Final Project Case Study (PSY 210)

Final Project Case Study

1.      What are the causes of stress in Michael’s or Jennifer’s life? How is stress affecting Michael’s or Jennifer’s health?

The causes of stress in Jenifer’s life are a cluster of things. Not only is she feeling the

stress from not being able to see her boyfriend as often as she would like, she also has a one hour

commute to work every day. She is pressured to have a child that she wants but every day

stresses on a body can make it really hard to conceive or carry a child. Even though she is

organized at work, it can be a stressful thing to be so depended on. Her mother died only two

years ago, and her father needs 24-hour assistance that she cannot provide, so it has to be her

decision to have to put her father in the nursing home. With all the factors added in, she could be

having her headaches, backaches, and indigestion because of all her stress. Even though she tells

the doctor she is happy and not feeling stressed.

2.      How are these stressors impacting Michael’s or Jennifer’s self-concept and self-esteem?

The stressors can cause an impact on Jennifer’s self-esteem because after awhile of trying

to conceive a child, with getting no results, it can make a woman think that she is not able to

conceive. Tie in the fact that she has already been pregnant once and lost the baby would be even

more of a stressor. She would start having self doubts, and would question all the things

involving the conception of the child, like is he sterile, or is she. She would also worry about

things like if she does not conceive soon, will her husband still love her, and stay with her, or

does he want a child so bad that he would leave her for another woman that may be able to give

him the child he wants. The issue with having to put her father in a nursing home would also be a

stressor that would make her wonder about her self-concept. She might wonder if she is making

the right choice, or if she is a bad child for not being able to take care of her father the way he

took care of her when she was young.

3.      How might Michael’s or Jennifer’s situation illustrate adjustment? How might this situation become an opportunity for personal growth?

Well, Jennifer could use the time she would have from not having to take care of her

father to grow and adjust to the situations that have come about. She is adjusting to the death of

her mother without having to stop and take the time to allow herself to go through the

adjustments. She is able to understand at least that she is incapable of taking complete care of her

father and she is willing to get him to where he needs to be. The first thing I would recommend

to Jennifer would be that she needs to admit she is stressed and life is not as happy go lucky as

she makes it out to be. Adjustment for this situation would probably be a good idea if she was to

take a small vacation, not just alone time for herself, but she would need Antonio to be with her.

My recommendation would be that they spend time together and talk through some things.

4.      What defensive coping methods, is Michael or Jennifer using? What active coping methods might be healthier for Michael or Jennifer to use? Explain why you would recommend these methods.

Right now the only active coping method Jennifer is using is by telling everyone around

her that she is okay and everything is fine. Lying to the doctor is not going to help her situation

any because if the doctor does not know what is going on, he is unable to look at the whole

picture, and get a better diagnosis. It would be healthier if she were to actually deal with the

situations at hand and admit that she is stressed. Once she passes that stage, then she can move

onto the most pressing topic. Instead of trying to conceive a child right now, she should take

some time to herself and reflect on what has gone on in the last two years. She would do great to

meet a friend whom she would be able to talk about all this with. If having a job that has a one

hour commute one way gives her such problems, either her or her husband should think about

moving to where it would be easiest on the both of them, or find another job that would be closer

to home. It would make things a lot better on the whole situation.

5.      Select one theory of personality and use this theory to tell Michael or Jennifer how this theory explains his or her situation.

I think that Jennifer probably learned from her mother at an early age not to complain,

and keep pushing for tomorrow. I think the personality theory that fits here is classical

conditioning. Her mother is no longer around so the stresses that she is going through may be

hard to talk out with her husband because in her mind, she has no one who knows what she is

going through that she can relate with. Talking out her problems would be a great thing because

when a person talks their problems out, she would be able to move past the first bump and get on

to her life! She has been bottling up her emotions and with-out being able to talk then through

she is causing her body more damages than she is doing good because with her silence is causing

all the little things like stress headaches, indigestion, and backaches. Your stress can cause you to

become sick if it is a constant thing.

6.      In what stage of development is Michael or Jennifer and what factors about this stage might be impacting his or her perspective of this situation?

Without first admitting to the problem even exists then she is un-capable of moving on

from there. Once she admits she has problems, or stressors, then she would be able to at least get

the attention she needs towards her physical health. With her physical health being medicated,

she would be able to go to a doctor and work out her mental issues.  She could go to a

psychiatrist one on one, or maybe ask her husband to go to support her with a marriage doctor.

The possibilities are endless in the lines of helping her if she were to talk the issues through. She

might really think that she is fine and not understand that there is stress with everything she does.

