PERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHOLOGY

PSYCHODYNAMIC
It is a psychological perspective that emphasizes systematic study of the
psychological forces that underlie human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how
they might relate to early experience.
Freud believes that events in our childhood can have a significant impact on our
behavior as adults.
Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, explained the human mind as like an iceberg,
with only a small amount of it being visible, that is our observable behavior, but it is
the unconscious, submerged mind that has the most, underlying influence on our
behavior. Freud used three main methods of accessing the unconscious mind: free
association, dream analysis and slips of the tongue. He believed that the
unconscious mind consisted of three components: the 'id' the 'ego' and the
'superego'.

The architecture of various social networks enable particular agencies of the psyche
to express themselves.

ONLINE REPRESENTATION ON FACEBOOK

Simply the notion of liking on Facebook is akin to an ego need. The ego, as a rule,
seeks to be liked and admired. Its main job is to convert id desires into socially
acceptable u because it mediates between the internal world and the external
world. For Freud, the id-energy was primarily libido (sexual energy) the ego, rather
than acting on the ids need for sex, would convert that raw desire into something
more socially acceptable, like making oneself attractive to others while wooing or
seducing the other into sex, rather than taking them against their will. Today, we
have expanded our notion of instinctual desire beyond just sex towards a more
global desire to relate to others. Facebook does this like no other social network. It
utilises the agency of the ego to create and sustain relationships with others online.

It does this notably by creating an environment where we create an image of

ourselves as we wish others to see us and as we ideally wish to see ourselves.

This is why Facebook appeals to the outward manifestation of the ego, at the
expense of more inward expressions of selfhood which contain aspects of ourselves
(our vulnerable or shameful bits) that we dont wish to share with others.
BEHAVIORAL
Behaviorism is different from most other approaches because they view people
(and animals) as controlled by their environment and specifically that we are the
result of what we have learned from our environment.

Classical Conditioning

Operant Learning- operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences

of behavior.
Facebook enables recognition through functions such as its like button, which
allows others to mark appreciation of a users content. A status update, photo or
witty comment may attrack like.
By way of unconscious operant conditioning, tweets or posts on fb can become
engineered to attract such strokes as like, heart, favored, or the like.

HUMANISTIC
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of
the whole person (known as holism).
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of
the whole person (known as holism). The humanistic perspective suggests that we
are each responsible for our own happiness and well-being as humans. We have the
innate (i.e. inborn) capacity for self-actualization, which is our unique desire to
achieve our highest potential as people.

Self-actualization

Self-actualization is the final level of psychological development that can be

achieved when all basic and mental needs are essentially fulfilled and the
"actualization" of the full personal potential takes place.

Self-actualization can be seen as similar to words and concepts such as self-

discovery, self-reflection, self-realisation and self-exploration.

As Abraham Maslow noted, the basic needs of humans must be met (e.g.
food, shelter, warmth, security, sense of belonging) before a person can
achieve self-actualization the need to be good, to be fully alive and to find
meaning in life. Research shows that when people live lives that are different
from their true nature and capabilities, they are less likely to be happy than
those whose goals and lives match. For example, someone who has inherent
potential to be a great artist or teacher may never realize his/her talents if
 their energy is focused on attaining the basic needs of humans. This is
probably the reason why some people just resort to social media
such as facebook in order to at least present his/her ideal self, since
he/she couldnt actually do it offline.

COGNITIVE
Cognitive Psychology revolves around the notion that if we want to know what
makes people tick then the way to do it is to figure out what processes are
actually going on in their minds. In other words, psychologists from this
perspective study cognition which is the mental act or process by which
knowledge is acquired.
The cognitive perspective is concerned with mental functions such
as memory, perception, attention etc. It views people as being similar to computers
in the way we process information (e.g. input-process-output). For example, both
human brains and computers process information, store data and have input an
output procedure.

