Author Archives: mmonter16

Mental Health

Do you know what schizophrenia is? Schizophrenia is defined as a mental disorder that affects how an individual thinks, feels and behaves. This week I had to watch a video about looking through the eyes of a man with schizophrenia and how he perceived things in everyday life. I was shocked when I watched the film, because it was like I was perceiving things from man starring in a horror movie. The man in the video,heard voices, that were never actually there, constantly telling him what to do and other voices telling him to do the exact opposite. The man also hallucinated that he might have performed a crime, heard voices telling him not to trust anyone, that people were after him because of his action, illusions telling him he was worthless, and viewing the food that he had in front of him as toxic.

At the end of the video it became obvious that the man kept hearing and perceiving things that were false when a woman entered the house and erased the tension that had built up during the film. This woman was pretty familiar with the man and this became apparent when she told him that he forgot to take his medicine, if her ordered pizza had arrived, and that he should to let sunlight enter the dark house. This house was kept dark to add to the effect that the situation was more frightening than it actually was when the curtains covering the windows parted and sunlight entered the house revealing a bright and sunny day outside. Once all of this had taken place the house and the situation did not seem frightening any to me any more.

I was frightened through most of this film because it reminded me of a horror show and those always get on my nerves. Though I am not an expert on individuals who have schizophrenia, this video reminded me of numerous cases that I see in fictional television shows and movies. Compared to how I typically see schizophrenia in the media, this video portrays my viewpoint on them really well. By this I mean a dark room, voices from people that are not actually there telling the man many different things, constant negative comments being directed at the man telling him he is worthless, and someone else in the film saying that the schizophrenic individual forgot to take their medicine. Yes, this video shocked me but the reason why it truly shocked me was because at the beginning of the video it said that the symptoms that I will experience in the video represents a compilation of a range fo sensory occurrences as reported by actual patients, meaning that people with schizophrenia could be living in a horror film every day.

Mental Health

Do you know what schizophrenia is? Schizophrenia is defined as a mental disorder that affects how an individual thinks, feels and behaves. This week I had to watch a video about looking through the eyes of a man with schizophrenia and how he perceived things in everyday life. I was shocked when I watched the film, because it was like I was perceiving things from man starring in a horror movie. The man in the video,heard voices, that were never actually there, constantly telling him what to do and other voices telling him to do the exact opposite. The man also hallucinated that he might have performed a crime, heard voices telling him not to trust anyone, that people were after him because of his action, illusions telling him he was worthless, and viewing the food that he had in front of him as toxic.

At the end of the video it became obvious that the man kept hearing and perceiving things that were false when a woman entered the house and erased the tension that had built up during the film. This woman was pretty familiar with the man and this became apparent when she told him that he forgot to take his medicine, if her ordered pizza had arrived, and that he should to let sunlight enter the dark house. This house was kept dark to add to the effect that the situation was more frightening than it actually was when the curtains covering the windows parted and sunlight entered the house revealing a bright and sunny day outside. Once all of this had taken place the house and the situation did not seem frightening any to me any more.

I was frightened through most of this film because it reminded me of a horror show and those always get on my nerves. Though I am not an expert on individuals who have schizophrenia, this video reminded me of numerous cases that I see in fictional television shows and movies. Compared to how I typically see schizophrenia in the media, this video portrays my viewpoint on them really well. By this I mean a dark room, voices from people that are not actually there telling the man many different things, constant negative comments being directed at the man telling him he is worthless, and someone else in the film saying that the schizophrenic individual forgot to take their medicine. Yes, this video shocked me but the reason why it truly shocked me was because at the beginning of the video it said that the symptoms that I will experience in the video represents a compilation of a range fo sensory occurrences as reported by actual patients, meaning that people with schizophrenia could be living in a horror film every day.

Mental Health

Do you know what schizophrenia is? Schizophrenia is defined as a mental disorder that affects how an individual thinks, feels and behaves. This week I had to watch a video about looking through the eyes of a man with schizophrenia and how he perceived things in everyday life. I was shocked when I watched the film, because it was like I was perceiving things from man starring in a horror movie. The man in the video,heard voices, that were never actually there, constantly telling him what to do and other voices telling him to do the exact opposite. The man also hallucinated that he might have performed a crime, heard voices telling him not to trust anyone, that people were after him because of his action, illusions telling him he was worthless, and viewing the food that he had in front of him as toxic.

