PSYCH 424 blog

Our world has changed drastically in the past 25 years with technology. We have phones that we can take anywhere with us without it being plugged into a wall. They have even made cellphones like a mini computer. Now they have video games, computer games, phone games, fast internet and more. All of these advances in technology has helped us to escape from our everyday lives during our free time. Since we have all of these resources at our disposal, how does these advances effect our well being?

One technological advancement that helps us to escape the most from our busy lives is an RPG video game. An RPG is a role-playing game. In this game you can create a character to look anyway you want, be anything you want, and have skills that you choose. This is a great way to “fulfill real-world social needs through interaction during imaginative play”(Adams, Aubrie S. 2013). This type of game play can let the adult mind wander and use our imaginations. Most adults struggle with this concept but playing these games the tools are easily accessible to help you along the way. For example, if you have always wanted blue hair and piercings but your employer will not allow it, then you might make your character to look that way. Therefore you are projecting your desires into your video game as a supplement to satisfy your wants or needs. Also in these games you can complete quests, which are like tasks to complete in order to move onto the next section of the game. These make you feel good about yourself, like you crossed a task off your to-do list. Researchers have found that RPG’s “have been shown to teach children the self-concept, behavioral
changes, cognitive abilities, social skills, and anxiety management” (Adams, Aubrie S. 2013).

Another great tool in these type of games are the social interactions. In the game you can communicate with real people and complete quests with others to make the challenges easier and more fun. This is a way to build friendships. Since friendships occur when at least two people have common interests. Most new video game consoles have an option to talk over headsets to players during game time, this allows for friendships to flourish and maybe even for people to meet in person. People who are friends already from work or school can plan times to both get on a game at the same time in order to be in their own comfort of their homes while having fun together. All in all these RPG’s are a great way to escape from the world that tells us how to live our lives.

References:

Adams, Aubrie S. (2013) “Needs Met Through Role-Playing Games: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Dungeons & Dragons,”
Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research: Vol. 12 , Article 6.
Available at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/kaleidoscope/vol12/iss1/6

I first found myself in the world of Facebook groups in 2013. I had just received a foundation shattering diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Ignorant to the meaning of the diagnosis and only familiar with the stereotyped description of an eight-year-old boy who won’t sit still, I turned to the internet for answers. After finding the diagnostic criteria and feeling somewhat satisfied with the suggested diagnosis, I continued to Facebook. I searched ADHD unsure of what I was looking for then, low and behold, I came across multiple groups targeted for individuals with ADHD. Naturally, I joined all of them. Upon acceptance my world grew immensely while simultaneously shrinking. There were other people just like me. I wasn’t inherently flawed; I simply had a diagnosable neurological condition. Even more importantly, I was not alone. To learn of the virtual gathering of like-minded individuals suffering from similar symptoms throughout their life created an instant comradery. It was mind blowing that these individuals scattered across the globe were accessible to communicate with through the tiny device at my fingertips.

Social media is notorious for decreased emotional interactions and increasing anxiety, depression and other detrimental effects. It could be a coping mechanism for those with anxiety. Difficulties with face-to-face interactions could be increased if majority of interactions are had by virtual means. Additionally, there has been noted research suggesting increased symptoms of depression caused by Facebook use (Lorman, 2017).  On the other end of the spectrum, Facebook groups of tens of thousands of individuals are finding support to the extent the benefit of the support found outweighs their privacy (Richards, 2018).

A suggested answer for the difference in experiences are the different personality traits found in each individual. For example, individuals with high scores of extraversion are seen to have a higher number of Facebook friends- but it does not necessarily result in meaningful interactions and may cause increased feelings of depression or lonliness. The differences could result in different intentions and effects with social media use (Lorman, 2017; Skues, Williams, & Wise, 2012). It can be agreed that if one is experiencing negative effects resulting from social media use, decreasing and limiting the time on the virtual platform can alleviate and essentially “reset” individuals (Lorman, 2017).

It has been observed that social media has its drawbacks and negative effects on the general public. Moderation is key. The sense of community to be found can be irreplaceable and benefit individuals in a way that was never to be known for previous generations.

Refernces:

Ellison, B., N., Steinfield, Charles, Lampe, & Cliff. (2007, July 01). Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/12/4/1143/4582961

Lorman, S. (2017, September 14). What 65 Studies Can Tell Us About Facebook and Mental Health. Retrieved from https://thriveglobal.com/stories/what-65-studies-can-tell-us-about-facebook-and-mental-health/

Richards, S. E. (2018, May 29). Facebook’s Health Groups Offer A Lifeline, But Privacy Concerns Linger. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facebook-health-groups-lifeline-privacy_n_5b058032e4b07c4ea104098b

Skues, J.L., Williams, B. and Wise, L. (2012) The Effects of Personality Traits, Self-Esteem, Loneliness, and Narcissism on Facebook Use among University Students. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 2414-2419. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.012

All throughout our lives we go through different stages of life. Each of us go through them at all different rates. These stages can include marriage, a baby, new house, job or even going away to college. As we are going through these changes our friends can get lost in the shuffle. Why does this happen?

Big events or stages of our lives can make a big impact us and it can change the person we were beforehand. One major life change is having a baby. It can change the mother and father by the way they think and act. Sometimes friends who do not have children tend to not understand why you can’t hang out with them at the mall on Saturday, because your child needs rest.”There will be instances when plans with a friend will simply not pan out or you may not be able to see one another for some time” (Waugh, Chantel, 2019). Another factor that usually occurs is, your friend no longer feels like they have anything in common with you anymore. This is a key factor in the beginning processes of becoming friends. A positive outcome of going through this stage in your life is, as new parents they begin to develop new friendships with other parents. The reason this occurs is because now they have something in common, like children. Their kids may even attend the same school (Wagle, Stephanie).

(Waugh, Chantel, 2019)
Friendships should not be forgotten about. It is a crucial relationship in life that helps maintain our happiness in our busy lives. Friendships cause people to feel happy, relieve anxiety and depression by being around your friends. When we spend time with our friends it can also improve our physical health by strengthening our immune, cardiovascular system and more (Wagle, Stephanie). No matter how busy or crazy your life gets, it is important to make time for your friends.

References:

Wagle, Stephanie. “The Friendship Crisis: Making and Keeping Friends as an Adult.” Parents, www.parents.com/parenting/relationships/friendship/making-and-keeping-friends-as-an-adult/.

Waugh, Chantel. “Overcoming the Problems of Adult Friendships.” Reflect & Refresh, 6 Mar. 2019, reflectandrefresh.org/2019/02/28/overcoming-the-problems-of-adult-friendships/.

The importance of afterschool academic enrichment programs cannot be understated. Afterschool academic enrichment programs allow students the opportunity to remediate if necessary and to advance beyond their peers. During the daily schedule of most schools there is a required amount of material that must be covered in a timely manner. This requisite of required material may actually be harming certain students who may be falling behind. As the teacher advances with the lesson plans, the left behind students are even more behind. Problems like this are far too common in the educational system today. According to the U.S. Department of Education “Research has consistently shown that well-designed tutoring programs that use volunteers and other nonprofessionals as tutors can be effective in improving children’s reading skills. Students with below-average reading skills who are tutored by volunteers show significant gains in reading skills when compared with similar students who do not receive tutoring from a high-quality tutoring program.” The research supports the idea that tutoring in addition to regular schooling can benefit most students and especially those students who fall behind. Tutoring is more than supplementing academic education, it’s about the students seeing that someone besides their teacher is advocating for them. Positive morale support can have great lasting impacts on a student’s education. Academic enrichment programs even have a proven track record in the undergraduate years. One example of this is the Summer Medical Dental Education Program designed for aspiring pre-medical and pre-dental students. The unique goal of this specific program is to educate economically disadvantaged students on the admissions process for the respective professional schools. Like afterschool tutoring, this program fosters educational competence and confidence in one’s ability’s.  

Overall, academic enrichment programs support all types of students. These programs range from afterschool tutoring to pre-medical programs preparing students for successful admission to medical school.  

Reference 

Evidence That Tutoring Works. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2019, from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/ERIC-ED464343/pdf/ERIC-ED464343.pdf 

Action research in psychology, or research that takes place within communities of oppressed or exploited populations works to identify problem areas and facilitate social change collectively (Brydon-Miller, 1997). In the past, researchers have sought to discover connections between participatory action research and empowerment amongst the oppressed. One study that was conducted on homeless individuals observed that empowerment was an individual process that must be done autonomously (Brydon-Miller, 1997).

Empowerment has proven to have an essential role in predicting the wellbeing and positive development of youth. Essentially, empowerment is the process of individuals and groups finding action-oriented solutions to relieve difficulties they face within their lives (Lardier et al., 2019). More recent studies have been conducted to reveal that empowerment that inevitably causes social change may be inspired with community participation.  In modern times, empowered youth have joined together and become instrumental in promoting social change for the oppressed by demanding social justice, equal rights, and police reform in movements such as #BlackLivesMatter (Lardier et al., 2019). Still, the mechanisms through which youth empowerment and critical awareness occur remains under-researched, especially within diverse populations and people of color.

According to Lardier, Reid, and Reid (2019) psychological empowerment is comprised of three components. The intrapersonal component dictates a person’s ability to engage in change with personal and sociopolitical contexts. Then, the interactional component is largely comprised of awareness of one’s sociopolitical environment and their functional capabilities to engage in change. This type of cognitive empowerment includes critical awareness, decision making, resource mobilization, and relational processes such as shaping ideologies and creating change through relationships. Lastly, the behavioral component explains how the individual or group behaviors provoke influence and change over their social, political, and cultural factors that impact their communities and lives (Lardier et al., 2019).

