21
Apr 14

Social Change Research and Health

With Social Change research, the researchers are working not only to figure out what’s happening but also to actively make changes in whatever social situation they’re participating in (Penn State, 2014). Sometimes researchers will see an issue that is occurring in a community and in attempts to stop it or alter it, they’ll join the community and try to learn the situation while solving the problem (Schneider et al., 2012).

Participatory research has become quite large in the health department from what I’ve learned. According to Community Campus – Partnership for Health, otherwise known as CCPH, the agencies that fun researchers are interested in looking at social change research as opposed to the types of applied research that were taught earlier in the course (“Community-Based Participatory Research”).

An example of social change research in the health field in recent years is the use of participatory research in radiology by Mathers and colleagues in 2010. In this research, they attempt to acquire knowledge about children with radiology through and with the collaboration of the individuals who were being studied. They wished to ensure that the research methods that they utilized allowed the children to express themselves freely, and participatory research was perfect for that purpose. They wished to research methods of engaging with this children and if their radiology treatment was getting in the way of their participation in certain activities. Their results turned out to be inconclusive, but the researchers’ use of participatory research allowed them to note other things, such as that the children’s treatment didn’t impede their eagerness to participate in the research Mathers et al, 2010).

The national prevention researching agenda has kept its focus primarily on participatory research where the communities can play a part in bringing change. Both public and national initiatives are investing in social change research to study and better health including the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that has provided translational research grants for the cause as well as the WK Kellogg Foundation’s Community-Based Public Health Initiative and Community Health Scholars Program and CDC’s prevention and urban research centers (“Community-Based Participatory Research”). Social change research is truly growing in the field of health, and I feel that soon we’ll be seeing a lot more of it in health-related research articles.

References

Community-Based Participatory Research. (n.d.). Community Campus – Partnership for Health: Promoting Health Equality & Social Justice. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from https://depts.washington.edu/ccph/commbas.html

Mathers, S. A., Anderson, H., Mcdonald, S., & Chesson, R. A. (2010). Developing participatory research in radiology: the use of a graffiti wall, cameras and a video box in a Scottish radiology department. Pediatric Radiology, 40(3), 309-317.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381


21
Apr 14

Social Change and Poverty

According to the Census Bureau, 46.5 million Americans are living in poverty making the poverty level at 15 percent in 2012, which is an increase from 2007’s 12.5 percent. In addition, the median household income slightly fell from $51,100 in 2011 to $51,017 in 2012 (Hargreaves, 2013). An income of $23, 492 for a family of four or an individual making $11,720 are considered to be living in poverty. The American poverty rate displays alarming numbers and figures, yet there are many factors that contribute poverty; the economy, family dissolution, and government spending contribute to the poverty rates.

Since the 1970s, the lack of economic growth has contributed to poverty, but is not the main, underlying factor. During the 1970s and 1980s, pay rates were falling while poverty was rising and unemployment averaged 6.2 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. Wages began to rise and poverty began to fall after the mid-1990s, while unemployment fell to 4.8 percent between 1995 and 2000 (Haskins & Sawhill, 2007). It’s interesting to mention these facts considering the government wants to raise the minimum wage rate to $10.10 from $7.25. Therefore, one may ask and become aware of the effect raising the minimum wage can have on the overall economy. Family dynamics has become a great contributor to American poverty. Increased divorce rates, falling marriage rates, and rising of unwedded births more than doubled the amount of children living with a single mothers. Furthermore, a household headed by a female living in poverty is five times greater than a married couple living in poverty (Haskins & Sawhill, 2007).

Lastly, government spending affects the poverty rate in America. The 1960s marked a time where programs were created to reduce and lessen poverty effect have grown. But, poverty was reduced less than desired. Spending grew from $89 billion to $585 billion due to substantial health care rates. American poverty has become an issue due to the economy and low wages among the American people. This problem has contributed to the family dynamic and changes in depositions. Although government spending has grown substantially, poverty has not been a priority with government spending.

Poverty would greatly benefit from social change research. Social change research is conducted for the betterment of individuals and the world around them. It can be conducted on a communal, institutional, or national level. Most importantly, the participatory (action) research of social change research can help reduce poverty rates. In participatory (action) research methods, researchers become a part of the community or social situation and fully learn about issue(s) within the community (PSU, 2014). When dealing with poverty, it is imperative for researcher to learn from individuals within the community and how they can overcome poverty. A needs assessment will be sufficient to know exactly what needs to be improved. For example, the economy may contribute to poverty, not being a single mother. Therefore, addressing family deposition would not be an effective method for the individual. Participatory research seeks to understand and improve society by changing it. The researchers and participants can improve and understand adapted behaviors and situations they engage in through self reflective inquiry (Baum, MacDougall, & Smith, 2006). According to Baum and colleagues (2006), the participatory method should be empowering and encourage people to have increased control of their lives. I believe fully and sincerely engaging people can bring a sense of belonging and empowerment. Thankfully, I have never experienced living in poverty, but I do volunteer at a homeless shelter and I have observed body language before and after I engage in verbal communication. It’s important to provide hope and encouragement, and an overall sense of empowerment. Through participatory (action) method, poverty can be reduced by immersing one’s self in the community and learn about the issues within the community.

References:
Baum, F., MacDougall, C., & Smith, D. (2006). Participatory action research.Journal of epidemiology and community health, 60(10), 854.

Hargreaves, S. (2013). CNN Money. 15% of Americans living in Poverty. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/17/news/economy/poverty-income/

Haskins, R. & Sawhill, I. (2007). The Future of Children. Journal Issue: The Next Generation of Antipoverty Policies. (17). 3-16.

The Pennsylvania State University. (2014). Psychology 424: Applied Social Psychology. Commentary. Lesson 13: Social Change/Participatory Research. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp14/psych424/001/content/14_lesson/01_page.html


21
Apr 14

Graffiti & Social Change

In the city of Fresno, and in the state of California in general, there is a huge problem with graffiti. I have seen many terrible instances of vandalism locally, and I have witnessed groups of young teenagers spraying all kinds of objects with paint. One striking instance comes to mind. A local freeway wall was covered in the words “Must Commit Murder”, stretching just over 100 feet for everyone to read on their way to work (KMPH, 2013). On a personal note, when I lived in a fourplex, near a community college, the large tree in our front yard was covered in graffiti in just one night. My husband did research and found that it could be scraped off and that the tree would survive, which is what we did. While the symbols and vulgar messages were gone, the patches of raw bark were a constant reminder of how intrusive graffiti can be.

This week we explored how community-based research can be effective in creating social change among youth and adults. In a community like Fresno, graffiti usually coexists with participation in gangs. Youth membership in dangerous gangs is a separate challenge for intervention strategists. For those who are not linked or permanently affiliated with a gang, opportunities have been made available for artistic expression outside of vandalism. Businesses in an area known as the “Tower District” have hired the most skilled graffiti artists to create murals on the walls facing the street. Even more honorable, a local gallery took submissions in a contest to decide who would do the graffiti art for their huge brick wall.

TowerGraffiti

Offering outlets for this style of creative expression is important. Beyond imagery, graffiti can act as a way to communicate with other individuals, and to state a protest to a current event. In 1995, the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. Spontaneous expression through graffiti was exhibited by teens in that nation. This mode of expression was seen as an attempt for collectivism, a ritual to ease the pain and stress of the traumatic event that had transpired (Klingman et al., 2000).

There is an opportunity in communities that struggle to control this form of expression to change the culture of illegal vandalism into a desired art. Providing opportunities for artists to be commissioned by a business or non-profit is a huge deal for some of these individuals who have real talent. Public space could also be provided, similar to the graffiti walls in Venice Beach, Ca, where permits are required to join in on the artistic movement. Eventually, those individuals who mark curbs, freeways, or trees, would be forced out by a new standard for graffiti.

VeniceGraffiti

References:

Klingman, A., Shalev, R., & Pearlman, A. (2000). Graffiti: A creative means of youth coping with collective trauma. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 27(5), p. 299-307

doi: 10.1016/S0197-4556(00)00072-1

KMPH Fox 26. (2013). ‘Gotta Commit Murder’ Graffiti Upsets Fresno Drivers. Retrieved April 21, 2014 from http://www.kmph-kfre.com/story/22848722/gotta-commit-murder-graffiti-upsets-fresno-drivers


20
Apr 14

Social Change

Social change plays a role in balancing the inequalities and injustices whether it be on a community, national, institutional, or international level. (Leadership Paradigms, n.d.) What can result from collective action is the development of policies and solutions that have the ability to change law, attitudes, behaviors, and institutions. (Leadership Paradigms, n.d.) Social action, citizen participation, mass mobilization, and popular education are all strategies that can be utilized to achieve social change. (Schneider, et al, p. 288, 2012)

The efforts put forth by individuals and communities to create social change are often labeled social change strategies. (Lewis & Lambert, p. 407, 2014)  Certain groups use social change strategies in an effort to combat prejudice, racism, and sexism. (Lewis & Lambert, p. 407, 2014) Seidman and Rappaport’s (1986) theory of social change strategies states there are two forms of social change strategies, first-order and second-order social change. (Lewis & Lambert, p. 407, 2014)

First-order social change strategies address problems by looking at ways an individual or group can adapt to and function within a certain system (e.g., business, government, education) without changing the structure of the system.  (Lewis & Lambert, p. 408, 2014) An example of this would be a company with a history of homophobia having an employee tell another employee why being homophobic is inappropriate. (Lewis & Lambert, p. 408, 2014) This intervention does not change the system it just helps people work and adapt to the current systemic structure, which may only improve individual function. (Lewis & Lambert, p. 408, 2014)

Second-order social change can improve individual functioning, however it involves “challenging the status quo and fundamentally changing the systemic structures that are in place.” (Lewis & Lambert, p. 408, 2014) An example of this would be an employee that works for a company that is homophobic demanding that this issue be confronted so that the homophobia would no longer take place within the company. Lewis & Lambert, p. 408, 2014)

One group that has historically used social change strategies as a means of coping with a systemic structure are African Americans combating racism. (Lewis & Lambert, p. 407, 2014) From the Black Nationalist Movement to Transformationalist these social strategies fought to eradicate racism and redistribute resources and power throughout the social structure. (Lewis & Lambert, p. 407, 2014)

Our beliefs about our own competence (self-efficacy) can influence our ability to be agents of change. (Bain, Hornsey, Bongiorno, Kashima, Crimston, p., 523, 2012)  Researchers have suggested that individuals with high levels of self-efficacy are more likely to engage in social change behavior because their belief about their own competence enables them to face challenges with confidence and mastery. (Pinquart, Silbereisen, Juang, p. 341, 2004)  These individuals are also less prone to anxiety, depression and worry. (Pinquart et al., p. 341, 2004)

Research has shown a positive correlation between self-efficacy, goal attainment, and locus control. (Garrin, p. 45, 2013) According to Bandura (1997) college students who possess this control are “better prepared to put forth effort toward inducing change and are more motivated to withstand the change process.” (Garrin, p. 47, 2013) This trait is essential because social change does not happen overnight and there could be setbacks and multiple stages. (Garrin, p. 47, 2013) In his experiment Bandura (1997) also witnessed self-protective behavior, rational thought that promotes positive self-esteem, and productivity all of which can contribute to risk analysis and strategic planning needed for social change programs. (Garrin, p. 47, 2013) College students more than ever have campus wide opportunities to enhance their self-efficacy by becoming financially independent, getting involved in campus wide initiatives, which can educate others, promote self-reliance, and cause community level social impact. (Garrin, p. 47, 2013) Thus creating a “feedback loop,” when students internalize the knowledge obtained they disseminate it by becoming future leaders and educators and thereby creating social change.

