26
Nov 19

First Step Act

When I think of social change and research being conducted to better the effects of such change I immediately think of the First Step Act. I’ve had the honor to meet some of the men this act has affected. Releasing men who would have served 10-15 years additional time in prison for non-violent drug-related offenses. Men who would have no assistance re-entering in society. This act has looked at the data, it has taken into consideration the effects that mass incarceration has on minority men and it has sought to change that. Social change comes in many forms but its greatest form is prison reform. President Trump has rewritten and amended previous bills so that now prisoners will receive good time exemptions. The BOP is mandated to no assist inmates with applying for benefits and obtain proper identification to assist with reentry. The BOP now has to house inmates within 500 miles from their primary residence to maintain family ties. Inmates who complete programs can become eligible to enter prerelease custody early. Mandatory minimums were all reduced by 10-15 years for repeat offenders, life sentence minimums are reduced to a 25-year minimum. Inmates incarcerated under the Fair Sentencing Act can now petition for release. This Act will drastically affect the rates of recidivism and image populations around the country. As of now, over 7000 inmates have been released and counting.

Sources Cited: Federal Bureau of Prisons. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp.


25
Nov 19

Objectivity and Helping: The Gottman Example

As we learned in this lesson, applied and social change research encompass intent; these types of research are not entirely objective (PSU, n.d.).  In other words, these types of research are targeted towards improving a particular issue, and often developing an intervention for the issue at hand.  Thus, the researchers engaged in this cannot be fully objective. as they have an agenda in their studies.  While applied and social change research has the ability to improve a social issue, social issues can be aided in other ways.  One example of this is the work of John Gottman regarding relationship and marriage satisfaction (Cole, 2017).

John Gottman began investigating the wellbeing of marriages and relationships because, funny enough, he found relationships to be a mystery (The Gottman Institute, n.d.).  He cites that he had difficulty with relationships. and began his research to discover the components that actually go into a healthy, satisfactory relationship.  He studied couples for many years, noting behaviors linked to divorce, and others linked to marriage satisfaction.  He did this by setting up various spaces to get couples to interact as naturally as possible even though they were being observed.  He even set up a fake bed and breakfast, where he hoped couples would feel relaxed enough to behave the way they do in their everyday life.  In his research, he studied heart rate, stress hormones, eye moments, and other indicators of interest and emotion.  He also tracked couples over time to see how their relationships fared.

Although Gottman did not make any clear discoveries in his initial years of studying couples, this eventually changed (The Gottman Institute, n.d.).  He linked particular ways of interacting with a partner as connected to marriage satisfaction, and he was even able to predict divorce 94% of the time.  Some behaviors he found to be particularly important in marriage health included turning towards (responding attentively when one’s partner is attempting to connect with them in some way, even if it is very basic) and creating love maps with one’s partner (done by asking deep, open-ended questions about one’s partner’s dreams, goals, ambitions, etc.).  He found these heavily connected to the success of marriages, and that if these were not primarily present, divorce or an unhappy marriage was likely to ensue.

Following his discoveries about relationships, Gottman established an institute where he held workshops for couples, as well as wrote several books (The Gottman Institute, n.d.).  He used his decades of research to inform the interventions and activities he suggested for couples. Instead of simply letting the information he learned during his studies be, he used this information to help others.

This example is important because it showcases how there are other ways of conducting research that produce a beneficial result.  While Gottman could have approached this issue with intent (i.e. “I need to figure out why people get divorced so I can help them”) he was open to whatever he learned (The Gottman Institute, n.d.).  Further, he did not rush the process and conducted a variety of studies for many years before establishing any firm conclusions.  Thus, in my opinion, this is a better way of conducting research, as the objectivity was present during the research, but the ultimate findings were used to help others.

 

 

 

References

Applied Social Psychology (PSYCH 424). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008549/modules

Cole, C. (2017). A clinical response to “the natural principles of love”. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 9(1), 39-44. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/jftr.12178

TheGottmanInstitute. (n.d.). The Gottman Institute. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnT1R08f7FHLab3nB4f0AGQ.


25
Nov 19

Got Milk?

One of the most important pieces of activist research that I am fascinated by is our understanding of milk. For the longest time, in multiple countries, people thought that drinking a full glass of milk would provide tremendous health benefits. This can be seen in early American advertising and throughout old posters found in pediatric offices. But is milk actually beneficial to us? If it is, why are some people lactose intolerant? Turns out, after conducting several research studies, milk actually has no substantial benefits to humans and is something that can actually be harmful to some that might be sensitive to lactose or fully lactose intolerant.

So why are we still drinking milk? I believe that this is something that will take time to change but aligning milk with good health is something that is still consistently done throughout the current media. Same goes for cats. Our feline friends actually aren’t able to have milk due to the fact that they are carnivores and their bodies aren’t meant to process that kind of sugar substance. However, we will still see cartoons that show cats drinking milk instead of water as this is something that has become more of an image rather than a reality.

Through activist research, we now have ample alternatives to milk for those that still love the taste and texture of it. From almond milk to oat milk, there are various different choices that actually have health benefits and added vitamins in order to provide people with a nutritious beverage.


25
Nov 19

Theatre Of Change

In the ever-advancing technological world we live in, media continues to evolve as a means where programs for social change can reach a wide-ranging, extensive audience.  These media initiatives often involve highly stylized, slickly produced commercial type media presentations like the ones found on the Rescue Agency’s website which target social behaviors such opioid and marijuana use. They aim to educate a targeted audience about the possible dangers of these substances.  Their website boasts claims of their campaign’s effectiveness.  However, what about the effectiveness of less flashy interventions, like that of theatre of art?  Can fictional narratives in excess of 30 second cautionary bursts prove effective in addressing social change?  Can live theatre and art installations persuade the public in ways that lead to real change when it comes to social issues?  And if so, how effective are these methods?

There are several factors that make theater an effective vehicle for education and persuasion.  Being in the presence of live actors promotes attentiveness and arousal of the viewers.  This can be quite affective when dealing with subject matter related so pressing social issues (Appel, 2008). Another facet of live theater that makes it a well-suited vehicle for persuasion and education is that it is emotionally engaging.  This can play an important role in the changing of positions and principles of people and cause them to act in a more socially responsible way.  One study examined the effectiveness of the performance of play dealing with women in abusive relationships and how myths surrounding these relationships led women to act or react a certain way and how these abusive relationships affected women in both a physical and psychological manner.  The study found that those who watched a play about abusive relationships not only demonstrated greater knowledge about relationship abuse than the control group but were also less likely to endorse myths about relationship abuse. Audiences of the entertainment-education intervention also showed specific patterns of knowledge that mirrored the content of the abuse play (Yoshihama & Tolman, 2015). Those who watched a play about abusive relationships not only demonstrated greater knowledge about relationship abuse than control groups but were also less likely to endorse myths about relationship abuse.

Flashy, short-burst media presentations may prove effective in some circumstances, but social change psychological research shouldn’t count out the effectiveness of other forms of media as well.

 

References

Appel, M. (2008). Fictional narratives cultivate just-world beliefs. Journal of Communication, 58, 62–83.

Yoshihama, M., & Tolman, R. M. (2015). Using interactive theater to create socioculturally relevant community-based intimate partner violence prevention. American Journal of Community Psychology, 55(1), 136-147. doi:10.1007/s10464-014-9700-0


24
Nov 19

Reflection of Participatory Research

Social change research focuses on changing something in a social situation to lead to a positive change (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017). Using participatory research gets into the root of the problem to start finding a solution and create that positive impact. First, what is Participatory research? It is when researchers are a part of the community or a social situation and involved in learning something about an issue in that specific community. Also, most of the time, it is intended with the goal of solving the problem (PSU WC, 2019, L.13). This personal immersion of research and community can gain a critical insider perspective (Pain & Francis, 2002).

 

Being part of that community or social situation can be a great way to help solve the problem in question and create a solution to create a positive behavioral, social change. It gives a new and reliable perspective to the issue in question by making the researcher completely aware of the specifics. Once this data and research is gathered, there can be genuinely effective interventions as a result of participatory research.

 

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

Schneider, F.W., Gruman J.A.,  & Coutts, L.M. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). PSYCH 424 :
Applied Social Psychology, Lesson 13: Social Change/Participatory Research. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008549/modules/items/27030759

Image: Diagram adapted from Chevalier, J. M. and Buckles, D. J. (2013) Participatory Action Research: Theory and Methods for Engaged Inquiry, Routledge UK


24
Nov 19

Prison Reform

Prison reform has been a hot topic in the media. With documentaries being aired on Netflix, and celebrity influencers raising awareness to the topic, it is extremely difficult to turn a blind eye to the issue that needs addressing. There have been countless individuals who have been serving sentences to only later be deemed wrongly accused, as well as sentences handed down which were too severe in comparison to the crime. However, there have been very few, if any, changes to the system that has affected so many.

Though criminal justice reform is needed, we should be cautious to what and whom we are getting our information from. There are several prison reform organizations who are seeking to make changes. But these changes aren’t being met without a fight. Both sides can be found presenting statistics to better serve their argument. “Activist research goes beyond participatory research in that the researcher is not only vested in the outcome of the research, but may be pushing a certain value set through their research” (PSU, WC). What I often see with a lot of the activist’s groups is the tendency to resort back to race. Yes, race does attract attention and that is what activists are seeking (attention for their cause). In order to raise awareness, one must get the attention of the audience. However, I believe this takes light away from the major problem of rehabilitating ALL inmates.

The United States is home to one of the world’s largest prison population.The populations in prisons do show a racial disparity which can be contributed to many factors.We should focus on addressing why all individuals are incarcerated, in hopes for changes in policies to tackle the root of the problem. This social change will be a collaborative effort and will need to utilize all methods for an affective resolution.

 

https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008549/modules/items/27030780


21
Nov 19

Fake News

For the past several months, at least one of my friends have shared a post, Women Should Go Out With Friends Twice A Week For Better Health, posted by creativehealthyfamily.com (n.d.) on their Facebook.  The article claims that according to a new study, women should go out with girlfriends twice a week to be healthier (creativehealthyfamily.com, n.d.). It further claims that “drinking beer, gossiping, and talking about their rivals (preferred topic). Doing these “things” make women socialize, drink and laugh together” (creativehealthyfamily.com, n.d.). At first, I got excited for a second, how wonderful it is to now have empirical research to backup my excuse to go out with my girlfriends. Quickly, though, I started to question the research. How did the study operationally define “healthier”? How did the study end up with twice a week, but no once or thrice for example? Dr. Robin Dunbar, who was hired to run this study, explains to The Huffington Post that “[t]he figure of twice a week comes from our findings that this is the amount of time that you typically spend with your closest friends/family” (as cited in creativehealthyfamily.com, n.d.). How did he find that findings? And with all these questions my excitement faded and the researcher-in-training in me got the best of me and I fact checked. According to editor in chief Alan Duke (2019) for Hoaxalert.com, the study was actually a social experiment conducted by Robin Dunbar, an Oxford psychology professor, who was hired by the Guinness Beer company. The social experiment involvement five men (note no women) to measure men’s happiness “doing things” with the men (Dunbar, 2019). The purpose of the social experiment was meant for the Guinness Beer company to use as a television campaign to promote men going out and drinking beer with friends (Dunbar, 2019). I’m echoing our lesson commentary that it’s not to say that the researcher, in this case Dunbar, intentionally mislead the public, but there are many aspects that could have led him in this particular direction (PSU WC, 2019, L.13). Thus, it’s important to fact check, check for the credits page, check to see who sponsored it and what was their interest, and check researchers’ affiliation (PSU WC, 2019, L.13). The fake news could end with you, if you fact check before sharing. 

