Recently in Anger Category

http://www.angermanagementtips.com/children.htm

I recently came accross a website that discussed anger management and how to deal with children when they are expressing anger.  I found it to be very interesting because I'm always seeing children in the store throwing tantrums and then their parents just giving in and letting them have their way.  After watching this I always tell myself that when I have children I won't do that, but at the same time it has to be hard to watch your child behave in that way.

The article that I was reading discusses how it's important to explain to children what exactly anger is, that it's ok that they express it, and that even yourself as the parent expresses anger at times.  They need to realiaze how to channel the anger, though.  The article states different suggestions for a parent to follow when their child is experiencing anger.

• taking deep breaths
• turning their anger into expressable words
• working off anger by running or riding a bike
• showing them alternatives to their anger
• rewarding the children for controlling their anger

I thought that all of these ideas were very helpful.  I think it's also important for parents to stick with the methods decide on.  So many times parents will give in to their children and let them get away with things that they probably shouldn't be doing.  They need to be consistant and not back down, although at times this may be dificult. 

The website also says how parents should explain to children what exactly anger is and how to detect anger when they are experiencing it. They list three main things children should recognize.

• their breathing getting faster
• their face getting red in color
• tightened muscles and skin

I thought the website gave decent advice, but I'm also not a parent so I don't know how well these tips actually work.

Are there any parents that have suggestions to what does or does not work for children with anger problems??

 

Guilt in Advertising

This article was very interesting to read.  It describes the different ways that advertisements can tug at our emotions.  Guilt appeal is a great way to get consumer's attention, and it's used quite a bit in the advertising world.  A good example of this is the commercials showing the dying polar bears without ice to live on, or the cute little puppies and kittens without homes.  Another classic example of this is the commercials about the children struggling in poor countries, asking you to help them with a "dollar a day."   Seeing these commercials evokes an emotional response, and leads the viewer to feel guilty, something advertisers are counting on.  The hope is that if you feel guilty about these poor puppies and children, you will give them money to try and help them or "save a life."
Previous research found that mothers were the most likely target and more susceptible to these types of advertising techniques, so it was mothers that were used in this research study.  They actually discovered that many times commercials and advertisements that used guilt as a motivational factor to buy the product actually evoked some levels of anger in the participants. This anger acted as a mediator between the guilt and the consumer's attitudes about the product or advertisement.   This anger also seemed to affect whether or not the participants reported that they would buy the product or not. Though it may sound surprising that these depressing commercials could evoke anger, think about the last time you saw the Haiti relief commercials? Or the American Christian Children's Fund? Yes, they are all depressing and raise some amount of guilt, but at the same time many Americans feel that things need to change in our own country first.  The article also discusses aspects of annoyance, and how the annoyance levels of these commercials can raise levels of anger as well.
Many commercials of the commercials like this act on the principle of relatedness.  This aspect is also discussed in the book (Reeve, 161, 2009).  Commercials want to make you feel as though you have a connection with the people or animals shown in the advertisement.  This may be why they show close ups of big puppy eyes, and probably why they send you a "personalized letter and photo of the child you're saving."  The advertisements are attempting to make you feel as though these people and animals are just like you or similar to you, your pets, or your children, and this makes us feel as though we should help them.  The letters and pictures that the children's fund sends to you also plays a role in feedback, because these things give you good feelings about your donation, it will reinforce the behavior and allow you to associate donating with good feelings (Reeve, 117).
Using these types of positive reinforcements once they have the consumer to a point where they have made a donation increases the chances that they will make an additional donation in the future.  Making people feel good about the things they have done (donating money, volunteering) is a way to provide a reward, and eventually this reward could develop into intrinsic motivations.  When someone consistently volunteers and contributes to the community, there are positive feelings associated with the outcomes.  This acts as a reinforcement/reward to begin with. As they continue to participate in these types of activities, the reward may evolve into an intrinsic motivation (Reeve, 111) because they are so used to those feelings and actions that they feel a basic internal drive to continue with their good feelings and positive contributions to the community. Along with this, another aspect of intrinsic motivations is the idea of challenge. People who participate in things such as Habitat for Humanity or other volunteer programs many have had feelings of guilt in order to get them started, but then a challenge developed and lead to more intrinsic motivations (Reeve, 111).
These commercials also incorporate the idea of sociability. When we feel as though everyone is donating to these funds (when they say "over a million Americans donate daily," or things of that nature), we don't want to be the only one's not donating.  We have a drive to donate just because we hear that there are many other people donating. It's almost as if these commercials are peer pressuring us into donating to their particular fund.
Many aspects of the textbook can be seen in these emotion-provoking commercials.  They play off of the fact that human's levels of self-perceptions can change at the drop of a hat (Reeve, 279).  When we don't act on these donations, our mind often creates a negative affect from the guilt we experience, which leads us to feel bad about ourselves and could lower our self-esteem (Reeve, 266).  The main difficulty here, according to Reeve, is that raising self-esteem is motivational intervention.  Adversely, the lowering of self-esteem may also be a motivational intervention if you look at the effects that these commercials have on people.  Because these commercials have made people feel bad, it motivates them to donate their money in order to feel good again. Then, every time we donate money and get those good feelings, it reinforces that behavior so that the behavior continues.

