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This course has introduced me to an abundance of research about cultural psychology and it’s influence globally. I think I have achieved the course objectives very well. I now have a better understanding of how different each culture is, but how similar some cultures can be. Before, I knew that culture played a role in a person’s life, but I was not aware of exactly how much and now I am. When interacting with people from other cultures, I can now confidently say I am able to think critically and use the information I have learned to properly interact with these people. I think this course has really changed my attitude towards Social Psychology. Now, I am aware of just how much culture plays a role in human life. Not only do people interact differently based on personal individual differences, but because of cultural differences as well!

After finishing the majority of this course, I can honestly say there is not much I would change! I now have an abundance of information and am aware of how to use it. The only thing I may do differently would be to take the class in person. I think this would create an interesting experience if there were multiple classmates with different cultural backgrounds. Maybe everyone could share their own experiences, and see how these experiences align with the information from the course. This course has allowed me to grow academically, as well as personally. I have honestly never had to create a blog, so that has been new and interesting for me! The course also forced me to relate the information I was learning back to my personal life, other academic experiences, and my professional life. I think this helped the information really stick! Being aware of cultural differences and knowing how to interact with people from other cultures is a skill I will be able to use in my future professional life. I would like to be an Occupational Therapist, and I am likely to have patients from all different cultures. It is important I know how to properly interact with them!

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For my first blog post, I stated that I wanted to gain a better understanding of cultures other than my own. I wanted to learn about the different cultures, and how they interact with one another. There were a few topics I have really taken away from this course so far. First, I was very interested in universality and cultural display, which was discussed in my last blog. This helped me have a better understanding of how people from different cultures have different ways of listening and different ways of showing emotions. Another topic I thought was interesting was inclusivity. I discussed inclusivity in one of my blog posts about how fairytales normally depict the man as the hero and the woman as the damsel in distress. This concept was interesting because different cultures may have different gender roles, but they somehow have a sense of inclusivity and work towards a common goal. In Blog 3, I wrote about dimensions of personality and I discussed how openness and directness were very important to me.

I took the concept of dimensions of personality and related it back to Assignment 2. This assignment allowed me to reflect on values that I hold dear here in America. The assignment challenged me to view these values from a foreigner’s standpoint. It described how many foreigners may take some of our top values in a negative way. It was interesting to be informed of these differences, and now I can be more conscientious of the differences.

The concept of inclusivity was easy for me to relate back to a class I am currently in: Organizational Psychology. Organizational Psychology allows me to look at the workplace aspect of many things. In many workplace settings, there are people of different genders, sexualities, ethnicities, ages, etc. At a job, all employees basically have one common goal. The sense of inclusivity must be strong. All workers must work together, despite their differences, in order to accomplish the common goal.

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I have had a few different experiences with individuals from other cultures expressing themselves differently. One of my good friends is from Japan, and I often think of her as not having that many emotions. She is very good at maintaining a smile and staying positive, even when things are not going so well. There are times when I can tell she is sad, but she continues to smile. There was a similar situation when I visited Italy with my friend’s Italian step mother. This was slightly different because instead of portraying her emotions differently, she had a different way of reading our facial expressions. She communicated her feelings about the same as we did, although she did not use sarcasm as much as we did! I remember specifically my friend was speaking about her husband, and she was sad but smiling and saying she was fine. Her step mom was looking at her eyes the whole time and told her she did not look fine, she looked upset; she was not wearing her regular “happy” facial expressions. With my Japanese friend, I did not expect her display of emotions to be this way. I always expected her to show them like the rest of us, but she never has. With my friend’s Italian step mom, I figured this may be due to her culture, but it may have also just came from a loving, motherly instinct. I think the concept of universality and cultural display rules can definitely offer an explanation for these expressions. My friend was probably raised to hide her negative emotions when in front of people to maintain good group morale. My friend’s step mom is probably used to people paying more attention to features such as the eyes, therefore she learned to interpret other people’s emotions in the same way.

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Overall, I believe that most fairytales share a similar plot and set of values. The man is usually shown as the protector, the provider, or the hero. The woman is usually shown as the damsel in distress; she is seen as someone in need of saving or assistance. I think movies, especially children movies, have the platform to give children a model of more egalitarian views. For example, some movies do portray different sexualities. This may make a viewer feel more comfortable with their own sexuality. Many movies do show women as the heroine, which creates a stronger sense of equality among both genders. I have seen more movies lately with men participating in activities that are usually viewed as typically for girls, such as cheerleading or dancing. I think this allows younger children to participate in what they are interested in and not what society expects them to do. A movie I loved as a child was Lilo and Stitch. I think I identified with this movie, because the older sister takes care of the family and always keeps them together. Although my parents are divorced, my family gets along very well. During rough times, my older sister often looked out for me as much as she did herself. This set a good example for me to always be strong, independent, and always work hard. The woman was the provider in this movie, and I always admired that.

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When it comes to my academics, I am able to integrate each piece of the Self-Determination Theory. I would consider myself an autonomous person. I have certain interests and beliefs that I stick strongly with. My school work has always been a priority of mine, and I only depend on myself to get the work done, and get it done efficiently. I feel as if I strongly believe in my ability to do most things. This shows how I have a strong sense of competence. If I do not think I can accomplish something academically with my own knowledge, I will seek help from a tutor or professor. Then, I will take the information they give me and proceed to try and accomplish the task on my own as best as I can. I think this may also contribute to my sense of relatedness. I am able to receive the grades I want on my own, but it is nice knowing there are other students in the same major as me. These students may struggle in the same areas as I do, or we may share a love for the same subject. Either way, I feel a sense of connection to these professors and students for this reason.

