Theoretical Lenses in Psychology

According to the psychodynamic perspective Miguel may be arguing with his roommate as a defense mechanism known as displacement. He uses his roommate as a substitute for his anger and takes it out on him by picking fights. This behavior may also be influenced by Miguel’s past experiences or conflicts within his unconscious mind. For example, there is a possibility that as a child Miguel’s parents may have pressured him to do well in school which resulted in his need for perfection in his work.

The behaviorist perspective focuses only on how environmental factors influence a person’s response to a specific situation. In Miguel’s case the environmental factor may be the school he is attending, pressuring him to be perfect and greatly criticizing his work. Forcing his mind to make him to feel like any minor mistake he makes could be costly.

A psychologist using the humanist perspective views people as innately good and issues are the result of deviance. One way they may explain Miguel’s behavior toward is roommate and the way he views his work is caused by some form of deviance. They may also claim that he doubts himself as the result of his subjective perspective. As outsiders we view Miguel’s situation differently than him, he also has personal feelings that are affecting the way that he is reacting to the situation.

The cognitive perspective studies the mental processes. In Miguel’s case he is fighting with his roommate, losing sleep, and having doubts about his school work because he is struggling to process all of that information at one time.

The neuroscience perspective is used by psychologists to explain behavior though the biological level. They would say that Miguel potentially has a gene that causes this behavior, hormonal imbalance or issues with neural pathways within his body.

Cultural psychologists study the influence of a person’s culture on their behavior. They would claim that where Miguel is from caused him to stress about the coursework he is struggling with to the point where he feels that it must be perfect. He may also be lashing out on his roommate as a result of this behavior being normal in his family.