It is important to recognize that the aspects of empowerment stretch far beyond the intrapersonal and behavioral components. Investigations that have examined cognitive empowerment have found an empirical relationship with organizational types such as political or service-based, and features of the organization such as an organizational sense of community and empowerment, with relation to critical hopefulness and consciousness (Lardier et al., 2019). For marginalized ethnic groups to become empowered, it has been discovered that these groups must develop a group identification and consciousness to empower each other to think critically about their social positions to invoke participation in a manner that leads to collective group consciousness (Lardier et al., 2019).

Overall, the researchers discovered that a strong connection to one’s ethnic group makes him or her equally aware of oppressive structures that fuel perceived problems and contribute to past and present social inequalities (Lardier et al., 2019). Hence, such connections will allow individuals to think more critically about concerns affecting their ethnic-racial group. Then, critical awareness about social inequalities reinforces collective feelings of solidarity, efficacy, culture, and identity (Lardier et al., 2019). Altogether these group processes have been found to lead to successfully empower ethnic minorities to have a strong ethnic group identity that creates greater community belonging and the efficacy to enact and spearhead sociopolitical change to better the social world.

References

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

Lardier, D. T., Garcia-Reid, P., & Reid, R. J. (2019). The examination of cognitive empowerment dimensions on intrapersonal psychological empowerment, psychological sense of community, and ethnic identity among urban youth of color. The Urban Review, , 1-21. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1007/s11256-019-00504-7

A few years ago, my best friends asked me to be the made of honor at their wedding. I was so happy and honored that they trusted me with this very important role, but I was even happier that they were finally able to legally get married because they are gay. Us privileged people take many rights for granted while many marginalized groups have to fight for basic rights. Humans have undoubtedly evolved from hunter-gatherers into sophisticated and well-informed beings, however there are still many groups and subcultures that do not enjoy equal rights and certain liberties. Marijuana is still considered a schedule I drug in the United States, and there are still thousands of people serving time in prisons for either selling or possession of marijuana. There are numbers of states in America that prohibit women to make decisions about abortion at six weeks. Women still get paid less than men for doing the same job. The long list can go on, but there was a time when this list was even longer.

There was a time when slavery was legal, women didn’t have the right to vote, Blacks and Mexican-Americans had to use separate bathrooms, and only a few decades ago, these marginalized groups didn’t imagine life without segregation. Indeed, change came, but it didn’t happen overnight. Many years of fighting, protesting and advocating led by visionaries and freedom fighters such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa parks, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and many more, resulted in culture and social changes. Change is difficult to face and accept, but it’s also inevitable. It requires years of fighting the system, educating the public, and conducting research.

When studying public policies and social justice, basic research methods may not be the most pragmatic way of collecting data. Applied research is more commonly used to observe and evaluate social issues. Participatory action research is a relatively new area of research and is just trying to gain popularity. It has been criticized for its possible political bias, but many psychologists have broken the chains of these conservative and traditional views. Psychologists like Mary Brydon-Miller have used participatory action research to work with communities and implement positive social change. They argue that the best way to understand social issues is to work directly with community members and empower them to be actively involved in the research process. In this type of research, the researcher becomes involved within the community, and the community gets actively involved in the research process. Participatory action research uses empirical, interpretive and critical theories to study political and social issues (Brydon-Miller, 1997). Its qualitative and quantitative date provides a holistic view of social and political issues that need change. Societies go through constant change, and participatory action research helps implement cultural and behavioral modifications through observation and education.

References

Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory action research: Psychology and social change. Journal of Social Issues, vol 53. Pp 657-666

Climate change is something that affects all of us whether you believe in it or not. According to researchers, climate change is irreversible, but it is stoppable (Grimminick, 2015). How can we get the average person to start reducing their effect on our environment? Using social change research we can combat this problem. One type of social change research that I think will be really effective in this situation is activist research. Activist research includes finding solutions to a specific issue and pushing certain values during that process (n.d.). To combat climate change we must start researching, finding solutions, and instilling values to ensure long-term change.

The research has already been done concerning the negative effects climate change has on our planet. Knowing this why do we continue to behave in ways that harm our planet?  The first step is to research the motivation behind our behavior which will make it easier for scientists to find ways for everyone to do their part. For example, is that we are just lazy or does it cost more money to behave in ways that reduce our carbon footprint. Once they pinpoint the motivation behind our behavior. the question becomes how should we target these behaviors?

What wide-reaching, social change will it take for people to start reducing their carbon footprint? Germany led an initiative that encouraged people to start recycling plastic water bottles frequently. They gave 25 cents for every water bottle someone recycled. Recycling 12 plastic bottles every week will leave a person with156 euros at the end of the year (Bariso, 2016). Germany made it even easier for people by having a water bottle return machine in every grocery store (Bariso, 2016). If the U.S. took up this social change idea we could definitely make a big difference. 

Even if we implement the same change that Germany started, how do we encourage people to take that to other parts of their life? This is where values come in to play. We need to push a certain set of values and ideas through our social change research to make ensure lasting change. Without clear motivation for their actions, people can easily become disheartened and stop their good behavior. I think the value we need to encourage is to leave the world in good shape for future generations. This will strike a chord for most people since they wouldn’t want to leave their kids or grandkids on an uninhabitable planet.

In conclusion, we need to research the motivation behind our actions, implement solutions, and encourage certain values through social change. A majority of Americans say they care about climate change, but we still have not incited enough social change to make a significant impact (Grimminick, 2015).  Using activist research we can reduce the impact the population has on the environment.  Paying people to recycle water bottles is one possible solution to our issue. Then, we need to encourage certain values to make sure people continue with the good behavior.

References:
Canvas Learning Management System. (n.d.). https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1973019/modules/items/25635746

Grimminick, Robert. (December, 2015). “10 Major Social Problems That Could Be Fixed With Innovative Solutions.” List Verse. https://listverse.com/2015/12/04/10-major-social-problems-that-could-be-fixed-with-innovative-solutions/

Bariso, Justin. November, 2016). “Germany Figured Out the Single Best Way to Get People to Recycle.” https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/germany-figured-out-the-single-best-way-to-get-people-to-recycle.html 

In today’s society it has become a necessity to work a minimum of 30-40 hrs. a week. We spend so much time at our jobs that we barely even see our own family at home. Therefore, it is important to build good relationships with our coworkers. This will help make the work week go faster and get the job done easier. One of the disadvantages of having to work with other employees is sometimes it can be hard to get along with everyone. This can be especially hard when it comes to different types of discrimination in the workplace.
One of the social conflicts that can occur in the workplace is gender discrimination. This can happen for men or women. If a workplace has more men in the workplace it has been proven to have more gender discrimination towards women and vice versa if there are more women in the workplace towards men. There was a survey conducted in 2017 by the Pew Research Center about gender differences in the workplace. The results revealed that workplaces with mostly men had a higher rate of women reporting gender differences compared to results when mostly women were in the workplace (Parker, K. 2018). Gender discrimination is more common to happen towards women because “The U.S. workforce overall is majority male by a narrow margin – 53% of all workers were male in 2017, while 47% were female” (Parker, K. 2018). This relates back to the statement that gender discrimination occurs more often when a workplace is more one gender sided.
Gender discrimination happens on a daily basis but most of us might not recognize it as such. For example, calling a female “sweetheart” or commenting about someone’s outfit inappropriately, etc… These are all examples of sexism and discrimination. “This is the most frequently encountered form of everyday sexism, experienced by women and men, and consists of sexist remarks or jokes, and insulting terms based on gender” (Priestley, A. 2017). One of the main problems with this issue is, people do these things unintentional or intentional but not many people makes a fuss about it when it should be something to be addressed.
Society has created a role for women for generations. They have viewed them as kind and loving. The caregivers of society. The problem is, especially with older generations, this is how the workforce views women. Sometimes this can influence people’s decisions on who they hire and if they believe someone is capable of a certain job or title.”Women, who are regarded as the nicer, kinder sex, have a cultural stereotype…yet women often are victims of prejudice” (Heilman, M., & Eagly, A. 2008). This is another reason why it happens in the workplace.
Most of the time gender discrimination is unintentional mainly because of this reason. It has become almost a norm but more and more women are starting to stand up against it and realize it is not okay anymore. Men who are being discriminated against at a workplace should also stand up if they are being singled out. No one should have to deal with any type of discrimination at the workplace because it can effect our jobs and our well being. It is overall not a good environment to deal with on a daily basis.

References:

Parker, K. (2018, March 07). Gender discrimination more common for women in mostly male workplaces. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/07/women-in-majority-male-workplaces-report-higher-rates-of-gender-discrimination/

Priestley, A. (2017, October 24). Six common manifestations of everyday sexism at work. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.smartcompany.com.au/people-human-resources/six-common-manifestations-everyday-sexism-work/

Heilman, M., & Eagly, A. (2008). Gender Stereotypes Are Alive, Well, and Busy Producing Workplace Discrimination. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(4), 393-398. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9434.2008.00072.x

While learning about participatory research and social change research, it became quite clear to me how beneficial and valuable society’s interaction and involvement with researchers and their research can be. Not only are researchers and residents often living in and around the same issues at hand, they typically have the same desires to improve them as well. That said, researchers working with the community yields itself to be an incredible team effort with common goals.

