PSYCH 424 blog

Fundamental attribution error is something that we see every day, it’s when someone assumes internal factors before taking into consideration other factors, an example of this is say you went out to a wedding and you were meeting a friend of your friend who invited you, when you first meet this person they seem very stand offish and they don’t seem to care to be in your company, our first initial thought is that, that person must be an unfriendly person, or maybe a jerk to say it nicely. That is us taking internal factors into consideration before we consider that maybe we found out that he had a very bad day, lost his job, got in an accident or other things that could have happened that could easily excuse this assumption of him being a unpleasant person.

Fundamental attribution error is seen a lot in our lives some might be more obvious than others, but a good example would be when we’re driving and we see someone speeding, we could assume that they’re just reckless and not thinking but they could have a genuine reason to why they’re speeding to get to a place sooner, if we knew the reason we would find it more acceptable for that circumstance.

I find the fundamental attribution error to be a cognitive bias that we use to assume a person’s personality or their being as a whole which could lead to a lot of people not having a second chance to show themselves in a different light without already being categorized as mean or something in those lines. The cognitive bias is essentially the bedrock for the field of social psychology.  (Mcleod 2018) We see this being something commonly done and there’s a lot of people who are doing this in an implicit level that they might not even notice that they’re doing it to begin with. This bias approach is being used and we’re not even consciously aware that we’re doing it because it’s not a topic we learn about when we’re growing up.

Some people might not be able to change a person’s first impression but by learning about the cognitive bias of fundamental attribution error we can see that we should always look at things in a different view and always ask other questions before just assuming the worse possible outcome. I think this is something that should be implemented in high school or even middle school because I could see this being something that can actually help with those being bullied or people that do bully because they can learn that maybe something is going on in their lives that is making them do the things they do or we assume why they do something. This can lead to people asking questions and even others asking for help when they knowingly know that people are judging them because of a false impression or something in that sorts.

Tuckman’s stages of group development are forming-storming-norming—performing, there’s more but these are the most commonly seen during the groups start and performance. It was made by Bruce Tuckman in 1965 to show the order of a team’s start, growth, problems, and overall solutions that are seen in a group/team.

I remember reading about Tuckman’s notion/model when I was in high school and I remember thinking that the competitive soccer team that I was in was a rare circumstance, that I was friends with them because we became friends in a rare way, but finding out that the way things develop in his model was almost a 100% representation on how things work in all groups made me realize that psychology is seen everywhere and in any kind of environment.

The development of a group is seen in our workplace and in every walk of life, we see it from the outside of our local coffee shop on how people work together to make the task in hand which is run the operation smoothly. We see the development of people, how they learn each other’s weaknesses, strengths, and other attributes that one can contribute to the group. People learn to use the strengths of some so the weaknesses aren’t shown and also friendships are made and little groups inside the groups are made and lifelong friendships develop because of this group model essentially.

Tuckman’s group development is seen all over and a lot of our friendships that we have today is from the development that Tuckman has seen. This theory is pretty accurate to me when I think about it because almost every stage I have seen first-hand in every group I have ever been involved in. In the model, we also see the stage adjourning (Tuckman pg 384-399) in which we see those leave once the tasks are done and the group disbands.

Reference:

1. Tuckman, “Developmental sequence in small groups,” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 63, no. 6, pp. 384-399. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0022100 : ↵

Social Identity Theory is seen in almost every workplace in the world, it comes from the theory made famous by Henri Tajfel. It refers to the way people approach one’s self concepts that’s based on their status in socializing groups such as the workplace, at home, other team events. It’s the sense of who we are in the group membership, that the place we see ourselves in these things give us pride or help with our self-esteem

My personal experience with social identity theory is pretty great, it’s something I relied on when I was a lot younger when I would play in a competitive soccer team. I remember people calling my parents if I was showing up late or if I needed a ride or all kinds of other things because they wanted to make sure that I would be there for the game. I remember it would make me feel special knowing that I was really needed for the success of our team and that really put my self-esteem through the roof.

Though I noticed this at an early age that I was valuable in some things, I also noticed this in a negative way as well, I remember the feeling of being nervous or anxious because I knew I had a lot to give in terms of expectations by others, and that in itself made me nervous. I remember learning about social identity theory in my community college and there being a huge portion of our lessons on it because of how much we see this on an everyday basis that the teacher wanted to emphasis that this theory was seen every day and in almost every circumstance in our living life.

I remember thinking about how almost everything we do we perceive ourselves in some kind of magnitude in our society, it’s not in just soccer teams, school, and the workplace. It’s all over, even in our own community we have our own identity of our importance and although some of us are aware of it there is those who aren’t and don’t realize these things until they learn about it. To conclude I really liked how this article I references said that “it is a real, true and vital part of the person”  We identify ourselves in groups and we may also discriminate against others we don’t want to be identified with.

Reference :

McLeod, S. A. (2019, October 24). Social identity theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html

The biomedical approach in mental health is something that is used today and seems to be a cookie cutter to all mental health illnesses, if someone’s depressed they give them SSRI if they’re bipolar then Lithium/mood stabilizers. It’s something though it does help a lot of people it shouldn’t be the first approach of therapy to those who want to overcome something like mental illness. (APA, 2014)

When someone has surgery its common to prescribe them a painkiller to help soothe the pain while they recover, but the same can’t be said for those who receive medication for mental illness, you can’t just take a dose while you finish up something and expect to feel “normal” medicines that affect your brain isn’t something that be thrown lightly to you, it should be something that is talked about and also the other kind of therapies that one can try before committing to a medication.