 

 

References

Duke, A. (2019, July 1). Fake News: Women Do NOT Need To Go Out With Friends Twice A Week To Stay Healthy: Lead Stories. Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://hoax-alert.leadstories.com/3470628-fake-news-women-do-not-need-to-go-out-with-friends-twice-a-week-to-stay-healthy.html?fbclid=IwAR1S9BYjvQrZlCt5WaHVYhGXpp5XVu1M5Gf-dMNBL1UNpONC9aVhtHEq_hw.

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). PSYCH 424 :
Applied Social Psychology, Lesson 13: Social Change/Participatory Research. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008549/modules/items/27030759

Women Should Go Out With Girlfriends Twice A Week To Improve Their Health. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://www.creativehealthyfamily.com/women-should-go-out-with-girlfriends-twice-a-week-to-improve-their-health/.


20
Nov 19

The Food Inequality Epidemic

 

There are many things that we take advantage of on a daily basis that seems inconsequential, but others do not have the same luxury. In today’s society we are bombarded with food commercials that entice us to go to the store and grab new products or visit a nearby restaurant and try new foods. Unfortunately, in some areas people are afforded the luxury to go buy any foods that they desire while others lack the same opportunities. With the growing trend to become more health conscious, food selection is an important aspect of health. But if some areas lack the opportunity to choose healthy foods, then there is a major injustice. A food desert, according to the USDA (2010), is a neighborhood that lacks choices of healthy and affordable food options. This is more common among small rural and low-income neighborhoods that lack transportation and retailers that supply healthy foods.  These food deserts can only further health concerns and contribute to disease and high obesity rates.

There has been some participatory action research done in order to understand that factors associated with food deserts and to give suggestions to bring about social action. As stated in our lecture, participatory research aims to learn about issues that are prevalent in the community and create a strategy to effectively change the issues. One research study found that food deserts occur more among black and Hispanic neighborhoods that have higher rates of poverty (Brooks, 2014). The researcher suggested that, in order to combat the lack of grocery stores and healthy food options in the area, the community should develop some initiatives for food programs like farmers markets or a grocery delivery service. They also suggested that policies be made in order to entice supermarkets to develop infrastructure within these food deserts. Public advocacy, social action, and local services development are all essential in order to initiate change (Gruman, Schneider, and Coutts, 2017). Another study conducted by the USDA (2012) found that food deserts correlated with areas with high poverty rates and areas with minimal public transportation, but also found that rural areas with increasing population were less likely to have food deserts. Although some rural neighborhoods can be considered food deserts, many food deserts exist in urban areas with high unemployment rates and racial minorities.

So how can we change food deserts so that they have more access to healthy foods and overall better quality of life? Many organizations are already utilizing their resources to educate and awareness about food deserts, while also using social outreach to encourage policy change. One organization called the Food Empowerment Project works to provide more sustainable and healthy food options to low-income neighborhoods, while also encouraging those in more affluent neighborhoods to make healthier and environmentally friendly choices. They often do surveys of the community to determine the needs of the community and then contact public officials on how to better assist the community. Another way community members have helped minimize the impact of food deserts, are mobile food trucks like Second Harvest Food Bank in California that help distribute healthy foods to those in need (Food Tank, 2016).

Food deserts can have a major impact on the quality of health and wellbeing in low-income and minority neighborhoods. Many of these neighborhoods suffer from high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease because of the lack of healthy foods in their area. By conducting more participatory research in these areas, it can help increase awareness of these social issues and bring about social justice. Policy change and community involvement are just some of the ways change can be initiated in these areas, but it first starts with awareness.

References

Brooks, K. (2014, March 10). Research shows food deserts more abundant in minority neighborhoods. Retrieved from https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2014/spring/racial-food-deserts/.

Dutko, Paula, Ver Ploeg, Michelle, & Farrigan, Tracey (2012). Characteristics and Influential Factors of Food Deserts, ERR-140, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

Food Empowerment Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://foodispower.org/.

Food Tank. (2016, November 27). Five Innovative Solutions From “Food Desert” Activists. Retrieved from https://foodtank.com/news/2013/05/five-innovative-solutions-from-food-desert-activists/.

Gruman J.A., Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.M. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

United States Department of Agriculture. (2010). Access to Affordable, Nutritious Food Is Limited in “Food Deserts”. Retrieved from https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2010/march/access-to-affordable-nutritious-food-is-limited-in-food-deserts/.

 

 


20
Nov 19

Anxiety Can be Helpful

Throughout my years of schooling, I have witnessed a wide variety of approaches when it comes to studying and receiving grades.  I’m not referring to the actual act of studying, however.  Rather, I’m referring to the mindset and attitude that different students have held toward studying and receiving grades.  These attitudes included optimism, whether justified or not, and pessimism, whether justified or not.  They also included people who experienced the overjustification effect, when they don’t enjoy learning because they feel forced to do so, self-handicapping, those who study less as an excuse for if they don’t do well, and, one of the most dangerous attitudes, the self-serving bias (Gruman et al., 2017).

 

Self-serving bias is when people take personal credit for their successes but tend to blame their failures on outside sources (Gruman et al., 2017).  This can often times be witnessed in sporting events when the loser attributes the outcome to something like the weather or illness rather than the winner being better than them.  In terms of academics, students may blame the teacher for not fully preparing them or their roommates for distracting them when they were trying to study.  This phenomenon is likely in place to protect our self-esteem and help keep the positive image of ourselves intact.  Unfortunately, this often-unjustified optimism can lead to very harmful long-term outcomes for those who let it set in.  When people always attribute their negative outcomes to outside sources then they will never feel the need to change their behavior or mindset.

 

The good news is that there are ways to diminish the hold that self-serving bias can have.  The main way to do so is to temper expectations for the results of exams in the case of academics.  A study conducted by Eronen, Nurmi, and Salmels-Aro (1998) showed that people who were considered defensive pessimists were more successful in academic performance than were other categories of students.  The reasoning for this is that defensive pessimists tend to set low expectations for themselves and then worry about what the result will be.  They don’t just stop there though.  They channel that anxiety and use it to prepare even more than may be necessary.  So if you find yourself performing poorly in your academic ventures and blaming anything but yourself, you may find it beneficial to look inward and alter your expectations while keeping in mind that a healthy dose of anxiety can be helpful in avoiding the self-serving bias.

 

References:

Eronen, S., Nurmi, J.-E., & Salmela-Aro, K., (1998). Optimistic, defensive-pessimistic, impulsive and self-handicapping strategies in university environments.  Learning and Instruction, 8, 159-177.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.


20
Nov 19

Participatory Action Research: Researchers Working With Communities to Bring About Social Change

Participatory Action Research (PAR) involves researchers who apply their skills and training to a particular issue that they personally care about; they are invested in the outcome of the research and their aim is to contribute to creating social change.  PAR focuses on research that enables social action. Mary Brydon–Miller (1997) describes Participatory Action Research as a blend of basic science and applied science—she explains that psychologists can use this approach to social science to contribute to the general field of knowledge in a certain realm while also helping to support some sort of positive social change. This approach, which opponents argue is an inappropriate mix of one’s politics and psychology, is very different from the traditional scientific approach to studying issues using a more detached and objective research design (Brydon–Miller, 1997).
At the root of PAR is the goal of providing a framework where positive social change can come about through a combination of efforts; communities working in tandem with psychologists to share their knowledge, vision, and values can effectively facilitate social change in countless areas, from criminal justice to environmental sustainability to overpopulation to poverty. Knowledge is never fixed, there is always room for more knowledge to be assimilated into our existing schemas and frameworks of how the physical world and social processes within it work.
Educator and author Paulo Freire felt very strongly that community members need to be an integral part of the social change process—he felt that the “researcher and researched” should be “equal and active participants” in any process meant to result in social change that would affect that community (Brydon–Miller, 1997, p. 659). By including community members, researchers can learn more about the real issues that communities are facing, and by employing a more engaged and interpretive subjective perspective, the team members can act and reflect repeatedly until the framework for the desired future changes is laid.
The Participatory Action Research process begins with mutual trust between the researcher and the other participants in the community where change is needed. One example of how participatory action researchers can apply their knowledge and skills to helping members of the community is seen in the efforts of Darius Tandon and his colleagues in Chicago—there they work with local African–American leaders to learn more about how to strengthen leadership and bring about positive change in minority communities (Brydon–Miller, 1997, p. 663). The leaders of the communities are active participants in the process, helping to choose topics to explore, interviewing others, analyzing data, and also deciding what action needs to be taken going forward based on research findings.
Participatory Action Research requires respecting and exploring a new paradigm in the world of social science— one which embraces a collaborative approach between researchers and community members who actively work together to bring about social change. This type of social research can exist along with traditional scientific methodology and add a new dimension of depth to critical inquiry, where the ultimate goal is to create new knowledge while also helping to bring about social change.

                                                          References
Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory Action Research: Psychology and Social Change. The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 53(4). 657-666.


19
Nov 19

I Married Myself

We are all much too familiar with the concept that “opposites attract”. This is widely used in Hollywood romcoms to show unlikely couples coming together. Giving hope to the audience of those movies that maybe, one day, George Clooney might show up at their front door as their knight in shining armor. However, as much as we want to believe that opposites attract, they don’t – at least not for a long time! The main concept of attraction is the fact that like attracts like. Ultimately, we are drawn towards people that look similar to us due to subconscious bias. This bias tells us that specific features that might be similar to ours are more familiar and therefore, more attractive (Ducharme, 2019).

I remember experiencing a similar concept to this with one of my previous relationships. My partner at the time started to slowly look more and more like me. She ended up changing her hair, the shape of her glasses, and the next thing I knew – she looked just like me! Or maybe me with a dash of Sue Perkins from the Great British Baking Show. The resemblance didn’t seem that intense to me until other people started to point out the obvious and joke about how they can’t tell us apart. I immediately had thoughts of narcissism where I thought that I was potentially too full of myself and wanted to date someone that looked just like me. But just like the Time’s article states, our nature to be drawn towards something that is familiar and similar is just a simple fact of attraction (Ducharme, 2019).

 

Ducharme, J. (2019, April 4). Why Do So Many Couples Look Alike? Here’s the Psychology Behind the Weird Phenomenon. Retrieved from https://time.com/5553817/couples-who-look-alike/.

18
Nov 19

Odd Girl Out …A Movie

To piggyback off this week’s lesson I have decided to reference a lifetime original movie. Please excuse the late post I was sick, then better, now sick again (thanks kids). With that being said I had a chance to rewatch the movie Odd Girl Out. It’s about a girl who is in with the popular group they are all around 14. Then one day she ends up liking and getting too much attention from the main popular girl’s boyfriend which results in lies, rumors, and online bullying. They tormented and bullied this once “in” girl until she chopped her hair off and became a recluse. Her mother at the time had noticed small changes but nothing major until she stumbled across the online messages and threats her daughter had been receiving. At this point, the daughter had tried to end her life by overdosing on pills. This is a reality that hits close to home. I have an 11-year-old daughter who up until 6 months ago was allowed to have social media. I noticed that she was the one being a bully to her so-called friends. She was forced to apologize and will most likely never get her social media back. We as parents have to adapt to a changing world that now makes it socially acceptable to judge others. The smallest put-downs can make it seem like the entire world is against you. Factor in social media and other external stresses, no wonder so many children suffer from depression. We should focus on building up our children’s self-esteem and communication so that they don’t have to try and put others down. Implementing coping techniques will also help then deal with stressful situations more effectively.


