Day: February 20, 2021

Please answer any 2 of the following questions:

1. Please discuss whether your findings on the YouTube videos and ads support or detract from arguments made in the Chapter 7 text section ‘Imitation of Violence’.

2. *For the social comparison on social media article, compare rumination to self-reflection, discuss which is better for identity formation and why?

3. We all have implicit biases. As you learned about implicit bias, what areas of life do you think you may need to be more aware of your thoughts? What are ways to mitigate these thoughts and ideas?

4. Think about all the readings about how our life, beliefs, behavior, and values are socially constructed.  You may want to refer back to module 4 and my review of the ISL readings thus far.  How does social media construct our social life and social being? Use examples from the unit and from life.

2. *For the social comparison on social media article, compare rumination to self-reflection, discuss which is better for identity formation and why?

Answer:

        Rumination and self-reflection are both ways of thinking. Meditation involves deep considerations and continuously thinking about similar thoughts, especially the sad or dark ones. Self-reflection involves conducting individual assessments through studying oneself in front of a mirror to identify positive and negative attributes that can either be embraced or corrected. Rumination may be dangerous to mental health because of its high association with depression and its adverse effects on people’s thinking abilities and processing of emotions. Self-reflection is the best way of identity formation because it strengthens emotional intelligence and enables one to act with integrity and boosts people’s confidence (Han & Ma 2014). It is essential to spare more time on self-reflection because it enables one to look inwards and increase self-awareness and self-regulation. The significance of self-awareness is that it helps people understand their emotions, strengths, weaknesses, goals, values, and goals effectively, which is essential in evaluating relationships between people. Disruptive emotions are best redirected through self-regulation, enabling people to adapt to the changes surrounding them. Strong emotional intelligence is vital in leadership because it improves personal life values and adherence to professional roles. Self-reflection promotes one to act with integrity through clear identification of core values.

3. We all have implicit biases. As you learned about implicit bias, what areas of life do you think you may need to be more aware of your thoughts? What are ways to mitigate these thoughts and ideas?

Answer:

      The insensible beliefs, attitudes, and associations towards particular social groups are known as implicit bias. Implicit biases make people associate all specific groups with some attributes and qualities because of experiences or gaining information from others. Therefore, people need to be aware of others’ thoughts in all areas of life, especially at work, in school, in business, and in critical social interactions that require professionality. Introspection is the best way of controlling implicit biases because it gives people opportunities to explore their prejudices through self-analysis (Zahavi  2018). Mindfulness is also effective in controlling thoughts, especially when under pressure and stress.

Reference(s):

Han, S., & Ma, Y. (2014). Who gets a reward from self-reflection? Subjective social-class influences brain reward activity during self-reflection. PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e512142015-304

Zahavi, D. (2018). Introspection and reflection. Oxford Scholarship Online. doi:10.1093/oso/9780199684830.003.0002

Colleagues rebuttal 1:
also chose self-reflection as the overall best choice in regards to identity formation. I also liked your use of emotional intelligence in your description. While reading about these two very different forms of social comparison, I was both reminded and surprised at the internal consequences that occur.  A lot of things that we read about can seem pretty obvious, but it still surprises me when it is fully presented. Social media has played a huge role in our society. I have a teenage daughter, and I have been encouraging her to read some of the materials presented this week. Just so happens, that I have also been trying to regulate on her social media usage. I see her experiencing the symptoms of identity distress. Identity distress is accompanied by low self-esteem, more mental health issues, and greater severity of psychological symptoms (Yang et al. 2018:93). You listed many ways in which self-reflection is beneficial, not only for individuals but for our society as a whole.

Reference:
Yang, Chia-chen, Sean M. Holden, Mollie D.K. Carter, and Jessica J. Webb. 2018. Social Media Social Comparison and Identity Distress at the College Transition: A Dual-Path Model. Journal of Adolescence 69: 92-102.

Colleague Rebuttal 2:
I like that you included mindfulness in your post. This is a great way to encourage change. It would be useful in reducing the habit of rumination or making sure that purposeful self-reflection does not turn into rumination.

Instructor rebuttal:
this is particularly clear and well said: “Disruptive emotions are best redirected through self-regulation, enabling people to adapt to the changes surrounding them.” It is a good reminder to us all, when as you say sad or dark thoughts come in. Regarding implicit bias, what areas of life do you think you may need to be more aware of your thoughts? I see you mention work, school, or business, but this question is asking a more individualistic question about your experiences.

new Rebuttal needed for all of the above