There are many other aspects of psychology within these types of commercials. What are some other areas where psychology comes into play within advertisements? What about within the media in general? How do these things affect our everyday lives when we aren't even thinking about them?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/teen-abortion-high-school/story?id=10189694

This article was unreal to me when i read it. How could a high school let a student get an abortion in the first place and second without the mothers knowledge?!? The article states that the school and it's health clinic did not break any Washington laws, which was surprising to me also.  To me this is just teaching the students that their actions have no consequence and that if they have a problem they do not even have to discuss it with their parents. I do not know how the school could even possibly think this was okay. To me the health center at this school is just helping teens to do things without the consent of their parents.

What do you think about this article? Should the school have the right to let students get abortions, even without consent of a parent?

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/03/11/hundreds-of-students-rally-lawmakers-save-our-schools/

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100309/Activity-in-lateral-prefrontal-cortex-may-improve-emotion-regulation-in-day-to-day-life.aspx

 

I found this to be a rather interesting article. I think it directly relates to the material we studied in Chapter 3 (dealing with the emotional brain). One of the main reasons I found it interesting is because it seems to go against common sense, or at least against conventional wisdom. Many of us have undoubtedly heard others tell us not to go to bed angry, but this study suggests that "brain activity (specifically in the lateral prefrontal cortex) is a far better indicator of how someone will feel in the days following a fight with his or her partner." Generally those who had high activity in this area had a better mood than those who had low activity in this area. I believe what helps set this recent study apart is that it did not take place entirely in a laboratory, but also involved real situations/relationships. In other words, one can probably be more confident of its external validity.

 

In our textbook (starting on p. 61 in Chapter 3), Reeve writes about the relationship between the prefrontal cortex and affect. Here it mentions that, "the limbic system receives incoming sensory stimulation (that) activate rather automatic emotional reactions... stimulation of the cortex can generate emotional states." Reeve also makes the point that one must make a distinction between the left and right side of the prefrontal cortex because each is qualitatively different from the other. Reeve also makes reference to the Behavioral Inhibition System, which includes the two dimensions of personality, one of which is "how sensitive versus stable a person is to threats, punishments, and the experience of negative emotion (Reeve 2009, p.61)."

 

 I was actually rather impressed with the physiological measures used - researchers used an fMRI, recorded facial expressions, and tested cognitive skills. As I mentioned before, the researcher (Hooker) found that  the level of activity in their lateral prefrontal cortex may be a significant factor in predicting a person's experiences, ability to bounce back, etc.

 

The main reason why I chose this article and wanted to share it with others is because I am rather fascinated by the unconscious activity that takes place in the brain. As others probably have heard, there have been studies that suggest people actually have a tendency to make better decisions having slept on it - I think I heard about this in Social Psychology. I believe I also heard data that supports this in my BioPsychology course. While sleeping, our brain continues to process information. It's very interesting to think of the possibility that being angry while we go to sleep may actually help us better deal with our problems, confront them face on with our subconscious attention. This may be drifting a little bit from Motivation and Emotion, but I find it very interesting how I have often woken up with solutions to some of my problems that I had never thought of before - I believe my mental activity throughout the night has sometimes helped me come up with effective solutions.

