Psychology and Health: Theories, Factors, and Case Study Analysis

This report delves into the critical relationship between psychology, health, and social care. It begins by exploring the impact of heredity and environment on human behavior, comparing different theories of life span development, including those of Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud. The report then explains various psychological theories, such as behavioral, cognitive, humanist, and psychodynamic theories, and their applications. It further examines social and biological factors influencing human behavior, linking them to the nature vs. nurture controversy. The report analyzes the importance of social roles in health and social care, and discusses the application of psychological theories to a case study. It also analyzes psychological theories that enhance the understanding of relationships in health and social care, and informs the understanding of mental disorders, and the application of psychological principles affecting behavior change in health and social care, offering a comprehensive overview of the subject.

PSYCHOLOGY AND ITS
RELATIONSHIP TO HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE

Table of Contents
PSYCHOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE....................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO.1.................................................................................................................................................3
LO.2.................................................................................................................................................9
P2.1. Explain social and biological factors that influence human behaviour as linked to the
controversy.............................................................................................................................9
P2.2. Analyse the importance of social roles in health and social care................................10
LO.3...............................................................................................................................................11
P3.1. D1. Application of psychological theories in relation to Sam case study...................12
P.3.5.D3. Analyse the psychological theories that enhance understanding of relationship in
health and social care............................................................................................................13
P3.3 Analyse the psychological theory that informs understanding of mental disorder......12
P3.4.D2.Application of psychological principles affecting the behaviour change in health and
social care.............................................................................................................................13
P3.2.M3. Psychological theory relate to behaviour disturbance..........................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Health psychology is the study of psychological as well as behavioural processes in
health, illness and healthcare. It is concerned with understanding how psychological, cultural and
behavioural factors contributes to physical health and illness. The health of person is also
affected by behavioural factors. Psychology is very important in health care as all the treatment,
diagnose to treat the problems related to psychology and behavioural disorder (physical or
mental heath) are only addresses or cared by a psychologist. In this present report, the detailed
knowledge about the impact of heredity and environment or human behaviour will be presented.
Different theories of life span development and there comparison will also include in this
assignment. Furthermore, psychological theories as well as life stages of human development
will also present in this study. In addition to this, social and biological determinants of human
behaviour are also included in this report.
LO.1

P1.1. Compare different theories of life span development.
Life span development is the entire process of human development from
conception to death. It is holistic approach in order to understand all the
cognitive, psychological, emotional as well as social changes that a person
go through. It explores how people change and grow from the concept to
death.
Erik Erikson, in full Erik Homburger Erikson, also called Erik H.
Erikson, (born June 15, 1902, Frankfurt am Main, Germany died
May 12, 1994, Harwich, Massachusetts, U.S.) German-born
American psychoanalyst whose writings on social psychology,
individual identity, and the interactions of psychology with
history, politics, and culture the influenced professional
approaches to psychosocial problems and attracted much popular
interest.
There are some authors who gave theories of life span which are as-
Erik Erikson's Theory- This theory is called as Erik Erikson;s
stages of psychosocial development. There are eight different stages in
P1.2. Explain psychological theories.
Behavioural Theory- It is also known as behavioural psychology. According to
theory learning and experience is based on the ideas that all behaviours are
acquired through conditioning. This conditioning arises through interaction
with the environment. The entire development of personality of a person is
through the learning as well as experience of the person with the environment
or surroundings. The behaviours of the person can be studied in a proper as well
as observable way regardless of inner states of mind. It is also fact that anybody
can be trained to execute any work or task no matter of generic background,
traits, internal thoughts and personality. In order to have a good behaviour or
requires a right conditioning.
Cognitive Theory- This is another the most important theory of psychology.
According to this theory, thought is the fundamental or primary determinants of

