The seven factors that could possibly affect personality are: the genetic factor, environmental factor, learning factor, parental factor, development factor, consciousness factor, and the unconscious factor.

The Genetic Factor

Jung believed “ part of personality is innate, and part learned” (Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.126). Additionally, Eysenck’s theory emphasized  traits of personality are mainly determined by genes and he supported his theory with the study of fraternal and identical twins. Research states identical twins are more alike in their personalities than fraternal twins, even when they are raised in different environments.  McCrae and Costa suggested neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are five biologically based factors, and appear consistently in many cultures.

The Environmental Factor

This factor was acknowledged to have a great influence on personality because culture, parental and peers influence can affect the way an individual may react to the same situations.  Adler did not agree with Freud’s theory on inferiority complex on women.  Instead, he believed  such idea was “ a myth invented by men to maintain their alleged sense of superiority” (Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.153). Consequently, society can have a great influence on gender status, such as Western culture that encourages women to pursue a career and be successful, on top of motherhood and wife status. Allport also added to this theory stating genes are the raw material and the environment shapes them.  

The Learning Factor

Inherited traits of personality can be changed by the process of learning. Bandura’s theory states individuals learn from watching models and we are constantly assuming those behaviors that lead to success and acceptance. Individuals can learn disinhibition, irrational fears, socialization, and ways to cope with issues such as stress and dangerous situations.  Self-efficacy, the ability to control life events, is highly related to perseverance and a high level performance.

The Parental Factor

Allport, Cattell, Erickson, Rogers,  and Maslow emphasized the great influence parents have on their children. I believe Roger’s theory explains in more detail the importance parents play on the development of the self in the childhood. Children who get an unconditional positive regard, especially from the mother, are more likely to become a fully functioning person.  According to Schulz & Schultz (2009), “ characteristics of the fully functional person are an awareness of all experiences, no conditions to defend against, the ability to live fully in each moment, trust in one’s self, a sense for freedom and a personal power, creativity and spontaneity” (p. 342).  Creativity, spontaneity, and freedom can be restricted if the individual belongs to a collectivist society, where these qualities are not allowed and are not socially acceptable.

The Developmental Factor

Freud’s theory states personality is shaped by the age of 5 and that it is difficult to re-shape it afterwards. Although early childhood years are crucial to shape and learn acceptable behavior, theorists such as Cattell, Allport, Erickson and Murray demonstrated personality continues to develop throughout life. In fact, Jung, Cattell, Maslow, and Erickson believed middle age is an important time of personality change. Erickson developed a theory that consisted in age states, that allows “ for the development of basic strengths that emerge from the adaptive ways of coping with the conflicts” ( Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.236).

The Consciousness Factor and Unconscious Factor

Freud and Jung supported the idea the conscious or the ego allow us to interact with the real world. Kelly’s theory believed our ego plays an important role in making choices and he argued “ we form constructs about our environment  and about other people, and that we make predictions about them” ( Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.478). Freud created an important theory about the unconscious, the hidden place in our minds where we store the darkest thoughts and behaviors not acceptable in our society.  Freud believed repression was one of the defense mechanisms that stops the individual to reveal primitive behavior and unacceptable thoughts.

Intelligence

This essay will describe my personal definition of intelligence and explain how my            cultural frame of reference influences my definition. I will compare my cultural frame of reference for intelligence with another culture’s frame of reference and, I will analyze the two online intelligence tests, identifying strengths and limitations of each of the tests. Last, I will explain why I believe socioeconomic and family have a great influence on intelligence.

I define intelligence as the ability to use knowledge in certain situations, in order to overcome obstacles and survive in a certain cultural context. Without a doubt, I believe people who show high IQ test scores, present a higher ability to learn and remember, have to be considered intelligent. However, “people live in different environments and acquire knowledge and skills necessary to pursue goals and adapt to different cultural settings.” (Shiraev & Levy, p.121).  I definitely believe  intelligence has different meaning in every culture and I depends on the environment the individual lives in. For instance, a boy living in the streets, learns different priorities and acquire the knowledge necessary to survive every day, whereas a girl who has a home and a stable family, is more concerned in learning math skills for her next test at school.

In my culture,  a person is considered intelligent when they have the best grades in school, which it also makes it important what school the child goes to. Public schools are considered to provide lower quality of education, while the best education is provided at private schools; this is the reason why people in my culture believe the children who attend private schools, are smarter and better prepared for college and life, than children who attend regular public schools. Consequently, the higher hierarchy of intelligent people in Argentina, are the college graduates with professions such as doctors, surgeons, and any other career who probes to be the most difficult to study and learn.

