Intro to Psychology

Lesson 2
How do we explain human
behaviors?
Main Question: Why do people act the
way they do?
 6 Psychological Explanations
1. Psychodynamic
2. Behavioral
3. Cognitive
4. Biopsychological
5. Evolutionary
6. Social-cultural
 6 Psychological Explanations
1. Psychodynamic
2. Behavioral
3. Cognitive
4. Biopsychological Theories
5. Evolutionary
6. Social-cultural
 6 Psychological Explanations
1. Psychodynamic
2. Behavioral
3. Cognitive
4. Biopsychological Theories
5. Evolutionary
6. Social-cultural

Answer the
questions about
behavior
Why do people behave the way they
do?
1. Psychodynamic Explanation
“Invisible psychological entities in
the mind”
• Id
• Ego
• Superego
The three entities that constantly
affect our behavior
 3 Elements of Personality
1. Id
• Pleasure principle
• Constantly tells you to experience pleasure immediately.
• Example: to stay in bed longer, play online games the
whole night even when you have an exam in the
morning.
*if you keep listening to your id all the time, you end up
doing things that are not right.
 3 Elements of Personality
2. Superego
• Moral principle
• Tells you to do what is right.
• “Conscience”
• What others want (conventions/responsibilities)
*contradicting the desires of your id
According to
Freud…
 It is not good for
the mind to only
have the id and
According to the superego
Freud…
 It is not good for
the mind to only
have the id and
According to the superego
Freud…

It will create
psychological tension=
MENTALLY DRAINING
 3 Elements of Personality
3. Ego
• Reality principle
• Balances the id and the superego
• Find ways to please both
• Example: May nahulog na wallet
• Ego’s solution: take some, return some
Beware of
your Id
TAME IT!
 If a person is ruled
by the id, bad
things could
Beware of happen.
your Id
TAME IT!
Illegal drugs overmagnifies the energy
of the Id
• Could kill the ego and the
superego
• A very scary individual, no
conscience, no concept of
practicality
Who wins among the three?
Who wins among the three?
Who wins among the three?

It depends…
There are people who have…
• Dominant Id
• Dominant Superego
• Dominant Ego
There are people who have…
• Dominant Id
• Dominant Superego
• Dominant Ego
There are people who have…
• Dominant Id
• Dominant Superego
• Dominant Ego
There are people who have…
• Dominant Id
• Dominant Superego
• Dominant Ego

Personality differences
Dominant in Id
• Immature personality (“parang
bata”)
• Profile: demanding/selfish
• Cold
• Irresponsible
• Unfaithful in relationship
• Worldly (eat, drink, materialist)
Dominant in Id
• Immature personality (“parang
bata”)
• Profile: demanding/selfish
• Cold
• Irresponsible
• Unfaithful in relationship
• Worldly (eat, drink, materialist)
Dominant in Superego
• Conservative personality
• Profile: obedient
• traditional
• helpful
• Loving martyrs
• Example: Battered wives
Dominant in Superego
• Conservative personality
• Profile: obedient
• traditional
• helpful
• Loving martyrs
• Example: Battered wives
Dominant in Ego
• Practical personality
• Profile: street smarts
• resourceful
• Problem solvers
• Manipulative
Dominant in Ego
• Practical personality
• Profile: street smarts
• resourceful
• Problem solvers
• Manipulative
 Life Applications
• Good mental health
• Strengthen the Ego = achieve balance
• Example: Work-life Balance
• Example: Psychotherapy= tame the id,
strengthen the Ego
Why do people behave the way they
do?
• 2. Behavioral Explanation
• The most famous behaviorist was
Burrhus Frederick (B. F.) Skinner
• Rewards and punishments
• Rewards- gives pleasure (money, praise,
escape from pain
• Punishment- avoiding pain/discomfort
(mapahiya, mainitan, mawala ang pera)
 Effects of Rewards and Punishments
on Behavior
• “Rewards make us do things…punishment makes us avoid things.”
• Example: Computer addiction
• Rewards: Excitement/accomplishment, stress reliever, friendship
• Example: Going to class
• Punishment (avoid): boring, hard lessons/quizzes, critical teachers
Life Applications
• Pay/reward good behaviors (reinforcements)
• Discipline undesirable behavior
Why do people behave the way they
do?
3. Cognitive Explanation
“the ancestor of every action is a thought”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Cognitive

Belief system

Behavior
Example:
Belief: Education is important
Behavior: attend classes, listen to lectures, study for
exams
Example: Taylor Swift is a good
singer/songwriter

Behavior
Example: Taylor Swift is a good
singer/songwriter

Behavior
Example: Taylor Swift is a good
singer/songwriter

Behavior
Life Application: Paano maiitama ang gawi
ng isang tao?
Step 1: identify the behavior (ex. Jealousy)
Step 2: trace back the beliefs (hindi ko siya
mapagkakatiwalaan)
Challenge: change the beliefs, the behavior will also
change.
Why do people behave the way they
do?
4. Biopsychological Explanation

Body  behavior
 Body affects Behavior

What specific part of the body?

• Genes
• Hormones
• Brain
Example
• Temper- from the word
“temperament”- our ability to
control our emotions
• Being hot-headed is not learned,
this is inherited (genes)
• Genes  behavior
Example
• Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)
• Instability of hormones
• Female moodiness
• Hormones  behavior
Example
• Use of illegal drugs- damage the
brain
• Can result to number of
undesirable behavior
• Brain  behavior
Application
• Take care of the body to take care of
the mind!
Why do people behave the way they
do?
5. Evolutionary Explanation
Rule #1: all living organisms strive to survive (adaptation)
adaptation- we do things we believe will help us to survive
Example: eat, drink our medicine, stay at home to avoid COVID
Rule #2: We need to survive because we must pass on our genes through
reproduction.

Example: think of something universal (school, fashion)

What is the motivation behind these? (survival, pass-on genes)
Life Application: enhance ourselves to
increase survival value
How to increase survival value?
• Learning
 Being physically healthy
 Take studies seriously
 Read books
 Attend seminars
 Watch educational shows
 Learning helpful skills
Why do people behave the way they
do?
6. Sociocultural Explanation
• 2 Forces
 Group- model certain behavior, we imitate the
behavior of other people esp. the group that we
belong to.
 Culture- the habits, traditions, and behaviors of
people and groups in an organization
Example:
Studies: What predicts
teenager smoking?
Result:
• the number of family
members smoking
• the number of friends
smoking
Example: Readily available movies
Application
• Improving your group
• Choose your friends
• check the culture you internalize
Lesson Summary: Why do people
behave the way they do?
• Psychodynamic- psychological entities
• Behavioral- rewards and punishments
• Cognitive- beliefs behavior
• Biopsychological- body behavior
• Evolutionary- people do things that help them survive
• Sociocultural- people do what most people do
Thank you!