Friday, December 11, 2009
How Poor Gifts Affect Relationships
In this Psyblog, it talks about how good and bad Christmas gifts may affect relationships. The first study takes men and women who have just known each other for four minutes and asks them to pick out a gift certificate from a list for the other person. Here's the catch, each participant has ranked the gift certificates from their favorite to their least favorite. Well, some of the participants were told that their acquaintance chose the same favorite gift card, while others were told that their acquaintance chose their least favorite gift card. This resulted in people receiving good gifts and bad gifts. The men were the most affected by this, when they got the good gift they were happy and felt like there was a similarity between them and their acquaintance and the opposite when it was bad gift. The women didn't really have a response. They felt the same way given either situation. The second study focused on already established relationships to see what the affect would be. It was the same circumstances with different results. When the men received the good gifts they felt a stronger connection to the person they were in a relationship with and felt the relationship would last longer, however when given the bad gift they didn't feel a connection or as strong of one and therefore thought the relationship wouldn't last. The women felt a strong similarity to their significant other when the gift was good, but when the gift was bad they still felt a connection and still thought the relationship would last. The study shows that women felt threatened by the poor gift and used their defense mechanisms to hold on to their relationship. These results are short term reactions, therefore later on the relationships might end due to a bad gift. So basically, the article states that if you are in relationship, getting the right Christmas gift is important. I found this to be interesting because I had no idea how important getting the right gift could be, and this just puts more stress and pressure to find the perfect gift.
How Other People’s Unspoken Expectations Control Us
I just read a Psyblog about how other people's expectations control our behaviors and vice versa, our expectations control their behaviors. (To an extent) The article talks about a study that was performed where a group of males and a group of females have just met and then are given headsets and microphones to talk to one another. They are given a picture of either a person that is rated an 8 out of 10 for attractiveness or a 2 out of 10 for attractiveness. They are told that the picture of the person they were given is who they are talking to, however it is actually the opposite. The experiment then is supposed to show how we react when we think we are talking to someone we are attracted to or someone we are not, and what our expectations are. Sometimes we assume that because someone is good looking that they are probably, smart, social, and humorous, obviously this is not always the case. The results of the study showed that when females thought they were talking to an attractive male they tended to enjoy the conversation more and talked more animatedly. The men of course went along with it even though they may have been rated a 2 out of 10, so the female had no idea who she was talking to. What the study proves is that we as humans tend to change our behavior to match other people's expectations. The article goes on to say that we are influencing each other constantly and the majority of the time our expectations are based on stereotypes. I found the article interesting because it makes me think whether or not I have ever changed my actions around certain people trying to live up to their expectations.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Not My Type
Attribution:
Attribution deals with explaining as to whether or not a person's behavior is situational or depositional. So if someone is rude to you, you may wonder if it was just the situation , or if that is a personality trait or deposition of their's and they act that way all the time.
According to the book, the fundamental attribution error is, the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of the personal disposition. The book uses the example of a group of students being told that a woman's behavior is situational, but when she acts nice they view her personal disposition as being warm, and when she acts rude they view her personal disposition as being cold. Even though they were told that her behavior is situational.
Stereotyping in Everyday Life:
According to the book, stereotyping is a generalized belief or assumption about a certain group of people. These generalizations are sometimes accurate but are often overgeneralized. A very basic example of stereotyping is to say that blondes are dumb. Obviously, that is an overstatement. There are some blondes that are very smart and well educated, but there may be some blondes that are dumb out there.
Illusory correlations is perceiving a relationship where none exists. Illusory correlations are related to stereotyping because stereotyping may be creating an illusory correlation towards a certain group. For example, on the prejudice worksheets, some people put down that Chinese people all look alike. Well we are creating that relationship, but that is an over generalization because I am sure that people can tell the difference between Chinese people. (That might not be the best example.)
Attribution deals with explaining as to whether or not a person's behavior is situational or depositional. So if someone is rude to you, you may wonder if it was just the situation , or if that is a personality trait or deposition of their's and they act that way all the time.
According to the book, the fundamental attribution error is, the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of the personal disposition. The book uses the example of a group of students being told that a woman's behavior is situational, but when she acts nice they view her personal disposition as being warm, and when she acts rude they view her personal disposition as being cold. Even though they were told that her behavior is situational.