 Perhaps what we really need to take away from this is, if we believe we can do something, we usually can do it. Real social change can take place when we as a collective believe we can make things happen.

 

Bain, P. G., Hornsey, M. J., Bongiorno, R., Kashima, Y., & Crimston, D. (2013). Collective Futures: How Projections About the Future of Society Are Related to Actions and Attitudes Supporting Social Change. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(4), 523-539.

Garrin, J. (2013). From College Student to Change Agent: A Triadic Model of Self-Efficacy, Attribution, and Appraisal .Journal of Social Change5(1), 40-57.

Lewis, K. M., & Lambert, M. C. (2006). Measuring Social Change Preferences in African American Adolescents: Development of the Measure of Social Change for Adolescents (MOSC-A).Assessment, 13(4), 406-416.

Pinquart, M., Silbereisen, R. K., & Juang, L. P. (2004). Moderating Effects of Adolescents’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs on Psychological Responses to Social Change. Journal of Adolescent Research,19(3), 340-359.

What Is Social Change?. (n.d.).Leadership Paradigms. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.leadershipparadigms.com/docs


20
Apr 14

Social Change and Voting

Voting is socially meaningful when we think and consider what it really means. Dictionary.com defines vote as: a formal expression of opinion or choice, either positive or negative, made by an individual or body of individuals. Much social change has come about in the United States through voting. Voting rights have changed from inception of the country to present day. Minorities such as African Americans, Native Americans and Mexicans are now free to vote. This was not the case for most of the two-hundred plus years of existence of the United States. Even women were not allowed to vote until 1920. The 19th Amendment (which states that — The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex) allowed women the right to vote. And those who voted had to be literate. The Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests and provided federal enforcement of voting. And it was not until 1975 that Mexican Americans received the right to vote.

My affectively based attitude (emotions and values) had been to believe that it did not really matter if I voted because the same “powerful” people are in control and regardless of my opinion or vote they would always be in charge. My internal justification brought my attitude to concur with my behavior (not voting). Needless to say I held a number of negative beliefs. Since we can have good feelings about something in spite of having negative beliefs, I have changed my attitude towards voting.  My modified view is that if I don’t participate in the voting privilege, then I should not have the right to complain. I still hold a belief about powers that be, but I am more positive (less distrusting) than I used to be and my behavior has changed where I vote and advocate voting to promote social change to others.

Every vote is important. One may say or argue that one vote does not make any difference. Perhaps, but that is not a good reason not to vote. Whether we like it or not, politicians influence a whole range of items in our lives. Political influences how our children are educated, the taxes we pay and the services that we receive. Even clean air and water is influenced by politicians. Down to how the way our towns look and ultimately the way we feel about each other. Voting is very important and our responsibility because we owe it as a matter of morality to the men and women who sacrificed (even their lives) for our benefit. Voting is rewarding because it is a formal expression of opinion or choice and provides us with sense of something bigger than ourselves. Voting today can have a permanent and lasting impact on future generations. Votes made today can impact the quality of life of our children, grandchildren and generations to come. We can’t afford not to vote.

 

Reference

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vote


20
Apr 14

Weight Watchers

The health movement is sweeping the United States in full force right now. We watch TV shows, read books, and conduct research on the best way to lose weight and stay healthy. From the time I was a child and first watched television up until now I have noticed the public media changing. The media is one of the largest avenues to promote social change.

Generally a key component the media has used to promote anything is to use a famous actor or actress. In regards to the weight loss movement we see this on weight watchers commercials. Everyday Americans like to watch success stories because they feel like they will be able to accomplish weight loss too. Weight Watchers is a global entity yet it contains smaller branches located in local communities throughout the US. Weight Watchers is a prime example of community based weight loss efforts. Participatory research is placing researchers inside of the community and when they are trying to learn about issues within the community. (Yarwood, l. 13 p.1) Weight Watchers has taken the knowledge that individuals need outside support to lose weight and created a place for that. There are group meetings that bring people together to share their struggles and as a result they end up encouraging each other to keep going. This is key especially when one cheats on their diet and ends up not losing as much weight as they would like.

As a continual effort to ensure their success continues, Weight Watchers conducts ongoing research to monitor the benefits. The benefits range from weight loss, minimal cost, and lowered cardiovascular diseases, just to name a few. (Weight Watchers, 2014) Community-based efforts tend to be the most effective in weight loss programs. The above mentioned benefits were the highest for those in an interactive and community environment like Weight Watchers. While researchers try to mitigate to spike in obesity, I expect to see more community based efforts pop up.
Weight Watchers International, Inc. Scientific Compendium. 2014. Retrieved from http://www.weightwatchers.com/about/prs/wwi_template.aspx?GCMSID=1003061
Yarwood, MIchelle. (2014) Lesson 13: Social Change Participatory Research. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp14/psych424/001/toc.html

19
Apr 14

Social Change and Parents

As social change becomes more common in psychology, those who are in this field should keep up on the information that is important to continue social change. One research of social change is participatory research. This is when those who are looking into the issues are part of that community. With this research, most psychologists have a goal of solving the problems that they come across.

While looking into communities, there are several problems that could be found. No matter how “perfect” a community may seem, there will still be flaws. One issue that could be found is the issue of parenting. This can be seen by observing the different parent involvement in a community.

It is no secret that not all parents are involved in their children’s lives. Some parents simply do not have time because they are too involved in what they are doing and some may not have time because they are single parents that work several jobs to support their children. Either way, while observing some communities one would find parents that do not have much involvement in their children’s lives.

The National Center for Education Statistics reported 90% of elementary school parents attend general school meetings. ( Nokali, N., Bachman J. H., & Votruba-Drzal, E.) Examples of the meetings could be a board meetings or PTO meetings. With that being said, parent involvement is important for schools to be able to better the education of the children. When parents are giving opinions they are allowing the school to know what their children need. Although some parents may not always have the time, even attending a few meeting a month or a year could give their children a better learning environment.

In my opinion, I think that social change in school is necessary. Often, parents place blame on teachers and the school for not giving their children the education that they need. What they need to do is step back and look at what they could do to help the school better the child’s education. As a mother, I will attend meetings when my daughter becomes old enough to go to school. I want my daughter to have the best possible education that she can. If attending a meeting can allow my child a better education then it is not question to me if I should go or not. Parents are their children’s voice at times. If our child needs a better path, then we should stand up and let others know what could be done.

Refrences

Nermeen E. El Nokali, Heather J. Bachman, and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal. Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2973328/

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.


18
Apr 14

Social Change/Participatory Action Research

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I had never  heard of this type of research, Participatory Action Research ( PAR), but I actually felt like it seemed to focus on community residents having more of an involvement in the research. The participants are knowledgeable in the issues because of discussions and interactions and those who will be involved in the change should take part in the research              ( Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012). According to the article on Psychology and Social Change, I think it’s great that communities which may have been taken advantage of  could receive research to assisting in helping to find solutions to groups who have been overlooked ( Brydon-Miller, 1997).  Positive social change should be the goal in most research. I like the idea where participants  integrate their information, according to their strengths. Sometimes, what has been proven through research to work in some areas may not be what works everywhere and I feel like this is why  this research is interesting to me. I also believe that  trust and commitment are important in research. It reminds me of a group project  I participated in two semesters ago where each participant is held responsible for a piece  and everyone needs to be “on board” for the project to come out successfully. I did a project in health psychology and commitment to being on-line when everyone else was and trusting that each person would have the promised piece on the due date was so important. We had a “leader” who was wonderful in integrating every piece so that it sounded like it was coming from one person and we would all be in agreement at every step from the topic, to the general information, to making sure that the references were all valid for this particular project. It actually was sort of fun to stay so connected for those three weeks, especially since it was an on-line class and we never spoke face-to-face. I also feel like this type of research would invigorate other community members to want to get involved to make a difference.

I think that this could almost be  a class that the undergraduates take to find solutions to problems in their communities, with the psychologist being the “leader.” . I definitely liked the example from East Lansing, Michigan where they were working with the homeless who resided in the community. This research is integrating the homeless into the minds of the community and assisting them with attention so that they can get out of this scenerio. Raising money and giving media attention along with  those who had organized meetings is such an important step in this area. Also, in Chicago, Illinois, they are taking great steps to help African Americans in areas of help such  as interviews and helping with communication skills which will hopefully allow them the same job opportunities.

Sometimes, in order to bring about change, members of the community have to feel like a part of something. Have you ever been approached  by someone giving you information on promoting health, but you dismissed them, saying that you just “don’t have a minute to listen” . when actually you really do. You know that it’s important and eating all day at your desk has definitely added some inches to your stomach and less time to feel like going to exercise. Some companies are really focusing on health and allowing employees to exercise for 30 minutes during their work day and that is considered “work” so that exercise can be integrated into a workday. This type of research is becoming more and more important to help the community and empower the individual! I hope I see more of this research in my own community!

 

References

Brydon-Miller, M. (1997), Participatory Action Research: Psychology and Social Change. Journal of Social Issues, 53: 657–666. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1997.tb02454.x

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

 


16
Apr 14

Childhood Education Participation

Taking part in a group that we want to influence or change shows great dedication and determination.  Lately, bullying and childhood issues have been ever present in the news.  The issues encountered by today’s children is likely much bigger than any outside adult, even parent, can comprehend.  It is one thing to say “they” should do something about kids these days, but quite another to actively become part o the solution.

This problem is likely originating, at least in part, from an economic level.  We are too busy earning an income to have the time or to make the time, to be present in schools.  Parents should be actively involved in their children’s school situation from a very young age.  This may be done by volunteering or even working in schools or by participating on the parent teacher association.  With a clear parental presence fro a young age, it is possible to develop friendships between parents and recognition and understanding of the individual children.  With this system in place, students would be less likely to develop bad social habits or rude interactions with peers.  This solution would also apply to drugs, alcohol, and sex in schools because parents are much more likely to catch wind of things when they are present in schools than when they only interaction they have with the educational system is through letter.  Notification about picture day or the latest lice epidemic do not convey the same control that active participation does.