18
Nov 19

Love Languages, and the importance of understanding your partner’s language.

People feel most understood and loved when people use a love language you understand to express their love to you. If you don’t know what is your love language, your relationship may depend on you finding it.

Knowing each others love languages and acting upon them will greatly benefit your relationship. By understanding and acting upon your significant other’s love language you will expressing your love in a way that they understand best, and that leads to happy and healthy relationships. Understanding both yours and your partners love language will make you feel more understood and loved. Not knowing this could potentially lead to not fully understanding and communicating well with your partner.

According to Dr. Gary Chapman author of The 5 love Languages, there are five ways to speak and understand emotional love;

  1. Words of Affirmation
  2. Quality Time
  3. Receiving Gifts
  4. Acts of Service
  5. Physical Touch

Keeping the happiness and understanding in any relationship is beneficial and crucial to remaining healthy. My love language is quality time, what’s yours?


18
Nov 19

Online Communities

Online communities can be used as an extremely helpful tool. They can be a great way to learn new things, or to find others with similar traits. When I adopted a three legged dog several months back, I was told about a Facebook Page for “tripawds” with thousands of followers. They often post very helpful advice and tips on how to care for your dog properly as three legged dogs often develop serious mobility issues later on in their life due to missing the extra limb. Just this past weekend, I posted asking for advice on making your own dog food as that is something I am interested in starting. I got a ton of helpful feedback, but unfortunately several people disagreed with someone who originally commented on it offering her advice, which then turned into a back and forth swearing match. Several people quickly “ganged” up on this person, all because she said she puts rice in her dogs food. What was meant to be a post seeking information ended up having to have the comments turned off because of the nasty things being said back and forth. It was disappointing but at least I got the advice I was looking for.

Online communities can be a great resource and a lot of information I use daily for my job was learned through online communities. In my classroom, we often use projects and craft ideas that other teachers have shared which are then able to be used again in other classrooms.


18
Nov 19

Shifting Orientations: The Journey to Optimism

Throughout my life, I have experienced varying levels of optimism and pessimism. As an adolescent, I was primarily a pessimist.  Characteristic of pessimism, I would attribute my successes to external factors, and attribute my shortcomings to internal factors (Gruman, Schneider & Coutts, 2017).  By doing this, I labeled shortcomings as reflective of who I was, and successes as circumstantial.  It was difficult for me to believe any of my accomplishments had to do with my own actions.  Now, however, as an adult, I consider myself much more of an optimist.  I believe what goes well in my life is often due to my own actions (I attribute the good in my life to internal, stable, and global reasons), and believe what does to not be primarily my fault (I attribute the not-so-good results in my life to factors that are external, unstable, and specific).

Through this shift, I have found I have been happier, more satisfied, and, interestingly, more successful in my endeavors.  I found I performed better academically and athletically and felt more satisfaction in my successes while more optimistic.  Further, when I did not achieve my goals I did not let the initial disappointment bleed into other areas of my life.  Rather, I let the disappointment go and continued on to the next activity, event, etc.  My experiences were further validated in our book.  As we learned, optimism is associated with happier relationships, better biomedical health, better mental health, better performance at work, and academic performance (Gruman, Schneider & Coutts, 2017).  Thus, my experience is not unique; overall, optimism leads to better outcomes and is thus has concretely positive effects.

While this shift seemed to occur organically for me–as I think much of my previous pessimism was due to the struggles of adolescence–one can work towards a more optimistic orientation.  This can be done via attribution retraining interventions (Gruman, Schneider & Coutts, 2017).  These activities involve replacing pessimistic attributions with optimistic ones.  For example, a more pessimistically-oriented person may attribute a good exam grade to the exam being easy (i.e. the good event is specific, external, and unstable).  With attribution retraining interventions, however, one would work on shifting the one belief is the cause of the positive outcome.  Rather than believe the above, the pessimistic person would attempt to replace such thoughts with those that attribute the success of the exam grade to internal, stable, and global factors.  For example, the pessimistically-oriented person may initially think “I only did well on this exam because it was easy,” but through attribution retraining interventions they can replace this thought with something along the lines of, “I did well on this exam because I worked hard and am a capable student.”

As described earlier, there are numerous benefits to optimism.  While it is not ideal to be blindly optimistic, having a more optimistically-oriented orientation can help one’s health and success.  Through the use of attribution retraining interventions, one can work towards shifting their thoughts towards optimism.  While such optimism may not initially feel natural, it is likely worth it to experience the various benefits listed.  While life may not always feel happy, reminding oneself of the benefits of being optimistic can help one avoid a pessimistic thought spiral.  This is similar to what I do; when I am having a difficult time, I remind myself that such pessimistic thoughts will likely lead to further unwanted events, and it would be far more productive to focus on optimistic ones.

 

 

 

 

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.


18
Nov 19

Why Similarities Are Important

When you meet someone who is quite different compared to yourself it is pretty exciting. You begin discovering new ideas, you get to pick their brain, go on adventures you never even thought of, and the list goes on, but at some point, that excitement fades. Why? Well, the lack of common interests, thoughts, and attitudes finally caught up. This unfortunate reality did not often cross my mind until after I read about how strongly similarities impact the length and security of relationships, romantic or platonic. The similarity-attraction hypothesis states that attraction increases between those with similar characteristics and personality traits (Dryer & Horowitz, 1997). This hypothesis has been supported by numerous studies stating that friendships and romantic relationships have a greater success rate when they share common behaviors, characteristics, and/or attitudes (Dryer & Horowitz, 1997).

Looking back on my past friendships, the common factor that led to their downfall was the fact that there was an absence of similarities. For example, I am very introverted and enjoy doing things that do not involve a large group of people or having to socialize with people I have never met, for that matter. My old best friend, on the other hand, is extremely social and loves going out to parties and meeting new people. This critical difference in personalities eventually resulted in us falling out and forming our own group of friends in which we related to more. There are many more examples of past friendships and romantic relationships that reached their end quickly, but I want to provide another type of example. I only keep a handful of friends very close to me and noticed that we all share the same type of aspirations, views, and humor. My three closest friends are those who I am able to connect with on a different level compared to others, which strengthens our relationship.

While similarities are important, differences hold great significance as well. People who share similar personality types are able to understand and appreciate these traits and characteristics, while differences allow for a new experience (Lurtz, 1999). I believe friendships and romantic relationships should have a balance between similarities and differences that are compatible so there is a balance.

 

Dryer, D. C., & Horowitz, L. M. (1997). When do opposites attract? interpersonal complementarity versus similarity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(3), 592-603. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/0022-3514.72.3.592

Lurtz, P. K. (1999). Partner similarity and relationship satisfaction among couples (Order No. 9926967). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. (304524781). Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/304524781?accountid=13158


17
Nov 19

Disadvantages to Being Optimistic?

Are there disadvantages to being optimistic? It’s hard to think that being an optimist would be a disadvantage. Typically pessimism is the side that is seen more like a disadvantage. Is it always a positive advantage to being optimistic? Optimists are positive and self-motivated with a confident outlook on life and tackle ambitions. They look for the good in everything. This is the opposite of pessimism, which a negative outlook and a discouraging attitude. Pessimists see the bad and worse in everything rather than the positive. There are always doubts about goals rather than confidence (Gruman et al, 2017).

With the understanding of optimism in comparison to pessimism, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an optimist?

The two main advantages I see with being an optimist is:

  • Positive Attitude—

This can be a great advantage to confidence and a positive attitude towards life in general.

  • Confidence—

Facing your goals and dreams with confidence is valuable and an advantage to approach with confidence rather than fear.

 

However, with confidence and a positive attitude, optimists can take on goals and challenges that are not attainable. Too much confidence can put us in risky situations with relationships, money, work, etc. While pessimists have more of a negative or “realistic” outlook, they do tend to play it more safe. Is that a bad thing, though, to play it safe instead of taking risks? There needs to be a balance of the two, so we can tackle our dreams, but not risk any big for our goals. How we obtain our achievements is up to you, whether it be through a more optimist or pessimist attitude.

Reference:

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2017). Applied Social Psychology:Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems(3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. ISBN 9781483369730


17
Nov 19

I Was A Theatre Weirdo

During high school, despite being 6’6”, built like a linebacker and constantly asked “Do you play football?” I was a theatre kid.  One of my drama teachers referred to us as “Theatre weirds” and we wore that term with a sense of pride and honor.  Theatre and drama weren’t something that was held in high esteem in a rural southern town high school.  Because of this, it seemed as if the drama students were teased and “picked on” (we didn’t use the term “bullying” back then) more than most other kids.  It was no surprise that during my research for this unit I came across and article online titled “Music and theater students are bullied more than other students”.  The article detailed a study in which over 26,000 middle and high school students were surveyed.  Of this group, 7,400 were music and theater programs.  The results of the study came as a surprise to the authors of the article that the study found that performing arts students had a much higher chance of being bullied than non-arts students. In response to those findings the authors of the article concluded that it was possible that arts students are just more willing to accurately report their bullying victimization when asked about it.  If those students exhibited the same love for the stage as I did, I hope they reported it with histrionic flair and dramatically exited stage left with exaggerated hand gestures and audible sigh.  Theatre weird forever!

Elpus, K. (2016, August 11). Music and theater students are bullied more than other students. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@kennethelpus/music-and-theater-students-are-bullied-more-than-other-students-ec18d8cf4305.

Elpus, K., & Carter, B. A. (2016). Bullying victimization among music ensemble and theatre students in the united states. Journal of Research in Music Education, 64(3), 322-343. doi:10.1177/0022429416658642

 

 


17
Nov 19

Citizen participation in communities

“It takes a village to raise a child” was a quote I would hear a lot while I was growing up. I did not grow up in the best, or the worst neighborhood in Philadelphia. However I did grow up in a strong community, a neighborhood where we all knew and supported each other. I remember when my grandfather passed, and somehow the community came together to bring us dinner every night for two weeks while my grandmother brought herself together.

Although I did not live in the best community, there was no crime for about a 3 block radius all around. That may not seem much, but it gave us a comfortable setting to play outside, for families to be able to sit on their front steps and not have to worry.

I believe my community created this type of environment because of the citizen participation.

Citizen participation is defined as a process in which individuals take part in decision making in the institutions, programs, and environments that affect them (K. Heller et al., 1984, p. 339)

Our community did this, they held meetings, dinner parties, social media groups, and so much more to make sure we all were on the same page with everything that was going on and we stood strong on our community rules. This is an important quality that many communities are lacking.

The support and “community” that our children and next generation are lacking. This could also be in my opinion, the reason for crime rates going up. Our communities are not as strong as they should be.

I believe people need to begin getting more involved in their communities, get to know their neighbors, build relationships and community rules and respect each other.

Resources:

Heller, K., & Mansbach, W. E. (1984). The Multifaceted Nature of Social Support in a Community Sample of Elderly Women. Journal of Social Issues40(4), 99–112. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1984.tb01109.x


17
Nov 19

The Fine Line Between Pessimism and Optimism

Nobody has the ability to predict how the future will play out, however, you have the ability to control how you pursue your endeavors. According to Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, “optimism is a type of thinking that requires a person to be mindful about his or her future goals” (p.457). As students, we are in complete control of our college education. In the beginning of a semester, the first thing handed out is the course syllabus. I am often not alone to say, when looking through the schedule you often become overwhelmed with how much classwork is awaiting your future. At this moment you have a decision to make. Will you approach this feat with optimism or pessimism? This lingering question will arise with any difficult task assigned, but how it is managed will contribute heavily to the outcome.

