PSYCH 424 blog

With the presence of the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years, a topic that has become more relevant for public discussion is the disparity present in healthcare based on race/ethnicity. Different academic studies and personal stories shared by individuals demonstrate a notable difference in how patients of different races/ethnicities are treated by their doctors. Doctors state that overt racism is not common among individuals that decide to work in healthcare, but it is clear that implicit biases still make their presence known as they can be seen in the statistics of health outcomes of individuals of different races (Penner et al., 2010). Though largely unintentional, racism and discrimination still hold a place in our healthcare systems. So what can be done about it? How can we help healthcare providers recognize and work against their implicit biases and/or aversive racism?

When looking at the COVID pandemic in the United States, a study estimated that Black individuals were 3.57 times more likely to die from the virus than white individuals whereas Latino/Latinx individuals were 2 times as likely to die from the virus compared to white individuals. In general, black males and females also have shorter life expectancies and display higher rates of blood pressure than their white counterparts (Rees, 2020). It is important to consider the stress that is caused by systematic racism, along with the social class separation that is often seen when discussing ethnic minorities. Lower quality of life in relation to these social factors will certainly have an impact on an individual’s health outcomes, but these factors go beyond the topic of this discussion. While it is important to mention the systematic differences that can contribute to health problems within ethnic minorities, the statistics mentioned above are significant enough that they are due at least in part to inadequate healthcare.

Gruman et al. (2017) describe aversive racism as an indirect form of racism in which an individual does not recognize that they are racist or have a prejudiced attitude towards any particular racial or ethnic group. Most doctors (and people in general) would likely not describe themselves as having racist biases but may fall into the trap of aversive racism in which they are not consciously aware of their racially based attitudes or beliefs. After all, most doctors take the Hippocratic oath when graduating from medical school, swearing to do no harm to their patients and to uphold ethical standards. While it may initially seem that there is little to do about changing implicit biases as they operate on an unconscious level, there are methods that researchers suggest could prove helpful in reducing the disparity seen in the healthcare system. Specifically, there appear to be promising short-term effects in reducing bias by making medical professionals aware of the potential effects of implicit bias on health outcomes and medical encounters, along with discussing how to correct the biases that these physicians may hold. When looking to improve outcomes in the long term, researchers mention self-regulatory processes that physicians can engage in to reduce even minor occurrences of racially biased decision-making (Penner et al., 2010).

In summary, racial biases are present in the United State’s healthcare system and they often have a negative impact on the health outcomes of people of color when compared to white individuals. Implicit biases and aversive racism can play a major role in negatively affecting the quality of care that physicians provide, even though they are not consciously aware of these tendencies. With the awareness of this issue though, physicians can make a conscious effort to implement intervention strategies to ensure better care is provided for all individuals. When we become mindful of our human tendencies regarding racially based biases (and biases in general), we can make a deliberate change to make the world a better place for everyone.

References

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

Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., West, T. V., Gaertner, S. L., Albrecht, T. L., Dailey, R. K., & Markova, T. (2010). Aversive racism and medical interactions with black patients: A field study. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 436–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.11.004 

Rees, M. (2020, September 16). Racism in healthcare: Statistics and examples. Medical News Today. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/racism-in-healthcare

Diversity and inclusion is a critical focus in our culture and has been for many years. Let’s dive deeper as to why diversity and inclusion is so important and needed in our lives, especially in our work places. So, what is diversity? Diversity represents what makes us distinct from one another, such as how we think, how we look, and how we behave. To be more specific, diversity is our differences in religion, sex, ethnicity, physical ability, nationality, social class, and sexual orientation to name a few. Diversity can also come from our culture and our learned ways of doing things (Gruman et al., 2017). It is all of these differences that make us who we are as we coexist together. By having a variety of unique individuals working together you build a cohesive stronger team with many beneficial elements from separate backgrounds and experiences that can lend to a robust effective team.

Some things that can get in the way of building a united inclusive diverse team are stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination. Stereotypes are often unfair/untrue generalized assumption about characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of a particular category of people. Prejudices are beliefs or opinions towards others purely created by group membership and not from reason. Discrimination is the actual treatment or unfair action directed at others based on a group they belong to or for reasons of certain generalized traits (Gruman et al., 2017). These types of biases can hurt a team and more directly a person. They may feel isolated and disengage from the team; this type of treatment can possibly cause anxiety or depression. If people are not aware of stereotypes or prejudices that they may have and do not work to combat them, they can hurt an individual. This in turn will damage their team, which would become less effective and would loose a valuable member’s perspective and contributions.

Thankfully we have conflict management and resolution tools to educate and counteract these behaviors. It is important to build strong diverse teams where everyone is included and diligently working to become an effective efficient group, where all members matter and can fully participate. This can be accomplished through different trainings, mentoring, and team development activities. Coalition building can help change social norms and have a positive impact on intergroup relations. One factor that research has identified for coalition building is a high acquaintance potential. Meaning the more possibilities for informal and personal activities between different people can allow them to get to know each other better and increase positive interaction among a group (Gruman et al., 2017). Constructing this type of environment can empower people to rise above their differences and choose to collaborate with mutual understanding, patience, and flexibility in mind. This would help form an appreciation for one another and have a better understanding of what everyone brings to the table.

Having a truly diverse and inclusive work force can enhance problem solving, widen the talent pool, and promote an agile, creative, innovative team. These benefits can create job satisfaction and solidarity in an organization. Implementing unconscious bias training, conflict management and resolution tools, and team-building activities will create positive moral while encouraging productively. The result is a win-win environment that improves retainability and members of a company become happy and effective. So why does diversity and inclusion matter? Simply put, it brings the best out of each of us individually and together.

Reference

Gruman, J.A., Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

No. No, I’m not. I’m a polyamorist. Many adults hear the word poly or that you don’t identify as a monogamous person and instantly pull out the polygamist card. Not only does this show their lack of understanding about anything outside of monogamy but it also instantly flashes a red light that you’re in for a potentially judgmental ride. Non-Monogamy is a big wide colorful umbrella that covers any intimate, romantic, or purely sexual relationship involving more than two people regardless of sex or gender, or an individual engaging in any of these with more than one person. From the polygamist in Utah with multiple wives, the cheating wife or husband next door, the person who likes to date around and lie and play games, to the couple who likes to occasionally “swing”, Throuples, “kitchen table poly”, and those who marry or partner up lifelong with multiple people, anything outside of the monogamous relationship norm is “non-monogamous”. But there is still a bit to clarify here, I wonder why there is so much confusion!

There are a million and one ways to practice non-monogamy, chances are you have been involved with something that could be labeled as such (have you ever flirted with or wanted to sleep with someone outside of your relationship? Or done so?). Don’t worry, these behaviors and feelings are totally normal. Desiring various attentions from people and finding comfort in others is a very human (animal) thing to do and one that evolutionary anthropologists and psychologists have been clued into for a long time as part of how we evolved (Ryan & Jethá, 2011). Our biology screams at us to procreate, and society and the industrial revolution forced us into nice neat monogamous packages when the breadth of our existence we did nonesuch thing. Ever wonder why divorce rates are so high? It doesn’t mean you failed as a partner, it just means monogamy, for many, is a bubble waiting to be popped.

Beyond all of the many types and ways to be non-monogamous, as seen above, there are two very important elements here that can keep you nice and dry. Is the non-monogamy ethical, and consensual? Are all individuals involved fully in the know of the boundaries and expectations, and, do they fully consent? Here is the dividing line between Polyamory and Polygamy. A polyamorous person of any sex and gender could have many partners, but those partners have their own free will to date, marry, and do as they please within the boundaries they create together. A polygamist is always a man whose multiple wives are explicitly excluded from any relationship other than the one with him. The wives do have a form of consent but the removal of their free will in relationships with others is not ethical. Consent in this case is a very grey area as polygamy is a cultural and religious element for them and riddled with indoctrination, but for our purposes and to not open another massive can of worms, we will leave it at that.

Let’s take another example here to showcase ethics and consent and how prevalent non-monogamy truly is. Here is a person we all know, they are not ready to settle down and is just wanting to enjoy their 20s, party, and have lots of untethered and fun sex. In order to do so, they feel they have to play the monogamy model game and when confronted with potential partners, put on an element of interest beyond just sex. They then get caught sleeping with multiple people and drama and pain ensue. They may have gotten to have sex with multiple people but boy did they cause a lot of grief for themselves and others. Ethics and consent were nonexistent here but they were practicing non-monogamy. Zero ethics, zero consent.

On the other side, this person could have been very upfront with their desires for no emotional input and just wanting sex and they could have ethically enjoyed many partners with them fully consenting and being able to choose healthy safe sex practices. Ethical and consensual and with no grief or getting hurt, this would be considered the practice of consensual non-monogamy(CNM).  Later in life, this person may decide to become emotionally invested in more than one person and take these practices and ethics further into having multiple loving and consensual relationships and practicing polyamory. Great ethics, great consent.

So why do you think so many people choose to lie and cheat over being open and honest? Society at large still says anything outside of the monogamy bubble is not ok. Polyamory is still very heavily stigmatized and misunderstood and many stay in the dark with friends and family for fear of abandonment and often for fear of appearing as a threat to other marital friendships. Did you know the difference between polyamory and polygamy? It’s a big one right? The prevalence of CNM and specifically polyamory is growing exponentially in the U.S. There is a good chance one of your friends is at least interested in it but may be too afraid to speak openly about it for fear of being shamed or hurting friendships. Opening up dialogues with friends and family is a great way to understand yourself and them better, you never know who they truly are and how it could benefit your relationships, but treading lightly is always a safe bet.

Open conversation with your partner about your feelings can be bonding and even strengthen your relationship, and you never know how they may be feeling too. Motivations to engaging in polyamory have been studied and show many potential benefits to individuals such as more need fulfillment, sexual diversity, self-exploration, and deeper connection in partnerships. (Hnatkovičová & Bianchi, 2022). Compersion, or the feelings of happiness and enjoyment at the sexual and/or emotional pleasure and happiness of your partner, is also often felt more often and strongly by those called to polyamory. Here is some more food for thought, I’m a polyamorist but I don’t practice right now and I’ve been in a monogamous relationship for nearly 5 years. Are you no longer a monogamous person if you’re not in a relationship? A strong basis of my relationship is the understanding that we communicate and understand our basic biology and that we are human animals, we evolve and are constantly growing and changing as individuals. There is an emphasis on the word “practice” here and for good reason. The fundamentals of a good and healthy relationship are the same no matter how many people are involved.

Relationships of any kind can be hard work and when lust and the “new relationship energy” die down and your eyes, genitals, and sometimes hearts begin to look elsewhere, remind yourself, you are normal, it doesn’t mean you love your partner less, and monogamy is not the only way. Even just open communication and understanding of outside desires can be beneficial, even if you never choose to pursue anything under the non-monogamy umbrella. There is also a good chance, if you have an honest inspection of your feelings, there is a part of you who may resonate with these ideas. Just know that should you choose to, consent and ethics with everyone involved is the only way to not get drenched.

References:

Hnatkovičová., & D, Bianchi, G. (2022). Model of motivations for engaging in polyamorous relationships. Sexologies, 31 (3), 184-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sexol.2022.03.003. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S115813602200024X)

Ryan, C. & Jethá, C. (2011). Sex at dawn: the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality. Melbourne: Scribe

About a year ago, a Japanese politician’s sexist remark became huge news in Japan. The former Prime Minister and the head of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, said committee meetings with many women will last forever because women are competitive and talk too much (“Yoshiro Mori,” 2021). His remarks got massive backlash. Why did he receive so much criticism?

