My initial blog post, which consisted of, my course expectation back in August and the outcome to date have changed a bit. I realized from a more personal experience how much attention and time is required for the workload of this course. Though I mentioned it in my first blog about how writing intensive this course was, it became more of a reality check when I started doing the workload along with my other 4 classes of how challenging this class was. Though I enjoyed some of the writings because I was able to center them on my personal experiences, I feel as though my ability to achieve the course objectives were 90% out of a 100%. It was very difficult managing so much like school, work, single parenting and trying to establish myself as a brand. My attitude about Social Psychology has changed so much after taking this course. It has given me a better perspective and approach to life and people. I feel as though the material covered in this course really fell in line with all of my other courses and so I was able to speak and write in those classes from a better well-rounded perspective. It also helped in my personal life dealing with certain issues by teaching me to think more rationally and calmly. If I took this class again one thing I would do differently is start the workload the break before the semester starts LOL, but it’s so much and I wanted to tackle it all with perfection. I would also see about getting with a class member and working on assignments as much as the legitimacy and academic legality of it permitted. I have grown a bit over the months of taking this course. As I mentioned above, it helped with my psychological development and has allowed me to see things from a broader perspective. I’ve acquired more patience with people since taking this course and I am more relaxed. I can also attribute it to the mixture of my other courses along with this one. A skill I have gained that I feel will be useful in my professional life is building an ePortfolio that caters to in-depth information about me. I think a lot of times we find it hard to talk about ourselves because we are seldom taught to, but I did so much of it in my ePortfolio that I will be able to in the future. This will be good for job interviews and networking. 

Blog 9

This course has had me thinking a lot about societies cultures near and afar. I think the most three important ideals I have learned and have been at the forefront of my thought and actions since taking this course would have to be enculturation, social axioms, and the importance of research. Even though the importance of research is listed last does not mean that is the order of importance for me. I recognize that without some many studies of people taking the time to critically look at society from various aspects, we would not have all this understanding of culture and how different entities influence people, institutions and places differently. After reading the book and articles and then having to do so much analysis based on what I learned in relation to my internal and external world, it actually gives me a better understanding and approach when it comes to writing. Second would be social axioms. It is the reason my approach to writing my eP blogs has been to center on something about my environment, culture, standpoint, consciousness, etc. and myself. It all boils down to how I am socialized, what I experienced, how I interact with the external world around me and how perception of beliefs and norms allow me to exist as I am at different points in my life. Lastly Enculturation is the culmination of what I just mentioned minus a bit of my internal thoughts and attributes, which as “research” notes is biosocial not just social. For the main part, coming up in a certain culture is attributed a lot on how your socialized, think and believe. This is to help you exist in that culture accordingly so naturally you respond with acceptance of this way of development. The enculturation agents will also have powerful influences to aid with your socialization. I will tie this into what I learned in my Gender Communication course about gender roles and how those roles dictate how we behave as men and women in a society. Also I will tie this into my Social Inequality class and how Ideologies of a society is sort of the Umbrella which governs all of the underlining subjects from enculturation, gender roles, social axioms, what we research, the importance we place on that research all the way down to sometimes how we think internally. We are so ingrained with ideologies that our choices we make, how we chose to believe and behave, we without a second look contribute these to freedom of choice. Really we are just acting out instituted ideologies. 

Blog 8

I have a variety of different ethnic friends and I have lived amongst different races in my lifetime. I have noticed some similarities on how regardless of the ethnic group we express similar emotions for certain events or what the book Culture and Psychology called emotion antecedents (Juang & Matsumoto, 2017, p. 211). A recent example would be my Spanish speaking friends that I Skype with in Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. I noticed that though we have a bit of a language barrier, which we are getting through by teaching each other our languages and through a lot of the conversation using non-verbal emotions to convey expression. It sort of helps to put a conversation in context if you read the expression of the face and connect the dots with the words. An example would be my friend in Mexico. We talk about his job and what part of Mexico he lives in as well as him coming to America and me visiting Mexico. In our conversation I was having a difficult time picking up words that he was saying because he has a thick native ascent and speaks really fast, but I caught enough of the words and what really help me was his facial expressions as he explained that the part of Mexico he lives in is not good for tourist. I would definitely say the universality in emotion recognition and emotion antecedents help to foster a connection between my friends and I of different cultures. When I speak with my friends in Chile I also notice that they smile when I get on the Skype video chat and I naturally do so as well. This is an indication that we are happy to see each another. They are very friendly and it shows through there expressions, whereas as I have been socialized in America through culture display rules not to overtly show too much of certain emotions like smiling. So I find myself definitely happy to speak with my friends, but also amplifying my emotion of smile so it not an awkward or mistaken nonverbal cue for anger or irritation. I don’t mind it because I am a naturally happy and excited guy, but the problem comes in where I become so immersed in the conversation and culture experience that I forget I am still in America and so I have to remember to regulate myself so I do not break culture display rules when I’m talking to American friends because they may find it weird, pretentious, or suspect. 