When doing a bit of research myself into examples in which participatory research has proven successful, an article was found regarding Georgia State University’s researchers working hand-in-hand with residents in the surrounding community in an effort to identify threats to their environment. The Proctor Creek Watershed is a 16-square-mile area of Northwest Atlanta that includes dozens of neighborhoods. Unfortunately, illegal tire dumping, contaminated land, overflowed sewers, and unpleasant standing water have become trademarks in the area (Marquez, 2019).  The residents in the area were thrilled when, in 2013, Urban Waters Federal Partnership, an Environmental Protection Agency program meant to reconnect communities with their urban waterways, stepped in to assist with Proctor Creek (Marquez, 2019). Although excited, residents wanted to ensure that they were, indeed, a part of the picture.

Na’Taki Osborne Jelks, co-chair of the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, spear-headed the idea to create an app that would allow the watershed residents to identify and document the environmental hazards that were negatively affecting their health and quality of life (Marquez, 2019). This would fulfill the need for “street-level data”, according to Jelks, who believes that it is “important to identify what’s actually impacting the people who live in the community” (Marquez, 2019).

The app allowed longtime residents to partner with Georgia State faculty members and students to collect photo and video evidence of environmental hazards in their neighborhoods (Marquez, 2019). The data were then used to generate a series of maps, which showed where illegal dumping, stormwater infrastructure problems and other issues were most densely clustered. With this research data in hand, the residents were able to present their findings to Atlanta city-council members and the city’s Department of Watershed and Department of Public Works (Marquez, 2019).

It’s evidently clear that the advantage of community-based participatory research is that it allows actual residents of the community to be part of the solutions process, they feel as though they’re creating change. When researchers and residents work together as one, a community full of faces gains credibility and a true voice pushing for change.

References

Marquez, J. (2019). A River Runs Through It. Georgia State University Magazine. Retrieved from https://news.gsu.edu/research-magazine/spring2019/a-river-runs-through-it

A type of research that deviates from traditional research that we’ve focused on throughout the semester is called participatory action research (PAR).  This type of research is a branch of social change research and aims to benefit the community that is being studied, whereas other research methods may fall short of actively creating change.  How does this process differ from traditional methods that we are used to seeing?  PAR uses a hands-on approach that collectively involves both the researchers and members of a community.  In other words, community members work alongside researchers through the process of research, education, and action.  Everyone is contributing their perspectives, skills, and knowledge to a common goal.  As a result, both parties emerge transformed and new knowledge has been acquired (Brydon-Miller, 1997).

A typical community that is studied using the PAR method is usually an oppressed or exploited population.  PAR is intended to help these communities by identifying concerns of the community and transforming these issues into positive social change (Brydon-Miller, 1997).  PAR may also be used to develop effective prevention programs that can be applied at a larger-scale.  I found an example for the latter, which demonstrates how this research methodology can bring benefits to a community, and may be applied elsewhere.

Our nation is currently facing a drug epidemic.  A way to combat this issue is to implement drug prevention programs in schools across the nation.  In some states, it has become mandatory protocol to create a drug prevention curriculum.  Gosin, Dustman, Drapeau, & Harthun (2003) conducted a study using PAR methodology to create a school drug prevention program for students in the southwestern United States.  The reasons for using PAR in this particular situation included that community ownership was contributory for program effectiveness, and the most successful prevention programs were those “in which the culture and learning styles of the recipients are reflected” (Gosin et al., 2003, p. 364).

Throughout the process, researchers conducted focus groups to get feedback from teachers on how to implement ideas into lessons that would be included in the curriculum.  Students would then evaluate these lessons and provide feedback.  Additionally, students were involved in creating a logo for the program and producing educational videos about drug prevention.

Overall, the work from all parties involved produced a viable drug prevention curriculum.  The researchers contributed their academic knowledge and evaluation processes, whereas the teachers and students (the community) served as experts on their community culture and specific needs (Gosin et al., 2003, p. 377).  This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the unique features of the PAR model, and its potential for successfully creating prevention programs for other scenarios.

References

Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory action research: Psychology and social change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 657-666. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/0022-4537.00042

Gosin, M. N., Dustman, P. A., Drapeau, A. E., & Harthun, M. L. (2003). Participatory action research: Creating an effective prevention curriculum for adolescents in the southwestern US. Health Education Research, 18(3), 363-379. doi:10.1093/her/cyf026

This week in Applied Social Psychology, we learned about social change and participatory research and how it can be applied to a social situation. Psychological researchers are using some of these methods to conduct research and furthermore study social situations. When thinking of a social situation that are affecting many Americans today, a combination of electronic devices and social media comes to mind.

As time goes on, the technology advances and people tend to adapt by learning how to use the newest electronic devices. One electronic device that has advanced beyond our imagination is the mobile phone. Mobile phones became increasingly popular in late 90s and early 2000s, and around 2007 Apple Inc released the Apple iPhone (Chowdhury, 2014). The mobile phone has made many people’s life easier; however, with everything good there are some cons as well.

When walking around campus, have you noticed that most students are looking down at their phones and navigating without even looking up? How about when you are in class? How often do you and your fellow students look at your phones to check for updates? This could be due to something that is known as FoMO–in other words, fear of missing out (Maeng, 2018). The mobile phone and furthermore social media can be both a positive and a negative; however, with more people experiencing FoMO there can be several downsides (Maeng, 2018). It was found that people with FoMO experience anxiety, which is a disorder that many Americans are experiencing. When anxiety is persistent, it can develop into what is known as anxiety disorder. It is persistent, seemingly uncontrollable, and overwhelming. It is an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it can be disabling. (Anxiety and Depression Association of America [ADAA], 2018). The FoMO is when people are constantly updating their phones to see peoples new posts, messages, and etc. and they do this because they are scared that they might miss out on something that might have happen. This also leads to another issue that people are experiencing which is known as nomophobia.

Nomophobia, also known as no-mobile-phone-phobia, is the feelings of anxiety or distress that a person can experience when they do not have their phone with them (Valdesolo, 2019). Nomophobia and FoMO can but does not necessarily need to occur together; however, they both can contribute to anxiety (Maeng, 2018). People are depending on phones more than ever and are not able to leave the house without their phones. With the rise of anxiety disorder with around 40 million people in the United States, we must revisit how nomophobia and FoMO are contributing to these numbers and how we might be able to improve our mental health and furthermore life (ADAA, 2018).

Excessive use of technology can lead to issues such as FoMO and/or nomophobia, furthermore anxiety disorder. This is why it is important to evaluate the use of technology, in this case phones, and come to a conclusion to working towards a healthier lifestyle of not looking at the phone at all times. As mentioned in a CNBC article, there are several methods to improve your day (D’Onfro, J., 2018). Some of the tips are keeping yourself on a schedule allowing yourself to check the phone every 15 minutes then move to every 30 minutes, every 45 minutes, or every hour. Another tip is to turn off notifications or as many as possible–notifications can distract you and in a sense encourage you to look at the phone every time it vibrates and makes a sound  (D’Onfro, J., 2018). With the rise of anxiety disorder and its great link to social media/phone usage, it is important to address this issue and the first step might start with you.

References

Anxiety and Depression Association of America (2018). Understanding the Facts of Anxiety Disorders and Depression in the First Step. Retrieved from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety

Chowdhury, R. (2014). Evolution of Mobile Phones: 1995-2012. Retrieved from https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/evolution-of-mobile-phones/

D’Onfro, J. (2018). These simple steps will help you stop checking your phone so much. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/03/how-to-curb-you-smartphone-addiction-in-2018.html

Maeng, S. (2018). #The Struggles is Real: Fear of Missing out (FoMO) and nomophobia can, but do not always, occur together. Retrieved from. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327477166_TheStruggleIsReal_Fear_of_missing_out_FoMO_and_nomophobia_can_but_do_not_always_occur_together

Valdesolo, P. (2019).Scientists Study Nomophobia—Fear of Being without a Mobile Phone. Retrieved from. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-study-nomophobia-mdash-fear-of-being-without-a-mobile-phone/

The United States has the largest population of prisoners currently incarcerated.  What makes the United States so unique? I highly doubt it’s the prison conditions that are so attractive to would be criminals. A good majority of those in that are incarcerated are minorities. The simple question to ask is why? The answer is long and complex. Someone’s race doesn’t necessarily make it more likely that the individual will commit crimes, there are far more factors to consider. First let’s examine the United Sates War on Drugs and its implication on minority communities. According to drugpolicy.org “Research shows that prosecutors are twice as likely to pursue a mandatory minimum sentence for black people as for white people charged with the same offense. Among people who received a mandatory minimum sentence in 2011, 38% were Latino and 31% were black.” These mandatory minimum sentences often times force minorities to serve great lengths of time in prison without getting input from a judge. Minorities are often scared into entering guilty pleas by prosecutors in order to avoid lengthy maximum sentences, especially with drug offenses. According to the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation “In its most recent comprehensive study, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported in 2011 that “high-level” suppliers or importers made up only 10.9% of federal defendants, wholesalers of any amount — 21.2%, street-level dealers — 17.2%, and couriers — 23% sentenced for drug offenses. Only 2.2% were managers or supervisors. The rest of federal drug defendants were other low-level offenders, even marginally-involved friends and family of the accused.” These harsh drug laws are simply imprisoning low level criminals and doing nothing to curb the drug epidemic in the United States. The individuals who do go to prison for drug related crimes are quite simply replaceable in the scheme of multinational drug organizations. One thing is clear, the United States will continue to fill its prisons unless an overhaul of current laws takes place.