It should also be the responsibility of the school system to create more opportunities for parents to get involved.  More after school meetings, for example, may allow more parents the opportunity to participate in their children’s school environment when work responsibilities take away their daytime availability.  Schools should also create more groups for parents to join and open up more volunteer positions to parents and caretakers.  With more opportunities available at all hours and more parental involvement, a drastic change in schools may be seen in the coming years.

We need to be the change that we want to see in the world and in the lives of our children.  Our children deserve to have the security of involved parents, even if it means a financial sacrifice on the part of the family in order to make that happen.  The cost of not doing so is far too high.

 


14
Apr 14

Optimism and Marriage

As we have discussed regularly this semester, advancements in technology and the World Wide Web, have brought us closer together as a global community. This week I want to highlight a current event that has taken hold of millions of people involved in the social sphere of YouTube and Twitter. The YouTube stars, Alli and Charles Trippy are known as the World Record holders for most consecutive vlogs or video blogs. For over five years they recorded the beginning of their relationship, proposal, wedding, two brain surgeries (Charles recently finished his last round of chemotherapy for brain cancer), and announcement of separation. While this couple was popular and adored by their 1 million viewers, they are not the first to separate or divorce, and won’t be the last. As a newlywed myself, I found this weeks themes of relationships and optimism to be especially close to my heart. What helps us maintain close and meaningful relationships in our lives?

Schneider et al. (2012) states that romantic couples who exchange optimism will experience greater success in problem solving than do pessimists. Optimism allows each individual to contribute efficient coping strategies, and higher levels of cooperation. Advanced cooperation means that the individual refrains from name calling, belittling the other, or assigning blame (Assad et al., 2013). In times of struggle and poor health, mates found their partner to be more attractive when they exhibited optimistic behavior (Schneider et al., 2012).

Dr. Ben Karney is a professor of social psychology at UCLA and specializes in the stability of intimate relationships during the early years of marriage. In an article for the American Psychological Association, Dr. Karney notes that individuals who are the happiest overall, have a greater ability of highlighting the most positive attributes of their marriage or relationship (Karney, 2010). Global attributions are conclusions that we perceive as having a wide-ranging influence on our lives (Schneider et al., 2012).  More specifically, Karney suggests that individuals who provide specific examples to support global attributions like “my husband is amazing” will experience more happiness within the relationship. This ability is similar to the topic of problem solving that was shared previously.

Life can be very difficult even for more optimistic individuals. Sometimes we are forced to tackle difficult problems that test our ability to stay optimistic. However, when interacting with the people we love, it is important to practice optimistic behaviors. Resolving problems will become easier when optimistic behaviors of cooperation are practiced. Further, allowing one’s self to support positive global attributions allows for a deeper understanding of that original thought. Marriage and partnerships will continue to face challenges, but a path toward optimism can help many maintain close, meaningful relationships.

References:

Assad, K.K., Donnellan M.B., Conger, R.D., (2013). Optimism: An enduring resource for romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(2)

Karney, B., (2010). Keeping Marriages Healthy, and Why it’s so Difficult. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2010/02/sci-brief.aspx

Schneider, F.W., Gruman, J.A., & Coutts, L.M., (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. London: Sage Publications.


14
Apr 14

Is Premarital Counseling Becoming a Necessity?

Is Premarital Counseling Becoming a Necessity?
With the ever increasing rate of divorce among first, second, and even third marriages, the effort to “not become another statistic” is more widely-discussed than ever.  As the honeymoon lens wears off and we see our new spouse in a new marital light, it is not uncommon for us to not find them as attractive a partner as originally thought.  Among the options to help minimize this discomfort is premarital counseling.  Premarital counseling is by no means a new phenomena, however, it is no longer only popular among those with devout religious beliefs or among those looking to get the blessing of their pastor or priest.  Does it really work?
According to one study, premarital counseling that focuses on assessing each partners’ traits and behaviors before walking down the aisle may be extremely beneficial (Larson and Thomas, 1994).  Taking the time to notice whether our intended spouse displays abnormally high anxiety or bouts of irritability that may be a precursor to further marital discontent is key to deciding whether to move forward with wedding plans (1994).  This study sheds light on the importance of discussing each partner’s attitude toward their new marital role and their overall long-term commitment to the relationship (1994).  Actually taking the time to get to know the partner in the context of marriage and not just a token toward a dream wedding is key to future marital bliss.  After the guests go home and we look at our partner, are we disappointed in what we see?
Another study further emphasizes the benefits of premarital counseling for couples intent on walking down the aisle.  Taking part in premarital counseling sees statistically significant increases in relationship satisfaction compared to couples who forego this option (Carlson, Daire, Munyon, and Young, 2012).  This important counseling may not just benefit the couple, but each partner independently.  Premarital counseling was also found to significantly decrease individual distress after the wedding among men (2012).  These benefits along with the fact that participating in premarital counseling lowers divorce probability and relationship conflict while increasing relationship quality makes it a no-brainer (2012).
In a world that is more selfish than ever, it is important to make sure we are making life-altering decisions for the right reasons, not just because it will look great in a Facebook status update.  A big, impressive wedding may be a terrific experience to plan and show off to friends and loved ones, but it is also necessary to do our due diligence to make sure the person we come home from the honeymoon with is someone we want to spend the rest of our vacations with.  Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming “just another statistic”.
References:
Carlson, R., Daire, A., Munyon, M., and Young, M.  (2012).  A comparison of cohabiting and noncohabiting couples who participated in premarital counseling using the prepare model The Family Journal April 2012 20: 123-130, doi:10.1177/1066480712441588
Larson, J. H., & Holman, T. B. (1994). Premarital predictors of marital quality and stability. Family Relations, 43(2), 228.  Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213936389?accountid=13158

14
Apr 14

Do looks matter?

No matter where you go in life, you will find people that are attractive. Although everyone has their own likes and dislikes, there are people that are seen as beautiful to almost everyone. When we are first introduced to people, physical appearance is one of the first impressions that we get. With that being said, our looks do matter in a certain way.

The primacy effect is when we tend to be influenced by information that is presented first, such as physical appearance. (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012) With physical appearance being important, some would wonder where this would matter. The truth is, it matters in almost every situation that humans are faced with.

One example of this would be an interview. This is because when you go to an interview, you are normally going to be meeting people for the first time. Although our hopes would be that those who interview us would only remember the knowledge that we have and what we can bring to the company, our physical appearance is also remembered. Studies have shown that first impressions dominate the views in an interview. (Shaheen, 2010) This is why good looking people are often remembered. When people are good looking they have good first impressions, but they are seen to be better people in general. (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012) This could cause unfairness in the interview because although a person may be beautiful, that does not mean they are qualified to work at a job.

Unfortunately, not everyone is thought of as being attractive. This causes a disadvantage to them because they may not have opportunities in life that others will have. In some cases, these people will not even try to complete goals (such as working at a certain job) because they are afraid of what others will think of them.

In society, many people who are in a relationship may also be affected by the primacy effect because they could be stereotyped by their significant other. I know many people that have failed relationships because their significant other comments on their attractive friends. This is unfair to them because although someone may be attractive, they could also have a conceded personality which is not always seen as attractive. To get through this, they need to realize that first impressions do matter to an extent. With that being said, you may not be the most attractive person but other qualities matter in the long run.

 

References

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.

Shaheen, J. (2010) The Recency and Primacy Effects in the Talent Acquisition Process. Retrieved from http://www.ere.net/2010/02/25/the-recency-and-primacy-effe cts-in-the-talent-acquisition-process/


14
Apr 14

Infancy and Adult Attachment

John Bowlby developed the theory of attachment. The theory addressed a child’s tie to their parent that examined biological function and their behavioral response when the infant is separated from their primary caretaker(s) (Ainsworth, 1979). Infants develop an attachment with their primary caretaker(s). Secure, insecure (anxious/avoidant), and insecure (avoidant) are the attachment styles developed at infancy attachments style developed during infancy progresses dismissing (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Overtime, I have been able to observe children’s attachment with their parent(s). When I first met my friend’s child, he was about a year old at the time, every time his mother left the room; he began to cry and looked at the door, waiting for her to appear. He had developed a secure attachment with his mother.

When an infant has a secure attachment with a parent or caretaker, the infant tends to become unhappy, but immediately after their return, they became calm. Additionally, the infant associated gratification and satisfaction with one or two specific individuals (e.g. mother and father) (Schneider, Gruman, &Coutts, 2012). Also, I was able to observe a secure attachment between my nephew when he was an infant and his mother. Aside from becoming unhappy while his mother was away, he had difficulties in being around unfamiliar people. It’s important to mention attachment styles develop from biological and social learning. Inherited trait is an example of biological factor. Considering my siblings and I had secure attachments to our parents, I believe biological traits play a major factor within my nephew. Social learning included the responsiveness of the attachment figure plays a role in attachment style. For example, a calm child with an unstressed parent would receive adequate attention (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts). The infant attachment styles appear in adulthood. An infant that developed a secure attachment develop into secure adults. Therefore, my friend’s child and nephew will have a great likelihood of developing into a secure adult.

There are four adult classifications of attachment style and differ from infancy. Secure attachment can be defined as trusting of, comfortable with close less and interdependent A preoccupied adult yearns for closeness and tends to worry about abandonment. An individual that fears rejection, feels shy in social situations, and has difficulty trusting others is a fearful adult. Lastly, a dismissing adult does not want or need close relationships and relies on their self (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). As a secure adult, individuals have the potential of experiencing separation distress. Since secure adults develop intimate relationships and gain trust in others, if the relationship ends, distress can occur. This is a normal tendency because of the relationship develop. Separation distress can be applied to death; individuals focus on the loss and feel extreme anxiety (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).

It’s important to develop a secure attachment with the primary caretaker(s) and I believe it is important for parents to develop this particular relationship with their child. As an adult now, it is easy to confide and talk to my parents about situation I may have. This is due to the secure attachment I have developed with them during infancy. I have recognize infant attachment styles can greatly affect an infant and ultimately in adulthood.

References:

Ainsworth, M. S. (1979). Infant–mother attachment. American psychologist,34(10), 932.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381


14
Apr 14

Attachment and Separation

As life begins, there is a bond between a mother and child. After being in the womb for so long, it is often hard to detach a child from its mother. Not only does this happen for infants, this goes on throughout life with other relationships. For example, a husband and wife often have a bond with each other. They become a support system and an attachment is formed between them.

While looking into the relationships that are formed throughout life, attachment is often found. When humans become close with one another, they develop a need to be around those that they have become close with. This is seen as an attachment.

