26
Apr 20

Unethical Activism

              Unethical Activism

Written By: Judy Laut

              Several economists have alluded that saving lives is not as important as saving the economy. One of those economists, Sean Snaith, has stated “…there are eight billion people in the world, so the number of deaths from the [Corona] virus, as bad as it has been, does not justify devastating the economy…” (Hacket, 2020) Interestingly enough, the economist making these ethically-debatable claims has also stated that there needs to be a cost-benefit analysis to support his accusations (which hasn’t been done yet). Why would Sean Snaith, Ph.D., the director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Forecasting and a nationally recognized economist in the field of business and economic forecasting, be willing to make such claims without taking the necessary steps to support his theory? Perhaps Dr. Snaith is counting his chickens before they hatch, so to say. He is pushing for social change based on his beliefs without having all of the information that he himself describes as necessary. I think it’s a fair assessment that Dr. Snaith as well as those economists that share his beliefs and have come to similar conclusions are participating in activist research, at least certain aspects of it.

“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.” (Nelson) Dr. Snaith has already shown that he has a bias towards believing that lost lives do not justify the devastation of the economy. This bias is evident as Dr. Snaith has already publicly announced his findings and beliefs without completing his research. Snaith is directly contradicting the findings of health experts who say that “reopening commerce too soon could lead to a resurgence in cases.” (Hacket, 2020) The biases between the health experts and economists can be seen in their contradicting research findings and beliefs on how society should proceed. The health experts are concerned about health and the economists are concerned about the economy and the research from both groups support their corresponding values and biases towards certain outcomes. The contradicting research findings raises major ethical concerns specifically when those findings are publicized without completing all research and have the potential of contributing to the loss of life.

It may not have directly been Dr. Snaith who contributed to the many protests that have been seen, specifically in Madison, Wisconsin, but there is no doubt that his value set and the value set of economists with similar findings have most definitely contributed. Thousands of people protested and rallied the shelter in place order, all in close proximity and all without face masks. The protesters held similar beliefs as Snaith and wielded “… signs that said “All Workers Are Essential” and “Death … is preferable to communism.”( Beck & Glauber, 2020) Ironically, “The same day as the protest, Wisconsin saw its highest daily increase in confirmed positive cases of the virus – 304.” (Beck & Glauber, 2020)

I find Dr. Snaith’s actions deplorable and completely unethical regardless of his findings. At no point should the loss of life be deemed less important than a declining economy. I think that scientists, health experts, economists, psychologists, and researchers in all areas owe it to society and their field of study to not only complete all necessary steps to confirm or deny their hypothesis when conducting research but to also refrain from publicly publishing their findings that are not peer-reviewed and that may contribute to the loss of life and the spread of an uncontrollable, untreatable virus.

 

 

References

Beck, M., & Glauber, B. (2020, April 24). Thousands gather at Wisconsin state

Capitol to protest coronavirus restrictions. Retrieved April 26, 2020, from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/24/coronavirus-

wisconsin-protest-draws-thousands-state-capitol/3023629001/

Hackett, D. (2020, April 24). Is an Economic Shutdown Worse Than COVID-19?

A State Economist Weighs In. Retrieved April 26, 2020, from

https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/coronavirus/2020/04/opening-up-the-

economy

Nelson, A. (N.D.) Lesson 13: Social Change/ Participatory Research – Lesson

Overview [Notes]. Retrieved from

https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2040175/modules/items/28379818


20
Apr 20

Online learning is a lot harder than you think.

“How hard could going to school online really be?”

That is a question I am asked more times than I can count. It is a lot harder than a lot of people think. In some of my classes, there is hardly any material posted by the instructor; it was just “read this chapter in your textbook and take this quiz” It was almost as if I was trying to teach myself everything that I needed to know.

For me, math is my weakness, so taking a math class all online seemed like a death sentence for me. Being a psychology major, we have to take a statistic class, I was TERRIFIED! There was no way I was going to pass. When I got to Stat 200, I would spend hours with a tutor; I would meet with my professor through zoom, email, and phone communication. It was a lot harder than when I took a math class in high school and just had to raise my hand to get help.

Online learning, you don’t get that personal communication between your teacher and your peers. You are left physically alone, but virtually you have everything you need at your fingers tips. Sometimes you just need to look for it. If I were to answer the “how hard could it be?” question accurately, I would have to say, “It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do!”


20
Apr 20

New age learning

New-age learning is something I never thought I would be involved with. When I first attended college everything was done at a brick and mortar with face to face interaction with our professors. I had one professor who had a favorite student and they seemed to always be nicer to them, willing to answer the questions they would ask. The third-grade teacher we learned about who wanted to teach her class how stereotyping was interesting. It reminded me of a lesson Mr. Smith (name changed) did in high school. He was my high school history teacher and we were learning about World War II.

In this lesson, he had everyone who had brown hair and brown eyes stand up and move to the back of the classroom. Anyone who had any hair color other than blond hair and blue eyes was told to also join those in the back of the classroom. After he had us separated he told those of us left sitting to look around the room. My natural hair color is blond and I have blue eyes. There was me and two other people left sitting. He told us we would have been the only ones to survive if Hitler were to still be alive. This may seem extreme and probably not something you would expect to learn about in high school but it helped drive home the point of discrimination.

It was a lesson that still sticks with me 14 years later. I will never forget him or that lesson, I will never forget that simply because someone looks different than me they are discriminated against. I think that was a defining moment for me, even if I didn’t know it back then. As an adult, I speak out against discrimination, I teach my kids that you treat everyone the same regardless of what they look like, who they love, or what gender they are.

 


20
Apr 20

Coping and Pain

My mother once told me that she is a passive-aggressive type of person, explaining that she seems to bottle everything up inside until those emotions burst from inside, usually at the person causing the distress. My father seems to be the same way, wearing a smile on his face as issues become more frequent and complex until the only response left is a frown. My brother, I think, tries to keep his negativity in check around his friends until he can find someone to vent his frustrations to. Even I seem to have inherited the same habit, where I worry about school, work, home, family, the present, the future, and everything in between. Plans unravel, situations become more dire, and all one can do is smile and press on as things grow more out of control. When searching for inspiration for this blog post, though, I started to realize that maybe, similar to learning more about pessimism, this form of coping with negativity might not be the healthiest to enact.

Though I couldn’t find information related to it in the book or modules for this course, an article by Ana Masedo and M. Rosa Esteve a concept called “Wegner’s Theory of Ironic Processes”, and how theory has been used to study pain tolerance. Masedo and Esteve mention how “Research suggests that suppression contributes to a more distressing pain experience”, and their experiment seemed to involve putting groups representing the variables of repression, acceptance, and spontaneous coping, and exposing them to “a cold presser procedure.” The results of Masedo and Esteve’s experiment, then, indicate that “The acceptance group showed pain and distress immersion ratings that were significantly lower than in the other two groups”.

Another study focused on suppression and acceptance was conducted by Laura Campbell-Sills, David Barlow, Timothy Brown, and Stefan Hofmann. In their study, participants with anxiety and mood disorders were assigned to two groups where they seemed to learn either emotion suppression or emotion acceptance before proceeding to watch an emotional movie. From this study and their measurements, Campbell-Sills et al. found that “Although both groups reported similar levels of subjective distress during the film, the acceptance group displayed less negative affect during the post-film recovery period. Furthermore, the suppression group showed increased heart rate, and the acceptance group decreased heart rate in response to the film.” While Masedo and Esteve showed how acceptance can affect ones reaction to physical pain, Campbell-Sills et al. seem to demonstrate how it can also have an effect on emotional distress, as well.

Though these articles’ abstracts don’t really provide much explanation about acceptance and suppression and how these concepts could relate to pain, their results make me wonder how that data can relate to the way my family seems to handle stress. If repression of our negative emotions isn’t effective in eliminating physical and emotional pain experienced momentarily in an experiment, then how effective is it to really cope like this in a more realistic environment? How many people engage in repression, possibly without even realizing it, when there could be other ways to handle whatever pain they feel?

 

References:

Campbell-Sills, L., Barlow, D. H., Brown, T. A., & Hofmann, S. G. (2005, November 21). Effects of suppression and acceptance on emotional responses of individuals with anxiety and mood disorders. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005796705002068

Masedo, A. I., & Esteve, M. R. (2006, March 29). Effects of suppression, acceptance and spontaneous coping on pain tolerance, pain intensity and distress. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005796706000489


18
Apr 20

Pay attention to your loved one- SUICIDE might be closer than you think!

Suicide prevention line

I personally have been impacted by this in my own family.  My daughter became deeply depressed in the summer of 2018.  She was just turned 26, a bubbly young adult with a heart of gold.  She loved dancing, animals, had a joyous adventurous vibe wanting to experience the world as she saw it.  She had loved the arts and New York.  She had a love of writing poetry and reading.

She seemed to deteriorate and change in her behaviors, which started with her mood swings, and her patterns and actions.  She seemed very snippy and started to lose interest in her favorite things.  I even seen a mean side to her. Now, I had experience dealing with mental health professionals with her diagnoses, but this was different.  I tried to address the concerns I was noticing, but it was worse.  She even began rejecting my grandson, her nephew who she loved dearly since his birth in December 2017.  She lost concern and started tearing up her poetry, throwing out her books she treasured, and videos and keepsakes she cherished.  She was refusing a lot.  I did my own outreach attempt, which helped but barely, and ended up going to her medication appointment.

