Blog 9
10 APR 2022
In my first blog post, my expectations for this class were to learn about how people react when fronted with certain circumstances and how it can vary from culture to culture. From this course I definitely learned about how we handle situations differently depending on certain aspects of one’s culture but I also realized that overall, the basis of our emotions and reactions can be fairly similar. An example of this, is when we were learning about how different cultures express their emotions. When looking at the emoticons that the US and Japan used, you could see that for the most part they were the same; like if one culture were to look at the other’s emoticons they would know what emotion is being expressed. This was just one example, but multiple things throughout the course have shown that cultures aren’t as different as we may think! This is important because it kind of proves that we should be able to really sympathize and empathize with each other. This class has expanded my mindset of what cross-cultural psychology looks like. If I were to take the class again I would focus more on not just reading the material but trying to apply it personally, because that would help more with the blogs and artifacts because they all relate back to ourselves personally. This class helped me advance academically because I really learned how to read deeper into the readings from the chapter and it helped strengthen my ability to make connections. Something I learned from the class that I can apply to my professional life is learning the background to some cultural standpoints that could affect a person’s work ethics, stress levels, and conflict resolution. This heightened mindset will make it easier for me to get on the same level as other people and be more open to understanding whatever issues or difficulties they may be having professionally. From the first assignment takeaway, I think I am much closer to the stage of Integration of difference, because I am more willing to step into someone else’s shoes versus imagining what it is like in their shoes.
Blog 8
27 Mar 2022
One of the biggest ways I’ve seen people express their emotions differently is when they are expressing love. People in different cultures and even people of the same culture show love differently based on a lot of different aspects of their lives. An example of this is love languages. Another way is that some culturees express their emotions very outwardly and some are more internal. For example, in American culture, typically the South, we nod and smile at the people we pass on the street to come off as friendly. I have a friend that is an exchange student from Germany and when she first got to America she was so confused because in Germany they don’t even look at each other when they walk by let alone smile or nod at them. These actions really surprised me because I thought people would try to come off friendly to others but there are ways to be friendly without having to smile and nod at someone. I just depends on preexisting cultural factors that support or disapprove of certain concepts. Another thing about the cultures like the American culture is that it seems like because we present our emotions so obviously, we have a hard time reading people. Like if someone isn’t smiling our outwardly happy people are quick to ask them if there is something wrong or if they are okay. But the cultures that aren’t obvious with their emotions probably have better and more open communication when it comes to talking about how they feel.
Blog 7
20 Mar 2022
I think that fairy tales do reflect a shared set of cultural norms and values. Although fairy tales originally reflect the thoughts of the time frame they are written in, we have seen them being remastered and retold to change with the times. There are many movies that retall classic fairy tales with different aspects; different races, genders, and cultures of the main characters than what was previously written into the story books. There is even a whole genre of books called “fairy tales retold” which is classic fairy tales rewritten with a strong female character or something like that. Introducing a young audience to egalitarian views through movies and media will promote positive views about the people in this world and hopefully prevent prejudice and sterotypes being put on others. Young adults are so impressionable and they can relate to strong characters and also act based on what they see in the movies and we don’t want to promote anything that would potentially harm the mental state of someone who is already so young and impressionable. A character from a movie I related to is Elsa from Frozen, she embodies selflessness, caring and confidence and defies the damsel in distress trope.
Blog 6
6 MAR 2022
Nearly every aspect of my academic career reflects my sense of autonomy. From the minute you pick a major you basically have free reign. Even though your required curriculum is picked for you; I get to decide what professor I want, my method of learning (in-person, online, or hybrid), and how heavy of a workload I want to take on. Academically speaking I think that I express a good sense of autonomy. For competence, I relate to this very much because I am a bit of a perfectionist in the sense that I try so hard to make things wonderful and flawless. Academically, I display a sense of competence by studying and reviewing my learning materials to gain a secure grasp on the information so that I can recall it later. Another aspect of my competency is when I can’t understand something to its fullest, I reach out to anyone and everything that could possibly be of some assistance. Lastly, for relatedness I reach out to my classmates when I feel a certain way about a project or assignment or even just have a question. I also respond to them if they ask questions in the group chat just to help build a sense of camaraderie. Sometimes I’ll even meet up to study with these classmates to make a bond with them!
