29
Nov 16

It’s always nice to have manners

 

Does it ever bother you when people don’t say please and thank you? Manners are an important thing to learn and use throughout your life. Having good manners means acting in a manner that is socially acceptable and respectful to others. Developing these skills can help you to have better relationships with people you know, and the new people that you meet.

Learning and maintaining your good manners like table etiquette, greetings or cleaning up after themselves early will hold you to a high set of standards. If you want others to have nice manners, you must have them yourself.  Setting rules for good etiquette in your home and then following them gives you a sense of responsibility.

please-and-thank

Some steps to take in an effort to develop good manners would be to know the basic manners. Being polite to others is a good place to start and you can begin by holding doors open for others, saying please, and thank you when needed and just being courteous and kind.

Isn’t it nice when people hold the door open for you? Sometimes you may see a stranger that you hold the door open for and doesn’t respond with a “thank you” or even any acknowledgment. They don’t even look at you and they just walk right by you.It’s annoying when that happens, but it was just something courteous that you were doing to be kind. Don’t take it personally. Some people just are not aware.

door-opening-picHaving good manners is the guide that keeps us in line to be polite and kind to other people. It is important to be honest, trustworthy, and kind. Using good habits on a consistent basis, like manners show that you have all the qualities of a good person. Basically, if you try and conduct yourself in your daily life with the best manners that you can, you will receive that respect from others.

References:

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids

http://www.positivelygoodproductions.com

http://www.mtstcil.org

 

 


28
Nov 16

Participating Pays Off

When it comes to social change, there are no shortages of areas in society that could use some modifications.  How best to research and address these social issues is an interesting part of the social change process.  One technique that is used in the participatory research approach which involves the researcher becoming personally immersed in the area being researched in order to gain the insider perspective (Pain & Francis, 2002). An example of such research could be the a researcher conducting an ethnographic study to address the increased rates of depression among military spouses.

As part of this study, I would conduct observational studies on a military installation as well as establish informants who are military spouses as well.  As a military spouse myself, I would have access to areas where military spouses frequent and would have a large amount of people to approach when it comes to insider accounts of dealing with depression during periods of separation from their spouses.  It could be a combination of an ethnographic study with social change research concepts.

Becoming part of the community is a great way to access those who are struggling with the problem you are trying to address. When you are participating in your target group, you are experiencing the social issues with them.  They share their experiences with you, show aspects of the problem you may not have been completely aware of or even thought of to begin with.  Participating in the target group gives a specific type of access to aspects of the social issue that might not have been available otherwise.

Source:

Pain, F., & Francis, P. (2003). Reflections on participatory research. Area, 35(1), 46-54. doi:10.1111/1475-4762.00109


27
Nov 16

Birds of a Feather

The question regarding lasting relationships and how to choose the best person to be with is a topic that many spend years trying to decipher.  Should birds of a feather flock together or should opposites attract?  Which will lead to the happily ever after? When it comes to marriage and friendships it seems that having more in common leads to more stability.  It is important to understand how to maintain a healthy relationship and to establish a way to replicate this pattern over a long-term period.

In a marriage, obviously the two people are not going to agree on everything and are not going to have identical interests.  Despite this though, research shows that being similar to your spouse is related to higher levels of marital success than those who opted for a spouse opposite of themselves and that we gravitate towards potential mates who are similar to ourselves as well (Simonsohn, 2011).  Marriage requires two people to spend their lives together and over the course of that time, major decisions must be made regarding that life they have built.  This could include the number of children they want, where they want to live, how they will raise their children, financial decisions, etc.  It makes sense that making these choices and living them out would be a lot simpler if deciding with someone who has comparable views, values, and wants.

The same holds true when choosing friends and continuing the friendship throughout the years.  Generally, we choose friends because of things we share such as workplace or hobbies.  The commonality provides a starting point where the two people can bond over the things they have in common.  When two people are similar, there is a longer predicted duration for the relationship (Hafen, 2011).  If years go by and one friend’s view change or they move away, now the two friends no longer share a location or no longer share a common interest.  These are the cases where we see examples of friends who knew each other their whole lives but ended up drifting apart.

When it comes to establishing a relationship with some that you can maintain every day without getting too sick of the other person, the key lies in the common factors.  The less that the two people differ on the less they have to argue about or disagree on.  As described, marriages based on common values makes it easier to make the majors decisions together whereas opposite personalities may end up fighting nonstop over these topics.  Similarly, we choose our friends based on something that they have that is like us. Common factors provide bonding opportunities while opposing views such as with politics for example, can result in an explosive end to a relationship.

Source:

Hafen, C. A. (2011). Homophily in stable and unstable adolescent friendships: Similarity breeds constancy. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(5), 607-612.

Simonsohn, U. (2011). Spurious? name similarity effects (implicit egotism) in marriage, job, and moving decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(1), 1-24. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/851480715?accountid=13158


27
Nov 16

Butt out of here!

A social change that needs to come about is the cutback on the amount of littering that people do. The number one thing that people need to work on is reducing the amount of cigarette butts that are littered in the world. This is not just a problem in the United States, but a worldwide issue that people need to become aware of right away. As of right now it is the most commonly littered piece of trash (Register 2000).

It is estimated that there is close to about 1.7 billion pounds of cigarette butts being littered each year (“Cigarette Butt Waste”). One of the main reasons for this is that people are not educated about the impact of cigarette butts. Many people think that cigarette butts are actually biodegradable, which is entirely untrue. Also, when surveyed many people reported that they did not consider dropping cigarette butts to be considered littering (“The Problems & Facts”). Even with the amount of smokers going down the littering has not gone down (“Cigarette Butt Waste”).

These butts are very dangerous and toxic to our environment. The filters of cigarette butts are made up of cellulose acetate (Novotny, Lum, Smith, Wang, & Barnes 2009). Even though when one looks at a filter it looks like it would be made out of cotton, but cellulose acetate is actually a kind of plastic that takes a very long time to break down (Register 2000). The sun can break them down, but they will only breakup into small pieces and never fully decompose (Novotny, Lum, Smith, Wang, & Barnes 2009). The filters then end up making their way into the ocean and being digested by marine life. Just one filter when left in a liter of water leaks enough toxic chemicals to kill all the fish living in the water (“Cigarette Butt Waste”). That was just one filter can you imagine what all the filters are doing to our oceans?

Also, they are not only toxic for the environment, but also toxic for people. As many of us know, children love to put anything and everything in their mouths. So, what happens when you or someone you know takes their child to playground that has cigarette butts lying around? Of course one is bound to end up in a child’s mouth. In 1997 in Rhode Island, there were over 146 cases reported to the Department of Health of butts being ingested by children under the age of six causing signs of nicotine toxicity in about a third of them (Novotny, Lum, Smith, Wang, & Barnes 2009). They are enough to cause the children to experience vomiting, nausea, lethargy, gagging, and flushing (“Cigarette Butt Waste”). Even though we do not know how many is needed to be ingested to cause adverse health issues do we really want to find out (Novotny, Lum, Smith, Wang, Barnes 2009).

There are a couple of things that we can do to bring about this social change. For off we need to provide more ash receptacles, which has been shown that every addition of one reduces littering of cigarette butts by nine percent (“The Problem & Facts”). So, by putting up more places for people to dispose of their butts we can start reduces the litter. Also, making beach smoke free is said to reduce the number of butts found on the beach by forty-five percent (“Cigarette Butt Waste”). Lastly, informing the property owners about the impact that any kind of litter can have on their property values should push them to want to keep their communities clean (“Cigarette Butt Waste”). It is said that any presence of litter can reduce the property value for an around by a little over seven percent (“The Problems & Facts”). Just doing these three things we should see a difference in the amount of buts being littered.

Everyone talks about wanting a clean and healthy environment for their families, but they do not even realize that they might be taking away from it. Littering is a huge problem throughout the world. If we could get people to just start picking up their cigarette butts we could see a real improvement. Nobody realizes the impact of smoking has on people once the cigarette is smoke. Not only does it hurt people around the smoker when they are smoke, but it also hurts the environment once it flicked out of the car, onto the grass, or anywhere else that is not a trashcan. So, please if you know people who carelessly flick their cigarette butts wherever tell them the impact that they are causing for the rest of us.

Reference:

Cigarette Butt Waste. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from http://no-smoke.org/learnmore.php?id=731
Novotny, T. E., Lum, K., Smith, E., Wang, V., & Barnes, R. (2009). Cigarettes Butts and the Case for an Environmental Policy on Hazardous Cigarette Waste. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6(5), 1691-1705. doi:10.3390/ijerph6051691
Register, K. M. (2000, August). Cigarette Butts as Litter—Toxic as Well as Ugly. Retrieved November 27, 2016, from http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/ciglitterarticle.htm
The Problem & Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from https://www.kab.org/cigarette-litter-prevention/problem-and-facts

27
Nov 16

(4th Blog Entry, Yoon) Violence is a learned behavior.

Violence is a learned behavior

There is a strong connection between the use of violence and exposure to violence by young adolescents and children. Violence is a learned behavior according to a new study published by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in 2000. According to Robert H. Durant, vice chair of paediatrics at Wake Forest University School of medicine, he stated that adolescents are not likely to engage in violence if social learning from exposure to violence does not occur.

Children and adolescents are very much exposed to violence and carrying weapons. There are several ways that children learn violent behaviors. For instance, family, peer groups, community, and their neighborhoods can be ways where children can get exposed. Moreover, what children and adolescents see on television, music video, video games and movies can reinforce negative behaviors of children.

The researchers asked 722 Georgia middle school students, 11 and 12 years olds living in or around public housing, how many times they had been exposed to or a victim of violence in their communities. In this experiment, DuRant defined that violence can be categorized in five different types; participating in a physical fight which resulted in seeking medical attention, attacking someone with a weapon, using a weapon to force or get money or things from someone, carrying a concealed firearm, and carrying another weapon such as a razor or knife. It is not surprising that they behave aggressively or violent to others when they are physically or sexually abused.

Every child that sees violence at home, in school, or watches violent movies too much or plays too much video games. Violence can come from many different sources. Violence is all around us. If we are not careful out adolescents and children, they will be probably and potentially violent criminals. It is our responsibility as parents to provide the best future for our kids.

References

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. (2000, November 9). Violence Is A Learned Behavior, Say Researchers At Wake Forest University. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 27, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001106061128.htm


27
Nov 16

(3rd Blog Entry, Yoon) Does Jury Size Matter?

Does Jury Size Matter?

In most cases, juries are either 12 or 6 people. In most criminal cases the number of jurors is 12. While I was learning this lesson, I couldn’t stop questioning to myself about how the number of people serving on a jury can “affect” the result of a trial.

In Asch (1951)’s experiment, participants in his study judged the length of a line. A group of confederates in the experiment made an incorrect answer about the line on purpose. For me, the results were quite surprising. The experimental participants tend to conform with the incorrect judgment. They knew they doubted about giving their wrong answers. Yes, an individual’s judgement can be greatly influenced by others.

I think small juries may differ from larger juries in both the quality and deliberations. According to Nicole L. Waters in the National Centre for State Courts, 6-person juries perform worse when recalling the evidence compared to 12-person juries. For example, the likelihood that at least one juror will retain evidence increases in a larger group. Memory recalling is improved in jurors of 12-person juries in long trials. This research got to the outcome that 12 members of juries have a better chance.

I think reducing the size of juries can save more money, but it might be less representative of the community. It is a lot worthier even if courts cover the cost. Here are some reasons why I think jury size does matter. First, small juries have less effective group deliberation, so they might be more exposed to more error-prone. Second, small juries can produce less accurate decision and greater variability. These are highly related to the risk of convicting an innocent person.Therefore, jury size does matter.

References

Pennsylvania State University: World Campus. 2016. Lesson 8: The Legal System/Criminal Justice. DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY: PSYCH 424.

Waters, L. Nicole (2004). Does Jury Size Matter?. Retrieved from http://www.ncsc-jurystudies.org/~/media/Microsites/Files/CJS/What%20We%20Do/DOES%20JURY%20SIZE%20MATTER.ashx


27
Nov 16

(2nd Blog Entry, Yoon) Cultural Identity

Personal identity reflects a person’s sense of his or her own personal qualities and characteristics such as one is funny, outgoing, and smart (Schneider, Grumman, & Coutts, 2012, p. 340). On the other hand, social identity reflects a sense of identity based on the social groups “to which individuals belong or with which they identify” such as being a woman, Asian, and a student (Schneider, Grumman, & Coutts, 2012, p. 340). Culture plays an important key factor. This helps to set an individual’s identity and it does greatly influences how people communicate with each other.

I want to talk about cultural identity because this is a source of influence on our identity, self-concept, and patterns of life-style. What we learn through culture sets beliefs and views how we see and view the world. Culture has mostly everything that compose of our way of life including behaviors, values, attitudes, knowledge, and communication. People build cultures around both the social groups to which we choose to belong.

Our self-concept, identities, and cultural values all affect on how we communicate with other people. We tend to see the world from the perspective of our cultures, and each culture has different and unique values and attitudes about behaviors. For example, I communicate with my friends and family in my home country, South Korea, I tend to be more formal, polite forms of talk with members of Asian communities than friends here in America. American tends to value personal independence and direct talk, while in many Asian countries, personal identity is based on relationships with families and communicates, and the way people talk is guided by the expectations of others.

I see myself as I have two cultural identities, in America and in my home country,  It is exciting to learn new cultural beliefs, behaviors, values, and attitudes. I’ve grown in Asia for 17 years so I was used to think, behave, act, and express in Asian cultural ways. However, learning new culture has changed me a lot. Now I have a different cultural identity in America. How about you? What kinds of cultural identity do you have?

References

Penn State University, World Campus (Fall, 2016). Psych 424: Lesson 6. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802487/discussion_topics/11378499?module_item_id=21233957

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


22
Nov 16

Be Kind.

