The Special Skills of People Who Are Always Getting Stereotyped

Sorry this was so late! But, here we go...

We all live in a society in which stereotypes have become a large part of our lives, whether we consciously place people in stereotypes or not. Many of us have been stereotyped based on the school we attend, the clothes that we wear, the classes we take, our ethnicity, and who we are friends with. Going to IHA someone may look at us in our uniform and think we must be the greatest thing to walk the face of the earth, or that we are snobby catholic school girls. Based on our ethnicity someone may assume we eat dogs or love rice if we are Asian, or think we are superior to others if we are white. By what we wear someone may call us preppy, a jock, a nerd, a hipster and so forth. (yes I did realize this started to sound like The Breakfast Club) In this article Bella DePaulo reports a study in which groups of people talk about the stereotype they were categorized, how they felt and how they reacted to being stereotyped.

What are your opinions on stereotypes? Have you ever stereotyped a person? Have you been stereotyped and how did it make you feel? How do you react to being stereotyped? How can stereotyping impact a person's life?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/living-single/201111/the-special-skills-people-who-are-always-getting-stereotyped

Growing Up Online- Beneficial or Harmful?

As 17 and 18 year olds, we've grown up in the digital age. Social networking sites have helped us keep in contact with friends, youtube has provided us with entertainment, and newspapers are no longer needed to know the latest news. However, now we face the common dilemma of what to post and what not to post online.

But never mind growing up in the 1990s where a parent was needed to help you play a CD-rom on the computer. Unlike the 1990s, children before they're even born have internet footprints almost as large as ours. Parents post ultrasounds, photos, and videos of their children growing up on social networking sites and never question how their children will react to their internet footprint later on in life.

Should parents post images and videos of their children on social networking sites? If they should, where should they draw the line? Do you think children looking back on the photos in the future will mind? Do you think it will affect their future college and job opportunities? What do you think are some psychological issues that could result from immediately having an internet footprint?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-digital-self/201111/digital-natives-growing-online-0

Does the Job of Your Dreams Exist?

As high school seniors, we've all been thinking not only about the colleges we wish to attend, but potential career paths we may want to pursue as well. With all of the options out there today, it may be hard to narrow down the list to one or two choices. Should you stick with your childhood dream job, or move towards a more practical job given the uncertainty of today's economy? Although it may seem more logical to pursue a career that guarantees stability and income, Diane Barth argues the opposite. She states that daydreams of our ultimate career may actually lead to increased productivity and overall happiness as a result.

So, would it be better to pursue your ideal career, no matter the risk you would be taking given today's economy, or to just take any job that promises financial stability? Do you think you would be better off in the long run knowing that you at least attempted to land your dream job, even if it didn't work out? Do you think that daydreams, as stated in the article, can actually lead us to become more productive and solve this job dilemma?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-couch/201111/does-the-job-your-dreams-exist

-Maria Southard

[Couldn't get my own account to work, so I posted from Regan's]

Being a high school senior, life is about balance. There are many things that need to be balanced in your life, whether it is school, your social life, your family life, etc. Now going off to college, you will probably be confronted with even more stressful situations. In the article, the author, Nancy Schlossberg says that balance in one's life equals happiness and that there are two steps that can lead a person to make decisions that are well balanced in their life.

Now I must ask, How well do you balance everything that is going on in your life? What things in your life are hard to balance and why? Do you feel that the two steps in the article would help you find more balance and happiness in your life?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/transitions-through-life/201111/happiness-is-balancing-act