The reason why I don’t believe in medication being the first step is because someone can overcome something with other therapies and completely bypass the whole medication/withdrawals and other side effects that are common when one uses medications. There’s also medications that can cause those to become addicted or dependent with these medications. There can be people who feel as if they can’t function without having the medication that they once had, which can cause huge problems to those who lose their jobs/health plans.

Overall, I think the approach of biomedical therapies is a good thing but I think it’s become mainstream to just give someone medication without looking at all the other things that can be done. I know long term use of these drugs can be bad and the withdrawals of them will make some miserable, I think we all have our opinions of medication before other treatments but I think keeping an open mind on this topic will better help those who aren’t fully educated in the other therapies.

References

(Mayo Clinic, 2012). (APA 2014)

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/msstate-waymaker-psychology/chapter/biomedical-therapies/

Pro-environmental behavior is a person’s conscious choices that will minimize the negative impact of one’s own actions on the environment. It’s the way we live our everyday life and we try to adjust our behaviors towards living a more sustainable lifestyle. In this blog, I’ll be discussing the various ways we are trying to be pro-environmental and the different categories that can be applied to them.

We’re always adapting as human beings, trying to find the new way to help the ecosystem or find ways to spend less but get more use out of things, an example of something that we have started to adapt is the idea of electrical cars, an electrical car is usually either a hybrid or a fully electrical car that is using little to no fossil fuels which in turn will help the ecosystem and help us from polluting the world in such a fast rate. This is an example of one of the perceived risks that we see today.

Another barrier to pro-environmental behavior is the economy that we live in today, at the stage of the pandemic that we’re in we are finally starting to come back out of this tricky situation, but we still see those struggling, this is an economic factor that we see as a barrier to pro-environmental behavior, being that a lot of things that are to be good to start has a large startup cost and we see people being apprehensive in starting something because they’re not fully sure if they will get back their investment or time. The cost of being able to even support these new technologies makes it hard for a lot of people to even start to become pro-environmental.

We see a lot of barriers stopping us from becoming pro-environmental in-terms of household items and transport, but one big thing people are missing is that being educated about pro-environmental behavior in itself is something that can make an even bigger impact if everyone was to take their load and work on these behaviors as a whole community. I see this impact being done in my local community by seeing a lot of slogans and signs being put up about pollution and what websites can be used to learn more about these things, I see it being beneficial because a lot of people lack the constant reminder of doing these things. In the reference, it talks about the global change that can be done if we were to see the social influence in resource conservation (Steg, 2013)

References

Abrahamse, W., and Steg, L. (2013). Social influence approaches to encourage resource conservation: a meta-analysis. Glob. Environ. Change 23, 1773–1785. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.07.029

Dating is a concept that has been around as long as humans existed. While the concept of dating has remained the same, the context has changed rather drastically in the past decade give or take. Dating is traditionally a complicated art, add in the new dynamic of online dating and we have a whole new ball game of challenges. Tinder, Bumble, Match, Hinge, Coffee Meets Bagel to name a few of the many digital platforms for one to meet their love partner. Is it really promising?

The simple task of matching, swiping, linking or whatever other term used for accepting a new potential partners advances just becomes second nature, it can become automatic but are they worthwhile? Could actually be not all that far along before you have all these potential partners on several platforms waiting for the next move and nothing in common. How does this even work? Go through all of these matches, this is just too overwhelming you’d think.

The concept of attraction plays the biggest role in dating, and in order to be attracted one would have to find admirable traits in their potential partner. Often we think those similar to us are who we should be with because hey that old saying  “birds of a feather flock together” leads us to believe so. But what about “opposites attract”? This would make the latter invalid. So what really is the key to moving from online to that first date?

Consider the social psychology explanation “similar to me effect”, this effect details how individuals who look and think like themselves get along best. This concept drives home the birds of a feather flock together concept, in that online dating profiles set up with prompts and answers similar to the match they desire, will more likely result in a first date and successful match down the line. Like people tend to have successful and long lasting relationships (Luo & Klohnen, 2005).

References:

Luo, S., & Klohnen, E.C. (2005). Assortative Mating and Marital Quality in Newlyweds: A Couple-Centered Approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(2), 304-326.

Participatory action research allows stakeholders to collaborate to fix the problem and have the community members involved. (Bryndon-Miller, 1997) I believe this approach would be extremely helpful with our current nationwide conflict of police reform. The stakeholders include the law enforcement officials, police officers, citizens, and community leaders. I believe this approach to be a viable solution because it will be able to impact the stakeholders by educating and resolving concerns during the process. (Bryndon-Miller, 1997) The goal can be accomplished while the work is being done, allowing for agile progress. This will also allow the stakeholder to contribute to the narrative’s accurate portrayal of the perspective of the community members that it actually affects.

There is a nationwide problem with police brutality, excessive use of force, law enforcement accountability, and the relationship between police officers and their performance in the communities they serve. (Burnette, 2017) There are a number of high profile deaths black being committed by police officers. The police have a notorious history for not being charged and held accountable for these heinous crimes. The role and responsibility of the police is to protect and serve the people. The police are supposed to operate as a guardian and a warrior of the community and people. We are plagued with scenarios where they operate as though they are gods amongst men. (Burnette, 2017)

The police are contributing to harm the welfare and wellbeing of citizens belonging to minority groups and low socio-economic classes. The police function as a force for maintaining the sociopolitical, economic, and physical distances of the dominant white group and subordinate non-white groups. (Ponton, 2018) There is a lack of mutual respect and trust amongst the police and the citizens. Trust has not been built and the mistrust has risen. Citizens have protested nationwide and even advocating to defund the police. A disproportionate number of minorities are arrested for nonviolent drug crimes. These are negative behaviors of police officers. These events are targeted and it has been shown that these offenses would not come to the attention of authorities if the racially motivated traffic stops and patrols did not occur. (Burnette, 2017)