His remarks are severe problems because they encourage a system that eliminates women from decision-making process. This can lead to a society lacking diversity and only benefits the privileged. Also, such statements of authority would create a legitimate inequality between men and women.

Moreover, Japan’s gender gap stands out globally. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report says Japan “ranks 120th, among the lowest-ranked countries in the East Asia and Pacific region.” (Global Gender Gap Report 2021, p. 37). Thus, Japan lags far behind the rest of the world.

So what exactly can we do? For example, we need to increase the number of women in decision-making positions, evaluate women fairly, and read the meaning behind the words rather than just criticize them as terrible statements.

In fact, a #DontBeSilent campaign was sparked on social media over his comments. A petition was created demanding that Mori’s comments be addressed, gathering more than 150,000 signatures in less than two weeks. Mori eventually resigned and was replaced by a woman (DeWitt, 2021). In Japan’s male-centered society, comments like Mori’s are just the tip of the iceberg. However, this may be one of the first step toward positive change. Japan must urgently address gender equality.

Resources

BBC. (2021, February 12). Yoshiro Mori: Tokyo olympics chief steps down over Sexism row. BBC News. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56020674

DeWitt, L. E. (2021). Japan’s sacred sumo and the exclusion of women: The olympic male Sumo Wrestler (part 1). Religions, 12(9), 749. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090749

Global gender gap report 2021. World Economic Forum. (2021, March 30). Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021

Cole is a 14-year-old boy who struggles with fitting in at school. While all of his guy friends display masculine characteristics, Cole is more likely to be considered feminine. His guy friends have mentioned a couple of times before that Cole is “weird” for liking girl things and this makes him feel bad about himself. His Dad also notices that he plays with his Mom’s makeup, likes trying on his mom’s jewelry, and can be found in his sisters room trying on her heels from prom. Cole’s dad finally took the initiative to take him to a psychologist to see what’s going on.

Now, some individuals would realize what is going on in this situation, while others like Cole’s dad and classmates are criticizing and making him feel bad for who he has grown up to be. There is a difference between sex and gender. Sex is what an individual is biologically born into, this could be either male or female, whereas gender is the social/learned characteristics that come along with being a male or female (Gruman, et al., 2016). Although Cole has the sex of a male, he is displaying female characteristics through learning. Gender can change throughout an individual’s development from sociocultural influences and sex cannot change (Gruman, et al., 2016). It seems in Cole’s case that he has changed throughout his development and his dad is recognizing this and thinking that something is wrong with him when he is displaying behaviors associated with being a girl. 

In Cole’s situation, he has been surrounded by his sex his whole life which is what he was born into. Both of his parents created his room to match his sex as a boy to be blue, dressed him up as a boy in darker colors, surrounded him with boy toys, and had been referred to in male terms. Although his sex was apart of social categorization, this didn’t stop how he felt internally in life (Gruman, et al., 2016). He had always felt from a young age that he was different, but never knew how to express this feeling. After years of struggling in his body, one of his classmates came out as a new gender, he finally realized what had been wrong in his life. He now knows that he wants to be classified as the gender female. 

Cole’s psychologist had to explain the circumstances to his dad in a new light, one that Cole never felt comfortable enough explaining. His father had certain questions that Cole and him discussed. After getting good backlash from his father, it was now time to explain to his classmates what had been going on. When he told his guy friends, they all made fun of him, beat him up, and did not understand. This was a form of sexism, something that Cole had been warning about, but did not know would hurt his feelings this much. Sexism is a form of bias against a person or many people based on that person’s sex (Gruman, et al., 2016). In this particular case, the bias was expressed in a negative attitude and behavior, although it doesn’t always have to be. 

Overall, sex and gender differ and we can see this difference in Cole’s situation. Sexism is a response to gender diversity, also known as the difference in sexes, and is related to the treatment a person receives based on their sex (Gruman, et al., 2016). Many individuals struggle with their gender and it can change throughout their lives, but sex does not. Your sex is what you are biologically born with and this cannot be changed. Cole will always have the sex of a male but his gender is considered female.

Reference

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : 

Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, 

Incorporated.

Many Americans say that we need to achieve racial equality as a country. How do we do that? We must realize that there will be various consequences and characterized race-ethnic intergroup contact, including disparities in power. The ethnic and racial groups will come into contact using different expansion processes, such as migration, conquest, and expansion of territory.

According to the journal article “American racism is alive and well” (Roberts, S. O.) People frequently define racism as mistreating or disliking others based on their race, which is incorrect. Racism is a system of race-based advantage, and it’s a hierarchy, a pandemic deeply embedded within minds and society that is virtually impossible to escape. “Just as citizens of capitalistic societies reinforce capitalism, whether identity as a capitalist or not, and whether they wanted or not, citizens of racist societies reinforce racism, whether identified as racist or not and they want to or not” (Roberts, S.O., & Rizzo, M.)

Some factors contribute to racial tensions, such as categories or how it will organize people into distinct groups, then factions that trigger ingroup loyalty and intergroup competition. For example, professors assign better grades to mentees than others, and segregation hardens racist perceptions, preferences, and beliefs. Research shows that children are more attuned to the faces of the racial majority group. It emphasized that the number of exposure children has to different racial groups early in life affects how they think and act towards those groups when they become adults. Other factors that contribute to American racism are the hierarchy. In racist ways, it encourages people to think, feel and behave. Power will enact racism on both micro and macro levels.  The Media legitimizes overrepresented, idealized representations of White Americans while marginalizing people of color. And passivism or passive racism denies the existence of racism, encouraging others to act the same way.

Some studies found that when white Americans identify as “White,” they’re more patriotic. But Black and Latino Americans identify as “Black” or “Latino,” and they’re less patriotic. The world is crazy and complicated because of many forms of prejudice and oppression, not just based on race but gender, class, sexual orientation, etc. You are racially prejudiced if you have a discriminatory attitude or belief towards others or another group of people basis on their skin color or ethnicity. It’s a terrible act and inhumane behavior of people.

People need to understand why reducing racial prejudice and racism is relevant. Because it helps prevent the object of racism from achieving its full potential as a human being. It impedes racism from creating a total contribution to society; it helps people avoid engaging in racist n actions benefiting from the potential contributions of their victims, and racism is illegal, for example, harassment and insulting others.  People should not judge other people base on skin color or status. If we all are open-minded, stand up for equality, and learn to forgive, the world we are leaving will be a better place.

References

Pew Research Center. (2020, August 20). 3. discrimination and racial inequality. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/06/27/3-discrimination-and-racial-inequality/

University, S. (2020, June 9). Seven factors contributing to American racism. Stanford News. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://news.stanford.edu/2020/06/09/seven-factors-contributing-american-racism/

Sidanius, J., Levin, S., Laar, C. van, & Sears, D. O. (2008). The Diversity Challenge: Social Identity and intergroup relations on the College Campus. Research Gate. Retrieved September 29, 2022.

Gruman, J.A., Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

According to the Department of Labor (2016), employment discrimination is when an employer treats an applicant or employee less favorably merely because of a person’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. An example of workplace discrimination is being passed over for a promotion due to sexual orientation. Although illegal discrimination in the workplace takes place every day and this is an ethical concern. Many researchers over the years have studied the impact discrimination can have on a person. The APA (2015) found discrimination-related stress is linked to mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. Just as mental health issues are linked to discrimination stress, other studies have shown discrimination can lead to physical health related issues such as, high blood pressure, coronary calcification, and low birthweight. A study done by researchers Castro et al. examined the relationship between work discrimination and health related issues among Filipinos in the United States (de Castro et al., 2008, p. 521).

In examining the relationship between work discrimination and health related issues in Filipinos, researchers reviewed data from a previous study conducted called “The Filipino American Community Epidemiological Study.” This study was conducted in 1998 until 1999 and surveyed people in different Filipino households. Participants were selected based on the following criteria: Filipino heritage, age 18 years or older, and residence in either Honolulu, Hawaii, or San Francisco, California (de Castro et al., 2008, p. 521). Researchers created the survey in three different languages, English, Tagalog, and Ilocano to be distributed for completion. The Filipino American Community Epidemiological Study (FACES) had a total of 2285 participants with a total response rate of 78%. In reviewing this data Case et al. went on to exclude results from any participants who were unemployed and missing data on work discrimination, leaving only 1652 respondents results available to be analyzed (de Castro et al., 2008, p.521).

de Castro et al. (2008) set up his variables with the dependent variable being health conditions the participant may have or develop such as, asthma, diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, arthritis, rheumatism, cancer, neurological conditions, stroke, major paralysis, heart failure, angina or coronary artery disease, back problems, stomach ulcer, chronic inflamed bowel, enteritis, colitis, thyroid disease, kidney failure, trouble seeing, migraine headaches. (p. 521). Researchers de Castro et al. made their independent variables, Filipino-specific work discrimination, everyday discrimination, and job concerns. de Castro et al. measured Filipino-specific work discrimination by 2 items: “Since I am Filipino, I’m expected to work harder” and “Since I am Filipino, it is hard to get promotions/raises.” Everyday discrimination was measured with a 9-item questionnaire. Job concerns was measured by a subset of 10 job-oriented items from the Daily Hassles Scale. Also, demographic information was collected from participants such as age, gender, marital status, education, job status etc. (de Castro et al., 2008, p 521).

To summarize the results collected from the study, most participants fell under these buckets, 41 years old, male, married, resides in Honolulu (de Castro et al., 2008). Out of the entire population only a small number of participants were born in the US (17%). Also, at the time of this study majority of participants spent at least 47% of their lives in the US, had about 12 years of education, and belonged to a household earning less than $25,000 annually. I also think it is important to know that 74% of participants worked in service, 15% in manual labor and 12% in trade. Similarity to FACES 1999 study, de Castro et al. (2008) results show a strong association between reports of work discrimination and increased health conditions in Filipino Americans. (p. 523).

Now that we understand there is an association between workplace discrimination and physical health issues how can stop this relationship? McConnell shares some preventative measures businesses can take to stop workplace discrimination and promote health. For once, McConnell share it’s important for companies to familiarize themselves with anti-discrimination laws. That way, workforces can create and implement a clear anti-discrimination policy and mandate an anti-discrimination training. But above this, McConnell shares that us as employees should be familiar with anti-discrimination laws to understand when we are be discrimination against, and in turn be proactive in stopping it (McConnell, 2021).

References

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). The impact of discrimination. American Psychological Association. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2015/impact

de Castro, A. B., Gee, G. C., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2008). Workplace discrimination and health among Filipinos in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 98(3), 520–526. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2007.110163

How to prevent workplace discrimination in 5 ways. Modern ATS & collaborative recruitment software. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://recruitee.com/articles/prevent-workplace-discrimination

US Department of Labor. (2016). Know Your Rights. WASHINGTON, DC.