References

The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race (English/Spanish). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-mass-incarceration-and-race-englishspanish

Mandatory Minimums and Sentencing Reform. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cjpf.org/mandatory-minimums

This week in Applied Social Psychology, we discussed participatory action research, which is much different than other forms of research I have learned about in my other psychology courses. In her article, Brydon-Miller (1997) describes participatory action research (PAR) as education, research, and action processes that have the goal of bringing about social change. Specifically, Brydon-Miller (1997) explains that participatory action research has the following characteristics:

• PAR addresses social issues that affect exploited and oppressed groups of people (Brydon-Miller, 1997).
• The issues within PAR are addressed by the individuals, families, and communities they affect (Brydon-Miller, 1997).
• Individuals, families, and communities that are affected by an issue addressed within PAR are encouraged to take on an active role within PAR (Brydon-Miller, 1997).

After learning about PAR, I decided to create my own hypothetical research study by using Burns, Cooke, & Schweidler’s (2011) outline of PAR:

Step 1: Identify the issue- I have noticed that a significant amount of my female friends, peers, and colleagues suffer/suffered from some type of eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, & body dysmorphia). Why are young adult females so vulnerable to eating disorders? I hypothesize that exposure to the “ideal” female body in the media is correlated to the engagement in disordered eating behaviors in young adult females.

Step 2: Identify participants- Along with myself, my female friends, peers, and colleagues who are/have been affected or feel vulnerable to eating disorders would be recruited to be stakeholders in my PAR. I would ask my Abnormal Psychology professor, Dr. Dubyak, to join my PAR because she is a clinical psychologist with research experience, and the topic is one that can/could have affected her as well.  

Step 3: Collect the data- My participants and myself would create a self-reported questionnaire. We would create our questionnaire through a website that allowed participants to answer anonymously, which would reduce any response bias from social desirability, and allow us to easily reach more participants than using a hard-copy questionnaire. Not only would we be answering the questionnaire ourselves, through text message and email we could send the link to the questionnaire to people who originally chose not to be part of my PAR in hopes that they would find the study to be relevant to them, and then become a participant/stakeholder in the study and hold an active role.

Example Questionnaire (Link to Word document): eating disorder questionnaire-s93azg

Step 4: Analyze the data- My participants and I would use measures of central tendency (mean and median of scores) to analyze the data from the questionnaire. With this data, we would create a scatter plot to show the visual relationship between exposure to the “ideal” female body in the media and engagement in disordered eating. If we found a positive relationship between these two variables, we could assume there is a correlation (but not causal relationship) between exposure to the “ideal” female body in the media and engagement in disordered eating.

Step 5: Report the data- Unfortunately, there will never be a way to get all media outlets to stop exposing people to the “ideal” body. With this being said, one way to help decrease eating disorders is by educating vulnerable people about the affects exposure to the “ideal” body can have on them. My participants and I would report our findings through various outlets that would reach everyone who is vulnerable to eating disorders. We could make posters that illustrate our findings and ask high schools, universities, and other public places to post them. Also, we could publish our study with the help of Dr. Dubyak and ask universities to share the study with their students. We could also post our findings on various social media outlets, which will probably reach our targeted audience the most.

After creating my own hypothetical research study using PAR, I realized how beneficial PAR can be. The people who are being affected by an issue will not only be the most motivated to initiate change, but can have greater influence/reach to communities they are a part of than an outside researcher.

References:

Burns, Cooke, & Schweidler. (2011). A Short Guide to Community Based Participatory Action Research. Retrieved from https://hc-v6-static.s3.amazonaws.com/media/resources/tmp/cbpar.pdf

Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory action research: Psychology and social change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 657-666. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/0022-4537.00042

Health problems have always been around, but now social media may be putting people’s health at risk. The world without social media was very different. Imagine if you will, a world without Facebook, twitter, Instagram, snapchat, and various other social media outlets. What would people do with their time? One thing is clear, many people across the world are using social media. According to Pew Research, “Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) now report that they are Facebook users, and roughly three-quarters of those users access Facebook on a daily basis.” The sheer amount of people using Facebook is quite alarming. These are people that may have never communicated with each other before social media. What’s troubling is now people often argue with each other via social media comment sections. This undoubtedly may be leading to unnecessary stress to the users. Yes, a platform to exchange ideas and opinions is great for the most part; however, the arguing itself may be posing as a health risk to users.

With all this social media usage going on around us, some people are actually experiencing mental health problems because of social media usage. One of the major mental health problems due to social media is social media anxiety disorder. This anxiety disorder describes people that are affected by an excessive need to be on social media. Some of the symptoms of social media anxiety disorder are nervousness, stress, and irritability. Stress has the potential to wreak havoc on a person’s life, but it all depends on how the individual chooses to cope with the stressors. Everyday stressors can trigger a psychological and physiological response. Depending on an individual’s personality, he or she may deal with stress in a different way. The stress resulting from social media usage can become chronic when the user is exposed to the stressors found in social media such as arguing in a comment section. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America it states “Many people see that someone on Facebook who has a great job, excellent husband, and beautiful home and they feel happy for them. But, others can feel jealous, depressed, or may even feel suicidal about their own life if it is not as “perfect” as those they see on Facebook.” This unhealthy comparison of lives that social media may lead to is really affecting people and putting lives in danger. Another health problem social media can cause is depression. One characteristic of social media that may cause depression is the feeling of envy when seeing other peoples lives on Facebook. Despite all these health risks associated with social media for some people, the world will still continue to be fascinated by social media.

References

Taylor, S. E., & Sirois, F. M. (2012). Health psychology. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson

Social Media Obsession and Anxiety. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://adaa.org/social-media-obsession

Smith, A., Anderson, M., Smith, A., & Anderson, M. (2018, September 19). Social Media Use 2018: Demographics and Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/

Psychologists have examined optimism and have theorized it in several forms within the last few years. Many of the theories seem to have some commonalities, such as the idea that optimism doesn’t have much to do with objective characteristics of a situation or an event. In fact, optimism is extremely subjective. Scheier and Carver (1992) agree that optimism conveys the idea that individuals can identify with plans and objectives existing soon. Optimistic people believe that good things will happen soon and are always seeking out the positive in every situation. They are always looking at a glass half full versus a glass as half empty (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).

The idea of optimism has only been scientifically studied for that last thirty years. The phenomenon is new to the scientific field, but it appears to be related to the field of positive psychology. Optimistic people tend to be more persistent. Optimism itself has been associated with the pursuit of goals, the development of social networks/relationships and with physical and emotional well-being (Bouchard, Carver, Mens & Scheier, 2018). One study that was conducted found that optimism is highly associated with positive mental health. Optimism has been found to be a positive coping technique for survivors of disasters (weather storms and catastrophic events). Individuals with optimistic personalities may also have better health throughout their life span overall (Cherry, Sampson, Galea, Marks, Nezat, Baudoin & Lyon, 2017).

Overall, optimism adds several benefits to social psychology and to individuals. Six of the benefits consists of romantic relationships, friendships, biomedical health, mental and emotional health, work and college. Research has found that optimistic partners in romantic relationships tend to have better relationship satisfaction and functioning. The quality of friendships also tends to be higher when optimistic individuals are involved. As for Biomedical health, studies have found that optimism is related to better healthy lifestyle habits and behaviors. There has also been a relationship found between optimism and mental and emotional health. People who are happier in their daily lives tend to have better moods regardless of their health and situational factors. Lastly, optimism has been found to be associated with better work performance and positive adjustments both at work and in college (Schneider et al., 2012).

Optimistic people are positive thinkers, as opposed to pessimistic people who are more negative natured. Optimistic individuals make internal, stable and global attributions while pessimists make external, unstable and specific attributions to explain why bad things have happened (Schneider et al., 2012). Throughout the course of our lives many of us will take on the characteristics of both being optimistic and pessimistic from time to time. If we could try to be more positive and think optimistically more often, we may also obtain benefits that can improve our overall health and our perspective on ourselves as well as the world around us.

References

Bouchard, L. C., Carver, C. S., Mens, M. C., & Scheier, M. F. (2018). Optimism, health, and well-being. In D. S. Dunn (Ed.), Positive psychology: Established and emerging issues; positive psychology: Established and emerging issues (pp. 112-130, Chapter xiv, 351 Pages) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, New York, NY. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2082682435?accountid=13158

Cherry, K. E., Sampson, L., Galea, S., Marks, L. D., Nezat, P. F., Baudoin, K. H., & Lyon, B. A. (2017). Optimism and hope after multiple disasters: Relationships to health-related quality of life. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 22(1), 61-76. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1080/15325024.2016.1187047

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.

Psychological research has revealed that the nature of adult relationships are largely determined by parent-child attachments established in infancy. Amongst infants, there are three basic attachment styles categorized by how an infant responds to separation distress from a caregiver. Secure attachments in infants are characterized by distress when the caregiver leaves and is easy to soothe upon their return. Then, insecure attachments such as anxious-ambivalent and avoidant were distressed upon the caregiver’s absence and return or unresponsive to his or her absence and return. Notably, babies with secure attachments will likely grow to be secure adults (Schneider et al., 2012). Overall, the infant’s patterns of attachment continue to characterize their adult reactions to love, threat, and loss in relationships later in life.