There are federal laws and state laws in place to protect citizens from policy brutality, but they have not been effectively enforced. “Most federal actions for police misconduct are initiated under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides that every person, under color of law, who deprives another person of his or her constitutional rights shall be liable to the injured party.” (Burnette, 2017 p 592 Even with these laws and orders in place, police are still performing the undesired behavior of wrongful black deaths. The behavior emerges from preconceived stereotypes and biases of police officers. (Burnette, 2017) These beliefs translate to actions that are not reprimanded. Law enforcement has not held officers accountable to the misconduct and crimes. Due to the lack of accountability it has encouraged police officers to continue with these crimes. (Ponton, 2018)

The police officers have a stressful and dangerous job. They have been given grace in making misjudgments with their actions that have resulted in senseless fatalities. I believe that working with the community members and police together to increase harmony and safety for all can be achieved with participatory action research. This would allow the opportunity for everyone to understand and empathize with their plights in this social dilemma. The division will only increase the tension and this social change needs to happen amongst the stakeholders. The solution needs to be derived from the input of the stakeholders. The stakeholders are the ones that need to make the change. They will need to implement, enforce, and sustain the change. Participatory action research also promotes buy in as everyone is involved in the process. I believe that social change is necessary for law enforcement reform and participatory action research is a viable way to achieve it.

 References

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

Ponton, D. (2016). Clothed in Blue Flesh: Police Brutality and the Disciplining of Race, Gender, and the “Human”. Theory & Event 19(3), https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/623994.

Burnette, R. (2017). American hypocrisy: How the united states’ system of mass incarceration and police brutality fail to comply with its obligations under the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, 45(3), 571-608.

https://heinonline-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/HOL/Page?lname=&handle=hein.journals/gjicl45&collection=&page=571&collection=journals

Being a good researcher must be hard. Most people getting into research are interested in answering questions that will help society. But what if your hypothesis is wrong, and it turns out that manipulating the independent variable creates bad results? That can’t feel good when you’re trying to find out how to make things better. I imagine it’s even more difficult when a researcher uses participant observation. Participant observation is when the researcher is embedded into a group or situation to observe what happens from within (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). I see them as the vice-squad of researchers – needing to be covert so they don’t influence what they are studying. In addition to avoiding bias and affecting the results, researchers need to be constantly mindful of internal validity, as well as if their results will be generalizable (external validity).

However, I’ve recently been introduced to participatory action research where the methods are variable, and the scope of research is known to the participants, – in fact, their cooperation is encouraged (Brydon-Miller, 1997). The idea is to identify ways to enact positive social change, while the participants are active stakeholders that receive the benefits. In traditional research, the methods are set (i.e., changing a variable), but the results (although hypothesized), still need to be accurately coded and interpreted. In participatory action research, the results are pre-determined (i.e., improve literacy), but the methods to achieve the outcome come from trial and the feedback of the participants.

The word ‘activism” came to mind when I was learning about this, but this is not to be confused with activist research. In activist research, the major stakeholder is usually a corporate sponsor that likely wants to show how their product is more valuable to society than a competitor (Psych 424>modules>Lesson 13: Social Change/Participatory Research, n.d.). Participatory action research seems more genuine. The motivation is in finding solutions for stakeholders that are actually experiencing social problems.

The concept of participatory action and social change research really started to draw me in. It seems so much more fulfilling than having to stress over the wording of survey questions, or if demographic questions are in the optimal order too! This research sounds like the “get to work and get your hands dirty” type of stuff that can get results. That said, I have a lingering problem about a question I’m not sure of. Does participatory action research have external validity – meaning, can the results be used in a variety of social groups? For example, if I help an underdeveloped community improve their literacy rate, will my methods work with a different tribe or nation? At the same time, should I worry about generalizability when I have the opportunity to help someone that has a problem?

In the end, the question for me isn’t about if one research style is “better” than the other. The question is will I be happier facilitating customized, scientifically designed interventions helping groups one at a time, or discovering variables that create more generalizable social responses. I don’t know the answers to those questions yet. Which type of research will be the best fit for you?

References

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

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2016). Applied Social Psycology; Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Psych 424>modules>Lesson 13: Social Change/Participatory Research. (n.d.). Retrieved from Penn State World Campus: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2110187/modules/items/30953786

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” Shakespeare, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Act I, scene i.

Love plays a huge role in human lives. Some waste away their whole lives seeking love within anyone and everyone they meet, while others let love come and go. Love is a universal human emotion, yet everyone can experience it differently. Some experience love as kind and gentle, while others can experience love as fun and a wild adventure. We all experience it, so why is it that we love and what exactly is it?

Helen Fisher writes “[p]sychological studies indicate that romantic love is associated with discrete constellation of emotions, motivations, and behaviors” (p. 88). In other words, romantic love affects everyone in a complex and differentiating way. When entering a new love, some may experience sleeplessness, a state of euphoria, impulsivity, etc. New lovers tend to do whatever they can to impress their newfound love. As Fisher states in the article, she compares the romantic love of humans to the mating, reproduction, and parenting of birds and mammals. Whether in nature or in society, romantic love results in some of the same experiences, whether it be courtship, reproduction, or some mix of the two. What makes human love so different than the courtship and reproduction styles of birds and mammals? The brain.