What is employment discrimination? US EEOC. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.eeoc.gov/youth/what-employment-discrimination

Prejudice and discrimination are common in schools and are causing unacceptable behavior, such as school crimes. This article demonstrates the link between racial tensions and school crime and how it is causing violence in young people. In addition, Maume et al. (2010) shed light on the social bonding theory and how it restricts the concept of “school” variables to the person’s relationship with or perceptions of their school and teachers or the duration of time spent on school-related events in comparison to other activities. In this week’s lesson, I learned about the social identity theory, which is similar to explaining the behavior that people perform at different times.
Maume et al. (2010) highlight that one of the main issues with school crimes is the school itself. A solution would be to develop an intervention to reduce school racial tensions. One suggestion the researcher made was to create an uplifting school environment where students want to learn. “This solution may involve efforts at reform, including curricular efforts aimed specifically at crime and/or violence prevention; however, it also may be interpreted as a call to change the physical structure of schools to one that allows fewer opportunities for school disorder to emerge (e.g., reducing school size, or breaking up a large high school into smaller ones)” (Maume et al., 2010). This quote is important because it implements an intervention to see if it will help reduce racial tensions. Therefore, school crime will decrease.
Another intervention to reduce school crime is to enhance teaching staff diversity. Helping at-risk students may reduce the likelihood of juvenile delinquency. Students of color benefit from professors with similar backgrounds (Estrada et al., 2018). Additionally, sheltered and respected kids are more likely to succeed academically and have fewer behavioral issues. Providing various services may also reduce school crime.
Lastly, building stronger relationships between students and faculty might be one approach that is used to reduce the incidence of criminal behavior in schools. For example, the staff could spend more time getting to know the kids; train on cultural competency and unconscious bias, or employ more people from underrepresented groups (Estrada et al., 2018). Also, it has been shown that students of color benefit from having teachers in the classroom who have their own racial or cultural backgrounds. It is far more probable that a student will achieve academically and have fewer behavioral concerns if they feel respected and protected in the classroom.
Furthermore, providing students with the opportunity to express their ideas and viewpoints, as well as making an effort to cultivate constructive connections between teachers and students, are all critical components of a practical educational setting and will reduce racial tensions.

References:

Estrada Jr, J. N., Huerta, A. H., Hernandez, E., Hernandez, R. A., & Kim, S. W. (2018). Socio‐ecological risk and protective factors for youth gang involvement. The Wiley handbook on violence in education: Forms, factors, and preventions, 185-202.

Maume, M. O., Kim-Godwin, Y. S., & Clements, C. M. (2010). Racial Tensions and School Crime. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 26(3), 339–358.

Individuals have been stereotyped for centuries and stereotypes do not fall onto a certain race or gender. Everyone is stereotyped. Some examples may include “blondes are dumb” or “girls should play wtih dolls and boys play with trucks”. Stereotypes are beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups (Gruman, 2016, p. 402). When we stereotype individuals we increase the likelihood of stereotype threat.

Stereotype threat is a fear or nervousness that your behavior will exemplify a negative stereotype about your in-group, thereby confirming the accuracy of the stereotype (Gruman, 2016, p. 403). This can also be defined as the labeling theory because labeling and stereotyping are alike. The labeling theory suggests that one’s self identity and behavior could be determined or influenced by the term used to describe them. 

For example, there is a stereotype that women are not expected to perform well in math. When receiving an exam, she may be nervous about her performance, nervousness may negatively affect her score by affecting concentration, which is contributing to the stereotype (Gruman, 2016, p. 403). In this example factors play a part in the result of confirming the stereotype threat. However another example could be of an individual suffering from depression. If the individual is labeled as depressed by his/her family, health care provider, and friends. This person may identify as being depressed for the rest of his/her life. Which will negatively affect this person’s life. 

More examples to include are stereotyping men and women. In terms of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable for instance, men are supposed to be the protectors and providers. Women are supposed to be caregivers and homemakers. There are also occupational stereotypes for instance when you think of a secretary or nurse you think of a female. When you think of a welder or doctor you think of a male. Gender stereotyping can also negatively affect the population by altering the individual’s perception about what is and what is not socially acceptable given your gender. For example if a female wants to be a welder, there should not be tension or stigma produced by her desires and goals. If a male wants to become a nurse or do hair for a living then he should be able to without the stigmatization. 

Women and men were created equal, however there are still labels, stereotypes and stigmas that are still present in the social world creating barriers that may forbid an individual from pursuing his/her dream. Stereotyping and labeling negatively affects and impacts the human race. Our characteristics do define us but we should not put negative attitudes towards certain characteristics. This is how a society stays divided. For instance in highschool there are groups such as cheerleaders, basketball players, band members, etc. From school they go to school again and establish another group and stay divided from other groups. There are many factors that play a part in grouping humans and keeping them in their groups and some factors are parental attitudes and beliefs, effects of mass media, the effects of political views, the effects of one’s own perception of out-groups. If we changed our negative perceptions of the out-groups (any group that we do not identify as being a part of) to a compromising positive perception, we could accept and understand each other more. We could be aware of our differences but not label and stereotype our differences creating the stigmatization of certain groups and topics of groups. 

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

As a concurrent business and psychology major, I have a lot of overlapping concepts and themes that apply to different situations within both areas of study. Personally, I find it very interesting and it widens my scope of applicability for the given concepts and themes. Diversity is a common theme in my management and business courses; for it brings in new perspectives and ideas into an industry. On an international scale, diversity is inevitable and in a globalized as well as more interconnected world it is necessary for business operations to have strong relations in order to stay successful. Regarding applied social psychology, there are many ways interventions can be applied in the business world. 

Diversity in management is essential in general for hiring practices, project groups, and the organization as a whole. As the textbook notes, an increase in diversity leads to more creative and more productive processes, which can foster innovation and new ideas (Gruman, J. A., et. al. (2017) pages 400-401). In terms of international businesses, the ideas are similar. On a global scale, innovation is necessary to keep up with the rapidly changing economy and markets. “As firms internationalize, they can (re)combine knowledge derived from multiple locations and sources in their organization, allowing them to benefit from diverse knowledge” (Lumineau, F., et. al., 2021). The sharing of knowledge to form new concepts is imperative when growing multinational firms. This reinforces the concepts of innovations and new perspectives that trends through both management and psychology lessons. 

Better relations is also another key aspect of diversity that strengthens international business. Creating unified values is one way to identify commonalities between cultures. This could take place in the form of morals, ethics, belief systems, and lifestyles, among others. A study regarding how aligned values influences international relations and foreign policy found that positive international relations with foreign nations were supported through shared values (Wetherell, G., et. al., (2015)). Though this may seem counterintuitive because similarity and diversity tend to be incongruent, the ability to look past differences in religion, race, or varying ways of life, aligned morals or desires, think doing the right thing or generating profits; can create common goals that allow two countries to come together. Superordinate goals play a key in reducing out-group (foreign country) biases  (Gruman, J. A., et. al. (2017) page 407). Prioritizing higher-level wants can help different groups put aside their differences and generate better relations through cooperation.  

In one of my management classes, we had the opportunity to create a new culturally-blended snack with a partner from a university in Mexico. This can be seen as an assignment that acts as a pseudo-intervention as it was supposed to help us learn more about a different culture and learn how to work people or firms in other countries. For me, it worked effectively, as I learned more about a different culture and was able to connect with a person to keep in touch with. This project helped me communicate with and work with a student from a foreign country. Together, we were able to combine two traditional American snack foods, apples and popcorn, with Mexican Tajin spice and chamoy. We even successfully made a video demonstration that will be presented in class this week. 

International business allows for employees in the industry to experience different cultures and perspectives. When applying social psychology, one is able to see how the concepts of one curriculum translates to another one. The integration of diversity in the workplace and social psychology interventions can be seen in international business, management, and simply employee diversity training. The two courses integrate well and together and I look forward to identifying more overlapping lessons because it helps me apply and develop the concepts further. 

References 

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems

Lumineau, F., Hanisch, M., & Wurtz, O. (2021). International management as management of diversity: Reconceptualizing distance as diversity. Journal of Management Studies, 58(6), 1644-1668. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12686

Wetherell, G., Benson, O., Reyna, C., & Brandt, M. J. (2015). Perceived value congruence and attitudes toward international relations and foreign policies. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 37(1), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2014.973108

Link to the food demonstration if your interested :): https://psu.zoom.us/rec/share/2_XW2RxZgjoJJopjosJKsvThhnWNeB9tExH0yLeghCbh86KtmcGqtXgb685I5Ug.3voQZ8gmAth45Oja?startTime=1664147541000

Political viewpoints in the United States have become increasingly polarized – or so it seems. Politicians of both major political parties do not merely drive home their talking points but instead, launch a metaphorical missile of information (factual or counterfactual) directly into the faces of voters and opposing politicians. People from both major parties tend to use a dominating style of conflict management. This aggressive method of dealing with political opposition or conflict immobilizes future collaboration. If ideas were evaluated by their merit and discussed in terms of a common goal (hopefully the will of the people), political conflict might take on a less intense quality and lead to increased collaboration.

Gruman et al. (2016) describe interpersonal styles of conflict management. A dominating style of conflict management entails controlling the behaviors of others to get what one wants. This method puts concern for self above all others. This conflict style reminds me of two toddlers fighting over a toy. Toddlers have not yet developed the interpersonal skills to care about the other child’s feelings or needs, and thus they try to obtain what they want with force. Does this sound familiar? Don’t politicians do just this? 

The use of such force only prevents our country from making progress. Believe it or not, Gilsinan (2022) states that people from both sides actually agree about many talking points based on merit rather than political association. It is only at the mention of political affiliation that people choose sides. 

People take political sides because it fits their social identity. According to the social identity theory, we have two sides – personal and social identities. Our personal identity is our personal qualities and characteristics, while our social identity reflects our group memberships (Gruman, et al., 2016). So maybe our personal identity agrees with proposed legislation, but our social identity prevents us from supporting it because of how it might misalign with the objectives of our political party. Social identity and the associated “us versus them” mentality can prevent progress (Gruman et al., 2016). 

How can politicians work toward progress? To start, Gruman et al. (2016) describe that a compromising style of conflict management requires both parties to make concessions in order to work toward a common goal…a common goal. What is America’s common goal? I would argue that politicians’ common goal should be the will of the people – the majority of the American people, not stakeholders or special interest groups. In recognizing their common goal, they can work together to develop legislation. Yet, conflict is sure to arise even with the same common goal. 

In a study of mild versus intense task conflicts, Tsai (2022) discovered that intense disagreement when working with others stops collaboration in its tracks. In contrast, conflicts perceived as mild were met with openness and an attitude of increased desire to collaborate. Issues are blown out of proportion too often in politics. Instead of allowing these issues to escalate, politicians should instead frame them in a way that seems manageable and mild. The GRIT (Graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reduction) provides an attractive method of reducing the severity of conflict. Each side of a conflict takes small steps to de-escalate the situation while protecting their interests (Gruman et al., 2016). When issues are then viewed as minor, a sense of openness should develop within negotiations, leading to increased collaborative efforts (Tsai, 2022). In other words, minor conflicts are beneficial to negotiations!

Rather than allow party affiliations to drive the decision-making process, politicians should employ critical thinking skills and apply social psychology concepts to minimize rather than escalate conflicts. When their social identities threaten to derail progress, they should be held accountable for working toward collaboration and unity rather than division among parties and party supporters.

References

Gilsinan, K. (2022). America’s partisan divide is greatly exaggerated. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/29/america-partisan-divide-political-violence/.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

Tsai, M. (2022). Can conflict cultivate collaboration? The positive impact of mild versus intense task conflict via perceived openness rather than emotions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000448.

When thinking of psychology and health, many only think as far as mental health, leaving physical illnesses in the hands of traditional medicine. However, within the field of health psychology is the application of psychological knowledge to help those who suffer from physical illness. Psychologists are proponents of the biopsychosocial model, which differs from the biomedical model approach of traditional western medicine in two critical ways. While the biopsychosocial model incorporates the biomedical model’s attention to the body’s biological functioning, it also pays close attention to both the psychological and social influences on health (Gruman et al., 2017). Many chronic illnesses benefit from this interdisciplinary approach, as pharmaceuticals alone do not cover the complexities or causes of many of these illnesses and symptoms. One of these chronic illnesses that begs for a biopsychosocial approach to treatment is one I am very familiar with, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, also known as POTS.

