This week I can relate to the chapter because I happen to live with people who **(may or may not be) racist. I have heard them stereotyping a lot based on listening to talk radio and watching the news. I personally don't think that this is fair because you can't just assume that every person is bad because of someone in the same ethnic group doing something that you don't agree with.
This is not a good habit to start, in my personal opinion. It will end up hurting people around you if they hear what you are saying, and can also be dangerous if the wrong person hears you saying something bad about them.
I know that I at times have stereotyped people and I'm going to try harder to just look beneath the surface, you never know but you might like what you see.!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Chapter 16*
The attribution theory suggests how we explain someone's behavior--by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition. This process is that people attribute others' behavior either to their internal dispositions or to their external situations.
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 personal disposition. This means that people automatically assume that the "person" in the situation has more of an effect on what's happening, or on the outcome than the actual "situation" itself.
Stereotypes are a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people. The most common stereotype would have to be about racial or ethnic groups. People often assume that certain groups of people act a certain way based on things they may have heard. If this is true, then people may also stereotype our race too. There have been plenty of "white" people who have committed crimes that are very drastic and unforgiving.
Illusionary correlations are related to stereotyping because you are grouping people together based on categories that you may or may not know that much about. This could also be negative or positive. It's like saying that all older men with a white beard are "Santa Clause." We all know that this isn't true, but this could just be the way you think about it. this relates to stereotyping becasue you are also grouping people together, but you think that you know more about it than you actually do.
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 personal disposition. This means that people automatically assume that the "person" in the situation has more of an effect on what's happening, or on the outcome than the actual "situation" itself.
Stereotypes are a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people. The most common stereotype would have to be about racial or ethnic groups. People often assume that certain groups of people act a certain way based on things they may have heard. If this is true, then people may also stereotype our race too. There have been plenty of "white" people who have committed crimes that are very drastic and unforgiving.
Illusionary correlations are related to stereotyping because you are grouping people together based on categories that you may or may not know that much about. This could also be negative or positive. It's like saying that all older men with a white beard are "Santa Clause." We all know that this isn't true, but this could just be the way you think about it. this relates to stereotyping becasue you are also grouping people together, but you think that you know more about it than you actually do.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Our Minds Are Black Boxes--Even to Ourselves. *Summary
This article was about whether people have clear insight to how their own minds work. For example a psychologist did an experiment where 128 people were asked to judge someone called "Jill." They were given some arrangement of facts about her such as: She has an attractive appearance, her academic credentials are good, etc. Then the participants were asked to rate her on a scale of 1-7 from these facts based on how much sympathy she would show towards others, if they liked her, and how flexible she was in solving problems.
Most of the participants misjudged Jill and thought that if she was "good looking" more people would be sympathetic to her, but it actually would have the opposite affect. They also thought that because she was in a car accident, it would make her more likable, when it actually made her less.
This proves that people are generally wrong in their "insight" and predicting what factors will effect someone's personality. Most people are actually wrong about themselves also because they know what they like, but often don't know who we're attracted to, how we solve problems, and where our ideas come from.
I think this article was okay, but the tests do seem a little shaky, so I wouldn't recommend this article.
Most of the participants misjudged Jill and thought that if she was "good looking" more people would be sympathetic to her, but it actually would have the opposite affect. They also thought that because she was in a car accident, it would make her more likable, when it actually made her less.
This proves that people are generally wrong in their "insight" and predicting what factors will effect someone's personality. Most people are actually wrong about themselves also because they know what they like, but often don't know who we're attracted to, how we solve problems, and where our ideas come from.
I think this article was okay, but the tests do seem a little shaky, so I wouldn't recommend this article.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Current Events. *12-4-09
This week I can relate to the chapter a little more than usual. This is because I had a fight with my boyfriend this week, and I found that both of us were Rationalizing to prove each other wrong. I never realized that by doing this, we are actually enabling a defense mechanism. Rationalization is when we unconsciously generate self-justifying explanations to hide from ourselves and the real reasons for our actions.
It turns out that when you rationalize, you aren't really getting to the true point of the problem, and it wasn't helping either of us. Once we realized that we were just wasting time fighting, we realized that all of the "rationalizing" we were doing, ended up just basically being excuses. Personally I think this could be one of the most common defense mechanisms, because I know that everyone at one point or another has made an excuse for why they do/ did something. I'm not saying that it's right, (because it's not really helping anything anyways) but it's what happens. I think it's easier just to make an excuse than to figure out the real reason why something is happening. But trust me, in the end, getting to the point right away is definitely the way to go!