It was a blessing that she was receptive to the new psychologist who was kind, and very thorough as she usually doesn’t like opening up.  That was a blessing.  He recommended some things like a day program but she rejected that and at that time, she didn’t get hospitalized but was being watched by me, etc.

She had to work through finding out what the issues were and come to find out, one of her medicines she had been on can create these issues later on. That was one problem.  She later agreed to talking to a therapist and made strides there and stopped again in 2019 after making progress.

That was the scariest time for me.  I had tools, but it almost wasn’t enough how bad it was.  So just wanted to share in case anyone may need and to call the prevention line, and take your friend/loved one to crisis in your area if possible.  Save a life! It can happen to the best of us, unexpectedly, or by other means that may have ignited it.

This song is an example of how my daughter felt.  Please pay attention and do all you can.  My daughter actually heard me playing this as I posted this and said that is exactly a song from that time and how she felt.  She clearly remembers and said, “You remember mom.”  Sobering.

“More Americans teens and young adults appear to be struggling with mental health issues.”  (CBSNEWS)

Retrieved from CBSNEWS:  Health experts also recommend that everyone also familiarize themselves with the warning signs of suicide, which may include:

  • A person thinking about or threatening suicide or seeking a way to kill themselves
  • Increased substance abuse
  • Feelings of purposelessness, anxiety, being trapped, or hopeless
  • Social isolation and withdrawing from people and activities
  • Expressing unusual anger, recklessness, or mood change

“If you believe a loved is at risk of suicide, do not leave him or her alone. Try to get the person to seek help from a doctor or the nearest hospital emergency department or dial 911. It’s important to remove access to firearms, medications, or any other potential tools they might use to harm themselves.” (CBSNEWS)

“For immediate help if you are in a crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All calls are confidential.”  (CBSNEWS)

Find your local crisis invention number and keep it available.  Pay attention to all of the signs.

References:

CBSNEWS.  Welch, Ashley.  “Depression, anxiety, suicide increase in teens and young adults, study finds.”  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-depression-anxiety-mental-health-issues-increase-teens-young-adults/.

YouTube. Vevo.  Logic.  “1-800-273-8255 ft. Alessia Cara, Khalid”  Aug. 17, 2017.  Accessed April 18, 2020.


18
Apr 20

Restorative Justice

I think the prison system should be massively reformed. As it stands, our system is punitive, as it focuses on punishment, rather than fixing the problems. A lot of offenders can be helped, if given the right tools to succeed. There are a few possible models that can be used that are not based on punishment, but on helping. These sorts of systems lead to lower rates of recidivism.

Restorative justice was a model that was created around the concepts of offender victim reconciliation and rehabilitation (Palermo 2013). This is a concept that is used in more than 80 countries across the world (Palermo 2013). It doesn’t mean that people aren’t held accountable for their actions, as they definitely are; rather the focus is on healing and reconciling with victims, if possible (Palermo 2013). During this process, offenders will be rehabilitated and supported, to lower recidivism (Palermo 2013). Ideally, this model is designed to humanize criminal justice from the original punitive system (Palermo 2013).

This model of criminal justice is particularly useful for juveniles, as current models are not known to lower recidivism (Palermo 2013). Restorative justice is much more humane and has been shown to help children more than current systems (Palermo 2013). There is a lot of analysis still being done on how well this system works with children (Palermo 2013).

The criminal justice system is too focused on punishment and not enough on rehabilitation. It’s even worse for juveniles because they have so many opportunities to work on things and become better as adults. It is extremely hard to help criminals when punishment is the focus. Restorative justice is a model that holds offenders accountable, but also works on getting through the issues, restitution, assuaging feelings of guilt and resolving issues with victims. This system doesn’t focus much on punishment, as that’s not the goal.

Reference

Palermo, G. (2013). Restorative justice: A more understanding and humane approach to offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. 57(9) 1051-53. DOI:10.1177/0306624X13495009


17
Apr 20

The power of an idea put to action

Participatory Action Research (PAR) was described by Hall in 1981 as a process of research, education and action. Researchers and participants take on an active role in addressing issues that affect themselves, their families, and their communities (Brydon-Miller, 1997). When officially carrying out a PAR progression, Maguire relates his model to earlier work by Fernandes and Tandon, adapting a model that begins with an established relationship built off mutual trust and commitment held by all members. Process participation relies strongly on responsibility for the design of the research, data collection, data analysis and the development and implementation of the change (Brydon-Miller, 1997).
The institute of Development Studies provides an excellent website explaining participatory research with colorful tabs indicating how to get started. The tabs include: plan, monitor and evaluate, learn and empower, research and analyses, communicate, facilitate and methods and ideas. The site’s moto provides a positive status: “people working together around the world to generate ideas and action for social change (PRC/IDS website).” I like how the site not only explains steps in participatory research but welcomes ideas and input for future pages. The site provides real examples for action research including Accountable Aid, Facilitating workshops, Community Art projects, Poverty Assessment and many others. I think this website provides a perfect example for interested future members or for anyone discovering information on established participatory research.
When reviewing the participatory methods website, I decided to click on an established action plan to get a better idea of the process. I chose the first plan, accountable aid. This plan indicates, a need for accountability of aid for citizens for various reasons, such as natural disasters, violent conflicts, or corruption. This action plan helps to narrow gaps working alongside or separate from the government. These types of programs are subject to monitoring, evaluation, impact assessment and reporting in order to carry out the intended goal for aid (PRC/IDS website). This action plan appears to carry out the several methods of progression for action, especially indicating responsibility and reassurance for those receiving aid to use it for its intended purposes. I believe this type of action plan is similar to what we recently received in the United States with the stimulus, due to the effect of covid19. These types of actions plans are essential to help the country move forward in difficult times.
In conclusion, I feel Participatory Action Research is beneficial for advancement and growth in community and society. I can understand how action plans can also be challenging do to commitment and development over time. I believe participants in participatory action research would acquire a great sense of achievement if an idea became an established change for the better of the community. Hard work, dedication and determination for moving forward and created good is a noble feature of PAR, that I believe takes a special group of individuals to carry out its intended purpose.

Brydon-Miller, Mary. Participatory Action Research: Psychology and Social Change. Journal of Social Issues. 53(4). Winter 1997. pp. 657-666.
Institution of Development Studies and Participation, Inclusion and Social change. https://www.participatorymethods.org/


16
Apr 20

Increasing Educational Satisfaction at a Thai Buddhist Scripture School

For this week’s blog post, I chose to read more about a learning school created in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand based on Participatory Action Research (PAR). For a brief refresher, PAR helps psychologists and social scientists use their skillset in order to support positive social change with underserved communities/groups. PAR is different than traditional methods of research because “The success of any PAR project depends on the depth of mutual trust and commitment held by all participants” (Brydon-Miller, 1997). The author frames the issue of students in Thailand being challenged due to “soaring social mobilization” causing challenges for education worldwide – particularly how Thailand needs to implement better economics, politics, technology, and education in order to create a quality population for the future. Buddhist scripture schools across Thailand have been known for having problems with quality and even failing nationwide educational standards – the school for this study is Wat Srichan, a Buddhist scripture school. The authors of the article state that PAR is a great process for helping create a better learning environment because both the research participants and the researchers are able to be engaged in the development processes.

While reading more about the objectives of this research and other educational settings where O*Net scores were utilized for a benchmark, I was surprised that the authors cited two online learning organizations. I would think that a traditional, in-person classroom would be significantly different to design and implement a proposal than an online/e-learning classroom. Although I may be a bit nitpicky on the prior point, I appreciate how the authors stated their Ten Moral Codes for framing the research – some of which included: 

  • Enabling equal accessibility to research approach among the participants
  • Enabling full participation from the research informants
  • Making results available to the public
  • If a participant declined to participate, their decision is respected

The researchers were able to have two phases of gathering data – once per semester – based on an existing framework. This included an in-depth individual interview, focus group interviews, observations, and examination of records. All of which are qualitative data.

The researchers had enabled the ~30 participants to be able to take part in discussions around finding solutions for classroom problems and then present their solutions in front of their entire class. To the researchers’ surprise, teachers were far more open to welcoming new teaching techniques in order to help 21st-century learners grasp concepts. Prior to allowing for more open, free-flowing dialogue between students & teachers, the educational evaluation list that the researchers utilized had all scored well below their speculated 3.50 average. The learning environment was 3.07, teachers were 3.04, and students were 3.03. After PAR was completed, the respective scores were 4.13, 4.10, and 4.45. By involving all stakeholders in the educational system at the Wat Srichan school with PAR, there have been tremendous gains in these metrics.

In conclusion, I appreciated the PAR approach that the researchers had undertaken. I would have been a bit happier if the researchers were students of a Buddhist scripture university as well – instead of being from a traditional Thai University. However, I would think there is very minimal overlap between PhD students studying applied social psychology with participatory action research at a small Buddhist scripture school in the middle of Thailand. 

References – 

Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory Action Research: Psychology and Social Change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 657–666.

Chanthago, P. J., Phrakrudhammapissamai, & Jantaragaroon, C. (2020). Development of a Learning School in Wat Srichan School, Khon Kaen Province: A Participatory Action Research. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(1), 11–21.


