Stress, Health, and Wellness

Stress, Health, and Wellness COL 103 Chapter 12 Professor Jackie Kroening 864-646-1430 864-646-1425 (PSY office) www.lifetour.com

Becoming Comfortable in a World of Diversity Race, Ethnicity, and Culture • Race – Traditionally, biologically determined physical characteristics that set one group apart from another • Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanic, Whites, Native American • Ethnicity – Shared national origins or cultural patterns • Puerto Ricans, Irish, Italian American, American Indian • Culture – The learned behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that are characteristic of an individual society or population and the products that people create

PREPARE Accepting Diversity as a Valued Part of Your Life ORGANIZE Exploring your won prejudices and stereotypes WORK Developing cultural competence EVALUATE Checking your progress in attaining cultural competence RETHINK Understanding how your own racial, ethic, and background affects others Building Cultural Competence

Prepare: Accepting Diversity as a Part of Your Life • Culture Competence – Knowledge of others’ customs, perspectives, background, and history • We tend to form relationships with others who are similar to us • Seeking out other people we: • Learn a great deal about life • New ways of thinking about family, relationships, and the value of education. • Grow as humans • Are challenged • Because of diversity in the work place, we learn diversity sensitivity will improve our work life.

Organize: Exploring your own Prejudices and Stereotypes • Prejudice • Evaluations or judgments of members of a group that are based primarily on membership in the group, and not on the particular characteristics of individuals • Stereotypes • Beliefs and expectations about members of a group that are held simply because of their membership in the group • (“women don’t drive as well as men” and “white men can’t jump” )

Exploring your own Prejudices and Stereotypes • Where does prejudice and stereotypes come from: • Parents and relatives • Organizations • Media • Peers • Try It 2, page 317 (10 min.) • Get into groups of 3 or 4 and discuss your answers to “Try It 2” (15 min.)

Work: Developing Cultural Competence • Exploring your own prejudices and stereotypes (First Step) • Study other cultures and customs • Travel • Don’t ignore people’s backgrounds • none of us is color blind • Impossible to be completely unaffected by people’s racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. • Don’t treat people as representatives of the groups to which they belong • Don’t make assumptions about who people are. (Try It 3 Page 318) 10 min. • Accept differences

Evaluate: Checking Your Progress in Attaining Cultural Competence • Do you make judgments about others based on external features • Who are your friends • Do you openly express positive values relating to diversity • Are you educating yourself about history of different cultures

Evaluate: Checking Your Progress in Attaining Cultural Competence • Do you give special treatment • Do you recognize all people have the same basic needs • Do you take to much pride in your own heritage that you look favorably on others • Can you understand life through others perspectives

Rethink: Understanding How Your Own Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Background Affects Others • All of us question ourselves about who we are and what we are about • Bridging the surface difference between you and others can result I n the development of close, lasting social ties

Making Friends • Invest time in others • Reveal yourself • Let others know you like them • Accept other as they are, not as you would like them to be • Show concern and caring • Not everyone makes a good friend

R-Word: Relationships • Trust • Honesty • Mutual support • Loyalty • Acceptance • Loyalty – implies that partners are supportive of each other, even in times of adversity and difficulty • Willingness to embrace change

Being a Good Listener • Stop talking • Demonstrated that you are listening • Use reflective feedback – listener rephrases what a speaker has said reflecting the meaning • Ask questions • Admit when your are distracted

Loneliness • Subjective state in which people do not experience the level of connection with others that they desire • Become involved in campus activities • Find a study partner • Know that you are not alone in your loneliness • Take advantage of orientation and first year social events • Take a job on campus • Loneliness is subjective and temorary

It is Not Just Talk • Subject is “I” and Not “You” • Statements that cast responses in terms of oneself and one’s individual interpretation • Avoid being judgmental • Try it 5 page 327 (10 min.)

A win-win proposition • Stop, look, and listen • Defuse the argument • Don’t get personal • Listen for the real message • Show that your are listening • Acknowledge you are angry • Ask for clarification • Be explicit • Life is not a zero-sum game (winners and losers)

Changing Relationships:Surviving Ending • Do something – anything • Accept that you feel bad • Talk to a friend or relative • Write about the relationship • Talk to a professional

Stress, Health, and Wellness