Love is divided into three major systems in the brain. Those systems are sex drive, romance, and attachment. The sex drive lies in the hypothalamus, which also controls basic drives like hunger and thirst. The hypothalamus has receptors for testosterone which leads to the desire to reproduce or fornicate. Romance is less strictly biological and more psychological. Romance is the category where the motivation behind the behaviors towards your lover lie. That means hyperactivity, sleeplessness, impulsivity and any other behavior stems from the romance section of love. The biological reasoning behind why you tend to do what you do when you love is simple: neurotransmitters. Parts of your brain become flooded with dopamine, which tends to give people that “high” feeling, which can also be described as the state of euphoria. Other neurotransmitters are involved as well. Norepinephrine, cortisol, and the chemical phenylephrine all have a part in the stress and excitement of love. Serotonin tends to be low in early romantic love as well and results in the need to be desired and optimism.

Attachment is the reason why people stay together. Once the thrills and highs of new romantic love wear off, you enter a new stage of love. A love that you once experienced euphorically and unreal now becomes something of comfort. That doesn’t mean you love them any less, in some cases, it means you love them more. You tend to create an attachment to the person you love, which is the result of sticking together after the new love feeling has worn off. The chemicals responsible for the attachment are oxytocin and vasopressin which are also created by the hypothalamus. What makes those two chemicals so important is the fact that they are involved in the dopamine reward system. The chemicals aid in the satisfaction of affection in our brain, which, in a way, keeps us with our partner.

There is more to love than those three systems of course, but the main foundation consists of those three. However, in some cases, romantic love doesn’t last forever. Sometimes feelings change and that person you once loved becomes a stranger, and that’s okay. It’s a part of life. Humans come and go, but thanks to our brain, those feelings you once felt during love can be revived.

References:

Peter Pressman, M. (2020, January 20). Love can be explained by studying the brain. Retrieved April 08, 2021, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-brain-in-love-2488713#:~:text=Lust%20stems%20predominantly%20from%20the,and%20how%20fast%20we%20breathe.

Sternberg, R. J., & Sternberg, K. (2019). The new psychology of love. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Attraction.

When you first see someone attractive, some people are likely to go up to them and talk to them. Other look and keep it pushing. Few create personality traits based on how someone looks and the eye contact the two of you hold. For example, have you ever created scenarios in your head about encounters with your “crush” that will most likely never happen? Or, have you ever fell asleep to the idea of you and the person you find attractive talking or engaging in romantics. If yes, so have I.

When I was younger, I used to see an individual who I found attractive and envision how their personality could be based on little clips of how they act or their mannerisms. I would assume that they are all of the personality traits that I like in an individual and would try to see if I could find some type of similarity. An extremely  embarrassing moment, is when I found out we both liked seafood and Twix, mentally, I thought he was perfect (again not my proudest moment). This is similar to when we have a favorite celebrity or youtuber especially. We take a 15-45 minute video and analyze it and assume we know how the person acts in “real-life”. It is especially worse if we have a “crush” on the celebrity or influencer.

The textbook describes this as the primacy effect and physical attraction stereotype. Primacy effect is the tendency to be influenced by information that is presented first,  i.e. physical appearance, someone’s voice, or maybe someone’s scent (Gruman et al, 2017). The physical attraction stereotype is the thought that physically attractive people have more positive traits, while an unattractive person has negative qualities. Dion, Berscheid and Walster (1972) did a seminal study where they found that attractive people were better people based on their looks: sensitive, sexually responsive, interesting and sociable (Gruman et al., 2017).

While, it is okay to dream about someone you find physically attractive. One thing we need to watch out for is putting personality traits on people we have never met. The quote “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” really plays into effect because unknowingly you could build unreasonable expectations for a person. This is unfair because: (a) the person never told you to expect otherwise, (b) it puts unnecessary pressure on someone (c) you are more likely to be disappointed than not. The only way to determine a person’s qualities is to get to know them for an extended period of time and making assumptions can hinder that.

Reference

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

Being an adult, our attachment styles are different than when we were born(as in infant growing into adult hood). We are now more independent and rely soley on ourselves to make the life we want. When it comes to meeting people, you may have different views or feel a certain way when considering someone a significant other or a friend. There are some hard times you go through such as breakups that can shape you into the person you are in regard to what you’ve been through. I’ve been there where I’ve opened up whole heartedly and got betrayed by someone who I thought was my closest friends. That can mold us into a person we never seen coming. We can forgive and forget; some forgive and try again with the relationship. There are different types of attachment styles when it comes to our adult relationships with a significant other or friendship: secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing.

When it comes to being secure in a relationship but in this case a friendship, you whole heartedly, like myself trust the individual. You feel comfortable with them and you love that closeness, when you are apart you don’t feel right. Friendships can do that to you and that is how I am with my best friend. We are very much comfortable with one another, and never have to hide anything from one another. I trust her with any and everything there isn’t a time where I questioned her loyalty or felt scared to tell her anything.

Preoccupied is more for a need, like an addition. You are needful of that person to be there. I’ve never been that type of person to feel the need to have a person that close, but I know of others that are heartbroken when they are alone because they feel abandoned that their friend is not there. Third, Fearful is being rejected and shy. I must say this is how I am at first when I meet someone new and I start acting shy at first. I don’t know their intentions so I feel that they may use me, try to get something out of me and just be a bad friend.

Lastly is dismissing; in this attachment style the individual feels very much independent and has no care for intimacy or relation with another person. A friendship is just like having a significant other just with boundaries. But the betrayal and hurt can still be the same, there are some that consider their closest friends at their soulmate. In this attachment style, dismissing; you block out the hurt because of either what you went through in the past, so you worry about you and only you. You don’t want others to come close to you. Your focus is you and that’s just how you like it. You choose how you want your life and style as to how you take on your relationship with a significant other or a friend. This is a part of growing up and what we went through with past relationships that show our attachment styles with others.

