Influence of culture on emotions and communication styles

Influence of culture on emotions and communication styles This paper explores the possibility and the extent of cultures influence on the communication process and styles. Communication is the process through which individuals share ideas and information. Its effectiveness is gauged on the level of understanding by the receiver. Such sharing of ideas and information may be explicit/precise or requiring the receiver to infer/deduce the meaning from the not conclusive message that is passed. The parties communicating, in this case, are human beings with diverse cultural and emotions orientations which act to influence the perceived outcome in the message exchange between such parties. The co-existing factor leads to more complex element of culture (Kapoor, 2003). Culture is simply the way of life of a given people. It will refer to the values, norms and basically the foundation on which a group of people base their reasoning and pluralism on. Cultural values have varying extents of meaning across the various cultural divides. Some divides hav e much emphasis on the values as presented by culture than others. Longitudinally, individuals, within a cultural divide, value their cultural aspects with varying degrees. In considering the possible influence on communication it is important to also consider the constituents of and individual. Emotions can be defined as the textual expressions representing the writes mood and the facial expression. Emotions can alter or improve an interpretation of a plain text. The development of various sets of emotions may vary across cultures and individuals. The evoking of the emotions is largely dependent on a persons personality , which is the sets of characteristic that differentiate a person from the other .An individual will emotionally respond to similar information differently depending on the sender of such information. Emotions being internal can be regulated by an individual in determining the extent that they will be released. Abstract Researches indicate that culture has an influence on the way individuals exchange information and ideas and indeed the way such ideas are interpreted. The definition of communication by including more than one individual depicts a cultural aspect. The involvement of an individual as an entity capable of making an inference from what information has been relayed can as well not be overlooked. There is also a possibility of prior determination of what is to be understood by the hearer. Communication can as well be either direct or indirect, from the second dimension. There is a general idea that Asians are collectivists with the Europeans and Americans being individualists. Researches indicate that people with values at individual-level close to the norms in the culture are happier than those with values less normative. Discussion and Literature review A culture is constituted by, among other elements, individuals. In dissecting the culture, it is indispensable to first consider the individuals and then look at them in the cultural context. Culture entails of those patterns, implicit and explicit, for and of behavior usually acquired and then transmitted by symbols, encompassing the distinctive attainment of human groups, comprising human artifacts, ideas, values and norms that bides (Brown Singelis, 1995). Psychology presents a human being as an entity that can influence and be influenced by the environment. The environment, for purposes of this paper, will be composed of people in the societal setup. As individuals co-exist, they influence each other and develop a boundary that guides them in their relationships. In relating, each individual will first display the self and will probably be influenced by the environment to have a collective representation in the said relationships. Two concepts come into the limelight here; the individualism and the collectivism. Individualism is the expression of someones self. An individuals self will attempts to protect itself from societal intrusion. Individualists reason as entities and explicitly express their ideas to others as well as insist that such ideas be taken as truth. Collectivism is the group context that an individual associates with. A collectivist will, before passing/inferring any information consider the societal values/say in suc h a matter. Such a person will communicate ideas guided by the cultural setting. In both cases, emotions will still exist. The concept of self across cultures Self concept is an essential mediator in cultural behavior patterns. This notion gives room for a more specific role of self in regulation of preference for conversational styles. The self might be linked to some communication styles such as collectivism and individualism that has previously been associated to culture. Subsequent to this, the broad terms of individualism and collectiveness may be used for cultural description while idiocentric and allocentric characterize individuals. The two images describing the self emphasize the connectedness referred to as interdependence relationship and the uniqueness and separateness of individuals referred to as independence of self. This draws the conclusion that the more individualistic a culture is, the higher the probability of sampling the independent self. Similarly, in collectivistic culture, there is a likelihood of people sampling a more interdependent self. Dependence and interdependence of the self determines the behavior characte ristics of an individual (Neumann, Steinhà ¤user Roeder, 2009). It is important to note that culture is a composition of similarities in individuals behavior and as such, a collection of individuals affecting communication style in a similar way indicates a cultural influence on communication. The definition of culture and that of individuals is related in the sense that an individual is a subset of a culture. An individuals characteristics can only be defined in the context of the culture. It is the sum total of a cultures characteristics that creates boundaries within which the concepts of good and bad can be outlined. For example, a culture may have a regard for openness in communication. Individuals who exert silence in conversations appear to exhibit vices in such cultural context. Emotions in the individualistic and collectivist contexts Culture has direct influence towards emotional predictions based on the meanings as well as practices that contexts their occurrence (Mesquita, 2001). His sample included individualists and collectivist in Netherlands. Among the collectivists, emotions were characterized as relational and also contextualized in the phenomena whereas among the