Although the definition of intelligence in Argentina is related to a high-level education, the natives living in the North part of the country have a different perspective. Isolated from the rest of the country, these children learn how to survive daily, applying their knowledge to obtain food and build homes. According to Shiraev & Levy (2010), “studies also reveal that children have advanced practical skills that are not recognized on academic tests.” (p.123). Conventional schooling and a college degree are far from reality for these children and are not necessary crucial for their cultural environment

After analyzing the two intelligence tests I found   limitations and  strengths. Both tests limit an accurate intelligence measure because only the culture of the Edward River Community in Far North Queensland and Australian and American societies. The test related to the Edward River Community in Far North Queensland, is an Australian test, however, not all citizens would know all the answers, since it is specific to the Edward River Community. The Australian/American test intelligence can be familiar for most European and Western people, but not the best intelligence test measure for Asia and Africa. For instance, question  6 in  American/Australian test requires “solution of this problem requires ability to count and sort some of concept of codes. “ (The American/Australian Test of Intelligence, 2003). Personally I am not familiar with these concepts and I believe some countries might not be trained to understand concept of codes either. The positive side of the American/Australian intelligence test is that the questions are familiar for most people in the European and Western area; the Original Australian Test of Intelligence is great to measure how knowledgeable Australians who are not from this community and people from the Edward River Community as well as a way to measure how much people from other parts of the world, have a great knowledge of other cultures.

I believe socioeconomic and family factors, have a great influence on intelligence development and high IQ scores. Even though, a great number of individuals have the same potential to learn and remember new things, it has been supported by studies, that those individuals raised in a middle or upper class, has a better chance to obtain higher IQ scores and be “smarter”, because the parents can provide a study environment and tools to succeed as a student. According to Shiraev & Levy (2010), It was found that a child’s IQ and the socioeconomic status of the child’s parents are positively correlated.” (p.130). Children from a lower socioeconomic status might be deprived of nutritional meals and text books required by the school, to develop their intelligence. In addition, some children have to work to help their parents support their families and survive every day.

Family factors also have a great influence on the child’s intellectual potential and in fact, middle-class parents, “are likely to be educated and subsequently have general understanding of the importance of education.” (P.131). On the contrary, poor families have fewer resources and might not have time to stimulate the child’s intellectual potential, but teach them how to secure their food and a home, a priority in their lives.

In conclusion, intelligence is not only how much you remember and the schooling you can have, but the ability to use the knowledge acquired through the years, and adapt them to difficult situations. My cultural frame of reference for intelligence is not the same as other cultural frame of reference because, each environmental context requires different applications of intelligence. The Australian/American and Original Australian test of intelligence can only be applied to the specified cultures for the reason that these “general knowledge” questions might not be so familiar to people in different cultural context. Last, socioeconomic and family factors have been proven to have a great influence on a child’s intellectual potential and development having more resources and access to learning tools and proper schooling.

Methodology

This essay will evaluate the "The Role of Culture in the Representation of Conflict in Dreams: A Comparison of Bedouin, Irish, and Israeli Children”, from the methodology point of view. In addition, the sample selection will be evaluated, whether or not there was bias and what could have been done to prevent this. Data collection process and interpretation of results will also be analyzed to offer suggestions on how to improve the research.

·         Name the independent and dependent variables in the study described in "The Role of Culture in the Representation of Conflict in Dreams: A Comparison of Bedouin, Irish, and Israeli Children"

The independent variable in this study are the  Bedouin, Irish, and Israeli Children because, “Ethnicity, nationality, or other cultural identification of the members of studied groups will typically represent the independent variable.” (Shiraev & Levy, 2010, p.38).                                          

The dependent variable is the conflict in dreams because “the aspect of human activity that is studied and expected to change under influence of the independent variable is called the dependent variable.” (Shiraev & Levy, 2010, p.38).

·         Evaluate the sample selection, and include your thoughts on whether or not there was a bias in the sample selection. If so, explain what might have been done to prevent the bias.

The sample selection was systematic because the psychologists chose children from  three cultures, Irish, Israeli, and Bedouin. The participants were 26 Bedouin children from seminomadic tribe, 24 Israeli children from a large rural area, and 27 Irish children from an isolated fishing village. The first problem I encountered with the study is the number of subjects who participated, a small representative number of each culture. Shiraev & Levy state “the smaller the sample, the greater the sampling error, and the greater the result of chance factors." (p.34). Another bias I believe I found is  that the children were students, a fact that does not make these children representative sample of their culture. Bedouin children constantly move and some of them might not attend school; the Israeli children who participated in this research, are from a large rural area, making them different from other Israeli children living in other areas; the Irish children lived in an isolated village away from any war conflicts. To prevent any bias, I would use random sampling and a larger sample, to lower the sampling error.