this theory from infancy through late adulthood. According to Erikson, the
development of personality of the human takes place all through the
lifespan. He said that, a person interaction with others affects the life style
development of the person. He also proposed that human are motivated by
the requirement in order to achieve the competence in many filed of the
life. A person learn from the age of less than one year to the age of 65
years. During all the stages the person experience a crisis related to
psychology which would have both positive and negative effect on the
development of personality.
Sta
ge
Psychological
Crisis
Basic Virtue Age
emotions as well as behaviours. The processing of information is a common
description of the entire procedure of mind as well as ideologue compare the
ways the mind of a person or human functions to a computer. There are two
main division of this theory which are Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the
Cognitive Behavioural Theory (CBT). In social cognitive theory there are three
variables which are behaviour factors, environment facts and personal factors.
These three factors are inter-related with each others which result in learning.
Whereas, in Cognitive Behavioural theory there are three triads which are The
self, The environment and The future. These are somewhat negative thoughts.
Humanist Theory- This is also a psychological theory that emphasize
on looking at the entire person or human as well as concepts of stress such as
self-efficacy, self-actualization and free will instead of concentrating on
dysfunction and humanist psychology attempt in order to help the people that
fulfil there potential well-being. There are five level in this theory which are as
follows-
Level Name Components
1st Self-
actualizati
on
Morals, creativity, emotions, lack of justice as well as
acceptance.
2nd Esteem Confidence, self-esteem, respect and achievement.
3rd Belonging
and Love
Friendship, family and relations.

1st Trust vs. Mistrust Hope 0 to 1 ½
2nd Autonomy vs.
Shame
Will 1 ½ to 3
3rd Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose 3 to 5
4th Industry vs.
Inferiority
Competency 5 to 12
5th Identity vs. Role
confusion
Fidelity 12 to 18
6th Intimacy vs.
Isolation
Love 18 to 40
7th Generality vs.
Stagnation
Care 40 to 65
8th Ego Integrity vs.
Despair
Wisdom 65 plus
Sigmund Freud (1856 to 1939) was the founding father of
psychoanalysis, a method for treating mental illness and also a theory
which explains human behaviour.
Freud believed that events in our childhood have a great influence on our
adult lives, shaping our personality.
Sigmund Freud's Theory- This theory is called as psychosexual theory of
life span development. According to Freud the development of personality
of a person is the result of three element part of the mind which are id, ego
4th Safety Safety and security of health, body, proper sleep,
hygienic and homoeostasis.
5th Physiologi
cal
Breathing, basic health, food, sleep, hygiene and
homoeostasis
Psychodynamic Theory- This is also one of the best theory of psychology
where it holds the experience of childhood and entire shape of personality is
taken by the childhood experience. According to this, the personality of the
person is explained by the in terms of conscious as well as unconscious forces
like unconscious belief and desire. Theory is same as Freud's Theory of life
span management. The development of personality of a person is the result of
three element part of the mind which are id, ego and superego.

and superego. He proposed that the development of personality and
psychology takes place in childhood in a fixed series of psychosexual
stages which are oral, anal, latency, phallic and genital. According to
him, the development of personality is depended on the experience of
childhood. The entire shape of the personality take places by the oral
fixation. Here are the stages which are given by Freud's theory which are
as follows-
Stag
e
Psych
ologic
al
Crisis
Basic Virtue Age
1st Oral All things are fixed in oral. It is not
satisfactory met there is the likelihood of
developing negative oral behaviour or habits.
0 to 1.5
2nd Anal This stage indicates the primary development
of healthy training of toilets.
1.5 to 5
years
3rd Phallic Healthy substitutes are developed for the
sexual attraction of boys and girls have
towards a parent of the opposite gender.
3 to 5
years
4th latenc
y
Development of healthy sexual feelings for
the opposite sex.
5 to 12
years
5th Genita All the tasks from the preceding stages are 12 to

l integrated into the kind allowing for the onset
of healthy sexual behaviour.
adulthoo
d
Comparison of Erik Erikson's Theory and Sigmund Freud's Theory of
life span management- According to Erikson's development of
personality takes place during the each and every phases of life while
Freud's focus on development of personality develops during early
childhood. On the other hand, Freud's argues that behaviour of human is
the outcome of the interaction among three elements parts of the mind like
id, ego and superhero. In addition to this, Freud's called this oral stage
while Erikson called this the trust versus mistrust stage. Erikson names his
theory as psychosocial while Freud names his theory as psychosexual
theory.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research
methods. Sage.
Manners, R.A., 2017. Professional dominance: The social structure of medica
care. Routledge.
Mirowsky, J., 2017. Education, social status, and health. Routledge.
Ross, C.E., 2017. Social causes of psychological distress. Routledge.