POTS is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system, affecting an estimated 1 to 3 million people in the United States alone. The autonomic nervous system controls the bodily functions we are not conscious of, such as heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, digestion, and more. Within the autonomic nervous system are the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the “rest and digest” bodily processes, and the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the body’s “fight or flight” response in stressful situations. POTS includes a large array of symptoms including, but not limited to, dizziness, fainting, brain fog, increased heart rate, light and sound sensitivities, extreme fatigue, chest pain, headaches, and nausea. These symptoms vary in severity from case to case, ranging from mild to debilitating. Currently, there are no approved or licensed pharmacological treatment for POTS, yet healthcare providers commonly prescribe medications such as Fludrocortisone, Pyridostigmine, Midodrine, and Beta-blockers off-label with varying levels of effectiveness between patients (Cleveland Clinic).

Due to the nature of this condition with the body unable to achieve homeostasis between branches of the autonomic nervous system, outside factors play a significant role on symptoms. As the autonomic nervous system is responsible for how we handle stress, stress is a large contributor to POTS symptoms and flares, making the biopsychosocial model imperative when treating POTS. There are many forms of stress and people with chronic illness find themselves under stress quite often. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) defined stress as “a particular relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being” (Gruman et al., 2017, pg 212). Looking at POTS, it is easy for one to see how normally non-stressful tasks and environments may cause stress to an individual with POTS, as patients often have a much lower threshold before their well-being is in danger. Likewise, the physiology of someone with POTS may cause the body to be more reactive when dealing with stress due to the imbalance of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. So how can psychology help in dealing with POTS symptoms?

By looking at how individuals cope with stress, it is possible to help POTS patients learn how to manage their stress and therefore better manage their symptoms. According to Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) Transactional Model of Stress, once an individual has determined that a potential stressor is indeed threatening to them, they are then faced with the decision on how they will cope with this stressor. There are two strategies when it comes to coping: either problem-focused coping or emotion-focused coping (Gruman et al., 2017). In problem-focused coping, when an individual with POTS is presented a task that is overwhelming, perhaps because they know their symptoms will limit their ability to complete the task in a desirable fashion, this individual could help alleviate their stress by breaking apart the task in multiple smaller, more manageable portions. In other circumstances, the most one can do is regulate their emotions to the best of their ability. This is known as emotion-focused coping. For these reasons, I believe therapy to be an important factor in treating POTS, as a therapist can work with you to become better at managing stress in these ways. It is important for POTS patients to become skilled in effective coping strategies as an inability to remain composed in all types of situations will exacerbate symptoms, which in turn can heighten the level of stress felt, initiating an unfortunate snowball effect.

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is a complex disorder of the autonomic nervous system which calls for more than the biomedical model approach. While pharmaceuticals can be an important aspect of treating POTS, it is more or less putting a Band-Aid over a larger issue, and often times not a long-term solution. The biopsychosocial model looks beyond these treatment methods by investigating both the psychological and social influences on POTS as well. As a long-term solution, looking at factors such as an individual’s coping strategies to stress can help POTS patients keep their symptoms to a more manageable level and prevent further exacerbation of both stress and symptoms.

Reference:

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16560-postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome-pots

Gruman, J.A. Schneider, F.W. & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

As a teenage student, deciding to go to college can be one of the biggest decisions you make. The excitement to attend becomes overwhelming with the possibility of experiencing the best years of your life.  While school may have prepared you for the expected course load, what they don’t tell you is the prevalence of mental health problems that are common amongst students. In fact, the rates are increasing yearly, particularly in cases of depression and anxiety.  Fortune, a website, conducted a poll online that included 1,000 college students and 2,000 adults and found that 60% of college students were diagnosed with a mental health condition compared to the general population (Leonhardt, 2022).

Since the pandemic in 2020, those numbers have become even worse. In a survey conducted by Fortune, 56% of college students have reported their overall mental health became worse during the pandemic. Despite these high figures, many colleges are ill equipped with dealing with the mental health issues many are facing on campus. Counseling services are rarely advertised and those that are available deal with shortage of staff. According to the survey, only 30% of students use services provided on their campuses (Leonhardt, 2022).

There also seems to be a difference amongst depression in college men and women. According to a study done by Boggiano and Barrett, female college students reported higher rates of depressive symptoms on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) than male students. They were also found to have maladaptive attributions styles, like pessimistic explanatory styles (Boggiano & Barrett, 1991). The style conveys that a negative life event will continue over time, which is a stable attribution. It also will negatively influence other areas of their life, known as a global attribution (Gruman, 2017).

Is there any hope for the future? Absolutely. The rate of alcohol consumption had seen a significance decrease throughout the years due to successful inventions placed by colleges (Krieger et al., 2018). College campuses can implement programs to encourage the use of mental health clinics and create them if never provided. Flyers that indicate how common mental health issues are amongst students will let them they are not alone and may cause more students to seek help when needed. Counselors can treat depression using the Hopelessness Theory approach but shifting from hopelessness to hopefulness. Hopefulness is defined by Needles and Abramson as expecting positive outcomes in the future. First, having students in social environments that increase positive outcomes. Also, having students adapt an enhancing attributional style, which is have a stable and global attribution to positive events (Gruman, 2017).

References

Boggiano, A. K., & Barrett, M. (1991). Gender differences in depression in college students – sex roles. SpringerLink. Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00289566

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

Krieger, H., Young, C. M., Anthenien, A. M., & Neighbors, C. (2018). The epidemiology of binge drinking among college-age individuals in the United States. Alcohol research : current reviews. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6104967/

Leonhardt, M. (2022, July 15). Crisis on campus: 60% of college kids have mental health disorders, and schools are unprepared. Fortune. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://fortune.com/well/2022/07/12/mental-health-crisis-college-schools-unprepared/

After 2.5 years of avoiding COVID, I finally saw those two little dreaded lines appear on my 15-minute rapid test a couple of days ago. It sends me back to the emotions of the beginning of the pandemic and I am reminded of the intense fear that seemed to permeate existence. While it may have not been fully intentional, it seems that fear appeals were a substantial tactic employed to control behavior to prevent the spread of the virus. Looking back now, I wonder about the true impacts of these fear appeals and if there was a better way to encourage safe practices. Were these fear appeals actually effective in mitigating the spread of disease?

Fear appeals refer to a persuasive tactic in which a message is made to activate fear with the intention of encouraging or discouraging certain behaviors (Gruman et al., 2017). One significant example of a failed use of fear appeals includes the widely implemented D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. I remember representatives of the D.A.R.E. program visiting my elementary school classrooms in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, impressing the dangers of drugs on me and my peers through fear-based tactics such as negative imagery depicting the effects of drugs and lists of the health problems each drug could cause. Upon examining the impact of this program though, multiple studies report that the D.A.R.E. program had no long-term effect on drug use (Lynam et al., 1999). Other studies suggest mixed results regarding the effectiveness of fear appeals, demonstrating that they can be beneficial under certain conditions.

One of the suggestions regarding why fear appeals are not always effective involves the impact that they tend to have on an individual. Specifically, fear seems to have a larger impact on an individual’s intention of changing their behavior but does not dictate if an individual will actually implement behavior change (Gruman et al., 2017). With this in mind, there are specific tactics that can be implemented to make a fear message more impactful. These include creating a clear message about what behaviors will lead to the negative consequence(s) being discussed, demonstrating that the consequences are a real threat and can happen to the individuals of interest, discussing specific behaviors that should be used to avoid this consequence, and encouraging individuals to realize their capability to implement this behavior change (Gruman et al., 2017).

When applying these tactics to the COVID pandemic in the United States, there seems to be some room where improvement could have been made to effectively utilize fear appeals as a tool. For example, COVID was downplayed at the very beginning of the pandemic, with certain influential figures suggesting that it was not something to worry about. However, as the pandemic worsened, these fear appeals changed, which is most notably seen with the CDC’s approach to the pandemic. Specifically, the CDC made it clear that COVID was a real threat that could have negative impacts on anyone that comes in contact with the virus. They explained that dangerous behaviors, such as close contact with other individuals and unnecessary outings, increased an individual’s risk of catching the disease. They encouraged specific behaviors, including social distancing and mask-wearing, to help curb the spread of disease. The largest obstacle seemed to emerge in trying to convince people they were capable of making these changes. There was a lot of resistance among different groups, with political division creating barriers that made implementing this behavior change on a large scale more difficult. Masks were politicized and some even suggested that the virus was a hoax. While considering this, it becomes evident that creating an effective fear appeal is not as straightforward as it seems. Different individuals may have no desire to change their behavior, even if all other requirements for impactful fear appeals are met.

In conclusion, fear appeals often have the potential to create positive change, but specific requirements are needed to increase effectiveness. Even when these requirements are met, there is always a chance for resistance to the behavior that is being encouraged. In such a complex world, it is nearly impossible to account for all of the different types of reactions that fear appeals will elicit from the public. Fear appeals did seem to work on some level regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, as many people participated in behaviors encouraged by the CDC such as mask-wearing and social distancing. With these considerations in mind, it seems that the main goal of fear appeals should focus on encouraging as much of the desired behavior change within the population as possible while accepting that there will likely be certain individuals or groups resistant to these changes.

References

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

Lynam, D. R., Milich, R., Zimmerman, R., Novak, S. P., Logan, T. K., Martin, C., Leukefeld, C., & Clayton, R. (1999). Project DARE: No effects at 10-year follow-up. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(4), 590–593. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.67.4.590

I work in the fast-paced and competitive technology industry in Japan. Since Covid 19 happened, I have seen more colleagues suffering from depression and having to take a leave of absence than ever before. According to Yoshioka et al. (2022), Japanese people during the pandemic, especially women and the younger generation, are exposed to various stresses in employment and life situations, and as a result, their mental health deteriorates, and the suicide rate trend in Japan has increased significantly from April 2020 to December 2021, compared to the period before the Covid-19 pandemic. Is there any job more important than one’s health? I started to think.

One colleague took a leave of absence due to depression caused by her job responsibilities and pressures from clients. She was mainly in charge of managing the whole team, which may have been huge pressure on her. I later heard that she was unable to finish her work on time, had to devote more time to work at night and on weekends, got less sleep, and suffered from self-loathing. She also felt lonely because she was spending less time with her family and friends than before.

Tight deadlines, client negotiations, and management are quite stressful. If she had been able to receive social support and seek help from others when she felt such stress, it might have reduced her frustration (Gruman et al., 2016). Or, if she had been able to receive informational support, such as advice from peers or supervisors about her managerial role, it could have reduced her anxiety (Gruman et al., 2016).

If it seems that the burden is unevenly distributed to one member, or if someone seems to be struggling, it is of course important for those around them to support the member, but I also feel that it is important to seek support on one’s own. There is no shame in asking for support. I don’t think there is any work worth doing until you get sick, and we can only do great work if we take care of ourselves.

Resources

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

Yoshioka, E., Hanley, S. J. B., Sato, Y., & Saijo, Y. (2022). Impact of the covid-19 pandemic on suicide rates in Japan through December 2021: An interrupted time series analysis. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 24, 100480.　https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2022.100480

Depression is a standard and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you think, feel, and behave. It will lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. We all know that dealing with depression is difficult; Sometimes, we may feel like life isn’t worth living. Don’t be discouraged by how difficult your life is. You are not alone. Everyone experiences struggle, just on different levels.