At the end of the video it became obvious that the man kept hearing and perceiving things that were false when a woman entered the house and erased the tension that had built up during the film. This woman was pretty familiar with the man and this became apparent when she told him that he forgot to take his medicine, if her ordered pizza had arrived, and that he should to let sunlight enter the dark house. This house was kept dark to add to the effect that the situation was more frightening than it actually was when the curtains covering the windows parted and sunlight entered the house revealing a bright and sunny day outside. Once all of this had taken place the house and the situation did not seem frightening any to me any more.

I was frightened through most of this film because it reminded me of a horror show and those always get on my nerves. Though I am not an expert on individuals who have schizophrenia, this video reminded me of numerous cases that I see in fictional television shows and movies. Compared to how I typically see schizophrenia in the media, this video portrays my viewpoint on them really well. By this I mean a dark room, voices from people that are not actually there telling the man many different things, constant negative comments being directed at the man telling him he is worthless, and someone else in the film saying that the schizophrenic individual forgot to take their medicine. Yes, this video shocked me but the reason why it truly shocked me was because at the beginning of the video it said that the symptoms that I will experience in the video represents a compilation of a range fo sensory occurrences as reported by actual patients, meaning that people with schizophrenia could be living in a horror film every day.

Mental Health

Do you know what schizophrenia is? Schizophrenia is defined as a mental disorder that affects how an individual thinks, feels and behaves. This week I had to watch a video about looking through the eyes of a person with schizophrenia and how he may perceive things in everyday life. I was shocked when I watched the video, because it was like I was looking through the eyes of a man who was living in a horror movie. The man in the video, whose eyes I was looking through, had voices that were never there constantly telling him what to do and other voices telling him to do the opposite. The man also kept thinking that he did a crime and that people were after him because of it, heard voices telling him not to trust anyone, illusions telling him he was worthless, and the food that he had in front of him was toxic and would kill him. Overall, the man kept hearing and perceiving things that were false, the house he was in was kept dark to make the situation more frightening when it was a bright and sunny day outside. At the end of the video, a woman came into the house and erased the tension that was built up during the video. She told the man that he forgot to take his medicine and to let sunlight enter the house, and once that happened the house did not seem frightening any more.

This video frightened me because I am not a fan of horror films. Though I am not an expert on individuals who have schizophrenia, this video reminded me of numerous cases that I see in fictional television shows and movies. Compared to how I typically see schizophrenia in the media, this video portrays my viewpoint on them really well. By this I mean a dark room, voices from people that are not actually there telling the man many different things, constant negative comments being directed at the man telling him he is worthless, and someone else in the film saying that the schizophrenic individual forgot to take their medicine. Yes, this video shocked me but the reason why it truly shocked me was because at the beginning of the video it said that the symptoms that I will experience in the video represents a compilation of a range fo sensory occurrences as reported by actual patients, meaning that people with schizophrenia could be living in a horror film every day.


Social Psychology

Do you have any idea what cognitive dissonance is? Cognitive dissonance is the state of uneasiness that comes from holding two contradictory beliefs. When there is a difference between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to eradicate or reduce this conflict.  I remember back when I was younger my grandfather, my Papa, would take me fishing; however, I did not enjoy fishing back then but now I do. There is where cognitive dissonance occurred for me, I wanted to make my Papa happy by going fishing with him and enjoying, but I myself did not like it or killing the fish that we were able to catch. After some thinking on what was more important to me, my stubbornness and love for animals or my love for my Papa and his happiness. In the end, I decided that I wanted to make my Papa happy so I tried acting that I enjoyed fishing, and a few years later I noticed that I actually began enjoying this hobby and I still do. I still feel bad about killing and eating the fish that I catch; however, now I realize that it is a part of life and that I shouldn’t feel so guilty about trying to enjoy life and surviving in it.