16
Apr 20

The Importance of Self-Reflection in PAR

When discussing the use of Participatory Action Research (PAR) to enact positive change within disadvantaged groups, some individuals can be skeptical due to the potential bias arising from the integration of researchers into the society being studied. The inclusion of a community integration aspect within these research ventures can also be a useful tool however, increasing the external validity of research studies being performed due to their direct testing within the community itself. To counteract some of the potential biases arising from these situations, researchers will often discuss their own involvements and backgrounds regarding the project, in an attempt to clarify and dispel potential underlying biases that may affect the integrity of the data (Brydon-Miller, 1997). With these caveats in mind, is PAR still an effective form of discovering effective social intervention techniques? To help answer this question, we will look at a well-written example of PAR, and how it handles both self-reflection and community-aid.

In research conducted by Michael Frank, he placed himself into a Latinx community of parents and studied their levels of involvement at their children’s schools. Within this community, alongside seeking to create an intervention for the community, he analyzed the ways in which priveleged individuals can more effectively connect to and aid these underpriveleged individuals within their work. To some, the image of researchers who create interventions for underpriveleged people involves priveleged white academics poorly integrating themselves into societies comprised of disenfranchised people of color and potentially causing more problems than they solve. This self-reflective work seeks to counteract some of the negative effects encountered by these researchers in the past regarding helping communities they were not originally a part of (Frank, 2018).

The importance of this paper lies not only in its direct impact on the causes it wishes to support, but also in the display of proper self-reflection techniques needed by PAR-related researchers. Michael Frank attempts to outline the important aspects of a good PAR throughout his paper (similar to the basic tenets provided by Budd Hall), modeling proper behavior as a priveleged person working with communities that have traditionally been exploited or oppressed. The unique skills and knowledge he can bring from academia to these communities is mentioned, however the inclusion of the importance of educating himself on these issues is prominent. These genuine efforts towards learning how his own identities (racial or otherwise) can negatively interact with the societies he is researching begins to bridge the gap between detached research and the effectiveness of activism. He also includes his experiences with intraracist activities occurring as well, with people of color stereotyping themselves based upon race and ethnicity as well. This is in line with the understanding that the specific concerns of the community should be addressed, as well as a focus on creating positive social change, due to his focus on mitigating any personal negative effects (Brydon-Miller, 1997).

Although focused on the problematic influences of individuals like himself, Frank simultaneously uses this research to enhance the voices of those within the study. To do this, research questions pertained to the issues that participants faced at school, and were created by Latinx researchers. With a hands-off approach that amplified the voices of its participants, Frank was free to analyze the issues potentially harming those he was attempting to help, particularly essentialist assumptions. He would methodically address any instances where it arrived, coming up with possible conclusions about where these problematic behaviors may have originated. Additionally, his conclusions included sections regarding his own influences regarding the conclusions of the study (Frank, 2018). Although the inclusion of the researcher themselves can sometimes be frowned upon in scientific research, the self-recognition present in PAR is beginning to show how restrictive these views can be. Through greater analysis of both community aid and the researcher themselves in PAR, individuals can come to not only recognize the communities they wish to help, but also to better mitigate any negative behaviors they are engaging in, while detached researchers may never come across these opportunities.

References

Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory Action Research: Psychology and Social Change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4). 657-666.

Frank, M. J. (2018). Resisting essentialism in cultural research: A participatory action research study of parent involvement in education among spanish-speaking students and families (Order No. AAI10839744). Available from APA PsycInfo®. (2118094865; 2018-48572-232). Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2118094865?accountid=13158


16
Apr 20

Misleading Media

In times today there are many different ways to get important information; one of those ways is through the media. The media has continuously proven to be partially, if not fully, biased at times to meet their specific agenda. The media outlet has done activism research, are fully vested in the outcome and results and skewed that information to portray the message they want to get across to their viewers.

This is specifically happening right now and causing harm in China revolving information with the Coronavirus. The media is conducting researched based on information they want to see the outcome of and is only sharing the results that benefit certain people and their organizations. Although the media is responsible and used for providing the public with timely news coverage the bias that the media is sharing is also harmful to the public.

An example the article used below is media outlets discussing information about Covid-19 before any official information had been released. This including harmful, inaccurate and discriminating information in the titles of articles that although, were not untrue, were misleading to the public in a harmful way. The media has a great deal of responsibility and is the primary source of information for many people and if used incorrectly to push an agenda a certain media outlet has can lead to negative consequences.

Activism research is particularly valuable to those looking to find information to support a specific agenda or outcome. With the information not being incorrect, but only showing results supporting a certain conclusion, the media is able to get away with showing information that may be biased and harmful to the other conclusions that it is not representing.

Jun Wen, Joshua Aston, Xinyi Liu & Tianyu Ying (2020) Effects of misleading media coverage on public health crisis: a case of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in China, Anatolia, DOI: 10.1080/13032917.2020.1730621


13
Apr 20

Birds of a Feather Flock Together and Opposites Attract….At least in My Marriage.

                                       Birds of a Feather Flock Together and Opposites Attract                                                       …At least in My Marriage

Written By: Judy Laut

 

My husband and I are that annoying couple that got together in high school and never looked back. This November will be 15 years that we’ve been together…. which is pretty crazy to think about, I’m 30… I’ve been with this man half of my life. We’ve grown up together and I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it. That being said we are so, so different, like fundamentally different…. but somehow we’re the same.

My husband and I “flock together” and are the same in our belief that it’s important to accept and appreciate that everyone has a difference of thought even if we don’t agree with it. I can’t imagine spending my life with someone that agreed with me about everything all the time; conversations would be yawn-inducing, I can’t imagine the monotony of going through life like that.

Even though my husband and I agree on that, we couldn’t be more different in so many other ways. One might say that our relationship has been so successful because “opposites attract” or maybe it’s because we’re equally intrigued by our differences. I’m religious, in the sense that I don’t believe that a gazillion coincidences took place in order for the earth to form. I believe whole-heartedly that a greater power played a part… if you want to call that greater power God or you think that we are just living in a simulation and the greater power is the programmer… I don’t care, either way, I believe it exists. My husband on the other hand describes himself as an atheist. He believes that the earth was completely formed by chance and eats up anything that Neil Degrasse Tyson or Matt Dillahunty can through his way (I can’t stand Matt Dillahunty by the way, his arguments and demeanor literally make me cringe). I believe in solipsism, my husband believes in realism. I’m not convinced that I’m not just a brain in a vat yet my husband “knows” that he is not. He’s an introvert, I’m an extrovert. He loves working out, I hate it. I’m close with my family, he’s not.

On so many fundamental levels we are complete opposites – our beliefs, our interests, our faith, our families, our personalities. But still, we love each other. We balance each other out. And I love all of our debates over life, religion, morality, and everything else. Our differences in thought have kept our relationship and conversations interesting. Even though we are so different, familiarity may have brought and kept us together. Growing up my husband was friends with my older brother, so he was always hanging out at my house, at the same parties, and they were in a band together so anytime I would go to see one of my brother’s shows, my husband was there. “… mere exposure increases another’s familiarity , a quality most people find reassuring and pleasant. Familiar faces are comforting; familiar people seem predictable, even after only superficial contact.” (Gruman, 2016)

We may be an oxymoron or an exception to the rule, but in my marriage “Birds of a feather flock together” and “opposites attract” simultaneously ring-true.

 

 

 

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

 

 


12
Apr 20

A Search into How Pessimism could Negatively Affect Physical Health

Ever since I was a child, it seemed like I was a pessimist. Positive events in my life felt like they were random and unpredictable, while negative events were usually more reliable to occur and always something I was unable to stop. Though the words “pessimism” and “optimism” were tossed around a bit at home and at school, it wasn’t until I was taking psychology courses in college that I truly understood what it meant to be more inclined to these explanatory styles. I especially had a negative perspective on my health, believing that I was probably destined to eventually go through some health problem in my life because they seem to be so prevalent in my family tree. However, learning about pessimism through both this course and through the research in this blog, I have come to realize that this mindset might not be the healthiest, and this made me wonder if this explanatory style of change was doing more harm in this area of my life than I initially gave it credit for. The discussion on pessimism in this course, as well as others that I have taken this semester, piques my curiosity as to how optimism and pessimism can have an effect of health. Though the book briefly mentions some of the effects that optimism can have on health, my interest in how pessimism can affect health only grew. I wanted to know more about how pessimism could affect my health.

The first source of information that I found was an abstract for a study conducted by Emily Lin and Christopher Peterson. This study involved how an optimistic or pessimistic explanation for illness could correlate with the subjects’ health, and seemed to find that those who thought pessimistically about their illness became sick more often. However, Lin and Peterson also state that “When ill, the pessimistic subjects were less likely than their optimistic counterparts to take active steps to combat their illness.” I think this result from the study makes sense, as there have been members of my family that, due to seeing negative aspects of their life as a constant, unstoppable force, were less motivated to act against it. If they saw illness as an inevitable part of life, then they might not use much effort to combat or prevent further illness.

The next source that I found does not mention a specific type of illness, but seems to indicate that pessimism does have an effect on health. This research, conducted by Benita Jackson, Robert Sellers, and Christopher Peterson, seems to hypothesize that “stress coupled with a pessimistic explanatory style leads to negative outcomes, including physical illness, among at-risk individuals.” Though not much more detail about the results of their study, only further including that it was a longitudinal study on college students to see how a pessimistic explanatory style and stress can predict illness, Jackson et al.’s study did conclude that “results confirmed this hypothesis.” This seems to indicate that pessimism, coupled with stress, can lead to illness, though the reason as to why this connection exists isn’t as clear as the study conducted by Lin and Peterson. However, considering the results of the first study I discussed, I can assume that, possibly, the perception of stressors as constant and beyond one’s power to change can lead to results of illness seen in Lin and Peterson’s study.