 

In any case, this study  does provide insight and understanding into physiological activities, such as the activation of certain brain structures and subsequent impact on emotional states. For the reasons I have mentioned, I actually believe this type of research is very important and may lead to more effective interventions for people facing certain problems, such as depression.

 

The article ends with the following...

  

While Hooker acknowledges that more work must be done to develop clinical applications for the research, it may be that lateral prefrontal cortex function provides information about a person's vulnerability to develop mood problems after a stressful event. This raises the question as to whether increasing lateral prefrontal cortex function will improve emotion regulation capacity.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/04/day-of-action-update-rowd_n_486276.html

Earlier in the semester we talked about the brain and how certain hormones influence or are activated due to emotions. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and endorphins are just a few that have been shown to influence mood and emotion. What we did not go in detail about was the parts of the brain that make contribute to moods, emotions, and behaviors. I found an article that discuss' this very topic.
Arousal is a process that involves cortical, behavioral, and autonomic mechanisms (Reeve, 2009, p. 374) This article talks about the cortical (activity of the brain) part of being aroused and the emotional reactions that can evolve from being aroused. Reeve (2009) lists four principles to explain arousal's contribution to motivation. There are two that relate to the study explained below:
1) A person's arousal level is mostly a function of how stimulating the environment is.
2) People engage in behavior to increase or decrease their level of arousal.
A new study was done to test if the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) was a region of the brain that could help people control emotional reactions such as negative moods, rumination (not being able to get something off your mind), and substance abuse. After having several people in stable, healthy relationships journal daily and have brain scans done while viewing positive, negative, and neutral facial expressions of their partner, it was found that LPFC activity did predict how one would react to an interpersonal conflict. When there was a day of no interpersonal conflict, the LPFC activity was not related to the next day's mood or behavior. On the contrast, when there was a day when interpersonal conflict did occur LPFC did predict mood and behavior the next day. Low levels of LPFC activity was related for high levels of negative moods, rumination, and substance abuse.
This study is helpful when talking about coping with stress. To avoid bad coping strategies like over-eating or substance abuse, people can become aware and learn to introduce positive strategies such as counting to 10. If you are a person who has low LPFC function, it is possible you may become more susceptible to such behaviors.
Link:
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/03/03/howto-control-emotional-outbursts-in-front-of-yourpartner.html

I have always wondered why people lie, and today I had someone Facebook message me with a lie/rumor about someone I know. I know research says that everyone lies, even white lies count! And It is also stated that we learn to lie from a young age, yet when does this become a problem?

In this article Why Do People Lie? it mentions why people lie, what they lie about, and how to tell if someone is lying. It also talks about how it is easier to lie to a loved one, then someone they are just an acquaintance with. Now this didn't fit my situation, so I kept reading, and found this article Reasons People Lie had several reasons as to why people lie. One reason is to spare humiliation of ourselves or someone else. They used the example of telling someone that they did look good in a dress, when really they did not. Another reason is to be in good standing with friends or even to gain control. There is always the reason for a person to lie in order to avoid punishment, anger or fear, and some even lie to achieve recognition. Now I don't know if any of these reasons technically fit my situation, however they are quite interesting. I know that I have given some white lies in order to avoid hurting someone, however I do believe that the truth is better than any lie, but like it says above, everyone lies.

As I was thinking more about my situation, I feel like this person who lied is lacking in some social needs. According to our textbook it states that social needs arise and activate emotional and behavioral potential when need-satisfying incentives appear. Maybe its possible that in this particular social situation, their anger gave them incentive to behave by spreading lies, in hopes to change their current social situation, and thus to satisfy their social needs. In this case their social needs may include having power over the situation, or achievement. I feel like achievement would be a social need, because they are trying to achieve a certain role in their social atmosphere.

What are other reasons that people would lie? What are reasons that you have lied for in the past?

