Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Blog Entry #6
Personally, I believe that indirect aggression occurs more than direct aggression. Maybe this is because I am not really exposed to people physically hurting others in their presence. I believe that because the internet is offering so many social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Blogger, more and more people are able to be aggressive to others when the target is not present. People feel more comfortable hurting others when they can become anonymous or they are not face to face. I also believe that aggressive behavior is starting at a younger age. Children are exposed to violent acts on TV shows, advertisements, and movies. By being exposed to these acts of aggression, they are learning aggressive behavior. They may begin to perform them and think that it is okay. This is called the social learning theory. Aggression can also lead to topics talked about in chapter thirteen. There is a lot of aggression involved in prejudice and discrimination. The negative attitudes and actions toward a group of people can lead to harmful behavior and pain to others. Stereotypes are also another big source of anger. Yes, they may just be a generalization about a group of people, but they are usually negative. Being from New York, and going to school in Virginia, I am categorized into many stereotypes and a lot of them do not fit who I am. I am also an only child, people believe that all only children are spoiled or they are brats. Once again, I do not fit those categories. Everyone experiences stereotypes and is guilty of practicing them. I can say myself that I have stereotyped people before. It is not fair to assign traits to members of a group regardless of whether you know them or not.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Blog Entry #5
When I came to James Madison University, I did not know my roommate, nor my hall mates. They were going to be the people that I socialized with for at least the first few weeks at school so I needed to get to know them. As each day went by, especially during FROG week, we started to interact more and more. We went to the gym together, ate meals together, went out together, and walked around campus together. You could probably see that we were Freshman from a mile away-we always traveled in a large group. Well, those same people who I lived with Freshman year, those people that I did not know before coming into college, are currently my best friends and roommates. Being a junior, I have been friends with them for three years and our friendship just keeps getting stronger. This is an example of the propinquity effect. The more we interacted with each other, the more likely we became friends and are still friends.
Over the summer, I lifeguard at a camp for kids with disabilities such as downs syndrome, autism, and ADD. These kids not only become friends, but throughout the summer, they become like family. You learn how they take each day and live it to the fullest. They are truly the happiest people on the planet. Over the summer, I develop this sense of altruism for them. Because they are so inspirational and positive, even when they are severely disabled, it makes me want to help them as much as I can no matter what. Sometimes I will go out of my way to do something for one of them or help them even if it is difficult for myself or creates a sense of uneasiness. I develop a desire to make their life easier because they have such struggles on a daily basis.
Lastly, when it comes to doing people favors such as giving them a ride somewhere or picking something up for them if they don't have time, depending on who it is, I sometimes expect that they would do the same thing back for me. For example, I picked my roommate up at the library around 12:30 am the other day because she did not have a car. It was a Tuesday and I had class early the next day but I felt bad that she would have had to wait for the bus. I was tired but I knew that by me going out of my way to pick her up late at night showed that I was there for her and that she would hopefully do the same thing for me. When she got in the car she did say "I owe you." This is an example of norm of reciprocity. Another common example is when you give a gift or receive a gift. It is expected to give/receive one back.
Over the summer, I lifeguard at a camp for kids with disabilities such as downs syndrome, autism, and ADD. These kids not only become friends, but throughout the summer, they become like family. You learn how they take each day and live it to the fullest. They are truly the happiest people on the planet. Over the summer, I develop this sense of altruism for them. Because they are so inspirational and positive, even when they are severely disabled, it makes me want to help them as much as I can no matter what. Sometimes I will go out of my way to do something for one of them or help them even if it is difficult for myself or creates a sense of uneasiness. I develop a desire to make their life easier because they have such struggles on a daily basis.
Lastly, when it comes to doing people favors such as giving them a ride somewhere or picking something up for them if they don't have time, depending on who it is, I sometimes expect that they would do the same thing back for me. For example, I picked my roommate up at the library around 12:30 am the other day because she did not have a car. It was a Tuesday and I had class early the next day but I felt bad that she would have had to wait for the bus. I was tired but I knew that by me going out of my way to pick her up late at night showed that I was there for her and that she would hopefully do the same thing for me. When she got in the car she did say "I owe you." This is an example of norm of reciprocity. Another common example is when you give a gift or receive a gift. It is expected to give/receive one back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)