Seeing these articles, I realized how a pessimistic mindset could be harmful to my health. I know I am still quite young, but my mind also has been filled with anxiety over the knowledge of my family’s history with cancer and heart problems. I used to think that a decline in my health like what has happened to my relatives before me was inevitable, and that there was nothing I could really do to prevent it. However, these studies showed me that this way of thinking can be harmful as it deprives me of my motivation to improve my health.

 

References:

Jackson, B., Sellers, R. M., & Peterson, C. (2001, December 20). Pessimistic explanatory style moderates the effect of stress on physical illness. Retrieved April 12, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886901000617

Lin, E. H., & Peterson, C. (2002, May 24). Pessimistic explanatory style and response to illness. Retrieved April 12, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0005796790900076


11
Apr 20

Bullying

Bullying rears it’s ugly head in many circumstances. The workplace, in school, online, pretty much anywhere where people are gathered in some type of collective setting. It affects many and often has it’s reasons deeply rooted in pain, guilt, fear, and sadness.

Cyberbullying has become a bit more prevalent because of social media and SNS. People are finding easier ways to bully others online or through various platforms. This ease however is being made more difficult in places like South Korea – one of the top securest IT infrastructure countries in the world. In order to register for a website, social media, online forum, etc, they’re considering a system where users would have to submit their real name and input their National ID. The reason behind this is largely due to the increasing suicide rate of celebrities, popular figures and teenagers as an unfortunate result of cyberbullying. This problem is also evident as an increasing issue in the US as well. Espcially now with the coronoavirus keeping people in their homes and many people (mainly kids) on the inter-webs.

There was a case where a guy found out who his bully was by tracking the IP address and doing a little investigative work only to realize it was his friend or “friend”. After he confronted her, he asked her why. She essentially said it was because of jealousy more that hate and she was quite apologetic for her actions (Marcus, 2020).

Its seems many times that bullying is the occurrence of the the aggressor (the bully) being self-absorbed, insecure, and having low self-esteem. The victim is often ostracized and made to feel these same feelings because of the bully’s projection of their own issues onto them. Often times, the issues the bully has roots back to their rearing as a child. If they were not given enough attention from their parents, they would typically look for other ways to gain attention. Unfortunately, its usually negative attention because that may have been the only thing that worked in the past.

Most times, just saying “stop” or “that’s hurtful” isn’t enough because the aggressor doesn’t care. There are more alternative ways that different organizations are working to prevent this type of behavior and calling on parents to monitor their kids to make sure they’re not the victim, bully or witness. In an increasingly technological world, what is the best way to tackle this issue?

 

Reference

Marcus, D. (2020, March 1). I was cyberbullied-and I fought back. Retrieved April 11,      2020, from https://www.dailydot.com/irl/i-found-my-cyberbully-and-fought-back/


10
Apr 20

Do Looks Matter in a Relationship?

People would like to believe that they are not shallow and that “personality” is the most important part in a relationship and looks are just a plus. Of course, personality is important when looking for a significant other, and the compatibility has to be there in order to feel the connection. As much as we don’t want to admit it, all of us have some shallowness in us that causes us to view looks as an important quality when choosing a mate.

Physical Attractiveness does matter and attractive people are pleasing to look at, but looks go beyond just finding a person attractive. There are other things looks are associated with such as good looks representing good things about a person (Gruman et al, 2017). Is this true? That is debatable because there are plenty of people who are good looking in this world who have the worst personalities, but people may automatically think that if a person looks good than they must have good qualities. People are attractive to looks for other reasons than just the physical appearance.

Looks can identify with Sexual Attraction as well. Looks are not based off of sexual attraction solely, but that is where it begins, and finding someone physical attractive is not the only reason they are eventually attracted to them sexually, but initial attraction based on their appearance is evident (Smith, 2018). Clearly, most relationships start out by face-to-face relationships or online relationships where you see a person first in person or a picture on the computer before you get to know them. Therefore, it may be safe to say that all relationships start out based on looks.

Another way to look at looks is that physical attractiveness serves as a gateway to something more important. Physical attractiveness could serve as a gatekeeper that directs people towards partners who are healthy, age appropriate, and able to reproduce (Fugere, 2017). Again, it leads us to believe that the first thing that is noticed is physical attractiveness, but not just for the look portion in a mate, but underlying characteristics that could be important for a productive overall relationship. Research indicates that when people make real-life dating and mating decisions, physical appearance dominates and relationships that are pursued the most are with those who are attractive (Fugere, 2017).

Although at times on the other end of the spectrum, sometimes looks do not matter to people, including ourselves as much as we may think it does. It is possible that we are not always consciously aware the importance of physical attractiveness, but it could be that people do not necessarily want partners who are extremely attractive, just attractive enough (Fugere, 2017). The sad reality is that this statement may be true. Not everyone in the world is going to be 100% physically fit or drop dead gorgeous. Majority of the world is average and we may look at someone and think they have good looks, but as we get to know their personality and their characteristics as a person, it may boost up their looks tremendously. What is considered to be moderately attractive varies from person to person (Fugere, 2017). Not everyone has the same taste in significant others. That is what makes us all unique and different.

Overall, all the evidence leads to looks being a major factor or at least a contributing factor in a relationship. We want to feel that attraction to the person we are in a relationship with and that usually starts with that first glimpse at that picture on a dating website or first look at the bar when you notice them from a distance. It is important to remember that other personality factors do play an important role in relationships, but those are the building blocks to a relationship, not the initial beginning that starts with a look.

 

References

Fugère, M. A. (2017, January 5). Why Physical Attraction Matters, and When It Might Not. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dating-and-mating/201701/why-physical-attraction-matters-and-when-it-might-not

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

 

Smith, K. (2018, December 8). 4 Reasons Why Appearance Matters in Relationships. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/4-reasons-why-appearance-matters-in-relationships/


10
Apr 20

Hang in there, we’ve got this!

Positive Vibes, Positive Mind, Positive Life!

Do you ever consider yourself a positive thinker, or do you think you find difficulty doing so sometimes? The textbook talks about how optimists are considered as people who “look forward to the future” and they “believe that good things are very likely to happen” (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016). Positive thinking is important to have and is a good thing to implement into our lives. Positive thinking can pave the way for a more positive lifestyle. Due to this, I have tried to make one of my life’s mantras: “Positive Vibes, Positive Mind, Positive Life”. It’s not always easy though. We all have our bad days. There are individuals though that “doubt their chances of attaining desirable goals” and so they hold back on effort, and they’re known as pessimists (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016).

More than ever, this point in time, during quarantine, has taken a toll on an individuals optimistic/positive thinking. I know it has for me personally. It’s difficult to think positively when the world around you are on lockdown and there’s so much uncertainty as to when things will go back to the way it was right now. Our loved ones/people we know are either sick, many are dying, they’re essential workers who are at further risk, or they’re in the medical field selflessly working in the frontlines while trying to save lives as they potentially risk their own health. I’ve seen the pictures and videos of freezer trucks with bodies of the deceased being piled on top of each other to be taken away to either be burned or buried. A family friend that works in a hospital in New York shared what he had been witnessing and it was heartbreaking to hear how many people were dying left and right, with a lot of them not having next of kin or their families not being able to afford funeral arrangements for them so suddenly.

Several people I know are struggling right now to fight this virus as they have it, or are in the frontlines of this as nurses and doctors. My dad still has to go to work. My mom was told that her department at work would be shutting down for a month, but when the quarantine is lifted, they won’t be able to take everyone back, so they will be letting people go, so she’s currently unsure as to if they’ll lay her off once this is all over. For me, going to work, seeing my friends, going to the gym were things that gave me positive energy. Without being able to go to work, I have a lot more financial concerns now. I miss my friends. The gym especially was something that helped me deal with stress/anxiety/depression and got me back on my feet when I felt like I couldn’t go on with life. I started making progress right before all this. It might sound silly to be sad about not being able to go to the gym but it truly made a huge impact and difference in my life, especially mentally. Now that we’re in isolation, I feel like there’s more time for my mind to wander and overthink things. There’s more time to panic because everything around me is crashing down and I have no control over it. Besides still being busy with school, there’s still a lot of time for the depression to kick in and linger around because sometimes it’s hard to see the positive side to things.

We’re almost halfway through the year and we’ve been stuck in our homes for most of 2020. How are we expected to think positively here? Sickness, death, confusion/uncertainty, etc. linger in the air. It’s a hard time right now to believe that good things are very likely to happen. It’s a hard time to see the “bright side”. The textbook talks about how we have two goals in our lives. One is the things that we want to happen, also known as approach goals, as well as things we don’t want to happen, also known as avoidance goals. There are things that people WANT to happen right now. A goal is that a vaccine be found for this virus. Senior students have the goal of going to their graduations. Business owners want to get their businesses up and running again. People want to see their family and friends again and be outside without fearing. Then there are things that people DON’T want to happen. People don’t want this quarantine to continue. People don’t want to catch this virus and they don’t want this pandemic to continue, possibly taking away people they love. People don’t want to live in fear. In regards to the future, people that are optimistic have the belief that the bad things that will happen are rare while the good things will happen more often (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016).