Social change in my opinion is the oil change for life, which keeps society as a whole functioning. If we aren’t able to address the problems that inhibit society from going forward we can’t progress. As the dimension of time is on a continuum; we as people must move along with it. Therefore, in order to sustain and preserve ourselves we must maintain ourselves. If we don’t address our problems they are much like Cancer; they will grow and eventually wipe us out. Luckily, we have social change research which helps to identify and fix these problems. Some of the several issues which social change research has covered include violence, tobacco use, sexually transmitter diseases, and

Today, I want to share with you a social change campaign a friend of mine started a few years back called the kind campaign. The campaign was started by two young woman Molly Thompson and another named Lauren Parsekian. I grew up with Lauren in the same neighborhood. She always stood out as she was well brought up, drop dead gorgeous, and just about the kindest person you would ever meet. The problem was in middle school and high school girls weren’t nice to Lauren because she was so beautiful. They made up rumors about her, would exclude her from social events, throw things at her and just flat out bully her without remorse.

In college Lauren decided she wanted to take action by creating a documentary regarding girl-to-girl bullying. After gradation her and Molly set out across county with a few other friends to film this documentary. Later on down the road, it turned into a full blown organization in which Lauren and Molly now travel internationally to various schools to give assemblies to young women about the effects of bullying. Their video won several awards and is still played in venues ad school throughout the nation.

 

So what does this organization do? Well their mission statement is as follows:

 

“KIND CAMPAIGN IS AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT BRINGS AWARENESS AND HEALING TO THE NEGATIVE AND LASTING EFFECTS OF GIRL-AGAINST-GIRL BULLYING THROUGH THEIR GLOBAL MOVEMENT, DOCUMENTARY FILM, IN-SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES AND EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUMS.”  -Kind Campaign

 

In other words, they have acknowledged a social problem within society, which is the viciousness of girl-to-girl bullying, and they have decided they want to diminish the negativity that comes from this issue. Both girls had experienced the consequences of bullying and therefore understood the negative effects it poses. In order to fix bullying situations that damage so many young girls’ self esteem as well as cripples them from living out their full potential Lauren and Molly have tried to reduce bullying through the promotion of the contrary action. Their goal is to dissuade young girls from being mean to each other by positively reaffirming how important it is to be nice. They also encourage girls to pledge not to be victims, meaning that they will pledge to not let what others have to say about them define them. On their website there is tab in which girls can state this pledge as well as apologize and declare forgiveness for situations where bullying has been involved.

Overall, this campaign is one of many that works to make the world a better place and smooth out some of society’s kinks. Anyone can do it. All it takes is someone using a personal experience of the damages that can result from an unresolved social issue such as bullying to make a change in other young girls lives all around the world. When it comes to promoting kindness, it think it’s something we could all have a little more of.

imgres

 

“Join the Movement.” Kind Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016. <https://www.kindcampaign.com/>.


21
Nov 16

Creating more interests for students

I went to a pretty small high school that was condensed down from four schools. There were about 300 kids in each grade and about 25-30 kids pre classroom. Other than the basic classes, not much else was offered to us. There were limited computer classes, a few engineering classes, one or two art classes, no business classes, and certainly no psychology classes. Then around age 17 we were told to pick a college we want to go to and pick a degree that interested us. Most of us made decisions without experiencing what the rest of the world had to offer.

About 75% of students change their major at least one time before graduating (Freedman, 2013). We are asked to make such a big commitment and decision at such a young age. College students not only commit to four to five years of their life, but also thousands of dollars of debt. Though there is nothing wrong with changing your major, but what if you could narrow down your interests before making such a big commitment?

The ideal plan would be to reform schools, so they can have more to offer to their students. This type of adjustment would require more money for education, which I believe is a great idea, but seems impossible at the moment. Instead, we could create something of a job fair. Several weekend out of the year, teachers could come volunteer their time to teach students about not-so-common topics such as marine biology, psychology, or graphic design.  At the event, students would walk from booth to booth to learn more about a subject, then sign up for the most interesting subject they found. The afternoon would consist of a few hours of class being taught by a volunteer teacher. This would create the chance for students to be exposed to new things early on in life before committing their time and energy to college.

References:

Freedman, L. (2013). The Developmental Disconnect in Choosing a Major. Butler University. Retrieved from https://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2013/06/disconnect-choosing-major/


21
Nov 16

No-Kill Shelters

I bet almost all of you have shared a house with an animal even for a short amount of time. Pets are amazing; they become like family, and they are remembered for years, even after they pass away. Every pet owner is aware that their pets have a very short life span when compared to humans, and fear that they will never come. I am one of those people, I believe that all animals should have the opportunity to live as long as they are alive.

A no-kill shelter is described as “an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals even when the shelter is full, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals or those considered dangerous to public safety (No Kill Advocacy Center, 2014).” When the shelters are full, they expand their resources with the help from donators and volunteers, and they work really hard to lower the number of animals in the system by adopting. It is important to spay and neuter these animals in the shelters to prevent further birthing.

I believe an animal still should have the right to live, even if they are a hazard to public safety. There could be special shelters where only these types of animals would live. On the other hand, when an animal is terminally ill and suffering, I believe euthanasia is the correct decision. A dog can’t enjoy life if he’s not going to be able to run and play, and instead be lying down in pain in a room by himself all day.

Who are we to decide on who dies and who lives? How different is this from racism, if we kill a specific kind of animal just to keep the population under control? No dog or cat should die because we want to! Say yes to no-kill shelters!

“No Kill 101: A Primer on No Kill Animal Control Sheltering For Public Officials” 4 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine., No Kill Advocacy Center, accessed 2 September 2014.


21
Nov 16

Social Change and Crime Rate

Getting everyone on board and adapting to social change can be difficult. Luckily, there are several forms of research that have been created to help ease the process. However, we are left wondering if those changes were best for the community as a whole. In our course’s book Applied Social Psychology, Checkoway created strategies to help achieve a smooth transition into said change (Scneider et al., 2012). In the article, Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach, researchers presented a method to analyze crime rate trends and cycles to concentrate on circumstances that drove criminal acts to occur (Cohen & Felson, 1979).

The main thesis presented in this study is that since 1960 a dramatic increase in reported crime rates in the United States is linked to structured routine activity changes. To gain insight, researchers compared hourly data for the years 1960 and 1971 from households that were unattended by those 14 and over. Findings show that the average hours a house was unattended almost doubled in 1971 (1979). From 1947 to 1974, there was a statistically significantly positive relationship between household activity and crime rate change. These results occur whether there are exclusions of the variable unemployment, change in age observation or if they count the first difference for each crime rate as exogenous (1979).

Data from this research explains 5 crime rate trends and shows that the relationship holds for both macro and micro level data. Analyzing the figures suggests that routine activities may provide the opportunity for illegal activities to occur (1979). So, do these results still hold weight? If we change the way our community functions are we opening ourselves to backlash?

 

Cohen, L., & Felson, M. (1979). Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach. American Sociological Review, 44(4), 588-608. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/stable/2094589

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
Nov 16

MAMA PRIA!

Social change and participatory research aim to aid the greater good. Participatory research includes becoming “hands on,” and researchers submerge themselves into a community, hoping to learn why things are the way they are before implementing methods of social change (PSU WC, 2016).

The United States is among the most advanced of nations in regards to equality for all. Over the recent centuries, steps have been taken to establish equality among women, minorities and bring aid to the less fortunate. That is not to say the playing field is completely level, as we all know there is still work to be done. Nonetheless, In other parts of the world, the marginalized are not nearly so lucky. Helping those nations to push past tradition and embrace equality as modernity is an organization called Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA).

In the words of PRIA members, “We live in a world plagued with inequality when others have a lot of prosperity and wealth.” Focusing most of its efforts in India, a country where the marginalized are neglected, the mission of PRIA is to empower those who are excluded through the spread of knowledge and establishment of democracy (PRIA, 2010).

Since 2000, the GDP of India has multiplied by three, yet one-third of their citizens live in the infamous “slums”. Out of 148 countries, India places 132 for gender equality. Only a quarter of children who surpass fifth grade are literate, half of the children in each village are malnourished and only 0.013% of slums are equipped with adequate resources and policies. PRIA hopes to eventually help countries like India reach their full potential (PRIA, 2010).

To those who want a career in assisting developing countries through participatory research, PRIA offers a number of courses, internships, employment opportunities and areas of specialization. A few of these areas include women’s leadership and empowerment, environmental and occupational and health, and gender mainstreaming. By training, so far, 125,000 PRIA representatives in these areas, they wish to educate. They want to make the marginalized aware of their rights and make the government responsible for providing for all citizens with appropriate health, water, sanitization and education (PRIA, 2010).

Through their efforts, thus far, 500 citizen and youth support groups have been formed and 50,000 citizen leaders have been appointed. 100,000 young girls have been enrolled in educational institutions, with their safety and security guaranteed. 500 slum areas have been provided with safe and sustainable sources of drinking water, 200 more have been given access to sanitization, and availability of healthcare has also increased (PRIA, 2010). Many of these necessities are ones, which we take for granted. Living in a modern nation, it is easy to forget that in other parts of the world, necessities are merely luxuries. Through the efforts of social change and participatory research groups, like PRIA, there is hope for “a world based on values of equality, justice, freedom, peace and solidarity (PRIA, 2010).

References:

PRIA. 2010. Retrieved from URL: http://pria.org

Pennsylvania State University World Campus. 2016. Lesson 13: Social Change/Participatory Research. Department of Psychology. 


20
Nov 16

Hollywood and It’s Influence on Promoting Social Reform

For decades, Hollywood has rocked the vote, filmed PSAs, organized concerts and posted on social media to get young people out and into the voting booth. However, even though it’s in their own interest to vote, 18-to-24-year-olds are the least likely to turn out. In fact, their voting rates were at an estimated 50 percent of registered voters during the 2016 election.

To use the full potential of Hollywood to make meaningful progress on the social causes we care about, it’s time to recognize that traditional “awareness raising” is insufficient and obsolete. Hollywood must put its weight not behind PSAs but rather interventions based on the science of behavior.

For example, behavioral science research shows that when you ask people how they’ll vote instead of if they’ll vote, turnout dramatically increases (Brookshire, 2016). Researchers call this “implementation intention,” a method of nudging people to literally spell out how they will accomplish a specific goal. Instead of a “get out the vote” concert with stickers handed out urging people to vote, what if the price of admission was to fill out a form detailing your voting plan?

This doesn’t mean that awareness campaigns are futile, but too often they are based on faulty assumptions — that humans are rational, Spock-like beings for whom information is all that’s needed to change behavior. We are not Spock. Sure, we can be rational and strategic (behavioral scientists call that our System 2, and it’s what we use to do things like take the SAT), but we also can be emotional and impetuous (think of a tiny Trump in your brain — he’s your System 1), so information alone often is not enough to change our ways (Singal, 2013). For example, a decision to smoke (or not) should be based on the known health risks, but in reality just watching actors smoke in a movie activates our sense of social norms and makes us more likely to light up.

Applying information aquired through behavioral science can help us understand and predict the way humans will act illogically so that we can construct social-change campaigns that take into account our irrational ways. Take the much-debated ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: It looks like a standard awareness and fundraising campaign that magically “went viral,” but look closer and you can see that its success was rooted in its use of multiple psychological levers that  spoke directly to our Trump-ian System 1.

The campaign combined several behavioral insights to make the most of stars’ participation. First, It used the power of social norms. Second, it made use of “implementation intentions” (helping people think through exactly how they were going to participate and when) by giving people a deadline of 24 hours. Third it leveraged reciprocity (when someone does something for us, we feel obliged to do something for them) by having participants nominate three others to complete the challenge. Social media added reach and accountability.

Imagine similar techniques applied to something like combating climate change. Research shows that when people receive bills that visually display that they use more energy than their neighbors, they tend to bring their use down (Petersen et al., 2007). So what if stars, often assumed to be the biggest energy consumers, made their bills public? Or helped fight drought by posting their water usage? Now that’s a public-service announcement, one that might disrupt Hollywood’s dependance on awareness and redirect the influence of fame.

 

Brookshire, B. (2016, November 04). Why people don’t vote, and what to do about it. Retrieved November 19, 2016, from https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/why-people-dont-vote-and-what-do-about-it.

CIRCLE » An Estimated 24 Million Young People Voted in 2016 Election. (2016, November 9). Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://civicyouth.org/an-estimated-24-million-young-people-vote-in-2016-election/.

Petersen, J. E., Shunturov, V., Janda, K., Platt, G., & Weinberger, K. (2007). Dormitory residents reduce electricity consumption when exposed to real‐time visual feedback and incentives. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 8(1), 16-33. doi:10.1108/14676370710717562.

Singal, J. (2013, April 26). Daniel Kahneman’s Gripe With Behavioral Economics. Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/26/daniel-kahneman-s-gripe-with-behavioral-economics.html


20
Nov 16

How can video games affect the brain?

There are over 1.2 billion video-game players in the world. Video games can cause violence in behavior and addiction. Psychologists split over whether video games can make you violent based on different skills: motor skill, visual abilities and brain growth. Some studies imply that video games helps our brain growth and some studies imply that video games cause brain deterioration. I personally believe that video games cause brain deterioration especially violent video games. How can your brain learn something if you are not learning something. Our brain is the life of our bodies. Just like they say in the hospital, when you are brain dead you are dead. According to a study by K. Thomas and D.A. Gentile individuals playing a high-violence video game showed lower activity (measured via signals from MRI) in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, whereas players used to low-violence video games displayed higher activity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Games who play violence games may be desensitized to aggression and violence. This is just one of the many studies that have been conducted that have shown appreciation in the relationship between the brain and video games.

Video games affect the Brain—for better and worse. (2015, September 15). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from http://www.dana.org/Cerebrum/2009/Video_Games_Affect_the_Brain%E2%80%94for_Better_and_Worse/


20
Nov 16

Creating Change Through Social Research

The United States has resulted in activism for social and policy change throughout a great deal of our history. We’ve addressed issues such as women’s suffrage, civil rights, war, the environment, tobacco use and bullying. As with any issue, you will have those who are for and those against proposed changes. Social change research is a necessary factor when attempting to influence policy or change behaviors. If we don’t conduct appropriate research on the area we expect to inflict change, we are likely to make errors as to the cause of behaviors resulting in unsuccessful interventions (McLoughlin & Young, 2005).