individualists, it was characterized as intrapersonal and subjective. His co-relational and procedural study identified some major differences including the interpretation that emotions signals a change of reality among the collectivists as compared to internal, subjective feeling and indeed a little or no implication for belief among the individualists. The findings of the study revealed a concurrence with the hypothesis, that collectivists emotions related to the phenomenon and could only be explained within the contextual relationships and were also a reflection of the said relationships. On the contrary, individualists emotions referred less to their contextual social environment. The research findings further revealed that among the collectivists emotions are shaped in a style similar to ideas as well as practices of the cultural settings of occurrence but underlining the disparity of oneself and others/society among the individualists. Furthermore, the boundaries that exist between subjectivity of emotional experiences and the social reality were found to be thinner in collectivism than in individualism cultures. In communicating with individuals, it becomes necessary to first identify what kind of orientation, whether individualism or collectivism, that they hold. As drawn from the articles findings, this indeed seems to limit the sender of the information to the kind of information that can be received. The idea of collectivism builds a wall inhibiting communication in two ways. First, the sender of information is guided entirely by what has been inculcated by the culture. The assumption in such a person is that the contextual culture is ideally good. There will however be the limitation of the social coverage that the said culture be good or perhaps acceptable. As such, the question of what in the information may be compromised to fit in that particular cultural orientation. Subsequently, collectivism dictates that the two parties involved in a meaningful conversation be culturally related. Second, the receiver of the information is not at an individual liberty to interpret the information so received (Neumann et al, 2009). One has to go back to the cultural files so as to infer the meaning. In both the cases, culture dictates the emotions that individuals develop from information stimuli. It is important to appreciate that though culture is a valuable asset in the global society and indeed the diversity that brings in beauty and indeed minimize global competition; the world is increasingly becoming a global village. Individuals will no longer be restricted to their original interpretation of signs and ideas. Emotions should not be expressed in the cultural contexts only but also on an individual basis. Indeed the possibility of inhibiting both elements in emotional expression should be every persons efforts. Once information is relayed, an individual should try to have and individual interpretation as well as be informed of the collective interpretation depending on the sender of the information. Either way, the need for a background on the sender and the receiver should be availed to the respective parties. Expression of a set of emotional elements once information or idea has been received is a critical issue in understanding an individual whether from the individua lism or collectivism orientation. Almost all emotions are extremely meaningful for purposes of capturing the global thematic features in a situation. These features commonly referred to as appraisals assist in simplification of the complex social situations by reconstituting that complexity into a single strain intrinsically meaningful in the context of the person experiencing them. For example, emotions like pride, anger, guilt and friendly feeling all reflect a significant theme that goes beyond the mere positive or negative evaluations. The themes give a description of individuals perception to their relationship with the surrounding environment. As such, friendly feelings and pride that are positive might be associated with social harmony and personal achievement which are definitely different themes. Findings and Discussion Influence of culture on emotion suppression As aforementioned, individuals exist in societal setups that have capabilities of influencing the way such individuals express or fail to express emotional signs. The concept of emotional suppression is the failure to display ones interpretational responses of information received or limiting the extent of the expression done. According to Butler et al, (2007), Americans of European values orientation would report less emotion suppression than would Americans who held Asian values and that those holding European values would only suppress their emotions for identity protection. The later would associate emotional suppression with high levels of emotional negativity. As such, European values seemed to hold that an individual could only give up the self expression of emotions unhappily. They identified two major barriers in understanding emotional responses in social interactions as self regulating efforts and the culture. Self regulating efforts can be interpreted to mean that an indi vidual applied personal efforts to fail to or limit the emotional expression. Such would be a false expression of the reality within an individual though it would propagate communication flow. The positive that could be associated with the self regulating efforts is that there is liberty of an individual to distinguish which issues to apply emotional suppression. Whether this is ideally acceptable or not, the effectiveness of communication which is between the two parties can be evaluated. This research further narrowed down to two specific issues namely emotion suppression and two groups of participant who were Americans whose cultural orientation was either Asian or European. Existing literature suggested that emotional suppression may be less linked to negative emotion among the Asian cultures in comparison to European culture, whose emotional suppression, also displayed as a safeguarding of the self and an assertion of ones will (Kapoor, 2003). The findings of this research showed that cultural orientations tend predict the differences in frequency and the function of emotional suppression as well as the negative emotion related to it. As drawn the findings, emotional suppression was also found to be a reduction of emotional disclosure. The generalization of these findings may pose a challenge since the sample taken had a similar foundation of culture. Nevertheless, some sectional components of the findings were varied. While communicating, the expression of the receivers emotional expression is dependent on