It’s easier said than done, but aiming to think more positively and trying to think more optimistically is most important right now. Mental health is so very important, especially in times like this where it’s being tested. I see individuals that are telling others that this is the time for people to do what they couldn’t do before because they didn’t have time regularly. These individuals say that no one should waste their time while quarantined. There are also other individuals that say that there’s absolutely nothing wrong at all if you decide not to make this time “useful”. Sometimes we need mental health days. Sometimes, it’s important to channel self-love and self-care and give yourself time to acknowledge your mind and just let it be. You’re not lazy. You’re not “wasting time”. This is a time where things are confusing and it’s completely acceptable to feel fear. For me, it helps to think about things that I’m grateful for every day. Writing thoughts and emotions down is helpful too when you think that you just can’t think positively. On a lighter note, I hope that you can find that positivity to think about in your life. I hope that you find peace in your mind. I hope that there are ways for you to cope with everything going on. I hope that things get better and we have more clarity soon. I hope that we can get back to our lives sooner than later. I hope that you are happy and healthy. I’m trying my best to see that there’s hope for the world and that this will pass and we will get to a better place. Do you feel like your positive thinking has changed? If so, how? In general, or you just noticed during this quarantine? Has it drastically changed?

 

 

Works Cited:

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com


09
Apr 20

Crying is okay!

When I first became a parent, I was clueless on so many things. But, I was terrified of doing the wrong thing. So, I joined all these groups online giving advice on what to do in different situations. I’m a psychology person, so a lot of how I think and form opinions is based on science. I read peer reviewed articles written by scientists, stuff like that. I also decided that I was now an expert on all things parenting. I would give advice and argue and prove my points. I had too much free time, I guess. But, there was one thing that I never based on science, but just my “feelings”. Crying it out. I refused to do it, because I was convinced my child would become unattached and feel alone. I thought other parents were horrible for doing it themselves. I ignored the science because I went with my feelings. 

This has been a topic that has been argued amongst behaviourists and attachment theorists for a long time (Bilgin & Wolke 2020). It was thought that crying it out caused attachment issues, just like I thought. Crying it out is a perfectly healthy thing to do with your babies. It does NOT cause attachment issues for babies (Bilgin & Wolke 2020). This has been studied and proven to be a safe and healthy method to use with your children. 

In the past, there was a large study done that proved that crying it out caused insecure attachment in babies by 12 months (Bilgin & Wolke 2020). The study also showed that the more parents ignored crying, the more frequently the crying occurred (Bilgin & Wolke 2020). This study was the basis upon which attachment theorists beliefs. The problem is no one really replicated this study over the years. 

This recent study proved the previous study wrong. The researchers found no relationship between ignoring crying and increased crying episodes, as the previous study had found (Bilgin & Wolke 2020). They also found crying it out didn’t affect attachment between infants and mothers at 18 months (Bilgin & Wolke 2020). Based on this study, researchers do not recommend or advise against crying it out. Rather, they say to make your own decisions, based on your circumstances.

Looking back on when my daughter was a baby, I wish I had the information that I have now. There were times when it would’ve been helpful to cry it out, for my own mental health. However, I insisted on listening to what other mothers said and their judgments. The science just doesn’t back up the judgments.

Reference

Bilgin, A., Wolke, D. (2020). Parental use of ‘cry it out’ in infants: No adverse effects on attachment and behavioural development at 18 months. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/jcpp.13223


09
Apr 20

Positive Couple Interventions: Are They Worth It?

Many couples face relationship problems, and there are just as many solutions available to deal with these problems. One such solution focuses on positive psychology interventions, which focuses on creating positive future outlooks for the couple’s relationship. Researchers cite three main steps to a successful positive psychology intervention: Balancing the focus, enhancing positive emotions, and building on strengths (Kauffman et al, 2009). Not everyone agrees in the effectiveness of having a positive outlook however, as some research has found excessively positive outlooks on relationships to be illusory. These illusions are said to be measurable upon an Idealistic Distortion scale and contribute to incorrect conclusions being made about partners (Fowers et al, 2002).

Positive psychology offers many potential benefits to couples who practice it, including more connection, positive emotion, and interpersonal openness. The studies advocated for positive psychology interventions (PPIs) being performed alongside regular therapy sessions as an additive service, not a replacement for regular therapy. One such benefit of these PPIs that couples cited was increased ability to address and resolve negative emotions the day they occur, rather than letting them ruminate for days or weeks (Kauffman et al, 2009). Our text also supports the helpfulness of having a positive outlook for the future, citing that positive expectancies cause people to be more persistent in achieving their goals as well as giving them basic motivation in their activities through the implied end reward of happiness (Gruman et al, 2017).

In addition to positivity being cited as beneficial, pessimism in the face of adversity is said to be detrimental within our text. Those who are pessimistic in their outlooks of a situation will often withhold effort towards a seemingly hopeless situation, delaying their progress to a better outcome. There is also the prevalence of demotivational and destructive behaviors that come along with a pessimistic outlook, also withholding progress to a better outcome (Gruman et al, 2017). In addition to this issue, excessive positivity is said to be potentially detrimental as well. Such issues resulting from this include viewing the perceived characteristics of partners as being immutable truths rather than as personal perceptions of the individual. Additionally, if these individuals would give truthful and negative critiques of their partners, the next positive trait that arose they would overemphasize, presumably due to their need to see their relationship in an excessively positive light. An additional sign of this extra effort being exerted to compensate was the intricate detailing of their partners or telling a story to justify their views. Overall these results showed that illusory positive perceptions among couples can also be an issue alongside pessimism, motivating partners to build an excessively more positive image for their partners than what exists (Fowers et al, 2002).

Overall, the benefits of integrating PPIs into couple’s regular therapy sessions is shown to be very effective in harboring motivation and persistence among couples. However, the detrimental effects of having overly positive views of partners can be illusory, and potentially point to issues in someone’s need to view their partner so positively. Compensating for their partners negative traits can result in these illusory views harming their relationship despite the beneficial effects of PPIs. Overall however, the results show that the avoidance of both pessimism and excessive positivity about our partners can help lead to better relationships, and the use of PPIs that are integrated into regular couple therapy sessions can further enhance these effects (Fowers et al, 2002; Kauffman et al, 2009).

References

Fowers, B. J., Veingrad, M. R., & Dominicis, C. (2002). The unbearable lightness of positive illusions: Engaged individuals’ explanations of unrealistically positive relationship perceptions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 450-460. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00450.x

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

Kauffman, C., & Silberman, J. (2009). Finding and fostering the positive in relationships: Positive interventions in couples therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 520-531. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1002/jclp.20594


09
Apr 20

How Past Relationships Affect Future Romantic Relationships

When thinking about what to write about around relationships, I was originally thinking of reviewing any article written by John and Julie Gottman – the relationship duo typically mentioned for their work in relationships. Whether it be predicting divorce rates, how to have healthy marriages, and much more – their work is quite deep on these topics. However, I wound up stumbling on something that sounded much more interesting – an article by Furman & Colibee from the University of Denver titled The Past is Present: Representations of Parents, Friends and Romantic Partners Predict Subsequent Romantic Representations

This journal article (Furman & Collibee, 2018) stood out to me because I was curious if childhood trauma (ie. death of a parent, parental divorce, etc), as well as bad dating experiences, can influence future relationships. The researchers were attempting to back up the behavioral systems theory – in which “the attachment, caregiving, affiliative, and sexual behavioral systems are conceptualized as key facets of romantic relationships.” Not only this but to extend it a level further by following 200 10th graders over 7.5 years with various questionnaires and interviews to assess “avoidant and anxious representations of their relationships.” There are two primary attachment theory models that are important to know prior to delving into the results found from this study. The authors focus on these two First, people with the avoidant romantic style “are not comfortable with intimacy or closeness and prefer self-reliance, do not enjoy caring for the other, and value the activity rather than the companionship of the other.” Others with the anxious romantic style “may worry about the other person’s availability, provide excessive care, and are more invested in the relationship than the other person.” It is important to note that you can be measured high on the avoidant and anxious scale – which leads to a more fearful relationship (Bartholomew, 1990) – and you can be measured low on both metrics – which leads to comfortability with the other partner in the relationship. Understand that this is a very high-level view of relationship styles and if you are looking for more information, you can view more here

By interviewing the 200 study participants multiple times over the course of seven and a half years, the researchers were able to have results consistent to the behavioral systems theory that relationships with parents, friends, and romantic partners in adolescence were associated with subsequent levels of representations of romantic relationships over time. These results were consistent with the self-report measure and the interview measure. One finding that was particularly interesting was that regardless of avoidant or anxious friendships, they both contributed to increases in avoidant/anxious romantic relationships over time. When looking at relationships with parents, the researchers found that the child-parent relationship was most heavily predictive for the first round of self-reporting/interviewing over the 7.5-year study. However, this parent-child relationship is not predictive of romantic relationships over the entire study.

After reading this study, I am walking away with more directions to focus on topics that I find particularly interesting in the realm of relationships. Whether gender, divorced parents, etc play a role in the relationship attachment style that you develop from a young age thru your entire life. I’m curious if major life events also contribute to the shifting of your attachment style – like finding out a partner has cheated on you, I would postulate, would shift the style from anxious to avoidant – or even make both anxious and avoidant high. I’m also curious if going to see a relationship therapist would help quell these negative behaviors that stem from relationship attachment styles.

If you are interested in learning more about your personal relationship attachment style, you can take a quiz here for free.

 

References – 

Bartholomew, K. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 147–178. doi:10.1177/0265407590072001

Furman, W., & Collibee, C. (2018). The Past Is Present: Representations of Parents, Friends, and Romantic Partners Predict Subsequent Romantic Representations. Child Development, 1, 188. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1111/cdev.12712


08
Apr 20

Do you still like me?