Stereotyping in Everyday Life:
According to the book, stereotyping is a generalized belief or assumption about a certain group of people. These generalizations are sometimes accurate but are often overgeneralized. A very basic example of stereotyping is to say that blondes are dumb. Obviously, that is an overstatement. There are some blondes that are very smart and well educated, but there may be some blondes that are dumb out there.
Illusory correlations is perceiving a relationship where none exists. Illusory correlations are related to stereotyping because stereotyping may be creating an illusory correlation towards a certain group. For example, on the prejudice worksheets, some people put down that Chinese people all look alike. Well we are creating that relationship, but that is an over generalization because I am sure that people can tell the difference between Chinese people. (That might not be the best example.)
Current Event - #4
Since this chapter was on Personality I will tell a current event about how my personality has changed in the past few weeks.
I used to be extremely particular about my school work. I would stress about it to the point that I made myself sick and would have problems sleeping at times because that is what my focus was on. I would get straight A's which meant a lot to me, and I would get very upset when my papers, homework, or tests were not given A's.
Well, this year I have found myself being more relaxed (extremely relaxed) that I can't focus on homework, tests, or even grades as much as I used to. I feel like I no longer have the drive to get my work done, which bothers me, but I still have trouble bringing myself to do the work. When I think about the factors that may be contributing to the cause of my relaxation towards school in general, I can only come up with a few possible reasons: Senioritis, I don't find school as enjoyable as I used to, and three my boyfriend. (I find myself spending time talking on the phone when I should be putting quality time into my school work.)
This is just one very simple example of how the past few weeks my attitude and personality towards school has changed. I think that these influences to my personality come from the people I am around or talk to the most and to the lack of ambition which may or may not come from the Senioritis. In either case, I hope that I find a balance between my old attitude towards school and this new problem.
I used to be extremely particular about my school work. I would stress about it to the point that I made myself sick and would have problems sleeping at times because that is what my focus was on. I would get straight A's which meant a lot to me, and I would get very upset when my papers, homework, or tests were not given A's.
Well, this year I have found myself being more relaxed (extremely relaxed) that I can't focus on homework, tests, or even grades as much as I used to. I feel like I no longer have the drive to get my work done, which bothers me, but I still have trouble bringing myself to do the work. When I think about the factors that may be contributing to the cause of my relaxation towards school in general, I can only come up with a few possible reasons: Senioritis, I don't find school as enjoyable as I used to, and three my boyfriend. (I find myself spending time talking on the phone when I should be putting quality time into my school work.)
This is just one very simple example of how the past few weeks my attitude and personality towards school has changed. I think that these influences to my personality come from the people I am around or talk to the most and to the lack of ambition which may or may not come from the Senioritis. In either case, I hope that I find a balance between my old attitude towards school and this new problem.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Chapter 13- Personality
Things that influence my personality would be my birth order, environment, genes, and friends and family. As an only child I have different experiences than many of my friends. I tend to receive all the attention at home, I don't have anyone else besides myself to look after, and due to things I tend to have a very sheltered lifestyle. (which is not necessarily a bad thing) Genes affect my personality because they help decide what qualities I am going to have. I know there is an adage that you will be exactly like your parents when you're older. Whether this has to do with our genetic make-up or the environment in which we grow up in - I don't know. The environment helps influence my personality. I live in a really rural community, so therefore our values are different from those that live bigger, or urban areas. My friends personalities and values affect my personality. What they think, what they do, and how they say definitely affects my personality. (our ideals happen to be very similar) I think all these things in one way or another affect my personality.
As far as theories of personality go, I would say the theory that I like is Carl Roger's Self Theory. This theory basically deals with our self image, how we as individuals view ourselves, how we would ideally like ourselves to be, how positive feedback is important to us as individuals, and how these things are most likely in a positive, accepting, genuine environment. I would say that this theory does jive with my personality. I tend to assess my personality and compare it what or how I want my personality to be. I would consider myself to be a nice person so I do like it when I am accepted, or I get approval from others because it lets me know that I am making the right decisions. When I am not accepted it tends to hurt because it makes me wonder what it is about my personality that is not acceptable or what I change about it to make it better. It is extremely important to me to receive positive feedback. I would say that this theory does thrive and jive with my personality because the people that I am generally around are positive, empathetic, nice, and accepting.