References:

Gruman, J. A., Schnieder, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied Social Psychology (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publication Inc.

Right now, half of my friends are in long term, very committed relationships and act as if they’re basically married. On the other hand, some of my friends are single as can be and are nowhere near ready for commitment. As a young girl in her twenties, I have found the concept of dating and relationships to be a strange and complicated experience. Growing up, I would watch movies and the idea of dating seemed so simple and straightforward. Two people liked each other, they would start hanging out, confessed their feelings for one another and thus a relationship would begin. However, in reality dating can be much more difficult. I feel like in the past, it was incredibly common for life to have a pretty clear roadmap. Go to college, meet somebody, graduate, start a career, get married and have a family. However, as the current generations have grown up, I have begun to see a large shift in how individuals are choosing to live their lives. Hook-up culture and dating apps have made dating a far more casual process.

I was first exposed to the concept of hook-up culture when I arrived at Penn State and began to partake in the social scene. I was honestly shocked at how casual everything sex-related was. Someone once said to me “at PSU a makeout is like giving someone a handshake… it’s like a greeting.” I have observed first-hand how my friends would stress out over the idea of going on a date but when it came to sleeping with someone, they were super relaxed and nonchalant about it. Instead of meeting someone, connecting emotionally, dating and then engaging in some form of sexual intimacy, it seems like somehow the stages of a relationship have been switched. The hook-up culture on college campuses allows young adults to engage in sexual encounters outside the context of a relationship, which are often viewed as too time consuming by men and women hoping to succeed at school and in careers (Lamont, 2014).

Another interesting concept to add to the mix is that of dating apps. Now the web offers us just such lengthy “name tags” in the form of social network profiles, online dating sites, chat rooms, and other shortcuts to making friends and dates. Just like live interactions, most of the resulting virtual meetings take place because similar interests and attracting forces bring people together (Gruman et al., 2016). The problem with dating apps like Hinge, Tinder and Bumble is that one never knows whether the person they match with on that app is looking for a relationship or just a hook-up. Despite this, however, there are definitely positives to these apps as well. They provide for an expanded pool of potential mates which can be a great thing if you’re looking to date or hook up with a broad variety of people who are different from you. One thing is for certain, while the nature of relationships have certainly changed in terms of how humans find and court their potential partners, but what people are looking for is largely the same as it ever was: companionship and/or sexual satisfaction.

Personally, I know people that have had both success and failure with dating apps. My best friend had the worst heartbreak of her life with a guy she met on Hinge. She thought he wanted a relationship, but it turned out he was looking for something more casual. On the other hand, one of my friends met her husband on Tinder during freshman year. They now have a baby and are expecting another one due in the fall. Relationships that begin online may be stronger and longer lasting because people often feel more comfortable expressing their true selves to others online, and greater self-disclosure has been shown to lead to greater relationship satisfaction (Gruman et al., 2016). In short, dating will always be scary, but I think that by putting yourself out there, whether in person, online or both, you definitely increase your chances of meeting someone and eventually having a healthy and happy relationship.

References:

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

LAMONT, E. (2014). NEGOTIATING COURTSHIP: Reconciling Egalitarian Ideals with Traditional Gender Norms. Gender and Society, 28(2), 189-211. Retrieved April 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43669872

Many movies and fantasies usually revolve around the idea of “love at first sight.” You know, that warm and fuzzy feeling you get the first time you lay eyes on “the one”. How true is this idea? What’s behind those butterflies and jaw drop a lot of people seem to experience?

The first thing many people notice about someone is their physical attractiveness. This attention to another’s attractiveness is due to a form of the primacy effect, “the tendency to be especially influenced by information that is presented first” (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). Someone who is attractive is going to easily catch your eye. Along with physical attractiveness, we can engage with someone through words and actions. As stated in the text, even if you are having a conversation over the phone with someone for the first time, our imaginations can try to gauge just how attractive this person is (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). So, this feeling of immediate infatuation is often common and difficult to determine the level of attraction.

People also typically associate good things with good looking people. A lot of times, people who are physically attractive fall under a certain stereotype. This stereotype alludes to the idea that because these people are attractive, they possess positive qualities in contrast to someone who may be seen as conventionally unattractive having negative qualities (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). However, because this is just a stereotype and not a fact, this could be shocking when someone who is attractive turns out not so nice. Due to this surprise, love with someone like that may not be possible.

In the text, it states that the term attraction almost suggests a type of force (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). Many people seem to believe that having an attraction this strong to someone who you just met is considered “love at first sight”. Depending on how you define love in a relationship, it does not seem likely that this quick infatuation is considered love. It is not likely that you are going to experience a situation like this because many people need to open up and learn someone before they can make a decision on whether they love this new partner or not. You may feel attracted to someone immediately upon seeing someone, but this idea of “love at first sight” is more fantasy than realistic.

References:

Gruman, J. A., Schnieder, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied Social Psychology (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publication Inc.

I feel optimistic about things I know I can accomplish, while being hesitant diving headfirst into anything unknown. When self-doubt comes up, people have told me to “have some faith and quit being pessimistic”.  I usually reply that I’m just being realistic by looking at all the things that can go wrong. I never want to lie to myself by saying everything will work out without having any actual experience.

It turns out that my definition of optimism and pessimism has been too narrow. Being an optimist doesn’t mean to have blind faith that you can do anything in the world, or that having an optimistic attitude will produce a better outcome while making the same mistake. Rather, an optimistic person is someone who acknowledges that good things can and do happen, and with the right approach, good things will happen for them too (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). Having a positive belief like this creates a drive to persevere, keep trying, or take another approach. A lot of the “winners” in the world don’t win because they possess something magical, many of them win because they don’t quit until they do – and this positive attitude propels their behavior.