As an attachment gets stronger, the fear of losing someone can be unbearable. The problem with this is that it is natural for relationships and attachments to be broken. Often when this happens, separation distress begins. This is attention focused on the lost other and extreme discomfort at that person’s inaccessibility. (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012)

If we think about a husband and wife, most of the time they are going to be with each other while they are sleeping. While spending time apart, many couples will report not being able to sleep without the other around. Often times, partners will feel more emotionally distressed as well. (Eastwick,P. 2008) This could revert back to the fact that mothers are often around their children. As an infant is tired and cranky, a mother will hold them and rock them to sleep. This attachment being formed also makes it more comforting to be comforted by those that you are attached to.

In reality, mothers and their children will have a bond. Most mothers also have an attachment with their children and are comforted when they are soothing their children. With that being said, attachment is not a bad quality. It shows that we care about those around us. What could make attachment not leading to separation distress is by being practical. As we get older, we need to realize that we can not always be around those that we love all of the time. By understanding this, we also need to allow ourselves and others alone time. It is normal to spend time apart from loved ones and this time apart could bring you closer together.

 

References

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381

Eastwick,P. (2008) Separation Distress Among Romantic Partners and its Lessons for Human Mating. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-attractionologists/200808/separation-distress-among-romantic-partners-and-its-lessons-human


14
Apr 14

Close Proximity and Relationships

Think about most the people you have dated in the past. They probably lived near you, went to your school or there was some activity that brought you together. It is common for relationships to begin due to physical proximity, which refers to being near or accessible to each other (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Maybe they sat next to you during class or were on the same team. Being in close proximity to someone allows individuals to get to know one another. They may start to realize that they have a lot in common and then a crush develops, next thing you know they are dating.

Looking back at my friendships, physical proximity definitely had an impact on who I was friends with or who I had a crush on. I became friends with people who I lived near or sat next to in class. As I became involved in swimming, I became friends with the people on the team who I saw for several hours a day. What do all these relationships have in common? That is right, physical proximity.

Some might begin to wonder why it is common for close proximity to stem relationships. The proximity effect refers to the idea that physical and psychological nearness to others tends to increase interpersonal liking (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). It is common for people to interact with people that they are close mostly because it is convenient. When people are near one another regularly, they tend to start interacting with each other. When these interactions are positive and fun relationships are likely to form.

Take my husband and I for example. I didn’t really like my husband when I only knew who he was. It wasn’t until we were on the high school swim team with each other that I started liking him. I saw and interacted with him every day at practice for several hours. My friends hung out with his friends, so we started interacting with each other outside of swimming as well. There more time I spend with him, the more I liked him. We eventually started dating, and now we are happily married. If it wasn’t for being in close proximity, there is a good chance we would have never started dating.

After reading this, one might start to think about their own relationships and how they started. There is a good chance it was because of physical proximity. Sure, you may not be in close proximity now, but it might be safe to assume it all started because at one point in time you were.

 

Reference

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.


13
Apr 14

Honesty and relationships

Schneider et al., (2012) point out that when it comes to relationships, it is recommended to start with honesty. Honesty means to hold to one’s integrity, principles, beliefs, actions, and intentions. Honesty includes clearly communicating needs and goals to your partner (Schneider et al., 2012). Honesty is something most people will agree they look for in a romantic partner. Most people will also admit that they lie. How honest people are with their partners appears to impact the longevity of the relationship. Lackenbauer, Campbell, Rubin, Fletcher, G. J. O., and Troister (2010) demonstrated how important both accuracy and positive bias are to the survival of a romantic relationship. Participants were asked to describe their partner and then this feedback was shown to their partner. The feedback was manipulated by the researcher to either be accurate or inaccurate and positively biased or not positively biased. If the feedback was rated as accurate by the receiving partner, the receiving partner also rated the survival of the relationship more positively than participants who received inaccurate feedback. The highest rating of survival of the relationship was given by participants that received both accurate and positive bias feedback. The lowest rating of survival of the relationship was given by participants that received both inaccurate and non-positively biased feedback. This research suggests the need for accuracy in relationships longevity. There must be a certain level of honesty in a relationship in order to be known accurately, which means that honesty is also an important factor in optimism toward relationship survival. Furthermore, Kaplar and Gordon (2004) also demonstrate support for the impact of honesty in romantic relationships. The results from Kaplar and Gordon’s study showed that the perception of motive for telling lies is much more negative for the receiver than for the lie teller, which consequently lead to a negative impact on the relationship. Participants were instructed to write a narrative from a time that they lied in a relationship and to explain their perspective on the motives for telling the lie. The same participant was also asked to write a narrative from a time they were lied to in a relationship and to explain their perception of the motives of the lie teller. Participants justified their actions when in position of lie teller and felt more resolved about the situation. Participants interpreted the lie teller’s motives as more selfishly motivated and provided less justification when in position of lie receiver. There also tended to be unresolved feelings for the receiver. These results indicate that honesty is an important element in relationship survival. When honesty is absent, the relationship is likely to be disjointed as perspectives will be different for lie teller and receiver, making total resolution difficult.

Security, loyalty, friendship, and family are all byproducts of a long-term, lasting romantic relationship. According to divorcestatistics.org, the divorce rate in America is 45-50% for first marriages, 60-67% for second marriages, and 70-73% for third marriages. With almost half of first time marriages not surviving in the U.S., and marriage being the basic unit of family, it is important to the social and emotional health of our country that we take a look at what building blocks are vital to a lasting relationship. Of course there are circumstances that validate divorce, but with such a high turnover rate, it is obvious there has been a breakdown in important steps that sustain long-term relationships. Lack of commitment, fear, selfishness, anger, bitterness, and broken families are some of the byproducts of divorce. With almost one in every two marriages experiencing these byproducts, the impact on our social fabric is phenomenal. Honesty builds trust, security, acceptance, and change. As a society we would be well advised to beging relationships with honesty.

 

References

Divorce Statistics ( n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.divorcestatistics.org/

Kaplar, M. E., & Gordon, A. K. (2004). The enigma of altruistic lying: Perspective differences in what motivates and justifies lie telling within romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 11(4), 489-507.

Lackenbauer, S. D., Campbell, L., Rubin, H., Fletcher, G. J. O., & Troister, T. (2010). The unique and combined benefits of accuracy and positive bias in relationships. Personal Relationships, 17(3), 475-493. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01282.x

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

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13
Apr 14

Our Need to Belong

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One of the most well-researched human motives is our need to belong. (Lavigne, Vallerand, Crevier-Braud, 2011) Belongingness can be defined as “a universal need to form and maintain positive, stable interpersonal relationships” (Lavigne et al., 2011) Support for this hypothesis can be found in the 2006 Canadian census where it was reported that 90% of the population had at least two people per household.  Self determination theory states that in order to function optimally at the core of our very existence is a basic psychological need to relate to and care for another person. (Lavigne et al., 2011) This need to belongs is so deeply rooted in our psyche that any threat of rejection conjures reactions that are similar to those of physical pain. (Laslocky, 2013)

According to researchers Baumeister & Leary (1995) this need to belong has its roots in evolution. In order for our ancestors to reproduce and survive it was essential that they establish social bonds. (Baumeister & Leary, p. 499, 1995) Thus, from an evolutionary selection perspective we now possess internal mechanisms that direct humans beings into lasting relationships and social bonds. (Baumeister & Leary, p. 499, 1995) Our need to be connected and establish healthy bonds is as essential to our emotional and physical well beings as food and safety. (Barnes, Carvallo, Brown & Osterman, p. 1149, 2010)

When we experience interpersonal strife we often contemplate walking away rather than sticking it out, however, finding a relationship with similar depth is not an easy task. (Barnes, et al., p. 1148, 2010) If we always ended every relationship thinking that we can  swop-out the old for a more positive one, we would find ourselves in a constant state of seeking and never experiencing and this would conflict with our fundamental need to belong. (Barnes, et al., p. 1148, 2010)

This explains why so many individuals are apt to hold on to destructive relationships. The fact that some people display an unwillingness to leave an abusive partner conveys the strength and power of our need to belong. (Baumeister & Leary, p. 503, 1995) Any threat to social attachments can often lead to anxiety, depression, jealousy and loneliness. (Baumeister & Leary, p. 506, 1995) Individuals will feel anxious at the thought of losing an important relationship, they may feel depressed when the connection ends and then feel lonely because they no longer have the important relationship. (Baumeister & Leary, p. 506, 1995) One such example of this is the death of a loved one. (Baumeister & Leary, p. 506, 1995) Some researchers have conceptualized grief not as a reaction to the death, but as breaking the connection with another individual. (Baumeister & Leary, p. 507, 1995) An explanation for this can be found in research that described the feelings of heartbreak similar to that of physical pain. This pain is caused by the hormonal triggering of the sympathetic activation activation system (region where flight-or-flight stress takes place) and the parasympathetic nervous system. (Laslocky, 2013)

Although this need to belong exists within us all, it’s imperative that we never lose our sense of individuality and well-being. If we find ourselves in relationships whether it be with a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse that seems toxic and destructive we should move on. It may feel literally painful, but we’ll be stronger and wiser as a result.

Barnes, C. D., Carvallo, M., Brown, R. P., & Osterman, L. (2010). Forgiveness And The Need To Belong. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(9), 1148-1160.

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The Need To Belong: Desire For Interpersonal Attachments As A Fundamental Human Motivation..Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529.

Laslocky, M. (n.d.). Greater Good. This Is Your Brain on Heartbreak. Retrieved April 11, 2014, from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/ite

Lavigne, G. L., Vallerand, R. J., & Crevier-Braud, L. (2011). The Fundamental Need to Belong: On the Distinction Between Growth and Deficit-Reduction Orientations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(9), 1185-1201.

 


13
Apr 14

Dating is not always what meets the eye.

Dating is no longer limited to familiar people and those you interact with or see frequently. The proximity effect is the tendency for physical and psychological nearness to increase interpersonal liking. (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, p.355) People tend to start dating those that live close by, they work with, or they went to school with. This was due to how easy it was to meet someone at one of those places, become friends, notice an attraction, and as a result start dating. An old saying I heard growing up and that fits the above scenario was, familiarity breed’s attraction.

However, as technology advances, the world appears smaller due to new avenues being opened to meet people. There are online gaming sites where one can play video games with people on the other side of the world. There are chat rooms where people can meet and talk about like interests. There are social meet-up groups and it allows people to meet together to participate in a common interest. While the above situations aren’t designed for people to meet and start dating, it has happened in numerous situations. Lastly, there has been an explosion of dating websites that have infiltrated the web.

While the proximity effect has been popular and lasted for many years, the online dating scene is taking over. There are the popular eharmony and match.com. These two websites connect people based on your answers to various questions you are asked. These sites have worked well because it takes away from the mystery of dating by connecting people looking for a more serious relationship. It also helps people be able to connect on their values and beliefs. Recently, there have been dating sites with religious affiliation like christianmingle or jdate to help connect people solely on their beliefs.