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Who am I? I am a very hard working and particular person. I am a college student graduating in May of this year. After I graduate, I would like to go to a program to become an Occupational Therapist. I am a positive person most of the time, and I try to remain happy as much as I possibly can. Being active or participating in sports is one of my favorite hobbies; I am very adventurous as well. All of these aspects of my being are associated with my independent construal of self. These are all goals and attributes I have on my own, aside from other people.

Family is extremely important to me; I am the youngest in my family. I am super protective over my friends and family. I am a Christian, and my faith is very strong. This gives me another support system and people to count on. I am also caring and love to help people. All of these aspects are associated with my interdependent construal of self. These aspects are interconnected with other people that I care about. After thinking back on the question “who am I?” I have realized I am slightly more independent than interdependent.

When thinking about English proverbs, I was able to think of a few that represent independent construal of self. “Be unique” describes how a person should do whatever needed to stand out in the crowd. “Early bird catches the worm” describes how a person should be eager to achieve things for themselves before others. “Every man is the architect of his destiny” describes how every man is responsible for what happens in his life, not depending on anyone else. There were also a few that represented interdependent construal of self. “Occupy and play one’s assigned role” describes how a person has a part in a bigger picture or team; he or she works among others. “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” also describes how humans can work together towards one common goal, but all must put in complete effort. “Blood is thicker than water” describes how important the relationship between a person and their family is. I think it was easier for me to think of “interdependent self” proverbs. I think this is because in school or even in a work setting, a “teamwork” mentality is always promoted. This is what I am used to seeing. I have goals of my own, but if I can use my goals and hard work to help out a larger group, then I will do that.

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I did pretty well on my first exam; I only missed 2 questions. The process of going back and finding the correct answers to the missed questions was very helpful. It helped me realize what sections I needed to look back over to try and have a better understanding of. As I studied the chapters, I did augment my notes by adding visual images and charts to them as I learned more. This also made creating the review sheet much easier, as I had all the information easily available. For example, as shown in the screenshot above, I was able to take notes as well as images from the PowerPoint to use for my review sheet. I probably could have spent more time on the exam review, I really only sat down to complete it about two days before the exam. In the future, I will try and complete the study guide over a longer period of time. I think this will allow me to gather more information that I can apply to the test content.

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After adding up my score for the NEO personality test, I noticed I scored high on all 5 major dimensions of personality. Most of these scores did not surprise me, because my personality is fairly consistent. Although, there were a few that did surprise me, such as extraversion and neuroticism. Openness is always consistent for me. I am always willing to try new things, and look forward to new experiences. Agreeableness is probably my most consistent trait. I tend to be a people-pleaser; I want to cooperate and get along with everyone. I am a very caring person. Conscientiousness is always high for me as well, and is only altered slightly when I am stressed. Even when I am stressed, I still find a way to stay on task and stay organized. Neuroticism is something that can be inconsistent in my personality. For the most part, I am easily stressed out and I can get easily upset. With that being stated, I do have many moments in which I do not get upset and can remain very calm under stress. It truly depends on the circumstance, my surroundings, and any stress leading up to that situation. Extraversion also can differ in my personality. I usually love being around my friends, but I also really enjoy my alone time. I expected to score average on this, so my high score was shocking.  

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I have always been a hard working person, and student. Personally, I think it is always important to be driven, motivated, and to always set goals for yourself. Family is also extremely important to me. I felt that in order to reach my goal of becoming an Occupational Therapist, I needed to attend college. Once I become an Occupational Therapist, I will be able to contribute to supporting my family. Higher education helps with my personal and intellectual growth.

My family always motivated me and pushed me to do well in school. My mom is a first grade teacher, and she always held me accountable. Everyone in my family has helped me study at some point in time, and I think they all helped make higher education a possibility for me. They have also helped tremendously with the finances. I always assumed that college was in my plans, mainly because it’s what my parents wanted, but I wanted it just as much. I never questioned that, and I enjoy learning, so there was really no reason not to go.

As I stated, my family was extremely supportive of my academics, but my teachers and peers always played a large role too. My friends were always smart, driven individuals as well. We challenged each other, and we all wanted to reach similar goals. My teachers were amazing, and offered the best feedback, whether it be negative or positive. They always let me know that I could be successful at a higher level, and they always pushed me.

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The course objectives will help me understand how different cultures impact human life and behavior. I can take skills such as critical thinking to better understand how culture affects psychological processes. I can then take these skills and research and apply them to the outside world when I am traveling, at work, or simply interacting in my social life.

By the end of this semester, I hope to have a better understanding of cultures outside of my own. My expectations for the course are that I will learn more information about these cultures, how they influence behaviors, and how I can best interact with people from other cultures. I hope to take this information into my future career and social life. For my career in Occupational Therapy, I will be dealing with patients from all different cultures. I think it will be important to take the patient’s culture into consideration when thinking about treatment plans. I also like to travel, so I hope to understand cultural diversity while visiting other places. During this course I plan to take hand written notes on the chapters, because this helps with my memorization.