Social Theory – S2

Quiz 3
March 31st, 2023

Please find below two questions, out of which you should only choose one to answer.
In your answers, you do not need to include in-text citations, a bibliography or any other
technical details. However, if you are directly quoting from any text, in-text citations will be
required.

Your answers should range from 200-250 words. Please write your answer on this document
only. Just remove the question you are not selecting.
Save the file name in this format: (Full Name_Social Theory_Quiz3), for example (Ana
Husain_Social Theory_Quiz3). Failure to adhere to any of these conventions results in -0.5 for
each error made.

Be mindful of grammar, punctuation, sentence-structuring and paragraphing as you proceed

ahead with your writing.
Good luck! 😊

1) The Freudian psychoanalytic worldview posits, “we are prisoners of our childhoods”; on
the other hand, John Watson’s behaviouralist standpoint negated the notion of emotions
as intrinsic, and instead, argued that “behind every action, there is a stimulus.”
Compare and contrast both sets of arguments – Freudian and Behaviourist (as per
Watson’s conceptualization) – and conclude your answer by offering your own personal
reflection regarding which argument resonates the most with you. Include an example to
substantiate your position on this matter.

Ans: Both ideas of behaviorism are stark opposites of one another and are ideal competitors.
Watson contends that every action is influenced by an outside stimuli, contrary to Freud, who
focuses on connecting our adult behaviours to our childhood events. While it is true that the
majority of our phobias, fears, and behaviours are influenced by what we went through as
children, it is also true that we do not always hold onto our early experiences and alot of phobias,

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traumas and personality changes occur within adulthood for a lot of people. Our behaviour is
determined by a conflict between internal and exterior stimuli.

If we consider the present 21st century, Watson's hypothesis seems more plausible because social
media and other modern inventions have made people extremely sociable in this day and age of
technology. People allow what's popular and what's considered appropriate in society to guide
every decision they make. Yet, Freudian psychanalysis is frequently employed to explain
traumas rather than routine behaviours, and in fact, most of the time, your childhood affects
specific acts you perform but not all of them. Because external stimuli always influence your
decisions, Watson's explanation explains how we behave and interact as grownups quite simply.

In anthropological studies we learn that all Humans are actors playing a certain role in society. A
role can be anything along the lines of Father, daughter, Husband, Wife etc. And with the advent
of these roles comes expectations which according to society puts burden on the actor to abide
by. There are undoubtedly exceptions to behaviours, and those exceptions can be explained by
Freud's psychoanalysis, but Watson's theory, in my opinion, still holds up in the modern era
when it comes to explaining why we act the way we do and what influences us on a major scale
while Freud's theory may have alot more exceptions than we may imagine