According to statistic brain, 48 percent of women and 52 percent of men are using an online dating service. Roughly 20 percent of committed relationships began online and 17 percent of marriages resulted from online dating. It seems that for some, people are able to meet and be in relationships. On the reverse side, there are also horror stories with online dating resulting in terrible first dates or relationships. People will always put their best foot forward online and try to make themselves appear better than they are. This happens a lot with people putting up pictures of themselves when they were 10 or 20 pounds lighter, less wrinkled and less grey. This is the risk one takes in meeting someone online, this is why it’s important to meet in a public place and have a way out on standby.

There is no right or wrong way to date, there are just many more avenues opening up. It is very important to try and get to know the person before meeting in order to limit any surprises. One way to do that is by using smart phone apps such as facetime or skype. This allows people to talk to one another while looking at each other. What you see is what you get.

Online dating statistics. (2014) Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/online-dating-statistics/

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381


08
Apr 14

Defensive Pessimism

Dr. Jeffery Rossman states that there are two kinds of pessimism, dispositional and defensive (Rossman, 2010). Dispositional pessimism is the tendency to believe the worst on a consistent basis, whereas defensive pessimism is being prepared for bad things. Dr. Rossman says that by using defensive pessimism, people can protect themselves by taking constructive actions (Rossman, 2010). The difference between dispositional and defensive pessimism is that defensive pessimism involves empowering yourself by being ready for any situation, not just believing and accepting that everything will turn out badly.

Although being optimistic has many positive aspects, outcomes are not always positive. An optimist may believe they will quit smoking, but factors, such as being in a room full of smokers, might cause the individual to smoke. This is an example of how defensive pessimism has an advantage. Strategies designed to meet problems head-on are thought through and carried out when needed. Therefore, a defensive pessimist that is trying to quit smoking could feel anxious being in a room full of smokers, but they would have thought about how to handle that type of social situation. This helps the defensive pessimist succeed, as opposed to an optimist with a preconceived vision of success, which can sometimes end in failure and disappointment.

Julie Norem, author of the book “The Positive Power of Negative Thinking”, reports that using defensive pessimism is an effective strategy for anxiety (Norem, 2007). Norem defines defensive pessimism as, “…the strategy of setting low expectations and then thinking through, in concrete and vivid detail, all the things that might go wrong as one prepares for an upcoming situation or task” (Norem, 2007). Focus is then applied to ways to achieve success, even in the face of obstacles. There is a similar group of people called strategic optimists, with one of the main differences being the greater amount of pre-existing anxiety of defensive pessimists (Norem, 2007). Another difference is the expectation level of each group. Defensive pessimists set low expectations, whereas strategic optimists set high expectations (Spencer & Norem, 1996)

A downfall of defensive pessimism is that other people are annoyed by it, which can cause problems with relationships (Clarke & Edmond, Jr., 2002). Sometimes the more optimistic person will try to convince the more pessimistic person to try to be more positive, but this does not work. Studies have reported that defensive pessimists have poorer outcomes when interventions are used that are designed to improve moods (Norem, 2007). Defensive pessimists may also have problems with performance when there is not time to prepare for a situation (Spencer & Norem, 1996). However, when presented with sufficient time to prepare, defensive pessimists have advantages such as being more informed about diseases and other health related topics (Spencer & Norem, 1996).

G.B. Stern said, “Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane, and the pessimist the parachute.” I think individuals should do whatever works for them. I tend to be a worrier, and a defensive pessimist. I hope for the best, and prepare for anything and everything. I am happy and healthy and plan to stay that way, but just in case,…

References:

Clarke, C., & Edmond, Jr., (2002). The power of negative thinking. Black Enterprise. Volume 32, Issue 11, p. 254.

Norem, J., (2007). Defensive pessimism, anxiety, and the complexity of evaluating self-regulation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. Volume 2, Issue 1, pp. 121 – 134.

Rossman, J. (2010). The surprising power of optimistic pessimism. Rodale News. Retrieved from: http://www.rodalenews.com/optimism-and-pessimism.

Spencer, S., & Norem, J., (1996). Reflection and distraction defensive pessimism, strategic optimism, and performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Volume 22, Issue 4, pp. 354 – 365.

 


07
Apr 14

The Friend Making Formula

The following conversation comes from a family favorite show in my house, The Big Bang Theory. I tried to remember the words as accurately as possible. The conversation is between two neighbors (who are also friends) as they are discussing how Leonard and his roommate Sheldon actually became friends:

Penny: How did you and Sheldon become friends?

Leonard: There was a flyer on the bulletin board at the university: “roommate wanted: whistlers need not apply.”

Penny: What about Howard and Raj, how did Sheldon become friends with them?

Leonard: I don’t know…how do carbon atoms form a benzene ring? Proximity and valence electrons.

Although the excerpt above comes from a television show, the premise to making friends is very similar – minus the valence electrons. Leonard and Sheldon are both physicists at the same university, but prior to the flyer on the bulletin board were not friends. The others listed above, Howard and Raj, also worked at this university, and were friends of Leonard, but not Sheldon. In life, as well as the television show, friends are typically made based on physical proximity, which is being close to someone in space, or conveniently located near a person (Schneider, et al, 2012). Although these two gentleman worked in the same university, their work location was not close in proximity. When they moved in together however, the level of accessibility increased and they had more opportunities to interact with one another. As their interactions became more frequent, the feasibility of a friendship developing became more likely. This too is how Leonard’s friends, Howard and Raj, became acquainted with Sheldon. Now that Leonard was living with Sheldon, and Howard and Raj were visiting Leonard, they too became better acquainted with Sheldon through a closer physical proximity.

Physical proximity alone is not sufficient to create a friendship, however. But proximity did help these men to establish a connection that bred conversation. At first, Leonard, Howard, and Raj did not like Sheldon. They found him to be narcissistic, germ phobic, and possessing annoying idiosyncrasies, but due to the proximity effect they began to like him more and more. The proximity effect is the tendency to increase the liking of another person based on physical closeness and psychological commonalities (Schneider, et al, 2012). The same is true in life; if we frequently see a person and then increase our exposure to that person by way of conversation, then we are likely to continue to engage in conversation with that person. If we begin to learn that we have things in common, then again, our liking for them increases.

The proximity effect usually only breeds increased liking between two people who like each other to begin with. For example, if I see my neighbor and we chat occasionally, and I find that we have things in common than the more time I spend with her, the more I will like her. But what happens if I chat with my neighbor a few times and ascertain that I can’t stand the sight of her. Then the likelihood of me growing to like her is minimal at best. It is actually more realistic to say that the more I have contact with her, the less I will like her; this is environmental spoiling (Schneider, et al, 2012). This has actually happened to me with my mother-in-law. I tried for years to get this woman to have a relationship with me, but as her eldest son’s wife, no one would be good enough for him in her eyes. Eventually I stopped trying and began to see her for the woman she truly is, which is not someone I like. Now, years later, with every visit, my dislike for her grows – environmental spoiling in action. Back to the television show, Sheldon is not an easy person to get along with, and Howard in particular seems to detest him greatly. As the episodes go on, Howard’s disgust with Sheldon grows and he becomes ever more vocal in sharing his discontentment with Sheldon’s behavior. But in the end, in order to maintain his relationship with Leonard, Howard bites his tongue.

Whether it is making friends, meeting neighbors, or trying to deal with someone you loathe, proximity seems to intensify a person’s original feelings toward another. Whether a person’s feelings towards another starts as positive or negative, an increase in exposure to that person will strengthen a person’s original feelings. Even though repeated exposure to someone you dislike can cause you to dislike them even more, as according to the environmental spoiling theory, the opposite is typically true: recurrent contact with someone that you dislike usually results in more positive feelings towards that person (Schneider, et al, 2012).  This is how the relationship between Sheldon and Howard grows; they begin not liking each other; then Howard begins to detest Sheldon (which lasts for a long time); over time, as Howard becomes familiar with Sheldon’s sense of humor and idiosyncrasies, his fondness for Sheldon grows.

This concept of proximity and familiarity is a promising outlook in the world of friend-making. It can give hope to those that feel alone and incapable of making friends. If two people can start out as acquaintances who are accessible to one another, and gradually spend increasing amounts of time with one another, then the chance of a friendship blossoming is a promising one. Even if there are idiosyncrasies about one another that they can’t seem to overcome, with time, as they become more familiar with each another, these differences can be looked at quirks rather than roadblocks, and a friendship may very well develop.

References:

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.


07
Apr 14

Dating and the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype

Physical attractiveness has long been an instigator of biased thinking, especially with regards to dating selection. For instance, due to the effects of physical attraction stereotypes adults who are more attractive tend to be treated more positively than their more unattractive counterparts (Rohner & Rasmussen, 2012, p. 239). The physical attraction stereotype describes that attractiveness of an individual can distort others perception of that individual’s character qualities (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 357). Higher attractive individuals tend to be perceived as having more positive qualities, while less attractive people tend to be perceived as having more negative qualities, no matter what qualities are actually present (Rohner & Rasmussen, 2012, p. 239). Although physical attractiveness stereotype does have roots in fact, that more attractive people do in fact tend to have more positive qualities, it is important to realize that it is our memory that is distorting our perception of individuals given qualities, whether they have the perceived qualities or not (Rohner & Rasmussen, 2012, p. 240).

With this idea in mind, Rohner and Rasmussen’s study involved the utilization of recognition bias to demonstrate the reasoning behind why individuals tend to pay attention to those details that conform to their own previously held beliefs, such as the physical attractiveness stereotype (2012, p. 240). For instance, a man remembering a pretty woman he was talking with as being nice and intelligent despite her obvious display of rudeness and low IQ. In this instance, the man is mistakenly remembering qualities he typically associates with attractive women, in reference to the woman he had talked to; the positive qualities are the kind of details his mind recalls due to the influence of his beliefs about the typical qualities of attractive women.

While working to further understand the physical attractiveness stereotype, Rohner and Rasmussen’s works determined that the physical attractiveness stereotype is not only quite genuine, but that it holds true through varying situations and individual differences as well (Rohner & Rasmussen, 2012, p. 239). In concordance with this, the recognition bias effect associated with the physical attractiveness stereotype has been shown to be extremely resistant to intervention. Recognition bias in fact rebuffed all attempts at intervention during Rohner and Rasmussen’s study, however more alternative tactics of diverting the harmful effects of the physical attraction stereotype (recognition bias by proxy) have been shown to be affective (2012, p. 240).

As a great example, colleagues Gross and McHale implemented a T-shirt dating method that has demonstrated a way to bring people together utilizing a stronger focus on common interests instead of physical attraction, therein reducing the rate of mate selection based a dimension entrenched in physical attraction biases (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 362). By diverting individuals focus from physical attributes and refocusing individuals on their shared interests, the tenets of the physical attractiveness stereotype become much less influential (p. 362).