Clearly, attachment styles are an essential component of a child’s psychological development in infancy, childhood, and across the lifespan. Therefore, it is important to analyze potential factors that may obstruct healthy parent-child attachment and prevent a child from going on to have more secure attachments later in life. Technology use in children is one element of concern in terms of healthy child development, as, excessive amounts of screen time have proven to impair cognitive and social development (Hadlington et al., 2019). Unsurprisingly, research has found that a rise in the use of digital technology in the home by children is changing the nature of home life. Consequently, caregivers that rely on digital parenting often find themselves in conflict with their children when it comes to mediating and setting limitations on technology usage (Hadlington et al., 2019).

Recent studies have shown that by age 1 more than one-third of babies had touched and scrolled on a screen, then by age 2 fifty percent had watched tv shows or played games on apps or devices (Courtney & Nowakowski-Sims, 2019). The researchers outlined that device usage decreases physical human connection, undermining the vital human need for communication that is necessary to form early attachments. In infants and children, social and emotional skills are learned through play activities, as, it allows for enrichment and affective exchanges between parents and children (Courtney & Nowakowski-Sims, 2019). Too much screen time can interrupt these essential exchanges and interfere with learning by diminishing in-person interactions.

Regular parent-infant engaging experiences that create joy synchronize neural activity in the right cortex of the brain between the parent and child. Researchers Courtney and Nowakowski-Sims (2019) describe caring touch as essential for releasing “feel good” neurotransmitters such as oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine. Importantly, touch and warmth activate the calm and connection system, bringing feelings of wellbeing to the child that foster strong, secure attachment. Though, sadly, the negative impact of excessive screen time not only affects relationships, but also a child’s early neurological wiring and later function (Courtney & Nowakowski-Sims, 2019). Infants are hypersensitive to electronic stimuli, and an excess can cause a sensory overload as the brain struggles to adjust to the overwhelming amount of incoming information. During development, repeated exposure to superfast processing may cause a permanent change in the brain’s processing speeds. Unfortunately, some of these changes include higher activity levels, risk-taking, diminished short-term memory and poorer cognitive functioning (Courtney & Nowakowski-Sims, 2019).

Researchers Hadlington, White, and Curtis (2019) discovered that when 8-10-year-old children used their tablets, children became fully immersed in the tablet devices provided. This resulted in a loss of conscious awareness, that in some instances, children sought out to create more privacy and isolation from the outside world; reducing interactions with their environment and people around them (Hadlington et al., 2019). Children that displace screen time with social interaction are isolated from family life in a way that undermines social and familial relationships. In turn, children that supplant technology with caregiver interaction may develop a more avoidant attachment style later in life that makes it difficult for him or her to form healthy social and romantic connections.

In summation, excessive use of technology in infancy and early childhood has the potential to impair attachment and overall social-skills, mood, and neurological functioning that pose implications throughout the lifespan. Additionally, when children are pacified with portable devices, it directly impairs their ability to regulate strong emotions. In conclusion, by replacing talking, singing, nurturing touch, and play activities with maladaptive electronic usage, the parent-child bond is ultimately likely to result in an avoidant or insecure attachment style when compared with children who received more nurturing interactions early in life (Courtney & Nowakowski-Sims, 2019).

References

Courtney, J. A., & Nowakowski-Sims, E. (2019). Technology’s impact on the parent-infant attachment relationship: Intervening through FirstPlay® therapy.International Journal of Play Therapy, 28(2), 57-68. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/pla0000090

Hadlington, L., White, H., & Curtis, S. (2019). “I cannot live without my tablet]”: Children’s experiences of using tablet technology within the home. Computers in Human Behavior, 94, 19-24. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1016/j.chb.2018.12.043

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied Social Psychology. Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Humans are social creatures, thus our lives are filled with social interactions and relationships. In these relationships, we will often experience inevitable issues. The important thing to know is how to deal with these conflicts. This is what you would call conflict management. The goal of conflict management is to deal with issues in a respectful and productive manner. There are three important skills to develop in order to deal with conflict. These skills include communication skills, emotional intelligence, and empathy (Doyle, 2018).

Communication skills are key to resolving issues and preventing them in the first place. Being clear with written and verbal communication is a way to foster your communication skills (Doyle, 2018). Ways to start improving your communication skills are addressing problems quickly, discussing openly, and negotiating. One problem that arises here is making assumptions about what other people are saying or thinking. To steer clear of this roadblock let others express their feelings and needs to you.

Emotional intelligence is important to decrease conflict in relationships. This is the ability to understand yours and other’s feelings and to handle those feelings correctly (Doyle, 2018). You should strive to be good at identifying and meeting the needs of others. Some people have a naturally higher EQ than others but you can always become more emotionally intelligent. Ways to increase your EQ include asserting feelings without blaming, identifying triggers to conflict, and setting ground rules for productive dialogue (Doyle, 2018). 

Empathy is the last requirement for becoming a good conflict resolver. Empathy is the ability to see a situation from someone else’s point of view. Understanding people’s feelings,  motivations, and misunderstandings are critical to effective conflict management.  To develop empathy you should start by validating the other person’s point of view (n.d.).  You don’t have to agree with them but you must respect their right to hold their own opinions. Remember, to always listen to visual and body language cues. Using these steps you can develop your empathetic qualities. 

Conflict is inevitable but there are ways to deal with it in a healthy manner. Conflict resolution is about making sure everyone feels heard and coming to a beneficial solution for everyone. Keep in mind you don’t always have to please everyone because that is usually not possible. To reiterate, the three basic skills needed to ensure productive conflict resolution are communication skills, emotional intelligence, and empathy. Implementing these skills well will not only help resolve issues but will also decrease the number of problems occurring in the future.

References

Doyle, A. (2018, October 3). A List of Conflict Management Skills With Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/conflict-management-skills-2059687

Empathy at Work – Developing Skills to Understand Other People. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/EmpathyatWork.htm

Most, if not all of us have heard about, read about, or used the Tinder app ourselves. Ah, Tinder. The dating app that has swept the nation and allowed for infinite date nights and awkward morning after experiences. Morgan (2017) reports that Tinder has actually been the most downloaded lifestyle app in the Apple Appstore for the last two years. This means that an incredible amount of people are downloading, and most likely actively using the app to meet members of the dating pool.

For those who may not know, Tinder is essentially a dating app that allows each user to create a profile using approximately 6 photos of him or herself, and a short “bio” section to write something witty enough to catch someone’s eye. Once your profile is created, the journey of swiping begins. You’ll be presented with a photo of the gender you selected that you are interested in, and you’ll have the option to view more of this person’s photos as well as their “bio”. After viewing, you’ll have to choose to either swipe left for “nope” if you’re not interested, or swipe right to “like” this person. So, yes, you are essentially choosing based upon nothing but physical looks. If you swipe right, nothing happens immediately; but, if that person you “liked” also swipes right on your profile and “likes” you, then that will create a “match” and you’ll both be notified, with the option to message each other privately. This is where conversations begin and plans are set up to set out on dates or meet-ups.

Now, with how rapidly this app has blown up over the last two years, it’s created a sense of curiosity in the psychological research world to determine what the so-called hype is. There are plenty of apps available that encourage dating, so what is it about Tinder that grabs the public’s interest? A social psychologist named Jeanette Purvis wrote her PhD dissertation at the University of Hawaii on the topic of sexual conflict on Tinder (Morgan, 2017). In her research, Purvis concluded that Tinder’s interface/system has a large role in its success. She explains that it’s set up nearly perfectly to impose the desired psychological conditioning effects in its users, such as the need or desire to continue (Morgan, 2017). Tinder uses a “variable ratio reward schedule”, which essentially means that Tinder randomly disperses the profiles it believes you will “like” (Morgan, 2017). Once we swipe right on a profile, we feel a reward because we start thinking about the potential of that match. We then find ourselves seeking that same reward-type feeling again and continue swiping. With Tinder’s interface randomly dispersing profiles we may like, it causes us to continue swiping because those profiles will appear at the ‘perfect’ time, just as we are about to close out. The interface allows for a user to never be swiping too long before a potential match-worthy profile pops up; and therefore, we begin to expect it at certain points, which keeps us engaged and swiping.

Purvis goes on to describe this reward-based system as related to the workings of a drug addict’s brain (Morgan, 2017). She explains how research has found that the expectation we have of the drug typically causes more of a release of the “feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine” than the actual drug itself (Morgan, 2017). That said, the expectation of the next Tinder swipe being a “match” and leading to that reward is releasing more of that feel good feeling than the actual match itself. So, Tinder’s swiping interface is inducing sensations closely related to those experienced in addiction. Therefore, it appears that, in certain situations and circumstances, Tinder has the traits to become an addiction itself, and possibly already has for some users. I found it incredibly interesting that an app’s user interface could have this strong of an impact on our psychological processes.

References

Morgan, W. (2017). A Social Psychologist Explains How Tinder has Become a Real Addiction. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@whitneyvmorgan/a-social-psychologist-explains-how-tinder-has-become-a-real-addiction-ffa18ce4ff17

Exacerbating my insomnia, I’ve begun an unhealthy routine of Netflix-binging on the disturbing crime show, Criminal Minds (2005). Like many other TV dramas, there is a repeated outline to how the episodes play out. The viewer is introduced to the crime and the FBI agents gather around a table or in their jet plane to discuss the details. The unknown subject (or “unsub” as fans of the show will know) usually commits additional crimes. The agents utilize psychoanalysis to paint a portrait of the subject’s motives and goals in order to get a step ahead, catch the bad guy, and to save the world from potential victims.