Oh man. Relationships are harder to be in today than ever. With the addition of social media and online profiles and dating its easy to get yourself into trouble with your significant other. Being in a relationship takes work and effort. Josh Gressel, Ph.D. (2019) believes it takes conscious and sustained effort to keep the connection between partners strong and growing. This is becoming increasingly more hard with the amount of time people are spending on social media. Whether people are using it for connecting with high school friends, keeping up with their hobbies on group pages or following celebrities, our screen time as a society has increased and continues to remain on the rise. A huge part of relationship issues is due to mistrust and jealousy that stems from misunderstandings from social media.

“Why did you like her/his picture”, “Why are you friends with her/him”, “Do you think she/he is prettier/more handsome” are problem questions most people have been faced with during their time on social media. The jealousy that significant others face and are exposed to while on social media can be very damaging to the relationship. Instead of sitting down and calmly discussing the issue at hand, most people’s initial reaction is to over-think, misread, and start an argument.

Josh Gressel, Ph.D. (2019) discussed the importance of not being critical or criticizing your partner as it will do nothing to strengthen the relationship. The jealousy and arguments can be avoided if the partners are truthful, open and honest about their expectations early in the relationship and have the similar-to-me mindset. If one partner does not like the other partner to look at certain images and they both agree to avoid looking at certain content it works out better than if one partner does not agree. People are more attracted to people who have a similar-to-me effect where they have a lot in common and agree to many things together. It makes the issue of social media less of an issue if the couples can honestly communicate their feelings, can empathize with the partner and come to a respectful understanding together as partners.

 

Gressel, J. (2019, August 4). The Fatigue of Long-Term Relationships. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/putting-psyche-back-psychotherapy/201908/the-fatigue-long-term-relationships


07
Apr 20

Mom Groups Are The WORST!

Mom Groups Are The WORST!

Written By: Judy Laut

Mom groups on Facebook are the absolute worst. I envy anyone that’s never experienced such horror. They’re like a bad car wreck, you know that you shouldn’t look as you drive by… but you always do.

I’m assuming that Facebook mom groups were created and became so popular because they created a sense of community for woman in similar situations. One of the first “mom groups” so to say showed encouraging results. “Dunham and colleagues (1998) found a significant relationship between consistency of participation in the bulletin board and decreases in parenting stress. They also found that the young mothers who accessed the bulletin board frequently were more likely to develop a stronger sense of belonging to a community. Given that young mothers often report high levels of stress and a sense of isolation, these results are encouraging.” (Gruman, 2016) If only Gruman could imagine the insanity that would ensue due to the popularity of mom groups, the strong, differing opinions of its members, and the conception of the “keyboard warrior”.

In theory the idea of a mom group seems amazing. If you have questions about your child’s rash, need a pediatrician recommendation, need to vent about your husband, or just want someone relate to the fact that you haven’t showered in 3 days – turn to the mom group, they’ll understand and empathize! The only issue is that these groups have become so overwhelmingly popular. Groups that may have been beneficial with a few hundred members have grown in size to hundreds of thousands. All of these differing opinions, all of the “keyboard warriors”, all of the bickering, and misinformation – it’s become a huge source of stress for many woman to the point that It’s no longer a beneficial community but a free-for-all. These mega mom groups are a definite source of stimulus overload. “Stimulus overload is a concept that describes a condition in which our nervous systems are overwhelmed to the point that we cannot simultaneously respond to everything in the environment (e.g., traffic, crowds), so we adapt by setting priorities and selecting where we focus our attention. Much of this adaptation involves psychologically retreating so that we cut down (perhaps unconsciously) on responding to all the things that demand our attention.” (Gruman, 2016)

These mega mom groups have different cliques, similar to those you would see in a high school setting (think – jocks, stoners, preps, goths, etc.) except in the mom groups there’s – the super organized moms, the anti vaxers, the hippie moms, the hot messes, the bullies, the religious moms, montessori moms, etc. and all these cliques stick together because of their compatibility and anyone that doesn’t agree with them gets attacked by the entire clique… usually until an admin. steps in (think of the admins like the HS kids in student council). These cliques would be great on their own but having them all as members of one huge mega group negates its purpose.

Mom groups – great in theory and probably awesome in 1998… but in 2020 – THEY”RE THE WORST!

 

 

 

 

 

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com


07
Apr 20

The Factors that Started My Relationship

When I first saw my boyfriend, it was not the first time he saw me. About 7 years ago I was a night shift leader at Dunkin Donuts. Another Dunkin was getting remodeled, so a couple of workers came to my store. This was the first time Steve noticed me, but I do not even remember seeing him. This happened again about 3 years later. I was working at a different Dunkin close to where he lived and he stopped in and got coffee. I still never noticed him. When I first noticed him he was managing a Dunkin where my best friend worked. I went in one day to visit her and I saw him. All three of us talked for a little bit and I left. Physical proximity, physical attraction, and social network approval are what started our relationship, I would visit my friend and he would be there.

He mentioned later in our relationship about how he saw me before and thought I was attractive, but never talked to me. This is most likely the first reason he first talked to me, physical attractiveness. I think without even being aware of it he also applied the familiarity effect. He saw me and my friend talking and came over, which in return my friend introduced us. Then in return I did the same thing, I starting coming into the store more often and would have short conversations with him.

Even though he was my friends boss, they were close. They talked a lot and played video games together, so I already knew that he got along with my friends, which is a big part of the selection process according to the book. It is called the social network approval, which is the approval of friends and family. Since my friends liked him and I knew this, it helped bring us closer together.

Looking back on when we first started talking, I never realized that there were so many factors in play with our relationship. I thought it just happened because of luck. I did not know that physical proximity, physical attraction, and social network approval were at play in the beginning. I am glad that these factors helped push us together, we have been together for three years, own a house together, and hope to start a family in the future.


05
Apr 20

The Internet is Undefeated

Connection Successful

Remember when “community” referred to the people in your neighborhood and other groups of people that you were cool with and would physically see in person? Remember those days when you played outside every day until the sun went down as kids and nothing was more entertaining? Do you remember the first time you used a computer? In this day and age, it might seem silly to think back to that time period, with how advanced we’ve become with technology as a whole. Now instead of just having a “community” that we know about physically, with the development of the internet, we now have the concept of virtual communities as well. A lot of people from young kids to elder individuals use the internet/technology on a day to day basis. We use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. in which we have our own virtual communities. There are sites that used to be used often as well like Myspace and AIM messenger.

There can be advantages and disadvantages to this type of community environment. The textbook refers to studies that were done on it and they saw that “establishing a sense of community online can be particularly advantageous for particular subgroups of people who may experience specific barriers to participation in communities of interest offline” (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016). If we’re referring to Facebook as a community, there are so many different sub-communities on that site. You can be a part of groups that you like, relate to, and with people you know from different areas of your life. It gives you a platform to keep in touch with different people you know, as well as make new friends who have similar interests as you.  For example, when I was using Facebook years ago, I was a part of several groups/communities. I was part of groups that posted music covers because I would do that and it was a place for me to share my music with other singers as well as listen to other people’s covers. There were groups created for the school clubs that I was a part of so that we could keep in touch about meet-up times and just a place for everyone to communicate with each other. There were also groups of random people that you could join to connect with them on similar interests like movies or music. With this, you have the ability to talk to people across the internet from the comfort of your home.

This quarantine is a perfect example of a time where these kinds of sites are being used often for communication purposes. We’re in a time where we’re being asked to stay at home for safety reasons due to what’s currently going on in the world. We’re supposed to social distance and stay away from pretty much everyone we know unless you live in the same house, and even then, you still have to take precaution. We can’t go to schools, we can’t go to work, we can’t hang out with our friends or see our families. We can’t go to events or really do anything except go get groceries, unless you’re an essential worker and have to work. I know a lot of people who connect with their long distant family members through Facebook. My parents keep in touch with some people/family they know in other states and in other countries. In a time like this where we can’t all go out and see people, we can still communicate with them online. Students have been able to use the internet and sites like Zoom to communicate with their classes right now since they can’t physically go to their schools or classes right now. Individuals have been doing the same for work and have been holding work meetings online together so that they can be productive and get stuff done even though they can’t work around each other in person. In another perspective, if you’re someone that isn’t comfortable with speaking face-to-face with other people, then you may make friends online and be internet friends. There’s also access to these online communities at any time of day or night. People use virtual communities for resource purposes as well (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016).

A few studies showed that support from online groups was helpful as supportive groups/communities in regards to giving things like information and also “social and emotional support for women (and some men) suffering from various types of eating disorders” (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016). There have been some individuals that have brought up that sometimes the emotional connections that can be made through virtual communities might not always be given genuinely (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016). There was a study that thought of online communities as more of a “networked individualism” as opposed to a form of community (Gruman, Schneider, Coutts, 2016). Overall, I think it’s great that we have the ability to communicate with people through the internet, for whatever reason it may be. Due to this concept, I’ve been able to keep in touch with people as well as feel like I’m a part of something, especially because I’m shy and anxious often and being face-to-face with groups of people is hard to do sometimes. Do you prefer face-to-face communities, or virtual ones? Do you think virtual communities are a good thing or do you think it’s taking people away from “real connections” in person?

 

Works Cited:

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com


03
Apr 20

Campus Community

Schools, namely universities are a terrific way to build engagement in communities and meet new people. There is a rise in more schools recently offering online platforms for learning, but I think in general, many people, even young people still yearn for the “college experience.” This is a transition point in many people’s lives.