References

Rohner, J. C., & Rasmussen, A. (2012). Recognition bias and the physical attractiveness stereotype. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 53(3), 239-246. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2012.00939.x

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.


07
Apr 14

Community in all places

Oftentimes, first impressions are a way people can function in society. A person can be dressed in business attire and very involved in their community and have the acceptance of their peers no matter what their race or gender. On the same level, another person can be dressed in baggy clothing, covered in gang-affiliated tattoos, and no matter what the race people will put them in a thug category.

As a social experiment there have been average people who have dressed up as a homeless person to see if they would be treated any differently. This has been in many avenues such as a homeless person attending church, a person begging in the streets, or simply just walking around. I read one story in particular that speaks about a doctor who dressed as a homeless person to treat people who had previously intimidated him. I found this to be very noble that he saw a need and wanted to do something about it.

This man started by going to the homeless people in the streets of Pittsburgh with a prior homeless man. As the people he treated grew more and more comfortable with him, he was able to go their out of disguise. This turned into a non-profit initiative Operation Safety Net and has become one of the nations full time street medicine programs. (Russell, 2014)

I tell this story to identify that everyone has a sense of community. No matter what your affiliation whether it be to a church, gangs, the military, a sports team, or fellow homeless people. This helps to show that in homeless communities there isn’t just the negative rapes or murders that happen; we also see a sense of protection between them.  A facet of community psychology includes solving societal problems and enhancing the well being of community members. (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts,  p. 275) The doctor is doing just that in areas that is unfamiliar and uncharted to him. I know that not everyone has the skill set or means to do that but is that something that we can do to have a positive effect on our community?

Russell, Kate. 2014. Doctor Dresses up as Homeless Man to Treat People Living on the Streets. Retrieved from http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/14/doctor-dresses-up-as-homeless-man-to-treat-people-living-on-the-streets-4262368/.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381


07
Apr 14

Community

Where is the border between concerned neighbor and too much involvement. A couple of years ago, I resided in an apartment complex with numerous people from all walks of life and nationalities. On move in day, two little girls came to visit and insisted that they help move boxes into my new apartment. In the days and weeks following, it became apparent that their parents worked two jobs each and were rarely home. As a result, I was babysitting a 7 and 9 year old on a daily basis and had no interaction with their parents for months. At what point is community involvement helping and at what point is it too much?
While communities should help each other thrive, at some point, helping too much may actually be enabling a bigger problem to persist. While I have formed a close bond with these girls and still keep in touch years later, I realize that their overworked parents had no way of knowing whether I was an appropriate babysitter or whether I posed some danger to their children. They were content to accept free childcare and never think twice about it as it was economically easier for them to do so. While helping out families in need and accepting that help when you are in a less than ideal situation takes courage, at some point, it seems finances make our decisions for us. Perhaps it is difficult to look past the alleviated burden to realize what may be at stake. As I have matured and am starting to plan a family of my own, this situation and how it developed still surprise me. As parents, we should always put forth the effort necessary to ensure our children are in safe, capable hands. Community members should support each other, but at some point, perhaps community dependence is unreasonable or even dangerous.


07
Apr 14

Community

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     Communities are an important component to psychology and allow us to research  various  individuals by looking as to how people react to events and to be able to comprehend and increase an individual’s way-of-life, examine each person ‘s individuality and the society as a whole. In order to find answers to problems which occur in communities, we must examine and research various scenarios. Our society is constantly changing with the help of the media and technology and therefore in need of being altered to some degree. There are many issues which occur in communities and finding solutions to these help we cope with these various issues. Positive alterations need to take place. This particular psychology originated in the 1960’s because of mental health issues ( Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).   Now, it has increased to include other issues such as “conformity, discrimination, prejudice, social norms, stigmatization and the environment” which occurs in the community. Communities are now affected by other communities and therefore getting to what causes issues  is a focus to prevent other communities from the same issues.

         Unfortunately, a perfect example just occurred with the mother of three who just drowned her son in the bathtub. Laurel Schlemmer, 40 from McCandless was saying that she heard “crazy voices” say that she could be a much better mom to her oldest child if she didn’t have her other two boys (Conte, 2014).  This woman was a full time mother, but used to be a school teacher from a middle class neighborhood and probably seemed to have been quite “normal” if there is such a thing. Eerily, when the 911 call was made, it was made known that in a calm sweet voice she told the dispatch that her children may have drowned while in a bath playing.  The sad thing is that she had previous mishaps which occurred with her children. In 2013, she was interviewed when she had hit two of her children with the car and in 2009 she left one of her children in the car which was around 114 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. She definitely looked dazed when they showed her getting arrested. Had she had the mental services available to her earlier when she showed signs of mental illness as early as 2009, perhaps those two sweet boys would still be alive?

                I believe wholeheartedly in more interventions for the mentally ill located in our communities. More and more shootings and deaths seem to be occurring and I feel that there is such a stigmatization for those who are mentally ill such as they are “crazy” , “weird”, “ lunatic”  or even “dangerous”  and yet there aren’t enough places to help these individuals get the help they need ( Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).   I agree with our textbook that the media and especially television has painted an inaccurate and exaggerative picture of what mental illness really is and the help and support needed to recover from this. I read some of the things that perfect strangers were saying about Laurel and it was clear that mental illness is really unfamiliar to many people. I think the idea of “counter information” would be a step in the right direction when it came to mental illness. Exposure and understanding of the mental illness disease is an intervention worth beginning. Everyone in the community would benefit because of the safety of those who come in contact with and those involved in the community who were directly correlated with the individual. Funded by the government, social workers, public health officials and psychologists  would work side by side to help those in need of help in all areas of their life. Examples of stigmatized stereotype is evident when I read posts from other people about these articles on Laurel and there was no compassion for her suffering from an illness, only mean hatred things said about her such as “she isn’t ill, it’s an excuse and hoping death upon  her.” While this was such a senseless act, I really feel like she is suffering a mental breakdown of some sort, whether it’s post-partum or depression, or some other sort of breakdown.

                Online communities have become popular as well because of the media and technology. A “virtual community” has surfaced and allowed an immense amount of people  have been able to communicate in seconds. Face book is a perfect example and was just used in our small community. A friend of ours daughter went missing and the only information was that she went with a young Hispanic male and hadn’t been seen in a day. As soon as this happened her father posted that she was missing and her picture was shared by hundreds of complete strangers who kept “sharing” it. Luckily she was found the next day and she was alright, but even her parents were  amazed that in a few short hours, her picture was “shared” on many peoples’ “walls” and people who weren’t even connected shared the same picture. This is a perfect example of the internet helping find missing children so much more quickly and accurately than we had ever seen when children would become missing and the only means those poor parents had were fliers and milk cartoons. I joined a flea market community for my area and it allows thousands of us to trade or find things that we would normally have to buy brand new and maybe only use a couple of times. While the internet does help in ways that we couldn’t imagine, it can also not be helpful as well such as sites that show anyone how to make a homemade bomb or websites that encourage bullying because students feel they can say whatever they want when they are just “typing” something.

                A perfect example of something that is positive in nature with social networking in the community is a girl that I went to school with ”Ellen”, her daughter was 3 when it was found out that she had cancer. She fought for four years and finally lost her battle at 7. Her mother wrote blogs on a daily basis which were emotional, to say the least. She started a foundation and with the help of Facebook, found a community of friends, families, and friends of families and has raised millions of dollars and continues to raise money to eventually find a cure for the disease. Facebook has really helped “Ellen”  to connect with people she probably wouldn’t have thought of. She is such an inspiration and she praises her community, friends and family with helping to fight for a cure for childhood cancer. Ellen and her family are such an inspiration! 

                I have found community psychology extremely interesting because I was really unaware of its importance. Community psychology sets up to not only help each individual, but it focuses on those who around them and tries to create a safer environment. Online communities have helped thousands, but with everything in life, there are drawbacks too online communities as well. I just saw how Face book may have saved a little girls life because her picture was taken and people noticed that there was an abnormality with her eye when the picture was taken. It was brought to the attention of the mother and she had her checked out and it was found that Facebook followers actually saved her life. On-line research can really increase the well-being of an individual and the community. Studying community psychology has definitely increased my awareness and to make me want to be more involved in my community!

Resources

Conte, Andrew. (2014). Second son dies after being on life support following apparent drowning. Trib Live News.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.


07
Apr 14

Homeless in California

Nancy Holmes and Sinamon Blake are two middle-aged homeless women living in Fresno, Ca. They were recently forced out of their shared encampment by city officials who came with bulldozers to clean up the space below the intersecting freeways. Nancy took advantage of an offer by a local activist who places individuals in shared living spaces equipped with backyard vegetable gardens and raised solar powered living structures. Sinamon relocated to a remote dirt field because she could not part ways with the pack of dogs that roam the area, keeping her safe (Plevin, 2013).

NancySinamon

Depending on your location in the state of California, you will experience a different culture and collective perception of the local homeless population. I have spent time in a variety of towns and cities within the state, each differing in their perception and treatment of the homeless. Depending where I am at the time, I have found that I also engage in different behaviors when interacting with the homeless.

homeless_santamonica1

After living in West Los Angeles for four years, I became proficient at dodging and ignoring countless approaches by homeless individuals. Milgrim (1970), describes stimulus overload as prioritizing where we focus our attention due to an overwhelming amount of factors in our environment. When I think about specific areas of Santa Monica, namely Ocean Ave. and the Third St. Promenade, I recall dense crowds, buses honking at cabs, and homeless lined walkways. I learned from friends to pay no attention to the pleas from the homeless. There were so many people in need and the more I was asked for change or food, the less guilty I felt for ignoring them. Our text describes diffusion of responsibility as declining a call for help because it is perceived that someone else will fulfill that responsibility (Schneider, 2013). There were many times when I assumed that vacationing tourists would gladly fulfill the needs of those begging for assistance.

When I moved back to Fresno in 2009, I began to slowly assimilate to the slower, less crowded way of living. We experience more seasonal temperatures and tourism is limited to those passing through on their way to Yosemite National Park. The homeless population is less prevalent. These variables have helped to extinguish the stimulus overload I once felt, as well as the mindset that provided a diffusion of responsibility. While I may not choose to give these individuals help every time they ask, I feel obligated to look them in the eye and acknowledge their words.

underpass

Many elements found in a city can help add to stimulus overload. Busy crowds, traffic noise and congestion, pollution, oversized advertising and/or billboards are a few examples. It can become increasingly easy to ignore a social problem, such as homelessness, when we are navigating through stimulus overload. However, ignoring a problem slows our path toward finding solutions for those who are struggling through life. Greater awareness of stimulus overload and the existence of diffusion of responsibility can keep an individual focused on community solutions toward eliminating homelessness.