Matsumoto, D. R., & Juang, L. P. (2017). Culture and psychology(6th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Blog 7

Aladin is a fairytale about a commoner boy who grows on the streets as an orphan in an Arabian fictional city called Agrabah. He meets a girl on the streets one day as he tries to save her from an angry business owner who believed that she was trying to still something he begins to fall for her. He does not realize she is the Princess of Agrabah when he is helping her escape the first time around because she tells him that she works as the princesses’ servant in the palace. He soon realizes that he likes her and as he tries to get closer to her she makes an excuse as to why she must return to the palace. I feel that this does set a few cultural norms and values such as how a guy is usually pursuing the girl. Also he felt it was his duty to save her as the heroine, but she was in a position to aid herself as well. Being the princess she had the power to actually save him. She chose to allow him to take the lead even though she has a strong independent since of character she chose not to reveal her being princess because it would have bruised his ego, but played the damsel in distress. I feel this is a cultural norm that sometimes played out in society. Other cultural norms include once Aladin found out she was the princess he felt intimidated and he had to go find a way to amount to success before approaching her again. In the story he found a magical Gene that he wished would grant him riches and being a King of his on land. Once Jasmine found out that Alandin was infiltrating as a fake King to impress her she expressed how she fell for the original Aladin qualities and not King Aladin. This brings about a cultural value of appreciating authenticity.  This movie Aladin is the epitome of egalitarian views in gender, class stratification, and equality. Aladan was born a “street rat,” which was a way of saying street orphan, but Jasmine the princess saw past that for quality of his character. Also Aladin who didn’t have much still aided other children “street rats” sacrificing his personal food at times so they would not starve. Another example would be when Jasmine and her father the Sultan found out that Aladin was really posing as a King they still allowed him to be apart of the family regardless of his social status.  Aladin influenced me because I felt that he had a genuine heart to treat everyone with compassion and he was brave in the most dangerous of situations. Lastly I identified with Aladin because he was resilient and refused to give up.

Blog 6

My need for independence while being interconnected to society is the biggest way I satisfy my need for autonomy. What I mean by this is that, even though I want to belong or affiliate myself with different aspects of society such as a specific organization, or part of a subculture, school, profession and etc., I still want to feel like I making internal consciousness decisions on what I become apart of and the reasons as to why because it will satisfy psychological and physical needs of mine. For example I am a music artist and I sing R&B and pop, so naturally I want to be apart of the organizations in society that promote this and control this segment of society. I enjoy interacting with this group of people and institutions that I come in contact with because of this agencies ability to enhance my cognitive and developmental skills. Also I am most satisfied because this is the most ideal culture and organizations that provide me with the most autonomy while incorporating interconnectedness. The idea of self-expression in music is so pleasurable that it shapes you to a culture of same valuing institutional ideas of individuality. When relating this academically, my locus of control developed from my path of interdependence from the culture of music has shaped what I choose to study in school. My major is Communication media because I feel this is the path of self-determination that would cater to my needs. Though I have to take pre-structured classes that have a template of what I am to follow, stay in accordance with and what will teach me a working knowledge, I still feel that I have direct control over what will influence me because I allow the course work to influence and shape me. Even though there are only certain classes that I can choose from for my degree works, I still choose which courses I will take out of the list and build a schedule catered to my circumstances. Also when it comes to doing the school assignments, though the professor have created a parameter of what’s the topic to focus on I can expound upon something that still grabs more of my interest within that framework and make it more intrinsically beneficial or fun for me to work on. This is what I feel is most autonomic about my choices academically and socially. 

BLOG 5

1. I am… a lover of all people 
2. I am… artistic 
3. I am… a musician
4. I am… a teacher 
5. I am… a father 
6. I am… African American  
7. I am… an American 
8. I am… a Soldier 
9. I am… a Man 
10. I am… a leader