Smoking has been a long standing social issue. Even with known health risks, people still continue to engage in the behavior. Schools, communities, and state and federal government agencies have taken to participatory research to encourage smoking cessation and to discourage people from partaking in the risky behavior. Participatory or action research occurs when researchers actively work with a community or group of interest in an effort to understand the issue and hand which then allows them to create effective interventions for change (Nelson, 2016). Vassar College has created an action research team to address tobacco use on campus and other universities are following suit. It is estimated that as many as 30% of college students use tobacco products and more than 40% of college smokers are likely to become full-time smokers (TTAC, 2016). Most of the university action research has aimed at creating a smoke-free campus while also educating students on the negative health effects of tobacco use.

Activist research has also taking a forefront in the anti-tobacco campaign. Those engaging in activist research are both vested in and generally working to change attitudes and beliefs through their research (Nelson, 2016). In the case of smoking, tobacco companies have been known to utilize activist research as a means of pushing their agenda. A large majority of this research goes into marketing and advertising and the tobacco companies have found success just through well-placed signage at convenience stores and other tobacco retailers (Feighery, Ribisl, & Haladjian, 2003). One way they’ve ensured retailers continue to advertise their products is through cash incentives (Feighery et al., 2003) which can be rather difficult for business owners to turn down.

For the most part, social change research has done much good, but research may not always have everyone’s best interest in mind. This type of research is likely to become increasingly common and it is critical that people educate themselves on important issues and critically evaluate research claims and outcomes.

References

Feighery, E. C., Ribisl, K. M., & Haladjian, H. H. (2003). How tobacco companies ensure prime placement of their advertising and products in stores: interviews with retailers about tobacco company incentive programmes. Tobacco Control, 12(), 184-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tc.12.2.184

McLoughlin, L., & Young, G. (2005). The role of social research in effective social change programs. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 21(), 57-70.

Nelson, A. (2016). Lesson 13: social change/participatory research  [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/canvas/fa16/21681–14011/content/13_lesson/printlesson.html

TTAC. (2016). College tobacco use: a cause for alarm. Retrieved from http://ttac.org/services/college/facts/alarm.html


20
Nov 16

Be The Change You Wish to See

After a very controversial and emotional election year, the candidate has been selected. Our next President has been chosen, yet the very emotional and divisive discussions and feelings continue. What could have made this election year go more smoothly? What can be done to ensure the next election does not become the circus that was 2016? The answer is simple, however implementation is almost impossible.

Media plays a large role in the daily life of almost every American. Whether this be television news, newspapers, blogs, on-line news sources, or social media, it almost certainly impacts our thoughts and choices. Unfortunately, not everyone realizes the bias of some of what the read or hear. Adding to that, not everyone understands that so much information on-line is either severely biased, satire, or flat out fake. The regulation of information released by the media is an infringement upon our constitutional rights as Americans, and thus it is imperative that American’s take it upon themselves to understand and learn how to decipher biased or fake information from truth. As more and more students enter college, this is being learned. I believe a generation of more informed and enlightened peoples are in our country’s future.

In the meantime, there are some regulations that can be implemented to assist with the type of information being circulated during election cycles. For instance, candidates should not be allowed to create campaign ads which defame another candidate. Additionally, during debates, candidates should be held to a certain standard of behavior which does not tolerate insulting the other candidate’s. Furthermore, the debates should not allow candidates to even discuss one another. In other words, each candidate needs to discuss his or her own ideas and plans without discussing the other candidate’s plans. This plan should be followed throughout the entire campaign, forcing candidates to be more respectful and set a better example for the millions of American’s looking to them as leaders.

Social change starts with leading by example. “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” This is an unknown quote which I think is relevant now more than ever. If we hold our leaders to higher standards and demand a lead by example leader to represent our very special country, perhaps Americans themselves would be more apt to live more kind and respectful lives. What can you do to help? Inform others of how to detect biased versus unbiased sources! Lead by your own example and always remain informed! Relay your information to others with kindness and respect, even in the face of adversity and hatred. Change starts with each of us.


18
Nov 16

Fun Fact: People will like you more if you meet them for coffee, not for drinks.

This week (okay, last week, but shhh), we’re talking about interpersonal relations and social psych in our daily lives, and I have news for you.

Science and psychology alike have proven that on a subconscious level, people who meet over coffee will like one another more than those who meet over beer, wine, or your alcohol of choice.

There are actually an astronomically-high number of reasons this is true, including the energizing buzz of quiet productivity surrounding you in a coffeehouse and the potential dissonance induced by the social stigma surrounding going out for drinks, but today we’re looking at one very specific reason.

Let’s back up a little.

Think of the last time you took a shower, especially first thing in the morning. How did it make you feel? Odds are that you, like the vast majority of your peers, find that a morning shower not only wakes you up, but it also improves your mood and outlook. You step out of the shower feeling refreshed, both physically and emotionally. But is that just your biased perception, or is there an actual psychological and scientific basis behind it?

As it turns out, it’s actually legitimate.

Specifically, it’s the hot water itself that does the trick, sparking positivity and ‘warm fuzzy feelings’ inside of you. The cooler the water, the less effect it seems to have. Research also points to the fact that this association is learned, not innate.

But why do we learn this? How does it develop?

It starts in early development.

Research suggests that frequently experiencing affection and physical warmth at the same time in infancy develops a subconscious association between the two concepts  (Steinmetsz & Mussweiler, 2011). Affection is associated with feeling physical warmth, and feeling physical warmth is associated with affection.

The scientific basis for this theory stems from Harlow’s 1958 studies of infant monkeys raised by themselves. In that experiment, they were divided into two categories and each category got one of two kinds of “mother”: Half of the monkeys got a terrycloth mother, warmed by a 100-watt lightbulb, and half of the monkeys got a cold wire mother.

The monkeys with the warm terrycloth mother grew up almost entirely devoid of social deficits, while the monkeys with the cold wire mother grew up to be varying degrees of socially dysfunctional.

As a follow-up study, some new monkey infants were offered both mothers at once, and the cold wire mother was fitted with a feeding bottle. While the monkeys strayed to the cold wire mother to feed, the rest of the time was spent almost exclusively within arm’s reach of the terrycloth mother. It was clearly the mother they associated with social warmth and affection.

On top of that, it’s been discovered that young children who are securely attached to their parent(s) show more generosity toward others in physically warm situations than in physically cold ones,while children with less secure attachments show no change in generosity between the two temperatures (Ijzerman, Karremans, Thomsen & Schubert). This not only demonstrates a strong early-childhood correlation between physical temperature and social warmth, but it also demonstrates a correlation between strong parental attachment (and thus, one could assume, a socially-warm parent-child relationship) and physical warmth being an active stimulus for socially-warm behaviors.

The article Cold-Blooded Loneliness: Social exclusion leads to lower skin temperatures poses what I’d consider an extremely viable explanation for the development of this association:

To close, we would like to note that the body’s architecture is likely to have developed in order to be able to adapt and bond quickly, without conscious effort. We suggest that the understanding of abstract concepts like affection through concrete experiences such as physical warmth is often derived from specific affordances with which people have become equipped. People mark social relations through actual changes in bodily temperatures, possibly offering evolutionary advantages in early life stages. (Ijzerman, Karremans, Thomsen & Schubert)

That is to say, babies and kids in their early years are much too young to properly understand less-than-concrete concepts of affection, and instead latch onto physical warmth as something they can grasp. This gives them a leg-up, because rather than being forced to wait until they’ve advanced to the point where affection is no longer too abstract, they can instead use changes in body temperature as a sort of ‘cheat sheet’ to understanding social relationships earlier on.

 

This carries over into adulthood.

Buckle up, because we have a handful of studies we’re taking a peek at in this section.

The first study comes from the article, The Substitutability of Physical and Social Warmth in Daily Life, by Bargh and Shalev at Yale University. While they did a handful of studies, I’ll be focusing primarily on Studies 1a and 1b.

Studies 1a and 1b were meant to test the hypothesis that people inadvertently or subconsciously compensate for a lack of perceived social warmth in their lives by increasing their voluntary exposure to physical warmth. Even more specific, they predicted that the trait ‘loneliness’ would strongly correlate with bathing habits (frequency, duration, and temperature of baths/showers).

As hypothesized, they found a strong positive correlation between a person’s loneliness and their bathing habits in both frequency and duration, as well as a lesser correlation with temperature. The degree of loneliness accounted for a whopping 23% difference in the participants’ bathing habits with regards to frequency, and the lonelier they were, the longer and hotter their bath/shower tended to be. Study 1b found the same correlation, but with only a 14% change. They attributed this to the fact that older participant group largely had stronger bathing habits and routines set into place than your average college student (subject pool for 1a).

This study, in summary, stated that many people experiencing extreme loneliness have inadvertently learned to temporarily reduce or even eliminate the loneliness feelings with frequent long hot showers.

 

Oh, you thought I was done? Get ready for two more studies.

The authors of the article, Cold-blooded loneliness: Social exclusion leads to lower skin temperatures, by Ijzerman, Gallucci, Pouow, Weiβgerber, Doesum, and Williams conducted a psychophysiological experiment on another facet of this topic. The goal of the study was to support the hypothesis that people experience physical temperature changes to process “close and affiliative relations”.

In their first study, their hypothesis predicted that social exclusion would cause the participants’ temperature to drop. Their second study set to prove that if they stimulated the participant with physical warmth, the negative affect caused by perceived social exclusion would disappear and the participant would again feel connected.

The first set of results supported the hypothesis! Even once all variables were accounted for, participants thus had physically colder skin after they experienced perceived social rejection.

The second study had two variables: included .vs. excluded, and holding a hot drink .vs. holding a cold drink. This supported the hypothesis just like the first one: The greatest level of negative affect were the excluded participants who held a cold drink. Meanwhile, the exclusion group who held a hot drink showed no significant difference in affect from the inclusion groups.

This supports the hypothesis that a warm cup (that is to say, physical warmth) can actually alleviate the effects of social exclusion.

 

What does all of this boil down to?

Firstly, my new favorite dating tip: Ask them to coffee, not to a bar (or even out to fro-yo). Buy them a hot beverage, and keep your own hot beverage clasped between your hands to raise the odds that your date might do the same – and if each of you has a warm cup in your hand, you’ll subconsciously feel more connected and even affectionate, and there’s a higher chance that the both of you will go home happy.

In a more general sense: If your social life’s a mess, self-medicate with a nice hot shower. Heck, depending on how long it’s been since you’ve taken one, that might solve your social issues altogether. (Hard to go wrong with good hygiene.)

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES:

Bargh, J., & Shalev, I. (2012). The substitutability of physical and social warmth in daily life. Emotion. Retrieved September 26, 2014.

Ijzerman, H., Gallucci, M., Pouw, W., Weiβgerber, S., Doesum, N., & Williams, K. (n.d.). Cold-blooded loneliness: Social exclusion leads to lower skin temperatures. Acta Psychologica, 283-288. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

Kraus, M., Huang, C., & Keltner, D. (n.d.). Tactile Communication, Cooperation, And Performance: An Ethological Study Of The NBA. Emotion, 745-749.

IJzerman, H., Karremans, J.C., Thomsen, L., Schubert, T.W., in press. Caring for sharing: How attachment styles modulate cues of physical warmth. Social Psychology.

Rimm-Kaufman, S., & Kagan, J. (n.d.). The psychological significance of changes in skin temperature. Motivation and Emotion, 63-78. Retrieved October 22, 2014.

Shalev, I., & Bargh, J. (2011). Use of Priming-Based Interventions to Facilitate Psychological Health: Commentary on Kazdin and Blase (2011). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 488-492.

Steinmetz, J., & Mussweiler, T. (n.d.). Breaking the ice: How physical warmth shapes social comparison consequences. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1025-1028. Retrieved October 25, 2014.


16
Nov 16

Social Change: Action research

 

quote-no-research-without-action-no-action-without-research-kurt-lewin-136-14-90Not all of us will become professional scientists, but most thinking persons are lay scientists. For example, we all make predictions about the outcomes of various choices at our disposal in our daily life through an informal and largely unconscious process. Similarly, those of us who are personally invested in (any pro-social) career outside of basic research nonetheless conduct informal action research in the pursuit of successful outcomes. By definition, action research occurs when individuals seek to influence the community they are a part of, and therefore have a vested interest in (Lewin, 1946, in Scheider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).

In order to become a better doctor, for example, one must not only stay on the cutting edge of medicine, but must also learn how to achieve greater patient compliance with medical directives. If patients aren’t compliant, a physician might dig deeper to find out why individuals don’t act in accordance with medical advice. He or she might wonder, are patients confused about instructions, unable to afford prescribed medications, or embarrassed to discuss side effects, fears, or other concerns? Could they disagree with or distrust the physician’s goals? These types of questions exhibit more than simple curiosity—they indicate an underlying desire to improve health outcomes more effectively through heightened awareness of patients’ personal and cultural needs.

If we want to systematize this informal process of examination so that our own findings may contribute to broader understanding, participatory action research is an avenue that capitalizes on the insights tharcat can be gained through being on the front lines of a pressing social concern. This iterative cycle of inquiry and reflection (Kolk, n.d.) allows us to—to paraphrase Paulo Friere, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970/1993)—both educate, and be educated by, the very people we study (Brydon-Miller, 1997). At the core of this approach is the fundamental belief that authentic knowledge cannot be generated without the participation and perspective of the communities investigated.

People in various careers participate in action research, not the least of which is education. Dick Sagor, former high school principal and current Director of the Institute for the Study of Inquiry in Education, encourages teachers to collaborate with each other as action researchers (Kolk, n.d.). By pooling their experiences and results, he says, teachers became more invested and successful, boosting teacher satisfaction as well as school culture. Melinda Kolk, editor of Creative Educator lays out a template for would-be action researchers in the classroom environment to follow if they wish to formalize their informal processes (Kolk, n.d.). By progressing through the action research cycle, they can reap the benefits of promoting effective change in their own classrooms, while potentially benefiting students and teachers in the broader community should their research be published.

I can’t help but think that adopting an action researcher mentality, regardless of one’s career, would provide a greater sense of fulfillment and purpose to daily tasks. A sense of ongoing inquisitiveness, paired with a commitment to the greater good, would particularly enrich those whose career choice puts them into frequent contact with disadvantaged or marginalized groups.

Brydon‐Miller, M. (1997). Participatory action research: Psychology and social change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 657-666. doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00042.

