Blog 10

When I wrote my first blog, I was ready to be challenged in this class and learn a lot about the importance of culture in everyday life. This semester exceeded my expectations and I feel I have retained lots of new information. Not only was the criteria interesting, it was beneficial to me by learning human behavior and mental processing across diverse cultures. This is important as being someone who wants to help people as a profession in the future. Currently I am focused on becoming a therapist to help anyone who struggles with mental health and other problems. It’s something I’m very passionate about so I want my help to be able to reach anyone regardless of their culture. Having a better understanding of the impact of culture on one’s life will help me be considerate and go the right way about working with them. My attitude changed on cross-cultural psychology because it opened my mind up to how much behavior is influenced by culture. Referring to the course objectives, I believe I have fulfilled each one based on my current knowledge and the skills I’ve developed based on the assignments. They caused me to think critically to fully understand concepts. I also have seen improvement in my academic abilities after completing this course. Like I said, having assignments that allowed me to think deeper into the subjects and even apply it to my own life played an important part in how I learned. At the beginning of the semester, I had my academic strategy planned out and was ready to put in the work. Sticking to that strategy, using my resources, and staying on top of due dates has taught me that putting hard effort into a goal can be very rewarding. There were so many times in the past where I doubted by academic ability, but the growth I’ve experienced the past few months has showed me true strength and determination that I will apply to my future. Although, If I took this course again I would use that strength and confidence to work even harder. I believe I am capable of making good grades on my work. If I better balanced my work from all my classes, I feel I could spend more time going deeper into the content of the assignments. As mentioned earlier, everything I learned in this course will be very important with my profession as a therapist. Specifically one skill that I learned is simply knowing how to communicate with people and knowing how to show empathy based on their culture.

Blog 9

There is so many little and major concepts that I have learned about culture in this class. The top concepts I have learned in this course are hard to narrow down to only three but based on my e-portfolio, there are some concepts that I found rather more interesting. I learned a lot about self construal, the five-factor model of personality, and gender norms and expressions. The assignments associated with these helped me to look deeper into each of them and apply them to myself or people from other cultures. The assignments for Construal of self were interesting to see how much my answers reflected how I really am. It is eye opening to see how my actions and emotions determine things about me like being more independent than interdependent, and disengaged/engaged emotions. It determines a lot about how each one of us are socially in culture. This concept was applied in the module 7 archive and blog 5. They reflected each other by associating self-construal and emotion to assess myself with relationships, how I am with others, and situations I’ve experienced. The big five personality traits are used in Cross-Cultural Psychology to discover the common traits in individual cultures. Another class, Organizational Psychology, also uses the Big Five Model to determine who is fit for a specific organization. This model is great for predicting how a person behaves in reality, what qualities they have to bring to the company, and measure their abilities from each dimension.

Blog 8

Back when I did an internship in high school, I met another student who is Egyptian. She was used to American culture but I could tell she still saw some things differently. Her family was still strick to their cultural values. Working alongside her, i saw now she depended on the way emotions were expressed to interpret them. A few times the staff and I would joke around and she wouldn’t quite catch on that it was a joke. We even had to explain to her what we meant by it sometimes. She would take us so seriously and wasnt always able to read joking because of the way she interpreted the emotion in our face so she would take us too seriously. I can understand why she thought like that because she was processing what we said based on facial expression and how we said it. She couldn’t catch on to anything like sarcasm because facial expression was very key in determining what was being said to her. It met my expectations because to her, everything was usually said very literally and could only sense joking if the emotion was clear. For an example, if you said something intending to be funny with a straight face, the joke would go over head because she would take it too literally. If you said it with a smile, she would understand immediately that it was meant jokingly. Another example is when someone shriveled their nose at her completely jokingly and she actually thought the person was mad at her. After reading the attached document, I do think these explanations could help explain my experience.

Blog 7

I do believe that fairy tales reflect cultural norms and values. Typically with these types of movies, they are directed to the younger generation. When I was younger, I was very in to fairy tales and Disney movies. I feel it is no different with young children today. I understand the reason for wanting to be inclusive with the changes in todays time, but I believe the main character majorly impacts the audience. These are figures that children look up to, who gain a lot of attention from the children who may favor this particular movie. Once children get used to what they see, they are more likely going to be more accepting of it. It may even influence these children more than they would have been before seeing this movie. Although, the intentions were to be more inclusive and send a message to children to accept themselves which is a very positive influence. Regardless, children especially reflect what we see, just like adults.
A novel that I was very invested in, the Divergent Series, definitely had a positive impact on me. Tris was looked down on for being from abnegation and has to put up with a lot of taunting. They looked at her as weak and incapable and even almost got kicked out of dauntless. But she turned things around to prove that she is part of dauntless and begins to portray a lot of strength that progresses throughout the series. I feel that gives a positive influence to females who read/watch it. It influenced me because of the bravery she maintained throughout even with everything she was going through. She is a very powerful image.