Since I was a young kid I have always been embracive of all cultures. I can recall having friendships and relationships of all colors. I even remember while in the military having a roommate by choice that was Vietnamese and attending a church that predominately Korean. I remember having best friends that were white, Spanish and of course black. My artistic side peaked when I was in high school and realized I love writing poems thinks to my 11^thgrade teacher Mrs. Shaddrick. She encouraged me by telling me how creative I was and I enjoyed poems by Edgar Allen Poe. I also remember starting an R&B band with my 3 blood brothers where we wrote and performed our own songs. When I was in the military I developed training for the Soldiers that were under my command and then taught the Soldiers. I was the main songwriter and vocal choreographer of the group and took pride in that position. I became a father unexpectedly and unplanned but since my little guy has come along everyday I enjoy our time and bond more and more. I take pride in being black and recognize that our culture throughout history has always been so influential. I am American and proud to be so. I served my country proudly in the Army and I take pride in the heritage of America and how far we come. Along the lines as an Army Soldier I served with honor and integrity proud to wear the uniform. Most importantly than anything else is that Identify as a man and I conform to the ideals of what a man should be and represent. I am thankful I was born a man and what I have been endowed with as a man. Lastly I was a leader in all aspects. As a middle child of 5 boys my mom still entrusted in me to be the most responsible and lead the brother she was not around and then as a Army officer then transpired even more as my first platoon was one of 200 Soldiers I had to lead. When I reflect back sometimes I feel like I was born to lead. 

Which statements do you think are associated with the dimension of ‘independent construal of self”? For example, you will say numbers 2, 4, and 6 are associated with… 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 

Which statements do you think are associated with the dimension of ‘interdependent construal of self”? For example, you will say numbers 3, 5, and 7 are associated with… 1, 4, 7, 8, 10

Blog 4

I missed 19 out of 50 questions and it took me an extra 7 minuets to complete the test. I read each chapter and even took notes but none of that really prepared me for the expectations of what would be on the test. The teat is subjective and measures only what a professor would deem as important out of each chapter. So when it comes to the first exam given its hard as a student to gauge what is important with chapters so long in information and broad. I took notes on what I had believed what was important from the chapters just as a professor in their thoughts note what is important. With 4 chapters and so much information, one could not be expected to remember everything from every chapter good enough to answer test questions you had no involvement in making. There was no review sheet as to what could be expected on the test so that made it that much more difficult to gauge what information should I as a student try to remember on these big chapters. What I learned from this experience is that there is no rational way to really prepare for a test that will incorporate so much information with very little time or insight as to what will be deemed as more important than something else on the test. I found myself going through the chapter PowerPoint slides over and over not being able to really find the answers for the test and then having to search through my book instead. This back and forth created a slow gap and delay that caused me to go overtime and experience anxiety because I could not figure out a better process to get the answers I needed with an 75 minuet time expectancy as the main dilemma. As to how this will help me in the future, I realize that I will have to consume more unrealistic time that I don’t have reading the book chapters very thoroughly and hoping that I can remember all the information in them that, it took Psychologist with PHD’s and researchers years to gather data and write, in weeks before the next test. 

Blog 3

NEO SUMMARY

When taking this NEO personality test the first thing I did was identified what I personally thought would describe me in these categories. Afterwards I scrolled down and actually went through answering the questions and calculating the totals for each section. Seeing the actual results was a bit surprising compared to what I initially indicated. There were some minor slight differences. Initially this is what I indicated: Average for neuroticism, extraversion and consciousness. Then for openness and agreeableness I had chosen high. The results showed that for neuroticism I was average with a score of 23. I was high on the chart for extraversion, openness and consciousness scoring a 34, 40 and 37. Lastly for agreeableness I was low scoring a 24. So for neuroticism and openness I was accurate about my preconceived notions, but for the remainder I was a tad bit off. When answering the questions I definitely gave honest answers and now looking at what the results show to a certain degree I can see why it came up with those results. Starting with Neuroticism I see myself as average simply because for the most part I am a very energized and optimistic person. I have a happy persona and I am very cheerful. Even though I could switch to being angry or sad it takes a good deal of adversity to get me to that point. I recover very quickly from upsetting events and I’m very resilient. An example would be getting up just about every morning singing and being comedic even when feeling exhausted or overwhelmed by school and bills, but every now and again I have those brief moments where it really sinks in and I do become angry. I didn’t think of myself as an extravert, because though I do prefer to be around people, circumstantially for whatever reason I tend to find that I’m by myself for the most part. This is partially do to all the responsibilities I have and the very little time I have on a daily, but I do know a lot of people and converse and enjoy it when I get to do so. Also when I do get to go out with others I become the life of the party. An example of this would be, earlier today I was on the phone with a friend of mine and she made a statement about how I know a lot of people. Scoring high on openness was no shocker considering that’s what I indicated prior to taking the test. I am a very curious person as well as expressive in my feelings and ideals. An example would be for my gender between the sexes course we have open dialogue about topics concerning gender, and I’m one out only a handful who actually speak in class sharing my own experiences to create a connection between the topic and real world experiences related to it. For consciousness I scored high as well and now looking back it makes since that I did. I think all the time about deep ideals, future plans, how I can contribute to society and how to change social issues that impact people adversely. I think so much that I try to concentrate on not thinking.  A prime example would be the papers I write for my social inequality course. I find myself pouring out various ideals in class and on paper.  Lastly for agreeableness I do find myself standing my ground ideals unless someone can back it up with hard supporting facts that are visible for me to make a change. An example of this would be my friend and I talking about politics two weeks ago. 