the societal values that the individual holds (Nezlek, Kafetsios Smith, 2008). Much as an individual would want to express the emotional expressions as experienced during a communication, there will always be the element of what the relationship existing between the parties communicating entails. For example, in the smallest element of culture that can either exist between immediate family, members must carefully consider their emotional expressions in efforts to maintain harmony. It is possible that a message passed is not delivered yet there is harmony between people but is ultimately not possible to relay a negative, as perceived by the group, emotional expression and maintain cohesiveness. The ability to balance between regulations of emotional responses and maintain the need for the real self in responding to information relayed would be an ideal venture for every individual. Such a balance would ensure that communication is made effective without losing ones self. Furthermore, emotional responses must be duly regarded useful in the process of communication since they offer the required feedback. Effects of individualism and collectivism on conversational styles Individualism and collectivism dimensions of culture are founded on some varying fundamental issues that may affect the way people communicate. A research conducted sought to come up with a mediation model in attempting to spell out the manner in which culture do influence the communication style from a sample of nine hundred and seventy two individuals across four cultural backgrounds of America, Japan, Korea and Hawaii. According to Park. Kim (2008), that individuals can differ with both independent and the interdependent distinctiveness. The intention was to establish if self-construals were aspects of culture that accounted for the alleged usefulness of conversational constraints. In so doing, its easier to trace possibilities of a linkage between culture and the individual values of either independence or interdependence construals of the self. These conversational constraints are the wide-ranging as well as overarching criteria for selecting a conversational strategy and which influence the construction of a message. In their research they identified a gap where culture is broadly expressed into individualism and collectivism as two contrasting aspects and never as a dimension for explaining why people vary. The research revealed that there is extensive use of interaction strategies intended to provide a protection from the societies influence of the selfs autonomy. Individuals across cultural divides seem to have a thirst for a certain level of independence. Though the degree of independence may also vary, this demonstrates the diminishing trend of culture in communication. The selfs autonomy could only be hindered by the harmonization element that is required in the society. With the continued social civilization, a time may come when individuals will co-exist without necessarily agreeing. This does not at all eliminate the need for communication but emphasizes on the diminishing level of concurrence, between the sender and the receiver in communication, which is usually deemed to be necessary for cultural coexistence. According to Brown Singelis (1995), cultural collectivism compared to individualism tends to be positively associated with the apparent interdependence, but usually unconstructively related to independence. Consistency of culture and the self -concept: Asian Americans and European Americans Contexts According to Chen English (2007), consistency in cultural differences within and across different contexts demonstrates robustness as well as boundaries that exist in cultural differences in the consistency of self-concept, and also the need for examining several forms of stability in self-concept. The hypothesis was that the cultural variances in consistency of self-concept extended to importance of self-view and the self-enhancement. The researches proposed that a low consistence, as aforementioned, do not necessarily indicate insufficient enduring and meaningful self-view but instead a possibility of it coexisting with the firm. Of the two categories of participants, temporal stability among the Asian Americans ratings of self enhancement within the specific relationships was found to be as high as that of the European Americans. The researchers yielded to other researches suggesting that human beings display a certain degree of manipulability and irregularity in their self conce pt across contexts but Asians hold more flexible self concepts (Kitayama Mesquita, 2006). The conclusion was that Asians particularly from the East has a relatively low consistence in their self concept globally which reduces abstractness. In fact, referring to the multifaceted research carried out by Brown Singelis (1995), its clear that development of self-construal is greatly influenced by complex cultures. As drawn from findings, individual dimensions do not necessarily match with the perceived cultural levels. Self-contractual and cultural collectivism is affected by the prevailing socialization norms, practices and institutions where individual separateness is accounted for. During socialization of a child, collectivist mothers tend to encourage empathy and listening in their kids, while under individualists mothers, kids are taught keys words and self-expression skills crucial in promoting cognitive development, problem solving capacity and the perceived autonomy in building friendships. High and low contextualization in communication High contextualization in communication refers to a scenario where much of the information is thought to be internalized in a person or in the physical context. Message is inferred from the context. The parties communicating are thought to be familiar with each others physical context as well as the internal perception of ideas and information being passed. Low context communication refers to the explicit, explanatory and clear use of the accepted codes to pass information. Park and Kim had interest in studying relationships that existed between adherence to European as well as the American cultural backgrounds to communication in Asia. They had the notion that Asian cultures utilize a high context communication as advanced in the 2001s Gudykunt concept of both high and low contexts in communication. A high context communication among the Asians is associated with Confucianism that emphasizes on communication as a tool towards developing harmony as well as maintaining it in interpers onal relationships. Asian values seemed to mediate the identified relationships between collectiveness, which is the solidarity sense in a society, and