have a notion of causation, for once they realise that activities lead to results that are pleasant to them, they tend to repeat these activities

While Piaget’s hypotheses cannot be verified since infants cannot report on their experiences, it is the case that their world is rich in two-event sequences: pain-own cry; own cry-parent (and food) appears; food-pain recedes, etc.

The identification of regular two-event sequences or patterns is the first step to make sense of a confusing environment

One can reasonably assume that this ability is innate, i.e. that it is not learnt but progressively develops and becomes more sophisticated (like a baby’s ability to walk)

It is also the case that parents consistently (if not always consciously) demonstrate and encourage the child to understand that some events produce others predictably

Squeezing a rubber duck leads it to make a sound, etc.; when adults touch the infant, this is followed by a sensation of touching

Causes and pseudo-causes

Not all two-event associations, even if very regular, are causal sequences

Behaviour is usually associated with signs (sound, displaced objects, tangible results) but this is not automatic

Some actions are followed by pain, others by pleasure or are neutral but this association is not constant and can be reversed (overeating causes discomfort, for instance)

In particular, symbolic connections are not causal relationships

Calling out the name of a person is not always followed by the appearance of this person

Once the difference between causes and pseudo-causes is understood

Symbols can be used in communications, first as they refer to concrete objects, then as pure abstractions

Rewards and punishments can be distinguished from pleasurable and painful events: a reward is a pleasurable event 1) which is not automatic and 2) cause of which is another person (same distinction with regard to punishment vs. painful event)

The ‘age of reason’

Children, up to 5 years of age, tend to speak of themselves in the third person

That is, they often say their own name when referring to themselves: ‘Peter is hungry’ or ‘Katy is tired’

This way of speaking is challenged by two phenomena taking place concurrently

Using their growing ability to identify patterns, children cannot not notice that people around them use ‘I’ to name the cause of the effects they produce

This understanding emerges while their parents, through rewards and punishments, educate their children in seeing themselves as being responsible for the consequences of what they do

As a result, children (usually by the age of 7), emerge equipped with an ‘I-consciousness’, that is, start to develop their self-consciousness

They understand they are the cause of their actions and can plan (and choose) their behaviour accordingly

They hold others responsible for the consequences of their actions

The birth of ‘I-consciousness’ allows children to start having more complex conversations about themselves and others

This is why this period is also traditionally called ‘the age of reason’; it is often associated with the 7th birthday

This event is comparable with the transition from Piaget’s pre-operational to concrete operational stage

Coming of age

Between 15 and 20 years of age, most people face the task of ‘finding themselves’

This usually means adopting serially various styles of behaviour and clothing (perhaps modelled on the public image of actors, singers, celebrities, etc.) while going through an important bodily transformation, until a more of less stable form or synthesis emerges

This effort is often accompanied by a rejection of established rules, relationships (especially with parents) and of whatever role models the person was attracted to as a child

During this transition, people tend to engage in extreme sports or physical activities; many travel abroad, seek out as many experiences as possible and some even try drugs

Engaging in difficult studies or personal projects (becoming a chess champion, writing software, books, poetry, composing music, etc.) are other possible avenues in which rebellious energy can be channelled

German-American psychologist Erikson called this period the ‘identity crisis’

While most people emerge with a sense of identity, others fail to settle on stable patterns of behaviour; the result is a ‘role confusion’ and often translates into promiscuity or isolation (video here)

The crises of adulthood

Adulthood is marked by another major difficulty, that of finding a balance between one’s personal identity and one’s parent or professional role

Children and professional organisations have one point in common: they make exacting demands on the individual with no or little room for negotiation

In both cases, success demands that one surrenders to and accepts to be largely defined by relationships, with children as a parent, with colleagues as a professional: at the extreme, the wife becomes a picture-perfect ‘model’ housewife and the husband moulds himself to become an ‘organisation man’ (or vice-versa)