So I was thinking that lately I have been feeling a little frustrated, and getting angry at people that probably don't deserve it. Our textbook tells us that anger is an emotion that many people experience, and arises from restraint, betrayal of trust, being rebuffed, lack of consideration, etc. Anger is also a very passionate emotion, which is why it can come out in some dangerous and uncontrolled ways. So I decided to look up some ways that I could express my anger in a healthier way and share it with all of you. I found an article which provides some good tips which is called Healthy Ways to Deal with Anger and there was some pretty good tips, some I have known about and some that are new to me.

The first tip was to count to ten, and then act. I have been told this tip for as long as I can remember. I just remember being on the playground in elementary school, and seeing kids being pulled aside and being told to count to ten.

The next tips include:
2. Drop your shoulders and take a few breaths.
3. Pummel a pillow or have a scream in your room.
4. Channel your energy into exercise.
5. Distract yourself
6. Get creative (they mentioned writing out your feelings, or some other creative method to release your anger)

All of these tips were for short term anger, however they provided some tips for long term in the article as well.

1. Practice relaxation techniques, like yoga or pilates.
2. Keep talking, Keep listening. Confiding in friends is a really great tool in getting our your anger.
3. Learn how to be assertive, not aggressive.
4. Know yourself. It's important to know what will set you off, and what will cool you down.

I know that some of these tips will help me trigger my anger in a healthier direction, I hope that they will help you as well.

Is there any other techniques that you use to get out your anger? If so, how effective do you think they are?

 

IMAGINE: You are at Hy-Vee. You just got done working an all day shift at your job and it is 9:00 on a Friday night. When you got off work you had five missed calls from your friends and with each voicemail they left you can tell they were more drunk than the previous voicemail.  You stopped at Hy-Vee to pick up some beer (or your beverage of choice) and want to get to your friends house right away so you can join in the fun.  Instead of this being a quick trip in you are stuck behind a person who has what seems to be a million and one items. We have all been in this situation before. With no other lanes open and the self check out being closed what do you do? Do you roll your eyes in frustration and be aggravated that this person is taking forever? Or do you patiently wait thinking that if it was you with a million and one items you would want the person behind you to be nice and understand.

 

The difference between these two responses is the difference between type A and type B personality. Type B personality is the most common type. This is someone who appears to be calm and collected under stressful situations. When you think of this person you rarely associate them with yelling or outrageous behavior. Type A personality is someone who is exactly the opposite. That is the person that you don't want to be dealing with if you were in a car accident or waiting in line at Hy-Vee with a million items.

 

Below there is a link to a personality test that is designed for college students. If you have time I would try and predict which type of personality you are. On a scale from 35-380 pick a number that you feel would represent your personality type. Lower being more type B and higher being more Type A. (this is the scale range used in the questionnaire.) Then follow the link, take the questionnaire and see if you were right! Or you can just take the questionnaire! (Personally I like to guess and see how close I am...probably part of my personality!)

 

 

The following link is to a test which determines whether you are type A or type B

http://www.psych.uncc.edu/pagoolka/TypeA-B-intro.html

 

The following link is to the definition of type A and type B Personality:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/49520/the_type_a_personality_vs_the_type.html?cat=5

I found this interesting article about how religion can play a key role in your emotions. It sites where others have given religious approaches to emotion regulation such as envy, anger, pride and other potentially destructive emotions. It also explains that religion can also help with dealing with guilt and depression. I know that for some this can be a difficult topic to talk about, but I feel that religion can play a key role in your emotional well being. I have seen this first hand through several of my close friends. I have seen people go through some very difficult situations and they themselves can say that they would not have made it through if they didn't believe in something greater than themselves. And I am sure that many of you can attest to knowing someone in the same situation or you may have felt to same way at some point in your life.