Honestly, I feel a bit biased on the opinion on whether cognitive dissonance is a good thing and should be utilized or a bad thing people should try to avoid. In my situation I see using cognitive dissonance as a good thing and should be promoted; however, using cognitive dissonance could have some negative results at the same time, depending on the factors and situation. One example of a scenario is a girl deciding between the beliefs she grew up with and everybody around her has vs. the personal beliefs and thoughts that she herself has. So while I do think cognitive dissonance can have good results the decision made may not always the right one or the best one to be chosen.


Stress

What is stress? One way to define stress is as a state of mental or emotional strain resulting from differing or very demanding circumstances. This week I had to watch a Ted Talk video titled How to make stress your friend, in which Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, discusses not only how stress can be positive and but ways in which stress can positively influence a person’s body and daily life. In that video, Kelly McGonigal was able to completely turn my point of view on stress around. There were several tests performed that shows people who view stress and the reactions that it causes as beneficial, not only did better in the tests but apparently Kelly McGonigal also stated lived better and lived longer. And all individuals have to do is view stress and all of its reactions as good and not negative.

 

As I was watching this video I went through several phases of reactions. At first I was confused about how stress can actually be good for people’s health; then I become startled by the research that proves that stress can be healthy; and lastly I became hopeful and elated because I go through so much stress and it frustrates me and the thought that I can actually make stress a positive influence on my life just sounded miraculous. And to add to my happiness I discovered that the information that Kelly McGonigal discussed is actually very credible. In the footnotes of this Ted Talk she referenced several website sources that not only support her findings, but also contain the information in which she was discussing in her presentation.

 

After watching Kelly McGonigal Ted Talk video I plan on implement some of the ideas into my life. I am usually become very stressed in my daily life as a college student because I just have so much to do, very little time to get it all done, and then finding time to the other things I need to accomplish. This is video is helpful because it can teach me to be more positive, change my perspective on stress, try to become closer to my friends and family, and be more willing to help others when they are in trouble, instead of just focusing on the mountain of paper work I need to complete. By implementing viewing stress as a positive reaction, I can hopefully become healthier, more social, and live longer. On a ending note I found this Ted Talk video be very reasonable but also very inspiring and educational.

 

 

Works Cited

 

McGonigal, Kelly. “How to Make Stress Your Friend.” Kelly McGonigal: How to Make Stress Your Friend | TED Talk | TED.com. TED Talk, June 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. <https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?language=en&gt;.


The Keys to Success

In today’s competitive society, students are constantly searching for ways to succeed.  Researchers have determined that students who possess self-compassion and a growth mindset will be the best equipped to face challenges.  What is a growth mindset you may be wondering? This phrase was coined by Carol Dweck of Stanford University.  A growth mindset belongs to those who believe they can always learn even from mistakes, while those with a contrasting fixed mindset believe their knowledge and abilities are limited and may be critical of themselves, especially when they make mistakes.  Recently, two psychological studies were published which address the impact these factors have on students.

The first study, from Michigan State University, “Neural evidence for enhanced attention to mistakes among school-aged children with a growth mindset,” was published online in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. The second study, from the University of British Columbia, was published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, “Don’t be so hard on yourself! Changes in self-compassion during the first year of university are associated with changes in well-being.”  I happen to be a college freshman therefore the focus of this article will be on the UBC research on first year college students, with a quick overview of the MSU study.

The MSU research came from Jason Moser’s Clinical Psychophysiology Lab, evaluating the benefits of a growth mindset and the significance of young students learning from their mistakes. This study observed seven-year-old students and then classified them into two groups: fixed or growth mindset.  The researchers then used an EEG to measure the brain waves of the students when they made mistakes playing a computerized game.  The children who had higher brain activity when making a mistake were more likely to have greater success when continuing to play the game and were dubbed to have a growth mindset. This higher brain activity signaled their focus on attempting to understand what they had done wrong while looking for ways to improve their performance.  The researchers stated that parents and educators should encourage students not to ignore their mistakes or believe they are bad, but rather to utilize them as a learning opportunity.