Blog 5
27 Feb 2022
I used this assignment as a chance to reflect on some qualities that I would use to describe myself in my multiple roles in life. I would say I am intelligent, patient, empathetic, dynamic, funny, reliable, outgoing, motivated, kind-hearted, independent. I think the traits that would fall under the independent construal of self are 1,2,3,4,8,9, and 10. The traits that fall under the interdependent construal of self are 5,6, and 7. Because of what I said just mentioned, I think I fall more under the independent self than the interdependent. I say this because I notice that for the most part my characteristics are consistent no matter what people I am interacting with. The only thing that changes is when I am with a certain person or group of people and don’t need to apply a certain characteristic. Like if I am in a setting where I don’t need to be dynamic and quickly adapt to my situations then I won’t. My roles don’t affect my personality or vice versa, I think I am consistently myself. For the English proverb for independent, be unique, I think it means that you will always be your true self and your own person instead of trying to fit the mold for a role. For the English, proverb for interdependent, occupy and play one’s assigned roles, it means that you will never be one solid personality because things about you will always be changing to fit a certain role or appeal to a certain group of people. It was easier for me to reflect on the independent self because I think life is so much easier when you are just one person and people accept you as you are versus changing yourself in order to be accepted.
Blog 4
20 FEB 2022
Reviewing this exam brought a couple of things to light for me. It mostly helped me realize that I need to reevaluate/change my study methods. I found myself second guessing a lot of my answers throughout the exam and some of the answers I changed ended up being the wrong answer and I originally selected the correct answer. The best way to fix second guessing yourself is to know the material so securely that you are sure in your answers. I think reviewing the material more frequently would’ve helped me get better results on this exam. I didn’t do too much revisiting my notes prior to exam other than the review sheet. I think it could’ve been very beneficial to revisit whatever notes I wrote more frequently, like maybe at the end of the week just to keep the information fresh. Additionally, I studied the review sheet all at once, a few days before the exam. I think it would’ve been more helpful to have spaced it over the week so I wouldn’t have to cram so much information at once and give my brain the opportunity to retain it better.
Blog 3
13 FEB 2022
I thought this personality test was very interesting and I enjoyed taking it! I wasn’t too surprised at my results because I have a pretty good sense of self, however I was a little shocked at the level of some of my scores. For neuroticism I scored an 11 (low), for extraversion I scored a 32 (high), for openness I scored a 40 (very high), for agreeableness I scored a 35 (high), and for conscientiousness I scored a 34 (average). These results say that I am calm even under stress, extraverted and high-spirited, open to new experiences and imaginative, compassionate and good-natured, and dependable and moderately well organized. These traits fit me like a glove and I can easily relate them to different parts of my life. I am the friend that everyone goes to for advice or to listen to their problems because I love helping people. I have several friend groups and lots of friends because I love people. I have my own strong opinions but I am also willing to listen and learn from other points of view. And lastly, I have always felt like I work the best under-pressure and with a little bit of stress so I like to be where the chaos is because I like to help calm the storm. Even at work, my older coworkers say I am so mature for my age or they know they can come to me when they have an issue or an angry customer because I don’t get overwhelmed and crack with stress.
Blog 2
6 FEB 2022
Some values that are important to me that relate to career pursuits are integrity, flexibility, and slightly stubborn. I know that flexibility and stubborn are almost complete opposites but in the right situations it’s best to have one or the other or even both! You want to have integrity and complete transparency, even when you make mistakes because jobs won’t go to you for special assignments or promotions if they feel like they can’t trust you. You should have flexibility because it is better to be able to change with your situations and adopt different mindsets and thought processes instead of stay stuck in the same head space and getting left behind. Lastly, you want to have a little bit of stubbornness for when you have to assert your worth, values, or defend your ideas at work. Going to college during COVID has put all of the aforementioned qualities to the test with everything being online and offline and flipped upside down. I wanted to initially take a gap year to work, but if I took a gap year I likely wouldn’t go back to school because I don’t particularly enjoy school. My parents were against this and urged me to go to college because they knew that I had potential that would be wasted if I took a gap year and didn’t go back to school AND I was going to be the first person in my immediate family to go to and graduate from college.
Blog 1
30 JAN 2022
This week’s task was to read the syllabus to get a better understanding of what this course entails and what I can expect to learn! For this class I am excited to learn about how different cultures and different people can experience and process the same scenarios and circumstances and psychologically develop completely different. Our brains are so unique and powerful and I think this course will shed some light on it. I hope to better my empathy skills. It’s one thing to be sympathetic but being able to put yourself in someone’s position to better understand what they have been through and are going through is an important skill to have as an individual and as a society.
I picked this image because I really put emphasis on the importance of taking the time to put yourself in other people’s positions and be able to relate to them and get a better understanding of why someone thinks, acts, or behaves a certain way
