5. Module 7: Attitudes

The last chosen Artifact was from the archive in Module 7, Chapter 5 Attitudes was based on the comparison of an attitude and behavioral survey. The first survey consisted of 6 questions and were measured by a Likert scale of 1 to 4, 1 being disagree and 4 being agree. Each question was based a little bit off our morality. After taking both similar surveys, I thought about some of the inconsistencies that drew my attention. For example, In the first survey, question 3 states that Homeless is a serious social problem that needs attention. I agreed with this statement for multiple reasons. But during the second part of the survey, I was asked “Within the past year, I have personally done something to address the problem of homelessness.” Unfortunately, within the year, this is something that I have not pursued which lead me to recognize the inconsistencies with my answers. I truly enjoyed this artifact primarily because of the exercise. It gave me a better understanding of the feeling of dissonance and gave me some thought of how I can restore a balance with my attitudes and behavior. To help improve, I can plan to pursue this action.

The photograph below is a visual representation of activity and an example of cognitive dissonance .

4. Module 9: Liking, Love, & Other Close Relationships

There are a couple of reasons why younger women go for older men. Some reasons would be because of their advanced maturity level, values, enlightened skills, and most importantly security. Men primarily go after younger women because of purity and their attractiveness. Its in our nature for women to be wanted and for men to feel need. Many advertisements throughout the years have visually announced this style in relationship but haven’t quite explained the lore behind it. The advertisement that comes to mind that visually displays desirable qualities by gender and sexual orientation is the Dos Equis Beer Advertisement. The older actor used for the visual advertisements is always dressed in a suit with a very chic look and is always surrounded by younger women. This was my fourth favorite artifact because it highlighted some aspects as to why men and women are attracted to particular features and details in the opposite or even same sex.

The photograph below is a screenshot of a Dos Equis commercial which represents how younger women seek older men.

3. Module 4: Social Cognition

My third favorite artifact was an archive from Module 4, Chapter 2 Social Cognition. The archive assigned us to watch news for reports on analysts overemphasize drastic cases in reporting the news. The artifact provided a link for an older video called “Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death.” The 45 minutes long video spoke about how media plays a severe role in our society and has a history of publishing false or even exaggerated news. This is what leads us to worry and focus on things that aren’t even worth focusing on. 75% of what the news publishes are crimes within the area or through out the states, advertising that crime rates are getting higher as the years go by, but that isn’t true. One of the interesting topics that the video covered was that ordinary things like falling on stairs or a bike kill about a thousand Americans a year. I enjoyed this artifact because it clarified a lot of speculations I have had about media and its motives.

The 2 photographs below are screen shots of the video ” Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death,” hosted byJohn Stossel on ABC in 1994

2. Module 6: The Self Across Situations

Most individuals behave very consistently from situation to situations, while others cross-situational consistency is temporal consistency. For my second favorite artifact was the archive from Chapter 4 The Self, the archive assignment constructed us to choose up to five different traits that we think matches our personality the most. Below the personality trait, I would summarize a situation with my behavior. The first personality trait I chose that best describes me is idealistic. Although idealism can be used viewed both positively and negatively, most of the situations that this trait would occur is most likely during times in my life when things get challenging. This personality trait is positively used to support and motivate to overcome my challenges and consistently is the most leading personality trait that I own. The second chosen personality trait is hardworking. I am very hard working with both of my jobs which, together, I work over time each week, along with being a full time student at Old Dominion University. My hardworking skills are always consistent in any situation that I am in. My third personality trait was selfless. There have been various occasions when I am selfless, but has recently been inconsistent. Most of the time, I’m always caring more about the person next to me then my self. For instance, If I am on a grocery line and I am in a rush to get to work, but there is a lady behind me who only has one item in her hand, because of my generosity and curtesy, I will have the lady being me with one item go in front of me. There have been times when I am usually in a similar situation but decide not to be selfless because the person was being rude or impatient.  Usually when my personality characteristics are consistent, its because judgment gets in the way and allows me to pick in choose when to act, how, and who to act for. The last two personality traits were warm and intuitive, which are most of the time very consistent. The reason why I chose this Archive to be apart of my Top 5 Artifacts is because the assignment taught me some interesting idea’s about my self, what has changed and what needs to change when it comes to personality traits in particular situations.

The photograph I chose to represent this artifact is a picture from the Disney Pixar movie Inside Out. Althought the movie represents the emotions an individuals feels and experiences, emotions and personality traits go hand-in-hand.

 

1. Module 14: Archive Subjective Happiness Scale

There are many ways to express happiness, whether it is from getting an A on a test you studied hard for or being being recognized and offered a promotion for your great performance or progress at work. Objects can also project a feeling of joy just as much as situations or experiences.  Happiness is the awareness of positive moments and emotions that includes contentment, bliss, ambition, and appreciation. My favorite artifact that I chose was from the archive in Chapter 12: Dealing with Adversity & Achieving a Happy Life. In this archive, we were assigned to complete a questionnaire regarding a scale of our happiness and what best describes us as an individual. The questionnaire each had a Likert scale of 1-7, 1- being not at all or not a happy person, while 7 is a great deal or a very happy person. The average mean score that I calculated was a 6.25. while the average happiness score runs between 4.5 to 5.5 for both males and females. I’ve always known that I was a happy person, but I was surprised with my overall score. Part of that reason is because I am very appreciative, motivated, and am a positive person in general. It was refreshing to know that my score was above average. This archive assignment was chosen to be apart of my top 5 artifacts because I believe that happiness is the key to living the ultimate dream or being successful in life. I also enjoyed how simple and fun the assignment was and how much its taught me about the scale of happiness.

The photograph that I chose to represent this archive assignment below is a photograph of my fiance and I. Everytime I think of my most happiest moments I think of this photograph and this night. It was an incredible experience and I believe its a great photo to represent my happieness.