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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Gender Identity: Innate or Culturally Induced?

We tend to think that gender identity is an innate observation. However, our beliefs and preconceived ideas of what a gender should possess is seemingly stemmed from cultural influence. There is no question about the physiological differences between genders, but the actual measures in which we expect certain behaviors and attitudes are more complicated and are abundant in the social spectrum of life.

Men are seemingly anticipated to be strong, assertive, and aggressive. Women are thought to be soft, meek, and more nurturing. These may have biological truths to them, but it is certainly worthwhile to explore the impact that culture has on these acuities. One important factor to consider is that gender identity has certainly fluctuated through history. There was a time in which only men were expected to work and women raise the children. It has been evident that these roles have changed in some households or expanded to inhabit more equality among them. And because sexual preferences have grown to include same-sex relationships, many genders have gone to the extreme of taking up the inspired characteristics of the opposite gender. This does not necessarily bring concern that these attributes of gender identity are the cause of maladaptive behavior (Sarason, I., Sarason, B., 2002).

When a little girl is labeled a tomboy and enjoys more masculine activities and when a young man denounces sports for theatre and creative arts, are they considered to be robbing themselves of their predestined gender identities? Or are they simply following their intrinsic desires to flourish and be successful in what they are good at? It has become more apparent through psychological studies that genders indeed possess certain qualities and characteristics, but the onset of these factors are strongly weighted by culture and upbringing (Sarason, I., Sarason, B., 2002). A child displaying the so-called behavior of the opposite gender may adapt more gender appropriate attitudes later in life. And it is also important to note that each gender is specifically prone to the same qualities of the other gender, whether it be in less evident forms or strong perpetuations.

Culture is a strong determinant in gender identity and social aspects of life will continue to attempt to modify what gender-specific traits are relevant. But psychology dares to prove that although there are simple roles in biological and behavioral characteristics, the magic of individuality always motivates continual changes that beguile the study of human behavior.

References

Sarason, I., Sarason, B. (2002). Abnormal Psychology: The problem of maladaptive behavior (10th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Eduation.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Marshmallow Streets and Worm Lips - By Celina Villatoro

"This is an essay my daughter wrote for a contest that wins a trip to disneyland for her family and a $2500 cash prize donated to her school. I am so proud of her for this essay! I think she has a good chance of winning! She definitely has mommy's writing talent ;)"

Change My World Essay
Written by: Celina Villatoro
Age 7
1st grade – Mrs. Naylor
Sand Springs Elementary
Layton, Ut


Marshmallow Streets and Worm Lips by: Celina Villatoro

If I could change anything about the world it would definitely be that nobody would cry anymore. There wouldn’t be any more reasons to cry and no one would be sad. This is a great idea and really needs to be done because crying is bad for us! First of all, we lose water when we cry. Our bodies are made up of a whopping 75 percent of water. When we cry tears, we lose some water and our bodies become sad just like our hearts. Next in line is the fact that tears have salt in them and when they fall down our cheeks they kind of burn them a little and make our cheeks red. This is really embarrassing because people will think we are wearing blush makeup. And also crying makes us sad so I think we might even not live as long if we were always happy. I am happy all the time mostly because my mommy and daddy and sisters and brother loves me and we laugh and have fun all the time. My dogs and my hamster love me too. This makes me happy but sometimes I hurt myself when I fall on my bike and sometimes my feelings get hurt so I cry and this is really bad for my heart and body and even my soul. So we must stop this from happening soon! First we have to figure out just why people cry. Mostly because they are sad or hurt. So we have to get rid of sad things and hurtful things. For instance if someone falls off their bike like I do sometimes then we have to make the streets softer so it won’t hurt. Like maybe make sidewalks and streets made out of marshmallows! And I know this would make bikes and cars sink a little so we would have to make bike and car tires made out of soft cotton. That would be great. Then we have to make people stop saying mean things to others. If a kid tries to make fun of another kid then his lips would turn into worms and he can’t talk! Don’t worry because his lips would turn back to normal in 12 seconds but that would totally freak him out and I bet you he would never try to make fun of a kid or say mean things again. Also there are kids who are hungry and have no place to sleep in this world. I would bring them all to my house. I have enough room I think but if not I can ask my mom to build extra rooms and I am sure she will do it for me because usually she can’t say no if I really ask a lot. I think most of all everyone should love everybody else. This would make everything so nice and we would all be happy. If you think you can’t show love to someone because you think you don’t like them you have to try anyway. Because trying to love someone really works and you feel better too! Love is really the best way to make people not sad or cry and also the marshmallow streets and worm lips would help a lot.



