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Transcription
Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is discussed in the Psychology Spotlight episode. The concept of diversity rising is explained, highlighting the increasing presence and influence of minorities in society. The ABCs of psychology, which include prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes, are explored, emphasizing the negative impact they can have on individuals and society. A study shows that discrimination affects children as young as 7, leading to mental health issues. The importance of addressing discrimination and promoting acceptance is emphasized, as it impacts the future well-being of individuals and society. Psychology can help understand and address discrimination, leading to a healthier and more supportive environment for everyone. A wise man once said, ìIf you deliberately plan on being less than youíre capable of being, then I warn you that youíll be unhappy for the rest of your life.î Abraham Maslow could not be more than right. He is a person of interest on this episode of Psychology Spotlight. Abraham Maslow created Maslowís Hierarchy of Needs. The Pyramid is a theory of psychological health that starts at the basic needs and works its way up to a more advanced need. And that concludes our Psychologist Spotlight. Now, welcome to Beautiful Brains, an easy-to-listen podcast all about psychology. Iím Rebecca, a first-year psychology major at The Ohio State University, and Iíll be hosting this weekís episode. Iíll be talking about several different concepts of psychology, so buckle your seatbelts and get ready for a wonderful ride of learning. The concept of ìdiversity risesî is quite simple. It is exactly what itís called. As time has gone on, more and more minorities become less and less of a minority. Those groups are making absolute breakthroughs in social media, in the government, and in schools. Minorities will continue to grow in numbers as time goes on, just like it has been for many years now. Moving on to our second concept, the ABCs of psychology. This concept consists of three parts, prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes. Prejudice can be defined as biased feelings or attitudes about someone as a consequence of their perceived group membership. Discrimination is defined as differential behaviors you take towards someone because of their perceived group membership. And stereotypes can be defined as generalized beliefs about the attributes, characteristics, and behaviors of someone as a consequence of their perceived group membership. Now, youíre probably wondering, why am I learning about this, and what does this have to do with my life? Well, let me tell you. Every time you leave your house and walk along the street, or sit at work, or just be around people in general, you notice what some of them look like, right? You notice how there is not one single race. You notice that there are just so many people. Isnít it different from how America was years and years ago when the white population dominated in almost every aspect? That is the right of diversity in your everyday life. But, as you continue to look around, notice how your brain immediately jumps into certain prejudices you have against someone of races or genders. Notice how stereotypes flow through your brain without even trying. Scary, right? Especially when you arenít even trying to categorize people like that. Your brain automatically does all of that, and your second thought of correcting those stereotypes and prejudices is how you truly perceive those people. And thatís great that you can tell the bad thoughts from the good thoughts. Unfortunately, some people are plain discriminatory, and they are quite verbal with it, too. Iím sure all of you listeners have seen or heard at least one person be outright racist or sexist towards a black woman. And itís just disgusting. But, unfortunately, thatís part of the ABC of psychology. Discrimination against minorities targets all ages involved within the group. A study has recently concluded that children as young as 7 suffer effects of discrimination. The author of this particular article is J. D. Warren, while the study is conducted by Tessa Yates, a UC-Riverside psychology professor, and Anna Marcello, an assistant professor of psychology at Clark University. Throughout the study, 172 7-year-old children, half girls and half boys, were given a few questions to answer. All of the participating children were either Latino, black, or multi-ethnic racial. The children were given a definition of discrimination before asked questions regarding that definition. For example, a question that was asked was, ìHave you ever in your life experienced being unfairly treated by a teacher because of the color of your skin, your language or accent, or your culture or country of origin?î A year later, the same children received a definition of ethnicity and were explained that there were many ethnic groups in the U.S. After that, the children were asked to write statements such as, ìI understand pretty well what my ethnic background means to me.î Yates and Marcello took ERI into account. ERI is ethnic racial identity and it reflects the beliefs and attitudes that individuals have about their ethnic and racial groups. Yates and Marcello discover that, ìExperiences of discrimination have predicted increased internalized and externalized behavior problems, e.g., anxiety, depression, and oppositionality among children with below average ethnic racial identities.î To simplify this statement, young children struggle with their mental health because of the discrimination they face at such a young age and the discrimination they will continue to experience as growing adults. Discrimination is a horrible, horrible thing and it seriously affects kids, kids who are only 7 years old. All of you have seen or met a child before, maybe a sibling, maybe your friendís sibling, or maybe just some random kid you pass on the street. Either way, they are a kid. Kids are supposed to be full of optimism and happiness. Kids are our future. Those kids are our future workers, government officials, and teachers. These kids will be taking care of us when we are old and gray in a nursing home. If they suffer throughout their childhood and experience the absolute horrors of discrimination when they are innocent and young, they arenít going to turn out with proper self-esteem or strong and healthy mental health. How will they guide this world if all they know is hatred towards a group of people? This problem is your future. You need to care about the unjust discrimination towards groups of people. If you see something, say something. Step up. Teach your kids right. Encourage acceptance and love. It is your future on the line. Psychology is a study of the mind and behavior. As psychologists have done for countless years, they studied the brain and put it through tests, trying to fully understand it. If we can understand why people act the way they do and figure out how to contain the reactions, such as discrimination, we can really help the world. We can slowly get rid of discrimination and stereotypes and any other negative attitudes towards someone who looks or acts differently than you do. We can live in a healthy and supportive environment. We can embrace our ethnic background and we can live without fear of being mistreated because of our race. The world overall would be a much better place if we could all understand each other and understand that it's okay to look or speak or act differently than someone else. Hate crimes and depression could decrease if people aren't disrespected. We could change the world just by accepting that people are people no matter what. Well, that is all the time I have for today. Thank you so much for listening to Beautiful Brains. And remember, treat others the way you want to be treated.