It turns out that when you rationalize, you aren't really getting to the true point of the problem, and it wasn't helping either of us. Once we realized that we were just wasting time fighting, we realized that all of the "rationalizing" we were doing, ended up just basically being excuses. Personally I think this could be one of the most common defense mechanisms, because I know that everyone at one point or another has made an excuse for why they do/ did something. I'm not saying that it's right, (because it's not really helping anything anyways) but it's what happens. I think it's easier just to make an excuse than to figure out the real reason why something is happening. But trust me, in the end, getting to the point right away is definitely the way to go!
Chapter 13*
I think that there are many different influences to my personality. One would have to be my family. Over the years I've obviously been around them a lot and have picked up on the things they do (both good and bad). This happens at a young age, when everything you see becomes just about everything you do. It's almost like looking in a mirror, except instead of seeing yourself, you see your family. This continues until you are old enough to interpret things your own way and decide what your values are and the kind of person that you want to be.
Another influence on my personality is God or religion. This is a huge influence because it teaches morals, and can help you find answers when there's no one else that can help you. Although religion is a controversial issue, for me it is a basic guideline to how a person should act. I don't think that you have to follow the bible to an exact T, but it helps you get an idea of the right way to go in life.
Friends and experiences also helped to shape my personality. My friends have helped me experience different things, which have taught me some valuable lessons along the way. Because of these experiences I have started to follow a certain way of living, which in turns makes a person and their (personality).
I think the personality theories that make the most sense are Maslow's and Rogers. Maslow's says that if our physiological needs are met, we become concerned with personal safety; if we achieve a sense of security, we then seek to love, to be loved, and to love ourselves; with our love needs satisfied, we seek self-esteem. Having achieved self-esteem, we ultimately seek self-actualization or the process of fulfilling our potential. This makes a lot of sense to me because this describes people basically in a nut shell. Once you conquer one stage of life (finding love) you then move on to another. It's almost as if we are never just satisfied with what we have, because we always want more.
Rogers theory states that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies. Unless thwarted by an environment that inhibits growth, each of us is like an acorn, primed for growth and fulfillment. Growth promoting climate requires three conditions: genuineness, acceptance, and empathy. I agree with this because when you are born, you are basically a pure soul. Until you are thrown out into the "real world" you think that things are good and you're happy with your life. But once you come to reality, you see things as they actually are, which then changes your perspectives, and turns you into the person you decide to become.
I think my defense mechanisms are mostly rationalization and projection. I think that I rationalize a lot, just to make sense of things, and to try to explain why they are happening. I know that I have also used projection as a defense mechanism because there have been times when I thought someone didn't like me, and it turned out that I just didn't like something about them.
The video I found the most helpful was the Moral Psychology: Trait Perspective video. I thought this was helpful because it talked a lot about how different people view events and actions/ objects differently. This is interesting, mostly because I never realized that it's actually TRUE. It's weird to think that by seeing how you react to something can tell whether you are a Republican or Democrat, I didn't know that your reactions reflected your political views!
Another influence on my personality is God or religion. This is a huge influence because it teaches morals, and can help you find answers when there's no one else that can help you. Although religion is a controversial issue, for me it is a basic guideline to how a person should act. I don't think that you have to follow the bible to an exact T, but it helps you get an idea of the right way to go in life.
Friends and experiences also helped to shape my personality. My friends have helped me experience different things, which have taught me some valuable lessons along the way. Because of these experiences I have started to follow a certain way of living, which in turns makes a person and their (personality).
I think the personality theories that make the most sense are Maslow's and Rogers. Maslow's says that if our physiological needs are met, we become concerned with personal safety; if we achieve a sense of security, we then seek to love, to be loved, and to love ourselves; with our love needs satisfied, we seek self-esteem. Having achieved self-esteem, we ultimately seek self-actualization or the process of fulfilling our potential. This makes a lot of sense to me because this describes people basically in a nut shell. Once you conquer one stage of life (finding love) you then move on to another. It's almost as if we are never just satisfied with what we have, because we always want more.
Rogers theory states that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies. Unless thwarted by an environment that inhibits growth, each of us is like an acorn, primed for growth and fulfillment. Growth promoting climate requires three conditions: genuineness, acceptance, and empathy. I agree with this because when you are born, you are basically a pure soul. Until you are thrown out into the "real world" you think that things are good and you're happy with your life. But once you come to reality, you see things as they actually are, which then changes your perspectives, and turns you into the person you decide to become.
I think my defense mechanisms are mostly rationalization and projection. I think that I rationalize a lot, just to make sense of things, and to try to explain why they are happening. I know that I have also used projection as a defense mechanism because there have been times when I thought someone didn't like me, and it turned out that I just didn't like something about them.
The video I found the most helpful was the Moral Psychology: Trait Perspective video. I thought this was helpful because it talked a lot about how different people view events and actions/ objects differently. This is interesting, mostly because I never realized that it's actually TRUE. It's weird to think that by seeing how you react to something can tell whether you are a Republican or Democrat, I didn't know that your reactions reflected your political views!
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