When I’m sad, I think of something I so-called “Happy Thoughts.”  Such as remembering the first time I celebrated my birthday, passed my driving test, got my first car, and became a citizen of the United States. It’s a privilege I will always be thankful for the rest of my life. These are simple memories but memorable because I work hard to earn them. Sometimes I think of what I should cook for dinner. Somehow it brings joy to me when I think about food “who wouldn’t love food?” You must have a hobby that will help you in your daily routine, especially when bored. I want to share that my hobby is singing and cooking. What’s yours?

Listening to music helps reduce anxiety and depression when you feel lonely and sad. Stay in touch with your family and friends, like give them a call. A simple hi and hello will make a difference in your life. When you make a call and someone answers and is willing to listen to you, that’s how you know you are not alone. These will give you a reason to smile and love yourself. Reaching out is not a sign of weakness, and do not feel you are a burden to others. It’s good to stay connected. Just a one-call away!

When you are feeling depressed, don’t turn around and look for alcohol, drugs, or any other irrelevant effects because those are only temporary feelings that will help reduce the pain you are going through. Creating another problem is not going to help you fix the current issues. It would help if you faced your fears; it is the only way to avoid feeling low or anxious. Be more active by exercising because it can help boost your mood, but you must enjoy your exercise.  Facing your fears will help you develop your resilience. To build strength, it must start with you, and it begins in your mind.

Depression is not a part that normal of growing older; we shouldn’t take it for granted and don’t feel reluctant to seek medical help. Do not feel that you don’t have anyone. Go out, meet new people, and start building new friendships. Remember, life is beautiful. There is always hope that tomorrow is another day, and everything will be okay; have faith! “Live happy, stay strong.”

References

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2018, February 3). Depression (major depressive disorder). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 22, 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20356007.

NHS. (2021, March 2). How to cope with depression. NHS choices. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/tips-and-support/cope-with-depression

Melinda. (2022, September 15). Coping with depression. HelpGuide.org. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/coping-with-depression.htm

Samara Berrios

PSYCH 424

September 21, 2022

The National Institute of Mental Health describes social anxiety as a persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others (NIMH, n.d). Help Guide (2022) explain some social anxiety triggers are:

• Meeting new people
• Making small talk
• Public speaking
• Performing on stage
• Being the center of attention
• Being watched while doing something
• Being teased or criticized
• Talking with “important” people or authority figures
• Being called on in class
• Going on a date
• Speaking up in a meeting
• Using public restrooms
• Taking exams
• Eating or drinking in public
• Making phone calls
• Attending parties or other social gatherings

Continuing, it is said that about 12.1% of US adults experience a social anxiety disorder at some time in their lives (NIMH, n.d). I too am part of this statistic, currently navigating through treatments for a social anxiety disorder. Like my others, my social anxiety begins from the anticipation of work events, family gatherings, and even outings with friends, then carries over to when I am there. However, I shocked to find this statistic lower than 20%, as I personally know many other who are also suffering from social anxiety disorders. Usually, people believe social anxiety is benign and believe it can be resolved with something to take the “edge off.” But is the solution just that simple?

It is often depicted in the media alcohol is needed and normalized to feel at ease in a social setting. Beyond alcohol people also may rely on other substances to help them decrease anxiety in a social setting. A study done by Buckner et al. (2021) investigates the relationship between the biopsychosocial model, social anxiety, and substance abuse. It is important to know individuals with elevated social anxiety are more vulnerable to substance use disorders such as alcohol, cannabis, and e-cigarettes abuse (Buckner et al., 2021). In evaluating this relationship, it was important for the Buckner et al. to understand if substance use helped lower anxiety symptoms or increased them. As expected, it was reported those who consumed alcohol before a social event not only endorsed the use of alcohol but reported less symptoms of anxiety opposed to those who did not take alcohol (Buckner et al., 2021). Regarding cannabis usage, the study showed the low dosages of cannabis helped lessen anxiety symptoms while high dosages increased anxiety (Buckner et al., 2021). When looking into the relationship between e-cigarettes and anxiety symptoms, the researchers found no clear correlation in e-cigarettes reducing or increasing anxiety symptoms but understood that subjects used e-cigarettes to reduce protentional negative effects of social anxiety (Buckner et al., 2021).

To understand the relationship of biopsychosocial model, social anxiety disorder, and substance abuse, we must understand the biopsychosocial model. In short, the biopsychosocial model focuses on individual’s perception of their symptoms and how they and their families respond to symptoms they are experiencing. Continuing, the biopsychosocial model states the illness is caused by biological, psychological, and social factors and should be treated by behavioral changes such as coping strategies and change in beliefs (Taukeni, 2019). Anyone suffering from social anxiety experiences post-event processing, has low self-esteem, recognizes their own social deficits, has high social avoidance, and high physiological arousal (Buckner, 2021). When looking into the biopsychosocial model approach the goal is to decrease these negative symptoms the individual is experiencing through coping. The coping mechanism of substance use lowers psychological arousal, avoids evaluation from others, and helps manage post event processing. You would assume if substance use treats social anxiety all is resolved, right? Wrong! Unfortunately, the coping mechanism of substance use that leads to a substance abuse disorder (Buckner, 2021).

I know I explained what social anxiety is and the “bad,” or unhealthy ways to treat it. But I want to leave you with “good,” or healthier biopsychosocial solutions that can help you treat social anxiety. Remember, the biopsychosocial approach is all about coping strategies and a change in beliefs (Taukeni, 2019). The first solution is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT focuses on making changes to the way you think and feel about a situation. CBT helps identify patterns of thinking that causes you to avoid social situations which in turn will help you make changes to correct the behavior (Cleveland Clinic, 2021). Continuing, another tip is practicing public speaking. A lot of times social anxiety stems from the fear of being judged for saying the wrong thing in a social setting. Practicing public speaking can help reduce anxiety because you can practice what you wanted to say beforehand and are less likely to be judge for saying the “wrong” thing (Cleveland Clinic, 2021). The last tip I want to leave you with is slowly exposing yourself to anxiety-inducing situations. This will help build your tolerance for anxiety (Cleveland Clinic, 2021). You start off small such as, making a public speech to one person and as you become more comfortable you continue to add more people to the group to give your speech. I hope you find these tips helpful!

References

Buckner, J.D., Morris, P.E., Abarno, C.N. et al. Biopsychosocial Model Social Anxiety and Substance Use Revised. Curr Psychiatry Rep 23, 35 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-021-01249-5

Melinda. (2022, September 6). Social anxiety disorder. HelpGuide.org. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder.htm

Taukeni, S. G. (2019, March 18). Introductory chapter: Bio-psychosocial Model of Health. IntechOpen. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/66183

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Social anxiety disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/social-anxiety-disorder#:~:text=Prevalence%20of%20Social%20Anxiety%20Disorder%20Among%20Adults,-Based%20on%20diagnostic&text=An%20estimated%2012.1%25%20of%20U.S.,some%20time%20in%20their%20lives.

Zaleska. (2022, January 10). 6 ways to overcome social anxiety. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-overcome-social-anxiety/

With social media as present as ever, it seems being socially anxious is a thing of the past. Social networking cites provide people with real-time connection through online events, chatting, and sharing experiences (Baltaci, 2019). A whopping 88% of young adults reported that they use some form of social media (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) frequently (O’Day & Heimberg, 2021). Since socially anxious individuals experience high levels of self-presentation motivation (i.e., being concerned with how others perceive them) and low levels of social self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in their ability to influence others), it stands to reason that social media is the ideal social outlet for those affected (Gruman et al., 2016). However, despite social media being free, readily available, and preferable to socially anxious individuals, does it really benefit them in a psychological and social way? Or is it a band aid on a broken leg?

There’s anonymity on the Internet which nullifies one’s self-presentation motivation concerns and allows for individuals to experience social interaction without having to worry about how one is perceived (Baltaci, 2019; Gruman et al., 2016). Therefore, socially anxious individuals prefer online social experiences and interactions over face-to-face connections (O’Day & Heimberg, 2021). Socially anxious individuals perceive Internet use as a viable option to their lack of social support in the real world (O’Day & Heimberg, 2021). All of these factors contribute to an increase in social media usage in an attempt to reduce their anxiety and hopefully increase their social interaction, albeit virtually. Additionally, social anxiety has been positively correlated with social media addiction which has negative impacts on social, psychological, and physical factors in one’s life (Baltaci, 2019).

Social media use has been positively correlated with feelings of loneliness (O’Day & Heimburg, 2021). Consequently, socially anxious individuals have a higher likelihood of experiencing loneliness due to their predisposition for social isolation; therefore, coupling that with increased social media use and an individual can experience even higher levels of loneliness and feelings of isolation (O’Day & Heimburg, 2021; Baltaci, 2019). The combined experiences of loneliness and social anxiety also result in internet addiction (Baltaci, 2019). With this addiction comes the risk of socially anxious people engaging in negative comparisons to those they see online and disrupts their cognitive patterns (O’Day & Heimburg, 2021). Additionally, it was discovered that those with social anxiety are more prone to use social media passively, resulting in less engagement and not benefiting from social interaction (O’Day & Heimburg, 2021).

Since social media can be used as another means of expressing oneself, it makes sense that those with social anxiety would take a more passive approach with their social media presence. With that, they do not experience the same benefits as those who are more extroverted do (O’Day & Heimberg, 2021). Since those with social anxiety suffer from negative and pessimistic expectancies surrounding their impression on others, it stands to reason that those some views would apply to their passive social media presence (Gruman et al., 2016). This results in them having more negative online experiences and does nothing to add to their perceived social support on the Internet (O’Day & Heimberg, 2021). Therefore, they may benefit from taking a more active role in their social media identity and attempt to gain more online social resources to help combat their face-to-face interaction deficit (O’Day & Heimberg, 2021).

References

Baltaci, Ö. (2019). The Predictive Relationships between the Social Media Addiction and Social Anxiety, Loneliness, and Happiness. International Journal of Progressive Education, 15(4), 73-82.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.

O’Day, E. B., & Heimberg, R. G. (2021). Social media use, social anxiety, and loneliness: A systematic review. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 3, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100070

Have you ever felt down and out? You didn’t want to get up off the couch. Or maybe you wanted to just stay in bed and sleep all day. This happens to all of us from time to time, but when it happens more often than not and starts to affect our daily lives, this may be something more. You may be suffering from depression.

What is depression? Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:

• Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
• Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
• Loss of energy or increased fatigue
• Increase in purposeless physical activity
• Feeling worthless or guilty
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide (What is depression?) 

If you think this is you, you have options. There are two approaches to combat depression the biomedical approach and the biopsychosocial approach.

Biopsychosocial approach includes two kinds of psychotherapy called cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy. Biomedical approach is the use of medications such as antidepressants to treat depression. There is some evidence that combining psychotherapy and medications may be more effective than either treatment alone. Keep in mind, people who are suicidal may need to be treated in a hospital.(How do I choose between medication and therapy?)

In the end it all comes down to what works for you. The first step is acknowledging you may have depression and then contacting your doctor and/or psychologist to get help.

In a crisis?

Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor (Text home to 741741 free, 24/7 crisis counseling 2022)

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). How do I choose between medication and therapy? American Psychological Association. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/medication-or-therapy

Text home to 741741 free, 24/7 crisis counseling. Crisis Text Line. (2022, August 2). Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.crisistextline.org/

As a student athlete at Penn State DuBois, I can safely say that stress is very common for me and many of my teammates. Whether it be from coaching, other teammates, performance, work, school, and/or the balance of it all, high stress levels seem inevitable. Stress can induce other mental health issues that, if not handled properly, can lead to severe outcomes (Fogaca, J. L. (2021) page 1). Though stress is common for most college students, student athletes handle both similar and different kinds of stressors, as noted above, that make them a unique segment of a population. Thus, it is important to understand the necessity and implications of interventions on student athletes when it comes to their mental health. 

Stress can be defined as a “particular relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or well-being” (Gruman, J. A., et. al. (2017) page 212).  In a study at the University of Wisconsin, a group of student athletes intervened to learn how coping skills and increasing social support can both improve mental health, and performance. The results were significant, as those who were in the intervention group showed improved athletic coping skills and anxiety as opposed to the control group. (Fogaca, J. L. (2021) page 1). This study is important because it brings awareness to not only the benefits of effective coping skills, but also the amount of stress and anxiety that occurs for student athletes that goes unaddressed. What I personally find interesting was that as coping skills and social support skills were taught, performance improved. For me, I was always taught that stress should be used as a motivator when playing a sport, so the results made sense in some aspects but challenged my thinking in others. 

It is also important to note that coping is the way people reduce stress (Gruman, J. A., et. al. (2017) page 212), and there are both healthy and unhealthy ways of coping. Some of my teammates and fellow student athletes turn to alcohol, among other things, when dealing with stressful situations, which can induce more stress and is not a healthy way to cope. Based on the textbook, effective and healthier ways to cope are problem-focused or emotion-focused. Problem-focused, as the name goes, deals with the problem that is generating stress whereas emotion-focused focuses on minimizing or controlling the feelings of stress when situations are uncontrollable through reappraisal or finding a silver lining (Gruman, J. A., et. al. (2017) page 212). For student athletes, problem-focused coping could be used when balancing their busy schedules; breaking things down into smaller parts as opposed to looking at everything as a whole can help me pace oneself and not be overwhelmed by what is on his or her to-do list and how many practices he or she  has in a week. Additionally, performance anxiety and when an athlete feels like an error they made cost the game, can lead to a lot of stress and negative self-efficacy that emotion-focused coping can address this issue. Reappraising the situation and acknowledging that it takes a whole team to lose a game can help alleviate some of the stress and weight on an athlete’s shoulders. 

Social support is also important in reducing and coping healthily with stress. In terms of student athletes and team sports, social support within a team can boost a players confidence and performance  (Fogaca, J. L. (2021) page 4). For example, whenever I get nervous or worried that I am going to continue to mess up after making an error, when one of my teammates encourages me and trusts that I can do my job and do it well makes me feel better and instills that others believe in me and I usually increase my performance from that moment on. Social support within a team can also happen off the field. Being an upperclassman, I know I have checked in with some of the first year teammates to make sure they are doing okay in class and with the college adjustment. This can help create a bond that shows that being a teammate is more than just about the sport itself. Moreover, having a support system outside of the team is important too. The ability to vent and communicate with those not directly involved can provide outside perspective on a situation as well as an escape since student athletes can be in close quarters at times. 

Student athletes can experience high levels of stress; however with healthy coping mechanisms and the development of a support system on and off the field, both mental health and performance can improve. Because of this, I think it is important that athletic departments and teams incorporate stress reduction interventions that can help teach healthy coping methods. Utilizing support systems and taking advantage of the opportunities on campus, such as free counseling, can help in creating these healthy behaviors. On a more global scale, healthy coping and stress management is crucial for all college students and pretty much everyone. So whether it be school, a job, or sport, or an unexpected situation, learning how to cope effectively and establish a solid support network is necessary for all in order to reduce mental health issues. 

References

Fogaca, J. L. (2021). Combining mental health and performance interventions: Coping and social support for student-athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 33(1), 4-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2019.164832

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems

Liam is in 4th grade and goes to Smith Elementary School in Massachusetts. There have been several circumstances where Liam has complained to his mom about an uncomfortable feeling he gets when around other children. When asked to explain further, Liam stated that he feels nervous around people that he does not know when doing group work. She finally decided to take Liam to a clinical counselor to see what was going on as it was starting to affect Liam’s attendance at school. After several meetings between Liam and his new clinical counselor, she seems to believe Liam has social anxiety. Social anxiety tends to be a fear of individual or multiple circumstances where an individual is in a social situation and has potential close examinations by others (Gruman., et al, 2016). This definition could not only explain why Liam tends to stay away from social situations but could also potentially help Liam get treatment.

In this week’s chapter reading, I learned about the relationship between social anxiety and the self-presentation theory. The self-presentation theory considers that people who are socially anxious try to manipulate the impressions others make of them (Gruman., et al, 2016). This theory can be seen in Liam’s case because when he is in front of his classmates who he doesn’t know well, it makes him nervous and he wants to flee the situation he is in. Another part to this theory is that it explains that the importance of how others see individuals is in a way that rewards or punishes them (Gruman., et al, 2016). This means that the way that Liam reacts to other people stirs a specific behavior back towards Liam. Liam could quite possibly want to escape from these scenarios because he may think it’s noticeable when he acts in a certain manner. 

Another factor that goes hand-in-hand with the self-presentation theory is self-presentation motivation. Self-presentation motivation is how much an individual is worried about how other individuals are observing them (Gruman., et al, 2016). In Liam’s situation, he would have high self-presentational motivation because he is extremely concerned with how his classmates and teachers view him. Self-presentation theory also concludes that an individual could be motivated to portray a specific impression in accordance to how much is at risk (Gruman., et al, 2016). This means that people could be more anxious if they knew that something was on the table. In Liam’s particular case, he was stressed out about a group project and letting his classmates and teacher down. 

Overall, those who have social anxiety disorder can easily be explained by the self-presentation theory. People who have social anxiety disorder have a depleting fear of being in situations with other people present as they feel an overly excessive feeling of weakness (Gruman., et al, 2016). This is a feeling that Liam feels when he is in the presence of his classmates doing group work. The self-presentation theory explains what can make people more likely to be anxious and how symptoms can be reduced (Gruman., et al, 2016). Overall, this week’s chapter reading helped teach me how the self-presentation theory was developed for social anxiety.

Reference

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : 

Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, 

Incorporated.

For this weeks blog entry, given the material from lesson 8 on health, the recent covid-19 is a relevant topic to discuss. The biomedical model discussed, is the theoretical frame work that guided medical advances leading the ability to conquer a a number of life-threatening diseases. This model is based on the idea that illnesses can be explained by examining problems in an organism’s biological functioning (cell functioning and biochemical imbalances). This is a great theory, however there are more factors that play apart in illness and disease. Some factors that can be applied are in the biopsychosocial model (Gruman, 2016, p. 193).

The biopsychosocial model addresses biological factors (genetics, exposure to virus), psychological factors (individual differences in experience of pain or other symptoms, personal coping styles), and social factors (socioeconomic factors, social support, education level). Biological factors overlap with the biomedical model, however the biomedical model does not address psychological and social factors which are also factors pertaining to illness and disease. For example, individuals with a low socioeconomic status having higher probabilities in developing and engaging in bad behaviors such as alcohol abuse and smoking. Both of these bad behaviors leave the low SES individuals at higher risk for developing liver disease and coronary heart disease. 

What does this have to do with the Covid 19? Well it is pertaining to the health of individuals, the medical field, the influence of the media, and certain appeals portrayed by big organizations to influence a population to take action in something. I figured a relevant topic could be the most recent world pandemic. The media, the government, and The World Health Organization used both informational appeals and fear appeals when it came to the most recent virus Covid-19. The informational appeals would be the precautions to take such as: wearing masks, staying home, maintaining distance, and taking the vaccine. The fear appeals were the incidents and reported deaths from the virus. Yes, illnesses, diseases, and viruses should always be taken seriously. However, why was almost everyone subjected to get the vaccination? 

Social influences such as schools, peers, teachers, occupations, and family members had influenced some individuals decision in getting the vaccine. On the opposite side, some individuals have lost social support systems due to not taking the vaccine such as: family members disowning them, college students being kicked out of school, and job losses. Those who are unvaccinated should stay home and avoid public places. Do we not take into account for the high risk and low risk populations when it comes to vaccine consideration. High risk (those who are more susceptible to contracting the virus and potential death) are those who are elderly, obese, smoke, and have poor eating habits. The low-risk population would be minors, those who have good immune systems, little to no bad habits, better diets, good metabolism, etc. 

There was a lot of confusion within the past two years of who is right and who is wrong. I believe that both sides are right and wrong when pertaining to this topic. Humans have built in immune systems that help them fight infections. I am a 21-year-old 125 pound female, who has had covid twice. Both incidences, I was sick for a single day and the illness had run its course. I still quarantined to prevent spreading it to others, however this personal experience supports the claim that more factors play apart in illness and disease than the biomedical model. The biopsychosocial model has better explanations as to why illness and disease occur. Specifically the psychological perspective that individuals experience everything differently. Given gender, culture, genetics, social environment, balanced or imbalance hormones, diet, healthy habits, bad habits, etc. All these factors play a role in whether or not an individuals is highly susceptible or not. For example, I would consider myself low risk considering I am young, eat a balanced diet, and am not overweight. I have one a wonderful social support system, which genuinely improves my mental and physical health. However. Also, the fact that viruses constantly “As long as the coronavirus spreads through the population, mutations will continue to happen, and the delta and omicron variant families continue to evolve. New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are detected every week” (Bollinger, 2022).  

References

Bollinger, R., Ray, S., Maragakis, L. (2022). COVID Variants: What You Should Know. Johns Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/a-new-strain-of-coronavirus-what-you-should-know#:~:text=Yes.,every%20week%2C%E2%80%9D%20Ray%20says. 

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

It’s easy to take our mass use of energy and power for granted, especially considering how much of our daily lives actually depend on it. I know I did, having grown up alongside the dense infrastructure of Hong Kong, all the flashing lights and heavily regulated indoor atmosphere being the norm for me. However, after living in the US for a few years, it occurred to me that the omnipresent air-conditioning in Hong Kong is quite the resource dilemma, especially when our over 75% of our energy production is from burning fossil fuels, and so much of it is used for leisure at the cost of an exponentially increasing carbon-footprint (EMSD, 2020). Is it necessary to consume and pollute so much just so we can live lavishly?

It’s maddening that air-conditioning alone uses up 30% of the cities electricity annually, and that statistic almost reaches 60% during the summer (Cummins, 2014). Practically every indoor space would have an AC unit installed, with up to 99% of households owning one and the majority of malls being cooled to frigid temperatures, so cold that often times that I need to bring an extra coat at hand when I plan on spending time in one. However, on top of Hong Kong’s tropical climate, temperatures are reaching record high levels because of the global climate crisis, so it is difficult to fault people for seeking shelter in a well cooled environment. Even if the population is aware of the consequences of , they are unwilling to give up a comfortable lifestyle in place of a sustainable future (Consumer, 2016).

However, another large reason for the intense use of air-conditioning is the city’s poorly designed infrastructure and interior spaces. Hong Kong is an extremely dense city, the buildings are practically built on top of one another, so much that the city has started to move its infrastructure underground to preserve space. The concrete-jungle aesthetic the city is known for is particularly efficient in absorbing heat during the days, leading to equally hot temperatures at night when the trapped heat is released. This is not the case in many other countries in my experience, where many facilities are designed open-aired, in conjunction with the outdoors to effectively circulate the air and temperature. The very design Hong Kong’s cities is a vicious cycle, creating an environment which only worsens the local climate, and encourages people to be all too comfortable with their immense air-conditioning usage, which in turn only increases the carbon-footprint and contribute to climate change and increasing global temperatures (Dewolf, 2021).

