Analysis of Publications about Personality and Social Psychology - Literature review Example

Publication Review Paper s affiliation Publication Review Paper The Guide to Social Neuroscience 14th October 2011 Author: Jamie Ward Journal Summary The field of social neuroscience is an increasingly growing field of social psychology. Our human behavior such abilities to understand, recognize or even interact with one another can be more clearly explained by doing an investigation of the neural mechanisms in the brain that influence our own personal behavior. This method of neuroscience has helped explore and unravel social concepts like revenge, trust, prejudice, love and empathy. Some researchers tend to believe that human brain’s evolutionary expansion was mainly driven by the urge to deal with social complexity so as to take advantage of the advantages of cooperative living. This book seeks to explore as well as explain several key questions: What Kind of brain-based mechanism did humans end up with? General solutions that are used in non-social cognition or specialized routines that are used in dealing with existing social problems? How are human beings able to sacrifice their own personal interests so as to respond to another person’s needs? How the existence of cultural differences in society affect an individual’s mind and if the brain provides constraints that deal with the range of permutations in any given culture. (Ward, 2011) This book is quite engaging and serves as an ideal introduction to the concepts and methods used in social neuroscience. The book’s chapters are illustrated with boxes and figures making it much easier for one to grasp the concepts that are being explained. It also contains a variety of key points and essay questions that aim at helping the reader to engage with the material (Ward, 2011). Reference Ward J (2011), The Student’s Guide to Social Neuroscience. London. Psychology Press Title: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Date: It is a monthly Publication, February, 2014 Author: Duane T. Wegener Journal Summary This Bulletin provides and international forum that can be used for easy and fast distribution of useful empirical papers that touch on several key areas of social psychology and personality. Every publication of this bulletin contains articles that aim at reflecting on many schools of thought that are common in the field of psychology. The key sources of the articles are mainly ongoing research projects that are being undertaken in the field of psychology thus lending some degree of credibility and reliability on the information that is contained in it. The bulletin often provides the initial accounts of the latest research breakthroughs. (Wegener, 2014) Its main contributors are mostly scholars with a distinguished background in the field of psychology that touches on several contemporary topics that are of interest to students as well as professionals in the field of psychology. These topics include; close relationships, changes in attitude, age as well as gender stereotypes, intergroup relations, group processes, morality, interpersonal attraction, prejudice, political action, self-concept, values and social influence (Wegener, 2014). Reference Wegener T. D., (2014), Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Ohio State University The journal’s authors and editors make a point of supplementing the publication’s broad coverage with occasional special sections and special issues that are single themed. These serve the purpose of examining controversial topics that are of great concern in the profession. Some of the previous sections and thematic issues tend to include: Motivational Determinants of self-Evaluation, Samples of previously made up stories, the self and the Collective, Publication trends in Personality and social Psychology, Meta-Analysis in Personality and social Psychology as well as Principle of Psychology (Wegener, 2014). Title: Generalized Anxiety Disorder Date: September, 08, 2011 Author: Mayo Clinic Staff Journal Summary This journal defines anxiety disorder and outlines its symptoms as well. The Journal however stresses the fact that it is not always considered a disorder when one feels anxious from time to time especially if the particular individual leads a particularly stressful life. This can only be considered to be a disorder if the ongoing anxiety tends to interfere with the person’s daily activities in a negative way. The book outlines the following symptoms as the most common even though they sometimes may indicate other types of disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder; Regular worrying or obsession about large or small concerns, a constant feeling of restlessness and constantly being on the edge, Constant fatigue, Difficulty in concentrating or instances whereby the mind goes blank, regular irritability, tension and aches in the muscles, insomnia, diarrhea, nausea and sweating, increased heart rate and shortness of breath. (mayoclinic.org, 2011) The authors came up with a short list of likely causes of this disorder. These often involve neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. An individual’s traumatic life experiences may also cause the development of this disorder. There are also other physical conditions that are associated with anxiety including; - Heart disease, Hypothyrodism, Menopause and Gastresophageal reflux disease (GERD). There are also risk factors that tend to increase the chances of a person suffering from this disorder examples; Childhood trauma, Genetics, substance abuse, gender i.e. being female, stress, as well as illness. The condition can also lead to insomnia, severe depression, bruxism and constant headaches. (mayoclinic.org, 2011) Reference Generalized Anxiety Disorder (2011, September, 08) Retrieved http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/generalized-anxiety-disorder/basics/definition/con-20024562 (20/4/14) Title: Journal of personality and Social Psychology Published: It is a monthly Journal, October 2013 Authors: Laura A. King and Eliot R. Smith Journal Summary This Journal publishes papers in several areas that deal with personality and social psychology with great emphasis on empirical reporting. It is divided into three different sections: Attitudes and Social Cognition: This section mainly addresses he areas of human social behavior where cognition plays a key role. The main topics that are covered in this section of the journal are; personal memory, formation and usage of attitudes, attributions and stereotypes as well as the consequences and origins of emotions and moods and how these interact with cognition. It also covers several interfaces of cognition and their influence on key social phenomena like communication, persuasion, social development, cultural trends and prejudice. (Eliot R & Laura A. K., J, 2013) Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes: This mainly focuses on structural and psychological features of interaction in groups and dyads. The section also contains papers that describe the dynamics and nature of social relationships and interactions which include communication, interpersonal attraction, relationship development, emotion and on group processes like task performance and group decision making, social influence, prosocial behavior, aggression and intergroup relations as well as various other types of social behavior. (Eliot R & Laura A. K., J, 2013) Personality Processes and Individual Differences: This section of the journal deals mainly with research on various aspects of personality psychology. It also includes studies of key processes in behavior and individual differences, coping, emotions, motivation, health and other phenomena that reveal one’s personality. (Eliot R & Laura A. K., J, 2013) The journal cover key aspects of social psychology that can even though in brief articles that may not cover all the concepts in this field. This is because it is a monthly journal. Reference Eliot R & Laura A. K., J (2013), Journal of personality and Social Psychology. American Psychological Association Title: Journal of Depression and Anxiety Author: Reiji Yoshimura Date: 24, January 2014 Summary The journal describes depression and anxiety as an array of unusual variations in an individual’s moods. These conditions may come about due to chemical reactions in the brain. The journal also states that as high as 90% of patients suffering from anxiety disorders go on to develop various levels of depression. These individuals that suffer from anxiety and depression usually exhibit feelings of loss of interest, loss of appetite, low self-esteem and general feelings of guilt. This journal shaded some light on offering social support to help relieve patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) .It suggests that interaction with others in society plays a critical role in alleviating the effects PTSD. (Yoshimura, 2014) If the patient opts to be socially isolated, this withdrawal from normal human interaction may actually continue to worsen the PTSD symptoms. This therefore means that treating patients with PTSD requires appropriate psychotherapy. Pharmacology has also been used in recent years to treat symptoms of PTSD but social support-oriented psychotherapy still remains the main and highly effective mode of treatment. The article looks at a case report by Sanches in which he investigated Joint Hypermobility and Social Anxiety Disorder in a group of Brazilian Students. The ensuing result after this case study was however negative but the theme of the study was particularly interesting. It has also been discovered that various other anxiety disorders like panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder have a correlation to joint hypermobility. (Yoshimura, 2014) Reference Yoshimura R (2014) Introduction for this Issue of Journal of Depression and Anxiety. J Depress Anxiety 3:e104. doi: 10.4172/2167-1044.1000e104 Title: About Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorder Authors: Bio Med Central Date: July 2011 Summary of the Journal This is a peer-reviewed journal that regularly publishes the latest innovative and clinical research articles which aim at improving the understanding of the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. The journal includes research areas that include but are not limited to predictive risk markers, treatment predictors, individual differences, Developmental trajectories as well as pathophysiology. It also employs various experimental approaches such as psychophysiology, Pharmacology, Animal models, Gene-environment interactions, Behavioral and molecular genetics as well as Neuroimaging. (biolmoodanxietydisord.com, 2011) A substantial number of studies conducted on Major Depressive Disorder on patients have identified and come up with several structural alterations in multiple tissue classes. The findings of these studies have often been summarized through the use of meta-analytic approaches. The journal takes often looks at the several treatment mechanisms for anxiety disorders that are available in the market as well as several other methods that are being developed through ongoing research in the field. Research such as the animals studies which concluded that the hippocampus plays a key role in regulating anxiety due to it being a part of the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) that regulates the brain’s reaction to threat and punishment. (biolmoodanxietydisord.com, 2011) The publications in this journal are mainly dependant on coherence and validity of research articles as they have been judged by peer reviewers to ensure high quality of the same. Each of the articles follows an agreed format that is easy to navigate and also read. Reference Biology of Moods and Anxiety Disorder (2011, July) Retrieved from http://www.biolmoodanxietydisord.com/about (20/04/2014) Read More