By Celina Villatoro, 7 years old

3532 W 1025 N
Layton, UT 84041

Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Guidance of Self-Esteem

How Self-Esteem Guides Success and Failure

Psychology is abundant with theories and concepts that continue to beguile human minds from the most seasoned scientists to the typical citizen. One particular aspect of psychology that affects every person is that of self-esteem. The belief we have in our self is so powerful that it generally affects all areas in life and guides us toward success or failure. This author will delve into the deep psychological realms of self-esteem, what impinges on each individual and their degree of self-esteem, and how one can determine the means to positive self-realization through healthy self-esteem.

The Existence of Self-Esteem

Very few psychological inquiries lack the element of intrigue. Most, however, are specific to certain groups of people and have a diverse array of interest points. Self-esteem is unique in this regard because it affects all human beings. It lives and breathes in every human mind with varying measures of strength and endurance. Self-esteem can lead our thoughts and actions in a most incredible way; guiding us into destructive behavior or successful pursuits. Self-esteem can be defined in simple terms as, “a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth (Myers, 2005, pg. 62)”.

Many features of human life influence and directly impact a person’s self-esteem. The outside world is always pushing and pulling with an intrusive force into the lives of each individual. The willingness of a person to structure and conduct their own analysis of self worth is dependant on filtering these influences for negative effects. Self-esteem is the power of drive, the blaster of limitations, and the encouragement to a thirsty soul. Everyone has some level of self-esteem, however, this is never the same throughout life as our self-esteem becomes inhibited and grows in direct relation to certain life experiences and challenges with social interaction.

The history of self-esteem can be traced all the way back to childhood. It can be evident in the newest of babies and seemingly grows with the child’s biological progression. Many things can prove to be a determinant for self-esteem, whether poor or extremely healthy. A positive home environment feeds the persistence of a hale and hearty self-esteem. Positive support breeds well adjusted self-conception in children. Interaction with siblings and peers promote self-identity and help to blossom unique individuality. A child becomes aware of their personal qualities and talents and self-esteem flourishes. But there are natural human tendencies to doubt one’s own self worth throughout the many complicated stages of life. The awareness a child may adopt of their self is constantly battled with the perception of other’s intrinsic traits (Myers, 2005). Siblings are compared throughout childhood as others notice specific characteristics. Children become conscious of the reality of differences and tend to doubt the significance of their own contribution to society. And just as positive encouragement can help a child gain self-esteem; negative environmental effects can systematically destroy it. Once a child grows and changes, they are thrust into new situations and grander schemes within the world. No longer does the secluded environment of home supply the needed tools for self-esteem. Parents dote and confirm the greatness within a child, but the new exposure to the outside world through school and other activities threaten the comfort of positive justification and acknowledgment. Seemingly, there is more to self-esteem then positive outside influence or negative outside influence. One has an internal calculator that bases worth on many things. Success and failure can be swinging pendulums marking our belief with every move we make.

What Determines Self-Esteem

An important and interesting factor that plays a role in self-esteem development is that of one’s own perceptions. Despite positive role models in life, a happy home, and healthy relationships with others, a person will naturally construct self-beliefs based on internal realities. Influences from others also help self-esteem take shape in new ways. Usually there are inconsistencies with social interactions with others, and many of these provide negative feedback that is usually compiled from another’s self-esteem. Degrading another person or attempting to lower someone’s image will undoubtedly have an affect on the self-perception (Myers, 2005).

Possibly the main ingredient for disturbing behavior is low self-esteem. “A close relationship has been documented between low self-esteem and such problems as violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low academic achievement (NASE, 2008, pg. 1)”. This author has experienced negative effects of low self-esteem. Lack of motivation for betterment of self, fear of trying new things, and unwillingness to recognize successes are all symptoms of self-esteem issues that this author has had challenges with. What this author has determined is that with the ever-changing cycle of life, self-esteem can be dangerously maneuvered to serve a purpose. Self-esteem can be consciously and sub-consciously altered to justify shortcomings and can also be the culprit of them directly.

Within the scope of achievement, it is highly regarded that self-esteem is closely linked with performance. It is very difficult to triumph with a negative or slurred image of one’s self. And it seems that we persistently have to reprogram our life and the belief we have in our self. Therefore, the development of healthy self-esteem is a consistent process in which we must be aware in order to have a balanced existence.