They essentially leave one or two communities (neighborhood / family and high school) and enter into another one. However, another interesting thing has been happening over time at many universities across the nation – diversity. I don’t just mean racially, but also age-wise, religion-wise, various vocations, lifestyles, perspectives, income levels, etc. People from all walks of life come to gather to the same area for the same purpose of gaining an education.

One of the unique things about having a college campus setting as a community is that like every society, they are made up of other sub-communities. It’s a great way of coming into contact with and meeting people who often end up becoming life-long friends; typically after bonding over a common interest. People also often meet others they maybe never would have expected, or maybe the would. For example, I met my husband through a friend of mine, whom I met while going to school. I think this may be a fairly common example, but it just goes to show the value of meeting people in a real-life setting. It’s also easier typically to get to know people this way rather than online. You feel and hope that you’re getting to know the real ‘them’. Online personas can be easily faked and/or manipulated so it can be tougher to decipher the real from the fake.

 


02
Apr 20

“Won’t you be my neighbor?”

Where does your preference for living lie? Are you an urban, suburb or rural dweller? Do you currently live in an urban area but long for a rural living environment? I for one enjoy the balance of suburban living, where I am outside city bounds but close enough to stores and necessary accessibilities (post office, library, grocery store, gas stations, etc.). I enjoy the sense of community suburban living offers, such as town festivals, community events (cookie walk, yard sales, parades), multiple sports fields, parks, trails and closeness of neighborly bonds. A few perks I found when researching urban, suburb and rural living include: urban areas thrive on providing many essential operations to the growing population of residences. Cities tend to offer more job opportunities, a large mix of people and culture, more educational opportunities with a variety of courses, more overall facilities and health care options. Suburb characteristics include larger living areas, often with lower living costs, smaller population basis, influx of scenery/nature, lower crime rates than cities, and are popular for growing families. Rural areas provide cleaner air, less crime out of the three living areas, low key living, tends to have the cheapest living costs of the three choices, and larger exposure to nature.
Out of all the three choices urban living tends to associate with a higher concern for stimulus overload. Stimulus overload is a concept that outlines a sense of overwhelming factors that we cannot simultaneously respond to everything in the surroundings of our environment, so a need for priority and attention selection becomes a needed focus (Gruman, 415). Since urban living provides many conveniences, inhabitant range from all walks of life. Associated research identifies problems and stresses associates to city life, with a trending focus on poor and working-class neighborhoods (Gruman, 414) . I image if you took a moment to recall individual experiences associated with the urban living and the surrounding environment a few commonalities many include crowded streets, traffic, liter, noise, ma and pa shops, difficulties with parking, homeless or beggars, a variety of architecture, etc. In a largely crowded area, an individual sense of identity can become compromised. Psychologist Zimbardo suggested that the overwhelming amount of stimulation and increased number of people in the same living area compromises sense of relative anonymity, which can result in the notion of deindividuated and antisocial tendency (Gruman, 415).
According to a Pew Research census data analysis, since 2000, United States urban and suburban populations have grown in similarly to the prior decade. The rural population has decreased from its population in the 1990’s. The Baby Boomer generation populate a higher share of adults age 65 or older in rural areas. Suburban counties have also seen an increase in older adults since 2000. In relation to urban, suburbs and rural areas about 45 million American live in rural counties, 175 million live in suburbs and small metros and the largest population of about 98 million are in urban counites. Urban areas gained 1.5 million new migrants since 2000. Urban counties had 9.8 million more births than deaths which flooded the population (Pew Research Center, 2018).

The Pew Research census analysis indicates urban areas to be the largest populated areas. Since there is a higher concern for an overload stimulus, deindividuated and antisocial behavior when living in a crowded area, how does this affect community? In addition to these concerns, larger cities tend to have higher poverty and single-led-parent family homes, decline in neighborhood surrounds via abandoned buildings, vandalism, high demand for construction related needs and town renovations and environmental stressors. I believe this is when we look at all possible community identifiers, we may be less familiar with. McMillan and Chavis studied the concept of sense of community, indicating the four elements which include membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs and shared emotional connect (Gruman, 414). Though these four elements may be difficult to achieve when living in a big city, the concept of social learning theory can provide the notion for social support system in partnership with one another to develop effects to reduce negative associated impacts. One way to establish this is through a strong social network among adults that can help promote healthy outcomes, preventing negative outcomes and improve neighboring surroundings (Gruman, 417). I do believe it would be difficult to know a majority of people on a personal level. However, establishing kindness and positive influence among people you come in contact with can help build a strong community and hopefully help reduce urban related concerns.

References
Applied Social Psychology : Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Jamie A. Gruman, Frank W. Schneider, and Larry M. Coutts . SAGE Publications . 2016
Pew Research Center. Social and Demographic Trends. May 22, 2018. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/05/22/demographic-and-economic-trends-in-urban-suburban-and-rural-communities/


02
Apr 20

Engaging in Online Communities Requires Discipline and Sense of Self

Some of the best moments in my life  are times when I have been completely disconnected or disengaged from technology, or where I have had incredible work-life balance where I am connected with technology from 7 AM to 6 PM during the weekdays and completely offline in the evenings and weekends. For example, one of the times I was completely disconnected from technology is when I was in a house in Mexico with family and friends, spending my days on the beach, in the pool, hiking outside, eating meals together, playing games, and losing complete track of time. A time I an think of where I have had work-life balance is when I was working on a technology enablement team for a call center and working incredibly hard from 7 AM to 6 PM, but then I was spending my evenings working out or taking walks in the neighborhood and cooking dinner and spending evening hours with friends and family. During the weekends I was outside hiking, reading books in the backyard, traveling with friends, and gardening. For me, the common thread in my happiness is deep human connections, being outdoors, and living a healthy and balanced lifestyle. The times where my work has taken over my life, and has required me to travel significantly, spend more hours of the day in the office, and has eaten into my weekends, have been times where I have leaned on social media and online forums for human connections. As an example, this past year I have had to travel internationally for about 3 weeks out of the month, and as a result it has been very hard for me to plan any in-person get togethers with friends and family, and I have leaned on staying connected and having this sense of community online. I’ve also noticed that there is an inverse relationship between my mental well-being and the time I spend in online communities as opposed to in-person communities. 

Kraut and colleagues conducted a study in 1998 on 169 Internet users over a 2 year period, and found that the increase in the use of Internet for communication was associated with declines in communication among family members and the size of their social subgroups. Additionally, the study found “increases in loneliness and depression associated with internet usage,” as it resulted in a “disengagement from real life” (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017). More recently, Reich examined adolescent’s responses regarding membership, and found that those who were members of online social networking sites had larger friend networks, but these networks consisted of individuals who they either didn’t know and had limited interactions with. The exposure to these online communities also resulted in “more drama, misunderstandings, and aggravation of problems among friends.” As I think about my personal experience with social media, it is a forum that I have been a part of for the past 15 years. When I first joined, I was very cautious about how I have engaged in these forums, making sure that I am not just increasing my “friend” count for the sake of winning a popularity contest, but rather that I keep these forums for staying connected to people that I know. However, over the years, my personal rules about who I would “add” as a friend loosened, and I would add friends of friends who I had met a few times, colleagues who I met at conferences, or distant relatives who I had previously only spoken to a few times a year. As my work-life picked up and it required me to travel more, I found that I leaned on these online communities more in order to feel that I was still connected. However, this resulted in endless scrolling through my social media feed, and often resulted in my blood pressure increasing as I read their political posts that I disagreed with, saw photos that made me cringe, or read comments that I disagreed with. I also realized that I was commenting on random photos that were posted, leaving comments on posts I disagreed with, and ultimately my mental wellness was decreasing. While Sum, Mathews, Pourghasem, and Hughes reported positive benefits for individuals over 55 years old who were part of online communities, I think the key behind their finding was that this was helping people who “may face geographic or mobility barriers to participating in offline communities” (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017). These individuals have no other choice but to engage in online forums. They don’t have the option to close their laptops, limit their work hours, and engage in face-to-face interactions. They are truly limited as a result of their geographic location or mobility limitations. 

On the other hand, I think that online communities are helpful if they are pointed and used for a connection regarding a specific topic and used as an information hub. As an example, if you love gardening, and want to solve a problem such as why  specific plant is not growing in your neighborhood, or if you are interested in planting some new plants but unsure what to plant, being a part of an online forum would enable you to learn from others and see where they are located, what they have planted, how long it took them, what their key findings were, and what they would have done differently. This is not something that you could necessarily find in a journal, as there is the human element of this that would allow you to ask questions, see pictures, respond to comments, and engage on an on-going basis if you find the community to be helpful. It is less toxic as well, as you are there for a specific purpose, there’s no drama associated with the plants you are looking for information on, and if for some reason there is you can choose to opt out. You aren’t addicted to the forum. As Iriberri & Leroy found in their study of online community building, there is a lifecycle to building healthy online communities, and this is very similar to that of building offline communities. It begins with having a vision of what you are hoping to achieve out of the community, knowing the roles of the forum & the rules by which you can engage in discussions and debates on the forum and what participation looks like. It then requires time for the relationships to mature and for the members of the community to build trust & relationships with one another. It requires engaging with intent and actively understanding if it is fulfilling the purpose that you were hoping to find in the forum. (Iriberri, Alicia & Leroy, Gondy, 2009). This is something that requires discipline and a sense of self in order to understand why you have joined the community and what purpose you are looking for it to serve.