On the other hand, a pessimistic person is likely to set out with negative expectancies, which can reduce their motivation, sap their drive, and cause them to quit too soon (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). Throwing in the towel may strike the pessimist as just another failure that validates their pessimistic explanatory style (i.e., “I have no skills”), not realizing they’ve succumbed to a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Looking back, I realize I was caught somewhere in the middle. A part of me was afraid to be optimistic because if I didn’t succeed when I thought I would – I’d be a failure. However, this doesn’t really make for a good argument, because if I am pessimistic and fail, it doesn’t mean I was successful because my hunch was correct! The end result will still be the same. Wouldn’t it make more sense to at least give yourself a better chance with an optimistic attitude?

Lately, I’ve been working on finding a better balance in my thoughts. I’m changing some of my negative cognitions such as “I don’t have enough time”, to “how will I create an extra hour this week”? I’m also reframing optimistic thoughts from “I will be in great shape this summer” (which sounds like I’m kidding myself), to “if I follow this well-laid out plan, I will meet my goal of being in great shape this summer”. I also know I don’t need to be Mr. Positive all the time, provided my fears are because of unstable (changing) attributions such as “I don’t have any experience tiling a floor”, rather than something that can’t change such as “I’m not very handy”. In this case, I can use ‘defensive pessimism’ to research and learn everything I need to know before beginning (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). Sometimes being a little nervous can help us to step up and work harder. In that way, a touch of pessimism can challenge us to work harder knowing we might fail, instead of giving up quickly to get it over with (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2016). Reframing my thoughts in a practical, positive light don’t have me feeling like I’m kidding myself, and the touch of extra-preparedness has given me more confidence. If you try it, I hope you’ll feel the same way.

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2016). Applied Social Psycology; Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc.

My school had implemented an Anti-Bullying program when I was in fifth grade. If I am being honest, my school did poorly in implementing the bullying program. I grew up in a small football town where everyone was able to find out everything about everyone. This made it almost impossible to have secrets or a private life. This led to embarassing stories quickly spreading throughout the town. They implemented the program only after several students lost their lives over bullying. Unfortunately, the teachers were not trained appropriately to handle this bullying program.

The school implemented this program right before technology really blew up. At first, the school thought it would be able to handle the bullying problem. Until it quickly began backfiring. The students who needed the program the most began making fun of the program in hopes to stop the bullying they were experiencing. One student went to several teachers, explaining their problems. The teachers were unable to help due to their lack of training, their advice was to ignore the bullies in hopes they would stop. Therefore, this student committed suicide when the bullying became too much for him to handle.

I believe my school failed in several ways when it came to implementing an anti bullying program. I believe the school should have implemented it at a much younger age, and before the bullying program got out of hand. They also did not spend enough time training the teachers to handle the bullying problem. The article, “Implementation of the Olweus bullying prevention program in American schools: Lessons learned from the field. Bullying in American schools: a social-ecological perspective on prevention and intervention” explained how having multiple teachers can make anti bullying programs less effective. In fifth grade, when the program was implemented, we were changing classes. This made it harder to have a sense of community. We did not have the same teacher with the same class for 8 hours a day. Therefore, it was easy to have cliques and distance ourselves from others.

Another problem was what the other article pointed out, “Students’ Perspectives on Cyber Bullying”. After implementing the program, the students still had no place to report the bullying. We did not have a close relationship with the teachers, and we did not understand the bystander effect so we were less likely to report problems. The students also had reservations of reporting bullying in fear of becoming bullied ourselves. Therefore, my school is a perfect example of how the anti bullying programs can fail in the American school systems.

References

Agatston, P. W. et al. Students’ Perspectives on Cyber Bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6, Supplement 1). Dec. 2007. pp. S59-S60.

Gruman, J. A., Schnieder, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2017). Applied Social Psychology (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publication Inc.

Limber, S.P. (2004) Implementation of the Olweus bullying prevention program in American schools: Lessons learned from the field. Bullying in American schools: a social-ecological perspective on prevention and intervention. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Ch. 17. pp. 351-363.

Growing up our parents/caretakers are meant to nourish and nurture our growth. Whether this happens of course is very dependent on the environment we are in and the resources we have access to. When we are children, our parents have the ability to control our environment, thereby influencing the experiences we can have. Even though we cannot change the situations we are born into, we can change how we move forward once we develop our own sense of self.

During infancy, there are three attachment patterns which Mary Ainsworth identified that may develop including secure attachment, anxious/ambivalent insecure attachment, and avoidant insecure attachment (Gruman, Schneider & Coutts, 2016) . In addition, Bartholomew identified four different adult attachment styles that can develop later on including secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing (Gruman et al., 2016). The attachment style you develop as a child is not guaranteed to be the same attachment style you stick to as an adult, this depends on the experiences which shape your perception and perspective. A meta-analysis of attachment stability found that after 15 years there were no relationship between attachment styles from childhood to adulthood (Gruman et al., 2016). 

It is easier said than done but it’s all about finding the right balance between everything in your own life, whatever that means for you. We are all gifted with a set of skills that make us unique. These gifts inherently come with their own battles, and in order for us to understand ourselves better, we need to face the obstacles on our individual path. In this day and age, people value success more than they value health and well-being, not everyone but just in general. When you do this it’s easy to get lost in the chaos of it all. For example, when you keep striving for success you may start to neglect yourself. In the long-term, this can lead to some kind of illness which requires a cure or treatment, even though it could have been prevented.

