Mike Wheeler Control-Value Theory

 


In the past, like with season one, Mike Wheeler holds a large priority and value on leading and protecting his friends, which he holds to be pivotal to his identity. He especially values protecting Eleven. During season one, Mike also exhibits a strong sense of control, believing that with working with his friends Dustin and Lucas, they can find Will from the Upside Down and that only effort is stopping them. Mike placing the values on friendship and having a strong sense of control directly affects his emotions and motivation. Him feeling in control gives him emotions of happiness and relief, believing that everything is in his hands which means he can control the outcome. 

As the future unfolds like in season two, Eleven disappears and Mike's values and sense of control begins to shift. During season two, his values of leading his friends starts to shift to him valuing finding Eleven one day. Mike changing his values makes him appear withdrawn and depressed to his outsiders like Dustin and Lucas. During season two, supernatural forces from the Mind Flayer begin to start tormenting and overwhelming the group in a way not seen before in season. This ultimately affects Mike's sense of control by reducing it, causing him to feel more anxious and paranoid throughout the later part of the season. More noticeable however, the sense of control of being able to find Eleven is also noteworthy, primarily because Mike does not believe he can find Eleven. Him not feeling like he can find Eleven represents a lack of control of the situation, causing him to feel depressed that he can not influence the outcome in any significant manner. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mike Wheeler's Primary and Secondary Appraisals Explained

Image
  To avoid having to write a book length of information, we will be analyzing Mike Wheeler's primary and secondary appraisals from the 1st season. We will discuss Wheeler's primary appraisals or judgements about various situations and his secondary appraisals about ways to cope.  Appraisal theories of emotion discuss that cognitions precede emotions. More specifically, people make appraisals or judgements about a situation, to determine firstly if the situation is relevant, interesting, dangerous, important for goals, etc. If the situation is relevant, the person then appraises if they have the resources to cope or handle the situation. Together, primary and secondary appraisals help to influence our emotional response. In the beginning of the season, Will, Mike's best friend, goes missing after leaving his home after an intense Dungeon and Dragon's game. As the next day unfolds, Will is not seen at school which makes Michael and his two other friends, Dustin and Lucas,...
Read more

Mike Wheeler's Self-Efficacy Explained

Image
In this week's blog posting, we will be analyzing how Mike Wheeler's self-efficacy plays out in Stranger Things. Self-efficacy, put simply, is the belief someone has about their own ability to succeed or carry out at a particular task. In other words, it is the confidence someone has in being able to do something successfully.           Sources of Self-Efficacy       Before we look at how Mike's self-efficacy changed over time, it is important to first elaborate on the sources of Mike's self-efficacy. One source of self-efficacy for Mike that is perhaps the most displayed in the show is friendships or relationships. Time and time again, Mike's confidence and his belief that he can carry out the tasks he has are constantly being shaped by his friends. For example, in season 1, Mike gets attacked by two school bullies at the quarry near his house until Eleven shows up and defeats the bullies using her powers. This moment is pivotal in the ...
Read more

Mike Wheeler's Expectancy-Values Part 2

Image
Expectancy-value theory seeks to explore and explain why people choose to engage in certain tasks. The expectancy component, like self-efficacy, seeks to explore how likely people believe they will succeed at a task. However, for today, we will be looking more at the value part, which describes how important the task is to us.  Mike Wheeler's has several values that drive his motivation. One value that Mike holds from the start of the show which guides him as a loyal friend and leader are the values of friendship. Friendship is incredibly important to Mike as we have seen from earlier blog posts where friendship is so important in fact, that it serves as the motivation for Mike to seek and look for his friend Will who was kidnapped to the upside down.  Another value that Mike holds is bravery. Mike values bravery since it is a trait that allows him to be successful as a leader. From time to time again, Mike is thrown into treacherous situations, especially in season three in o...
Read more