Even the smallest thing like picking out what to wear to work can add stress to her. She is not

able to see that the stress is affecting her physically. If she could be an outsider to herself and see

all the issues that she deals with daily, that could help her to understand that she does have an

issue then she would be able to cope with the issue a little better.

7.      What relationship factors or considerations might be influencing Michael’s or Jennifer’s problems?

The relationship factor that would be influencing Jennifer’s problem the most is the time that

they do not get to spend together. It is harder to work things out if you are unable to at least see

each other. Like I said before a great way for them to re-connect would be some sort of small

vacation that they could spend time together on. With the problem of not being able to conceive

and carry, being a pressing one, her relationship is not going to get any better. The pressure to

have a baby, which her family is issuing and with her own self doubts, it is probably greatly

affecting her relationship. Having a baby can be stressful enough, not adding in the family

putting pressure on her, and being hard on herself, leave off that she is having a hard time

conceiving. Losing a child is hard, but to try and jump back into the same situation without, first,

having time to get over the first one, could cause more issues then she is prepared to take on at

the moment. The decision to put her father in a nursing home could make or break the

relationship. It really just depends on how Antonio also feels on the situation and what he would

like to do. If getting the father when he is more comfortable would help out their relationship,

then I would say it is a good idea. The first thing she needs to do is talk out her problems first. 

Exercise Conformity Response (Appendix E)

John is an 18-year-old freshman at New York University. John was the starting quarterback at his high school in a small town in Indiana. He enjoys playing sports and hanging out with friends. John has always been popular and done well in school and sports. Once he is comfortable in his surroundings he can be confident in what he is doing.

Donnie is an 18-year-old freshman from Chicago attending Iowa State. Donnie spends most of his time playing his guitar and writing music. In high school he had a few close friends but his attention was mainly focused on his studies and his music. He has little trouble expressing himself and enjoys doing so on stage while playing in his band. Donnie is determined to earn a degree and find a career in playing, writing, or producing music.

Response:

In 200 to 300 words provide an opinion on who would be more likely to be persuaded by peer pressures such as drinking, drug use, skipping class, and other irresponsible behavior in a new city. Then, provide your reasoning on why you chose either John or Donnie as more likely to conform to his new social situation. Reference the factors that influence persuasion and conformity discussed in your text.

Either one are really accessible to caving into peer pressures such as drinking, drug use, skipping class, and other irresponsible behavior in a new city.  You would think that Donnie would be the more responsible one of the two because he is (what would seem as) more determined. John, who is a football player, would be the most likely candidate out of the two, though. Even though it may be a stereotype, John is a football player, and he’s part of the popular crowd. The popular crowds in college consist of the fraternities and sororities, which also are known for their partying.   If John is a typical “jock”, then I would say he is probably in one of these fraternities, and he is more likely to cave then Donnie, who would probably be in general housing, and have a quieter dorm. Donnie has a goal and is determined so in the end he is more likely to with-hold on peer pressure, unlike John, who would probably cave into peer pressure way faster. Just because Donnie is in a quieter dorm does not automatically mean he would be less likely to fall into peer pressure, I just think that fraternity and sorority houses are more of a “party zone” then the regular housing. It seems as if regular housing would be a lot quieter. I’ll bet that Donnie would value his schoolwork more because he does have a goal and is determined to accomplish it. That alone would deter the falling to peer pressures. 

CheckPoint Sternberg’s Theory of Love Appendix G

Appendix G

According to Sternberg, a person can experience eight general types of love. In the following table, a type of love as identified by Sternberg is in the left column. In the center column, write the combination of components that type of love demonstrates (intimacy, passion, or commitment). In the right column, fill in the characteristics for the corresponding type of love.

Type of Love	Components	Characteristics
Non Love	No components are in this choice.	Completely absent of all three components of love, passion, intimacy, and commitment.
Liking	Intimacy alone. With no passion.	Two people physically and emotionally attracted with no commitment
Infatuation	Passion alone	Obsessive love on first site, without commitment or intimacy
Empty Love	Commitment alone	Commitment to remain together without passion or intimacy.
Romantic Love	Passion and intimacy	There is no relationship involved in this kind of love.
Companionate Love	Intimacy, commitment	A long term relationship without passion. Like a marriage.
Fatuous Love	Passion,  commitment	Commitment based on passion. Such as a whirlwind courtship.
Consummate Love	Intimacy, passion, and commitment.	A complete combination of the perfect love.

CheckPoint Skills Assessment Activity

Will You Be a Hit or a Miss?