A pessimist is the complete opposite of an optimist. The pessimist thought process is more likely to expect poor outcomes. Initially, this can be viewed as negative. Yet, in some occasions this outlook is needed. So, how does one find balance between the two? “Research has strongly suggested optimism contributes to better adjustment in occupational settings” (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 463). Nobody likes a coworker with a negative outlook and personality. This will affect the performance of everyone associated with them. But pessimist still hold a place within a company. Foreseeing the potential negative outcomes, can help better prepare everyone for the worst-case scenarios.

Personally, I tend to use both types of thinking. An example of this is when I entered boot camp. From the moment I signed my name on the dotted line, I expected the worst. However, I knew upon completion I would be satisfied with the result. This thought process worked in my favor. In hindsight, the overall experience was nowhere near what I actually expected. Drill instructors are there to keep you motivated, and they do a great job in doing so. My advice for anyone considering joining would be to enter bootcamp prepared to embrace the suck, but also know as long as you don’t quit you will get to the finish line.

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


15
Nov 19

Master of optimism 

My husband is an optimist. Last year was the toughest year of our lives, but mostly his. He had an open heart surgery and unfortunately he suffered a stroke as a complication. He has come a long way since then and is recovering well with a few hiccups here and there. However, 99% of the time he has been upbeat and always sees the silver lining in everything. I attribute much of his recovery to his attitude. I don’t know anyone who had to endure such tragedy yet come back winning like him. As Schneider et al. (2012) state that optimists make external attribution for bad events. That’s what I think my husband does. He didn’t blame himself or anyone for the surgery and the stroke. Instead, he attributed that to a situational occurrence that while he can’t change it, he can recover from. On a tough day he seems to always find a way to tilt the balance and make optimism outweigh pessimism, something that I still have to learn (Schneider et al., 2012). Affleck, Tennen, and Apter’s (2001) study suggests that the day-to-day levels of happiness of people who suffer from rheumatoid, arthritis, asthma, and fibromyalgia are positively related to their optimism (as cited in Schneider et al., 2012). Additionally, Affleck et al. (2001) assert that optimists can regulate their moods better than pessimists (as cited in Schneider et al., 2001). I found this to be true with my husband. Not that he is never sad or discourage. He is at times. However, he acknowledges his feelings and attributes his sadness and discouragement to external events such as lack of sleep, dehydration, a tough day at the gym, etc. Thus, he constantly teaches himself to be optimistic. Furthermore, he also seems to have mastered the art of problem-focused coping which refers to engaging behaviors that target to correct the stressful situation that is perceived to be controllable and amenable to change (Schneider et al., 2012). Everyday, he focuses on what he can control, his recovery, and let go of what he can’t control, his stroke. More importantly, he is surprisingly really good with emotion-focused coping as well, as he is actively doing everything he can to regain his emotional stability back. Emotional-focused coping is a behavior and cognition that does not directly address the source of stress but targets to reduce an individual’s level of emotional distress (Schneider et al., 2012). He meditates, does yoga, and listens to music to divert and reduce his emotional distress. All of these help him, and in turn help us, cope with our misfortune and make us appreciate life and each other even more. Whenever we are down, we spend time counting our blessings, which are fortunately in abundance, and disputing our misfortunate, which luckily are very few, similar to what Schneider et al.(2012) suggest. We have learned first handed that optimism will take you far and at times it’s the only thing you have left. So, be an optimist. If you are not, the good news is that optimism can be learned and with enough practice everyone can master it. Become one. 

 

References

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


12
Nov 19

Standardized Tests in Today’s Education System

Many students today, struggle with behavioral issues, learning disorders or emotional issues, meaning they are already facing challenges in their behavior patterns. A big issue in my opinion, in today’s schools is recognizing these struggles in students. School’s expect students to all meet a certain standard, and are most likely unwilling to conform to the needs of the students. Even with extra support, such as Therapeutic Staff Supports or specialized classrooms, the goal is to get the child to behave in a way the school seems “fit”, or be able to take tests and exams that meet scores “fit” for the school.

Albert Einstein quoted,  “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”. The test is tree climbing, similar to standardized testing across the board. However, not everyone is able to climb a tree, or may need a different way to get up the tree.

Another issue with these standardized tests, is they don’t test subjects such as music, art, or other specials that can give the students a chance to explore their gifts and talents. That may make them confident enough to perform better in other subjects they may struggle with. However these subjects are becoming non-existent in today’s educational system.

I believe standardized tests should be eliminated, your success should not be determined or predicted by how well you can score on a test. It should be measured by your strengths, your talents, your gifts, and sharpening those things.

I am not against education, I believe education is very important. This is why I am still in school. However, I believe school should focus more on student’s gifts, passions and talents. I believe schools will have a much higher success rates if they do. This gives student’s a chance to express themselves, and also helps build confidence to perform better in other subjects.


12
Nov 19

The bystander effect and social media

This week we discussed the bystander effect and the thought that certain personality types/people will wait for social cues to see if they will intervene in situations. If a bystander   see’s others around they are less likely to act due pluralistic ignorance. We see this in our everyday lives specifically on social media. Incidents are streamed of people getting shot,hurt,fighting as opposed to calling the police or stepping in to assist. Views and letting people know I was here is more relevant than the act of doing. This new era of see everything do nothing transcends through all avenues. Another example is social media activist. These are the people that only complain,rant,or question things on social media. They don’t go into their communities and do any work,they don’t start outreach efforts,contact people in power they just watch. The question comes in to play how can we stop people from watching and have them start doing? I don’t think we can. Certain people possess empathy,and urgency and others don’t. I personally believe this stems from personality type,and makeup. A way we can diffuse pluralistic  ignorance is to stop glorifying the watchers. There was a news story about a man who scaled a building that was on fire to save his mother. He did this with his bare hands and was deemed a hero. We should be commending this behavior and giving it more than a 15 minute segment in late night news. Where people on social media get millions of likes and repost.


11
Nov 19

New York City: Bystander Effect and The Diffusion of Responsibility Among 8.55 Million

I live in the New York City area, where I frequently see a variety of ambiguous emergency situations.  Given how large New York City is–roughly 8.55 million people–it can be difficult to pay attention to everything going on at the same time in the same space (World Population Review, 2019).  In order to function through the seas of people and overwhelming noise, one must frequently tune out the sounds and scenes surrounding them.  This great degree of noise and scenes is an example of stimulus overload, which happens when one’s body is overwhelmed by the degree of incoming sensory material (Gruman, Schneuder, & Coutts, 2016).  This stimulus overload is what can lead to the tuning out of the environment, such as what happens with many New York City residents daily.

Even when residents do notice something–an emergency situation, for example–they may not act.  Rather, they may believe others will act instead, creating what is known as diffusion of responsibility (Latane & Nida, 1981).  When this occurs, individuals assume they do not need to act because someone else will.  Thus, they diffuse their personal responsibility back into others, believing they themselves do not need to be the one to take action.  This can create the bystander effect, which occurs when people do help despite witnessing an emergency situation (Gruman, Schneuder, & Coutts, 2016).  Interestingly, despite seeing an emergency situation, due to the above reasons, many chose to ignore the emergency, and proceed with their activities.  I personally experienced something like this several years ago in New York City.

I was in New York City running errands when I saw several girls surrounding a man passed out on the ground (I briefly mentioned this in my discussion post for this week).  The man looked like he had just fallen on the ground without warning. He had been wearing a baseball hat and the hat was resting just off of his head on the concrete.  I found the situation to be alarming–it seemed like a clear emergency situation to me, as the man was completely unconscious–and I stopped to talk to the girls who were surrounding him.  I asked what was going on, and they said he was unconscious, and they did not know what to do.  They said they saw the man passed out and thought they should stop, but they did not know what action to take.  I said I thought I should call 911, and, since the girls seemed indecisive, I asked someone on the street if I could borrow their phone (I had left mine in the car), and they agreed.  The girls left after I called 911 and the man whose phone I borrowed stayed with me until the ambulance came, which took the man to the hospital.

The experience I had in the above situation was not easily forgotten, as I had difficulty making sense of why the girls did not call 911, or why someone else did not stop and do something.  This lesson, however, has helped me make sense of these lack of actions, due to the phenomenons of the diffusion of responsibility and the bystander effect.  In the particular situation described above, people walked by despite seeing the emergency situation (the bystander effect), likely believing that someone else would take responsibility and help in the situation (diffusion of responsibility).  Interestingly, I think the diffusion of responsibility was likely also at play among the few girls standing around the man.  I think none of them were taking full responsibility for the situation (i.e. they were there, but none of them were doing something to help), as they believed someone else in the group would.  While I am glad I called stopped and was able to borrow someone’s phone to call 911, I am sure there have been many other moments in my life where I have been affected by the bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility, partially due to the stimulus overload that accompanies New York City.  Thus, I am grateful that this lesson has increased my awareness of these phenomenons, so I can be more mindful of those in emergency situations as I navigate such a large–and sometimes overwhelming–city.

 

 

 

 

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneuder., F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2016). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Socanil and Practical Problems.

Latané, B., & Nida, S. (1981). Ten years of research on group size and helping.Psychological Bulletin, 89(2), 308-324. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.89.2.308

New York City, New York Population 2019. (2019). Retrieved from http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/new-york-city-population/.


10
Nov 19

Setting a Good Example

I work in an autism classroom with children grades 3-5. Most of our students are in our room for the whole day, but we are always working toward them being able to go into general education classes for some periods of time during the day. One of our students has higher functioning autism than the others. This student is able spend a lot of his day in a 3rd grade general education class. He always has me, or another teaching assistant with him to prompt him or help him with things as needed. He also goes to specials with other 3rd graders, such as art, gym, music, etc. Unfortunately while going to these classes with him, I have noticed that his fellow students are not overly friendly to him. He does exhibit stimming behaviors, such as repeating names or phrases, and that bothers some of the students. When told to partner up in gym a few weeks ago, no one wanted to be his partner. I heard another student call him “weird” when he was standing alone without a partner and was so frustrated until another female student came up to him and asked to be his partner. After that, students were interacting with him more and more. Just last week, he was invited (and went!) to a fellow students halloween party at their house. He was so happy and that girl has no idea the impact she had on his day, and possibly even the rest of his school year.

Students follow example from each other their attitudes es and behaviors are mirrored constantly. Many other students do not have patience with the boy I am mentioning, but watching how helpful and patient the girl was to him gave me so much hope that others will see this interaction and want to be more friendly with him.