References:

Plevin, R. (Speaker). (2013). What Happened To The People Displaced By Fresno’s Homeless Camp Destructions? [Digital Recording]. Fresno, CA: Valley Public Radio.

Schneider, F.W., Gruman, J.A., & Coutts, L.M., (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. London: Sage Publications.


07
Apr 14

The Bystander Effect and Community

The bystander effect is a social phenomenon in which individuals are far less likely to offer any aid to an individual who requires it or during an emergency situation because there are other individuals present (Schneider et al., 2012). The though when this occurs is often that someone else will help out or someone else will take care of it. What happens is that the individual may not feel the need to intervene because they will feel less responsible if something bad happens because they didn’t help out because they can cast the blame on another individual or say that no one else helped, either. When an individual is the only one on the scene, there can be an overwhelming feeling that he is partly responsible if he ignores the situation, but if there are various bystanders, that feeling of responsibility is less likely to be high; it’s a diffusion of responsibility (Schneider et al., 2012).

To delve deeper into understanding this, let’s take into consideration two accounts – one with only one witness and another with a crowd. In both situations there’s a hit-and-run where a man in his late 20’s gets hit by a car. He’s clearly alive, but his movement is impaired and he needs help. In the first situation where there’s only one person, there’s a high likeability that the person will assess the situation as an emergency, feel at least a bit responsible in helping as the sole witness to the event, and perhaps run to the man to check if he’s ok or call 911.

When there’s a crowd, however, the individuals might look to everyone else to see what they’re doing and what’s going on. With a large number of people witnessing the scene, say 20, there would be a higher chance of diffusion of responsibility. The individual could easily consider the situation an emergency, but unlike with the first situation where they felt the need to do something themselves, they may have the feeling that someone else should or will do something. If there’s a crowd of 20, however, you may just feel that someone else is going to help, so you don’t have to. There’s urgency, but there’s less urgency for you to do something.

We may not realize it, but moments like these happen every day, and every day, there are people who need help who don’t get it in part because when they needed that help, they were in a public space with many people. There are quite a few real-life examples, especially in cities where people are statistically more likely to run into someone in need of help but less likely to realize they need it because in big cities, diffusion of responsibility is far more common (Darley & Latane, 1970). One such even happened On December 3rd of 2012 at the Times Square substation when an individual was pushed into the tracks. It was reported that the 58 year-old man named Han had tried to get out and asked others around for help. Individuals stood by, some taking pictures of him, but no one came to help him out, even though it was obvious that the train would soon arrive. He pleaded and pleaded for twenty-two seconds. Twenty-two seconds may sound like a short amount of time, but it more than enough for individuals to take photos and it was enough to help a man from subway tracks. When the train arrived, Han was hit and died instantly (Petrecca & Eversley, 2012).

The bystander effect is part of why individuals are ignored when they need help, but there’s more than one reason than diffusion of responsibility; there’s also the possibility that there will be failure to register an emergency as what it is. If there’s a man lying on the street and you’re rather unsure of the situation due to its ambiguity, you may look at others for guidance. If no one treats the situation as an emergency, you may fail to notice it as one (Latane & Nida, 1981). You can look at the individual and assume the ambiguous situation as “He must be asleep” or “He must be drunk” because others are reacting to the situation in a passive way, but he could, in fact, be a diabetic who has fainted due to his blood sugar levels and he needs immediate help.

bystandereffect

(Image from: www.iamnotthebabysitter.com)

What can be done to ensure that witnesses to an emergency situation are more likely to understand it for what it is and to feel responsible enough to help? How can individuals ensure that someone dials 911 when they shout “Someone dial 911!?”

One way to ensure that there will be a higher likeability of people understanding emergencies as what they are is to make the bystander effect public knowledge, which can be done with the use of captivating and informative commercials as well as by inclusion of it in episodes of popular television programs. These commercials and television show episodes can teach people that saying “You, in the yellow shirt – call 911” is more effective than just “Someone call 911” because it gives the task to a specific person. By giving one person the task of doing something rather than telling anyone to do it, there won’t be a diffusion of responsibility. These programs can be used to inform people on how to assess situations to understand whether or not they are emergencies when they are ambiguous and they can be used to teach people that in their community, when a scream is heard or when something bad appears to be happening, there’s a low chance that someone will do something, so if they witness it, they shouldn’t hesitate to call the police or to help. Even if it’s a joke or not really an emergency, it’s far better to tell the cop that it was a misunderstanding than to have a young girl die because no one took her cries for help as seriously as they should had been taken.

Works Cited

Darley, J.M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 377-383.

Latané, B., & Nida, S. (1981). Ten years of research on group size and helping. Psychological Bulletin, 89(2), 308-324.

Petrecca, L.& Eversley, M. (2012, December). Should NY Post have printed photo of man about to die?  USA Today. Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/04/nyc-subway-death-push/1744875/#

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.


07
Apr 14

A Sense of Community

Throughout life, there are many communities that can be seen. There are the community that you live in, your school community, the internet community, and many more. In these communities there are values, norms, families, and collaboration. Each of these areas allows community psychology to fall into place.

Community psychology is concerned with relationships of individuals with communities and society. Through this psychology we can find areas of interest. (Schneider, Bruman, & Coutts, 2012) One example of an area of interest is the sense of community. For some people, the country living is where they feel most comfortable. With that being said, there are also people who feel that living in the city is where all the opportunities are.

Although people view the city differently, there is a stigmatization about some people that live in the city. This stigmatization would be that many people who live in the certain communities in the city are involved with criminal activity. According to the social learning theory, behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. (McLeod) With that being said, there can be negative and positive observations in the city community.

One positive observation would be when someone who lives in the community grows up, goes to college, and has a well thought of job. This allows other people that live in that city to learn from that person. They are able to see that they can do the same if they work hard and stay on the right track in life. This shows how social learning theory can positively help people learn from others.

One negative observation would be if someone from the community starts a gang and the gang is known for its criminal activity. Through the social learning theory, other people in that community would learn from what they are doing and decide to have similar behaviors as the gang members.

Children are especially susceptible to social learning. This is because when they grow up they are observing those around them and some of those people may become their role models. With this being said, they will learn what their role models are doing and act like them because they want to be like them.

In my opinion, social learning is how everyone grows up. If we did not have other people to look up to, how would we decide what we want to be in life? In my circumstance, I would never have chosen to go to school for Psychology if it were not for my Child Psychology teacher in my sophomore year of college. At that time I was going to school for Elementary Education and I knew it was not right for me because I do not like to correct children, which lead me to having a chaotic classroom when I taught homeschooled students for my one class. My Child Psychology teacher had shown me that I could help others in ways that I did not have to be in charge of children. She also had changed her major when she was in college, which made me realize that you can be undecided on what you want to do when you first enter college and still succeed.

 

References

McLeod, Saul. Social Learning Theory. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381


07
Apr 14

Respect for others

Looking into community psychology, it is a branch of psychology that is concerned with relationships of individuals within community and society. (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts 2012 ) This can be seen in many aspects such as prejudice and stigmatization. These are when people get labeled as being dangerous or deviant. With that being said, the aspect of community psychology that can be used to stop these negative labels is respect for diversity.

Throughout life, everyone will come across people who are different than they are in some way. What society needs to realize is that just as they are different from us, we are different from them as well. In school, work, and community there are going to be different people. Everyone needs to have a fair chance of succeeding at life. This should not only be taught at home, but also in school since that is where our youth spends several hours a week.

Within school settings, students are being taught about diversity. When they learn about this topic, the goal is to give them the understanding that all people should be treated equally. Not only should we see others in our society as equal, we should also treat them with respect. As cultural diversity is looked at by students, they can see how different others’ lives are then theirs. This gives students the opportunity to understand why people may have different views, opinions, religions, and rituals. With that being said, students will be more open and accepting to those that may be “different” than they are. As students become more accepting, those that have been stigmatized have more positive self-perceptions.

According to the social exchange theory, social situations will give a person “rewards” or “costs” and then that person will behave according to these personal calculations. (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts 2012) When the students are being accepted, they will in turn feel more positive about themselves and act in positive ways. Without positive perceptions, people will act in the way that others think they are going to act so that they have less problems with their psychological state.

In my opinion, respect for diversity needs to start at a young age. As children grow up, they will learn off of those around them. If they have parents telling them that a certain race is going to do things that are against the law, they will have similar views. With that being said, teaching respect for diversity as soon as children start school will give them more acceptance of other people and allow them to have different views than what they may be taught at home.

 

References

Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/promoting-respect-for-cul_b_1187683.html

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.).


07
Apr 14

Sense of Community

According to Merriam-Webster, community is defined as “a group of people who live in the same area (such as city, town, or neighborhood), but community is deeper than simply living in the same area. Five years ago, I moved to a new area of the city. I was skeptical of how people would adjust and react to a new family being in the neighborhood. Within a week of moving in, I have met all of the neighbors, exchanging telephone numbers, and developing a sense of community. There are four elements that comprise the sense of community: membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connections (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). With the four components, a community can be successfully developed.

Membership is the first and most important component. This element depicts and can determine who belongs and who does not belong. Furthermore, understanding one’s membership within the community brings a sense of emotional support, belonging, and desire to advance the community (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). For example, when I first moved to my new neighborhood, every lawn in the area had signs that protested against putting a rehabilitation home in the area. The community, as a whole, believed this would bring negative situations to the area, therefore, everyone banded together against this cause. Everyone influenced one another within the community, which is another element of community. Although there is not one specific individual that holds power within the community, influence can determine whether one’s presence doesn’t make a difference and therefore, does not feel as though they are a part of the community (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). This leads to fulfilling needs and integration. Needs and integration supports the idea of sharing values within the community, sharing goods and resources. As previously mentioned, my community shares many similar values. This is important in developing a sense of community and makes it easy to live in the same neighborhood. I know living in my neighborhood, no one would respond positively to a loud, non peaceful family. Therefore, such a family would not feel the sense of community. Lastly, emotional connection refers to sharing bonds with others within the community and can be a result of a spiritual bond, or through shared experiences, rituals, or celebrations (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Although I am of different faith from my neighbors, we share a spiritual connection. During Christmas, I receive gifts from them and during my holiday they receive gifts from me. It is important to have mutual understandings that will develop into a greater bond with community members.