communication behavior. On the other hand, individualistic values were said to be related to low communication that focuses on uniqueness of an individual and hence use of explicit codes in passing a message (Kapoor, 2003). Indeed, Asians were found to harbor more recognition to collectiveness, emotional self control and conformity to norms as well as humility. The researchers examined three hypotheses, among two hundred, and ten Asian America and hundred and thirty six European America, as follows. First, for both Asian and European Americans, the open and explicit styles of communication were to fit with the low context style of communication. Second, the Asian Americas were to display less use of low context style of communication and instead use high context than the European Americans (Chua et al, 2005). Finally, for both samples taken, and with the element of sex and race, the hypothesis was that high level adherence to Confucius would positively relate to high context while negatively relating to low context styles of communication. The findings were that contrary to the hypothesis, collectiveness was found among the European Americans and the conclusion was that perhaps European Americans belong ed to in-groups that valued assertiveness and self expression. Intentionality in communication Intentionality is the indication of aims, plans, goals and urgency guiding the actions intended to be followed by an individual. Cultural variations may be founded on the societal structure. Such structures may require that individuals actions closely coordinates with those of the other members of society as well as reducing social conflict. Others may motivate setting of ones plans and goals. In contrast, the first structure calls for individuals sensitivity to the environment while the later expects that the environment is sensitive to the individuals. Intentionality is determined by the different perceptions of primary and the secondary controls inhibited within individuals. Primary control provides for the individuals exercise of freedom and control over a persons psychology (Kapoor, 2003). Secondary control implies the inability to separate an object or idea from the field in context. Subsequent to this issue, motivation is in independence to autonomy in thinking for those under influence of primary control whilst guiding those under secondary control. The emphasis of emotions is more on those in secondary controls as such; these groups of individuals associate the tone in the voice during conversation in inferring the meaning. Self determinism in communication Self determinism is the theory asserting that individuals have an entire control of their destiny. Personal responsibility is therefore the key to influencing what is and would happen in the future. The process of communication involves inferring of information whether sent or received. As such, an individual has a responsibility in determining the meaning. Culture must not be taken to cover-up a persons irresponsibility in making sound inferences in the conversations. The influence of culture in communication must be subjected to individuals efforts to control meaning. The search for the reality is a personal responsibility and which is dependent on a persons need to not only coexist with others but also to develop as an individual. Furthermore, the amount of time available in corporate world equates with money. In corporate world, individuals communicating disrespectful of their cultural background are likely to use a more direct, explicit and a clear style of communication. This i s meant to improve time efficiency and save energy. Clear evidence that the world is tending towards direct style of communication is indicated by the use of interpreters when communicating to various parties with diverse cross-cultural backgrounds (Chen English, 2007). In order to effectively identify with such parties culture there is need to hold cultural harmonization forums first. Social status of the communicating parties Power relationship between the communicating parties is also a variable that influences communication. When conducting supervisory roles, communication is usually more direct especially in conflict management than it is among subordinates. The later would use non-confrontational / indirect communication. These two aspects of communication indicate that individuals consider the context within which they are communicating. Whether among the individualists or collectivists, the said aspects appeared to prevail. Though there is no direct relationship between power and culture, the two interacts in the real word. Relationships usually exist between two people who are not at per. Two subordinates though at the same social level are at different levels in terms of who knows more in particular issue concerning the organization. The subordinate who knows more of issue A assumes the role of the more powerful in that issue (Yoon et al, 1996). Respect which is associated with culture since it is an element/value geared towards bringing harmony also exists between people of different power levels. There is also some degree of respect that is shown by an individual who is depending on the other. All these scenarios depict a resultant communication style which is culturally based (Butler et al, 2007). Convergence and divergence in communication Divergence in communication is the disagreement that arises from the receiver of a message between the actual message as per his/her interpretation and the reported interpretation. In conflicting situations, expatriates and their host nations diverge in communication, not only because of the obvious typecast cultures but also by alterations of responses accordingly though the motives vary. Power -distance perspective is the most valid explanation in this phenomenon. Convergence element is strongly displayed by the superior condition of the East whereby direct-indirect peculiarity is diluted by the expatriates who alter their approach to conflict (Brown Singelis, 1995). This is, in both groups, a reaction to urgency. The clarity of communication and the diminished sensitivity to the face needs as compared to the obtuse communication, and the honoring face needs has increasingly acquired more value in situations where time is essence. On the other hand, the abstractness of direct comm unication is assuming a more diplomatic path which serves the needs of a global workplace especially in dealing with a collectivist Asian (Nezlek et al, 2008). Moreover, agreeing to norms does serve and indeed promote a harmonious and mutually respectful workplace. General comments on methodologies and samples Culture as a variable influencing communication cannot be