The second psychological study was performed by researchers from the University of British Columbia.  The UBC study tied the success of college freshman to how they handled themselves in times of stress.  They focused on the “self-compassion” of college freshman and how it corresponded to their attitude and adjustment to changes and failures in their first semester. The research built upon several prior studies.  One showed college freshman students experiencing declines in their psychological and social well-being as their living arrangements, responsibilities, and social interactions change during their first year at school leading to increased stress levels.  However, self-compassion during times of stress could be one factor helping students.  Self-determination theory is a set of principles used by the researchers to understand the association between self-compassion and well-being.  What exactly is self-compassion?  It is defined as self-kindness (not being too critical of yourself), common humanity (understanding that we all make mistakes), and mindfulness (keeping balance in your life).  But exactly how self-compassion equates to a student’s well-being has not been examined.  So, the UBC researchers’ intent was to evaluate if changes in self-compassion were somehow related to changes in an individual’s personal needs satisfaction (PNS).  If personal needs were being met, then maybe this could lead to improved well-being.  PNS is defined as competence (one can complete difficult tasks), autonomy (being in charge of yourself), and relatedness (connecting with others).

The research took place at a Canadian university in which 189 freshman college students, recruited through course websites and recruitment booths, participated in the study.  Most of participants were women, 77.2%, including a wide range of ethnicities, 50% of which lived on campus, 49% knew their roommates before school began, and 99% were single. These individuals took an online questionnaire their first month of school and another five months later.  The questionnaire consisted of three self-assessments. The first measured mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity; the second was a basic psychological need satisfaction questionnaire; and the third was a subjective vitality scale measuring well-being of the students.  Each of these questionnaires allowed the students to rate their responses on a numeric scale.  The researchers did not assign the participants into groups, nor did they observe the students over the course of their school year.

The results of the study validated the researchers’ hypothesis proving that if a student experienced an improvement in their self-compassion, they also had an improvement in their personal well-being because self-compassion improved their psychological need satisfaction.  Those who were kinder to themselves, or less critical, were able to better adapt to changes and setbacks. While the research is insightful, it does have several limiting factors.  Research was only conducted at one university.  Having a larger and more diversified group of students from different universities would make the data more meaningful.  Also, how accurate is self-reporting by students?  The researchers stated their study design did not allow for causal claims and that the results cannot imply self-compassion leads to an increase in well-being.  So in future research, the study design should be enhanced to determine if one does directly impact the other.

Although the UBC study does have limitations, it makes one step back and conduct a self-examination.  Do we treat ourselves with compassion? Or do we get mired in frustration at our failures?  Hopefully, the research will make students examine their attitudes as well as push researchers to conduct further studies to aid educators in helping students cope with stress.

The Process of Writing a Psychological News Article

 

THE CHALLENGING

Writing a news article summarizing a psychological study is challenging!  My article is based off of Christopher Bergland’s psychological news article “Self-Compassion, Growth Mindset, and the Benefits of Failure.”  I appreciate the art of creating an article that is both informative and entertaining for the reader.  Research materials are factual and parts can be difficult to understand.  Bergland’s article was entertaining but left out numerous important facts that I believe the readers need so they can draw their own conclusions.  He had many quotes and antidotal information that was interesting, but it took away from the actual research findings.  So, my challenge was to include sufficient information for the reader in an understandable format.   It is a difficult balance to include enough information without bombarding the reader with facts. The previous research included in the UBC study was a building block to their research but included so many citations for researchers, acronyms and definitions that putting all of that information into a concise format was challenging.

 

MUCH NEEDED SACRIFICES

In order to provide details left out of Bergland’s article, I did not include the various quotes or the Ted Talk video.  These were informative but did not leave sufficient space for every piece of information needed from the scholarly research. I did attempt to provide a good overview of the research; however, I did leave out details surrounding how the data was analyzed. I believe the readers would want to have all of the facts on the participations, the questionnaires, and the results, and not the details of analyzing the data. A short article does not allow for all of the details to be presented.