References:
Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2014). Community. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381


07
Apr 14

Stigma and Homelessness

Community psychology is concerned with how individuals relate to one another and how these relationships are developed and sustained within communities and society. (Schneider, et al, p. 275 2012) At its core there is social justice, human wellness, and community values. (Schneider, et al, p. 275, 2012)

One of the main tenants essential to effective community enhancement and growth is a respect for diversity. (Schneider, et al, p. 275, 2012)  When discussing diversity there must be an understanding that there is no normative behavior as defined by mainstream culture, so those who deviate should not be labeled “less than” or “different.” (Schneider, et al, p. 284, 2012) Community psychology therefore forces practitioners and concerned individuals to put our own personal biases aside when addressing issues pertinent to the greater good of our communities. If these biases are not addressed those who deviate from this socially constructed norm can experience stigmatization. (Major and O’Brien,  2005)

Stigma is the extreme negative labelling of an individual in an effort to set them apart from other members of society. (Major and O’Brien,  2005) This phenomenon and its effects can have debilitating results on the stigmatized. (Byrne, 2000)  According to researchers Major and O’Brien marks of stigmatization whether they be linked to appearance, behavior, or group membership all exist within a social context. Nowhere is this more evident than in the homeless community. (Byrne, 2000)

According to Family Promise 60% of Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point between the ages 25 to 75.  The National Association of Hunger and Homelessness reports that currently there are 3.5 million people in the US experiencing homelessness. Even with these startling statistics, attitudes toward homelessness have become increasingly negative. Individuals tend to stigmatize the homeless more than any other poor group. (Phelan, et al., 2007) This is because the factors inherent in homelessness activates key dimensions that cause stigmatization. (Phelan, et al., 2007)  Since many homeless individuals occupy public spaces, the public often sees it as more disruptive than other forms of poverty. (Phelan, Link, Moore & Stueve, 1997) Another aspect of homelessness that causes stigmatization is their inability to groom and clean themselves, which causes them to be thought of as unappealing. (Phelan, et al., 2007) Also homelessness links to other stigmatizing conditions such as, mental illness and substance abuse. (Phelan, et al., 2007)

Pervasive stigmatizing attitudes have both sociopolitical and cognitive/perceptual roots. (Phelan, et al., 2007) The public has a tendency to blame poorer individuals’ for their circumstances rather than taking into consideration other factors that may have contributed to their poverty.  (Phelan, et al., 2007) This is often referred to as correspondence bias. As a stigmatized group the homeless will experience various mechanisms of stigmatization. Stigma can threaten an individual’s self-esteem and cause personal and social identity threats. It’s essential that we establish community based efforts to cure this sad and debilitating problem. Our society can’t function if there are groups in our community unable to thrive.

Fast Facts About Homelessness and Poverty | Family Promise. (n.d.). Fast Facts About Homelessness and Poverty | Family Promise. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.familypromise.org/fast-facts

Major, B., & O’brien, L. T. (2005). The Social Psychology of Stigma. Annual Review of Psychology, 56(1), 393-421.

Phelan, J., Link, B. G., Moore, R. E., & Stueve, A. (1997). The Stigma of Homelessness: The Impact of the Label “Homeless” on Attitudes Toward Poor Persons. Social Psychology Quarterly,60(4), 323.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.


06
Apr 14

Community social issue – legalization of cannabis

Among the goals of community psychology is to examine critically social change and to guide social action in the direction of resolving particular social problems (Schneider et al., 2012). A community social problem that garnishes a lot of attention politically, in psychology and socially is the issue of drugs, drug use, addiction, and legalization. One particular drug that receives a lot of attention and controversy is marijuana (also known as cannabis. Marijuana is a psychoactive drug. A psychoactive drug such as cannabis can affects the central nervous system. When the brain is effected by psychoactive drugs it will cause a person to hallucinate, have a change of mood (stimulant or depressant), perception and over all behavior. Psychoactive drugs can be addictive. Other examples include nicotine (cigarettes) and caffeine. Questions about marijuana’s medicinal and recreational use are typically at the heart of the cannabis legalization argument. The long term consequences (side effects) of marijuana use are equally debated. Questions about biological manifestations of marijuana, the effects to the developing brain and addictive nature of the drug are also argued. Social questions about marijuana’s link to crime and debate over whether marijuana is good or bad for society are among the hot topics in the discussion. Legalization is a present hot-button in the debate. States are managing marijuana independently while the Federal government maintains its policy that marijuana is illegal. Questions remain to be answered by society, social philologist, politicians, and policy makers if marijuana is legalized. Questions regarding how cannabis will affect people’s behavior and long term health must be answered. Furthermore, questions about how cannabis will be taxed and what how/what the tax revenue would be used for. Another important question to answer would be setting the “appropriate” age limit given the research conducted on the effects of adolescents and marijuana. According to Evins, Green, Kane, and Murray (2012), recent research has demonstrated a link between cannabis use and schizophrenia later in life, particularly in adolescent cannabis users. In essence, the more frequent someone takes marijuana, the more vulnerable they are to schizophrenia and the younger the person is when they start, the higher the risk for schizophrenia. In addition, other research has suggested that compared to controlled groups, those that took marijuana lost more brain mass.

Drugs (including marijuana) may have a better chance of swaying governments and people towards legalization particularly in a downturn economic climate Cerdá, Wall, Keyes, Galea, & Hasin (2012) Furthermore, (Cerdá et al., 2012) believe that there is a link between states that have legalized marijuana and the increase in use when. In my opinion, in terms of policy, legalization of marijuana will be another means for government to collect taxes and make it part of national economic growth at the cost of its young citizens (bad social policy). The legalization will also produce a society of people who will have health effects and become a financial health care burden on society akin to alcohol and cigarette abuse trough the popularization of use. I do not believe cannabis should be used for recreational purposes because of the potential harm it can have on individual people and society as a whole. My hope is that there will be social action against policies that pursue the legalization of recreational marijuana.  I do believe that cannabis should be used for medical purpose only (in the form of a pill). However, I believe the system that regulates “true” patients is questionable. I’m all for drugs that can help alleviate a person’s pain. However, I am not in favor of legalization of marijuana due to its biological, economic and social consequences.

 

References

Cerdá, M., Wall, M., Keyes, K. M., Galea, S., & Hasin, D. (2012). Medical marijuana laws in 50 states: Investigating the relationship between state legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use, abuse and dependence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 120(1-3), 22-27. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.06.011
http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/905212848?accountid=13158

Evins, A. E., Green, A. I., Kane, J. M., & Murray, R. M. (2012). The effect of marijuana use on the risk of schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 73(11), 1463-1468. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1433275702?accountid=13158

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications


06
Apr 14

When Bystanders Fail to Intervene

When someone is in trouble, one would hope that people nearby would help them but unfortunately that is not always the case. The bystander effect occurs when a number of people witness the same emergency event but fail to take action and help (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts 2012, pg.280). In many cases diffusion of responsibility can be to blame. This is when people witness a situation and they do no intervene because they believe that someone else will. Research has suggested that the more people present during an emergency event, the victim is less likely to receive help (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts 2012, pg.280).

How could this happen? One would think that the more people around means that someone would step in and offer help. This goes back to the idea of diffusion of responsibility; the more people present during an event may make an individual feel less responsible to take action, therefore diffusing responsibility to others. It is scary to think about. All these people witnessing the same event, aware that a person is in need of help but do not intervene because they believe that someone else will.

The first time I became aware of the bystander effect was during my high school psychology class when discussing the murder of Kitty Genovese. It has been said that in New York 1964, there were 38 people who watched and heard a woman being killed from their apartments and failed to intervene (Manning, Levine & Collins, 2007). How could people possibly just sit there knowing what was going on and not call the police? This case brought awareness to the bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility. People did not take action because they all assumed that there must be someone else who already has called the police. This also goes along with the idea that the more people who witness an event the less likely a victim will receive help.

In order for the bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility to occur less it is important for people to be aware of these types of situations. People should not assume that because there are other people present that someone else is going to help. Take action yourself! If you cannot physically help or if the situation is too dangerous at least call the police. The worst thing that could happen is that police get numerous calls about the same event, but at least you intervened and did not assume someone already helped.

References

Manning, R., Levine, M., & Collins, A. (2007). The kitty genovese murder and the social psychology of helping: The parable of the 38 witnesses. American Psychologist, 62(6), 555-562. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.6.555.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.).


04
Apr 14

The Virtual Learning Community

An online community is a group of people with similar interests who interact with each other by using a virtual media outlet. A learning community consists of a group of students who gather for the purpose of learning. The increasing popularity of online courses has resulted in combining the two, adding a new dimension to the learning community. Adult students are especially drawn to distance learning because of family and work responsibilities. While offering many advantages, online learning has had its share of criticism. One of the criticisms has been the absence of social interaction. The lack of student interaction has prompted the inclusion of courses designed to enhance a sense of community. Courses are being designed to encourage communication between students, with the desired result of reducing psychological distance (Rovai, 2002). High dropout rates of online students have also been a concern. According to Kerka, 1996, the high rates are thought to be partially attributed to feelings of disconnection (as cited in Rovai, 2002). Research has shown that a sense of belonging can reduce dropout rates (Rovai, 2002).

The learning community gained popularity during an effort to encourage college freshmen to stay in school (Ouzts, 2006). The idea was that making students feel connected would help make their educational experience more satisfying, which would encourage them to keep pursuing their degree. The same holds true for distance learning students. Feeling connected to an online learning community encourages distance learning students to continue their education (Ouzts, 2006).

A key component of a successful online learning community, as in any community, is a sense of belonging (Ouzts, 2006).  According to McMillan and Chavis (1986), a sense of community contains four elements: membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connection (as cited in Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). The online learning community members come together to learn, thereby establishing membership. Individuals influence each other by interactions. The feelings of isolation that can accompany distance learning can be reduced by interaction strategies such as holding discussion forums. This gives students an opportunity to come together to talk about the topic at hand, a form of integration. Ideas can be exchanged and students can learn from each other. Encouraging email exchanges between students and the instructor can also contribute to the feeling of being connected. Working together in group projects provides students with opportunities to build trust, which is another component of the distance learning community. As students work independently, they are also working to achieve the common goal of a good grade, and they have to trust each other to do their individual parts. This gives the students the opportunity to satisfy each other’s needs by sharing information that will ultimately result in a good group grade. The importance of student interaction, student and teacher interaction, and interaction with course content was seen in a study by Moore, 1989, as these components were essential to students’ learning experiences (as cited by Ouzts, 2006). Some of the students remained friends after the courses were over (Ouzts, 2006). Communication during online courses gives students the opportunity to learn about each other. This forms bonds, emotional connections, and furthers the sense of belonging. Membership in the distance learning community is enhanced as students bond through shared experiences, both in and out of the virtual classroom.

Social implications must be considered by organizers of an online learning community. Culture, geographical location, gender, and lifestyle are factors that represent differences between members. These factors can work together to drive community members apart, or to bring them together, depending upon the structure of the course. By considering students’ differences when structuring the course, a sense of community can be established and maintained in the virtual learning community.

References:

Ouzts, K. (2006). Sense of community in online courses. Quarterly Review of Distance Education. 7(3), p. 285.

Rovai, A. (2002). Building sense of community at a distance. Retrieved from: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/79/152.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

 


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