Final Presentations

Today was final presentation day. The last full day of class before we break bread (literally) over a bonfire in Vestamager. The presentations for this round were all very different and interesting in their own way. I would say the presentation that intrigued me the most was the presentation on body image and perception between the Danes and Americans.

This presentation was interesting because both countries share the struggle with body image. While the US has more extremes in body image with over 30% people being obese as well as 4% struggling with bulimia nervosa, Denmark has its fair share of struggles. Denmark has a lower obesity rating of 11%, but many Danes still fall victim to the struggles of maintaining a positive attitude towards one's own body. While Americans are likely to see the danes as tall, thin, and beautiful, that doesn't mean that they don't suffer from pressure in the media and from others to maintain their version of the ideal body.

I found it interesting to explore this and to be prompted to think about how each country sees itself. Most Americans in class all had a negative image of people in the US. It shows that no matter what country you live in, people will constantly be trying to chase the ideal body in their country.

Meet the Danes

To further explore well-being in relation to culture, we looked at it in the real world. The best way to get an idea of Danish culture is to interact with Danish citizens. Before meeting the Danes, the study groups worked on defining what well-being is for the Danish. We also drew a model according to Hofstede to determine where the Danes fell on his scale. Our next project was to create a poster defining well-being for the average Dane as we could infer from our stay thus far and class discussions. Group 5 (aka The Spice Girls), created the following poster.

While we attempted to define well-being, nothing is better than getting information straight from the Danes themselves. In new groups, we got to meet and discuss different cultural norms and well-being. My group asked numerous questions on a Likert scale to determine which stereotypes we had of the Danish people and which were actually common behavior. Some of the questions involved leaving a baby in a pram on the street to whether or not they speak to strangers on the street or not. In most of these questions, it was more a matter of the city size. In smaller cities this behavior would be more common than in the Copenhagen city center. Then followed a question and answer session where we got to freely ask questions and the Danes could ask their own. This was very interesting as it showed how they perceived us and America as well allowed us to get answers to certain behavior we see on the streets yet don't understand. 

One common question the groups had was to describe hygge. Most of the Danes could not provide a strict definition. It is an abstract concept in Denmark that involves relaxation and a laid back social atmosphere in which people interact with each other and just enjoy themselves. There is no doubt this relaxed social interaction contributes a large deal to the Danish well-being.

Situated Learning

Situated learning is a theory created by Etienne Wagner. This theory focuses on three things: knowledge in a social construct, the competent and the peripheral legitimate participants, and that learning happens in a community of practice.

Learning as a community is seen as how the learning in the community is beneficial to the individual otherwise he/she will leave the group. This creates a feeling of belonging and identity within the group for the members of the community.

In the community, there is often overlap between a common goal, mutual engagement, and shared repertoire. This can incorporate the use of artifacts, or objects that have specific meaning to specific groups.

An example of a group could be a classroom with the students and the teachers. The common goal could be for the students to learn a specific topic. the teacher shares this goal to get the students to learn this material. Artifacts that may be important are posters or other classroom objects. The teacher is the master while the students are the peripheral legitimate participants in that they learn from the teacher and slowly become masters on the topics as well. The community of practice is the school itself.

The Queen of Denmark

The Queen and the royal family were present at Christiansborg for a speech on Constitution Day. Denmark was celebrating 100 years of voting for women and other minorities. The Queen and Prime Minister both touched on this anniversary as well as where the country and women's rights are going. The atmosphere in the courtyard was much different than that of a speech by such prominent people would be in the U.S. While there was security, it was very minimal. The police and other protective people for the family were present but in a smaller number than I expected. The country of Denmark displays a lot of affection for their queen and there is less worry about something happening at this type of event. The fact that the people could be so close to the queen and not have to go through extensive measures to do so shows that in Denmark there is a smaller gap between those in power and those that aren't. This smaller power gap aids in the well-being of the Danes. With a smaller power gap, the people can feel more power over their lives and like they aren't ruled unfairly or made to be told what to do by some ruler with to much power. This leads to more happiness and contentment with the power the Danish citizens have, raising their well-being. The low power gap explains happiness according to Hofstede, but Geertz would want a deeper look at how the lower power gap would explain happiness. Using Geertz and his observations of tradition, it can be seen that though the Danes appreciate the lower power gap, it wasn't always like that. After the monarchy became less involved in the politics (they no longer vote in elections) the royalty shows that they do not want to control the Danes. This tradition of keeping less of a stronghold on the people after one incident in which the King tried to assert his power gives the Danes happiness that they have a say in what happens.

Happy

While watching the documentary "Happy," it became obvious that happiness can come in so many ways and is different for each person. Each person has something unique to them that gives their life meaning and leads to an increase in well-being.

One person that stood out was a man in Brazil that found his happiness and well-being in surfing. As a physical activity, it provides stimulation for the brain and releases dopamine which leads to more happiness. As well as from a purely physical activity, to this man surfing was spiritual and as he said it was like his religion. It gave him meaning and purpose to surf each and everyday. It also helped foster strong relationships with his children when they would surf and enjoy the waves together. All three of these are components of eudamonic well-being.

Nudging

Nudging can be defined as the positive reinforcement and not always obvious signs pointing an individual towards one particular choice they can make. This can be campaign images or company slogans or even packaging that all attempt to convince someone to buy a product or to vote for a specific person in an election. Anything attempting to alter one's motives and decision making can be classified as nudging.