·         Evaluate the data collection process and consider any potential problems with how the reports about the dreams were collected. Explain how the data collection process could be improved.

The children were given a copybook to record their dreams on their awakening and were interviewed for 7 successive days.  If necessary, the children were asked details about their dreams. Dreams reports were tape-recorded and later translated. Some potential problems I see with how the reports were collected are the interpreter who interviewed the children, whether the children recorded their dreams every day, and what level of education they had to be able to express what they had dreamed. In order to understand the Bedouin and Israeli children, not only a knowledge of the language is necessary, but their culture as well. If the interpreter was from their respective cultures, how much knowledge of English they had to be able to translate exactly what the children reported of their dreams?. Another question I have is whether the children easily expressed what they wanted to say about their dreams; I wonder if the Bedouin children had as much schooling completed as the Israeli and Irish, since they moved quite often.  The research does not mention the interpreter for the Bedouin and Israeli children, was from the same culture or a person with knowledge of the respective language. According to Shiraev & Levy ( 2010), “one of the most difficult tasks appears before the investigator: to make sure that the translated version of the method is as close to the original version as possible. However, even a well-translated version of a test is always different from the original one.” (p.40). I would use the naturalistic observation to better understand the events the Bedouin, Israeli, and Irish children; I would observe how their family structures are, how much peer influence they have, if they abused at home and as a result there is greater representation of conflicts.

·         Evaluate the interpretation of the results. Explain any problems with how the results were interpreted and offer suggestions to improve the interpretation.

I do not  believe a quantitative method to interpret dreams is the best one to use. First of all, there is an uneven number of girls and boys within each culture and I believe boys see the world and react different than the girls. In addition, the psychologists used a rating method for the dreams that were rated by three individuals, who were trained to use the Conflict Rating Schedule. Although these individuals were naïve as to the country of the children, they based they rating on the transcribed material, being the reason I think the results may not be as accurate. An example of disagreement I had with the interpretation of results, is the one that states “in conflictual dreams, other characters appearing in the dream were less likely to be friends or relatives of the dreamer and more likely to be strangers, as compared to dream participants in nonconflictual dreams.” (Levine, 1991). However, the father and the mother were present in the  conflictual dream described by a Bedouin child; an Irish child described the conflictual dream but never mentioned whether there were strangers or relatives with him. An Israeli child reported a conflictual dream with strangers and his father as well, mentioning “we were planting”, which could mean he was with people he knew too. One of the results caught my attention is the Social Responsibility rate the Bedouin children got, only an 8%. According to Levine, “in this community, a  high value appeared to be place on the welfare of the group as opposed to the individual, as evidenced by the Bedouin’s emphasis on hospitality and the presence of large extended families, which constituted a highly supportive social system.” (Levine, 1991). I would improve the interpretation of results by understanding their culture, making sure I observe everything is not easily noticed at first.

·         Select a method that is different from that used in the survey. Explain how you could study the same topic in the reading by conducting a study using the method you chose.

I would study the same topic using qualitative method because I believe human interactions and emotions, cannot be studied using numbers. Before conducting the survey or interview, I would observe the participants in their natural habitat, so they would feel comfortable answering questions to the researchers. Surveys can be misleading because the children might be highly influenced by adults in their community and could be scared to express their dreams in front of other children and adults. Also, I would choose an application-oriented strategy since one research method might not work for certain cultures. In addition to recording the reports of dreams, I would video-record the participants in order to observe non-verbal language when talking to the researcher. Non-verbal language could say more than the child could verbally express about his dreams.

Police Stress

Police Stress

The police officers are faced with a great deal of stress during a regular routing of duty.  “Police stress is not always obvious. Almost any single stressor in police work can be found in another occupation. What is unique is all the different stressors in one job.”(Not So Obvious Police Stress).

What is stress? Stress is the body’s reaction to internal or external stimuli that upset the body’s normal state. A stimulus that causes stress (stressor) can be physical, mental, or emotional. The term stress is used to refer to both the body’s reaction and the stimuli that caused it.” (An Introduction to Policing, 2005). Everybody has a certain amount of stress in their lives and careers, but the most stressful profession can be without a doubt, law enforcement. Some studies indicate that police officers have higher rates of suicide, divorce and other personal problems. A study called Project Shield, provided information about the negative effects of stress. During this research project, “officers admitted anonymously to increased vulnerability to alcohol abuse and anxiety within the first 5 years of employment. Project Shield also found that officers experienced increased risk of mortality and morbidity from cancer, heart disease, hypertension, acute migraine headaches, reproductive problems, chronic back problems, foot problems, and insomnia.” (The CBS Interactive Business Network, 2010).