09
Nov 19

Safety in numbers? Think again. The Bystander Effect: a look at the psychology of helping behavior

Which situation gives you a better chance of survival? Having a heart attack in a building with only one person in the next room or having a heart attack in the middle of Central park on a crowded hot summer day in New York City? I’ll take the building with one person please! I think that many of us falsely assume that there is safety in numbers—the more people, the more help we would receive if we had an emergency, right? Maybe not. According to much research that has been done on the psychology of helping by Latane & Nida (1981), Beaman, Barnes, Klentz, & McQuirk (1978), and others, our chances of receiving help in an emergency situation decline as the amount of bystanders increases. Knowing the social psychological processes at work that play a large role in determining whether or not a person will help in an emergency situation can make the difference when deciding between helping or not helping someone who is in need.
The bystander effect is a social phenomenon that explains how and why a person is more likely to be helped in an emergency situation in the presence of less people (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017). This may sound counterintuitive as, statistically speaking, we may think that more people equals more people who can actually help. However, there are three social psychological processes that work against the assumption that more people means more help: the audience inhibition, social influence, and diffusion of responsibility (Latane & Nida, 1981, p. 309).
Whether we help others or not in an emergency situation has a lot to do with how we interpret emergency situations, as well as how many other bystanders are present (Beaman, Barnes, Klentz, & Mcquirk, 1978). Audience inhibition occurs when people do not take action to help others in an emergency situation because they are afraid of being embarrassed or criticized by others for failing to act appropriately—for example, acting like it is an emergency when in fact it is not, or by giving a person the wrong type of care or treatment. Another hindering factor to helping behavior is being uncertain if an emergency really exists at all. The more ambiguous the situation is to the bystander, the more likely help will not occur. Social influence plays a large role in the inhibition of helping behavior—bystanders often look to others for informational cues that help them interpret the situation; if others appear not to be alarmed, then others may assume there is nothing to be alarmed about and that no help is needed, therefore no help is offered.
According to the researchers Latane and Darley (1981), it is really surprising that anyone in a crowd ever helps anybody else in an emergency situation at all, especially when when one considers that often there are many more costs incurred by helping others than direct benefits to one’s self. Diffusion of responsibility describes another reason why people in need of help in an emergency situation may not receive help if there is a group of bystanders instead of just one individual bystander—humans often shift responsibility to others so that are not faced with assuming individual responsibility for helping (Gruman et al., 2017). There may be more costs to helping than there are benefits. The more people that are present, the more people may feel that others can just help instead of themselves—in this way, we can now see why it may be safer to have an emergency with one person present. That lone person is much more likely to not be able to pretend they didn’t notice the event or to assume others will help.
Knowing why we act in particular ways can help us become more aware of the social psychological processes at work, especially when it comes to helping behavior. If we understand what may influence us to think, feel, or behave in certain ways towards a situation, then we may be better equipped to handle situations more effectively. In emergency situations, knowledge of how we may be influenced by others to help or not help could bring about positive change related to how we perceive situations and whether we will in fact help others. It appears as though education is the key; through intervention strategies of educating the public about social inhibition, social psychology and applied social psychology can work together to help communities function better. By educating people about the psychology of helping, we can become more aware and make more informed decisions which may lead us to act in ways that keep each other safer and more protected by their fellow human being.

 

References

Beaman, A. L., Barnes, P. J., Klentz, B., & McQuirk, B. (1978). Increasing Helping Rates Through Information Dissemination: Teaching Pays. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4(3), 406–411. doi: 10.1177/014616727800400309

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2017). Applied Social Psychology:
Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. ISBN 9781483369730

Latané, B., & Nida, S. (1981). Ten years of research on group size and helping. Psychological Bulletin, 89(2), 308-324. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.89.2.308


09
Nov 19

The Tiny Home Movement

With the rising costs of homes and rent in the United States, there has been an increased need for affordable housing options. According to CNBC (2018), prices for homes have increased over 5% in the past few years and are expected to rise twice the speed of inflation. In addition, there has been a rising interest in the minimalist movement made popular by Marie Kondo, who is well known for her method of cutting out anything that doesn’t “spark joy.” This movement has sought to reduce the carbon footprint, excess clutter, and to save money. One movement that address both of these public concerns is the tiny house movement. This new movement has encouraged people to downsize their lifestyle and live minimally, while also helping alleviate the economic burdens of high rent and mortgage costs. There are now established communities dedicated to those who want to live in tiny homes and live a more minimal lifestyle. These communities often have shared common goals and values that help these communities become more cohesive.

A community is described as a group of individuals with shared values, goals, and attitudes that bring them close together. According to Gruman, Schneider, and Coutts (2017), a strong sense of community must include membership, influence, integration, and a shared emotional connection. In many tiny home communities, the members often share resources and have a strong communal bond with one another because they live in such close proximity to one another. In one tiny home community, Tiny Tranquility, members of the community share a 12,000 square foot greenhouse that can be used to grow crops, an entertainment room to interact and bond with other community members, and outdoor areas to have bonfires and play games. Most tiny house communities have a common goal that aims to reduce their attachment to debt and material items to achieve optimal life satisfaction. According to Business Insider (2019), many tiny homeowners are able to live debt free and can even double or triple their savings to the six-figure range. Other common goals shared among many tiny home communities is the desire to reduce waste and live a greener lifestyle. Some communities utilize solar energy and home gardening not only for convenience but also to minimize the effects on the environment. According to Renewable Energy World (2015), tiny homes produce about 2,000 pounds of CO2 in comparison to the average home which produces 28,000 pounds annually. These shared values and strong communal ties allow tiny home community members to thrive and achieve their common goals, while also fostering new relationships with those with similar interests and hobbies.

Although strong communal bonds can exist in the standard neighborhood, tiny home communities allow those with similar interests to comingle and share resources while also influencing each other to have a more minimal and greener lifestyle. Tiny home communities can help alleviate the economic burden of rising housing prices while also providing affordable housing to those who previously didn’t have access like homeless veterans. These communities often aim to not only have economic freedom, but also allow members to live healthier and more fulfilling lifestyles. These tiny home communities foster strong communal bonds between its members while also allowing those with a common life purpose and goals to flourish and prosper.

 

References

CNBC. (2018, June 6). US house prices are going to rise at twice the speed of inflation and pay: Reuters poll. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/us-house-prices-are-going-to-rise-at-twice-the-speed-of-inflation-and-pay-reuters-poll.html.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Hoffower, H. (2019, July 27). 6 people on how living in a tiny house has changed their finances, from going debt-free to saving six figures. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/tiny-house-living-advice-financial-changes-to-expect-2019-7.

Renewable Energy World. (2015, November 14). Tiny Houses Have Even Tinier Carbon Footprints. Retrieved from https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/2015/12/14/tiny-houses-have-even-tinier-carbon-footprints/#gref.

Tiny Tranquility. (n.d.). Long term stay plots for Tiny Home and Vintage Trailer owners. Retrieved from https://tinytranquility.com/.

 

 


09
Nov 19

CrossFit Community

When it comes to fitness there are many different options out there. Each option provides different results and includes different exercises. Individuals can select group exercises, solo exercises, cardio based workouts, weight training and many other different options. Due to so many options out there, it can be hard to separate everything and select the best workout plan depending on the goal for that individual. CrossFit is a type of workout program that has been around for a while and continues to grow and gain momentum. One of the things that has helped CrossFit gain popularity is the sense of community because this is something that is very different from the traditional gym in which people work out by themselves and don’t speak to anyone.

A community is a group of individuals that are connected to each other by one or more attributes (Morgan, 2015). The element that brings them together is the core of the group which could change over time. People have access to many different communities based on their interest and ultimately a community is about growing with other people. Humans beings are social beings that thrive best when connected with others. It is a mistake to think that most humans prefer the solitary life because the truth is that we are the most comfortable when we are connected and sharing emotions and stories with others (Morgan, 2015). People find that sense of belonging/community in a church, friends, family, social media, sports and many other ways. That sense of belonging and community is what makes CrossFit slightly different from other exercise programs.

A study showed that when it came to sense of community CrossFit was significantly higher when compared to other physical activity groups (Pickett et al., 2016). Participants that had a higher sense of community about their physical activity had a higher perceived value of the service provided. Also, participants that said that their gym had a high sense of community enjoyed going there more. This leads to more frequent attendance and commitment. It is important to point out the impact that sense of community can have when it comes to exercise. The social aspect is something that people are obviously searching for and finding it through exercise can help them grow in many different ways. CrossFit is welcoming to everyone and allows people to connect through exercise. Fitness is something that a lot of people are looking for, but being able to find a community that shares the same goal is what makes this special. While everyone is different and has different fitness goals, the group setting concept is what keeps people coming and attending. These type of gyms are not only for extremely fit people because the workouts can be scaled depending on the ability of each individual. When it comes to CrossFit is more about competing with yourself and allowing the group help push you past your limits (Blake, 2013). Members really value and emphasize the sense of community associated with their gym. It is really about the encouragement and finding like minded people that share a common goal (Blake, 2013).

References:

Blake, Jack. (2013). The power of the CrossFit community. Retrieved from https://www.boxrox.com/the-power-of-the-crossfit-community/

Morgan, Nick. (September 1, 2015). We humans are social beings-And why that matters for speakers and leaders. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2015/09/01/we-humans-are-social-beings-and-why-that-matters-for-speakers-and-leaders/#46494e636abd

Pickett, Andrew C; Goldsmith, Andrew; Damon, Zack; Walker, Matthew. ( 2016). The influence of sense of community on the perceived value of physical activity: A cross-context analysis. Leisure Sciences. 38(3), 199-214.

 

 

 

 

 


07
Nov 19

How Long Love Lasts?

How long do you think love lives? One French writer called his novel, “Love Lasts Three Years”, but Is it true?

Three years usually lasts a candy stage of relations; a period of passion and love. When the heart beats more often, the future is radiant, the lovers are concentrated on each other and much is forgiven to the partner; and it seems that it should always be so. But no. The enchanting extravaganza fades away, and somewhere in the depths a spark begins to flare up a true love; but after violent passions and vivid experiences can it be very difficult to feel it. True, mature love develops and is realized gradually; and for its disclosure, the internal development of a person is necessary. Immature people often do not discover this gift in themselves. It is the mental immaturity of partners that ultimately leads the union to cataclysms.

Broken boats of love

Psychologists know that almost a third of people suffer from problems in relationships, such as distrust, suspicion, addiction, betrayal. The art of love is almost forgotten. This is the ability to accept and appreciate and consider a partner as his property, without the conditions and expectations that these relationships are forever and ever. Even those who parted with their partner are usually given a chance to meet a new suitable person. That is, never was it about one single half. However, if people didn’t “grab” their life companions with a death grip, then there would be much fewer problems in relationships, partings. Moreover, women are especially afraid of changes in their personal lives.

How to get through some of the relationship’s problems:

  • Relationships in a pair – this is only a matter of two. No need to let outsiders into this space, even if they are relatives and friends. Especially if they perceive your partner negatively, and this even applies to children – tactfully, gently, but do not let the child stand between you, quarrel you.
  • Discuss all the problems that arise in the family: monetary, related to relatives, ex, friends, as well as your feelings and doubts, etc.
  • Try not to focus your attention on your partner’s annoying habits: eat on the go, don’t wash dishes, etc. Otherwise, the internal accumulating tension can one day explode, and starting from a trifle, turn into a grand scandal.
  • None of the partners should consider their desires more important than the needs of another. Suppression, domination destroy the family. Relationships require respect.
  • Show your feelings more often so that loved ones understand that you are dear. Try to avoid reproaches, claims, claims. Show your love right now – then it may be too late. And “turn off” criticism in yourself, thinking about a partner, you can always find something to complain about, only this destroys the relationship.

