Latest Terms Added
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Culture-bound-syndrome
Every culture has unique beliefs about health and illness shaped by socio-cultural and socio-economic conditions. These beliefs sometimes deviate sharply from how other societies understand mental health. Ataque de Nervios and Koro are examples of culture-bound syndromes that portray disturbed functioning that is less representative of neurotic activity. The former is an episode of sudden…
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Aggression
Aggression can manifest itself in many ways, especially in a person’s intention or action; it may cause both physical and psychological harm and damage. There are four forms of aggression which are hostile and instrumental, where hostile aggression is aimed at injuring or hurting the target, whilst instrumental aggression is aimed at achieving some heightened…
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Oedipus-complex
Psychotherapists explain the Oedipus complex as a controversial theory of Sigmund Freud as a component of psychosexual development focusing on a child’s development within the ages of three and six, which is characterized as the phallic stage. Concerning boys, Freud ascribed feelings of desire toward the mother and rivalry toward the father, which Freud suggested…
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Stereotype
A stereotype is a widely held belief or expectation about a category of people which may be simplistic in nature and applied to undifferentiated individuals. The assumptions people make about others can be stereotyping, and there can be positive, negative, or neutral in nature, but in any case, it can result in biased conclusions. For…
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Privation
The term ‘privation’ describes the absence of a basic need or the lack of any psychological or emotional bonds for the adequate psychological growth. Different from deprivation, where there is a loss of something after its initial presence, privation involves much more severe scenarios. It happens when the loss of something as essential as nurturing,…
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Curvilinear
The term “curvilinear” describes a particular form of association between two variables that involves a non-constant change and which is represented by a curve. Such a relationship is more complicated as it differs in strength or direction at different levels. In psychology, this term is used in research and statistical analyses to elaborate more on…
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Minority-group
A minority group pertains to a social unit which has less power, representation, or social influence relative to the rest of the society and suffers some form of unequal treatment, discrimination, or neglect. This definition is not purely mathematical. It is social, political and cultural standing and not headcount. For instance, in some cultures, women…
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Self-esteem
Self-esteem is defined as how personally valuable an individual feels and the worth an individual gives themselves, alongside how the person assesses themselves. It determines the thoughts a person has, the feelings experienced, the actions taken, and how an individual responds to the surrounding environment. Individuals who possess a high self-esteem estimate themselves as worthy,…
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Exogenous
Exogenous encompasses influences, factors, or stimuli lying outside the individual or system, impacting behavior, cognition, or development. In psychology, every emotion or thought that is an outcome of some external stimuli exerted on a person is termed an exogenous variable. For instance, environmental stressors such as sirens, primary social factors, or even social events such…
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Social-competence
Social competence is the capability to manage relational exchanges, shift across diverse contexts, and foster positive interactions with ease. Emotional understanding, communicative capability, self-control, compassion, self-regulation, and compliance to social paradigms are some social norms that certainly make social competence. Failure to demonstrate social competence fosters barriers to robust interpersonal connections and evokes disdainful relationships.…
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Polymorphism
Polymorphism in psychology and behavioral science is the presence within a population of differences which pertain to a psychological characteristic, behavior, or even a biological component. More specifically, it is used in the context of genetic psychology where associated with behavioral and personality differences, as well as the tendency to suffer with specific mental disorders,…
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Homogeneity
In psychology, the term homogeneity describes the extent of resemblance within a group, sample, or behavioral set. It can pertain to sentiments, attitude, personality, culture, or behavioral response in a given study or inquiry context. In social psychology, homogeneity tends to be characteristic of groups in which members possess a similar set of values, beliefs,…
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Compulsion
Compulsions are defined as the repetition of acts or behaviors driven towards achieving an objective as the consequence of certain persistent, intrusive, unwanted streams of thoughts (i.e. obsessions), or by mental devices or certain rigid rules. These are usually mental mechanisms that attempt to filter or lessen an unwanted thought or suppress an anxiety that…
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Perturbation
A perturbation is the temporary emotional, mental, or physical disturbance which causes alteration in the functioning level of the affected individual. This is commonly used in clinical and cognitive contexts, describing periods of disorganization and pronounced emotional sensitivity, where the individual’s customary mechanisms of regulation and management may tend to collapse. For instance, psychological perturbation…
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Assimilation
Assimilation is the mental process where a person adds new information, experiences, and ideas to pre-existing internal frameworks or cognitive schemas. This is a concept in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development where assimilation goes hand in hand with accommodation as a means of adjusting to the environment. For instance, a child who encounters a new…
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Genitalia
Genitalia denote the sexual and reproductive system organs, both external and internal, which have primal importance both in biological reproduction and in psychosexual development. In psychology, the concept of genitalia frequently emerges in developmental theories, especially pertaining to Freud’s psychosexual stages where the genital stage marks the development of mature sexual interests and identity. Genitalia…
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Intrinsic-behavior
Behavior that comes from intrinsic motivations and internal reasoning, as well as self-interest, personal satisfaction, and self-interest, is termed as intrinsic behavior. Of particular interest to psychologists is intrinsic motivation as defined by self-determined persons. People enjoy and derive satisfaction, value, or find meaning in activities and actions that bring joy or are worthwhile and…
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Degrees-of-freedom
An example of how much value a statistical analysis can take without breaking any restrictions is referred to as ‘degrees of freedom’ in psychology. This concept is necessary during hypothesis testing of t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVAs and similar tests. It explores the shape of the sampling distribution and the estimated significance of testing the null…
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Frotteurism
Frotteurism is considered an intense paraphilia which is defined by sexual urges or fantasies of touching and rubbing against a victim who does not give consent, most often found in crowded public spaces. It is a pattern of sexual arousal which is considered deviant in the psychological sense due to its need of close and…
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Birds-of-a-feather-phenomenon
The birds-of-a-feather phenomenon depicts people’s natural inclination to be attracted to, befriend and/or try to form relationships with people who possess the same characteristics, be it values, interests, attitudes, backgrounds or personality traits. This phenomenon goes against the notion “opposites attract”. It has been shown time and again that similarity is a strong predictor of…