Developing Healthy Self-Esteem

Perhaps there is no certain way of having a belief in self that defies all negativity. If so, success would be imminent in all that we do. But a bright side of this issue is apparent through many psychological studies of self-esteem. Many people have suffered from self-loathing or low self-esteem. As discussed previously, this can come about from outside influence or internal apprehension.

It seems perceptible that having high self-esteem keeps us out of undesirable situations. Persuasion has a huge impact on us in life, and it generates more profusely when our self-esteem is damaged or fragile. Studies on persuasion and its relation to self-esteem have shown that “when people think deeply rather than superficially, any changed attitude will more likely persist, resist attack, and influence behavior (cited from Myers, D., 2005, pg. 249)”. Persuasion has less influence on our well being when we have positive self-esteem and we are able to constantly nurture our self-beliefs and remain static with our feelings about who we are. Outside influence then becomes less relevant and we are able to filter good influence from bad.

While the exploration of self-esteem has proven that high self-esteem is much more positive and provides better results than low self-esteem, it is important to note that while self-esteem is relevant and necessary for a healthy living style, it is also dangerous to have an overly elevated sense of self-esteem. “When feeling threatened, only high-self-esteem people became significantly more antagonistic – arrogant, rude, and unfriendly (cited from Meyers, D., 2005, pg. 65)”. Similarly, low self-esteem will have an astoundingly unconstructive effect.

One must balance this affliction without fail throughout their lives. Because life has a very indistinctive roadmap for us all, we must recognize the many falls and rises of our successes and failures and what helps to cause these events as well as our reaction to them. If a man proposes marriage with a sustaining affirmative response, his self-esteem will naturally heighten. He will believe that he is worthy and will eventually engender characteristics to support this belief. On the other hand, suppose a woman dates a man for a long while and never receives a proposal of marriage or acknowledgement that the relationship will grow into more substantial levels. She will of course feel lowly of herself because of this solitary event and start to wonder what is wrong with her. The latter is a harmful situation, but a healthy person will assess it in order to discern other factors that come into play aside from lack of traits within the self.

Undoubtedly, “crises of self-esteem are a part of the human experience (Zenk, A, 2007, pg. 1)”. Hence, we should understand that normality is evident in fluctuating self-esteem. It is our duty to monitor these occurrences to weed our depression and other afflictions to remain healthy. Balancing our self-belief is also important for the improvement of self-esteem. Self-affirmation techniques such as telling ourselves that we are attractive, able and kind are great ways to increase self-esteem. Reminding ourselves of our achievements and awards throughout life will help sustain a positive self-image as well as evaluating our failures and contemplating what we would change about our performance. We must not, however, allow ourselves to attain blame in other areas to boost our self-esteem. This may protect our self-belief temporarily, but will assess more problems in life that will cause depression and paranoia because we may tend to believe that the world is against us despite our grand attempts at success.


Staying away from “should” statements will also generate better self-awareness habits (Zenk, A., 2007, pg. 1). Staying clear of regret or guilt and appraising the best steps to success will surely gain self-esteem that is accurate and balanced appropriately. “Find out what you want and what you are good at, value those, and take actions designed to fulfill your potential (Zenk, A., 2007, pg. 1)”. One should also avoid “immediate gratification” and treat their own needs and wants with dignity (Zenk, A., 2007, pg. 1)”. Monitoring our growth and the changing needs we have will help us approach a healthy self-image. And lastly, in order to gain and subsequently maintain healthy self-esteem, we should “set achievable goals” and ultimately rely on our “own self-perception” as opposed to the outside view that seemingly penetrates our own beliefs and realities about our self (Zenk, A., 2007, pg. 1). These tools will generate positive self-esteem while maintaining a realism about our growth and undeniable challenges throughout life.

Self-esteem is a topic within psychology that has never lost its luster. The discovery of what self-esteem is and why exactly it is so important has brought us to an understanding that all human beings have self-esteem and deal with it in different ways. Although healthy self-esteem is never set in stone as life experiences cause us to wander in our self-beliefs, it is evident that continually fostering what constitutes as self-esteem is what captures healthy living among human beings. Having a truthful adaptation of who we are, what we are good at, and how we can be better seem to be the fundamental points to continuous self-esteem.

References

Myers, D. (2005). Social Psychology (8th edition). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
NASA, National Association for Self-Esteem (2008). What is self-esteem? Retrieved April 19, 2009, from National Association for Self-Esteem Web site: http://www.self-esteem-nase.org/what.php.
Zenk, A. (2007). Texas woman’s university. Retrieved May 3, 2009, from Improving
Self-Confidence Web site: http://www.twu.edu/osl/Counseling/SelfHelp034.html.