Crisis management

There are age crises of each partner when you want changes and novelty, family crises in changing circumstances (birth of a child, death of relatives, forced relocations, etc.) and crises of development of life together. At such moments, it is important to maintain the internal unity of the couple, respect and affection for each other. And do not succumb to erroneous, usually formed in childhood emotional reactions, such as: the habit of feeling sorry for oneself (usually accompanied by reproaches from others), the desire to take responsibility for malfunctions in relationships (based on guilt, for example, because of the fact that feelings have cooled), removal from a partner (due to fatigue, etc.). With the right approach, respect and appreciation, love will keep growing and you can be sure: will last very long.

 

References:

Durayappah-Harrison, A. (2011, February 3). Brain Study Reveals Secrets of Staying Madly in Love. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thriving101/201102/brain-study-reveals-secrets-staying-madly-in-love

Gregoire, C. (2014, December 24). The Psychology Of Loves That Last A Lifetime. HuffPost. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/psychology-of-lasting-love_n_5339457

Harra, A. (2014, September 27). 7 Ways to Save a Struggling Relationship. HuffPost. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/love-and-relationships_b_5624213?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAxisiqyJcy3K-YMecXl181egMQUDKLNbvMcdXlcfZz8mJmcnLk5Pxtwxlbs5_MOSAerHZuyhBqut3aHDx2-GuPxHKy7rIhgQQplI6PpJ327CEQBu0EAglI-JiFIRFbKKgTF6ODyHfFtNk4TfZSZmWtv1SOiuVrij7QNKpl1vgHQ

Johnson, S. (2010, June 1). Can Love Last a Lifetime? Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hold-me-tight/201006/can-love-last-lifetime


05
Nov 19

Social Media and the Bystander Effect 

As we discussed bystander effect this week, one thing that wasn’t mentioned is the effect of social media and the bystander effect. Today, it should be easier than ever to call 911 in an emergency situation as practically everyone has a cellphone. However, instead of pulling out a cellphone to call 911, bystanders use it to record the situation on the sideline without helping. Nir and Dollinger (2019) report that during a wild after-school brawl erupted outside a Long Island strip mall, people didn’t step in to help, worse, they stood there and record the fight and a teen’s, who was stabbed in the chest, suffering. Levine (2018) states that when she stopped to help a woman who was bleeding on her head and neck at a subway platform in New York City, people took their phone out, not to call 911, but to record the scene. These are just two examples but there are many more situations just like these in the news. It seems that the bystander effect has reached its worst time yet. 

Latane and Nida (1981) explain that diffusion of responsibility which refers to the knowledge that others are present and available to help, allows the shifting of responsibility for helping the victims. However, the bystander effect in the age of social media not only diffuses responsibility , but allows bystanders to take it to the next level by actively watching victims suffer, so they can record the situation to post on their social media later. Surprisingly, there’s not many researches out there yet regarding social media and the bystander effect. However, Dr. Dara Greenwood, a psychology professor with Vassar College, who was cited in Pittaro’s (2019) article, explains that the attention that bystanders, especially young adults, received from capturing and posting such video which then leads to the feeling of ‘optimal distinctiveness,’ is the motivation. If Kitty Genovese’s murder happened today, it would be all over the social media. While social media is not all bad as it has helped solve crimes in the past, researchers and policymakers should pay close attention to the effect of social media and the bystander effects as it is getting worse. Today, more so than ever, bystanders lack empathy and are largely desensitized to violence and crime scenes (Pittaro, 2019). Furthermore, teachers and parents need to teach their students and kids what it means to be an active bystander. More importantly, teach them that it’s not ok to watch and record someone’s sufferings, especially for “likes” on social media!

 

 

 

 

References

Latané, B., & Nida, S. (1981). Ten years of research on group size and helping. Psychological Bulletin, 89(2), 308-324. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.89.2.308

Levine, A. S. (2018, July 30). New York Today: The City’s Bystander Effect. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/nyregion/new-york-today-bystander-effect.html.

Nir, S. M., & Dollinger, A. (2019, September 17). Oceanside Stabbing: After a Brawl, Teenagers Gawked as a Boy Lay Dying. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/nyregion/ny-teen-murder-oceanside.html?module=inline.

Pittaro, M. (2019, September 19). Social Media and The Bystander Effect. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-crime-and-justice-doctor/201909/social-media-and-the-bystander-effect.


04
Nov 19

School Satisfaction: The Roles of Self-Determination and Achievement Goal Theory

Growing up, I attended three middle schools and three high schools.  I struggled to find a school where I felt I could express my honest thoughts in class (I loved to debate), and had some say regarding my schedule and the interests I wanted to pursue.  I entered each new school with hope: maybe here, I thought, I could make my own decisions about who I wanted to be, and how I wanted to learn.  Each time, however, I was disappointed, as I found each school to be similar in this regard than the last.  Despite toting values such as “independence” and “freedom of expression,” I found the schools I attended in middle and high school to function more like monarchies.  I had little say in my educational experience.  To my parents’ credit, they continued to try to help me find the right fit, but the collective efforts were not effective.  To me, I had not yet found a school where I could make my own choices about my education, which left me unmotivated to attend.

This changed, however, when I got to college.  I found college presented an environment where I was motivated to learn and appreciated the freedom given to do so in my own way.  Due to this, I pursued all of my assignments intently and was invested in my work and studies.  This shift from my experiences in high school to college is likely attributable to the self-determination theory.  Self-determination theory states that intrinsic motivation, driven by forces such as autonomy, a feeling of belonging, and the ability to make choices without undue external pressure, leads to increased academic performance (Gruman, Schneuder, & Coutts, 2016).  In other words, such autonomy and intrinsic motivation lead to intrinsic empowerment, followed by academic accomplishment.  I found this to be true when I started attending college, as I was finally able to have the autonomy I craved, and the opportunity to learn without the pressure to do so in a particular way, as I had in high school.  Specifically, rather than having a set schedule, as I did in high school, in college I have been able to create my own study schedule, and take ownership of my work, rather than having a class schedule I only minimally contributed to making.  Thus, self-determination theory explains one of the reasons why I feel much happier in college than I did in high school.

Further, another reason I have enjoyed college much more than high school has to do with my mastery goal style.  As we learned, achievement goal theory is the motivation behind academic achievement (Gruman, Schneuder, & Coutts, 2016).  This achievement can be mastery-oriented of performance-oriented, with the former being motivated by learning the material (intrinsic), and the latter motivated by success in relation to others (extrinsic).  While I hold some of each of these motivations–as both having mastery over the material and concretely performing well are important to me–I would say I am more mastery-oriented.  I felt I was not able to utilize this style in high school, however, which led to my feeling out of place and unhappy with my school situation.  I felt it was rarely encouraged to debate and ask questions, and I, therefore, was not able to engage with the material in the way I needed to in order to learn.  In college, however, I have found professors to be open to questions, and enjoy getting into detail about various subjects.  Thus, I feel I can use my more mastery-oriented achievement style, rather than suppressing it.  This has greatly contributed to enjoying my college academic experience.

Learning about self-determination theory and achievement goal theory has helped me understand my educational experience, and why I was so unhappy in high school.  While I always knew that I needed autonomy in order to do as well as I could, learning about self-determination theory explained this feeling.  The self-determination afforded to me in college–and Penn State’s World Campus, specifically–an ability to finally feel at home in my educational experience–a feeling I had never had before.  Further, understanding achievement goal theory put my academic goals in perspective–as I was not aware that my mastery-orientation was contributing to my lack of satisfaction in high school.  Thus, these two theories have helped me understand not only why my experience has been so different in high school than in college, but also the factors I will need (e.g. autonomy in pursuing my work, the willingness of professors to answer questions and be open to discussion as a way to engage with the material) in future academic pursuits to be happy in my educational experience.

 

 

 

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.


04
Nov 19

Bias in Young Minds

Working at an elementary after school program, I see and experience a lot of errors in judgment. A kindergartener at my school recently moved here from Japan and does not know any English aside from “Hello” and “Bye”. He cried almost every day for about a month because of the language barrier and, I’m sure, the difficulties he faced daily because of that. Many of the other kids constantly questioned what was wrong with him and assumed he did not want to be friends with anyone. He was instantly isolated from his peers despite not doing a thing. A lot of the first and second graders followed the kindergarteners’ attitude towards the little boy without even asking why or if anything was wrong. It pains me to see how quick people conform to others and refuse to see things from the other person’s perspective. This is an example of the fundamental attribution error, which is only taking internal causes into consideration instead of situational factors when assessing people’s behavior (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017).

Self-serving bias is another judgment error I witness often with my students. This form of bias is the tendency to blame shortcomings or negative outcomes on external factors and credit internal causes when there are positive outcomes (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017). While playing handball with the kids, a lot of them like to use all types of excuses when they get out. For example, some say they were distracted because their friends made them laugh, some say their shoes prevented them from moving fast enough, and some blame the rules for not being “right”. Yes, I have heard it all. These same kids also enjoy mentioning to their friends that they won a match because they are “super skilled” and know what moves to use to get certain players out.

There are many forms of cognitive errors and biases that circulate around the children’s thought process, affecting their actions and reasoning. I try to point out the negative effects that follow closely behind these errors with the hopes that they eventually recognize and learn. Shaping young minds can be a difficult task, but I am always up for the challenge.

Gruman, J. A., Scheinder, F. W., Coutts, L. M. (2018). Applied Social Psychology (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.


04
Nov 19

The Importance of a Positive Learning Environment: Achievement Goal Theory

Success can come in many forms; how a student defines success has a significant impact on their performance. Achievement goal theory outlines two goals (and two dimensions for each) which students may set to achieve success (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017). These are further affected by the situation in which the goals are created. In practical terms, this means that the particular goal structure a student pursues is influenced by the learning environment, the classroom and teacher. Using the research gathered by Bardach, Oczlon, Pietschnig, and Lüftenegger (2019), the types of environments conducive to the pursuit of the most effective and least effective goal structures will be discussed. The purpose of this is to inform and instruct teachers and students on how to form the best learning goals for their situation. First, the basics of this theory will be reviewed, then the situational component will be discussed, ending with how to apply these concepts to the classroom.

Achievement goal theory’s two defined goals are mastery and performance (Gruman et al., 2017). The goal of mastery states that students are seeking to develop competence in a certain learning area. Performance, on the other hand, has success defined in relation to others. Rather than seeking to learn, performance goals define success as when the student performs competently compared to others. These goals are not inherently worse than mastery goals, but the latter is associated with better learning strategies, higher level learning in school, and the pursuit of greater challenges (Gruman et al., 2017). The two dimensions of these goal structures are approach and avoidance, culminating in four goal distinctions (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance). The approach dimension implies that the student wishes to pursue skill improvement while the avoidance dimension describes that they wish to avoid losing skills or appearing worse than others (Gruman et al., 2017). Generally speaking, the approach dimension is correlated with much better academic performance than the other dimension.

The situational aspect of this theory is referred to as the goal structures, and argues that environmental cues affect which goal structure will be used (Bardach et al., 2019). Mastery goal structures focus on encouraging the student to try their best to learn and develop competence on the topics discussed in the classroom. Performance goal structures focus on social comparisons and supporting competitions, such as when student ranking by test scores is posted. Both of these methods can lead to academic success if they fall in line with the approach dimension rather than avoidance. Performance-approach differs from performance-avoidance in that the former focuses on displaying how performance is better than their peers while the latter focuses on not showing one’s incompetence (Bardach et al., 2019). Mastery-avoidance occurs when the context emphasizes not forgetting material rather than on learning new material (Bardach et al., 2019).