Kolk, M. Embrace action research. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from Creative Educator, http://www.thecreativeeducator.com/v07/articles/Embracing_Action_Research

Kolk, M. K. M. Interview with Dick Sagor. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from http://www.thecreativeeducator.com/v07/articles/Interview_Dick_Sagor

Retrieved November 17, 2016, from http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-no-research-without-action-no-action-without-research-kurt-lewin-136-14-90.jpg

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

 

 


16
Nov 16

Emotional effects of tough election among Americans in 2016

After the big political change we just experienced, the election of Donald Trump, many citizens are feeling a social burden because they believe the elected president is not fit for the job. It is very unfortunate that social changes like this happen and it does, for fact, affect each and every single one of us. No matter if we are living bad or god times, the public opinion is always an essential component of politics (Bermeo, & Bartels, 2014). Apparently, this time around the public opinion has not been taken into consideration. When social changes like this happen, the population feels insecure and threatened by different social values that do not comply with their expectancies. Thus, their behavior change because they experience cognitive dissonance (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2013, p. 170). This election seemed to cause a big wave of public compliance, where many people who did not even supported the elected president voted without believing that the results would cause national frustration (Aronson, at al., 2013, p. 201).

To reduce the distress caused by the situation, social psychologists may need to intervene and develop social programs that are able to create conformity in the population. Conformity in a social scale happens when we, the population make changes on our behavior to accept and comply with others’ expectations (Aronson, at al., 2013, p. 199); which means that soon or later we may have to accept the results of the campaign and cross fingers that we do not get hit by horrible presidential choices. I know that the feeling of expectations may cause anxiety and other psychological effects, but we will have to be flexible and ready for adjustments in our social environment. This process is painful sometimes, but it happens every time a new president is elected. Thus, one way social psychologists will get ready for this dramatic change is by setting up participatory action research all around the country, as it is intended to do research and contribute to social changes (PSU, WC, Psych 424, lesson 13, 2016). Applied social psychology in the next few years will probably be a high stake for all of us because its’ fundamental idea is to develop strategies that improve individual or group social interactions, and decrease practical problems (Schneider, Grumman, & Coutts, 2012, p. 8). If the political burden increases, they definitely will be usefully doing research and developing active social programs that can change social behavior.

This is also an opportunity to community psychology to get into practice and integrate research with actions that will effectively change our views about our social situation (Schneider, Grumman, & Coutts, 2012, p. 275). Using participatory action research they will assess our political, social and economic values as part of research methods and applications (Brydon, 1997). Created in the 1970’s, this source of research was initially criticized because there has always been a belief that psychologists should never mix their personal values to their profession, as it can cause conflict of interests (PSU, WC, Psych 424, lesson 13, 2016). In certain circumstances, like the political scenario we are living now, it can be a positive research method to be used. The only way it can misused is if researchers tries to use their work to make personal implications, which is known as activist research and can be a misleading way to influence members of the social environment to follow constructs that may or may not be completely accurate (PSU, WC, Psych 424, lesson 13, 2016). We should not expect any activism to happen in this case, but since it involves politics, there is always a chance that social influence will diverge from its original intent, because this is a common characteristic of politics anyways. However, we should never give up on our social expectations, as we should defend our constructs with a sensitive and rationale manner to achieve a common goal.

Hopefully, our future is not going to be as bitter as we think it will. If we get to that point, applied social psychology will definitely stand by us to help find social solutions. Let’s be positive by now, and try our best to understand how to fit into this new social environment, it may help to control our burden. Democracy isn’t always an easy process, but we cannot lose our hope (Corazzini, Kube, Maréchal, & Nicolò, 2014).

 

References:

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Akert, R. M. (2013). Social psychology (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Bermeo, N., & Bartels, L. (2014). Mass politics in tough times: Opinions, votes and protest in the great recession: Opinions, votes and protest in the great recession. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199357505.001.0001. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/lib/pennstate/reader.action?docID=10812617

Brydon‐Miller, M. (1997). Participatory action research: Psychology and social change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 657-666. doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00042. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1997.tb02454.x/epdf

Corazzini, L., Kube, S., Maréchal, M., & Nicolò, A. (2014). Elections and Deceptions: An Experimental Study on the Behavioral Effects of Democracy. American Journal of Political Science, 58(3), 579-592. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/stable/24363508

Penn State University, World Campus (Fall, 2016). Psych 424-Lesson 13 – Social Change. Retrieved at

https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802487/discussion_topics/11378503?module_item_id=21234006

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


15
Nov 16

Do Opposites Attract?

The saying “opposites attract” is not only popular in English, but also popular in many other languages. In Turkish, we say that opposite poles attract each other like magnets. Although it is always interesting to socialize with someone who is knowledgable in topics that are new to you, do opposites always attract? Would it be possible to have a peaceful life with a partner that is completely different than you?

According to research, people do not hold long-term relationships or friendships with people who don’t share their beliefs and values. People seek similarity when looking for long term relationships and friendships, because what you know is comforting and peaceful. It is also stated in the research that when strangers hit it off, it is usually due to their similarities and not differences. I believe it is alright to be with someone who has different interests than you, as long as you guys share the same values and beliefs in the core. According to the article, “…we do not mean to suggest that social influence doesn’t happen in relationships; however, there’s little room for influence to occur when partners are similar at the outset of relationships” (Knapton, 2016).

There is no doubt that people are more attracted to and want to pursue longer relations with people who are similar to them in age, political orientation, and certain aspects of intelligence. It is a known fact that people are also attracted to other people who are geographically close to them. So, I believe, opposites might be attracted to each other for a short time, but in general, opposites do not attract each other.

Knapton, S. (February 2016) Relationships: opposites do not attract, scientists prove. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12170295/Relationships-opposites-do-not-attract-scientists-prove.html


15
Nov 16

By the Bootstraps

You can tell a man to lift himself up by his own bootstraps, but what if he has no feet?

Painting by Van Gogh (1895), as taken from Wikimedia (2012)

Painting by Vincent van Gogh (1895), as taken from Wikimedia (2012)

Like how the classic colloquialism of “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” assumes a set of standards that may not always apply, social interventions are only effective if they match the needs of the people they aim to serve. For instance, if I wanted to help a ward of impoverished patients by donating a dozen pairs of boots, I would get some pretty scornful looks if they were in the hospital for transfemoral amputations. My intentions may have been good, but if I don’t account for the experiences of everyone I hope to help, I may harm them more than help them. Unfortunately, many well-intended people look at the world as though through a mirror, assuming that everyone everywhere would share the same needs, desires, and concerns that they themselves have. While this may at times produce great deeds and moments of human triumph when the needs of donor and recipient coincide, it can at times backfire.

Take the push to send yoga mats to Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake (Kenny, 2011). Or the import of donated clothing that, through overwhelming the local economy, destroyed the textile industries in most African countries by 50 (Frazer, 2008; Brooks, 2013) to 88 percent (Aboagyewaa-Ntiri & Mintah, 2016). Or the food rations packages air-dropped in to Afghanistan that were the same color and size as cluster bombs and which Afghani children often couldn’t tell apart (Stupat, 2012).

If you didn't speak English, would it be hard to tell the two apart? (Stupart, 2012)

If you didn’t speak English, would it be hard to tell which to pick up? (Stupart, 2012)

Interventions like these that do not take the interests and perspectives of the people they purport to help can do far more harm than good. But such top-down approaches are far too common; in fact, they’re the traditional way of providing aid, from neighborhood to neighborhood and from nation to nation. In top-down interventions, researchers, politicians, humanitarian aid workers, and other authorities treat recipients as passive beneficiaries of aid rather than as active participants in the process; they tell people what they need rather than think to ask. By believing that their own culture is the gold standard and the default from which all others should be compared, many individuals who are part of top-down programs practice ethnocentrism, and by assuming that this cultural superiority grants them the authority to know what’s best for others more than those others themselves, top-down practitioners can also be paternalistic as well. By exploring a bit more of what can go wrong when good intentions go bad, perhaps we can see just why the bottom-up participatory action research we learned about this week is such a revolution.

What does a purchase of TOMS shoes really contribute? (Image from TOMS, 2016)

TOMS (2016d) is one of the progenitors of the buy-one, give-one model of profitable giving.

An example of a top-down program that could do with a bit of participatory action research is TOMS, a company that got its start by offering to donate a pair of shoes to an underprivileged person for every pair purchased. The company’s founder, Blake Mycoskie, got the idea while traveling the world after competing on The Amazing Race (2016). Mycoskie was in Argentina to learn how to play polo when he encountered a woman collecting shoes for the poor and, after accompanying her and seeing the impact she had on the lives of others, decided to return home and start an organization of his own (2016). Shoes for Tomorrow, later Tomorrow’s Shoes, which he shortened to TOMS to fit the name on the label (Mycoskie, 2016), has since grown into a remarkable success. The company has helped more than 35 million people in over 70 countries, donating shoes and glasses, increasing access to clean drinking water, promoting the means for safe childbirth, and even working to prevent bullying (TOMS, 2016e). TOMS has achieved this through its “One for One” philosophy–now trademarked–and the sale of everything from vegan shoes to designer eyeglasses to a special band for the Apple Watch (TOMS, 2016e), sales that contribute to the company’s estimated value of $625 million (Rupp & Banerjee, 2014). Clearly, the company aims to do well by doing good. But the question remains:  Good for whom?

Continue reading →


15
Nov 16

Developing friendships through intimacy and self- disclosure

Friendships develop through everyday interactions that satisfy our needs within our social environment. It’s a way for us as human beings to stay connected each other. It’s also another way to find satisfaction in life and improve self-disclosure and develop intimacy.

screen-shot-2016-11-14-at-9-23-28-pm

In order to develop an increased level of intimacy, you must also have a range of topics to discuss that will increase as relationships development. Self-disclosure is the act of sharing facts, inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions about one’s life and situation.

One way to improve self- disclosure when beginning a new relationship is to tell someone your story. Tell them what makes you happy or sad. Allowing others to know your abilities and needs will lead to an easier understanding of one another and develop a deeper relationship.

In addition, social support is also very important during friendship development because it has been know to increase a person’s physical health and their overall well-being. The reason that this happens is because social support offers more opportunities for self-disclosure, friendship, and healthy and fun experiences. Effective social support helps to develop the self, effect our feelings and behaviors.

screen-shot-2016-11-14-at-9-49-38-pm

Finally, intimacy is acquired and maintained by communications between one another that involve self-disclosure, acceptance, acknowledgment, and understanding. This response, allows the person who is disclosing the information to feel understood and more valued. Intimate feelings are deeply associated with positive emotions of relationships. Friendships need these ingredients to become a successful and long lasting relationship. screen-shot-2016-11-14-at-9-34-56-pm


14
Nov 16

Jealousy in Intimate Relationships

Jealousy is a common problem or concern that arrives at some point in most if not all relationships. Most people do not like to admit the fact they are jealous in their relationship in fear of being perceived as insecure. There is a huge debate as to whether jealousy is healthy or unhealthy in a relationship. Some psychologists say that jealousy prevents “mate-poaching” which keeps mate from wandering off to someone else by using mate-retention behaviors (Eckel, 2016).  Some of these behaviors include putting your arm around your partner at a party. Many individuals feel more self-confidence when their partner is jealous because they feel that they are still interested in them.

Jealousy can be extremely dangerous. It can lead to domestic abuse, emotional abuse as well as suicide or murder-suicide. There are individuals who kill their partner if they see the relationship ending because the partner wants to be with someone else. One example is seen in the movie Fatal Attraction with Glenn Close. She had an affair with Michael Douglass character and became jealous of his wife and their family. Her jealous rage caused her to terrorize the family. Another example which is a high-profile case of Jodie Aries for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis because he didn’t want to be with her anymore and he was talking to other women. She wanted to be exclusive but he didn’t want a relationship with her so she stabbed him to death numerous times.

Infidelity can also cause future jealousy especially an individual decides to take the partner back. They will want to check their cell phones, social media pages, e-mail accounts and sometimes monitor calls. It can be hard for them to trust their partner again. In relationships without infidelity you may hear a partner say, “I trust you. It’s him/her I don’t trust.” So, does trust and jealousy go hand in hand?

 

 

References

Eckel, S. (2016). Listening to jealousy. New York: Sussex Publishers, LLC.


14
Nov 16

Birds of a Feather

Do birds of a feather really flock together when it comes to couples and their relationship satisfaction or do we need to have opposite interests and personalities? The article, Personality Pathology and Relationship Satisfaction in Dating and Married Couples, examined the effects of similarities and relationship satisfaction. Two studies were executed to support their hypothesis. In Study one,  researchers chose 167 heterosexual couples to participate in this study with a minimum age of 18 years. The relationships being studies had to have lasted at least 6 months and had to meet criteria to ensure the participants were serious about a long term relationship with their partner (Decuyper et al., 2016).

Fifty three couples filled out paper and pencil questionnaires and the remaining one hundred and fourteen couples completed online assessment platforms. Data was set to measure personality pathology, with a 5 point Likert scale and relationship satisfaction, using an alternative version of RAS(relationship assessment scale). Scores were organized in a pairwise structure, meaning each row would show respondent and their partner’s scores. Researchers expected partners would influence each other’s results and used a different unit method, APIM, that suggests a person’s independent variable score affects both their own dependent variable score and their partner’s score (2016).

The goal of this paper was to examine how pathological traits are related to relationship satisfaction. Study one results show that both men and women perceived their partner’s traits to be similar to their own. After analyzing the data, researchers findings were contrary to their hypothesis. The couple-centered approach had no contribution to the explanation of relationship satisfaction (2016). Overall, it was discovered that maladaptive traits, like introversion and emotional dysregulation, were associated with dissatisfaction. Our likes and dislikes may not be as big of an influence on the success of a relationship, however, how we perceive our partners and how they perceive us can have negative effects on our satisfaction and the length of the relationship (2016).

Decuyper, M., Gistelinck, F., Veraguwe, J., Pancorbo, G., & De Fruyt, F. (2016). Personality pathology and relationship satisfaction in dating and married couples. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/per0000219

http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1830699294?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=13158


14
Nov 16

A New Era: The Tinder Bender

A mere twenty years ago the world seemed to be a much different place for better or worse. Prior to 2000, if you wanted to make friends you had to go outside your home and meet people. If you wanted to study you had to be present in a school. And if you wanted to find a spouse you needed to go out and look for someone who “caught your eye.” However, today improvements in technology have changed the game entirely.