I think that there is a fine balance between engaging in online forums versus face-to-face interactions, and it requires a lot of discipline in order to properly engage in these forums. I think it is extremely important to be mindful of your well-being, how you are feeling, what activities you are engaging in, how much time you are spending on these activities, and what you are gaining from the connections you are making. If you have a good sense of this, then when you engage in online forums it will allow you to have a greater understanding of the impact it is having on you, and will allow you to disconnect if it becomes a toxic situation. Online forums provide an opportunity for individuals to hide behind words, perhaps be more bold or more aggressive than they otherwise would be, but it also enables those who are timid to ask questions they otherwise would not ask in person for whatever reason. There are definitely pros and cons to engage in online forums, however, there is no perfect equation and it requires a solid sense of self to know when it is too much, and when it is preventing you from living a healthy and well-balanced life. 

 

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 Publications

Iriberri, Alicia & Leroy, Gondy. (2009). A Life-Cycle Perspective on Online Community Success. ACM Comput. Surv.. 41. 10.1145/1459352.1459356.


02
Apr 20

Distribution Among the Community

With the COVID-19 pandemic currently underway, hospitals and government officials everywhere are attempting to properly distribute medical supplies. Oftentimes, this can lead some to question who “deserves” which supplies, occasionally putting a moral swing on the issue. Recently, claims were made to the public that ventilators (an essential device for hospitals dealing with the respiratory issues of the virus) were being hoarded by New York hospitals. This claim was made by President Trump during a recent press report, as he again shows the public his disdain for the government officials of New York, like Governor Cuomo. After this claim was made, the Governor responded by explaining how hospitals plan ahead for emergencies, and how those ventilators are allotted as “extra” because they continue to receive new cases every day. Ultimately, we can see both capital and legislation being placed ahead of sound medical recommendations in the handling of this pandemic.

When facing social issues that require the community to act cooperatively as a whole, the United States is forced to work around privatized systems (capital) in addition to the government (legislation). With the Defense Production Act being implemented recently for ventilator production, we are seeing how new methods of distributing goods will work during these difficult times. The distribution of essential goods among the community under this act would, ideally, minimize the effects of capital on this pandemic not being handled more professionally. However, we will still likely see the President attempting to withhold funds from New York, since they will not bow to him politically. Troubling or not, we can see a clear example of the type of obstructive behaviors government officials can do to slow legislation in their favor (at the detriment of the community).

With the United States facing large and mobile populations of individuals to protect from illness, the country is beginning to feel the effects of its “capital-first” motivations during the construction of its communities. As stated in our lesson, this results in large-scale structures strewn across the landscape that is not conducive to a sense of community. Additionally, bolstering public services and emergency-related needs is not always considered until they are actually needed, which is often too late. Overall, we are seeing why we should be putting greater effort towards building communities for wellbeing instead of capital. The addition of both scale (large) and speed (mobile) as time progresses results in new communities with growing needs, presumably unable to be met by our current capitalist-driven social structures.

Online communities can provide sources of both support and harm, and are a largely untapped source of social influence. Negative experiences on the internet, including viewing the President giving incorrect press statements, can influence the spread of misinformation. During an important time like this crisis, the influence of online communities is more important than ever. The disorderly situation regarding social services is mirrored by the internet, leaving both positive and negative experiences open to be experienced by users. During these times we will likely see how well individuals form purely-online communities (due to social distancing recommendations) as well as receive reliable information on the virus.

 

References

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/04/01/fact-check-does-new-york-have-stockpile-unneeded-ventilators/5097170002/’


02
Apr 20

Essential vs. Non Essential

There is a greater need for community now more than ever. Right now there is a threat that society is facing that has greatly affected a major primal need humans have- socialization. With Covid-19 impacting every single person the sense of community people have has changed dramatically. There are two types of communities during this pandemic; essential workers and non essential workers. With different states, cities, counties, etc being in ranging stages of shelter in place, stay at home ordinances and other proactive preventions set into place to stop the spread of the virus, human interaction has been drastically decreasing. The communities that have been set into place are very different. You have the non essential workers who are being asked to stay home and away from the public, as their professions are not as useful in helping the care, prevention and maintenance of the virus during the crisis. On the other side you have the essential workers- the doctors, nurses, grocery store clerks, truck drivers, janitors, garbage men and other sanitation workers, etc. 

These two communities are very different in their roles in our society today, but they are both very important. The essential workers support the non essential workers by continuing to show up to their place of employment and perform duties required for normal living; ie, grocery shopping, medical necessities, and more. The essential workers are able to support others by providing a familiar “norm” in a time of uncertainty while also providing the other community with resources they need to continue to thrive in this societal crisis. 

The non essential workers support the essential workers by showing up to go grocery shopping, and putting their trash out on the road at the end of each week. The non essential workers also show support to the essential workers by staying home and protecting them from a potential outbreak of the virus. This may sound contradicting, but support comes in many forms and looks various ways. By the non essential workers staying home, it allows the essential workers to do their important duties with minimal risk as there are fewer interactions between individuals. 

One preventative factor that is being enforced in society right now is social distancing. As people who need physical touch, physical embrace, and positive human interaction this is an intensely difficult task to master. It is in our primal instinct to want to be close to one another and share an physically intimate moment, whether it be a handshake or a hug. The two separate communities that have formed continue to support each other in a non physical way that is unique yet still positive. The communities have come together to show cohesiveness in a time of forced separation by supporting others and their current needs in each community to maintain a healthy balanced new normal. 

 

Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19. (2020, March 30). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html


01
Apr 20

A Comparison between Traditional and Online Learning after my Response to Lesson 11 Discussion

I have been a student at Penn State for three years, though the past two of them have been spent at World Campus. During this time, I have found many benefits to my courses and schoolwork being entirely online, such as having a more flexible schedule and being able to learn from home. However, the possible costs to these benefits haven’t really been noticeable until now, with the most apparent being this feeling of isolation. Classrooms with other students used to be where most of my social interactions really came from, and this setting was also an opportunity to discuss thoughts and understanding with peers. However, the bright screen and dull sound of typing left a sense of distance between me and the people I meant to interact with. I expressed this feeling in this week’s discussion, but I decided to also do further research to see if this effect exists in others, as well as any other possible negative effects to online learning.

The first bit of information I found was from an article written by Elizabeth Erichsen and Doris Bollinger. In the abstract, Erichsen and Bollinger discuss a study they conducted where they had international students take surveys, with some of them apparently then taking part in group sessions or interviews later. From this study, Erichsen and Bollinger mention how these students “both in traditional and online programs, experience/perceive high levels of isolation, academically and socially. However, online international students may feel even more isolated than their traditional counterparts.” Though any ways to correct this sense of social and academic isolation are not mentioned, the results from this article indicate the presence of a problem in online learning when it is compared to traditional learning.

My next source of information is an article from David Sapp and James Simon. Though there didn’t seem to be any mention of social isolation, they do compare the grades of students that were either being educated online or traditionally in writing courses. It is here that I saw a concept called the “’thrive or dive’ phenomenon”, explained by Sapp and Simon to be “the disproportionally high percentage of students who fail or do not complete online courses compared to conventional, face-to-face courses.” I believe this piece of data to be especially interesting because it once again compares online learning to traditional learning to find some difference between the two.

For the longest time, I simply tried to see only the positive aspects I had with online learning, as it allowed me to do my schoolwork from home as well as maintain a part time job in my county. However, the topic for this week first helped me notice and acknowledge this feeling of isolation I’ve had while working online, as well see through research any possible negative effects of online learning when compared with learning traditionally. My method of learning cannot change anytime soon, but the awareness of the effects discussed might help me try to dissipate, or even overcome, these obstacles.

 

References:

Erichsen, E.A., Bolliger, D.U. Towards understanding international graduate student isolation in traditional and online environments. Education Tech Research Dev 59, 309–326 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-010-9161-6

Sapp, D. A., & Simon, J. (2005, October 6). Comparing grades in online and face-to-face writing courses: Interpersonal accountability and institutional commitment. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S8755461505000629

 


01
Apr 20

Communities Coming Together

With everything going on in the world today it has been very important to come together.  With the social distancing we are not able to come together physically but we can use technology and still support one another. I know many people who have been doing work through home, attending church services remotely, having conferences, just face-timing or skyping with family to get an update on how they are doing or to just have some company.

It has been a very interesting time for all of the electronic advancements in the technological world, however even in times when things aren’t this way technology still has a very good way of helping communities come together. From online video games, Facebook groups, business meetings through conference calls, and online dating the world of technology has really allowed people to come together like never before. I know personally a lot of people who use the online dating as a way to find matches within their area. Online dating might not always be successful but it is a form of an online community where people all come together for a common interest.

The same is true for online Facebook groups. I am apart of so many different groups such as couponing groups, Victoria Secret coupon/sales, mom groups, child conception support groups, and even food groups where people share ideas and recipes with one another. I like that these groups are very specific because it allows for people to come together who have a common interest and to talk amongest people who share that common interest. These groups allow you to meet people you might not of ever met otherwise because they might live a far distance, such as half way around the world, or they might just be people who are socially distance and don’t prefer to come together with people in large groups. Either way these types of places can help you make friends and share thoughts and ideas with people who you might not otherwise have ever found or come in contact with.

These online platforms as I mentioned before are great ways to bring the community together especially in a time of need, such as now without having to be face-to-face. Below I just added a snapshot of some of the groups I was discussing above as to where I go to find these online chat groups and people to talk to. If you use Facebook and you don’t use the groups I suggest looking into them. You can find a group for literally just about anything you might be interested in and it could be a really great way to connect with people who have the same interests as you.


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