Practically, this implies that there is a “worst way” for teachers to create a goal structure in a classroom environment and there are also better ways. To avoid the worst option (performance-avoidance), instructors should take care not to create an environment where students feel that if they make a mistake, they will be criticized for it. Instead of this, the environment should encourage skill improvement so as to guide the students into creating their goals in line with the mastery/performance-approach. 

The academic climate of a classroom created by the teacher has a rather strong effect on the kind of goal structure followed by the student (Bardach et al., 2019). The best way to support the academic improvement of the students is to encourage them to improve their skills rather than berating them for forgetting something. The achievement goal theory theory supports the generally known truth that creating a positive and encouraging classroom environment is essential for best supporting the students.

 

References

Bardach, L., Oczlon, S., Pietschnig, J., & Lüftenegger, M. (2019). Has achievement goal theory been right? A meta-analysis of the relation between goal structures and personal achievement goals. Journal of Educational Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000419

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.


04
Nov 19

Overjustification effect in college

Ever feel like a task is dull or unappealing just because you are required to do it? The overjustification effect is best explained with the example of reading a specific novel needed and saying, “I would love this book if I didn’t have to read it for class. By having to do something, it can be perceived as less enjoyable than if it weren’t required of them (Gruman et al, 2017).

This can be a common phenomenon in college students. Based on studies of the overjustification effect, contingent rewards may have significant influence. Wimperis and Farr (1979) conducted a study where both contingent and noncontingent reward systems were tested. Their results concluded that being rewarded regardless of performance may be the leading cause behind the overjustification. Intrinsic motivation in comparison to external motivation (such as payment for a task) may eliminate the overjustification effect (Gruman et al, 2017).

How can students combat the overjustification effect? Focus on learning, not grades. Having an internal motivation for learning new information in comparison to an external motivation like good grades or better pay helps combat a decline in enthusiasm during courses. Focusing on internal interests will help reduce the overjustification effect (Gruman et al, 2017).

 

Wimperis, B. R., & Farr, J. L. (1979). The effects of task content and reward contingency upon task performance and satisfaction. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 9(3), 229-249. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1979.tb02708.x

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. (2017). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles ; London ; New Dehli ; Singapore ; Washington DC ; Melbourne: SAGE.

image:https://steemit.com/steemit/@freewill/the-overjustification-effect-and-what-it-means-for-steemit


04
Nov 19

The Inequality of Education

The right to education and quality of education has always been a hot button topic for politics in the United States. Initiatives to increase educational spending are often included on ballots, but unfortunately school budgets still often cut to allocate money to other projects like national defense, public works, and homelessness. These cuts in budget have a profound effect on the quality of education because it limits spending on sports programs, art and music programs, and quality teachers. All of these limitations can cause a decrease in academic performance and overall quality of life for children in schools. All of these negative consequences are heightened in poor communities that often have predominantly black and Hispanic students. The disparity in quality of education for black and Hispanic students increasingly worsens, but lack of funding and political support further these disparities. As a result, many black and Hispanic students experience a decline in academic performance which can lead to a poor academic self-concept. According to Gruman, Schneider, and Coutts (2017), the academic performance of students is influenced by their own perceptions of their capabilities. For example, if a black or Hispanic student starts to fail math or science because there is a lack of funding to support good teachers, the student may attribute his or her academic downfall on their inability to understand the concepts of mathematics and science and not on the lack of quality education.

 

There is a lot of research that indicates there are racial and economic disparities in education that predominantly impacts blacks and Hispanics. According to NBC news, students who do not have a free lunch program score 37 points higher on a reading test in comparison to students who did receive free lunches (2018). This shows that more affluent neighborhoods that do not need to participate in free lunch programs on average perform better in comparison to less affluent neighborhoods. This is not surprising because many students who need free lunches are battling a lot more difficulties than just focusing on academics like poverty, homelessness, violence, and family issues. According to Washington Post, black students are more likely than white students to be arrested, suspended, and expelled (2019). Instead of getting increased support to battle these difficulties, blacks and Hispanics are often given harsh discipline which only further their failures. In a surprising study, in comparison to white neighborhoods, school districts predominantly with non-white students receive $23 billion less in education funding (Gunn, 2019). Much of this disparity can be attributed to the lack of tax revenue that is generated from these poor neighborhoods, but there is also a lack of state and federal policy that limits these disparities from worsening.

 

There needs to be more state and federal involvement in the betterment of school districts across the country, but especially in neighborhoods where there is a significant economic and racial divide. Lack of quality teachers, absence of art and music programs, and lack of quality educational materials limit the success of poor students who otherwise would prosper with different circumstances. More social awareness about these disparities could encourage others including politicians to take action in improving the overall quality of the educational system for black and Hispanic students. Much of the struggles of blacks and Hispanics can be attributed to lack of education and opportunities so if any major change for equality is to be made it should first start in the classroom.

 

References

Balingit, M. (2019, August 16). Racial disparities in school discipline are growing, federal data show. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html.

Gunn, D. (2019, February 26). Non-White School Districts Get $23 Billion Less Funding Than White Ones. Retrieved from https://psmag.com/education/nonwhite-school-districts-get-23-billion-less-funding-than-white-ones.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Jao, A. (2018). Segregation, school funding inequalities still punishing Black, Latino students. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/segregation-school-funding-inequalities-still-punishing-black-latino-students-n837186.

 


04
Nov 19

Theory of Planned Behavior: A Multi-cultural Perspective

For the past two years, my family and I lived in South Korea. As a family of polyglots and strong advocates of assimilation when living in other countries’, my husband and I took it upon ourselves to prioritize a full linguistic and cultural immersion for ourselves and our two children during our time there. We also took advantage of the inexpensive airfare costs and traveled to Japan regularly.

During our time in Korea, I fully immersed my daughter into the Korean school system. However, as we were nearing the end of our stay, I began to fully comprehend the enormity of finding an appropriate school to facilitate a love of learning, academically and emotionally, within my child. It was during one of our many visits to Japan that I came across one of the most life-altering thought-processes as a parent.

Within the United States, math is often viewed as a particularly difficult subject. There’s a common stereotype that says if you’re Asian, you must be good at math. This statement is obviously not logical, one has nothing to do with the other. Interestingly enough, when I looked at the Japanese school system, math was not a particularly challenging subject. There was not a large number of students who failed, it wasn’t dreaded, feared, or followed by a groan (usually). So, could it be true that Japanese students are simply better at math than American students because they’re Asian? And looking beyond the math example, could it be that Japanese students simply perform better than their American peers?

The answer is yes, but not for the reasons people assume. Japanese students are not inherently better at math than American students. In fact, the secret behind their success is a cultural one.

In social psychology, the theory of planned behavior is a means of using emotions about a behavior and intentions about a behavior will predict the actual outcome of behavior. While this is far from simple to predict, Japanese culture has created one of the most profound and simple examples utilizing the theory of planned behavior within their education system. As a collectivist culture, majority of Japanese students’ report enjoying school (Mandrapa, 2015), and the failure of one child is not just the failure of the student, it is the failure of the entire community. As such, students have a positive attitude towards education, pressure to prioritize academic success, and the follow-through of behavior (seeking academic success) places them within the in-group. Which, while important in Western culture, is vital within collectivist idealism.

As a parent, finding the correct approach to kicking off my daughters’ education has been a primary concern of mine since I initially found out I was pregnant. What attitudes did I want her to adopt? How could I create motivation for success without creating a negative stressor?  Watching the masterful application of the theory of planned behavior within Japanese culture, I came to find that the process of creating an emotional and intellectually intelligent child isn’t quite as difficult as it was once made out to be.

 

References

Mandrapa, N. (2015, March 11). Interesting Facts about Japanese School System. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://novakdjokovicfoundation.org/interesting-facts-about-japanese-school-        system/.


03
Nov 19

Taking Fashion Out Of School

In today’s society, “fitting in” will often decide a child’s grade school experience. Whether it’s wearing the latest designer clothing or their views on social topics, everything is heavily scrutinized, and for no good reason. There are continuous stories in the media highlighting cases of bullying, and the reasons often vary, but one thing doesn’t change, the victims are always treated as an outcast. This discrimination in the academic atmosphere can result in long term performance issues for the child. According to Coutts, Gruman, & Schneider (2017), “children who experience social, behavioral and emotional difficulties in school are at a disadvantage for reaching their academic potential” (pg. 241). Solving the issue of bullying will take much more than a blog post, and instead needs to be addressed at the home level. Yet, schools are responsible for the safety and conduct of these children for at least eight hours a day. So, what can they do to some what deter this unwanted attention towards the victims?

As mentioned earlier, the latest attire and fashion is one topic that brings attention to kids in school. I can remember in high school; numerous kids were classified as “cool” and were always particularly well dressed with the latest releases. However, this social classification does no good especially in a school setting. Jafeth Sanchez of the University of Nevada studied the opinions and effects of student uniforms in several counties throughout Nevada. Sanchez (2013) found that “although 90 percent of the students indicated they did not like wearing uniforms, various benefits to wearing uniforms were reported, including decreases in discipline, gang involvement and bullying; and increases in safety, ease of going to school, confidence and self-esteem”. In my opinion these reported benefits far outweigh the opinions of students “not liking” uniforms.

One of my first experiences in bootcamp was being brought to the barbershop and having my hair cut. One after the other, recruits would cycle in and out of the barber chair. After a few hours, we were lined back up, but this time something was different. There was no difference… let that set in. In the matter of a few hours several hundred individuals with different hairstyles, clothes, glasses, and other accessories entered a building and left now looking similar to their peers. There was one style of glasses, one haircut, and one uniform. We were no longer individuals and instead were now a team. We would continue on with each other for the next few months, building some of the strongest friendships. At the time I dreaded every minute of it, but now I look back and see the bigger picture. In today’s world individuality and self-expression is praised, however there is a time and place for that. By implementing school uniforms, you are taking away the child’s ability to stand out through appearance, leaving them to focus on what they’re attending school for. An education.

 

Coutts, L. M., Gruman, J. A., & Schneider, F. W. (2017). Applied social psychology understanding and addressing social and practical problems(3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Sanchez, J. (2013, April 23). School uniform study: College of Education researchers conduct study on uniform impacts. Retrieved from https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2013/school-uniform-study.


02
Nov 19

Using Procrastination To Get Work Done

Procrastination is something that we all have found ourselves doing at some point.  Whether it is because we want to avoid writing an arduous 10-page paper, or we feel as if we can cram to complete the assignment in the few hours before it is due.  In any case, procrastination often does not lead to very good outcomes as the quality of work may not be as good as we hoped or we underestimated the time needed to complete it and therefore we are left scrambling at the last minute.  As we all have been told from teachers and other adults, “Don’t wait until last minute to complete your work.”  There is always the idea once a project is assigned, that we will start on it right away and complete it a few days before it is even due.  However, we let procrastination get the best of us and we are left starting and finishing a big project all in one night.  Luckily, new insight has found that we can use our mastery of procrastination and use it to our benefit (Messaye, 2019).