       According to researchers there are four general categories of stress:

1.      External Stress: stress produced by real threats like dealing with armed criminals. Police officers’ job performance can be affected if they are over-tired. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common condition as a result of working around stressful situations. A police officer can find his or her life affected because the job forces the officer to be emotionally detached.

2.      Organizational Stress: produced by the character of the police service, such as strict discipline, change of schedule and emergency calls. Organizational stress might lead to police corruption or excessive aggression. Community might complain and as a result police officers could feel thankless. An officer’s personal life could be affected because of the lack of time to socialize with other regular citizens. Also, an officer’s relationship with his or her family could be hurt due to lack of time to spend with them.

3.      Personal Stress: produced by difficulty getting along with other officers within the department. This type of stress can lead to alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and marital issues.

4.      Operational Stress: produced by the daily confrontation with human tragedies. Also, the need to engage in dangerous situations to protect the public. An important stressor is the consciousness of being liable for any actions performed in duty. Operational stress can cause an officer to have absenteeism, cynicism, and just function in an overall inefficient way.

Some ways police officers can control the stress in their lives is to exercise on a daily basis, eat a healthy diet, and go to counseling services; undergoing stress-management screening and training. Learning to manage stress produced by the daily job duties and leave work at work when coming home, can help the police officer find a balance between his or her career and personal life.

Abstract

References

·         Harpold, Joseph. A. (2002). Negative Influences of Police Stress. The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_9_71/ai_92285044/pg_2/?tag=content;col1

·         Constant, T. (2005). Not So Obvious Police Stress. Tears of a Cop. Retrieved from http://www.tearsofacop.com/police/articles/constant.html

·         Dempsey, J. S., & Forst, L. S. (). 2005. Retrieved from Axia College

Julius Davis social movement started on inspiration and a very clear vision of his life and his position in his community. He went from stoner  to President of the U.S Student Association, inspired by Malcolm X speech “The Ballot or the Bullet”; his whole concept about studying changed and he enrolled in college, thirsty to read and learn more.  Loeb describes “Julius picture of himself and his vision of what he world could be emerged as he acted.” (Loeb, 1999, p.66).

Alison Smith, a simple Connecticut housewife, was inspired to attend a town meeting when a developer broke the rules about the wetland regulations. Alison took the first step of involvement just by attending the meeting and speaking out about her concern, and she found out other neighbors were thinking the same thing.  This meeting would be the first of many activists activities and it only took her involvement and vision to make the other social movements, sustainable.

Meredith Segal , like other activists started to be involved in  her community, recognizing the issues and find solutions one at the time. When she attended college, she created a Facebook page on Barack Obama, to support his campaign. Friends joined, and people continued to reach out on Facebook. This is an example of determination and conviction Meredith had about her believes, resulting in people joining her cause, who at the same time had same ideas but could not start on their own.

The three leaders of these social movements have three things in common: regular citizens with  sense of community involvement,  and strong conviction of her own values.

Loeb, P. (1999 (2nd ed.)). Soul of a citizen, Living with conviction in challenging times. New York NY: St, Martin's Griffin.

Core values and Social Movement

I believe in most cases, social involvement is taught at home through core values. In fact, Loebe states " families with strong ties to friends and neighbors may instill in their children an appreciation of community. Parents with strong faith traditions often transmit a powerful sense of the importance of caring and compassion." (Loeb, 1999, p.71). You are taught at home, to be nice to your brothers and sisters, to tell the truth and be nice to other kids, even stand up to those who are bad. When you grow up, the field may be a little different but the core values are applied the same, demonstrating appreciation of community by taking a stand against injustice and violation of rights.

What do you think made these common people, with curiosity and intensity to make a change and do so, make what they fought for sustainable? Do you think that the things they fought for is something they have devoted a lot of their life span to doing? Or do you think, especially the woman who made a Facebook page for Obama, will continue to fight for him even this time around?

I believe each case is different because some of these "common" people were not planning on starting a social movement, just express something that bothered them. What made some of these social movements sustainable, was the people around this person who saw that "spark" needed to inspire new followers and join the cause.
Talking about the woman who started the Facebook page for Obama, I am not sure what she would do these days because, I do not know if she is the typical follower who is 100%  blinded and who will not recognize bad decisions her favorite candidate might make, or if she is objective and is able to discern between a good or bad decision.