numerically expressed. In general, the methodologies used captured data from the participants and were later generalized to be a representation of a non definite issue. The studies therefore were more of measures of intent behavior instead of the actual behavior patterns. Approximately eighty percent of the sampled participants did not have the Asians collectivism cultural orientation. The participants were tested whether they believed in such an orientation. This definitely affected the consistency of the idea flow from the participants. It appears that the participants were aware of the data that they were supposed to generate. Moreover the samples were too small to correctly constitute a generalization. In a culture based study, the sample should be big and wide in terms of occupation and age composition. As such, the data would be collected not only from the students, as it is the case, but from the wider population. Cultu ral differences are likely to be less pronounced amongst students than it is in other groups (Chua et al, 2005). How negatively or positively skew the data did not get the desired attention that such a data should have. Deductions on such non-vector subjects should be majorly based on the Skewedness and not on mere cross-correlations. The overreliance on previous researches in coming up with deductions is also evident in determining the relationship of emotions and culture on communication. The propagation element increases the error that is supposed to be as minimal as possible. The errors accumulated are loaded onto a new study meaning that from the onset, the study is adversely affected by previous errors. The ideal scenario would have been to carry out the coincidental researches at a reasonably close interval of not more than a year to increase the validity. However the researchers attempts hold a substantial validity which provides a basis for future research and which are currently useful with low error prevalence. Synopsis In conclusion, the aforementioned discussion displays a relationship between emotions, culture and the communication style adopted by individuals. The general consensus is that human beings exhibit, from theories of creation, a common origin. They are also social beings that cannot escape the influence of others in their social life. Although there is evidence of strains of individuals whose energy protect them from influence from others, there is a limit that such a characteristic can endure. For example, individuals against some national ideas will however concur with the wishes of their families or their closest friends. According to Brown Singelis (1995), when relevant intermediate values are considered whilst analyzing communication and culture, the diversity across culture and be justified. These two authors consider the direct effect that culture has on an individual behavior and resulting communication patterns. In fact, culture is seen to influence the psychological make-up of an individual thus affecting the communication behavior exhibited by the person. Even if the said friends are supporting the negation of the national idea, it still remains that those close friends constitute a society and as such a culture. Moreover, when construction of both the society and individual correspond, individuals are more likely to have a more involvement in the society and hence be more affectively involved (Chua et al, 2005). It is important to note that due to the dynamic nature of the communication interactions, intercultural communication standards can be achieved only if the communicating parties mindfully adjust their behavior in communication. As drawn from findings, individual dimensions do not necessarily match with the perceived cultural levels. Self-contractual and cultural collectivism is affected by the prevailing socialization norms, practices and institutions where individual separateness is accounted for. During socialization of a child, collectivist mothers tend to encourage empathy and listening in their kids, while under individualists mothers, kids are taught keys words and self-expression skills crucial in promoting cognitive development, problem solving capacity and the perceived autonomy in building friendships. Prior research which basically encouraged on orthogonal tests on groups in deriving cultural comparisons, tend to effectively open a wider scope in culture study by perhaps encouraging potential researchers in contributing to the elaboration on the correlation that cultural. Recommendations In efforts to achieving better deductions, any cultural and self reacted studies ought to be carried in the very cultural context of the participants. When dealing with the collectivist individuals, it will be better to determine their strength in their cultural orientation. This will perhaps facilitate relations and effective workplace culture which act to boots performance level from team levels tickling down to the entire organization. When conducting such cultural tests or cross-sectional research, attention ought to be laid on the perceived impact that preceding findings would have on the conclusion derived. The as

Evaluation of a set of three health-related websites

In this paper, we evaluate a set of three medical related websites namely www.nln.org for the National league of Nursing, www.nursingworld.org for the American Nursing Association, www.ama-assn.org for the American Medical Association and the https://www.ncsbn.org/ for the National Council for State boards in Nursing. We also evaluate an Archives resource site namely http://thomas.loc.gov or the Thomas, the website of the Library of Congress of the United States of America.Prior to presenting the evaluation we briefly describe each website: the purpose of these sites and their current set-up. We then go into the evaluation proper where we analyze the overall content, style and functionality of each site. In the overall content of the websites the quality of the information being presented and the comprehensiveness of the information is assessed. Moreover, how current the information located in the websites and where they were derived or from what authority this information was derive d is also assessed. Lastly, in evaluating the style and functionality of the sites we take into consideration the layout or the manner content is presented within the sites, ease in navigating the sites, its compatibility with respect to various browsers, information space with respect to advertising pages, and the speed upon which it is accessed through the internet.The first of the sites to be evaluated is www.nursingworld.org, the official website of the American Nursing Association (ANA). Briefly, ‘ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses (RNs) (About the American Nurses association, http://www.nursingworld.org/about/)’ that advances nursing through imbibing high standards, promoting the economic welfare in their workplace and by proactively lobbying governmental agencies on issues affecting them.For the overall content, the website contains comprehensive and relevant information supportive of the purpose of ANA mentioned previously. The site has sections on information and services, newsroom and nursing issues/programs that sustain continuous support for promoting high standards in the nursing practice. It also has a section for showing their advocacies and initiatives for nurses’ general welfare, with sub-sections directing users to view publications relevant to nurses in the United States. As for the currency of the documents, the documents are up to date with uploaded documents as latest as January 11, 2007 (‘Press releases from the American Nurses Association†, http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/). As for the authority of the documents published, the documents that are published have their corresponding sources accompanying them. All these information are presented in a notably clear and concise fashion.For the style and functionality of the website, the overall layout is easily understandable. The site can be easily navigated and the information is clearly sorted out for easy access, even though the site carries a lot of information it is surprisingly accessible. On the other hand, the address of the site (www.nursingworld.org) is a bit misleading if you were to guess what would be the site of ANA and a name as www.ana.org or www.americannursingassociation.org may have been the better URL. The use of images instead of flash movies may have the decreased the site’s overall aesthetic impact to the user but without the use of flash movies, the site can then be easily accessible from any computer with varying internet speed with information prompting fast. Lastly for the evaluation of the www.nursingworld.org, the information relative to the advertisements, they are separated clearly in order to reduce the clutter and make browsing easier.The second site is www.ama-assn.org or the American Medical Association (AMA). AMA ‘helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important profes sional and public health issues’ (‘The AMA mission’, http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1815.html). Although it is similar to the initiatives and programs of ANA, AMA has a wider market as it focuses on the entire medical profession.For the overall content of the site, it has similarities as that of the ANA site, with additions of ‘professional resources section’ for medical practitioners and ‘med school & residency site‘ for medical students. Most of the information is up to date except for the annual report is only has the 2005 annual report. In addition, the site’s information is taken from credible sources, which are also accessible in the site.  As for the overall layout of the site, the vast information is batched together in a clear and easily understandable manner such that users can browse through the site easily. The site utilizes flash movies that make the site more appealing and further imbibes to the users the vision and mission of AMA. Apart from what was mentioned above, there are however no significant or innovative means of presenting data seen from the ANA and the AMA site.The third website is www.nln.org which is the site for the National League for Nursing (NLN). The purpose of NLN is similar to that of ANA but is slightly varied. According to its purpose (http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/ourmission.htm), the NLN ‘advances excellence in nursing education that prepares the nursing workforce to meet the needs of diverse populations in an ever-changing healthcare environment.’ This purpose is done through achieving the goals of Nursing education, Faculty development, Research in Nursing Education, Data collection, assessment and evaluation and Public Policy.For the overall content of the site, information pertinent to the goals mentioned above is clearly visible. Users who wish to participate in achieving one of the goals or for anyone who would just want to browse through the site can easily go to a specific heading and see its related sections. In terms of the currency of the documents, most of the documents are up to date however there are some documents such as the calendar of activities of NLN, which are still in need of updating (the calendar is still 2006).As for the overall layout, the site has a asymmetric design, departing from the modular and common website design that sets it apart from the rest of the websites being evaluated although the site uses only simple graphics to present its content. The site can easily be navigated, with information clearly divided and grouped together into concise headings that make it easier to browse through. Lastly, uploading time for the site is suitable for users with varying Internet bandwidths due to its low-memory web design, thus information no matter the manner of Internet access can easily acquire information.Another site evaluated is https://www.ncsbn.org/, the site for the National Council for State B oards for Nursing (NCSBN). The NCSBN is a United States-state wide organization aiming to promote and advance regulatory excellence in Nursing for public protection (‘Mission and Values,’ https://www.ncsbn.org/182.htm).For the overall content of the site, it has comprehensive content mostly pertaining to the nursing profession and for the regulatory nursing boards, each other that implies that their site presents specific, relevant and concise information that complement each other. The documents are well cited with authorities in the field clearly stated accompanying any research or paper they did for NCSBN. Overall the site is up to date, with sections for instance the calendar of activities that go as far presenting dates of activities for this year in advance, which is good for most people. However there are sections in the site that still need to be updated, sections such as the News releases and the annual report.As for the style and functionality, the site is mor e â€Å"cleaner† than the others in terms of the layout. The information is presented in such a way that even though there is a lot of information presented, the website is still able to present it in a simple manner that would not make the user â€Å"disoriented.