Blog 6

I feel I am successful In Autonomy because I have looked out for what’s best for myself and created goals I believe I can obtain. Making my own decisions makes me accountable for myself. By creating goals, such as currently doing school and obtaining my degree, I allow myself to strive for something I really desire. I try to meet my goals by staying focused and on top of assignments and always remembering my end goal. When it comes to competence, I feel I am skilled in very many places. To focus on one in particular though, I believe I have the skill it takes to be a successful Psychology major and become educated in mental health to be able to help others. I have a huge heart full of empathy for others which is key to being a good counselor. It is also something I would find rewarding because I desire to help others through the awful struggles of mental health. I have had a lot of experience suffering with mental illness, and I believe I have the understanding and compassion it takes to really help someone. I feel I could always do better with relatedness. I do believe I belong right where I am. I feel that everything I have been through has led me to the place I am now. Though I’m not 100% happy with where I am right now, I know it won’t be permanent and I will find my happy place. I also have learned to find the good in things when I can only see the bad. I spend a lot of time with my family because they help keep me grounded and give me the positive support I need. I find joy still being able to live with my parents while I do online school. Even though I’d rather be off at school somewhere, meeting tons of new people and finding things to get involved in, what I’m doing now is what is best for me and I feel will lead me to success. I do feel I am doing the right thing with my chosen major and pursuing my purpose.

Blog 5

Out of my 10 characteristics, the ones I think are associated with the dimension of “independent construal of self” are 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10. As for the ones associated with “interdependent construal of self” are 1, 5, and 6. Based on my answers, I can say I am more independent than interdependent. An English proverb I can use to reflect on independent construal of self is “Express yourself.” This is because I believe in being who you are without holding back and being afraid. This proverb for independent self was easier for me to think of because I can apply it so much to myself. I am a person who stays more to myself and does things without influence. I am true to who I am and do not typically feed off of others.

Blog 4

I did very well on our first test in this class. I used the study guide and made sure to answer the questions thoroughly. For the few I missed I believe I just slipped up and didn’t remember the correct answer. I referred back to my notes and reviewed those questions to correct myself. Prior to the test, I used quizlet to study and memorize the content off my study guide. I feel that worked best for me to do well on the test. I will continue this strategy and be sure to take plenty of time to retain all the material so I hopefully do just as well on the next test as I did this time.

Blog 3

My personality stays pretty consistent with my results from the assessment. There are some things that may change depending on my mood, but in general, my personality is reflected well. If there is a day where my personality is inconsistent, it is usually affecting my neuroticism and conscientiousness.
Neuroticism is usually most effected by mood change or mental health state. Sometimes all the dimensions may be consistent but yet my neuroticism will actually be lower. Which can help me to be more myself. Mostly though I do struggle with high neuroticism.

I would prefer a higher score than I received for conscientiousness because I want to be seen as a dependable person. I do care about others in my life and do choose to be there for them as much as I can, but I feel like people may not always see that. I know times that I have let people down because I may not had done something they relied on me for. It’s usually small things like being a dependable friend, available when my family needs me, getting something finished on time, or maybe arriving somewhere late/ missing an event. I sometimes struggle with responsibilities like these because of personal things I deal with that require my focus to be more on myself. It’s never that I don’t care. I’d like to think of myself as dependable but some things can make it inconsistent.

Scoring low on extroversion wasn’t a shock for me. I am very introverted. I tend to be more quiet around people or prefer to stay at home rather than going out to a social event. With some people, like close friends, family, or just someone I am comfortable with, I can seem a little more extroverted. Still, being introverted makes up a big part of my personality. 

Agreeableness is my highest quality of them all. I expected a very high score for this one but only received a high score. My whole personality is based on getting along with others and conforming to situations to make things work for everyone. In my job I try to be cooperative even if I don’t agree with another. People usually like me specifically for this and say it makes me a great worker. This helped me to better care for my customer’s needs.  It’s typical for me to be complimented on my kindness, trustworthiness, and cooperation. 