Being in college involves having keen task management skills as students take several classes during the course of one semester and have other responsibilities to tend to besides school.  In order to get our minds ready to start our work, we can begin by making a list.  Lists are an extremely helpful took to organize your priorities based on the amount of effort needed to complete it, or the time you have to complete it (Messaye, 2019).  In this case, making a list that includes what you will do once you get home such as make dinner, watch television, unpack your bag, and organize your work space.  Even though you are technically “procrastinating” and not doing your assignment that is due, you are putting yourself in the right mindset that will allow you to focus on completing your work on time.  Other ways that can be helpful to prepare to start your work is to do activities that ease your mind.  Meditation can be helpful as you calm your mind from the stresses of the day in order to prepare to complete your work.  Other outlets that can be helpful for some include doing the laundry or shopping online  (Messaye, 2019).  Even though this may make someone more distracted and less inclined to do their work, sometimes just scrolling through an online retailer can be therapeutic for someone who procrastinates a lot and can’t immediately jump right in to doing their work.  Other times, if you have a big assignment due the next day along with other minor homework, it may be best to get the smaller assignments done first that don’t require a lot of energy and can be done quickly.  Eventually, when you feel that you are able to concentrate fully on the bigger project, then you can start.  Your mind is now free of all other distractors, you don’t need to worry about doing other homework or having to do laundry.  You can now solely focus on the assignment and be able to complete it in a timely manner.

The one component of productive procrastination that needs to be done in order for this process to work is to make sure you have an eye on the time. Yes, it can be fun to sit on the couch and online shop before doing homework; however, if your allotted 15 minutes to shop turns into a 1- hour shopping spree, then this will not be conducive to completing your work.  There needs to be limits set on how long it will take to do something so that your mind knows that you need to be done within a certain time frame.  If you are making a list of tasks and then you want to organize your work space, you need to give yourself a certain time that this needs to be done by.  Then you can look at the clock and see how much time you have left in order to give your self ample time to complete the big assignment.

Procrastination can be a hindrance to completing tasks on time, but it can also be used to help those with a chronic procrastination problem.  By giving yourself time to clear your mind and to mentally prepare yourself to finish your work, you will be better able to focus on the task and not be distracted by anything else.  This is why productive procrastination can be helpful to those who need some direction into completing their work on time.

-Madison Laezzo

References

Messaye, B. (2019, October). How to Procrastinate Productively. Retrieved from The Daily Cardinal: https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2019/10/how-to-procrastinate-productively


01
Nov 19

Feeling Personally Attacked – A Self-Handicapping Story

“Table 16.1, Items Indicating Self-Handicapping

  1. When I do something wrong, my first impulse is to blame circumstances” (Gruman, et. al., 2017) – Nah, I don’t do that. 
  2. “I tend to put things off until the last moment” (Gruman, et. al., 2017) – If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done! Am I right or am I right? Ha! 
  3. “I suppose I feel ‘under the weather’ more often than most people do” (Gruman, et. al., 2017) – Well, I have these barometric pressure headaches that can turn into migraines if I don’t get to my medicine in time, and I always seem to have a stomach ache from chronic stress, so… Okay, what’s number 4? 
  4. “I am easily distracted by noises or my own creative thoughts when I try to read” (Gruman, et. al., 2017) –  MICKEY, QUIT LICKING YOUR PAW! Do dogs think their paws smell like Fritos, too? 
  5. “I would do a lot better if I tried harder” (Gruman, et. al., 2017) – Yea, we all would! 
  6. “I sometimes enjoy being mildly ill for a day or two because it takes off the pressure” (Gruman, et. al., 2017) – Hey now, we’re getting a little personal here. 
  7. “Sometimes I get so depressed that even easy tasks become difficult” (Gruman, et. al., 2017) – Okay, now I’m totally feeling personally attacked! I need to go lie down.

As you can see, Table 16.1 from our text was rather emotional for me. I’m over here thinking that I am living a path of self-actualization. I am great at my job, I get really good grades, I’m active in my community, I’m as social as my introverted tendencies allow, I think I’m slaying it over here but I have a deep-dark secret. I’m not. Self handicapping is when we act in a way that undermines our future performance which gives us an excuse for our failures (Gruman, et. al., 2017). Us self-handicappers like to have an excuse ahead of time for us not doing very well, and it seems that my scapegoat is illness. This is painfully ironic because my discussion this week for this class was late because of a migraine. See what I mean by feeling personally attacked? 

For me, a vast majority of my personal handicapping is related to work. While I am really great at my job, I might not have time to call back important leads. I missed out on an important board of directors position because I didn’t email the chairman quick enough after meeting her. I get opportunities to work with people but use my busy-ness of work or getting sick as an excuse to not follow up on these great breaks. There have been many times that after a long morning of meetings, I have to go lie down for a few hours. There’s a possibility that I’m being too hard on myself, I did work through pneumonia earlier this year despite my doctor’s wishes but even though I did that, I still did not get a good review for that quarter. That alone may have triggered my self-handicapping to worsen. 

Honestly, I’ve been working on a presentation that I have to give in front of 300 people next week for about 2 weeks now. How many hours have I really spent staring at the PowerPoint slides? Probably 3 hours. When will I finish my presentation? Monday. When do I present it? Tuesday. However, I will knock it out of the park. I always do. Even though I spent a lot of time in bed this past week, resting and recuperating from all of the things that need my attention, I still managed to land a very important partner that my CEO has been trying to sign-up for years. Do I get an endorphin rush when I beat all of the odds against me? 

So what would happen if I actually got over my self-handicapping habits of procrastinating, succumbing to illness, getting easily distracted, not giving my best, being mildly ill to hide from responsibility, and getting depressed from everything that I need to accomplish? Two things are going to get crossed off my list of concerns: 1. I can’t really do anything about my illnesses, 2. I have been suffering with depression my whole life so this isn’t really something I can address after some Google searching. But what can I do about the other things? 

Back in 2012, Susan David wrote “Don’t Sabotage Yourself” in the Harvard Business Review which has been quoted in almost every article I could find about overcoming self-handicapping. Her first suggestion was to know our warning signs, like taking too many breaks throughout the day, distracting ourselves with loud music or alcohol, or making up excuses. She suggested that a mentor or colleague could steer us back onto course when we go astray. Her second suggestion was to use “what-ifs” and “if-onlys” to generate goals instead of excuses, meaning to make our self-handicapping into motivation. We should think of what could have gone better or identify obstacles that are within our control so we can learn from them. She gave the example of being bad at interviews, the self-handicapper could reach out to learn interview skills and practice with a mentor. Her third suggestion is to identify and manage negative emotions. If we notice we’re being negative about ourselves, we need to be kind to ourselves and acknowledge that we’re working through these struggles. Her final suggestion is to strive for mastery, where our inherent motivation kicks in and we automatically want to learn and grow. 

I’m hoping that this realization kicks my professional life into gear. I really need to stay on task during business hours, maybe I’ll use a timer to allow myself only 15 minutes of mindless wandering whenever I need a break. I’ll start making a goal of having correspondence days where I set aside 2 hours on two days a week to return important phone calls. Since I like to spend a lot of time on projects, I think I’ll try to set due dates for projects that are at least a week prior to when they are due. That will give me plenty of time to procrastinate. I’m grateful for this personal attack, because I didn’t even realize what I was doing to my career! 

Resources:

David, S. (2014, July 23). Don’t Sabotage Yourself. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/05/dont-sabotage-yourself.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. (2017). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles ; London ; New Dehli ; Singapore ; Washington DC ; Melbourne: SAGE.


01
Nov 19

Improving Academic Self–Concept: Opening the Door to a Brighter Future

The mind is a powerful thing…I was never a good student back in high school. No, let me rephrase that—I never thought I had what it took to be a good student, so at some point I just stopped trying, and then I really became not a good student. I never had much academic success, so I developed a pretty bad academic self–concept of myself as a result. Today, I know I could have been a good student if many things had been different—namely, my attitude.
Being a “good student” isn’t simply being intelligent. Being a good student involves a mindset which includes having a positive attitude towards learning, with beliefs that learning is important, that you have the ability to do everything it will take to achieve your academic goals, and that the outcome is worth it and within your control. Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior helps explain how attitudes relate to behavior, which can predict intention, which then predicts behavior (Gruman, Schneider, and Coutts, 2017). This constant loop of a relationship can be a powerfully positive one or a powerfully destructive one.
Academic self–concept has been shown to be strongly correlated with academic success, and is influenced by many factors. Complicating this whole process are many intervening variables as well, which can either work for or against someone’s academic self–concept. Subjective norms can be powerful influences on beliefs, intentions, behavior, and motivation—what others think can matter a great deal. Often, we meet the level of success that others around us expect of us, and a supportive environment can work wonders for behavioral change. Additionally, intention and motivation can be diminished if one perceives that they have a low level of behavioral control over the outcome—in this way, self–fulfilling prophecies about one’s own abilities to achieve success take root.
The process of achieving a positive academic self–concept includes not only attitudes, perceptions, motivation, and behavior, it also includes good experiences that will reinforce one’s evolving overall perceptions, intentions, and behavior. Negative experiences, resulting from actions such as repeatedly failing classes due to one’s behavior, such as cutting school or not studying, can have a strong negative impact on one’s academic self–concept. On the other hand, the skill development affect explains how positive experiences, such as receiving positive feedback from professors or getting a good grade on a midterm you studied hard for, can motivate us even more to continue this positive trajectory of our lives (Gruman et al., 2017, p. 224).
There are great rewards to positive behavioral changes. A positive academic self–concept can come anytime in life, people have it within their grasp to turn it around. For me, it has been developed and positively reinforced over the last four years at Penn State’s World Campus. Every new theory I learned or good grade I got after working hard on a paper was a building block for an improved academic self–concept. In addition, knowing that other students have the same motivation to perform well academically, despite many challenges, and receiving positive support from teachers and administrators, contributes to high positive outcome expectations (e.g. completing a difficult task, graduating) which then predict academic attitudes and academic performance (Gruman et al., 2017). I believe change can happen as soon as you open your mind to change, but it’s not that easy—as Ajzen’s theory explains, it takes a lot of planning as well.

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2017). Applied Social Psychology:
Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. ISBN 9781483369730


01
Nov 19

Who Cares What Gender Your Baby Is?

As I logon to my social media accounts, I’m constantly overcome with new posts of classmates that are now pregnant and ready to share their happiness with the world. While all of this is great and heartwarming, there is one part of it that is extremely unnecessary and very much overdone by cis-gendered heterosexuals. Gender reveals. The time that we all dedicate some sort of elaborate display to showcase and announce the gender of the baby that the happy couple is expecting. The time that we use to show that pink bows clearly indicate a girl and blue trucks must mean that it’s a boy. From binary colored confetti to gender themed cakes and banners. All of these “celebrations” end up promoting an overall gender stereotype that starts even before the child is born.

Why is the gender of a child so important? Most will argue that it’s important so that you know what pronouns to use when referring to the child but we clearly forget the use of the pronoun “they” to describe a singular person when their gender is unknown. If your friends ask you where the pizza delivery person is, you might say “Where are they?”, so why can’t we use the same concept when it comes to babies? Assuming the gender of your child is pushing a specific gender binary on to your child that they might not immediately identify with until they are able to complete their own self-exploration. As children grow, they may only sway towards masculine activities if they are told that they are boys rather than girls (Blunt, 2019). Reinforcing such outdated gender stereotypes can come as easily as through activities such as gender reveals because they immediately set a standard for who is a boy versus a girl and this information is then unintentionally translated into the child through continuous efforts like, “Mommy’s little man” onesies.

Moral of the story, instead of focusing on gender reveal parties, normalize non-binary pronouns and genderless clothing. As children develop, being confined in their gender creates boundaries that might do more harm than good. Just say, “It’s a human!”, and call it a day.

 

Reference:

Blunt, R. (2019, October 30). The dangers – physical and psychological – of gender reveal parties. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50207452.


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