† The site can be easily navigated with all the information easily accessible. The site however goes back to the symmetric design unlike the site of NLN. The site utilizes simple flash presentations in their homepage that gives an additional aesthetic impact to the user.Lastly, we evaluate http://thomas.loc.gov/, the site for the Library of Congress of the United States of America. According to the section describing the site (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html), ‘THOMAS was launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public.’ Currentl y is being maintained by the Library of Congress.For the overall content of the site, its presents a multitude of information as concise as possible yet the site still appears to be heavily cluttered with information. However as compared to the other sites and the content they hold, Thomas is appreciably easy to understand-simple as it possibly can. In terms of the authority, the information presented by the Thomas is undoubtedly accurate and comes from directly from the source that is Congress. In addition, the documents stored in the site are the most current in the field, with daily updates coming directly from Congress. Links are also presented in the site that are relevant to users who wish to browse other relevant legislation.In terms of style and functionality, the Thomas has a simple layout and aesthetic appearance as compared to the other sites. The main page is a bit cluttered so there is a possibility that first time users might get lost with regards to the immense inform ation being presented and the one the user wishes to find. However the site boasts of a search engine for their database that is incredibly useful for users and researchers that would want to find the necessary information which adds up to the overall functionality of the website. Lastly, due to its simple web design, the site can be easily accessed with any Internet bandwidth at any location at any time.References:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Nursing Association. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.nursingworld.org2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Medical Association. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.ama-assn.org3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Thomas, Library of Congress. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.thomas.loc.gov4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The National League for Nursing. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.nln.org5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The National Council of State boards of Nursing. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.ncsbn.org

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

In the twentieth century, Sigmund Freud, had been labeled as the father of psychoanalysis. Working with many great theorists in his lifetime, they helped him expand his thinking too create many theories of his own, one in particular, the psychoanalytic theory. Even though many theorists did not agree with his theory, because of his addiction to cocaine, many believe he was one of the greatest. Sigmund Freud was born in Moravia in May 6, 1856 into Jewish parents. In 1860 his family migrated to Vienna, where he resided for about eighty years.He then left Vienna moving to London after the Nazis overran Austria. Since when he was young, Freud wanted to be a scientist. In 1873, Freud enters the medical school of University of Vienna, graduating eight years later. (Hall, 1970) In 1886 He married to Martha Bernays and opened his own practice. (Wollheim, 1971) After studying and working with Jean Charcot a French psychiatrist and Joseph Breuer a Viennese physician, Freud realized that Charco t’s hypnosis treatment was not impressive and Breuer’s conservative view on sexual conflict where the cause of hysteria left Freud working alone.Working alone helped Freud form the foundation of psychoanalytic theory. (Hall, 1970) Psychoanalytic theory is the belief that a dynamic struggle takes place within the human psych between unconscious forces. That’s where the structure of personality takes place. The structure of personality is made up of three main mental entities, Id, Ego, and Superego. Id operates only in the unconscious mind containing basic animal drives as instinctual impulses, hunger, thirst, sex, and aggression.Id follows the pressure principle and demand for instant gratification. Ego represents reason and good sense. Id organizes the ways to handle the delay of gratification by coping with frustration by operating in the reality of principles, seeking to satisfy instinctual demands in way that are practical and socially acceptable. Ego attends to avoid social disapproval. Superego is the interval moral guardian or conscience. Develops by internalizing the moral teachings of parents or other significant others.The ego has to make the compromise between the id and superego. (Quigley, 1998) In the end, balance and interactions of these three parts is determined by our behavior and our ability to meet the life challenges we face. To understand it better in a criminology way an example of the theory would be John is at the mall and sees the diamond on a ring shine right on him and his id thinks, â€Å"I’d like to go and snatch it right off the show case. The ego then says, â€Å"Wait there’s not enough people, you’re in a plain site, let’s wait for the room to get busy. † The superego then says, â€Å"Wait, you can’t do that, you can pay for it. † In 1880s Sigmund Freud started experimenting with cocaine. He believed that cocaine lifted his spirit when he was at a low period i n his life. Freud stated that with brilliant success he was able to observe the effects cocaine took on him when he used small doses, regularly for depression and against indigestion. Cocaine) Because of this experimenting stage many has challenge Freud psychoanalytic theory. In practically, Darwin, who critisized Freud theory because it was generated by confusions arising Freud long standing use of cocaine. (Freud, 2010) Also, Breuer, a mentor and friend, disagree with Freud when it came to talking treatment for hysteria because sexual desires lay at the bottom of all these hysterical neuroses and like stated before Breuer was conservative towards the subject. (Boeree, 1997)In 1939, Sigmund Freud died of cancer to the mouth and jaw, after battling it for almost 20 years. Some of Freud's ideas are tied to his culture and era; other ideas are not easily testable. Some may even of Freud's own personality and experiences. But Freud was a great observer of the human condition, and enoug h of what he said has meaning today that he will be a part of personality textbooks for years to come. Even when theorists come up with dramatically different ideas about how we work, they compare their ideas with Freud's.