 

A WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE

After reading the research materials and writing my own article, my perspective of journalists has changed.  Before this project I was too trusting towards journal articles believing they correctly summarized the material, but now I have learned to be more cautious.  I realize that journalists do not include all the information that they should.  They are focused on delivering an entertaining message rather than an in-depth report.  After reviewing the scholar research, I realized how much information was missing from Christopher Bergland’s article.  He did not include all the information necessary that I needed to make my own assumptions on the research studies. I also learned how difficult it can be for journalists to include and exclude certain types and amounts of information, for it to not only sound accurate, but for it also to be relevant. Overall, this project provided a valuable learning experience that was challenging yet enlightening.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Bergland, Christopher. “Self-Compassion, Growth Mindset, and the Benefits of Failure.” Psychology Today. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 4 Feb. 2017.

file:///Users/MatthewBMonter/Downloads/For%20Matthew%20M%20(2).pdf

 

Gunnell, Katie E., Amber D. Mosewich, Carolyn E. McEwen, Robert C. Eklund, and Peter R.E. Crocker. “Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself! Changes in Self-compassion during the First Year of University Are Associated with Changes in Well-being.” Personality and Individual Differences. N.p., 17 Nov. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201701/self-compassion-growth-mindset-and-the-benefits-failure


MOTIVATION

What is orthorexia nervosa? Orthorexia nervosa is a condition that includes symptoms of obsessive behavior in pursuit of a healthy diet. This obsessive behavior to become healthy is actually very dangerous to the body, so people who are motivated to be excessively healthy are not very healthy after all. Some of the standards of orthorexia nervosa are found in this article: http://www.orthorexia.com/orthorexia-proposed-formal-criteria/. Some of the standards include: (1) Violation of self-imposed dietary rules causes exaggerated fear of disease, sense of personal impurity and/or negative physical sensations, accompanied by anxiety as well as shame, and (2) Positive body image, self-worth, identity and/or satisfaction excessively dependent on compliance with self-defined “healthy” eating behavior. Besides understanding some of the criteria for orthorexia nervosa, this column is a good way to define the boundary between eating healthy and having a mental disorder because these standards I just discussed is not normal for just eating healthy these standards of orthorexia nervosa play a psychological role in the human body.

 

There are two other sources that also discuss orthorexia nervosa: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/obsession-healthy-eating-dangerous-risk/story?id=26866895

& http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/health/orthorexia/. Both of these sources are very credible because they are well known American network news channel whose info are usually trustworthy, up to date on current events, and supported by many individuals. The ABC News article talks about a woman, Jenni Victor, who has orthorexia nervosa, how it has affected her body, including not having a period in over a year, along with a video of that woman as well. The CNN talks about a woman named Ashely Bailey who also has orthorexia nervosa, professors who have heard of her and discussed her problem, as well as discussing orthorexia nervosa in general.

 

The message of these articles is that why eating healthy is good, compulsively eating healthy is bad for a person’s health, and because of this these sources add to my opinion that orthorexia nervosa is a disorder. Before I end this blog post here is a fun fact, the name orthorexia nervosa literally means ‘a fixation with righteous eating.’

 

Works Cited

 

Chang, Juju, Chris James, and Lauren Effron. “When an Obsession With Healthy Eating Becomes a Dangerous Risk.” ABC News. ABC News Network, 13 Nov. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. <http://abcnews.go.com/Health/obsession-healthy-eating-dangerous-risk/story?id=26866895&gt;.

“Orthorexia: Proposed Formal Criteria.” Orthorexia. N.p., 26 Dec. 2015. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. <http://www.orthorexia.com/orthorexia-proposed-formal-criteria/&gt;.

Richards, Sarah Elizabeth. “Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Becomes an Obsession.” CNN. Cable News Network, 12 Oct. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/health/orthorexia/index.html&gt;.

 


Spotlight on Divorce

What is a marriage divorce? By definition a divorce in a marriage is when people who are wedded to each other get unmarried. This is a sad occurrence because the individuals who had gotten married wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each and now they are separating. This is a hard experience, not only for the couple who are getting a divorced, but also for the children of these divorced couples who are dealing with a new set of problems and situations. How a divorce is played out and handled determines how these children are affected and turn out.