One way to alleviate Hong Kong’s over-consumption of energy from air-conditioning, is to influence people’s behavior towards it. While the overall climate is ultimately out of the control of one small city, our infrastructure is still a construct that we can manipulate. With the application of social design (Gruman, 2017, p. 352), the city can be rebuilt to more effectively circulate air and disperse heat, which should decrease the overall discomfort people feel with lower temperatures, and their natural aversion to giving up air-condition should be tempered as well.

Currently, the majority in Hong Kong is still unwilling to give up their huge carbon-footprint to escape the intense heat and live comfortably. However, since much of the heat problem owes itself to the city’s poor infrastructural design, it is possible that redesigning of the city can encourage people to do otherwise. Then perhaps air-conditioning will be a thing of rarity and people can experience a norm that is also eco-sustainable.

References:

Energy. Energyland – The Energy Scene of Hong Kong, China. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.emsd.gov.hk/energyland/en/energy/energy_use/energy_scene.html

Cummins, A. (2016, August 25). Hong Kong’s Air Con abuse: It’s not cool. Time Out Hong Kong. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/blog/hong-kongs-air-con-abuse-its-not-cool-052016

Gruman, J.A., Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

First Sustainable Consumption Report indicates: Consumers need to start walking the talk consumers. as well as the rest of society have to act now. Consumer Council. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.consumer.org.hk/en/press-release/2016-sustainable-consumption

Dewolf, C. (2021, September 16). How did Hong Kong become addicted to air conditioning? Zolima City Magazine. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://zolimacitymag.com/how-did-hong-kong-become-addicted-to-air-conditioning/

We all create trash everyday and we are used to collecting it and throwing it out in big bins every week. Most of us have a normal large trash bin and a large blue recycling bin. Our recycling bin can be limited and you cannot simply add anything that is recyclable to it, there are rules. This is the extent of the average trash service in America. The United States has a culture of consumption and convenience; we do not always thinking about the larger scale impact of our daily choices. This is something we need to take a look and make a change to improve our environment’s health for the future and ourselves.

The way that we treat trash in America is part of the problem for our environment as a whole. To put it into perspective, “Every 15.5 hours, Americans throw out enough plastic to fill the largest NFL stadium in the country, AT&T Stadium (the home of the Dallas Cowboys), and the pile grows larger every year” (Pforzheimer, 2021). This has an enormous negative impact on our environment and if we do not get it under control it will only get worse. A large portion of our garbage consists of a lot of single use items; this creates more mass to be collected, wasted, and puts more fuel towards global warming. That is not the only way we are being affected by this problem, we also have to deal with air pollution, water contamination, and ocean contamination. There are ways we can improve our current trash system to make it more environmentally friendly and lower the impact overall.

I had the incredible opportunity to live in Germany for three years and there were many things that I loved about that experience. One thing that really stood out to me was their recycling system. I know, it sounds weird and trust me it was pretty frustrating at first, but once I got the hang of it I could not believe that we do not do this in America. It involved a lot of different bags/bins, yellow for plastic/metal containers, blue for paper/cardboard, brown bin for compostable biodegradable waste, and a much smaller grey bin for everything else. Also, where I lived every village had their own glass collection at an easy access location with three very large receptacles; white, brown, and green for the different colors of glass. They were very strict about trash and if you put the wrong thing in the wrong bag/bin they would not pick it up. Then you would have to take your own trash to a location to be appropriately processed, i.e. frustration. I was just being an impatient American and did not want to correctly sort things, but they made me. Pretty soon I started to do it naturally and my “everything else bin” became less and less full every week. This of course made me feel good about doing my part and made me think more about all of the waste I make and where it goes. This whole experience definitely changed my ideas about trash, the types of items I buy, and making more conscious purchases to buy reusable items and fewer plastics.

Let’s look at Steg and Vlek’s four-step process to promote pro-environmental behavior. The first step is to choose a specific behavior that can be changed and will improve our environment (Gruman et al., 2017). For this situation we are examining our trash system in America and how it can be improved to produce less damaging waste for our environment. The second step is to examine the fundamental factors of this behavior (Gruman et al., 2017). The main factors here are that we create and throw away a lot of trash that could be handled in a better manor. We have a culture of consumption and convenience that lends to the way we think (or don’t think) about items and throw them away. We have an outdated trash system in place that does not properly mange our waste in a more environmentally friendly way. The third step is to create and apply an intervention to attack the problem and decrease the negative affect on the environment (Gruman et al., 2017). As I have mentioned above, Germany is a great example of how to implement a cyclical recycling process. Where the majority of items that you use get recycled and reused. We could take their structured system and phase it in to our current system, until it can be fully applied. The fourth step is to evaluate the intervention and the effects it has on the behavior, the environment, and human life (Gruman et al., 2017). It is a fact that German citizens throw away a much smaller amount of trash “everything else bin” in comparison to other countries, about half of the world’s waste generation per capita (Bravo, 2021). If America were to use this intervention imagine how much better we could make our environment. I acknowledge that this would be hard to implement and not all American’s would be on board immediately. As Bravo stated in his article, “the involvement of citizens has been key to its success” (Bravo, 2021). We would have to phase it in slowly, effectively; maybe with incentives to get buy-in and then it would become the new norm and America would have a healthier future!

References

Bravo, E. (2021). The German recycling system: The world’s best recycling country. Tomorrow.City – The biggest platform about urban innovation. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://tomorrow.city/a/german-recycling-system

Gruman, J.A., Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Pforzheimer, A. (2021). Trash in America. The Public Interest Network. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://publicinterestnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/US_Trash-in-America-2021-SCRN.pdf

If you’ve ever visited or lived in an urban area, you have likely seen examples of hostile architecture. Seemingly innocent design features, such as benches with armrests in the middle of the seat or window sills with spikes lining their surfaces serve as good examples. We pass by these without a second glance, but these design features can have a big impact on the less fortunate within our communities. Hostile architecture is often created with the means of deterring specific people or behaviors and these architectural decisions can negatively impact some of our most vulnerable populations (de Fine Licht, 2017). Think of the bench mentioned above – placing an armrest right in the middle of the seat sections off the bench so a homeless individual can not sleep on them. This is no accident, although the cities implementing these architectural decisions prefer to use names with a more positive connotation such as “defensive planning”.

In theory, defensive architecture seems like a productive addition to communities. After all, the goal of creating defensible spaces is to decrease crime and increase the sense of security within the community (Gruman, 2017). However, certain architectural choices appear to have more of a hostile effect than a defensive one. When we implement changes to create certain types of defensive architecture, we often make spaces inaccessible to our most vulnerable populations. Along with the bench example from above, surfaces (windowsills, ledges, curbs, etc.) are often covered with spikes or bumps to discourage the homeless from sleeping on them. This problem is made worse if other resources are not made available for these populations, such as shelters for the homeless to sleep. This becomes an ethical dilemma, as implementing changes to reduce crime or unwanted behaviors sometimes forgets to consider the lives of those less fortunate. It becomes a balancing act of trying to create a safer community while also treating the homeless in a humane manner.

Defensive architecture also seems to ignore the importance of social design. Social design was developed to incorporate the individuals within a community in design decisions with the ultimate goal of creating more humane architecture (Gruman, 2017). By excluding the homeless from this conversation in urban areas, we are doing them a disservice. After all, it seems that vulnerable populations would have a harder time changing their situation while struggling to meet their basic needs, such as sleeping. This problem worsens when the architecture of their city prevents them from meeting those basic needs. When considering how defensive architecture will affect the community at hand, we need to consider all of those within the community, regardless of their social or financial status. No human is “less than”, but hostile architecture often treats them as if they are.

Of course, it is also important to recognize where defensive architecture has its place in urban communities, as some of these changes are necessary to prohibit behaviors that are truly dangerous or damaging. After all, a space cannot be enjoyed as much if it is perceived to be dangerous or if it is in disarray. For example, skateboard spikes/bumps can be a necessary addition in cities where skateboarding activities continuously damage the architecture. Skateboarders will ultimately find more appropriate areas to skate and the community will benefit as a whole as their spaces won’t be at risk of damage due to these activities.

In summary, defensive architecture can become hostile, even when it is created with positive intentions to reduce unwanted behaviors. Vulnerable populations, specifically the homeless, are often the ones most negatively affected by these designs, as they rely heavily on public spaces. In some cases, defensive architecture is necessary to discourage unwanted behavior. However, for defensive architecture to be most effective in benefitting all members of a community, individuals from all social and financial classes need to be considered.

References

de Fine Licht, K. P. (2017). Hostile urban architecture: A critical discussion of the seemingly offensive art of keeping people away. Etikk I Praksis – Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, 11(2), 27-44. https://doi.org/10.5324/eip.v11i2.2052

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

I am at my most effective and productive when I wear sweats to work. There’s something about the combined mixture of comfort and the professional environment that ensures I stay on task. On the other hand, when I wear my uniform, I’m constantly adjusting my belt, my chair position, and my top to ensure that I’m as comfortable as I can be; however, this causes distraction, in my experience. Now, please don’t misconstrue that I always go to work in sweatpants. I’m only referring to when I am authorized to wear athleisure wear to work which is usually on night shifts when no senior leaders would be present. With that being said, I loosely associate this personal phenomenon to the process of social design where engineers and architects consider how best to accommodate the social experience within a spatial design (Gruman et al., 2016). I, as my own architect, design the comfortability of a sweatpants outfit to best serve me in the work environment to ensure that my productivity is at its highest.

Within the contexts of social design, I would wager that most people are aware of its benefits, even without a formal education on the concept. For example, when one looks to design and decorate their home, they consider what the room will be used for, what pieces of furniture will fit the best, and what decorative pieces help to highlight the meaning or purpose behind that room. To illustrate, when one attempts to design and decorate a room exclusively for watching movies, they consider the following: low lighting, plenty comfy chairs/couches with recliner seats, adequate space for placement of snacks/drinks, surround sound technology, etc. This is an example of understanding the social experience (i.e., people coming together to watch a movie) happening within a space and designing it accordingly.

Additionally, within the context of classrooms, Gruman et al. (2016) stated that accomplishing small design changes (i.e., softer seating, adjustable lights, etc.) resulted in an increase in classroom participation vs. a more mundane classroom set-up. I have seen this productivity in real time. My father-in-law is an instructor supervisor for a schoolhouse that trains instructors in the Air Force on how to be effective and efficient instructors. They recently underwent a huge renovation of their classrooms, incorporating mobile desks, cushioned seating, virtual reality simulators, and soft lighting. They saw an increase in classroom productivity and participation in their next wave of instructors, especially when they had 12 or less students. This further illustrates that minor changes to design factors can positively affect behavior (Gruman et al., 2016).

If steps can be made to affect positive behavioral change through social design, then it could be argued that the social design process could also aid in increasing pro-environment behavior. Many people view pro-environmental actions as cumbersome and therefore do not engage in them (Gruman et al., 2016). In order to combat this, “pro-environmental behaviors should be convenient, directly beneficial, and easy to implement in order for them to be effective and sustainable in the long-term” (Abusafieh & Razem, 2017, p.11). For example, a salience approach was utilized by Abusafieh & Razem (2017) for prompting pro-environmental behavior where they installed a meter that measured the amount of electricity being utilized within a home. The meter is designed to showcase the specific electricity consumption behaviors of the household which puts emphasis on information feedback that ultimately changes behavior and shows a decrease in electricity consumption (Abusafieh & Razem, 2017). When the goal of behavioral change within the social design process is met, society and the environment can reap the benefits (Gruman et al., 2016).