Problems for Teachers That Hinder Their Effectiveness

Problems that teachers face include handling student needs, lack of parental support, and even criticism from a public that can be largely unaware of their everyday lives. Addressing these problems and bringing awareness to the educational environment that our teachers and students face daily can help improve teacher retention, student success rates, and the overall quality of education in our schools. Balancing a Wide Range of Student Needs No matter what type of school youre talking about, teachers have to deal with a wide range of student needs, but public schools may struggle the most here. While private schools are able to select their students based on an application and assessment of the best fit for the school and community, public schools in the United States are required to take every student. While most educators would never want to change this fact, some teachers are faced with overcrowding or students who distract the rest of the classroom and add a significant challenge. Part of what makes teaching a challenging career is the diversity of the students. All students are unique in having their own background, needs, and learning styles. Teachers have to be prepared to work with all learning styles in every lesson, requiring more prep time and creativity. However, successfully working through this challenge can be an empowering experience for both students and teachers alike. Lack of Parental Support It can be incredibly frustrating for a teacher when parents don’t support their efforts to educate children. Ideally, a partnership exists between school and home, with both working in tandem to provide the best learning experience for students. However, when parents dont follow through with their responsibilities, it can often have a negative impact on the class. Research has proven that children whose parents make education a high priority and stay consistently involved may be more successful academically. Ensuring that students eat well, get enough sleep, study, complete their homework, and are prepared for the school day are just a few of the basic of the things that parents are expected to do for their children. While many of the best teachers go above and beyond to make up for a lack of parental support, a total team effort from the teachers, parents, and students is the ideal approach. Parents are the most powerful and consistent link between children and school since they are there throughout the child’s life while the teachers will change annually. When a child knows that education is essential and important, it makes a difference. Parents can also work to communicate effectively with the teacher and ensure that their child is successfully completing assignments. However, not every family has the ability to provide the necessary supervision and partnership, and some children are left to figure things out on their own. When faced with poverty, a lack a supervision, stressful and unstable home lives, and even parents who arent present, students have to overcome numerous hurdles to even make it school, never mind succeed. These challenges can lead to students failing and/or dropping out of school. Lack of Proper Funding School finance has a significant impact on teachers ability to maximize their effectiveness. When funding is low, class sizes often increase, which impacts instructional curriculum, supplemental curriculum, technology, and various instructional and extracurricular programs. Enrichment programs are cut, supply budgets are limited, and teachers have to get creative. Most teachers understand that this is completely out of their control, but it doesn’t make the situation any less frustrating. In public schools, finances are usually driven by each individual state’s budget and local property taxes, as well as federal funding and other sources, whereas private schools have private funding and often more flexibility in how it is spent. That means public school teachers are often more affected by lack of funding and are limited in how they can spend their money. In lean times, schools are often forced to make cuts that have a negative impact. Most teachers make do with the resources they are given or supplement with their own personal contributions. Overemphasis on Standardized Testing Not every student learns in the same way, and therefore not every student can accurately demonstrate mastery of educational topics and concepts in a similar fashion. As a result, standardized testing can be an ineffective method of assessment. While some teachers are completely against standardized testing, others tell you that they don’t have a problem with the standardized tests themselves but with how the results are interpreted and used. Most teachers say that you can’t get a true indicator of what any particular student is capable of on a single test on any particular day. Standardized tests arent just a pain for students, either; many school systems use the results to determine the effectiveness of the teachers themselves. This overemphasis has caused many teachers to shift their overall approach to teaching to a focus directly on these tests. This not only takes away from creativity and limits the scope of what is taught but can also quickly create teacher burnout and put excess pressure on the teachers to have their students perform well. Standardized testing brings with it other challenges as well. For example, many authorities outside of education only look at the tests bottom line, which hardly ever tell the whole story. Observers need to take much more into account than the overall score. Consider the example of two high school math teachers. One teaches in an affluent suburban school with lots of resources, and one teaches in an inner-city school with minimal resources. The teacher in the suburban school has 95% of her students score proficient, and the teacher in the inner-city school has 55% of his students score proficient. If only comparing overall scores, the teacher in the suburban school would appear to be the more effective teacher. However, a more in-depth look at the data reveals that only 10% of students in the suburban school had significant growth during the year while 70% of the students in the inner-city school had significant growth. So who is the better teacher? You can’t tell simply from standardized test scores, yet a large majority of decision-makers want to use test scores alone to judge both student and teacher performances. Poor Public Perception Weve all heard the old saying Those who can, do. Those who cant, teach. Unfortunately, a stigma is attached to teachers within the United States. In some countries, public school teachers are highly regarded and revered for the service that they provide. Today, teachers continue to be in the public spotlight because of their direct impact on the nation’s youth. Theres the added challenge that the media often focuses on negative stories dealing with teachers, which pulls attention away from their positive impact. The truth is that most teachers are dedicated educators who are in it for the right reasons and doing a solid job. Focusing on a good teacher’s best qualities can help teachers overcome their perceptions and find fulfillment in their profession. Educational Trends When it comes to learning, experts are always looking for the best tools and tactics for educating children. While many of these trends are actually strong and worthy of implementation, adoption of them within schools can be haphazard. Some believe that public education in the United States is broken, which often drives schools to look at ways to reform, sometimes too rapidly. Teachers can be faced with mandated changes in tools, curriculum, and best practices as administrators race to adopt the latest and greatest trends. However, these constant changes can lead to inconsistency and frustration, making teachers lives more difficult. Adequate training isnt always made available, and many teachers are left to fend for themselves to figure out how to implement whatever has been adopted. On the flip side, some schools are resistant to change, and teachers who are educated about learning trends may not receive funding or support to adopt them. This can lead to a lack of job satisfaction and teacher turnover, and it can hold students back from delving into a new way to learn that may actually help them achieve more.