The Expectancy for Success Scale

Life is filled with opportunities and obstacles. What happens when you are faced with a difficult challenge? Do you rise to meet it, or do you back off? Social-cognitive theorists note that our self-efficacy expectancies influence our behavior. When we believe that we are capable of succeeding through our own efforts, we marshal our resources and apply ourselves.

The following scale, created by Fibel and Hale (1978), can give you insight as to whether you believe that your own efforts are likely to meet with success. You can compare your own expectancies for success with those of other undergraduates taking psychology courses by turning to the scoring key at the end of the chapter.

Directions: Indicate the degree to which each item applies to you by circling the appropriate number, according to this key:

1_Highly improbable

2_Improbable

3_Equally improbable and probable, not sure

4_Probable

5_Highly probable

In The Future I Expect That I Will:

1. Find that people don’t seem to understand what I’m trying to say: 4-Probable

2. Be discouraged about my ability to gain the respect of others:  3-Not sure

3. Be a good parent: 1-Highly improbable

4. Be unable to accomplish my goals: 2-Improbable

5. Have a stressful marital relationship: 5-Highly probable

6. Deal poorly with emergency situations 5-Highly probable

7. Find my efforts to change situations I don’t like are ineffective: 4-Probable

8. Not be very good at learning new skills: 1-Highly Improbable

9. Carry through my responsibilities successfully: 5-Highly probable

10. Discover that the good in life outweighs the bad: 3-Not sure

11. Handle unexpected problems successfully: 4-Proabable

12. Get the promotions I deserve: 3-Not sure

13. Succeed in the projects I undertake: 4-Probable

14. Not make any significant contributions to society: 1-Highly Improbable

15. Discover that my life is not getting much better: 2-Improbable

16. Be listened to when I speak: 5-High Probable

17. Discover that my plans don’t work out too well: 3-Not sure

18. Find that no matter how hard I try, things just don’t turn out the way I would like: 3-Not sure

19. Handle myself well in whatever situation I’m in: 4-Probable

20. Be able to solve my own problems: 4-Probable

21. Succeed at most things I try: 5-Highly Probable

22. Be successful in my endeavors in the long run: 5-Highly Probable

23. Be very successful working out my personal life: 5-Highly Probable

24. Experience many failures in my life: 5-Highly Probable

25. Make a good first impression on people I meet for the first time: 4-Proabable

26. Attain the career goals I have set for myself: 4-Probable

27. Have difficulty dealing with my superiors: 2-Improbable

28. Have problems working with others: 3-Not sure

29. Be a good judge of what it takes to get ahead: 4-Probable

30. Achieve recognition in my profession: 3-Not sure

Note: Reprinted with permission from Fibel and Hale (1978), p. 931.

I cannot honestly say that I think this test helped determine if a person would really be a success or not. These tests potential benefits are good to give an idea about the persons want or drive to reach the goal they want or not, but not actually determine the outcome of that person’s ability to succeed or not.  When a person creates a test, they use a generalization of questions to test people with. They could be great when giving a test that may be good at helping the person decide what they want to be like an aptitude test. Those tests are pretty valid. They help you get a general idea of what you might be interested in. There are test out there that jobs require you to take before you are hired, like Wal-Mart or even Home Depot. These tests are supposed to help determine if you are a honest, hard-working person, or if you might not work out. The test given at Home Depot has a math section in it to see if you are good with numbers or not. Some people are just not so good at taking tests, so they might freeze up when they take a test and fail it even thought they could be the best person for the job.  I would not consider any test like this valid for that reason. That would also be one of the drawbacks that the test provides.

CheckPoint Research Methods Appendix B

Week 1 Day 5 Axia College Material

Appendix B

Complete the following chart. The first column shows the name of a research method used in psychology. In the second column, write a brief description of that research method. In the third column, provide a situation when this method could be applied.

Research Method	Description	Application
Scientific method	This is an organized way that scientists use to test ideas and test out theories.	Any type of research would be a good situation for this method.
Case study method	A method of research based on a carefully drawn biography.	I would think a situation this would go with is maybe an aptitude test, of any type of tests that would find out all about a person.
Survey method	Basically, gathering information.	I could go door to door, and have a questionnaire that I would ask people. Or maybe a NHSLS survey?
Naturalistic observation method	Observing people in their natural habitats.	I do this daily already. Sit back and watch people in their environment.
Correlation method	A scientific way to study the relationship between two variables.	I think this is more of a number. I think a situation this could be applied is when two things like stress and health.
Experimental method	to determine cause-and-effect relationships	Testing any type of hypothesis would be a great example in this situation.