No longer do you need to go outside to meet someone or even leave you room for that matter. All you need is an Iphone and a few fingers and you will be set. With the Internet and social media today many sites such as match.com have been invented to aid people in finding the right partner. They populate their users by linking people whom are in the same area and share the same interests, but it doesn’t stop there.

In more recent years, a multitude of other applications have gained popularity in which people are able to search for a partner at just the swipe of a finger. However, these newer sites do not focus as much on what interests you share as they do how interesting you look. Applications such as tinder, bumble, and happn, start at the source: ATTRACTION. They operate to bring people together who are looking for a partner, but instead of focusing on what people share in common they base the entire selection process fundamentally upon whether you find someone attractive or no.

Lets take a deeper look at tinder specifically. Essentially the app is set up that once someone has an account they gain access to view other people within their proximity who also have an account. The app displays photos of potential matches that one must then swipe left or right depending on whether the user feels they are attractive or not. If both users swipe right, “interested” then they can start a conversation. If both parties don’t find each other attractive, there is no possibility of starting a conversation and the search is then continued.

Since the start of the app in 2012 it has gained much popularity. There is an estimated 50 million users, 10 million of which are active daily. According to DMR the number of swipes per day is around 1.4 billion; which needless to say means people have taken a liking to this new method of dating. However, there has also been much controversy surrounding these apps. They have been highly criticized for their superficial manner as they place great emphasis on looks rather than the more substantial, long-term reasons for dating someone. Its not rocket sciences to understand that looks and a person’s body will change with age, but its what is in their heart that you will have to partner with “through think and thin”. Also, people feel they are just methods to find sex partners rather than actually matching with someone they could have a future with.

On the contrary, if to examine these apps from a psychological perspective they may not be as bad as they seem. It has been widely accepted among most psychologist that attraction does in fact play a larger role in the selection process. Several studies have found that people do not date more than one or two points away from their level on attractiveness. What this means is that a “10” doesn’t normally date a “2” they will date an “8” or “9.” Additionally, one could argue these apps aren’t actually that much different than the real life phenomenon. If at a bar, one would introduce himself/herself to another and flirt with them if they shared an attraction to one another and If they didn’t, they most likely wouldn’t talk anyways. No one walks into a bar wearing a resume that says “these are all my achievements, do you find me interesting?”. Therefore, maybe in the end the problem isn’t apps such as these as much as it is a lack of acceptance of human nature.

In a world that is constantly changing and evolving, it was only a matter of time before we watched the means in which we engage in our natural instincts change. Many people have scrutinized these new forms of modern mating and dating such as tinder, bumble and happn because of their “superficial” nature. However, I would argue that they may not actually be as superficial as some say, but rather a glimpse of the blunt reality of man’s ways. In fact, they make the selection process much easier and the pool much lager for people to chose from. Therefore, rather than criticizing new forms of technology, we must let people be as they are and learn that for better or worse attraction plays huge role in dating both in previous eras and now.

 

 

Https://www.facebook.com/craigsmithnh. “45 Impressive Tinder Statistics.” DMR. N.p., 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 12 Nov. 2016. <http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/tinder-statistics/>.

 

“The Four Types of Attraction.” Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/valley-girl-brain/201504/the-four-types-attraction>.

 


13
Nov 16

Community – Wartime Necessity, Peacetime Hassle?

Veteran’s Day is a time of reflection for me.  My husband was/is a Marine, medically retired due to a head injury he received while in service.  Both of my grandfathers were in the military, my maternal grandfather (or Grump-paw, as he liked to be called) was deployed to the Pacific front in World War II.  He was a navigator in a B-29 bomber.  Sometimes, when he was in the right mood, he would tell us stories, many horrifying, about his time in the Pacific.  Often these stories acted as a kind of catharsis for him, he would describe how they gunned down people and he could see them dying.  He didn’t show it, but I knew he carried the guilt of these deaths around him like his personal cross to bear.  It would sometimes make an appearance in outbursts of rage, he raged often and sometimes violently.  Veterans are near and dear to my heart.

Reintegration of veterans into American life it a challenge that we have yet to perfect.  In fact, we’ve barely made a dent into this complex issue.  I recently read “TRIBE: On Homecoming and Belonging” by Sebastian Junger.  In this book, the author explains his theory that veteran reintegration into modern society is not so much an individual psychological issue, but more of a community issue.  Returning veterans are not given a role in the community.  They have no sense of belonging.  Having a role in our community is essential to peace of mind and happiness.

In his book, he explains how people who are under stress and are restricted to smaller communities have higher rates of happiness and lower depression rates per-capita.  For example, he explains how people living in London during the blitz in WWII reported being content during that time.  Everyone had a role to play, whether it was rescuing people, providing medical services, feeding people, etc.  During these times, the social hierarchy was not class-based, it was based in the community, which had leaders and followers.  After the war was over, the class hierarchy returned, and so did discontent and depression.

Researchers from the RAND Corporation and UCLA, and community partners from more than two dozen community agencies, compared whether evidence-based quality improvement programs, which include psychotherapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and antidepressant medications, are better implemented through involvement of the entire community or through clinic-based programs. The researchers polled 1,018 depressed patients in 90 randomized community- and clinic-based programs. The community-based approaches based in such places as churches, senior centers, and barber shops proved to work best at improving mental-health quality of life, increasing physical activity, reducing homelessness risk factors, and getting more people to seek hospital and primary physician care.

Research on veterans’ readjustment has focused primarily on psychosocial adjustment within the context of PTSD (King, King, Fairbank, Keane, & Adams, 1998; Koenen, Stellman, Stellman, & Sommer, 2003; Mazeo, Beckham, Witvliet, Feldman, & Shivy, 2002), adult antisocial behavior (Barrett et al., 1996), and physical injury (Resnik & Allen, 2007; Resnik, Plow, & Jette, 2009), and social support appears to act as either a protective factor against developing PTSD (Brewin, Andrews, & Valentine, 2000; Pietrzak, Johnson, Goldstein, Malley, & Southwick, 2009; Westwood, McLean, Cave, Borgen, & Slakov, 2010) or a moderating factor against PTSD symptoms (Barrett & Mizes, 1988; Schnurr, Lunney, & Sengupta, 2004). Fifty years after reintegration, World War II veterans identified social support from comrades, wives, and family members as an important lifelong coping strategy (Hunt & Robbins, 2001).

In summation, the reintegration of veteran’s goes beyond individual treatment.  It’s a responsibility of the community.  Supporting without pandering to them, respect, acceptance and kindness are key.  Also essential in this process is making veterans feel that they have a place within the community.  Giving them jobs, job training, support groups, and community activities are all important factors for success in reintroducing the men and women returning from overseas.

 

Barrett, T., & Mizes, J. (1988). Combat and social support in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans. Behavior Modification, 12, 100–115.

Barrett, D., Resnick, H., Foy, D., Dansky, B., Flanders, W., & Stroup, N. (1996). Combat exposure and adult psychosocial adjustment among U.S. Army veterans serving in Vietnam, 1965–1971. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 575–581

Brewin, C., Andrews, B., & Valentine, J. (2000). Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology, 68, 748–766.

Hunt, N., & Robbins, I. (2001). World War II veterans, social support, and veterans’ associations. Aging and Mental Health, 5, 175–182.

Junger, S. (2016). Tribe: On homecoming and belonging. New York, NY: Twelve.

King, L., King, D., Fairbank, J., Keane, T., & Adams, G. (1998). Resilience-recovery factors in posttraumatic stress disorder among female and male Vietnam veterans: Hardiness, postwar social support, and additional stressful life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 420–434

Resnik, L., & Allen, S. (2007). Using International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health to understand challenges in community reintegration of injured veterans. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 44, 991–1006.


13
Nov 16

Relationship Post

Relationships can play significant roles in our lives. They can lead to job leads or even job failures. They can cause turbulence but they can also be the existence of your current serenity. As animals we are prone to beginning relationships with others. Relationships can be friendships/spouses or co-workers. The level of relationship is important, but the connection one has when having a special relationship with someone is essential to our well-being.

“Cognitive well-being is an evaluation of how satisfied you are with your life, or in a particular domain of your life, whereas emotional well-being refers to positive emotional experiences in the absence of negative emotions. The distinction between these two types of well-being is important, given that they may not always match up perfectly (i.e., you could be happy in one domain but not the other). For instance, if you’ve ever thought that things in your life were going well overall, but still felt unhappy, you’ve experienced differences in the way you thought about your life as compared to how you felt about it.” (“How Do Important Relationship Events Impact Our Well-Being? – | – Science of Relationships”). I’ve had times when I have felt like this and most of the times these moments have been because the lack of relationships somehow cause a feeling of void inside, as if there is something missing.

Recently my boyfriend’s grandmother passed away, the two of them never had a good or close relationship. However, at the moment of her passing, his grief will still there, after evaluation and conversations I realized that the reason for the hurt on his end was due to the lack of relationship, which is longed and never received with her. Relationships are important, often sensitive and hard to maintain, but for our emotional being and physical well-being they are certainly important.

 

References

How Do Important Relationship Events Impact Our Well-Being? – | – Science of Relationships. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://www.scienceofrelationships.com/home/2014/10/20/how-do-important-relationship-events-impact-our-well-being.html


13
Nov 16

Gangs as a Kind of Community

Many people think of gangs as these terrible group of people that are causing a bunch of trouble in society. They are trouble makers, but they are on their own right a kind of community. They follow all the aspect that create a sense of community as described by Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts (2012). There is membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connection.

When looking at membership there is this sense of belonging that comes from the fact that some people can belong to the community and some cannot (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts 2012). This sense of membership is found in any kind of people from cheerleaders to teachers union to even gangs. When it comes to gaining membership into a gang one must go through initiation. Initiation comes in many different forms for each gang. Most of the time one is jumped into a gang. This means that they are required to be beat by multiple gangs members for a certain amount of time without showing fear and they must show that they have fight in them (Carlie 2012). Not everyone can survive this part or any other kind of initiation, which is why there is a sense of membership. Not every person is up for the initiation process.

The second aspect that creates a sense of community is influence. This means that the people in the community must feel like they can make a difference (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts 2012). There are leaders in gangs, sometimes just one leader and sometimes there are multiple leaders. These people are the ones that make the decisions for the gang and they hold all the power in the gang. The next level are the “Hard-core” members, who are the ones that do most of the heavy lifting and are responsible for the terrible crimes. The next level of influence are the associates, which are the members that are not quite at the level of hard-core yet, but are known for having the same amount of commitment as the hard-core members. They are just as dedicated to the gang. The next level of influence is the fringe members who are the ones who have not made the gang their life. They do not have a lot of influence in the gang and they tend to be on the fence of joining the gang. After the level of fringe is the level are the wanna-bes who do not have any influence because they are not gang members yet. They are generally the youth in the area that are hoping to become gang members when they get older (Carlie 2012). The higher up in the gang that one is the more influence they have over the gang. The more one puts into the gang the more clout that they hold.

Gangs also experience integration and fulfillment of needs. Meaning that they share the same values as other members of the community (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts 2012). Gangs value toughness, street smarts, need for excitement, resentment of authority, and that whatever happens to someone is because of fate (Carlie 2012). All these values are ones that are shared collectively. Most gang members know that they are not going to live very long so they live by the saying, “Laugh now, Cry Later (Lyddane 2006).

Lastly, they share an emotional connection that is needed to build a sense of community meaning they feel connected to their fellow community members (Schneider, Gruman, and Coutts 2012). This is a big part of being a part of a gang surprisingly enough. Each person needs to be able to protect the other person. When people go through something together it bonds them. Also, the leader of the gang builds this connection with his fellow members by providing advice to each of them. He is also responsible for maintaining the peace between the gang members. He is basically the head of the family and keeps the peace much like a father would do.

The gang life may not be a life that the majority of people understand, but the set up of the gangs appeal to human nature. They have found a pace where they can feel a sense of community, which is what a lot of people look for. Might not be a community that you or I would join, but it is one nonetheless. I think once you break a gang down like this it makes more sense why someone would make their life about the gang. It is in a sense a family for them and a place where they can feel welcome. Much like why anyone joins a community.

References

Carlie, M. K. (2012, June 5). Into the Abyss: How to Join a Gang. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://people.missouristate.edu/MichaelCarlie/what_I_learned_about/GANGS/join_a_gang.htm

Lyddane, D. (2006, May). GANGS – Family Guardian. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://famguardian1.org/Publications/USAttyBulletins/usab5403.pdf

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


13
Nov 16

Second-Life Community

Unlike the communities we live in, virtual or electronic communities are a new type of community. Virtual communities differ from traditional communities because people often keep their real identities anonymous. Moreover these virtual communities are able to provide help in a variety of different areas including both medical and psychiatric problems (Schneider et al. 2012).

Second Life is a 3-D, immersive computer simulated environment/community used by Universities and hospital. However anyone can sign up online because it is user friendly and free (Nosek et al. 2016). Once signed up users will select and design an cartoon representation of themselves; this cartoon can be controlled by the user to run, walk fly, jump, swim, lie down, dance, etc., all by using the computer keys (Nosek et al. 2016). Self-life is no small online community, there are about 39 million users and 50,000 people can be found on Second-Life at any point in time.

A recent study that examines self-esteem within women with disabilities, believes that the 3-D immersive computer simulation Second-Life, can help improve self-esteem for disable woman. The Self-Esteem in Second Life intervention consists of 7 group sessions in Second Life, including the parts: Homework, adventures, and action plans; the action plans are to be done in between sessions (Nosek et al. 2016). The participants are introduce to all instructors, they are informed of what is required of them and what to expect. The adventures are used for developing social skills outside the core structure, and can involve excursion to exotic island or mediations spaces. Overall they enable the user to do things they may be able to do in “real life” because of their disabilities. Overall the results indicated that the participants self-esteem overall had increased (Nosek et al. 2016).

What was done in this study was really amazing. To see the internet helping in such a positive way by including a sense of community, respect for diversity, alone with activist and research strategies; all of which are values to community psychology (Schneider et al. 2012).