LO.2
P2.1. Explain social and biological factors that influence human behaviour as linked to the
controversy.
The controversy is the human behaviour is affected by nature and nurture. The behaviour
that depends on generic factors that determined the entire behaviour of human whereas the
behaviour of human or person is depended on nurture as it determined by the environment and
surrounding and the entire experience of life (Smith, 2015). There are social as well as biological
factors that influence the behaviour of human.
Here the social factors that affect the behaviour of humans which are as follows-
Abilities- This is the factor that influence the behaviour of human and that include the
traits the individual that learns from the environment around as well as any god gifted attributes
or traits. There three main classification of these traits which are intellectual, physical and self-
awareness abilities. Therefore, these abilities and traits which are owned by the person or
individual defines the behaviour of human in social as well as personal life. This factor supports
both nature vs. nature controversy.
Gender- This is the factor that shows that man and woman both are equally stood in
terms of performance of job and mental abilities, It is fact that, as per the thinking of society
there two different genders and all have different rights. For example, in an organisation they
prefer to select and recruit men instead of woman because woman's ned more leaves as they are
considered as the primary care giver in the company, this affect the human behaviour negatively.
Thus, all companies should boost both genders to efficiently work in the company (Manners,
2017).
Culture and Race- Culture and race are also one of the most important factor that affects
the human behaviour. Race is a group or bunch of people that shares same physical features.
According to the detected attributes, it is used to defined the different types of people. Apart
from this, culture is also one of the most essential factor that influence the human behaviour as it
defined as the ideas, customs, traditions, traits followed by a person or a group of people. In
society as well as in working place, both culture and race influence the behaviour as sometimes
people does not accept the another race and culture (Mirowsky, 2017). But it is not good one

should respect and accept all the culture and race of people. This factor supports both nurture and
nature controversy.
Here is the biological factors that affect the human behaviour which are as follows-
Genetic Factors- This is also one of the most essential factors that affect the human
behaviours. If any family members is having any gene that disturbs the behaviour of the person
in next generation. For example- DISC1 gene that is connected with the mental disorder. It also
affects the behaviour of human.
Poor sleep- This is also one of the most essential factor that affects the human behaviour.
Poor sleep is also affects the behaviour at workplace and personal life. If person does not take
proper sleep, they will not behave in right manner at workplace and at home or any other
personal. This factor support the nature does not nurture because poor sleep can be arise by the
any issues or problems in personal or working life and it can illness of poor sleep.
Illness- This is also a biological factor that influenced the behaviour of person or human.
A person who is not fit and fine than he/she will not able to behave in a right manner both in
working place and personal life (Ross, 2017). This facto r also support nature vs. nurture
controversy as illness can be by birth or it can be because of infection from any members of
family or surrounding.
P2.2. Analyse the importance of social roles in health and social care.
Social roles are the set of rights, duties, norms, expectations as well as behaviour that an
individual face and fulfil. In health and social care, the roles played by social worker and its
importance which are as follows-
Helping people in order to maintain positive relationship with there family- This is the
role played by social worker in health and social care and it very important to maintain a health
and positive relationship with patients as well as there family members. Disable people, illness as
well as long term condition frequently experience social situation. It also happens that they face
poverty, unemployment, lack of resources, discrimination make them feel lonely as well as
isolated (Motz,2016). Thus, it is very essential to maintain a good and healthy relationship with
the family members.
Promoting education in the society- This is another most important role played by the
social workers and it is very essential for the person living in society so that they can educate and
grape the knowledge about there rights, norms. In health and social care it is very important to

know the rights so that the privacy can be maintained if patient wants (Corin, 2017). By the
promotion of education people can become literate and they will abide by the rights, duties,
norms, expectations as well as behaviour that an individual face and fulfil.
Assisting people feel socially included- This is also significant to understand the feeling
of the patients. They want that society should accept them in any manner. Thus, it is the duty of a
social worker that they should promote equality and respect as well as support people who are
facing any disease or illness in the society or family. Discrimination brings them more near to
death (Robinson and et.al., 2015). Thus, the roles played by the social workers are very effective
and efficient in health and social care because this is one of the most precious factors.
Social Role
Marxism View- Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that views class relations
and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and takes a
dialectical view of social transformation.
Feminist View- Feminist sociology is a conflict theory and theoretical perspective which
observes gender in its relation to power, both at the level of face-to-face interaction and
reflexivity within a social structure at large. Focuses include sexual orientation, race, economic
status, and nationality.
Social Role influenced mental health
Social relationships both quantity and quality affect mental health, health behaviour,
physical health, and mortality risk. Social isolation of otherwise healthy, well-functioning
individuals eventually results in psychological and physical disintegration, and even death.
A mental illness is a condition that affects a person's thinking, feeling or mood. Such
conditions may affect someone's ability to relate to others and function each day. Genetics,
environment and lifestyle influence whether someone develops a mental health condition.
LO.3