The link is of a very long article but you can choose to go to the section on religion and emotion by clicking on a drop down menu
http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145024?amp;searchHistoryKey=%24{searchHistoryKey}&cookieSet=1#h7

Some people in the world around me have had friends of friends, or just friends experience some sort of dating violence recently. For me this is a really touchy subject and something that I care deeply about, and am still trying to learn more about as well. I am Vice-President of the student organization here at UNI called Students Against A Violent Environment (S.A.V.E.) and we strive to educate others on violence, including dating violence. Now, of course when these situations occur I know all the "right" things to say like "You should not stay in this relationship" "You need to leave the home/apartment" "Here are the hotlines you can call for help" "It will happen again" and the list seems to get longer. However, these phrases all seem so empty, since I don't fully understand reasons as to WHY a person would want to stay in an abusive relationship. So, I decided to look this up. I was looking for more research-based evidence, however, every article I wished to look at, the Rod Library did not have access to, and so I became frustrated. So, I went a different route and looked at advocacy websites, and others.  The one website I found to be the most clear is Advocacy Center: Domestic and Dating Violence.

This website not only reassured me that it was alright that I did not understand why a victim stays in an abusive relationship, it also went on to explain some reasons as to why victims stay. Fear is a motivator to stay because victims are so often threatened that they are scared to see what will happen when they do leave. This could not only be fear for themselves, but for others they care about such as children, family, pets, or friends. Victims could have low self-esteem due to various mind games and "put downs" for lack of a better term that would make the victims feel as though the abuse was actually their fault. Financial issues always arise, and the victims may depend on the abuser for income, and if the victim decide to leave, then the victim will fear they will not be able to support themselves. This fear of not being able to leave because of financial reasons escalates when there are children involved. The website makes a point to state that when chidlren are involved in the situation is different from an abusive environment without children.
The website continues to state that victims may believe that if they do what the abuser wants then they will be able to control the situation, or victims even hope the abuser will change themselves. It is also hard when victims do not have the support they need from friends or families, and don't know that help is available.
This website helped me to understand a little more about WHY a person would stay in an abusive relationship. However I would be interested in finding out more scientific based research. For instance, is there biological factor that plays a role, or is it purely psychological? Also, from an advocate standpoint, is their enough news, or advertisement on these issues?


So, being the advocate myself, I will add some links that are available here in our community for anyone who may be in an abusive relationship, or for those of you who may know someone who is and are wanting to help them get some assistance.

Seeds of Hope Iowa
http://www.seedsofhopeiowa.com/

UNI's Violence and Intervention Services
http://www.uni.edu/wellrec/wellness/sexualabuse/

I have talked to my younger cousin about off the wall text messaging that younger teens are spreading through text messages within her school.  She says everyone knows who you have a crush on, or if you are mad at a friend, and with everyone knowing those kind of things; uncalled words are being said and the texting is getting out of hand.  I read one of her text messages that someone said to her and it said "____ said that you are too skinny and you should eat lol"  Now for a young girl in middle school that could harm her self-esteem and feel as thought no one likes her, and the way she is isn't good enough, even though she is a beautiful petite young girl who is only in 7th garde. 

When watching T.V. the commercial of teens getting abused by other teens via text messaging comes up a lot, especially on MTV. When is it becoming too of athinline for young teens with their text messaging?  The website (athinline.org) helps teens cope with abused text messaging, such as sexting, constant messaging, spying, digital disprespect, and cruelty.  This website definitely is taking a step to help out teens who feel as though they can't say anything to anyone, because if they do they will be called a nark or taddle tail.

It's very alarming how many teens are getting abused or are doing the abuse over text messaging.  When I was in middle school I was'nt allowed a cell phone, unless I went to a movie and needed to call for my parents to pick me up.  Now a days all I see is young kids with cell phones in their hands walking in the mall or down the street.  It's no wonder why the text messaging abuse is becoming so popular. 

Athinline.org is definitely a big step for helping teens with this abusive problem via text messaging.  Pass it along to friends and family who you know that have been abused or are the abuser. 

My friend has been in a pretty turbulent relationship for the past year.  For the most part, I'm the "go-to" person when any of my friends have "life crises" - not because I'm perfect or have no problems, but because I'm someone who always answers, will put everything down to listen, and gives un-sugar-coated advice.  Recently, after a series of late-night phone calls and hysterical crying sessions, they have decided to break up.