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Nosek, M. A., Robinson-Whelen, S., Hughes, R. B., & Nosek, T. M. (2016). An internet-based virtual reality intervention for enhancing self-esteem in women with disabilities: Results of a feasibility study. Rehabilitation Psychology, 61(4), 358-370. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1826808861?accountid=13158

Schneider, W., F., Gruman, A., J., Coutts, M., L. (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems, 2nd Edition. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781483342146/


13
Nov 16

New Is Always Better, But Never The Best

We are far along from the days of hunter-gatherer communities. There are many large and small scaled communities in many different countries today. I live in a city, Istanbul, with more than 15 million people. How could it be possible to form a healthy functioning community with 15 million other people?

Big communities today are driven more by economic interests rather than the need to form a healthy functioning of their community. Because of this reason, when you live in a big city, you don’t know your neighbours, you don’t make eye contact or talk to other people unless you have to, and you get isolated, even though there are 15 million other people that live in the same city as you! In such a community with a very large number of population, there are so many stimulations in a day, even an hour that people get overloaded. You deal with many things on your way to work, you contact tens of people at work, and then you deal with other things on your way home. When one is overloaded with unnecessary stimulus, it is natural for that to end in isolation.

Technology today is so advanced that even if you are isolated in the “real” world, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are truly alone. There are many social media platforms and other online/virtual communities that you can join, and socialize only with people that share the same mindset as you. This way, you can protect yourself from the stimulus overload and actually enjoy the social interactions that happen around you. This new, alternative and innovative strategy definitely helps the well-being of individuals and hence, communities.

Still, even though new is always better, it isn’t the best. Online/virtual communities might be the answer of isolation in large-scaled cities and communities, but not every online/virtual community is formed for the right cause. There are many racist, disrupter and terrorist groups that formed online, who are looking for new members that are fragile, isolated and lonely. These groups know how to brainwash these members, especially teenagers, into joining their community. Unfortunately, it is impossible at the time to control each and every community that forms online or virtually.

Promoting human health and well-being in the digital times could be harder than it sounds. Although it could be very beneficial to join online communities in terms of socialization, there are still many things to be cautious about in the information and digital age.

cg4e58414f96fec


12
Nov 16

Is Beautiful Really Better?

American culture highly values beauty and this is evident in the vast majority of popular models, actors, musicians, and other celebrities. Highly attractive men and women with seemingly unattainable bodies seems to fit the media’s image of what is attractive and many Americans would also agree. The primacy effect suggests that we are influenced by information we are presented with first (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012), and people are more likely to form a positive impression when presented with an attractive individual than someone they would deem less or unattractive.

It is not uncommon for people to assume that physically attractive individuals are more interesting, fun, and likeable (Schneider et al., 2012), which leads to the physical attractiveness stereotype. Our bias leads us to apply positive attributions to more physically attractive people, and negative attributions to those we find less physically attractive. University professors have even been guilty of the beauty bias, deeming attractive students as being smarter and more competent (Robson, 2015). Employers faced with two equally qualified candidates are more likely to hire the more attractive individual (Schneider et al., 2012). Additionally, attractive persons are likely to be paid higher salaries with pay gaps as high as 15% (Robson, 2015). Attractive individuals are also more likely to have a larger choice of romantic interests and higher self-esteem than their peers (“Being Beautiful,” n.d.).

Being beautiful also has multiple downsides. The physical attractiveness stereotype tends to be more common when judging someone of the opposite sex. Multiple studies have shown that we tend to have harsher opinions when judging someone of the same sex. Employers interviewing a candidate of the same sex may be less likely to hire them if they deem the person to be more attractive than themselves (Robson, 2015). Attractive women are also less likely to be hired for high-level jobs where authority is required (Robson, 2015). Attractive individuals of both sexes are also subject to the stereotype that they’ve achieved what they have due to their looks alone and not because of talents, education, or intelligence (Robson, 2015).

I personally have been guilty of labeling highly attractive people as likely being rude and narcissistic, or have assumed that they’ve achieved what they have based on looks alone. It is important that we don’t make attribution errors based on looks. While beauty has many benefits, it’s clear it may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

References

10 pleasures and pains of being beautiful. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/08/10-pleasures-and-pains-of-being-beautiful.php

Robson, D. (2015). The surprising downsides of being drop dead gorgeous. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150213-the-downsides-of-being-beautiful

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


12
Nov 16

Are Penguins on to something?

wallpaper-1064300

Relationships are an important aspect of our daily life. They have a way of teaching us important values and life lessons. We are taught from an early age that we should find the perfect mate and start our own family. In fact, it is embedded in our brains that if we don’t find a mate than there is something wrong with us. For most people we start looking for love before we even graduate high school. At that age this love is often confused for lust.

Growing up there was always one love story that I found fascinating. If you have ever watched March of The Penguins or the movie Happy Feet than you know what I am talking about. If not that’s ok. Penguins are known for their amazing love stories. Once they find their mate they stay together forever. That’s pretty admirable if you ask me, especially considering the divorce rate of today’s society.

thfe2uunzy

Growing up we were also taught to find someone who makes us happy. While I think happiness is extremely important in any good relationship, there are some other important qualities a good relationship must possess. According to an article written by the University of Washington, there are four important qualities to consider: communication, honesty, respect, and trust. These four qualities can be consider the foundation on which a relationship stands. When one of these qualities is broken it will break the foundation and the relationship is bound to fall apart.

Respecting your partner means more than staying faithful. It means to value and lift up your partner up. With respect comes trust. If you cannot trust your partner than there is this constant worry that will eat at you and eventually break you down. Trust is a powerful thing. Without it you can become jealous and envious of others which only degrades your relationship. If there is trust than there is honesty. Being honest will always set you free. Lying to your partner is a clear indication that there are cracks in your foundation. I saved communication for last because I think communication is the most important quality. Communication is the key to any successful relationship. It allows couples to be respectful, trustworthy, and honest with each other. All four of these qualities are just as important as the next but each needs to be communicated in order for a relationship to be successful. While verbal communication is great, you should also remember that actions speak louder than words.

10302161_725806300812979_1029690023826635768_n

Too often, relationships fail because we are not willing to fix what we have broken. We believe that the damage far outweighs the cost. A cracked foundation may be expensive to fix but with hard work and determination it is possible. If more people valued their relationship like penguins do, I believe that more relationships would be successful.

penguins%20in%20love

References

Washington, U. o. (n.d.). Health and Wellness. Retrieved from Healthy Relationships: http://depts.washington.edu/livewell/advocate/healthy-relationships/

 

 


11
Nov 16

Post- Election

Leading up to the election, many people got on social media to share their views on how the government works. For many, their lives seem to be out of their own control, and so they felt the election did not matter. They so firmly believed this they made claims that the election was already rigged and no matter what anyone did, Hillary Clinton would be the next president of the United States. The falling trust in the government is not new and according to Moy & Pfau (2000) as cited in Schneider (2012), by the mid-1990s the number of people in the US who did not have faith in the government had fallen by 25%. It’s obvious those numbers continued to drop. 49% of the population did not vote at all, and of the ones who did vote, 59,535,522 voted for Trump, 59,755,284 voted for Clinton, and 5 million voted for third party candidates knowing they could not win. The 49% who did not vote and the 5 million who voted third party are the focus of this post. While there are many reasons for either not voting or throwing a vote to third party, they have the common belief that their votes would not matter in the end whether they believed the election was rigged or they just knew their state would be blue.

After it became clear Donald Trump would win the presidency, much of the population was in shock (many still are) mainly due to their belief that the people as individuals did not matter, their votes would not make a difference for the election for the candidate was selected, not elected. The shock that dissipated in many individuals was not without mental gymnastics to justify their lack of participation in the future of this country. Those mental gymnastics are known as parts of cognitive dissonance theory, which is how psychological inconsistency leads to discomfort  due to the desire to maintain consistency in opinions, attitudes, values and behaviors that come as a result (Schneider, 2012).
“The election was rigged for Hillary Clinton to win” and “Donald Trump won the presidency” are two dissonant cognitions. The goal of reducing the dissonance is accomplished in mainly three ways: change the dissonant cognition (Donald Trump won’t win the electorate on December 19th after these protests–which would be a temporary fix–, the election was rigged in Trump’s favor, or the election was not rigged), add a new cognition (it’s the electoral college system that’s rigged, Trump may end up being a good president, he is what America deserves, I actually like parts of his plan etc), or downplay the importance of the dissonant cognitions (my vote wouldn’t have changed anything anyway, I’m one person, the country just wasn’t ready for a woman president, I’m not the only one who didn’t vote etc).
Personally, I’m just trying to avoid screaming “I TOLD YOU SO” at the top of my lungs , but that won’t change the republican president, house and senate or whoever our new conservative Supreme Court justice will be (last time was in Bush Jr’s presidency which turned a surplus into a trillion dollar deficit, and before that was the Great Depression). And it certainly won’t change the distancing from responsibility of the American people who failed to believe our existence could absolutely get worse.
There has been an 89% spike of hate crimes against Muslims since the beginning of Trump’s reign , a 42% increase classified as anti-gender/transgender, a whopping 412% increase against Arabs, and a 6% increase in hate crimes overall (Levin, 2016). After the election, we can only expect these numbers to go up. Women of color in general seem to be the most vulnerable in these groups, and this has gotten reactions from communities who are now creating apps and Facebook groups such as We Walk Together. Due to the increase in hate crimes, women of color are offering to walk together to different destinations and altercations are being recorded/reported .
Most reports are white males who are becoming violent, which is not a surprise considering “males have a greater propensity for physical aggression”, while white females are participating in other forms of intimidation. In social psychological theory, the absence of witnesses contribute greatly to acts of aggression (Schneider, 2012), so to decrease the aggression, everyone who is marginalized should not go out alone.  Utilize resources such as We Walk Together. And I’m in the Philadelphia area for now if anyone needs anything.
Levin, B., J.D. (2016). Hate Crime in U.S. Survey Up 6 Percent, But Anti-Muslim Rise 89 Percent, NYC Up 24 Percent So Far in 2016. The Huffington Post.
Ma, Ava (2016). We Walk Together. Facebook Group. Retrieved from: https://facebook.com/groups/walktogetherapp/
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J.A., & Coutts, L.A. (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

10
Nov 16

Love Me Tinder

I haven’t been single for over four years, and don’t plan on being single again any time soon (hopefully, not ever). I’m happy about this, and consider it a great accomplishment, in a way. But it has left me woefully ignorant about the changing dynamics of dating. I’ve never had an online dating profile, and the newest technology-assisted dating trend (and the subject of this blog post)—Tinder—wasn’t unveiled until after I was already well off the market.

But it fascinates me nonetheless. I’ve heard it described by my un-yoked friends as a tool for finding hookups and one-night-stands; but I also know two engaged couples who met through Tinder, which suggests that meaningful relationships are, at least occasionally, being forged through this platform. Everyone seems to agree, however, that Tinder and applications like it are upending how people find romantic partners.

It’s almost certainly true that well-known dating websites, like OK Cupid or Match.com, represent a meaningful change in how people find each other. In these cases, sophisticated algorithms are employed to pair people who are likely compatible across as many dimensions as possible. But Tinder doesn’t work this way, and there’s reason to believe that it actually mimics how we find partners in the real, analogue world. This is because the app is designed in such a way that the two main factors that determine who finds whom are proximity and physical attractiveness (Burgess, 2014), the same two factors that have governed our romantic interactions for millennia (Schneider, 2012). We tend to pair up with people who are near us, and those we find attractive—even if the former tendency seems arbitrary and the latter seems shallow. Like or not, it’s how we operate.

And it’s also how Tinder operates, which means this app might not be the paradigm-shifting force that we often judge it to be. Tinder embraces these ancient forms of mate-selection instead of trying to bypass them. One study looked into the reasons why people decide to use the app, and found four basic motivations: “Love, Casual Sex, Ease of Communication, [and] Thrill of Excitement” (Sumter et al., 2017). The first, second, and fourth motivations should seem pretty familiar, since these are precisely the same reasons most people date anyway, with or without Tinder’s help. It’s the third motivation—“Ease of Communication”—that is different. Tinder facilitates and speeds up the process of finding potential partners, and makes easing into a possible relationship—whether it’s meant to last one night, or fifty years—much easier and, importantly, less awkward.love-1100888_1280

Making dating easier is undoubtedly a good thing, in most cases. (I certainly wouldn’t have turned down any help I could get back when I was in the game). But perhaps Tinder makes it too easy. Research has shown people can become addicted to using the app. The PTUS (Problematic Tinder Use Scale) has even been developed recently to help identify individuals who spend far too much time swiping left (Orosz et al., 2016). There may be another, even darker consequence of lifting too many of the barriers to painless dating: it may be aiding in the spread and resurgence of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases (Clark, 2015). People have always wanted to have casual sex, but various roadblocks stood in their way—e.g. social norms, the difficulty inherent in finding a partner who is interested in the same thing, and the risk of guessing the other person’s desires wrong. You can’t simply walk into a bar with a sign that says “looking for casual sex” taped to your shirt, but Tinder, Grindr and the like allow some users to accomplish the same thing without the risk of social ostracism. And as casual sex mounts a comeback, so are the diseases that are often coupled with it.

The researchers who discovered this link have suggested that the apps themselves need to do a better job of incorporating HIV awareness into their programs, and that would certainly help (Clark, 2015). But even if disease and addiction are removed from the equation, perhaps we should remember that keeping dating hard might not be a terrible thing. Yes, finding a partner can be exhausting, confusing, and even mortifying, but there is something to be said for going through these tough times before (hopefully, finally) finding someone who complements you perfectly. We value those things we had to work and suffer for more highly than those that fell into our laps. So yes—back when I was searching, I would have accepted help without hesitation; but in retrospect, I’m kind of glad that it was often hard. It makes what comes afterwards that much sweeter.

 

References

Burgess, K. (2014). Tinder mirrors ‘impulse’ of real dating. The Times London. Retrieved from: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/relationships/article4055023.ece, 11/10/16.

Clark, J. (2015). Mobile dating apps could be driving HIV epidemic among adolescents in asia pacific, report says. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 351, h6493. doi:10.1136/bmj.h6493

Orosz, G., Tóth-Király, I., Bőthe, B., & Melher, D. (2016). Too many swipes for today: The development of the problematic tinder use scale (PTUS). Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5(3), 518-523. doi:10.1556/2006.5.2016.016

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

Sumter, S. R., Vandenbosch, L., & Ligtenberg, L. (2017). Love me tinder: Untangling emerging adults’ motivations for using the dating application tinder. Telematics and Informatics, 34(1), 67-78. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2016.04.009


10
Nov 16

Why This Overused Pick-up Line is Irrelevant

We’re all familiar with the overused, cliche, bar culture pick-up lines: “I lost my phone number, can I have yours?”, “Do you know CPR because you just took my breathe away?” and the list goes on and on. Well, the next time someone asks you “What’s your sign?” to predict your compatibility, you can tell them that’s old news.

Astrology is the study of constellations, the way their positions change in the sky, and their suspected impact on human behavior. Most famous about astrology are the 12 signs of the Zodiac that correspond to our birthdays. Zodiac signs have been popularized through the publication of horoscopes – predicted patterns of behavior, emotions, luck and romantic compatibility. For many, especially females, horoscopes are introduced to us as a young age. Our preteen issues of Tiger Beat and BOP magazines were filled with pages of horoscopes and what to expect in the upcoming days. I still remember the excitement 11-year-old me felt when I found out that not only was Jesse McCartney an Aries like me, but that Joe Jonas was my perfect Leo match. Looking through the eyes of an adult now, forming mature interpersonal relationships, do signs really matter?

Astrologists believe they are able to make accurate and specific predictions about which signs form the best relationships, however, by many, astrology is considered only to be a pseudoscience with no true scientific foundations…especially when it comes to influencing romantic partnerships. In 2007 a team of scientists from the University of Manchester conducted a study they entitled “Ten million marriages: A test of astrological love signs”.

The study was observational and consisted of distributing a questionnaire to ten million married couples for the collection of marriage specific information, including birthdate. Based on their questionnaire responses, the researchers concluded that there is no relationship between birthdate and success of marriages. They also ended their study by saying “lonely heats who worry about the Zodiac are wasting their time” (Eveleth, 2013).

Another correlational study in 2001 suggested that a mere 15% of women self-reported they would modify their dating patterns based on their horoscopes (Eveleth, 2013). Though most women might not be fooled into dictating their relationships, that doesn’t mean they brush off astrology altogether. The same 2001 study went on to report that 72% of women consider astrology to be more than superstition, and 90% said they have looked into the signs of the people they date (Eveleth, 2013). While I do not discount the possibility that astrology can influence some of our personal traits, I do not consider it to be a determining factor of successful relationships, including marriage. Allowing horoscopes to influence intimacy can break what isn’t broken and cause others to sabotage otherwise happy relationships.

References

Eveleth, R. 15 July 2013. Good news: Astrology doesn’t impact the success of your marriage. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved from URL: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/good-news-astrology-doesnt-impact-the-success-of-your-marriage-10892064/?no-ist


08
Nov 16

Pet Ownership and the Elderly

Do you think that the majority of the geriatric individuals exercise and watch their diet? Do you think that they are on blood pressure or cholesterol medication? According to an article written in the Pets for the Elderly Foundation research has shown pet ownership has reduced the risk of developing heart disease. Results of a three-year studied conducted in Australia has shown that pet owners had lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels than did no owners. Pet owners reported they were more active, however they did drink more alcohol and eat poorly (this didn’t seem to affect their heart as much did it?)

Similarly, another article written in the Pets for the Elderly foundation called “Between Pets and People talks about an elderly man and cats. Now, personally I don’t think cats are great pets, most of them are always angry. But this man found love within cats. He was brought to a nursing home, severely malnourished. The staff of the nursing home found three kittens in bed with him. When they removed the kittens, the elderly man became agitated. They came up with a reward system, if the elderly man ate, they would return the kittens to him. In this case he gained forty pounds and interacted with the other residents. The kittens brought him back to reality!

Beck, A. M., Katcher, A. H., & Thomas, E. M. (1996). Between pets and people: The importance of animal companionship. United States: Purdue University Press.

Pets for the elderly: Research. (1992). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from http://www.petsfortheelderly.org/research.html#1


07
Nov 16

Online Gaming Community Socialization and Austism Spectrum Disorder

CommunityThe American Psychiatric Association, 2013 define Autism Spectrum Disorder as a developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interactions and communication skills as well as the presence of stereotypic and repetitive behavior (Gallup, Serianni, Duff, & Gallup, 2016). Adolescents who have Autism Spectrum Disorder may have difficulty making friends and socializing with their peers in extracurricular activities. Gallup et al conducted a research study on adolescents with ASD to see how they interact in an online gaming community. Virtual environments enable these adolescents to socialize without having difficulties understanding or interpreting verbal and nonverbal cues.

Online gaming provides many ways for adolescents to communicate. For one, chat rooms are enabled in many online games. They can also create Avatars that can interact with other Avatars online. Games that require teaming up with other players, helps improve social interaction and build new communication skills. Three students between the ages of 16-21 with ASD participated in a study on the effects of online gaming and socialization. The students noted that they did not interact with their peers from school unless they were assigned to do so by their teachers. They also indicated that they maintained their friendships with their virtual friends and recommend that online gaming be used as a tool to develop effective communication skills. Although online gaming can be an effective tool, it must be known that cyber bullying can affect adolescents more than face to face bullying. Adolescents should be made aware of how to handle those situations and how to report them to someone that they trust.

References

Gallup, J., Serianni, B., Duff, C., & Gallup, A. (2016). An exploration of friendships and socialization for adolescents with autism engaged in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 51(3), 223.

 


07
Nov 16

Alone Again, Naturally.

Almost everyone is a member of an online community. Between social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram and chat rooms, we have the power of international socialization at our fingertips and the ability to “meet” and connect with people all the time. Within these online connections, we have the ability to find commonalities, support and form online communities. One of the most notorious online subcultures is that of gamers. Gamers have the reputation for being glued to their computers, wearing headsets and communicating with people from all over the world, and when logging off, making plans to play online together soon. When you hear the word “gamer” what’s the first online gaming community that pops into your mind? For me, it’s World of Warcraft (WoW). In 2006, a research team composed of Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell & Moore, investigated how closely our stereotypes of gamers are a true representation of the subculture’s presence in the WoW, and the results might surprise you.

WoW is a role-playing computer software game with a multiplayer platform. This allows WoW players from all over the world to connect with one another and play together within the game. Together, within the game that is set on a medieval world created by J. R. R. Tolkien, players become members of teams, guilds and go on quests. Considering the millions of people worldwide to indulge in WoW, it leads many to believe that gamers find a sense of belonging within WoW and build real social relationships (Ducheneaut, 2006).

With overwhelmingly little data on the subject, to analyze the value of social interactions within the online community, the team joined WoW and each created two characters of their own, since most WoW players have a primary and secondary character they play as. Measurements including how often players collaborate with one another and how collaboration effects the efficiency of game progression were evaluated (Ducheneaut, 2006).

Characters and players progress through the game by fighting creatures, taking on dangerous tasks and exploring the game world, all of which they can choose to do alone or in collaboration with other players. In order to communicate with other players, there is a chat box feature at the bottom of each player’s screen. Players can choose to communicate through private one-on-one chat, a group chat that includes the members of their guild or “zone” and “spatial” chats, which are public to all players within a certain radius of the game world (Ducheneaut, 2006).

Using a software interface of the game, the researchers were able to obtain a census, updating every 5 to 15 minutes, that measured how many players were within the game. Through their census, the team determined that the average play-time per character per week was approximately 10 hours. This figure indicates that the average weekly play time per player is likely much higher, since most players have secondary or even tertiary characters they play as—predictably around 21 hours (Ducheneaut, 2006).

Progression through the game encourages the development of social interaction. Most people begin the game with an independent mindset, seeking to conquer the game alone, however, as tasks become more difficult, team collaboration becomes more imperative. The interface produced by the researchers indicates that team formation is counterproductive to progression through the game: the most common levels for group dependability are the levels that have the longest average completion time. That being said, the makers of WoW try to encourage social interaction of their players by giving them complementary skills to one another. For instance, priests are the best healers and warriors get injured most often, so it would be a beneficial for a warrior and a priest to befriend one another. Meanwhile, hunter characters are provided with a pet, granting a player control over the hunter and the pet and thereby a multiplayer function as a single player. It makes sense that the hunter is the preferred character for players who want to tackle the game world solo (Ducheneaut, 2006).

Overall, multiplayer gaming worlds, like WoW can be classified as social environments, as they do encourage social interaction and collaboration between players. Contrarily, researchers determined that the social value that is associated with WoW is mostly talk. That is, gamers are likely to enhance the actual social value of the game in order to entice others to play or in order to justify the amount of time they spend playing through the assumption of a strong knit online community over an addiction to the game. Team development and partnerships throughout the game are not common features, as they decrease game efficiency.

Reference

Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E. & Moore, R. J. (2006). Alone together?: Exploring the social dynamics of massively multiplayer online games. ACM: New York, NY. Pages 407-416. Retrieved from URL: https://www.parc.com/content/attachments/alone_together_exploring_5599_parc.pdf


07
Nov 16

Sex Education

In the education field there are always debates on how information should be presented to children and what way will be the most effective in getting the message across. This is especially an issue when looking at the effectiveness of sex education in schools. There are two main ways of conducting this class, but one are more effective than other programs.

One of the programs that are used by many schools is the abstinence program. This program presents the message that the students should just refrain from sex all together. This is the message that my school presented as well. There have been a couple studies to look at the effectiveness of it. When looking to see if this method prevents sexual activity (Lashof-Sullivan 2015) found that it did not reduce the sexual activity. It also proved not to reduce the amount of sexually transmitted disease spreading amount the students. This method is not as effective as others.

Another program that schools use is called a comprehensive program. This program is sends a message of abstinence, but also talks about how to practice safe sex. It gives them information on how to protect themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (Kohler, Manhart, & Lafferty 2007). In 2007, Kohler, Manhart, & Lafferty found that teens that were given a comprehensive sex education reduced the occurrence of teen pregnancy. They associated these finding with the students being taught about birth control and condoms. Comprehensive programs have also been shown to reduce sexually transmitted diseases in teens (Lashof-Sullivan 2015).

The other aspect that helps make the comprehensive program more effective is having parents involved with the education process. A comprehensive program called Get Real gave parents activities to do with their children to help share their values about sex and increase how comfortable the parents and children feel when talking about sex. Grossman, Tracy, Charmaraman, Ceder, & Erkut (2014) found when the parents were involved that the children showed delayed sexual activity. They also found that this was more prominent in boys because these programs had the parents talk to their sons. Kohler, Manhart, & Lafferty (2007) also found when parents were still together the children were more likely to have received education about sex. This is not to say that parents should stay together it is to say that when parents are divorced they should communicate on how to have this talk with their children.

Learning is a big part of school and just like every other subject students need to know about safe sex. The abstinence program is fine, but the comprehensive program has shown more promise. It has shown to help push back the age that students have sex the first time. All the information is good, but children need to feel comfortable asking their parents questions that they did not feel comfortable asking during the class. These classes are not going to teach students everything because students are not going to feel comfortable asking all the questions that they have in a classroom of their peers. This means that parents need to keep an open communication pathway with their children to make sure that they fully learn everything that they want to learn. Much like any other subject, sex education is better when reinforced with outside lessons.

 

References

Grossman, J. M., Tracy, A. J., Charmaraman, L., Ceder, I., & Erkut, S. (2014). Protective Effects of Middle School Comprehensive Sex Education With Family Involvement. Journal of School Health, 84(11), 739-747. doi:10.1111/josh.12199

Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2007). Abstinence-Only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4), 344-351. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.026

Lashof-Sullivan, M. (2015, January). Sex Education in Schools. Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, 16(1), 263-293.


07
Nov 16

Community Tourism

This morning I saw an article on Facebook about a “post card perfect” town not too far from my house. Like many others, I was drawn to the quaint little shops and activities they had to offer. My excitement level rose as I scrolled through the authors pictures and descriptions of just how lovely this community was and I had to stop and think if this publicity would ruin it. Many locations thrive and survive on the business tourism brings in but I have seen and heard of the negative effects that over population can cause. The pollution and disrespect caused by out of town travelers can ruin the homes of all patrons, both human and animal, as well as kill any chance of tourism being welcomed again.

The article, Sustainability Indicators for Managing Community Tourism, discusses the ways to maintain the land from excessive traffic. Researchers use the Delphi Method, a qualitative technique for predicting future events by reaching a consensus (Chio & Sirakaya, 2006). In order to complete this study, tourism experts were consulted to recommend panelists and take part in the experiment using the Delphi Method. In the first round, 37 participated however, the number of participants in the second and third rounds decreased to 32 and 25 (2006). The data was collected through review of recent literature questionnaires were passed out and were comprised of three sections of definitions, principles and potential indicators of sustainable tourism (2006).

Once all three rounds were completed, data shows that the participants, the panel of experts, provided indicators into three categories: checklist, core and indicator issues. The checklist indicators will help local communities examine their current conditions and how to plan for a sustainable tourism community. Residents are also asked to be involved in the decision making processes to ensure the current and future development of their community (2006).  Findings also determined that the community will need to develop policies to maintain their natural environment, security and visitor safety policies. These policies should help protect the value of the community (2006). The expertise of these participants and their research provided each tourist community the tools for how to be successful and welcoming to observers for years to come.

Choi, H. C., & Sirakaya, E. (2006). Sustainability indicators for managing community tourism. Tourism Management, 27(6), 1274-1289. doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2005.05.018


06
Nov 16

Adolescent Suicide – Can We Prevent It?

Having grown up during the development of the internet and all it has brought us, I’ve experienced the gamut of online experiences.  From the screeches and binging of logging onto the internet, connections so slow that I would go to a website expecting to make some tea or a sandwich before the site loaded, to our current world of endless information at the click of a button.  It’s truly amazing how much things have changed in the last 20 years.

Along with these advancements come some major pitfalls.  The internet has opened up a whole new medium for a myriad of social interactions, many positive, but at least as many are negative.  Bullying has taken on a whole new meaning, having moved from the playground to the internet.  Bullies can now torment their victims without the need to taunt them face-to-face.  This has opened up a host of opportunities for bullies to psychologically abuse victims.

