Soc102 Assignment - Week 3-4

Stress!

In Chapter 3 the book covers a large spectrum concerning the origins, types, effects, responses and applications of stress. The nature of stress is noted as a process in which transactions with the environment are perceived to be a threat. Environmentals that one may consider stress are noise, crowding and urban decay. The book states briefly how many forms of stress are self-imposed such as, taking on too many and/or extra duties & responsibilities, and embracing unrealistic goals and aspirations. Culture too can impact stress; Ethnicity can be a source of stress as demonstrated in 1999 when Albanians were 'cleansed' from Kosovo.

There are four major types of stress: Frustration, conflict, change and pressure. Conflict can be broken down into three types; Approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, and approach-avoidnce. Responses to stress physiologically was coined the 'fight or flight response' by Cannon and was further redefined by Selye's general adaptation syndrome which broke this into three stages; Alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

While it is obvious that stress effects everyone differently and that everyone does have stress, it is not always so obvious to determine the best way to deal with said stress. In my own life, having a basic understanding of applied psychology concerning stress, there are self-imposed stresses in place for me to evaluate and in general, deal with in new light and mannerisms.

Would you say that ALL stress is bad or negative? Can you think of any positive stressors?

Soc102 Assignment - Week 2-3

July 6th, 2007

It was certainly an oversight on my part to have not read chapter 5 before last week.

Looking to chapter 5 ‘The Self’: It is pretty clear why the previous instructor proceeded to chapter 5 early in the class; The Self is a great place to start learning interpersonal psychology.

I find understanding better self-concept allows me better insight and/or interpretive response to any and all conflicts or bargaining situations.

Next week we will move into Motive which I predict will be much more prone to ellaborate on with respect to conflict resolution and my psychology course materials and discussions.

Soc102 Assignment - Week 1,2

previously posted on June 29th, 2007

Conflict resolution is probably one of the most valuable aspects of utilitizing psychology in my own life. For me I find that a persons actions and responses to a situation are no great mystery when I can reflect upon their motives and identify criteria that indicates whether they are ready and willing to resolve the issues at hand.

Areas in my life where I employ conflict resolution are, but not limited to: IT support to end-users; Often, end-users are found in a situation where they need assistance but are reluctant to disclose the full nature of how the problem occured and applying conflict resolution tactics I am able to discover the actions and/or processes that lead up to the system failure more timely. Tenant management; As a landlord conflict resolution provides a means to interpret and coordinate response that will not escalate the conflict but rather facilitate a mutual understanding devoid of excess personal feelings and emotions that often fuel the conflict.

Expanding my skills in conflict resolution is a primary objective for taking this pyschology course, aside from ultimately attaining the ellusive ’sheep-skin.’ The aspects of applying pyschology to modern life are important for developing and maintaining high standards in inter- and intra- personal relationships in all areas of life from the home to the workplace.

Soc102: Psychology Applied to Modern Life

posted previously on June 26th, 2007

This is a blog post for my Psychology course at Charter College.
I will have to review my assignments to determine what I should discuss here.
Since this will be an on-going Blog, visitors should try to keep up by using the RSS feed options found in the Meta.

I’ll be back once I’ve got my topic configured for further development.
- Dave