Wherever you are in life, the things which you have learned and have gone through do not define who you are, but rather make up your current perception of the situation. With that said, it’s never too late to make a different decision for yourself that will ultimately lead to a different outcome and your happiness.

References:

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

Social media has been an encompassing array of platforms allowing for virtual connectivity when otherwise would be impossible. These platforms can be used to connect with family, friends, coworkers, and even used for business purposes. The main idea is to allow constant connection without the need for direct in person contact.

Due to recent health issues with the pandemic, the world has seen an ample increase in social media use with trendy hashtags, positive posts about staying healthy, the community efforts to give back and care for those around them, and also with education. An issue with this, as positive as it is, is the lack of social interaction directly which affects the prefrontal cortex development, especially in adolescents.

A quick lesson on the brain to give a more clear understanding is mainly dealing with the prefrontal cortex, and in this case of social interaction, the lateral prefrontal cortex. This specific part of the brain is involved directly with emotion regularity which allows a person to pick up social cues and the aura of an individual during a conversation/interaction.

So what does this mean for someone who doesn’t want social interaction yet wants to stay in touch? Most likely this person will have difficulty with in person social interactions as their prefrontal cortex will not be adapted to the normal social interaction occurrence. It is important to alway balance all aspects of our lives and when dealing with electronics, we cannot allow them to overcome our normal ability to interact directly.

References:

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied Social Psychology; Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc

Attachment theory is an interesting topic to explore in order to understand relationships. For me, it was the beginning of many “ah ha!” moments once I started engaging my own story and who I’ve come to be in this world. One of the major areas of hope in my life has been the fact that internal working models can be changed through earned security (Gruman et al, 2017). The fact that attachment insecurity is related to so many negative health outcomes, and that with enough intentionality can be changed is significant.

I think that it is of utmost importance for social scientists to consider this theory vital not just for intimate relationships, but domains such as criminal justice and education. For example, a large number of prison inmates have insecure attachment styles (Hansen et al, 2011). A large portion of those who engage in anti-social behaviors or drop out of high school do as well. There needs to be much more research done to understand why certain social issues continue to perpetuate. I think that paternal and especially maternal investment and security play the most significant role in children’s outcomes. Part of revitalizing impoverished communities, the criminal justice system, education system, and so on is to first recognize that the closest relationships to children in vulnerable stages of development are the most defining.

This leads us to ask the question “what can we do to change this?” If transmission of adversity is passed from one generation to another, then certainly resilience can be. It’s the job of social scientists to explore and implore different realms of influence on the significance of attachment theory. Some practical ways of intervention may be providing resources for new mothers. Another way could be for schools to screen students for those at risk of attachment insecurity, and have trained professionals available to work with them.

I see attachment as much greater than a predictor of relationships. It is a way to understand social issues beyond the black and white judgment that someone is just a bad egg. Neurobiology over the past ten years has been revealing the significance of the early perception of safety and social/health outcomes. I’ll end with a nod to the Adverse Childhood Experiences study (ACE study). This study found that those who experience four or more adverse experiences before the age of 18, they are much more likely to experience chronic health issues and early death (Felitti et al, 1998). Social scientists must continue to emphasize these relationships are not simply interpersonal, but reach far into nearly all facets of society that deal with humans.

References

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8

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. ISBN 978-1-4833-6973-0

HANSEN, A. L., WAAGE, L., EID, J., JOHNSEN, B. H., & HART, S. (2011). The relationship between attachment, personality and antisocial tendencies in a prison sample: A pilot study. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 52(3), 268-276. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2010.00864.x

Social behaviors are often picked up and reinforced in societies and communities through observation and learning. At least, that was the case two decades ago. Nowadays, social behaviors can be easily picked up and adopted simply through the use of social media.

Social behavior is more generalized nowadays. Social media allows individuals from different cultures and social groups to learn about and even partake in social behaviors of other cultures. Obviously, this is a beneficial aspect as it allows for understanding of other cultures.

Yet, it also fosters unhealthy social behaviors. Competitiveness is a social behavior that is central to the Western identity. However, social media made it very possible for individuals to share so much about themselves and their lives. This is where competitiveness turns into unhealthy comparison.

In addition, communication and human contact is a social behavior that is also very central to our identities and well-being. Social media allowed for  diversified modes of communication, but it limited face-to-face communication so much so that it leads to the contrary of what it stands for: unsociable behavior.

References:

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied Social Psychology; Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc

I’ve experienced my current church community in a very positive light. This has not always been the case, as not all churches I’ve attended emphasized the same values that I would. However, my current church has provided a sense of community which has been a irreplaceable asset in my life (Gruman et al, 2017). This is especially important because I don’t have biological family or other communities to lean on for much support. I’ve used a reference to the bible verse Acts 4:34 in the title, because to me that is what church family is all about, helping each other.

There is a membership sense to my church community, although very welcome and warm for all. This membership quality brings a sense of purpose and belonging for those who take on its role (Gruman et al, 2017). Church members are committing to helping one another and are expected to have some sort of investment beyond consumption.

What drew me to this particular church was the emphasis on everyone being an equal participant in the church family, verses the typical one pastor in charge model. There are a variety of teams in the church made up of a variety of demographics, which definitely helps create a welcoming environment for diversity. This model was attractive for me because it empowers members from all walks of life to influence the lives of others (Gruman et al, 2017).

The sense of interdependency in this community is one of the key things that stuck out to me. Whenever there is a need in the community, others step up to help meet that need (Gruman et al, 2017). So new parents are support like meals, just like people coming out of surgery or other stressful events. People may need help moving, support from a loss, finding a job, even paying their bills.  From transportation, recommendations and vehicle troubles, there is an umbrella of security in being a part of a helping community. From personal experience, I have been given so many baby clothes that I haven’t needed to buy any for like the first year of my daughter’s life! I think that the main priority of a church community is that it meets the needs of the people who make it up.