The defense mechanisms that I find myself using most often are rationalization and denial. I would say that if I am not sure about a decision that I have just made, I try and justify to myself and possibly others. Denial I would use when I try to overlook something. An example is when I am trying to give a person the benefit of the doubt even though I know that they did what they are being accused of.
As far as theories of personality go, I would say the theory that I like is Carl Roger's Self Theory. This theory basically deals with our self image, how we as individuals view ourselves, how we would ideally like ourselves to be, how positive feedback is important to us as individuals, and how these things are most likely in a positive, accepting, genuine environment. I would say that this theory does jive with my personality. I tend to assess my personality and compare it what or how I want my personality to be. I would consider myself to be a nice person so I do like it when I am accepted, or I get approval from others because it lets me know that I am making the right decisions. When I am not accepted it tends to hurt because it makes me wonder what it is about my personality that is not acceptable or what I change about it to make it better. It is extremely important to me to receive positive feedback. I would say that this theory does thrive and jive with my personality because the people that I am generally around are positive, empathetic, nice, and accepting.
The defense mechanisms that I find myself using most often are rationalization and denial. I would say that if I am not sure about a decision that I have just made, I try and justify to myself and possibly others. Denial I would use when I try to overlook something. An example is when I am trying to give a person the benefit of the doubt even though I know that they did what they are being accused of.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
In Class Activities - Chapter 13
3 Wishes
1. No hunger/world starvation
2. Happiness
3. Health (for everyone)
I am...
1. Female (P)
2. 17 (P)
3. Short (P)
4. A senior (R)
5. Nice (PS)
6. Talkative (PS)
7. A leader (R)
8. Semi - smart (PS)
9. An only child (R)
10. A good friend (R)
11. Unathletic (P)
12. Social (PS)
13. Fun (PS)
14. Dedicated (PS)
15. Hardworking (PS)
16. Daughter (R)
17. Grand-daughter (R)
18. Determined (PS)
19. Tired (P)
20. Compassionate (PS)
P stands for Physical Trait - 5
R stands for Role - 5
PS stands for Personality Trait - 10
Birth order - Only child
(I had a hard time coming up with pros and cons)
Pros
1. All the attention
2. No favortitism
3. Only yourself to look after
Cons
1. Lonely - sometimes (rarely)
2. Parents are extremely over protective
3. Too much attention at times
Questions:
1. How would you be different if you had the same birth order but were a different sex?
Honestly, I don't know how I would be different. I mean personality wise I would be different because I probably would not be interested in the same things. (clothes - shopping, shoes, purses, etc...) I would hopefully be stronger and more athletic too. I don't think the birth order would really affect me, anymore than it does now, if I were a different sex.
2. How would you be different if you had a different ordinal position?
Well, I would probably be different because I would not receive as much attention as I do now. Which means I would probably either talk less often, be more reserved, and not share my opinions as often. My parents probably would not be as over protective because their focus would be split up amongst all the kids verses just me. It would be really different, I would be really different if my I was not an only child.
3. As a parent I would probably only want between 1 and 3 children; just because I come from a really small family. Also, this way I would allow myself to have more time for each of my children. (Time might be limited with work and other things.)
1. No hunger/world starvation
2. Happiness
3. Health (for everyone)
I am...
1. Female (P)
2. 17 (P)
3. Short (P)
4. A senior (R)
5. Nice (PS)
6. Talkative (PS)
7. A leader (R)
8. Semi - smart (PS)
9. An only child (R)
10. A good friend (R)
11. Unathletic (P)
12. Social (PS)
13. Fun (PS)
14. Dedicated (PS)
15. Hardworking (PS)
16. Daughter (R)
17. Grand-daughter (R)
18. Determined (PS)
19. Tired (P)
20. Compassionate (PS)
P stands for Physical Trait - 5
R stands for Role - 5
PS stands for Personality Trait - 10
Birth order - Only child
(I had a hard time coming up with pros and cons)
Pros
1. All the attention
2. No favortitism
3. Only yourself to look after
Cons
1. Lonely - sometimes (rarely)
2. Parents are extremely over protective
3. Too much attention at times
Questions:
1. How would you be different if you had the same birth order but were a different sex?
Honestly, I don't know how I would be different. I mean personality wise I would be different because I probably would not be interested in the same things. (clothes - shopping, shoes, purses, etc...) I would hopefully be stronger and more athletic too. I don't think the birth order would really affect me, anymore than it does now, if I were a different sex.
2. How would you be different if you had a different ordinal position?
Well, I would probably be different because I would not receive as much attention as I do now. Which means I would probably either talk less often, be more reserved, and not share my opinions as often. My parents probably would not be as over protective because their focus would be split up amongst all the kids verses just me. It would be really different, I would be really different if my I was not an only child.
3. As a parent I would probably only want between 1 and 3 children; just because I come from a really small family. Also, this way I would allow myself to have more time for each of my children. (Time might be limited with work and other things.)
In Class Activities Chapters 8 and 9
Chapter 8:
11/9/09
Memory Score
1. 1
2. 4
3. 2
4. 4
5. 5
6. 3
7. 5
My Score: 24 Average Memory
Seven Dwarfs
grumpy
sleepy
dopey
doc - I got these four on my own
sneezy
Happy
Bashful
12 Days of Christmas (partiage in a pear tree given)
2 Turtle Doves
3 French Hens
4 Calling Birds
5 Golden Rings - I got to
6 Geese of Laying
7 Swans of Swimming
8 Maids of Miliking
9 Ladies dancing
10 Lords of Leaping
11 Pipers piping
12 Drummers Drumming
11/11/09
First Memory Test (* remembered it)
apple*
pear*
grape*
banana
Bill*
Jon*
Robert*
Charlie
Blue*
Red*
Green*
Yellow*
Nickel*
Quarter*
Dime*
Dollar
East*
South*
West*
North*
17/20
Second Memory Test
Duck*
Big*
Jowel*
Clog*
Pot
Dusk
Wreak
Broom*
Later*
Trout*
Wage
Mayor
Lot
List
Smug*
Job*
Start*
Else
Chap
Tape
Thir Memory Test
Court*
Royal*
Dice*
Dent
Slot*
Hand
Solve
Stoned
House
Mutt
Dirt
Draft
Greet
Stale
Chapter 9
Riddles
1. A coffin
2. A- 14
3. Move the second glass
4. Shortest sentence using every letter of the alphabet
5. Back to Back
6. 100204180
7. every number
8. m
9. a) age 17
b) 6 stations
c) 19 passengers still on
d) 50 people got off
e) 65 people go on
10. same place
11. crunchy dog food eaten by - lady
green dog house - sancho
I thought that these activites were fun and at times challenging. I used to consider myself to have a decent memory but after doing these activities I found out that I don't. My favorite class activity that we did was the riddles.
11/9/09
Memory Score
1. 1
2. 4
3. 2
4. 4
5. 5
6. 3
7. 5
My Score: 24 Average Memory
Seven Dwarfs
grumpy
sleepy
dopey
doc - I got these four on my own
sneezy
Happy
Bashful
12 Days of Christmas (partiage in a pear tree given)
2 Turtle Doves
3 French Hens
4 Calling Birds
5 Golden Rings - I got to
6 Geese of Laying
7 Swans of Swimming
8 Maids of Miliking
9 Ladies dancing
10 Lords of Leaping
11 Pipers piping
12 Drummers Drumming
11/11/09
First Memory Test (* remembered it)
apple*
pear*
grape*
banana
Bill*
Jon*
Robert*
Charlie
Blue*
Red*
Green*
Yellow*
Nickel*
Quarter*
Dime*
Dollar
East*
South*
West*
North*
17/20
Second Memory Test
Duck*
Big*
Jowel*
Clog*
Pot
Dusk
Wreak
Broom*
Later*
Trout*
Wage
Mayor
Lot
List
Smug*
Job*
Start*
Else
Chap
Tape
Thir Memory Test
Court*
Royal*
Dice*
Dent
Slot*
Hand
Solve
Stoned
House
Mutt
Dirt
Draft
Greet
Stale
Chapter 9
Riddles
1. A coffin
2. A- 14
3. Move the second glass
4. Shortest sentence using every letter of the alphabet
5. Back to Back
6. 100204180
7. every number
8. m
9. a) age 17
b) 6 stations
c) 19 passengers still on
d) 50 people got off
e) 65 people go on
10. same place
11. crunchy dog food eaten by - lady
green dog house - sancho
I thought that these activites were fun and at times challenging. I used to consider myself to have a decent memory but after doing these activities I found out that I don't. My favorite class activity that we did was the riddles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)