Blog #5

For my random act of kindness, I chose to pick up trash in the middle of the street and throw it away. I chose to do this act because, nowadays, people don't seem to view littering as extremely harmful to the environment and would rather throw their trash on the ground than simply put it in a dumpster 10 feet away.  After living on a college campus for over 2 years, it has really began to disgust me how many people are seemingly apathetic to the world around them.  Trash is everywhere, and I believe this is numbing people's opinions about litter/littering because it is becoming normal to see it everyday.  When I saw a potato chip bag painfully close to a dumpster, I thought this was a perfect moment to perform my act of kindness.  It pains me to see how negligently people act, but cleaning up one piece of trash seemed to give me hope.  I hope people saw me pick up someone else's trash, so that they will do this themselves one day or, a the very least, I hope the person who threw this potato chip bag on the ground sees that it isn't there the next day and wonders if someone else had picked up their trash for them.  Hopefully this incident will make them think twice the next time they decide to throw something on the ground rather than taking the extra 5 seconds to throw it in the trash.  Below is a video displaying proof of my act of kindness. 

Blog #4

Although moral muteness is frowned upon, I believe everyone, in some way or another, regrets a time when they behaved morally mute. As I have grown older, I find myself standing up for what I believe in and confronting any situation that I believe is unethical.  However, when I was younger, I found it harder to speak up in certain situations. When I was a freshman in high school, I experienced moral muteness when at work. It was my first summer working at a resort pool, and I was finally getting to know people and getting the hang of working full time for the first time.  I was an attendant at the pool, and each of us changed duties throughout the day.  There was a rotation for employees where some would greet guests at the door, operate the slides, sit at the boat dock, or be on "milkshake duty." One day, I witnessed one of my coworkers, who had become a good friend of mine, making a milkshake for himself, rather than for a guest who had ordered one.  It was against hotel policy to eat or drink any of the food or drinks for guests and was considered stealing hotel property.  I decided not to tell any of my supervisors because I had just began working there and didn't want to get one of my coworkers in trouble.  Had I told anyone about this, he would have gotten fired and I was worried other coworkers would blame this on me and treat me differently.

After reflecting on this incident, I realize I was putting the loyalty of a friend over another important value: morality.  What he did was ethically wrong, but I didn't want to be the reason he suffered the consequences, even if he brought them on himself.  Loyalty is one of my greatest values, and it was hard for me to tell on someone who had been a good friend to me.  I was also worried about what others would think of me if they knew that I was the reason he had gotten fired, and this fear kept me from doing what is ethically right.  As I've grown older, I have found that it has gotten easier to stand up for what I think is morally right, and as a result, I have found myself participating in moral muteness much less often.

Blog #3

For my first bias quiz, I chose to take the gender-career test. My results showed a slight preference toward male-career association and female-family associations versus the other way around. Initially, I thought that my results would be free from any bias because I was raised by working parents and I plan to have a career in the business profession after I graduate.  However, after reflecting on these results, I can see why a slight bias might have been shown.  My dad received his MBA in graduate school and worked in a management position at JPMorgan and my mom is a dental hygienist.  My dad evidently was in school for a longer time to reach this position at the bank and generally worked 5 days a week, 9 hours a day. My mom, on the other hand, worked part time (3-4 days a week) so I generally saw her a bit more often. Because of these reasons, I can see why  may have a slight bias. However, I plan to work in the accounting and/or finance areas of the business world, more like my father, so this may explain why I have a very slight bias rather than a stronger bias.  I wish I didn't have any bias because in the accounting profession, there are many women who are very high up who are as successful as men, and I don't want to downplay their achievements at all. This bias may, in fact, make me more impressed by the females who are higher up because they achieved this while having a family to take care of and somehow balancing the two.

For my second quiz, I chose to take the Age IAT. MY results showed a slight automatic preference to young rather than old. This does not really surprise me because I am around young people much more often than I am around older people. Being a third year at OSU, I have become very used to seeing people around the sane age as me 90% of the time. My closest friends are all within a year of my age and my brother, who I grew up with and just graduated from OSU, is only 2 years older than me.  I may subconsciously feel more comfortable around younger people who are my age because I am used to being around them and have more in common with them. That being said, I do really like old people and think they're super cute!! But I don't necessarily identify with them as much. When working with others, I may find it a bit tougher to identify with the older people in a group (for instance, an auditing team), and I should make it a point to find things in common with them and make sure they don't feel as though I prefer talking to those who are younger. Considering I only have a slight preference, however, I don't think this will affect how I treat those of all ages.

The final quiz i chose to take was the weight IAT. My results showed weak automatic preference for thin people over fat people.  When I think of thin people, I associate this with healthy and physically fit.  Although I don't eat incredibly healthy, I try to stay fit with working out and playing soccer.  I have had a concussion for over a month and haven't had the ability to workout or participate in soccer practices, and it's really taking a toll on me. I don't feel myself when I don't workout often and feel rather unhealthy.  When I think of fatter people, I initially think think they don't take care of themselves as much and may be lazy.  Although this is really not a fair assumption because everyone has their own struggles (and thinner people may not take care of themselves well, either), this is my gut reaction. Most of my friends are most physically fit and I think I simply identify with them more because they enjoy the same things I do such as athletics and running. I wish I didn't have this bias because I am making extreme generalizations about people but I do initially associate thinner people with being healthier.

I really enjoyed taking these quizzes and learned about myself and my subconscious preferences and biases. I will take these into account when I am interacting with others and attempt to put my biases aside when I am meeting others for the first time, because people certainly can surprise you and don't deserve to be judge based on their sex, age, or weight.

Blog #2

Below is the link to a clip of the movie, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, which I believe illustrates the relational leadership model quite well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnmSzD6x4tc

After the Capitol bombed a hospital in District 8, Catniss shares her thoughts for all of the Rebels to see on video. They are unaware of the bombing, so this is her chance to show the evils of the Capitol and exemplify the coming together of the Rebels. Catniss is the chosen leader, and she needs to create fire in their hearts of every Rebel to unite in order to fight the Capitol. Catniss is passionate and purposeful in her speech, the core to relational leadership. Without purpose, leaders have nothing to work toward and nothing to create this passion. Catniss is also extremely empowering as she yearns that they must all fight back. From her speech, the Rebels will want to fight back as they feel in control of their destiny.