A common scene and term in each episode is the “Cognitive Interview” (CI). An agent will sit with a victim or witness in a quiet area and what presents as a type of hypnosis, the viewer of the show is launched into the dangerous event. The music increases in anticipation as the witness is guided by the agent’s gentle questions. The scene increases as the danger is felt through the screen as the agent appears nearby in the memory, like a faded spirit. The witness erupts in a scream and panics as the memory becomes tangible for them. The agent will either end the session or due to time concern and the life at risk will persuade the witness to continue. The show then continues on as key information is revealed as a result of the CI.

Unfamiliar with the method, I decided to investigate if the TV show is true to real life- at least in this aspect. Sure enough, CI is a legitimate method used by police to gather evidence from witnesses and victims (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010). It is not a type of hypnosis, but rather a process that an interviewer conducts with a witness or victim as a way to gather information from memory. The CI has been found to be more effective in eliciting correct information from an event than other methods of interview. Additionally, it is imperative that the training be thorough for those conducting the interview because a CI is an immersive experience to utilize cognitive processes to recall information concerning an event and timing of methods is important to its success (Molinaro, Fisher, Mosser, & Satin, 2019).

In contrast to the TV show, Criminal Minds (2005), there is another common interview scene in programs and movies. The police officer slams his hand on the table demanding his question to be answered. “Did you see this man!? What color shirt was he wearing!? You just said it was blue, now you’re not sure, you think it was yellow?!” This type of incessant questioning during an interview can result in poor recollection, false confessions, and additional trauma to a witness.

The weakness with witness testimony is that recall and memory are unreliable. Misinformation can lead to many complications during criminal proceedings (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). To circumnavigate this shortcoming, CI techniques can be used by recreating the event in the individual’s mind. Encouraged by the interviewer with few, gentle, open-ended questions, the witness depicts emotional, physical and mental experiences that took place during the event. By doing so, the witness is able to utilize different cognitive channels and incorporate them collectively to draw additional information from the memory (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

The interviewer utilizes what’s called witness-compatible questioning as the witness memory drives and influences the questioning. For example, if the desired information is in the middle of an event, the interviewer must wait until the witness has walked through the event beginning from the beginning. When the timeline of the memory reaches the appropriate moment, then the information can be accessed reliably (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

In training for conducting a CI, it is explained that the questioning is done in such a way to avoid leading questions and suggestive questions. The information is gathered by open-ended questioning and by doing so, there is a decreased opportunity for fabricated information, significantly so when compared to alternative interviewing methods (Molinaro et. al., 2019).

It turns out that the scream from the dream like state does not occur in real life, as the witness is given the choice to stop the interview whenever they wish. Rather than stopping the interviewer stopping the interview, they are to remain supportive by offering empathetic responses (Fisher & Geiselman, 2010).

Going by the wayside are the stereotypical interviews of the past as they have been found to be ineffective. The witness is essentially in the driver’s seat when utilizing CI. The interviewer is the passive observer using questions to encourage the witness to verbalize passive observations and additional details from the event. Many things can be fabricated such as eye witness testimony, false confessions, and TV plot lines. In this case of the Cognitive Interview, the method is sound and holds many promising uses in the future for criminal investigations.

References:

Criminal Minds [Television series]. (2005). Los Angeles, California: CBS.

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (2010). The Cognitive Interview method of conducting police interviews: Eliciting extensive information and promoting Therapeutic Jurisprudence. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry,33(5-6), 321-328. doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2010.09.004

Molinaro, P. F., Fisher, R. P., Mosser, A. E., & Satin, G. E. (2019). Train-the-trainer: Methodology to learn the cognitive interview. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 16(1), 32-43. doi:10.1002/jip.1518

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

You walk through the front doors of the building. Your eyes are bright, eager with anticipation. This is going to be your new home for 30-40 hours a week. This role will integrate within you as a part of your identity. You take a seat at a table with several others. These individuals will become your work family. A bouncy brunette exudes more enthusiasm than is necessary. They are thrilled to have you on board. You are now a part of a team and as an individual, your job is important to the company as a whole. There is no such thing as a small role. It is orientation day and they introduce the many perks of being part of the company family. It’s impossible to not drink the Kool-Aid. The contagious excitement is tangible from your fingers to your toes. Your needs are going to be met. They care about you as an individual and will reward you for your hard work while also respecting your needs of a work/life balance.

We fast forward in time and you can barely recognize the enthusiasm that churned inside you just a mere nine months earlier. Granted, you see it in new hires. Their naivety creates a spark of pity- it quickly goes out because your job has sucked the living soul out of you. They’re lucky I still show up, you muster a smile to cover your grimace. Just you wait, you’ll see behind the smoke and mirrors eventually. You nod a greeting as you walk by.

An all too familiar scenario in the working world. Why does this disconnect from the previously engaged employee happen? This process can be termed as job burnout. According to the Mayo Clinic, this non-medical diagnosis of job burnout can lead to medically diagnosable conditions such as depression. It involves a loss of personal identity and feeling of reduced accomplishment resulting in a state of physical or emotional exhaustion (Mayo Clinic, 2018).  What can companies do to prevent job burnout to retain passionate employees in the workplace? We will begin by exploring different employee needs as defined by the self-determination theory (SDT) and the possible predictors of job burnout. Then we will finish up with ways to prevent job burnout from occurring.

According to the SDT, humans have evolved three basic psychological needs: the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Gagné, 2014). Competence refers to the self-efficacy that an individual has. The fact that they believe that they are capable of achieving determined tasks. It has been reported that employees with strong self-efficacy report higher competence which leads to less instances of job burnout. Autonomy is the ability to have freedom of choice in their own actions. Additionally, it refers to the fact that their contribution matters and that one is rewarded for taking initiative. Study’s have shown that low autonomy is related to higher instances of burnout. Lastly, relatedness is how an individual is emotionally connected to others via interpersonal relationships. Cohesion among employees has been determined to be important when related to employee retention and protection against burnout (Dreison, White, Bauer, Salyers, & Mcguire, 2016).

Not many are fortunate to be purely intrinsically motivated by their job. Intrinsically motivated is to mean that there are often some cons to their job and is not always spurned by complete interest in the activity (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). There are usually extrinsic motivators such as needing money to eat or pay for shelter and other key Maslow needs.  With that understood, employers must find ways to navigate job burnout prevention while also meeting the goals of the business at hand.

Prevention of job burnout begins with supervisors providing support to their subordinates. Evidence has shown that leadership training can equip supervisors with tools to be supportive in communications with employees. Co-worker support groups have been proven to be helpful for companies growing cohesion among their team. Utilizing methods such as dialectical behavior therapy can not only increase relatedness, but also equip employees with the means to prevent emotional and mental detachment from their job. Lastly, providing employees with continued training and properly assigning tasks based off of capabilities increases the likelihood of an employee maintaining a level of high self-efficacy and resulting feelings of increased competence (Dreison et. al., 2016).

Work is an inevitable aspect of many individual’s lives. For most, it is a means to an end. Unfortunately, it too often comes at the cost of our mental health. By using the SDT, companies can implement methods to prevent job burnout before it occurs.

References:

Bruni, L., Commim, F., & Pugno, M. (2008). Capabilities and happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dreison, K. C., White, D. A., Bauer, S. M., Salyers, M. P., & Mcguire, A. B. (2016). Integrating Self-Determination and Job Demands–Resources Theory in Predicting Mental Health Provider Burnout. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 45(1), 121-130. doi:10.1007/s10488-016-0772-z

Gagné, M. (2014). The Oxford handbook of work engagement, motivation, and self-determination theory. New York: Oxford University Press.

Know the signs of job burnout. (2018, November 21). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/burnout/art-20046642

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

Physical attractiveness has long been a praised attribute within humanity.  Consider the artwork dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks, we see beautiful sculptures and other works of art that depict an ideal human form.  Sure enough, the appreciation of attractiveness is still prevalent in modern society.  We enjoy looking at people with physical characteristics that we find aesthetically appealing, mostly because humans are visual creatures.  We base our first impressions of people from their appearance, we use physical attractive people in advertisements, and we tend to put attractive celebrities on a pedestal.  In some cases, the draw to physical attractiveness goes beyond what the eyes are drawn to.  There is a bias towards physical attractiveness that assumes people who possess physically attractive characteristics are perceived to be “better people” (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).

A study conducted by Dion, Berscheid, & Walster (1972) was the first to infer that people associated physical attractiveness with positive traits such as being sociable, interesting, competent, and well-adjusted.  Other studies have followed, and confirmed that attractive people are more likely to be associated with good qualities, whereas unattractive people are more likely to be associated with bad qualities.  These assumptions have thus created the physical attractiveness stereotype.  This is a powerful stereotype that extends into occupational settings, and assumptions about criminal behavior in legal proceedings (Schneider et al., 2012).

In occupational settings, Tsai, Huang & Yu (2012) found that physical attractiveness was positively associated with better interviewer evaluations.  So much so, that it was more effective over “applicant verbal content, qualifications, and other demographic variables”.  These results were also stronger in occupational settings where job tasks were focused around customer service or client engagement.  While this particular study notes that certain interviewers and occupations play into the physical attractiveness stereotype, it’s important to note that in a professional setting looks do matter to a certain degree, without intentionally following this stereotype.  Despite physical attractiveness, personal hygiene and grooming paired with appropriate attire leads people to view an individual as more professional, competent and independent.  It’s important to distinguish between the two.

