responses

Abstract

SOCIAL PSYC CLASS (chapter 4 reading) Week 3 Discussion: Cognitive Dissonance First one 1. Cognitive Dissonance Leading to Confirmation Bias Cognitive dissonance refers to the discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. To ease this discomfort, individuals often seek information that confirms their current beliefs while ignoring or dismissing conflicting information. This act of selectively seeking and interpreting information is termed as confirmation bias. For instance, consider someone who believes that eating meat is not morally wrong but also learns about the cruel conditions of factory farming. The dissonance here is between their belief in the acceptability of consuming meat and their new awareness of its ethical implications. To reduce this dissonance, they might actively seek articles or documentaries that justify meat consumption and ignore those highlighting the negative aspects of factory farming. To avoid this from happening, one should actively cultivate self-awareness and critical thinking. It's crucial to identify when one's views are being questioned and deliberately seek varied sources of information. Regularly re-evaluating one's ideas and ideals can also be a constructive strategy to guarantee that one is not falling prey to confirmation bias. 2. The Positive Side of Cognitive Dissonance While cognitive dissonance can often cause individuals to reaffirm potentially harmful views, it isn't automatically negative. It can also operate as a potent motivation for change, urging individuals to modify harmful or wrong views. For example, consider someone who smokes yet is completely aware of the health concerns linked with it. They may sense cognitive dissonance between their conduct (smoking) and their knowledge of its detrimental repercussions. This discomfort might drive individuals to reassess their habit, potentially causing them to seek help to quit smoking, thereby changing an unhealthy mindset into a better one. In another instance, a person who always believed in the unimportance of exercise can feel dissonance after reading about its various advantages. The anxiety they experience might motivate individuals to add regular physical activity into their routine, transitioning from an unhealthy to a healthier attitude towards fitness. In conclusion, cognitive dissonance can be a tool for personal growth and self-improvement when tackled with introspection and a true quest for truth. Second one Hello all.  I hope you read my post too!! Feel free to respond.    Not that interesting but wanted to share what I experienced recently with CD.  I am an advocate for people to use sunscreen always.  Even in the winter, you should wear sunscreen.  I used to be a sun worshipper when I was young and now paying the price.  I have worked hard in the last few years to stay out of the sun and use skincare products to reverse the damage. Yesterday I was getting dressed and had the lotion near me ( I have many bottles of sunscreen) but went ahead and put my makeup on.  I did feel somewhat easy, but was in a hurry and figured one sunny day wouldn't harm me.  This feeling resulted in me taking off the makeup just to put the sunscreen on.  Took an extra half hour to get out of the house, but the CD worked to keep me safe.  Having a CD can be helpful to prompt a behavior change.   I hope this is not too long. Thanks for reading. Dr. Lavertu CULTURAL PSYCH CLASS chapter 3-6 reading Week 3 Discussion 1: Quantitative Field Interview Activity 100 minimum First one Similarities For this discussion, I interviewed my best friend and roommate, Joy. Our friends often tell us that we are basically the same person in different fonts, so I thought it’d be interesting to compare our answers. I really wasn’t that shocked that our results were so similar, we think very similarly about life  Differences I wasn’t very surprised that we didn’t have any differences in our responses, knowing how alike we are, especially considering we’ve lived together for a year now! I think I would have  Discussion with the Interviewee We just ended up having a good laugh about the fact that every single one of our responses was the same, and we had a lot of the same thought processes behind our answers. Personal Insights (what did you learn about this exercise? I learned that the person I spend the most time with is very similar to me in terms of the cultural topics, we're the same age and we come from families with similar economic status and political viewpoints, so I think it makes a lot of sense. We have very similar personalities, we speak a lot alike, and definitely think alike about larger cultural ideas. Second one Both me and the interviewee agree on several statements, including the importance of evaluating people based on their achievements rather than who they are, the need to move forward without dwelling on past mistakes, the idea of adapting communication styles based on context and the audience, the importance of clarifying one's position firmly, the belief that it's essential to seek advice from experts when encountering problems, and the notion that people tend to repeat mistakes. On the statement "We cannot change our destiny, and we should be satisfied with who we are and what we have at present," i agree with this idea, while the interviewee disagrees with it. i believe that individuals can influence their destiny and aren't limited to being satisfied with their current circumstances. Week 3 Discussion 2: Qualitative Field Interview Activity First one Interviewee Family Member (socialization)  “My mom, she taught me how to behave.”  Why Interviewee Chose this Person  “She was the main person in the house. My dad often worked long hours while my mom took care of us. My dad still participated often, but my mom was the biggest factor I’d say.”  Interview Examples of being Socialized by this Person  She taught me to be polite, taught me to work hard, taught me how to love, to share, to be kind to other, and made me a stronger person overall.   Interviewee Family Member (enculturation)   Also “my mother”.   Why Interviewee Chose this Person  “She taught me how to speak Spanish, and how to dance, she also is a big Christain which I adopted as my religion as well. “   Interview Examples of being Enculturated by this Person  Through communicating with my mother. She taught me from a young age how to speak Spanish, we often would play Spanish music and I’d dance with her in the kitchen. I adopted a lot of my Spanish culture through my mother. We would also celebrate all Christain holidays and go to church whenever we are together.   Interview Examples of being Enculturated by this Person  Through living in NY with a Spanish-American family.   Personal Insights about the Interview Process  It was interesting to see the mother figure playing such a significant...