References:

Abusafieh, S., & Razem, M. (2017). Human Behavior and Environmental Sustainability: promoting a pro-environmental behavior by harnessing the social, psychological and physical influences of the built environment. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 23, p. 02003). EDP Sciences.

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.

This week we read about resource dilemmas and were asked to give steps in pro-environmental behavior in the discussion post. The article, Electric Cars: Powering the Future, discusses the cost of electric vehicles, displays a visual of why they are better for the environment, and how it is economically friendly in all aspects. As I discussed in my post, making these systems more affordable can decrease motor vehicle usage. I chose this article because I know that electric cars are better for the environment and do not run on oil, which is excellent for this resource dilemma problem with oil. 

Moorhouse and Laufenberg (2010) state that an electric vehicle may appear cleaner than a gasoline vehicle when looking at the operation stage, but this is not the case. Electricity for electric vehicles must come from a source that might be a coal plant, and the batteries may have unique environmental impacts that a gasoline vehicle would not. This is interesting because I did not consider electric vehicles’ harmful effects. Electric vehicles may be more detrimental to the future, but they are better than gasoline vehicles. However, gasoline vehicles are a much better alternative for the environment and the resource dilemma for oil.

It is imperative to save oil. Regarding economic and ecological advantages and costs, oil and gas conservation refers to their better and more efficient use, which results in greater energy use efficiency, less waste, and environmental preservation. One way to preserve the environment is by encouraging people to have remote jobs and take the metro with hundreds of people, versus everyone driving their cars and burning fossil fuels.

The article also summarizes how the quality of the environment would be much cleaner and reduce air pollution. Electric vehicles emit fewer pollutants than gasoline vehicles and support the economy and environment, which is the overall goal and what is most important. Furthermore, Moorhouse and Laufenberg (2010) included an excellent visual graph showing the most economically friendly vehicle. It shows that electric vehicles are the solution to air quality concerns and to the consumption of oil.

References:

As we walk around outdoors, take notice of all the garbage you see along your way. I bet that it won’t surprise you to see you find a lot. In fact, many of us may not have even paid attention to it until it was pointed out to us as it has become “normal” to see trash laying around. That being said, if we see an abundance of trash somewhere we will almost always comment on it. But why are we just tossing garbage on the ground?

The total generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2018 was 292.4 million tons (U.S. short tons, unless specified) or 4.9 pounds per person per day. (Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling 2022) This is only considering the trash properly disposed of. Can you imagine how much larger this number is?

Let’s make this a little more personal. Have you taken a walk around Penn State campus after a football game? If you did you may notice a big problem that the Penn States environmental program is working hard to correct this issue. There is garbage everywhere you look. “Penn State is encouraging all football fans to be environmentally responsible and participate in the University’s recycling and sustainability initiatives before, during and after every game.” They have places trash and recycling bags in every parking lot for game days. You would think this would correct the littering problem, but does it?

So why do we do it? According to research done by the Allegheny Front, people litter simply because there isn’t a trash can nearby. Rather than uncomfortably carry trash away with them, people decide it’s easier to leave it behind. As we see in the case of Penn States efforts in adding trash bags, we see that people still continue to litter. Why? According to Cialdini, it all comes down to the norms and that is dictated by our environment. This means the decision to litter has a lot to do with the actions of other people. If an area is already highly littered (Penn state parking lots on games day), people are more likely to add more litter, while the cleaner an area already is, the less likely people are to disrupt the scene by littering. (The real reason people litter – and how you can help 2022)

How can we fix this? I believe we can add to the Penn States environmental project by leading by example. If we start to clean up our area and encourage our neighbors to clean up theirs, it may change the “norm” and potentially lead to more tailgaters properly disposing their trash.

Environmental Protection Agency. (2022, July 31). Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling. EPA. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials

User, G. (2022, May 5). The real reason people litter – and how you can help. Potomac Conservancy. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://potomac.org/blog/2020/2/1/why-people-litter

Water. The most essential necessity for humans, plants, and animals to survive. This weeks lesson discusses resource dilemmas and social psychology in the everyday environment. Our textbook states that less than three percent of Earth’s water is fresh and of that amount 70% is sealed in ice and snow. In developing nations women have to walk over three miles to obtain their fresh water (Gruman, 2017, p. 357). With that being said, in my opinion, Americans are selfish when it comes to the use of natural resources. 

Is it necessarily our fault? Everything we know how to do and how to do it is a learned behavior. For example, you brush your teeth and leave the water on while brushing and your parents never corrected you for leaving the water on. Although, it is not your intention to waste water, it is a repeated behavior overtime that grows into a habit when it is never corrected. While China uses a lot of coal and copper, the United States remains the per capita leader for most resources. This could also be associated with equity theory, for example, you may have been taught to save water so your mother limits you to three bottles of water a day, meanwhile, not one of your friends are limited to the amount of water they use or consume. So you take it upon yourself to use just as much water as your friend because it is simply not fair. So you make it fair by not limiting your water because nobody else does. 

However if we make a societal and cultural change to save instead of using or spending, social norms in America would appear slightly different. Gas for example, we have electric cars but cars that use gas are still on the market? Can we not make all cars electric? Bottled water, the usage of plastic and metals. Can we not create things that disintegrate such as cardboard, paper, or reusable copper bottles? These are the actions our political leaders could take, but history has a way of repeating itself. Minor changes citizens of the united states could take is monitoring their behaviors, using reusable water bottles instead of plastic, and becoming selfless or considerate when it comes to usage of resources. 

It is reported that by 2050 we will not have enough fresh water for the people who need it. Luckily, we still have over 20 years to make a change (World Water Crisis, 2021). Here are a few behaviors we can incorporate into our lives to make a change: fixing household leaks, only washing clothes when necessary, installing a water-saving shower head, water-saving toilet, and not disposing of medicines, paints, or pollutants down the sink (Save Water, 2022). Also, education on water saving or saving natural resources in general would benefit everyone. With this, parents can teach their children good behaviors to reduce wasting natural resources. 

Gruman, J. A., Schnieder, F. W., Coutts, L. M. (2017) Applied Social Psychology. Understanding and Addressing social and Practical problems. Sage. 

Save Water: Reduce Your Water Footprint. August 24, 2022. https://en.reset.org/save-water-reduce-your-water-footprint/ 

When Will Earth Run Out Of Water: World Water Crisis, Scarcity (August 10, 2021) UN Dispatch. https://www.undispatch.com/bad-news-world-will-begin-running-water-2050-good-news-not-2050-yet/#:~:text=He%20warned%20the%20group%20that,not%20come%20as%20a%20surprise.

As a business and psychology major, I have noticed that there is a trend towards more employee happiness in the workplace and that psychology can possess a heavy influence on the overall effectiveness of an organization. Thus, it makes sense that the way buildings are designed can influence how workers behave and interact with others and their environment. This will help increase the effectiveness of the workplace and maximize the utilization. This also means that architects have the ability to work with psychologists and those in the workplace to enhance the practicality, community, and overall satisfaction of employees. 

The most effective ways a building is used are not always known by the architects and designers that are contracted to help construct it. Social design alleviates this by working with those who will utilize the work space to plan the workspace in terms of balancing the natural, physical, and social environment so that it best benefits the employees who will use them (Gruman, J. A., et. al (2017) page 370). Incorporating the needs of employees helps ensure that the space will be accomodating and beneficial to the employees. It is important to ensure that the building’s space is maximized for the functionality of the employees. In turn, workers may be more productive, efficient, and overall effective. Getting insights from employees on how a building can benefit them the most is a great way to improve organizational output as a whole. 

In terms of social design, there are also different ways employees can interact based on their environment. In terms of traditional business environments, dimly lit cubicles and uninspired breakrooms can make isolation seem normal and conversation seem bad. Creating a more sociopetal environment can encourage social interactions (Gruman, J. A., et. al (2017) page 375). This, in turn, can help foster an environment that increases conversation and creates a communal aspect that aligns with organizational goals. A social space can also spark creativity and conversation that can enhance new perspectives and cross-departmental communication. 

Social design itself does not only lead to more usage of a workspace and socialization, but also overall satisfaction of the employees and workers. A study was conducted about how different office design factors and office location can influence job satisfaction, and they found that it workspaces that are cellular (cubicle-style), near windows, and, interestingly, Northwest oriented, are generate the most employee satisfaction (Kwon, M., & Remøy, H. (2020)). This may be why we see shifts to a lot of windows in workspaces. Though social spaces are important, the preference of personal space may provide some reasoning for the satisfaction driven from cubicle-style workstations. Personal space is the distance of an individual from others; and usually, there tends to be a preference (Gruman, J. A., et. al (2017) page 380).  Combined with the different orientations, employee satisfaction can improve through office design, which, like the building design, can improve the organization. 

Social building design and office design can both increase productivity, community, and satisfaction in the workplace. From a business perspective, this is a crucial factor to consider because of the rising prevalence of the idea that employee satisfaction is imperative to the success of a company. From an applied social psychology perspective, it provides interventions that solve problems of workplace efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction.  

References

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems

Kwon, M., & Remøy, H. (2020). Office employee satisfaction: The influence of design factors on psychological user satisfaction. Facilities (Bradford, West Yorkshire, England), 38(1/2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-03-2019-0041

My dad is the type of guy who never sits down. He always has some sort of project that he is working on and 100 more ideas working in the background of his OCD brain. He has worked for Milton CAT since he was 17 years old, so you could say he is a bit of a handyman. I can’t count on my fingers how many of my and my sister’s birthday parties were adorned with tractor decorations, toys, and oh yes, real backhoes and excavators! As you can see, while my dad did not necessarily get the son he always wanted, he certainly raised some tractor-loving, mud-loving, daughters!

My dad always has been, and I imagine always will be, the guy that everyone goes to for help with home repairs, lawn care, and even big remodel projects. He truly spends all of his free time getting his hands dirty with one thing or another. He is always the first to volunteer his time with projects in the community. Even if he is not physically on-site helping with certain projects, he is always happy to lend out equipment for others to use. This man is truly the most selfless guy I know, and I believe it has a lot to do with him genuinely loving his job, and the opportunities it affords him to take part in.

When I heard that my elementary school was looking to begin a project where a pond with fish, waterfalls, and a garden would be added to our courtyard, we all know the first person I ran to. My dad! He was thrilled to help with this beautiful undertaking and began making plans almost immediately. During the first few weeks of planning, participation was quite impressive but as the actual task of tearing up land and laying down cement came around, others’ involvement declined. In the end, the project that my dad and I were SO excited about, came to an abrupt end as we did not have the help we needed to complete the project as originally planned.

As I have come to learn through this week’s lesson, this is a perfect example of the public goods problem. While my dad had zero reservations about helping with the school’s ambitious plans, it seems that others were not so sure of the project’s success or worth. In weighing out their options to contribute their time as is defined by the public goods dilemma, they must have avoided contributing for one of the two reasons outlined by our reading. Either they did not see value in helping as they would likely benefit from the project’s completion without assisting, or they were concerned that the project would fail due to lack of participation (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2017, pg. 447-448).

It breaks my heart that the latter of these two concerns came to fruition. On the bright side, while the plans for a full pond and waterfall were not carried out, there was still a beautiful garden installed.

Reference

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.