SOCIOCULTURAL

The looking-glass Self- people shape their self-concepts based on their

understanding of how others perceive them. The idea is that people in our close
environment serve as the mirrors that reflect images of ourselves. According to
Cooley, this process has three steps. First, we imagine how we appear to another
person. Sometimes this imagination is correct, but may also be wrong since it is
merely based on our assumptions. Second, we imagine what judgments people
make of us based on our appearance. Lastly, we imagine how the person feels
about us, based on the judgments made of us. The ultimate result is that we often
change our behavior based on how we feel people perceive us.

If we perceive that people see us as beautiful, we change our style/ behavior

to depict ourselves as beautiful. This may probably the reason why
sometimes, when we try to have selfies and see that we dont actually look
that beautiful enough at that moment, we try to look at certain angles at
which we could capture ourselves that which would make us look beautiful in
the eyes of others, we try to edit it, do some filter, etc.

Similarly, we also try to depict ourselves online according to not just how we
think people think of us but how we actually want them to see us.

BIOLOGICAL
The biological approach believes that most behavior is inherited and has an
adaptive (or evolutionary) function.
Biological psychologists explain behaviors in neurological terms, i.e. the physiology
and structure of the brain and how this influences behavior.
Social Media Biology: Dopamin and Oxytocin
Scientists used to think dopamine was a pleasure chemical in the brain, but now we
know what it actually creates is want. Dopamine causes us to seek, desire, and
search.

There is, in fact, a biological basis for why we feel the need to be around others.
Oxytocin, popularly referred to as the cuddle hormone, is released by the brain
when interacting with others affectionately, such as when you hug your mother.
Research also suggests that it is responsible for that instinctive feeling you get
when you trust someone. Beyond these warm and fuzzy feelings, oxytocin has other
benefits, such as boosting your immune system(1).

Interestingly, one California study found that using social networking sites, like
Facebook, for a mere 10 minutes can actually trigger the release of oxytocin(2).
This, in turn, can decrease levels of stress hormones in your body, like cortisol.

Dopamine is a chemical released by an area of the brain called the nucleus

accumbens, and is responsible for our experience of reward and pleasure, like when
we eat a delicious meal, get our hard-earned paycheque, or receive a compliment.

Its no wonder we feel good when our latest photo-upload surpasses the 50-, 60- or
70- like-mark. Facebook has become a hotbed for our daily dose of dopamine(4).
The more we engage in activities that release dopamine, the more our brains
remember this rush and signal us to come back for more. With our smartphones
at our fingertips, it literally takes seconds to succumb to our craving, quickly
spiralling our behaviour into an addiction.

But how often do people feel the exact opposite that sinking, negative feeling
when scrolling through Facebook or Instagram? While previous studies have
suggested that Facebook use is related to symptoms of depression, a recent study
suggests that the relationship between how much Facebook we use and how
depressed we feel depends on the extent to which we compare ourselves to
others(5,6). Social media is inundated with only the best the best of a series of
failed selfie attempts, the best of our travel moments at exotic destinations, the
best of our outfits (#ootd), all strategically filtered to highlight (and hide!) precisely
what we intend. We post the good, but neglect the bad and certainly hide the ugly.
All of this is done intentionally to uphold a glamourous faade, all while diminishing
the authentic reality.

Not surprising, then, is the finding from a York University study showing that people
who were rated as higher in narcissism spent more time on Facebook and engaged
in more self-promotion online (that is, enhancing a positive image of ones self by
posing in photos, posting status updates frequently, using photo-editing tools, etc.;
7,8). More interestingly, those who were lower in self-esteem also behaved similarly,
spending more time glorifying themselves on Facebook.

EVOLUTIONARY
The Evolutionary approach explains behavior in terms of the selective pressures
that shape behavior.

Sources:
http://www.jaffarinews.com/2016-02-13/whats-on-your-mind-why-facebook-makes-
us-feel-so-good-and-bad/
http://www.mindswork.co.uk/wpblog/the-psyche-of-social-networking-id-ego-and-
superego/