Kayla Cubbage-Henson SCI 100 Journal Reflection 3-4 1. What sort of cultural or social forces impact how we think and behave? Religion, education and a person's socio-economic status are some of the big cultural factors that influence how a person thinks and behaves. Someone who grew up in a very strict faith based home with a private education might have different views on hatred and violence as someone that grew up in a low-income neighborhood who was a high school drop out and exposed to gang violence in their community. The ways in which our own parents raise us and their views on the world also transfer onto us, sometimes I think we see this more in implicit bias- we may recognize outdated views we’ve been taught, yet still be leary in situations such as being followed.. 2. Describe an example of a behavior that is impacted by socialization and cultural influences. A behavior that comes to mind here is when fathers teach their sons that crying is a sign of weakness and that “men” dont cry. Unfortunately I feel like this has become more and more of the norm over the years. Just recently more is being done to encourage young boys to show emotions and also show qualities and traits that once were considered only for girls: caring for baby dolls, learning how to cook, etc.. How do things such as media and advertising impact our understanding of how we should act or behave in a culture or group? As the media has grown over the years it has become easier for our biases and cultural beliefs to be exposed and sometimes even ridiculed. Posting on social media often warrants fights between even the best of friends, when posts or memes raise questions about biases in our own backyards. I also think the media is a huge outlet to expose us to many types of information that is not always accurate. It can lead us to profile and create implicit biases on how we view those around us. New ideas of about what should be accepted or not accepted are constantly changing around us- with more of that in our faces each day it can be easier to follow trends or jump 1. Provide an example of an implicit bias and an explicit bias. The examples may be from your own life, from something you have observed, or from the resources reviewed in this module. Explicit biases are those we are completely aware that we carry. In our current news, you can see a lot of explicit bias. A type of implicit bias means we have a set of attitudes and preconceived notions about certain stereotypes. I have never considered myself to be racist. After I read a little more about what exactly implicit bias is, I became aware that I have profiled before, even though I did not exactly understand why. When I was a teenager in the malls, if a black or Hispanic male were behind me in the store, I would assume the worst, walk faster, become paranoid I was being followed. The media has mostly influenced these subconscious triggers or feelings. Yes, I had seen shows where white women would be followed closely or chased by men of black or Hispanic race. 2. Why is it important to understand these biases? How can these biases influence human behavior? Many of our actions occur from subconscious thoughts, so regardless of what we may identify with in terms of cultural values- if we cannot become more aware of underlying biases then we will fail to gap together divisions that keep us moving forward. I think the most important aspect here is to understand where these biases form from- perhaps it may mean looking into what has create your perceptions of others and doing a moral inventory. These biases create tentions and stereotypes that set humanity up for failure.