In conclusion, people need to be aware that their evaluation of someone could be due to a subconscious judgement of their physical attractiveness.  There is no evidence to date that shows that attractive people are “better” than someone with average physical attributes (Schneider et al., 2012).  Positive character attributes were measured between physically attractive people and average people, and there were no indications that one group fared better than the other in those qualities.  Needless to say, looks matter to an extent, but be wary of judging someone entirely by their appearance.

References

Dion, K., Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285– 290. doi:10.1037/h0033731

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

Tsai, W., Huang, T., & Yu, H. (2012). Investigating the unique predictability and boundary conditions of applicant physical attractiveness and non-verbal behaviours on interviewer evaluations in job interviews: Physical attractiveness & non-verbal behaviours. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 85(1), 60-79. doi:10.1348/2044-8325.002003

Being an adult learner is not a sinecure! It is hard, it is demanding, it is time consuming and  exhausting. Being an adult learner is also a blessing! It is fulfilling, challenging, it is meaningful and it gives a great sense of accomplishment! My husband is there for me during this complex period. He provides support and comfort during stressful exam times. He takes care of the kids while I study. He is comprehensive, when I am not available almost all Saturday and Sunday afternoons because I have to catch-up on my assignments. He also shows a genuine interest on the different subjects I study. He responds with enthusiast when I share a good grade with him.

Most people understand, and researches show, that one key to satisfying relationship is when individuals are there to provide support and comfort in difficult times. But what many people fail to recognize is the importance of how individuals respond to good events. In an article titled “Will You Be There for me When Things Go Right?” Gable, Gonzaga, and Strachman (2006) found in dating couples that supportive reactions to positive events were more strongly associated with relationship well-being and relationship longevity than responses to negative events.

Gable, Reis, Impett, and Asher (2004) described four ways that we can respond when our partner shares a good event with us: active-constructive responding, active destructive responding, passive constructive responding, and passive destructive responding. Assume you just get promoted, and you share this wonderful news with your mate. If he responds with enthusiasm and wants to know more about your advancement: he is showing an active constructive responding. If he points out the potential downside of your promotion : he is displaying an active destructive responding. If he responds in a muted way: he is providing a passive constructive responding. Finally, if his response is conveying disinterest by changing subject, he is showing a passive destructive responding. Couple who use active-constructive responding  have great marriages. The other responses, if they dominate, are associated with marital dissatisfaction.

A good relationship is not devoid of conflict or negativity. Psychologist John Gottman and his colleagues studied marriages longitudinally and found that disagreement and anger are not necessarily harmful for a relationship. It is the way we handle our conflicts that matters. Contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling and criticism during disagreement foreshadow divorce, whereas humor, affection, and more generally positive interaction make successful marriages. Gottman suggests that the ratio of the explicit positive to the explicit negative interactions must exceed 5:1. It can be hard to get rid of the negative in your relationship. One way to attain the ratio of 5:1 is to increase positive interactions. An easy and accessible way is to respond in active constructive way when your partner shares a good news with you.

Gable uses a very straightforward image to define relationship. Be each other’s safety net when things go bad, and each other trampoline when things go right!

Gable, S. L., Reis, H. T., Impett, E. A., & Asher, E. R. (2004). What Do You Do When Things Go Right? The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Benefits of Sharing Positive Events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(2), 228-245. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.2.228

Gable, S. L., Gonzaga, G. C., & Strachman, A. (2006). Will you be there for me when things go right? Supportive responses to positive event disclosures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5), 904-917. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.5.904

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles ; London ; New Dehli ; Singapore ; Washington DC ; Melbourne: SAGE.

Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press

It used to be that you may have had to deal with a bully at school, but once you were home, you were safe. That is no longer the case. The internet gave rise to a new social phenomenon, cyberbullying. Cyberbullying takes place over a variety of digital devices, and online platforms.

It’s hard not to feel terrible for what a lot of kids are going through today. If someone “messed” with me in school, it was restricted to the school; they didn’t have access to me 24/7 via a cell phone or social media.  And usually, if the bully didn’t get the reaction, they wanted from you, they would stop-from my experience, of course. Nowadays, they are relentless, like a dog with a bone.

I don’t think the good ol’ “just ignore them” tactic works anymore. Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing online. They may feel like they’re intruding, but it is most definitely their business to know what their children are doing online, whether they’re being bullied, or bullying. When a parent becomes involved, their reaction to their child being cyberbullied needs to be considered. It can be very upsetting, but the opportunity should be taken to educate the parents on how they can help at home (Counseling Clients, n.p.).

There are steps parents can take to make regular computer use “safe”.  Fitzgerald (n.p.) listed several (18) steps and here are just a few:

1. Keep the computer in a common area of the home.
2. Learn about various social networking sites and how they work
3. Talk to your kids about online issues.
4. Tell your kids not to respond to threats or comments online.
5. Don’t underreact by telling your child to “shrug it off”.

Parents shouldn’t be afraid to get involved. There are much worse things than an eyeroll from your child. Get involved now!

References

Bradley University (n.p.) Counseling clients who experience cyberbullying. Retrieved from https://onlinedegrees.bradley.edu/blog/counseling-clients-who-experience-cyberbullying/

Fitzgerald, P. (2017) 18 Tips to stop cyberbullying. Retrieved from https://www.parents.com/kids/problems/bullying/18-tips-to-stop-cyberbullying/

It is true that much of our social environment holds immense power over our actions, beliefs, and perceptions. Bystander intervention is a phenomenon studied in social psychology that analyzes the effects of one’s social environment and his or her likelihood to intervene or come to someone’s aid in an emergency situation. When multiple people witness an emergency but fail to provide helping behavior, a bystander effect has likely occurred. This, unfortunately, happens often due to a diffusion of responsibility that occurs when more than one individual observes the event and it is falsely assumed that others will likely intervene (Schneider et al., 2012). This effect has been shown to happen more often when multiple bystanders are present versus when one sole witness.

Therefore, the question is, what can be done to reduce the bystander effect and encourage onlookers to engage and act during emergencies? The most obvious step may be to establish a sense of personal accountability for action, as the diffusion of accountability has the opposite effect. Though, research by Jouriles, McDonald, Rosenfield, and Sargent (2019) discusses another possible theory. Their research stated that in order for bystanders to act, he or she must feel confident that they possess the ability to intervene, especially in violent/potentially violent situations. This theory relies largely on self-efficacy, which has shown a positive correlation with bystander behavior in samples of college and high school students (Jouriles et al., 2019).

Interestingly, there is a video training program, named TakeCARE, that aims to promote self-efficacy in students to increase bystander intervention during violent situations. The video delineates actions that can and should be taken to stop and prevent violence and how to provide victim support. Specifically, this program provides bystanders with what they can say, do, and emphasizes the importance of taking any amount of action to help (Jouriles et al., 2019). Importantly, the video emphasizes “friends helping friends”, as, sexual assaults often occur in social settings where friends and peers are nearby and likely to be bystanders. This program was tested with college and high school aged students. Though the high school aged students endured potential confounding factors that inhibited helping behavior such as peer pressure and the desire to be popular(Jouriles et al., 2019).

A study by Bennett and Banyard (2016), sought out to discover whether friends are more likely to help friends in bystander situations involving sexual violence. Their research concluded that participants who were assigned a close relationship to the victim were more likely to perceive the situation as a problem and as safer to intervene than those who did not have a close relationship to the victim (Bennett & Banyard, 2016). Interestingly the research also concluded that a close relationship to a perpetrator decreased the likelihood that a bystander would view the situation as problematic. Altogether relational factors between victim, perpetrator, and bystanders interfere with the ability to identify the situation in terms of needing intervention, or perceiving the situation as problematic, and deciding how to help (Bennett & Banyard, 2016).).

Therefore, especially in terms of decreasing sexual violence in college-aged students, programs such as TakeCARE may prove to be highly effective in helping students help their peers. However, there is conflicting research regarding age and the likelihood to appropriately identify problems and intervene. Jouriles, McDonald, Rosenfield, and Sargent (2019) identified that high schoolers were less likely to help due to peer influences, while Bennett and Banyard (2016) discovered that younger college students were more likely to report that older students were. In conclusion, more research is needed to provide empirical solutions to close the age gap in helping behavior when bystander intervention is critical.

References

Bennett, S., & Banyard, V. L. (2016). Do friends really help friends? the effect of relational factors and perceived severity on bystander perception of sexual violence. Psychology of Violence, 6(1), 64-72. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/a0037708

Jouriles, E. N., McDonald, R., Rosenfield, D., & Sargent, K. S. (2019). Increasing bystander behavior to prevent adolescent relationship violence: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(1), 3-15. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/ccp0000355

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied Social Psychology. Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Is the glass half empty, or half full? No doubt you’ve heard this question before and have engaged in some sort of semi-philosophical debate about the meaning of optimism versus pessimism and how important it is to be a “glass half full” kind of person. It might seem rather trite and cliche, but the research backs it up. The “glass half full” people, or optimists, tend to be happier and more well-adjusted than their “glass half-empty” peers, or pessimists. I think we all go through times where we tend to be more optimistic and then times when we feel more pessimistic about certain things, and it’s even possible to be consistently optimistic about certain domains of your life – romantic relationships, friendships, physical health, mental health, work, and college or education, for example – and then consistently pessimistic about others (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).

What does it mean to be optimistic, anyway? Simply put, optimists are people who look forward to the future, expect good things to happen, and believe that they are capable of achieving their goals (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Optimists tend to have positive outcome expectancies, which shapes how they interact with the world and motivates them to put effort into things which then makes it more likely that they will, in fact, achieve their goal. The cycle of life, right? You put good in, you get good out. It sounds good on paper, but we all know that it’s never that easy, and for some people, being optimistic about the future or just life in general can be a huge struggle thanks to our differing life experiences which can ultimately shape what kind of outcome expectancies we think we can realistically have.

There’s some good news, though. While there are definitely certain personality traits that might lend someone to being more generally optimistic, it’s still possible to essentially train yourself to become more optimistic despite your life experiences or personality traits. Learned optimism theory suggests that there are certain factors you can analyze to determine whether a person is likely to think about their future in an optimistic or pessimistic way (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). The theory says that the types of attributions you make are largely what will determine your optimistic or pessimistic outlook (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). An attribution is what you determine to be true about why something happened, and with regard to this particular theory attributions are categorized into three dimensions: internal/external, stable/unstable, and global/specific (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Internal attributes are when a person believes that the outcome of some event was due mostly to themselves, and external attributes are when someone believes that things happened because of things outside of themselves that they might not have any control over (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Optimists tend to make internal attributions for positive events and external attributions for negative events (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). People make stable attributions when they think that the cause of an event is related to something that is not likely to change, like intelligence, and unstable attributions when they think the cause of something is temporary, like an illness or certain weather conditions (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Can you guess which attributions optimists tend to make for which situations? If you guessed that they would make stable attributions for positive events and unstable attributions for negative events, then you’d be right. Can you see where this is going? The last domain is global and specific attributions. Global attributions are made when a person believes that the cause of an event will have far-reaching effects, and specific attributions are made when someone believes that the cause of an event will be limited to one area of life (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Optimists generally make global attributions for good events and specific attributions for negative events.

So what does this all mean, and why should you care? When you become aware of the attributions that you’re making for things that happen to you, you can reach a level of introspection that will let you attempt to modify them. This is called attribution retraining intervention (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). This is a type of personal intervention that you can do to coach yourself through identifying pessimistic attributions and replacing them with more optimistic ones. When you are able to retrain your attributes, the benefits can be astounding: you can prevent depression, increase your academic performance, increase happiness, and even reduce aggressive behavior (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).

But wait… there’s more! A study by Allison, Guichard, and Gilain in 2000 looked at the quality of life of certain cancer patients following treatments. They found that those cancer patients with more dispositional optimism tended to have a better quality of life following treatment than their pessimistic counterparts who reported a greater deterioration in their quality of life.

I’m going to throw another enormous amount of cliché on you and tell you, in all seriousness, to look on the bright side of things. You really might end up changing your life.

References

Allison, P. J., Guichard, C., & Gilain, L. (2000). A prospective investigation of dispositional optimism as a predictor of health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients. Quality of Life Research, 9(8), 951-60. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1023/A:1008931906253

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., Counts, L. M. (2012). Applied Social Psychology. New Dehli: SAGE Publications

Cyberbullying is rampant in our society today. It is defined as “when someone repeatedly and intentionally harasses, mistreats, or makes fun of another person online or while using cell phones or other electronic devices (Irimia, 2016).” Around 41% of the students in the U.S. have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetimes(Irimia, 2016). Cyberbullying has negative effects on the victim and the bystander. However, there are ways we can deal with this issue.

Cyberbullying can have many disastrous consequences. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and even suicide. A drop in class performance and grades can be one effect of cyberbullying in victims (Yurtoğlu 2018). Another negative effect of cyberbullying is that things shared on the internet will always be on the internet. They can never be completely erased which means that they can pop up at any time during your life and cause those same feelings to rush back. Cyberbullying can even lead to suicide (Yurtoğlu 2018).

Being a bystander means also taking part in bullying behavior. I don’t thin bystanders and bullies are the same. However, bystander behavior is definitely partly at fault for the bullying behavior.  Bystander behavior is when people become onlookers to an event without helping. In the case of teenagers, this can occur because of peer pressure. Peer pressure will cause kids to stop themselves from doing the right thing in order to be cool or liked. Victim’s themselves are often scared to tell adults so they won’t be ridiculed further by their bully.

What can we do about cyberbullying? I don’t think we will ever eradicate it completely, but we can reduce it. It is important for parents to teach their children to be kind to others and teach them about what cyberbullying can do to its victims. The computer should be kept in a shared space so parents can monitor what their child is watching or doing. The final piece of advice I can give is that Parents and superiors should encourage kids to come forward about these kinds of issues. They can do this by giving kids a comfortable environment in which they can speak freely.

Cyberbullying is just as the name implies, it occurs when bullying behavior occurs through an electronic device. We discussed teh negative effects cyberbullying has on its victims like in severe cases suicide. Bystanders are accomplices to bullying behavior. Parents can do many things to help their children. Like limiting technology in the house and creating a safe environment for their children to talk in.

References

“Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic Revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720. Https://Doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720.” Cyber Bullying Research Center, doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f.

Yurtoğlu, Nadir. “Http://Www.historystudies.net/Dergi//Birinci-Dunya-Savasinda-Bir-Asayis-Sorunu-Sebinkarahisar-Ermeni-isyani20181092a4a8f.Pdf.” History Studies International Journal of History, vol. 10, no. 7, 2018, pp. 241–264., doi:10.9737/hist.2018.658.

In the world of workforce, there is constantly a silent warfare going on between employees and employers. Employees demand more and employers try to give as less as possible, at least for the most part. Although workers have more rights protected under the law nowadays, there are thousands of employers who mistreat their employees and suffer no consequences. What’s an employee to do when the employer refuses to pay for a national holiday like 4^th of July? Quitting is an option, but when you’re desperate enough to accept a job offer where you get no paid holidays in the first place, it might not be the most viable option. If you asked community-based organizer Saul Alinsky, he would probably tell you to revolt.

Alinsky recognized the power in numbers and unity and used this strategy to bring communities together against corrupt corporations (Schneider, 2012). He also realized that these corporations and government agencies do not want negative attention from the public and the media, so they would try to avoid mass uproar at any cost (Schneider, 2012). Alinsky emphasized the importance of demonstrations and public gatherings in areas where they can be noticed (Schneider, 2012). It is through protests like these that teachers demand for pay raises, minorities request social justice and the oppressed ask for equality.

I attended my first peaceful protest back in post-Soviet Armenia when I was a freshman (I like freshwoman better though) at Yerevan State University. People were sick and tired of the corrupt president at the time, and I was one of them showing up to voice my concerns. Of course, at that time, I thought that only Soviet countries were infested with oligarchy and corruption. From afar, I imagined United States was the land of the free and home of the brave and everybody was equal, and everyone’s rights were protected. I experienced my first injustice at workplace when my previous employer failed to honor the paid holidays we were promised at the beginning of the year. My coworkers at the time and I realized the only way to get what we wanted was to come together. It wasn’t easy to bring everybody on board at once, but we managed to get enough employees together to impose our demands. After many talks and negotiations, we were honored our paid holidays. We all learned an invaluable lesson that when people come together, they have more power and influence than the “untouchable” rich man.

References

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., Counts, L. M. (2012). Applied Social Psychology. New Dehli: SAGE Publications

“I guess living in the city has gotten to me” my friend jokingly replied after asking her if everything was okay.  She was visiting for the weekend and we spent the day in D.C.  I observed that she was slightly aloof in response to strangers (for example, greetings from store employees or servers at restaurants).  While I initially perceived this as a bit standoffish, I realized that I may have been overlooking that her usual environment is vastly different from mine.  I live in the suburbs of Northern Virginia right outside of D.C., while she has recently adjusted to living in downtown Richmond for the past year.

There are many stressors that exist in a city:  high population density, crowding, excessive noise, crime, high costs of living, and traffic.  It’s plausible to think that these factors can take some sort of psychological toll on individuals that inhabit these areas.  It’s also important to note that others thrive in that environment and may not be bothered.  Regardless, there is a psychological concept that details how people react to urban life, known as stimulus overload.  Stanley Milgram (1970) used this term to describe that our nervous system can become overwhelmed from the environmental information that is bombarding our senses.  This inhibits our ability to respond to everything around us so we have to adapt to the situation by setting priorities and using selective attention (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).  By simplifying how we react to the environment, we have to limit what we respond to (unconsciously or not), and this is known as psychologically retreating (Schneider et al., 2012).  Milgram (1970) furthered his concept of stimulus overload and proposed six types of psychological retreat:

1. We rush through social situations and perceived obstacles (Schneider et al., 2012)
2. Attention is prioritized, and things of low importance may be avoided altogether (Schneider et al., 2012)
3. We set up structures that take the personal element out of our transactions (Schneider et al., 2012)
4. We establish barriers from certain forms of social interaction on a daily basis (Schneider et al., 2012)
5. We use filters (Schneider et al., 2012)
6. We create specialized agencies to deal with particular issues (Schneider et al., 2012)

Schneider et. al (2012) summarized these perfectly: “Collectively, these adaptations to the overload that characterize life in the city contribute to the distinctive nature of the behavior of city dwellers, which is often regarded as hurried and somewhat callous toward others” (p. 280).  In hindsight, now that I understand the reactions to stimulus overload in an urban area, the behavior of my friend made more sense.

References

Korte, C. (1980). Urban–nonurban differences in social behavior and social psychological models of urban impact. Journal of Social Issues, 36(3), 29-51. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1980.tb02034.x

Milgram, S. (1970). The experience of living in cities. Science, 167, 1461-1468.

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