Finally, the emotional connection and intimacy in my church community is what brings all these other qualities to life. There is an element of authenticity here that allows us to be imperfect yet accepting of one another (Gruman et al, 2017). Our belief and faith in Jesus give us a common ground, whether conservative or liberal. I so appreciate the sense of love in a community that can actually have fairly contrasting ways of life, yet share in a bond that transcends those differences.

The facets of qualities that make up a sense of community are what help me to keep engaging. As someone who experiences social anxiety, I notice that it takes an extra nudge sometimes to get out of my comfort zone and be around others. As time has passed, I’ve experienced the benefits of emotional connection, belonging, help fulfilling needs, and having my own voice respected and heard. I now see community as an essential part for living a fulfilling life.

References:

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.

Being in the military, communication is such a big deal, and we must affectively communicate and understand one another when things were to go in the worse way. But due to covid, we cannot do too much of hands-on exercises, so we usually communicate via online. It’s a new day and age and this is our new norm until things get better

When it comes to communicating effectively and if it’s easier online than face to face, I must say it was an easy transition for me but harder for others. In any branch, everyone is used to some hand-on-hand training and learning how to communicate with others in person, but this virtual learning is quite a change. We learn code words, hand and arm signals and learn to read lips and body language in order to communicate effectively. For those reservists that usually come in once a month for this type of training, their command has worked day and night to make it work virtually so we can know our job, retrain to better our skills, and learn new things on the way.

Online communication is quite different but if we work hard enough, it’s quite the same. The good thing about us virtual learning with us is that we make it seem that we are all with one another learning. As in we conduct exercises, and they will make you all participate different ways through virtual learning. For example, we had a worldwide base exercise but via online that everyone was petrified it wouldn’t work. This is something we do once a year but obviously in person. The exercise went pretty well because we had to deal with every unit (career field) to work on a certain issue. This issue was an unauthorized aircraft that landed, and we all had to communicate and work together to successfully figure out why it landed on our flight line and handle it accordingly. In this case, it was a terrorist with intentions of hurting those on base.

We all did very well communicate with one another through virtual communication and it was a very intense but great learning experiences for everyone. Communication goes a long way through in person and online. We just all have to find a common ground and understand one another effectively.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied Social Psychology; Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc

Individuals have their unique preferences for the type of environments that they desire to live in. (Gruman et al., 2017) Life in the city is often fast and exciting, but it is not the healthiest environment in my opinion. City life has its advantages, but it also comes with an abundance of stress due to the mass amounts of stressors and distractions. (Gruman et al., 2017) These stressors and distractions lead to stimulus overload, which limits one’s capability to respond to things in their environment. (Gruman et al., 2017) The effect of stimulus overload is exhausting to our nervous systems and it causes us to block out attention to things in our environment. (Gruman et al., 2017)

I have lived in Washington, DC ninety percent of my life. I have also live in a small town in western Maryland and my quality of life and health was the best it has ever been in my life. During my time in DC, I have experienced many of the six ways of retreat identified by Stanley Milgram. (Gruman et al., 2017) I would show up to events and leave early, to rush through social interactions. (Gruman et al., 2017) I was not cognitive of details and people that were not relevant to my objective, I was avoiding low priority things. (Gruman et al., 2017) I used apps for task like shopping, car repairs, and financial services to limit human interaction. (Gruman et al., 2017) My on-going stressful personal experience that I will be discussing is getting my home built by an independent contractor in DC.

There were barriers put into place during the permit approval process to limit social interaction. (Gruman et al., 2017) We were emailing each other back and forth the majority of the time. I also was not directly managing the resources, everything was done through a third party virtual process. In an effort to reduce the stressfulness I could have been more patient. I was overwhelmed by my timeline’s pressure and sense of urgency. I would have been able to focus my energy on more positive events and behaviors. I was too exhausted to attend social events and spend time with others.

I experienced extremely high levels of stress, frustration and disappointment. I was suffering from chronic pain, chest pains, inflammation, mood swings, and poor sleeping habits. Building the house was an uncontrollable event for me. I was dependent upon the work and actions of other individuals for successful completion of the project. The negative immune responses that occurred was a result of the uncontrollability of the process. (Taylor, 2018)  I was frustrated from the filters of having to talk to multiple individuals before reaching the person that was able to resolve my concerns. (Gruman et al., 2017) I tried to establish entities to deal with concerns to allow me to focus on other things. (Gruman et al., 2017) I tried to accomplish this by hiring a permit expediter to limit my interactions with individuals. This did not work out for me as the permit expediter did not perform well. I had to step in to facilitate the process.

Washington, DC is a city with lots of red tape that makes things difficult for the average person. If you do not belong to a community of influence and power it will unnecessarily take you a very long time to navigate processes. I turned to online communities and learned that I was not alone in my struggle. I started attending stakeholder meetings and communication with individuals in the development community. I was able to find a sense of relief. I felt intimidated because my project was very small scale. One of the professionals reassured me that no matter the size, my project is important and deserves proper care and attention.

Face to face interactions at meetings with fellow stakeholders and officials provided the most community support for me. I was lost in the city. During those meetings I was able to find my way. Social interaction is important for relationship building and the sharing of information. Small face to face communities work best for me as I do not suffer from stimulus overload.

Resources

Complementary & alternative medicine for mental health. (2016, April 8). Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/sites/default/files/MHA_CAM.pdf​

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied Social Psychology; Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc

Taylor, S. E. (2018). Health psychology. 10th edition. New York: McGraw Hill