Blog 2

Life values are usually molded by the immediate family your raised in, education institutions you learn from, organizations you become apart of, Media outlets you are entertained by, friends and associates you develop relationships with over your life span, and any other external influences that you encounter as you progress from baby to adulthood. Other times this may not be the case. For example, lets take family for instance, some children are not raised by a family but maybe a orphanage system. For me family was definitely where I was given some of my strongest life values that I still hold today. These family values were positive for the most part. The first value that I could think of that may be the most important when it comes to career pursuit is, hard work ethic. In the career that I want to pursue which is, the entertainment industry of music and film, you have to be willing to put up with long nights whether in the studio or on set. Also you’ll probably have multiple side jobs until you get established and solidified. For me, I want that to be as a writer. Another value that comes to mind is the “Golden rule,” which is treat everyone how you would want to be treated. The reality is that, you never know who you will encounter and what the persons title, connection or resources are and how they could be essential to your next step. Their are gatekeepers out there who choose not to ‘wear’ it on their chest and so interpersonal skills go a long way. The value of integrity is sort of embodied in both of the first two values. Doing what’s right when no one is watching is very important for me. My mom taught me as a child to always be honest, do right by others and act right no matter whose watching or not watching. Another important value that is critical to my life and my career pursuit is resiliency. I remember watching the movie “Shaw Shake Redemption”years ago and learning the ideals of what it means to be resilient. Being able to bounce back and having that “go getter” attitude no matter the adversity is the energy that most employers desire. Also, personally it can help you overcome challenges and propel you forward to better career opportunities. Gratitude and growth are two other values that come to mind when I think of my career pursuits. Gratitude of what others have afforded you the opportunities of will convey how genuine and thoughtful of a person you are. Thats some of the characteristics that employers want to see at times. I could go on with so many more life values, but I’ll stop at growth. Growth is what allowed me to become the person I am today and embody these strong values. As far as how I got to be a university student, there are a few reasons I could think of. The first I would have to say is my mom. Watching her work hard to take us from better neighborhoods and environments as much as she could is still inspirational till this day. This inspired me and I felt it was my obligation to go to school and work just as hard. Secondly, I would have to contribute my military career. This experience taught me a set of values that encouraged educating ones self to become a better war fighter. Learning something was always essential to what I did in the military. A lot of times I was the one planning the training and executing it, so I had to embody a “know how” that only comes from learning. Also they pay for my schooling so thats a major factor. Lastly I would say, growing up in rough neighborhoods made me realize that if I wanted to make it out, I would need to get an education that could afford me opportunities to success. I decided to pursue an higher education because I figured it was necessary to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and how I could be in a better financial situation. I also wanted to go to college just for the college experience. My mom went to college, but never finished because she had to raise five boys on her own. She always spoke to us about going to college or either joining the forces. Ultimately she wanted us to do something constructive with our lives. My brothers supported my decision to go to college because they also thought that was the right way for me to go.

Blog 1- Course Overview Takeaways

After reviewing the course objectives and thinking about what the academia takeaway will be for me as a student from each assignment, I came to a few narrative conclusions. The first thought was about how ePortfolio assignments in itself will help me establish a professional online base and working knowledge it seems business culture is already moving to if not already there. The intensive writing assignments where we are reviewing research journals, summing up the articles and answering some questions based on identified topics will help me cultivate writing skills that is needed in the workplace and institution of academia. Also reading the various articles and books is a fundamental skill in and of itself that will allow me to think more critically with the intent to digest the content, understand it and then produce a response showing aptitude. The course seems vary rigid in its structure and tedious in a ‘attention to detail is key’ kind of manner. This is necessary and will help me in the future when having to meet deadlines, consume a lot of material and conduct quite a bit of research and activities to get a job complete in such environments as a future class, employer or my own brand and business endeavors. I hope to gain from this course a better foundation of knowing the impact culture has and how its essential to know the intricacies what role it plays in society, people, business and life. I hope this course will help be more insightful at how to draw logical conclusions about groups, organizations, cultures and etc., that will shape how I do business, create a product and build my professional life that will produce a more positive outcome on my personal life and anyone I interact with. To ensure my success in this course I will, stay on top of my workload, read beyond just the scope of whats required, interact with my fellow classmates and professors as well as take what I am learning and make it as applicable to my personal and professional life. Also I will ask as many questions as possible to ensure every step of the way I have a good understanding of the topics and whats required of me, plan ahead and work hard as my abilities allow me to.