Finally, I would agree that I score average in openness. I can be insightful, keep a positive outlook, and be open to exposing myself to new things. I also can be complete opposite sometimes depending on the situation. I may not always be open to newness because I get comfortable in routines. I tend to hesitate in unfamiliar situations, but I also sometimes push myself to be open to new experiences and knowledge to better myself. It’s an even balance because even if I’m not always open, I do appreciate creativity and desire to broadened my mind. I can also be adaptable in different situations. 

Blog 2

My values include being kind, supportive, caring, and true to myself and others. These were relevant when choosing a career to be a therapist because those values come naturally to me. I have experienced many hardships in my life including mental health issues and also experienced some people close to me struggle with it. I’ve always wanted to help people but felt held back because I wish I had more knowledge to help. This led to my passion to study psychology, and desire to help people through similar issues I faced which is why I chose to be a therapist. 
My Grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s which brought on so many mental issues. So bad that doctors just didn’t know how to help him. It hurt seeing him struggle knowing some of the feelings he had. It continued to worsen and it changed him in so many ways. It opened my mind so much. My Papa wasn’t the only one to suffer mental illness and I wanted to learn everything about what went wrong in his mind and witch that knowledge also help others experiencing the same thing.
I began studying at Radford University immediately after graduating high school. I was ready for all the new beginnings and opportunities, and also the experience of college. Unfortunately, I had already been dealing with mental health issues for while but it began to worsen. I had dealt with anxiety and depression all my life. I never took a step on treating it because for so long I didn’t realize anything was wrong with me, like so many do.  I began clearly noticing something was off with me when I began my freshman year of high school. It was junior year when I realized it was depression and anxiety, but I still tried to push through telling myself things would get better. So I continued, graduated high school, and left for college. At this point I had already decided on majoring in psychology because I wanted to learn more about things I was feeling. I want to help people through their mental health struggles. I’ve suffered silently with mental illness for a while. I had a ton of different factors going against me and taking a toll on my mental health. I eventually reached burnout and was not myself. My family was concerned, I had lost 30 pounds, and honestly my grades were horrible which didn’t help my self-esteem. I was at my lowest and decided it would be best for me to return home. I finally began taking steps to help treat myself. I began school at my local community college while living at home. It was another transition for me after being away at school for 2 1/2 semesters. It wasn’t easy for me since I was still in the healing process. My grades still weren’t the best, I struggled to focus and pick myself up some days to do the work. I was behind for a whole year in school and wanted to give up. I picked myself up though and began to heal, bring up my grades, and focused on taking care of myself. There’s no way for me to explain how I felt so many times, but I can say I grew so much as a person, learned lessons, and became more focused on the importance of mental health awareness. 
My parents were happy to help me in every way they could and I’m so thankful I have understanding and caring parents. They gave me words of encouragement when I couldn’t find any. All my life my parents have guided me to be the best version of myself. Without their push sometimes, I probably wouldn’t have experienced some of the things I have. To this day they have supported me and cheered me on. I’m still not where I want to be, I still struggle daily because unfortunately anxiety and depression are a part of me. Most importantly though, I learned from my experiences that it is possible to succeed and overcome trials. This all impacted me to keep my promise to myself and PaPa to higher my education in psychology and use the values I’ve learned from my struggles to help others. My experience reflects just how important it is that I live by those values.

Blog 1

I believe this class is going to benefit me in so many different ways in the future. Being educated on cultural diversity is very important in today’s times, especially living in America. It’s important knowledge to be able to interact with a diverse group of people in our jobs, schools, and everyday life. I hope what I learn in this class will help me to know how to communicate with those from other cultures in a respectful and inclusive way. I believe this class will have me on the path of gaining more understandings and use them for future interactions in daily life and also my future career. The knowledge I learn will be beneficial on how I can better serve others as a therapist by being able to include a person’s culture. I expect to be challenged in this class so I can really apply my mind to the criteria and also learn new skills. I hope to gain better personal knowledge than what I already know about the aspects of other cultures. So far, I have began to better understand and navigate the course and am beginning to plan out strategies to ensure my success. The assignments are interesting and also interactive which I like. As long as I stay on top of the due dates and continue following the lectures, I believe I can succeed. I make sure to view all information provided within lectures and assignments, and make a point to watch related videos that may better my understanding. I have also gathered contact information from the syllabus so that I know who to contact when I need help.