When this conflict disappears (when the relationships in which one has engaged as parent or professional are relaxed or cease to be), the conditions for yet another crisis are set

The joy of seeing one’s children leaving the nest is offset by the feeling of loneliness and isolation that follows (a large house without children feels very empty)

Retirement, even when it is welcomed, is often a very difficult transition, for overnight the successful professional, executive or athlete looses all authority, power, status, prestige and perks

Many couples are left with the task of living together again and to busy themselves without external support

If in good health, retirees can decide to travel, volunteer or take part in many social activities

Divorces and sudden ill-health or not uncommon

Coping strategies

Insofar as the role of looking after the children is traditionally devolved to wives, women tend to experience the ‘retirement crisis’ (in this case triggered by children’s independence) earlier than men

To cope with this crisis, they (ticking more than one box is possible)…

re-enter the workforce and find a new identity as a professional (perhaps after additional studies)

start their own business

invest their time and energy in a hobby or charity work

become ‘desperate housewives’, have affairs and/or divorce

consult a fortune-teller to find solace in the promise of a better future

become ‘depressed’ and take medication

seek help in the form of psychotherapy

In the last case, therapists trained in scientific psychology will offer advice based on one of the main psychological perspectives discussed in class

That this advice will prove beneficial is debatable, however (next slides)

Psychological perspectives (1)

Psychoanalysis

Freudians acknowledge that their theory promotes submission to existing rules of behaviour and classifies eccentric behaviour as neurotic (sick)

As such, psychoanalysis is antagonistic to self-expression and creativity

Being deterministic, it also weakens personal responsibility, self-control and thus ultimately those societies which are built upon personal responsibility (insofar as psychoanalytical therapy opens the door to greater self-control, it is inconsistent with its theoretical bases)

Motivation

Motivation theorists also advocate a deterministic view of human existence insofar as they argue that motivation is a force that controls behaviour

This view has been made acceptable through equivocation, motivation meaning both ‘motive as reason’ and ‘cause of behaviour’

The concept of motivation-as-cause has been used by managers to manipulate employees and by many to deny their freedom or power of choice

Psychological perspectives (2)

Personality psychology

Personologists, very popular in management circles, do not seem to realise that personality traits are inferred from behaviour and therefore cannot, in and by themselves, explain, let alone predict it

Many studies have confirmed that scores obtained on personality tests do not predict performance on the job and beyond

Personality tests tally self-reported answers in hypothetical situations; they often inquire into private matters

Management is and should concerned with performance; the interest of personality tests to managers is inexistent

Psychological perspectives (3)

Behaviorism

Behaviorism seeks total control of behaviour and assumes a model of human existence that is entirely mechanical

Among the various perspectives discussed in this course, behaviorism is the most explicitly deterministic; while behaviorists insist that human behaviour is determined, they do not seem to include themselves in this determinism (!)

Social psychology

Mead excepted, social psychologists are also determinists, since they depict individuals as products of society by way of relationships, social forces or ‘peer pressure’

Moreover, if individuals are products of society, then society is itself uncontrollable (the chicken and egg problem follows otherwise), contrary to what most social psychologists and sociologists hold

Summary

Scientific psychology, committed to observation (experiment) in view of prediction is by necessity deterministic

Moreover and as exemplified in psychoanalysis and motivation theories, by trying to explain the structure or workings of the psyche or ‘I’, scientific psychology hollows out and destroys the very core of human existence

In the hands of scientific psychologists, man is reduced to a string puppet; depending on the version, the strings are called needs, libido, traits, dispositions, personal factors, etc.

Insofar as it depicts the individual as subject to forces beyond his control, therapeutic advice informed by scientific psychology will therefore tend to aggravate personal problems, rather than addressing them

The alternatives to scientific psychology are existential psychology (insofar as it insists on responsible freedom) and Stoic (Ellis’ REBT) psychology, with their explicit promise to take back control over one’s emotions

MGMT341

Questions?