In a case where a divorce is carried out in an angry, harsh, and argument filled process then there is no doubt that children will be affected negatively. In a Psychology Today article written by Jann Gumbiner, titled Divorce Hurts Children, Even Grown Ones, she talks about how there is no such thing as a good divorce; however, the problem with her statement is that divorce she described was bad divorce about her parents that transpired back in the 70s, a time when divorces were not as common. Because of this Jann Gumbiner’s experience and situation concerning the divorce of her parents might have been different if the divorce had taken place in today’s time period where divorces are more common. The divorce of her parents caused lifelong effects that affected her as a child, affected her marriage, and still continues to affect her and because of these lifelong effects Jann Gumbiner believe that there is no such thing a good divorce. This article is credible source because Jann Gumbiner was telling her story and her thoughts about it, she is a credible source because she is a licensed psychologist and clinical professor at the University of California, where she specialized in adolescent and child development, despite the fact that she does not list any resources as a reference. Jann Gumbiner is describing how divorce was harmful to her as a child and how it can be harmful to other children.

The research article The Effects of Divorce on Children, describes how divorces are inherently harmful to children. This article talks about how the relationship within the family that the child had become strained and how family members were not as close to each other as they used to be. Some of the effects of children of several divorces are that their emotional state had been negatively influenced, meaning they were not as cheerful nor happy as they used to be, these children had become more bitter towards their parents, they were falling in the performance in school, and their behavior towards other had become intimidating. All of these are true possible effects that children can go through in a bad divorce. If these children had gone through a good divorce, then they would have understood the situation more and may not have been as negatively affected. This article is a credible source because it cited several references that can be looked at and supports the content written.

Not all divorces are bad, there are many cases where parents go through a good divorce and the children are not negatively affected as much compared to if they had experienced a bad divorce. In a Huffington post article by Brette Sember, titled Why a Good Divorce Is Better Than a Bad Marriage for Kids, several points are stated explaining why getting a divorce and resolving the issues in that situation is better than having the kids experience a life of arguments, constant fighting, unstable security in their own homes.  Even though divorces are hard for children, because they don’t want to deal with a new lifestyle or the separation of their parents, it is much better than living in a home filled with tension and unstable emotions for most of their childhood. The article stated that parents sometimes stay married for the sake of their kids and will get a divorce once their kids reach adulthood; however, this is not the best decision regarding the sake of the entire family. When parents get a divorce it is because they are unhappy with each other, and staying together for the sake of their children, while sweet and thoughtful, is not fare to their children and to themselves. It is important that children learn to be happy in life and to be true to themselves, even if it means difficult decisions have to be made. This is a credible source because Brette Sember is an experienced author, freelancer, ghostwriter, book coach, editor, blogger, indexer, content provider, social media specialist, consultant and editor who can be looked up online to see if she is qualified to make such statements that she wrote in the article, despite the fact that no resources were referenced.

Despite the fact that many children are negatively affected by their parents’ divorce it is still possible to raise happy children.  In other a Psychology Today article written by Wendy Paris, titled Yes, You Can Raise Happy Children After Divorce, the author lists ways that parents can help their children through divorces so that they can still have a happy childhood. Paris Wendy talks going through a divorce and wondering how her child will be affected by this. She talked about how children of divorced couples still do generally well in everyday life and in school, and she even lists several ways and principles to keep a child happy in a divorce. This usually includes making sure the children keep a good relationship with both parents, both parents lead structurally stable lives after the divorce, and the children are receiving the basic requirements needed such as love, food, shelter, and good health. This article is a credible source because in the writing Wendy Paris talked about a meta-study by Cambridge University professor Michael Lamb, talks about other research results to support her argument, and exemplifies that children can come through a divorce without serious consequences.

After reading all these articles on divorce I argue that the children of divorced couples can come through a divorce without serious consequences. I believe this because I am one of these children. My parents got divorced when I wasn’t even six years old and I have been raised by my mom, though I have kept in contact with my dad. My mom did everything to make sure my sister and I grew up to be happy and to be great individuals as well. I still wonder what my life might have been like if my parents had stayed together, but currently I am happy with my life, how my sister and I turned out to be, and grateful to my mom.
Works Cited

Gumbiner, Jann. “Divorce Hurts Children, Even Grown Ones.” Psychology Today. N.p., 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201110/divorce-hurts-children-even-grown-ones&gt;.