According to a recent study released by the US Centers for Disease Control, the suicide rate for children between the ages of 10 and 14 has doubled since 2007.  This is a disturbing statistic.  The fact that children, who have barely lived at all, have found life too unbearable to continue, is saddening.  The fact that the suicide rate has doubled in less than a decade is alarming.

I recently learned that my thirteen year old niece was put on suicide watch. Thirteen.  I couldn’t believe it.  I wondered what could drive this lively, young, quirky, cool girl to contemplate taking her life.  After speaking with my sister, it was a combination of factors.  Mean girls, depression, coming out, bullies, etc.  My niece had come out of the closet and had experienced some backlash from friends.  On top of that, she was/is depressed and was being bullied online and at school.  It’s scary to think that all of this drover her to want to kill herself, which begs the question: How can we prevent this?

An number of studies have been conducted regarding online bullying and the effects it has on children.  In addition, there have been many cases in the news of kids being harassed and bullied to the point of suicide.  Ultimately, the solution, or prevention, rests on the shoulders of parents and teachers.  Being aware of what’s going on in your child’s life, picking up on key phrases or feelings “I wish I could go to sleep forever” or “I wish I were dead” would be queues for parents and teachers to start opening communication and begin prevention efforts.

The true cause remains foggy.  It’s relative to the individual and their personal experiences.  Because of this, it makes adolescent suicide very hard to study, but not impossible.  Ultimately, more effort needs to be put into studying the problem so we can come up with a solution.  Until then, prevention is key.  Awareness and action on the part of parents and teachers is essential when it comes to targeting at-risk kids and intervening before tragedy strikes.

 

Middlebrook, H. (2016, November 03). Suicide deaths on the rise in kids. Retrieved November 06, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/03/health/kids-suicide-deaths-increase/index.html.


04
Nov 16

Stigma in the community is caused by diversity and differences

Is already known that stigma can cause a big impact in the social environment. Unfortunately, stigma is more common then what we can think, and is present everywhere. Stigma happens when we label other people or treat them differently because of a personal characteristic or a different behavior that make them look deviant or flawed (Schneider, Grumman, & Coutts, 2012, p. 284). Many physical or emotional aspects of a person can cause stigma such as age, gender orientation, religious choices and beliefs, social causes and diseases (Bresnahan, & Zhuang, 2016, p. 1284). In Greek, the work stigmatizein means to blemish and is one of the first words in early human history to be applied to the act of labeling others. No matter the reason why anyone should use stigma against others, it is very clear that stigma can cause negative effects and plays an important role influencing people’s behavior and reactions (Bresnahan, & Zhuang, 2016, p. 1284).

There is no a specific way to control or radically change stigma nowadays because of the large societies where we live. In the past, social interactions were formed by smaller groups and it was easier for people to process social cues of their environment. They also had the chance to have different constructs because their perception about their environment was limited (PSU, WC, Psych 424, lesson 11, 2016). Nowadays, we all face different social challenges and social interactions because our groups are larger; the concepts of social environment have changed since we developed a fast pace lifestyle, acquired technological communication tools and grew our cities. Our over-populated communities resulted in stimulus-overload, making us feel overwhelmed with all the cues that we must process (Schneider, et al., 2012, p. 279). Because of this enormous amount of new information every day and the he diversity we are exposed to in our communities, we tend to withdraw from social interactions and seclude ourselves into a limited environment. This is the most accurate description of big cities lifestyle and socialization (PSU, WC, Psych 424, lesson 11, 2016).

Because of this big mixture of innovation in our larger communities’ stigma is more popular than ever, and most people tend to have some source of stigma (Bresnahan, & Zhuang, 2016). The American larger communities are formed by people from all over the world, which means there are racial, language, habit and belief differences between most members of the community. Sometimes it can be difficult for some people to interact with one another when their habits and beliefs are very different (Steinberg, 2014). This big diversity is the cause for much of the stigmatization present in our communities. Normally, when people label or judge others they tend to discard or ignore the diversity factor that influences people behaviors (Schneider, et al., 2012, p. 285). The stigma normally originates when people with stigmatized conditions are marked by the public as unacceptable in some ways. Usually their ancestry, ethnicity, religious and cultural habits are left behind by bystanders. Thus, very often negative emotions such as anger and fear are triggered by stigmatized conditions and lead to negative behavioral reactions such as avoidance and rejection of stigmatized individuals (Bresnahan, & Zhuang, 2016).

Not only stigma leads to misperceptions, but it also makes people ignore each other’s needs in an emergency. The bystander effect may be caused by some social stigma and people in larger communities many times fail to provide help to strangers because they are unable to perceive social cues due to stigma (Latané, & Nida, 1981). In many cases, people from large communities have other priorities and a rushed lifestyle, they create social barriers and this make it possible for them to use stigma more frequently (Schneider, et al., 2012, p. 280); when situations involving strangers happen, they often are unware or just fail to give help because they assume others will come to the rescue (Latané, & Nida, 1981).

Many researchers have found that stigma is related to cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses and those can be the explanations for stigma caused by the diversity in large communities. To reduce the stigma existent in those areas, social justice and respect for diversity need to be assessed and taught everywhere; maybe with this type of interventions we might be able to reduce the effects stigma has over people, improving social interactions (Schneider, et al. 2012, p.284). This core value will not terminate stigma completely, but will diminish its’ effects. Maybe the lifestyle in big cities would change a little bit; the formation of smaller interacting groups would help the process to reduce stigma and will help people to develop social copying skills. Community psychology is the field used to implement this source of social interventions (Schneider, et al., 2012, p. 291). When I talk about changing the lifestyle in big cities, I am referring to the fact that the stigma existent now causes much of a social impact, that it results in social inhibition (Latané, & Nida, 1981. P. 309).

 

References

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S. R. (2016). Social psychology (Ninth ed.). New York: Pearson.

Bresnahan, M., & Zhuang, J. (2016). Detrimental effects of community-based stigma. American Behavioral Scientist, 60(11), 1283-1292. doi:10.1177/0002764216657378. Retrieved from: http://abs.sagepub.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/60/11/1283.full.pdf+html

Latané, B., & Nida, S. (1981). Ten years of research on group size and helping. Psychological Bulletin, 89(2), 308-324. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/614356949?accountid=13158

Penn State University, World Campus (Fall, 2016). Psych 424: Lesson 11. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802487/discussion_topics/11378506?module_item_id=21233994

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

Steinberg, S. (2014). The long view of the melting pot. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37(5), 790-794. doi:10.1080/01419870.2013.872282. Retrieved from http://www-tandfonline-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2013.872282


04
Nov 16

On-Line Communities

On-line communities are an ever growing form of interaction between people. You can find an on-line community of people for just about any subject you could possibly think of. For the most part, these communities are helpful. They provide support and tips on a subject in which you may not have any physical friends or family that can help you with. Even though many of these people never meet, they communicate on a regular basis and build relationships based upon their common interests.

I have a friend, Crystal, who developed an interest in turtles. She got five turtles over the course of a month period! She really did not know a lot about turtles or how to take care of them so she started looking up turtle groups on line. She now has several turtle tanks and talks about them and treats them like her children! She loves them and has learned so much about them. She has even rescued one and nursed it back to health. She talks about the people in her turtle group all of the time and has developed many friendships through the groups.

Another example, and this is a big one, is the prevalence of on-line fitness groups. These groups are usually started by health professionals or someone who has learned a lot and developed much knowledge regarding health and fitness. Other people who are passionate about health and fitness or just want to learn more about it then join the groups. Several people I know have been impacted in very positive ways by joining an on-line fitness (and I am a part of three of them myself)! Many of them provided access to meal plans and exercise plans to help you on your journey. The positive interactions on the group message boards are motivating and the stories about other people’s fitness journey are downright inspiring. I hope to have an inspiring story myself one day.

While my experience and the experience of many people I know with on-line communities is positive, it must be said that there are other negative on-line communities out there too. As our lesson states, pro-anorexia sites and even on Facebook can create negative feelings (Lesson 11 Commentary). As mentioned above, there are on-line communities for just about anything you can think of. This includes groups who thrive on racism, bullying, terrorism, and other possibly illegal activities. It is these groups that spark the debate of whether or not the government should be allowed to monitor on-line activity. A controversy in 2012 regarding the National Security Agency surveillance program was the source of apprehension for many American’s using the internet (Rivers 2015). According to an article by USA Today, 57% of American’s do not think the government should be allowed to monitor the on-line activity of the American public but 82% think that the government should monitor terrorism suspects (Rivers 2015). My question to the American people would be, how do you expect our government to find terrorist suspects without monitoring the internet? It is a sensitive subject for many. What do you think?

 

Lesson 11: Community, 2016. Applied Social Psychology. Pennsylvania State University. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802487/modules

Rivers, Eileen 2015. Is it ever OK for government to monitor us? Your Say Interactive. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/04/09/spying-government-phone-calls-your-say/25548259/

 


03
Nov 16

Community blog: For better mental health, should we “unfriend” Facebook?

stop-comparing-yourself-others

For many, modern communities include the virtual realm as well as the physical. Facebook and other social media platforms ostensibly draw people together, but there are growing concerns that the anonymity provided by this channel of communication can exacerbate bullying and other social ills while simultaneously creating further isolation (Yeager, Trzesniewski, Tirri, Nokelanian, & Dweck, 2011). Beyond this concern regarding deindividuation’s role in virtual bullying and other online attacks known as “flaming,” there is the concern that dissatisfaction with one’s own life circumstances rise in tandem with increased time spent on social media. This phenomenon has been referred to in the media as “Facebook depression” following a somewhat controversial American Academy of Pediatrics report evaluating college students’ Facebook comments for signs of depression (Company, 2016).

Festinger’s social comparison theory (1954) is a well-documented psychological phenomenon in which individuals unconsciously manipulate their self-esteem by virtue of whom they measure themselves against; one chooses whether to engage in upward or downward comparisons (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012). In short, we motivate ourselves to improve by comparing ourselves to aspirational targets, and protect ourselves when threatened by comparing ourselves to those worse off than ourselves. In the age of social media, this relatively adaptive strategy can seem to operate on steroids. With constant access to a plethora of images and stories through traditional and social media, we have no shortage of possibilities to compare ourselves to others. So is spending time on Facebook or other social media sites detrimental to one’s mental health, or not?

Like many results of studies in the behavioral sciences, the answer is, “it depends.” Gender, age, mental health status and other variables interact in surprising ways to make a simple answer to the question out of reach. For example, in one study, active female users of Facebook perceive that they receive social support through the platform, which decreased a depressed mood, but active male or passive female users have been shown to become more depressed (Frison & Eggermont, 2016). Furthermore, while social support received from peers through platforms like Facebook may decrease depression, this type of support may simply mask a user’s perception of their depression level rather than improving it clinically.

Interestingly, researchers Steers, Wickham and Acetelli (2015) concluded that social comparisons are not only the mediating factor in the association between time spent on Facebook and depression, but that it does not matter what type of comparisons are made (Company, 2016). To wit, they discovered that instead of downward social comparisons resulting in enhanced self-esteem as predicted, making comparisons of any kind led to increased depressive symptoms. Their takeaway? Know thyself. If you have a tendency toward depression, Facebook may be your frenemy. Do yourself a favor, and step away from the keyboard if exposure to the “highlight reels” of those in your social circle is making you feel bad about yourself.

So how do you feel? Do you ever get a Facebook hangover (feelings of insecurity and isolation, depressed mood) like I do when I spend too much time on social media? Or do you think that, overall, access to a virtual community enhances your mood? Or – like many things in life – is your answer, “it depends”?

References

Co, E. (2016, October 19). Stop comparing yourself with others. Retrieved November 3, 2016, from http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/photo-gallery/34157152/image/34166651/Stop-Comparing-Yourself-Others

Company, G. V. P. Is “Facebook depression” for real? Retrieved November 3, 2016, from http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/exc_080811.shtml

Frison, E., & Eggermont, S. (2016). Exploring the relationships between different types of facebook use, perceived online social support, and adolescents’ depressed mood. Social Science Computer Review, 34(2), 153-171.

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

Yeager, D.S., Trzesniewski, K.H., Tirri, K., Nokelanian, P., & Dweck, C.S. (2011). Adolescents’ implicit theories predict desire for vengeance after peer conflicts: Correlational and experimental evidence. Developmental Psychology, 47. 1090-1107. doi: 10.1037/a0023769

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


01
Nov 16

Video Games and Violence

One question we often ask ourselves when it comes to our children is “Are we doing the right thing?” We don’t always know what our children are doing when we are not around. One thing that I feel strongly about regarding children are video games. Video games come for children as young as 5 to as old as 18+. Some of our children are playing video games that are 18+, and unfortunately we are not doing anything about it because we are so consumed with our own lives.

The American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry maintains that “studies of children exposed to violence have shown that they can become ‘immune’ or numb to the horror of violence”, imitate the violence they see and show more aggressive behavior with greater exposure to violence. This is similar to Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment. Children observed adults beating up Bobo dolls and then they imitated their behavior. The study that Freeman mentioned in his article studied 377 American children from various ethnic groups – average age 13. He showed that kids with symptoms of depression of ADHD who played violent video games were no more likely than other kids to become bullies or delinquents. What can a parent do to control the use of a violent video game? As parents we worry, we are curious and we try our best to do well in raising our kids – but they don’t always listen to us do they?

original-1024x576

In December of 2012 Adam Lanza shot and killed nearly 20 students between the ages of 5 and 10 and six adults workers. What do you think led him to do this? He was just one of the many mass murderers that was obsessed with shooter video games. Similarly, James Holmes the individual who went on a rampage in a movie theatre in Colorado during the showing of the Dark Knight Rises was also a frequent player of World of Warcraft. I believe that there is a trend between violence and video games.

Fletcher, L., & Movieguide. (2015, October 15). 14 mass murders linked to violent video games. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from http://www.charismanews.com/culture/52651-14-mass-murders-linked-to-violent-video-games

Freeman, D. (2013, August 28). Surprising upside shown for violent video games. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/violent-video-games-bullying-children-study_n_3823490.html

 


Skip to toolbar