PsychologyandIdeas

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO.......  Have you ever done something right or wrong and you start asking yourself why you ended up doing it? Well, personally I do so a multiple times. Mostly we end up doing different things which some people may think we are not supposed to be doing coz according to them its wrong and this is where the saying that ' people are different' originates from. WHY ARE PEOPLE DIFFERENT? CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACH Everyone's experiences in life differs and the way we were brought up really matters. According to John Locke, we were all born as blank slates and with time we accumulate knowledge and information from what we interact with. So basically, a child born in an environment full of violence views violence as a norm and a right thing unlike a child who grew up in a peaceful environment. That's a major reason for differences. Our way of life or cultures also differ because some communities shun away some vices while others uphold them. For instance some

 THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SELF. The real self is is who you actually are; the self image. while the ideal self is what you would like to be. For instance, being a student studying for a B.A in Education is what you really are at the moment but in future you might want to be a teacher and that's the ideal self. Or, you want to cut weight and shape up. In real sense, you have not done anything about it but you have idealized an image of your perfectly built body after working out. These two concepts are contradictive because if your ideal self if far way different from the real self, you are more likely to feel  and most likely a failure. But when these concepts are alike, one is most likely to have an accurate self-concept hence a sense of self-worth. Although these concepts based on our experiences overtime, they are beneficial as they help us shape up and work towards whom we want to be. They also help us accept ourselves as well as be satisfied with whom we actually are in real lif

 The moment you decide to take cash from your parents without their knowledge the guilt kicks in. You try to make up for the guilt feeling by making excuses like, " the other day mom sent me to the shop with my own money or I worked and dad did not reward me" At times you cheat on your partner and you feel so uncomfortable, right? You  may justify such actions by comforting yourself while saying that the other person may be cheating too. Other times we may see our partners inadequacies as excuses for cheating. You want to eat healthy and keep fit but you cheat and eat chocolate and all the sugary goodies. You know its wrong but you make it right by saying it has been a while since I ate such or a few chocolate bars will do me no harm.  These are examples of Cognitive Dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is discomfort that comes about by having conflicting beliefs or values.. This makes you  do things to minimize the discomfort.  For instance, you know that plastic bags are banned

  Impulsive buyers are individulas who have a tendency of buying things just for tye sake of it. They had not planned to buy. They just buy for the  sake of it because whatever they purchase is not a need.  Right now, everyone is in the festive season and so much buying is ongoing. Right now it might be minimal due to the strain on our pockets as a result of Covid 19 effects on the economy. But normally people are: -travelling from urban to Rural aeas with a lot of shoppings buying clothings and shoes. buying groceries too. In the end you will be left wondering why you spent so much cash on such items and the mind keeps reflecting on how you spent the cash. Oftenly, you may misuse  money at at times it leaves you frustrated and even it may bring quarrels at houses. WHAT CAUSES IMPULSIVE BUYING. The feeling of not wanting to miss out . For instance unaenda Supermarket you get sanitary towels on offers or a soda with an offer. Not wanting to miss out you just pick tem although you initia

 REINFORCEMENT   This is a reward or consequence that increase the probability of a behavior recurring.  Betting is gambling cash upon the outcome of a certain event. For instance in Casinos, football or even races. A GAME OF ADDICTION Just like drugs, betting and gambling is addictive. For instance here in Kenya,  we have several mobile betting site and gambling is common. Am sure most reading this have had an experience on the same.  We have seen teens gamble with their savings until they own nothing and still crave for more. The question is, what brings about the addiction? Well, betting is a one time trial and its a series of several losses and little wins and one keeps trying in the hope of winning more where as the government earns revenue and the companies mostly foreign earn more.  I tend to think, mainly this is psychological manipulation with betting and gambling as the main activity posing as a recreative way and money earn earned is the reinforcement/ reward. This is a vari

    BYSTANDER EFFECT. What would you do if you found a girl being bullied in the streets?  Most people would walk away not wanting to associate with it  Others I believe would use their phones to capture this moment for their WhatsApp and Facebook statuses as well as Instagram posts.   Social scientists tend to believe that the number of people willing to help depends on the number of witnesses available. Besides, who wants to be taken a video of while helping out? we want to be the ones taking the videos and etc.  I tend to think this is also contributed to by the genetic make up of a person. Like the shy ones you cant blame them for not helping and am not saying the ones helping are not shy either. We can say Bystander effect is psychological and it happens in a situation where a person is less likely to help those in distress when passive witnesses or by-standers are present. I would love to hear on what ways do you think this can be lessened in our society today...And if you were