“An Overview of the Psychological Literature on the Effects of Divorce on Children.” Pardon Our Interruption. N.p., May 2004. Web. 01 Apr. 2017. <http://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/cyf/divorce.aspx&gt;.

Paris, Wendy. “Yes, You Can Raise Happy Children After Divorce.” Psychology Today. N.p., 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/splitopia/201503/yes-you-can-raise-happy-children-after-divorce&gt;.

Sember, Brette. “Why a Good Divorce Is Better Than a Bad Marriage for Kids.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brette-sember/why-a-good-divorce-is-better-than-a-bad-marriage-for-kids_b_6925236.html&gt;.

 

 


PERSONALITY

What are personality tests? A personality test is a questionnaire or other standardized instrument devised to uncover qualities of an individual’s character or psychological makeup. Earlier this week I took four different personality tests in order to better understand myself, personality tests, and just how accurate these tests are. The four tests I had taken were a Jung Typology Test, a Personality Type Questionnaire, a IPIP Big-Five Factor Markers personality test, and a ColorQuiz test.

The Jung Typology Test, I believe described me pretty accurately overall because I was told my type was a ESFJ. Being an ESFJ means I have marginal or no preference of Extraversion over Introversion (3%), I have slight preference of Sensing over Intuition (9%), I have moderate preference of Feeling over Thinking (47%), and I have moderate preference of Judging over Perceiving (25%). I find this test to be very credible because it lists how this test is performed and that it is based on Carl Jung’s and Isabel Briggs Myers’ personality theory, not based on just a random theory that barely has any support.

The Personality Type Questionnaire, I thought described me alright but was not completely accurate. This test said I was a ISFJ “Conservator” meaning I am service and work oriented as well as very loyal. It also said that ISFJ “Conservators” are good nurses, teachers, secretaries, general practitioners, librarians, middle managers, housekeepers, and make up six percent of the total population. The reason I do not agree with this test is because it said I was more introvert than extrovert, while find myself to be more of an extrovert with introverted tendencies. I do not find this source to be credible because it does not state what this test is based upon or what references are used to support it.

The IPIP Big-Five Factor Markers personality test I believe described me pretty well overall.  On the IPIP Big Five Test, there are 5 different categories, essentially five big personality traits. The test states that for Factor I my extroversion was at a 50, meaning I am half introvert, half extrovert, and that I am neither really outgoing and social nor a shut in. For Factor II the test shows that my emotional stability is at a 30. That does not seem right to be because I am emotionally stable and if I have problems I have family and friends I can turn to help or to just listen to me. For Factor III the test states that my Agreeableness is at an 80. I am a little unsure about this because this means that I am super agreeable, and while I can be agreeable, this does not sound like me. For Factor IV the test shows that my Conscientiousness is at a 41. Again this does not sound like me, because I view myself as a very conscientious individual. For Factor V the test states that my Intellect/Imagination is at an 11. This does not sound like me and personally sounds a little insulting, even though it is just a machine telling me my results. Overall, I do not think this test described me very well at all. I find this source to be very credible because on the home page of this test it describes the test, the procedures used, other info, as well as sources and references to support that this personality test is legit and accurate.

The ColorQuiz test I originally though was a very weird test because it just asked me to pick certain colors in a group in the order that they make me feel the best, and then I had to do it again, at first I believed I would just be given a random answer; however, as I read the results of my Colorquiz test I was shocked by just how accurate that test describes me. It said things about me that I do not tell other people about, and though I feel that some of the comments were a little inaccurate, it was mostly spot on. This test surprised me the most because out of all the personality tests that I remember taking in my life not one personality test has given me a description like this test did and be able to hit so close to home. This source is very credible because on the home page of this test it is stated that the test is based on the work of Dr. Max Lûscher and has been used by many different individuals of various occupations worldwide since the 1950’s and a link is displayed to provide more information on this test.

All of these personality tests were fun to take, and I learned more about myself and which tests provide more accurate results.

 

Works Cited

http://colorquiz.com/

http://personality-testing.info/tests/BIG5.php

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

http://www.personalitytest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl