Blog #3: Sociological Research and Me

1) One research assignment that I found to be very interesting was the one about piercings and tattoos. I feel like people are very quick to judge people based on these two characteristics, and I know there have been times where I have judged people in this way myself. It is truly mind-boggling to think about how stereotypes such as this one come to creation and how they catch on to become mainstream stereotypes. Tattoos and piercings do not define a person's character, but for some reason society tends to think they do. I have myself observed that there are different levels of feelings as to tattoos and piercings. For example, some people frown upon an excessive amount of tattoos and piercings. There are others who are not fond of even one tattoo or too many piercings in a girl's ear. My mom doesn't want me to get a third ear piercing because it appears she thinks it will drastically change my appearance (which I certainly don't agree with)! I think it was probably difficult to measure people's opinions on their appearance, health and weight because many are not comfortable with openly sharing their views on these personal topics.

2) When it comes to how I socialize with others, I am an outgoing person. Among those I know, I love to converse and make others laugh, but I also enjoy listening to the thoughts and ideas of others around me. I am not afraid to hold conversation with someone I do not know, and I feel that I am pretty competent at doing so. I have a hard time talking about my most personal feelings and issues with even my closest friends and my family sometimes, but once I am able to break the barrier and open up, I let everything out. My tendency to be a perfectionist and a worrier has its upsides and downsides. I am very thoughtful and careful as a result of these qualities about my personality, but sometimes I am very tense and stressed in addition. My strengths are my motivation and drive, whether it's to succeed on the field, on the track, or in the classroom. I also am a very passionate girl. My weaknesses stem from me letting my thoughts and emotions get the best of me. I will speak my mind when I have an opinion about something, even if it's controversial, but I tend to always agree with each side a little bit and find it hard to choose a side. I am very indecisive! I think my personality is greatly influenced by the home I grew up in, the people I call my family, and the people I have been exposed to these 18 years I have been alive.

3) “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” 
― Oscar Wilde

This quote is inspirational to me. It is so easy to go through every day just counting down to certain days or events, not doing much of anything on all those days in between and certainly not making the most of them. Sometimes I need a reminder to live in the moment, make the most of every day of my life, and feel as if I truly lived when I look back on my life in the future.

Blog #3: Me as Sociologist, Milgram & Elliott

1) I think my way of thinking about human behavior and our society falls under the perspective of symbolic interactionist. People are so strongly influenced by the world around them in ways they are aware of as well as in ways unknown to themselves. In evaluating their own actions, individuals take into consideration how their family, friends, and peers would evaluate these very same actions. Sometimes this sort of consideration is a conscious effort and sometimes it is absolutely unintentional or an unconscious decision. When I hear about all the crazy massacres and brutal murders in the media, I think to myself how each one seems to top the sickest one before it. Sometimes I wonder if people commit these acts simply to become a notorious figure in the American media. Peer pressure is a prime example of symbolic interactionist that I witness in my daily life as a high school student. Sometimes the decisions of teenagers do not reflect their own morals and beliefs but rather what they think will please others.

2) I think that the extent to which a person obeys authority is dependent on the individual. It was evident that some individuals in the experiment were feeling very distressed about what they were doing but swallowed down their nerves and guilt and continued to carry out the experiment. Simply because the authority was legal and willing to bear full responsibility if something happened, these individuals were willing to follow the orders given to them. This is a scary observation because I believe this fact applies to people in general. However, I also believe that there are those whose consciences are strong enough to give them courage to stand up to unethical authoritative demands. Some people are confident enough in themselves and firm enough in their own morals and beliefs to not only acknowledge when something is wrong but also to defy authority and refuse to obey.

3) I do not think Jane Elliott's experiment would be successful today. Most children--at least in the part of the country I live in--are well aware of how wrong racism and discrimination is. In addition, harassment, intimidation, and bullying are so pervasive in today's society and thus are strongly forbidden, so this type of experiment would not be permitted to be carried out at most schools today. Children would probably take the discrimination too far and do permanent psychological damage to each other. In order to teach and/or raise awareness about prejudice and bias, bullying and intimidation, recording devices could be attached to children's clothing or perhaps their backpacks. At the end of the school day they would be made aware of these devices and would be instructed to listen to all the things they said that day and see how much of their daily conversation falls under prejudice and bullying. 

Nature vs. Nurture

• eye color: influenced by nature; our eye color is determined by the genes we inherit from our parents
• height: influenced by nature; our height tends to be influenced by the height of our parents; our height is not influenced by society
• intelligence: I believe intelligence is influenced by both; if a child's parents are both very intelligent, I feel he or she is more likely to also be born with intelligence as opposed to a child born to two very unintelligent parents; however, an argument could be made that the child's intelligence is affected by the nurture of his or his parents and their respective intelligence; by the time we can evaluate a child's intelligence, there has been enough opportunity for the child's intelligence to have been influenced by the nurturing of his or her parents
• weight: although genes linked to obesity can be inherited, I believe nurture has much to do with weight; society and the people around us influence what, when, and how we eat as well as the amount of exercise we participate in
• risk taking: influenced by both; some people are risk takers from early childhood, even if they have not themselves been exposed to much risk taking; however, many adventurous people become this way after witnessing others take risks and finding they themselves are also interested in taking risks
• profession: influenced by nurture; no one is born with a natural inclination to do one thing for the rest of their life; the interests and passions people develop through nurture and exposure to society and everything that fills society is what leads people to their professions
• athletic ability: influenced by a little bit of both; some people are naturally very clumsy or perhaps unable to participate in athletics as a result of inherited health problems; however, being raised in an athletic family makes it much more likely for a child to have athletic ability as opposed to one raised in a non-athletic family
• smoking: influenced by nurture; it is absolutely a choice; those who make the choice to smoke ignore all the knowledge we have about the hazards of smoking and allow themselves to give in to pressures of society or their own temptations for whatever reason
• music ability: influenced by both; some people are born without musical tendencies are capabilities; for example, being tone-deaf; however, society (i.e. family, school) can lead people to develop a musical ability
• violent behavior: influenced by both; genetics can cause people to exhibit violent, aggressive behavior; however people can also become this way as a result of some sort of suffering or growing up in a violent household
• heart disease: influenced by both; heart disease can run in a family but it can also be brought on by lifestyle choices
• mental illness: influenced by both; can be genetically inherited but can also be brought on by traumatizing experiences
• humor: influenced by nurture; I think what we are exposed to by society is what allows our sense of humor to develop as we grow older; if I lived by myself in an empty room as I grew up, I do not think I would have any sense of humor!
• interest in math & science or arts & humanities: influenced by nurture; we do not really know what interests us until we learn about and are thus exposed to both areas of study
• skilled ability to perform in math/science or art/humanities: can be both; some people just seem to have a real knack for numbers, for example, but skilled ability in both can also be nurtured 

I think nurture is a bigger factor in influencing one's personality and behavior because much of how we think and act is affected by what we are exposed to. Nature plays a large role in some things that have to do with the physical characteristics of our bodies, but behaviors and actions are usually developed, not born with. Some factors weigh heavily on this debate, however; experts argue over whether behaviors like smoking or even weight are determined by our genes and whether individuals can be blamed for becoming addicted to nicotine or for becoming morbidly obese. I think we can learn more from this debate by analyzing what science tells us plays a part in each of these characteristics and behaviors to see how much of it is really a result of nature. What is not determined by nature must be determined by nurture.

Intro Blog

Senior year is flying by! I can’t believe we’re already past the halfway point. The first half of the year went by smoothly. It was weird starting a different schedule halfway through the year, but I like the new electives I am taking. College applications took up a lot of my time towards the end of the fall and throughout the holidays. Between the Common Application and all the extra essays, I spent just as much time working on things for college as my regular schoolwork—or maybe more! I was completely finished with all my applications only two days before the New Year; I was planning to be done much earlier in the school year, but things got pretty crazy towards the end of fall what with a very successful soccer season made even longer by Hurricane Sandy. It was awesome being undefeated League Champs, beating our rival Cresskill, and making it all the way to the state sectional finals for the first time in school history. I could not have asked for a better way to end my soccer career at New Milford High School. This season of indoor track has also proved to be my most successful yet, so I am definitely enjoying these last few weeks of indoor track before outdoor track begins a new season. I had four alumni interviews for colleges I applied to. So far I have been accepted to the University of Vermont and Villanova University, but I am still waiting to hear from six more colleges!