P3.1. D1. Application of psychological theories in relation to Sam case
study
There are various theories of psychology which can be applied for
the improvement of Sam behaviour which is not going good at workplace.
In order to help in improving the health as well as behaviour of Sam the
best theory is Humanist Theory. This is also a psychological theory that
emphasize on looking at the entire person or human as well as concepts of
stress such as self-efficacy, self-actualization and free will instead of
concentrating on dysfunction and humanist psychology attempt in order to
help the people that fulfil their potential well-being.
It is the responsibility of his colleagues that they should help Sam
in solving its issues of his work life. In addition to this, colleges should
motivate Sam that he should not feel depress from the appraisals. They
should also take him to Doctor and leave the habit of alcohol consumption
because it is spoiling the life of Sam. There are five levels in humanist
theory which can be fulfilled by organisation and it also decreases the
difficulties of people. These needs are the most important needs that each
and every employee or individualise need form he organisation.
Leve
l
Need Components
1st Self-actualization Morals, creativity, emotions, lack of justice
as well as acceptance.
2nd Esteem Confidence, self-esteem, respect and
achievement.
3rd Belonging and
Love
Friendship, family and relations.
4th Safety Safety and security of health, body, proper
sleep, hygienic and homoeostasis.
5th Physiological Breathing, basic health, food, sleep, hygiene
and homoeostasis
Stress and Stress Management.
Definition of stress- Stress is primarily a physical response. When
P3.3 Analyse the psychological theory that informs
understanding of mental disorder.
According to the case study, Sam's mental condition is
not good, he is facing serious anxiety and tension which
seriously damaging his mind, He is consuming alcohol and he
does not remain in conscious, if he come in conscious, he tries to
isolate himself and hide behind his tears. The best theory that
can applied and suits for the condition of Sam. The best theory is
developed by Freud is Psychodynamic Theory and it is also one
of the best theory of psychology where it holds the experience of
childhood and entire shape of personality is taken by the
childhood experience.
According to this, the personality of the person is
explained by the in terms of conscious as well as unconscious
forces like unconscious belief and desire. Theory is same as
Freud's Theory of life span management. He has understood that
human nature is very conscious about other behaviour himself
which creates utmost inner conflicts which might become the
prime source of mental illness. There are some elements which
are related to trauma which cause the disorder in personality of
human. In addition to this, alcohol consumption as it destroys the
entire nervous system such as Vitamin B and thiamine leads to
the permanent damage to brain. Recently Sam has been drinking
heavily. When he is not in the pub, he tries to isolate himself and
hide behind his tears.
Psychodynamic Theory – it is the best theory of psychology
where it holds the experience of childhood and entire shape of
personality is taken by the childhood experience.
Humanist Theory- Humanistic psychology Theory is a
perspective that emphasizes looking at the whole individual and
stresses concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-
actualization. Instead of concentrating on dysfunction,
humanistic psychology strives to help people fulfil their potential
and maximize their well-being.
P3.2.M3. Psychological theory relate to behaviour disturbance.
According to the case study, the attitude and behaviour of Sam is not
good because of last two appraisals of performance is not appropriate and his
is not able to cope up with the demands of his work life. His attitude to work
is being affected, as he tends to display aggressive tendencies in what
ordinarily should not provoke tension or anxiety. Colleagues whom Sam has
worked with over the years are concerned about the sudden change in his
behaviour. Thus, the best theory which is applied and suits in the situation and
condition of Sam is Behavioural Theory.
It is also known as behavioural psychology. According to theory, the
behaviour of person is based on the ideas that are acquired through
conditioning. This conditioning arises through interaction with the
environment. The entire development of personality of a Sam is through the
learning as well as experience of the other person with the environment or
surroundings. The behaviours of the person can be studied in a proper as well
as observable way regardless of inner states of mind of Sam. It is also fact
that Sam can be trained to execute any work or task no matter of generic
background, traits, internal thoughts and personality. In order to have a good
behaviour or requires a right conditioning which Sam is lacking but it is the
responsibility of their colleagues to provide them a good conditioning.
Mental Disorder- A mental disorder, also called a mental illness or
psychiatric disorder is a behavioural or mental pattern that causes significant
distress or impairment of personal functioning.
Types of phobias
Hemophobia
Hydrophobia
Zoophobioa.
Anxiety disorders- It is a disorder of fear or worry. This is caused by anxiety.
Neurosis- It is a mental illness which is caused by stress or depression
Schizophrenia- It is a disorder which impacts on person thinking and
behaviour.