The most obvious way to observe nudging is on the products of a country. While franchises can spread and become global, the places in each country must adapt to become unique and appeal to the people of that country. To do so, they must appeal to the ideals of the people and understand how these people view and work towards improving their well-being.

Today, Group 1 looked at the Starbucks franchise and its adaptations to thrive in Denmark and how this differs from the Starbucks in America. The Starbucks had three main difference to it's American counterpart. The first was it had a larger offering of pastries. This may because culturally, the Danes enjoy more pastries for a breakfast. As well as more pastries, there were more tables and more people in the cafe to eat their pastries. In America the tradition is to get food and drink on the go to not waste time. In Denmark, people eat there and sit to talk and enjoy their food and coffee. This is because to the Danish people, they get well-being by not being in a rush. This brings them high positive affect and low negative affect. The second difference was the lunch options. There were many food options and more fresh options available. This is because the people here value fresh food and organic options. To them, eating healthy is part of their lifestyle and gives them meaning. By offering these healthier options, the franchise appeals more to the people who are looking for these types of options to contribute to their well-being. The third large difference is the large window ledges within the cafe. These are made to allow small babies to lay out upon them and incorporate them. In Denmark family provides meaning and is a big part of happiness. Parents like to involve their children in activities. just today there were two women that had met up for coffee and for their children to lay next to each other and interact. This appeals to many mothers and increases their well-being as they can relax there and bring along their babies.

By making these changes, the Starbucks has altered itself slightly to appeal with its products and atmosphere to the Danish people. This is important for it to succeed and flourish in Copenhagen.

Presentation Day

In many classrooms, group work is often being incorporated whether it be in discussion settings or group projects. This positive psychology course is no different. The interesting part about a group is that each individual is unique and brings his or her own contributions and work ethic into the group. This can be good or it can be pretty bad. There is always some apprehension when a professor mentions group work because of the uncertainty that lies ahead when you first meet your new group members. Will everyone do his/her part? Will the group work together or fight each other throughout the entire project leading to frustration and a desire to finally be done with the project and to get it over with?

Fortunately enough for Group 5, these problems were nonexistent. When it came  to discussion, all group members participated equally and no one individual tried to be heard over all the others. While there were no outstanding problems, any group can always find room for improvement when they take a moment to evaluate themselves on their performance. For our group, only three things needed to be eliminated: long breaks (substituted with smaller ones), the short time between breaks in place of longer periods of productive work,and avoiding Chinese buffets on lunch break. These are all minor changes.  There were many things the group elected to keep up: the accountability of each group member, the casual and friendly atmosphere when working together, the editing technique, and the meetings for pastries and coffee before getting down to business on projects. The only thing to be added in the future is experimenting with new study environments and the addition of bonding over food or other activities after the completion of the next project to celebrate.

Group 5 had a solid presentation for this first round. The improvements are focused in the time management category. We elected to change the time spent rehearsing. There should be more rehearsal in order to create a smoother overall presentation. The only other problem was spending too much time together brainstorming ideas. This can easily be solved by creating a google doc before the first meeting to start a project so that ideas have been tossed around and each member is familiar with the requirements of the project. As something to continue, our group decided that we would keep our own personal photos to be used throughout the presentation again and if possible keep hands on activities for the class. After observing the other group presentations, we were not above stealing some of their techniques to add some things to out next presentation. The facts and personal experiences included in the other presentations intrigued us and we aspire to do the same in the future to keep our listeners engaged and interested. the last addition is to incorporate a general overview of the topics in class and to then move from that into an explanation of how we narrowed down these concepts to our final narrow research topic. Outside of this, our group was satisfied with the first project.

Group 5 is happy and flowing naturally together and have decided to remain together to knock out this last project and finish off the course in the original Group 5.

Resilience

Resilience is one psychological concept that has garnered attention over the years. It can be defined as "a class phenomenon characterized by patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity or risk" (Masten, Cutuli, Herbers et Reed 2009. Resilience is usually seen as the "bouncing back" from a difficult or negative experience or period of time in one's life.

The difficulty with resilience is finding any one particular way to define and measure it. How far must one recover from any physical or emotional trauma to be considered recovered? How is it decided when an individual has recovered? Must they recover in all aspects of life or only in one or two specific areas in which they previously had difficulty? These are some of the countless questions surrounding research in resilience. With the ambiguous measure of resilience, many approaches exist to attempt to categorize resilience.

Some research focuses on whether or not an individual achieves the average achievement in an area despite what may have happened to them previously. Another approach considers resilience when an individual has achieved more than was expected due to circumstances in their life. Many times resilience is impacted by the situation and how one chooses to decide if resilience is present.

To tackle resilience and its many facets, some researchers have taken to studying those showing resilience an attempting to see what these people have in common. This method tries to determine if any one or multiple characteristics assist in the ability of an individual to be resilient. Another method looks more closely at specific cases of resilience. It explores the way resilience has been seen in some individuals and has stood out more in these individuals than others. Was the person extraordinary? Why is this person considered resilient on such a scale that they become known for their resilience?

One organization in Denmark takes a problem-solution approach to resilience and coping with one's circumstances. Cafe Exit is a program targeting inmates in prisons and attempting to offer recently released prisoners a second chance and assist them in their transition from prison life to life in the real world. The Cafe takes a look at problems and solutions because there was some form of problem in the individual's life that led them to crime and a prison sentence. This could be low social relations with those that serve as possible role models or low socioeconomic  well-being that led to crime in an attempt to make more money. If the problem can be identified, then the Cafe and its volunteers and counselors can attempt to work with the individual and steer them towards a solution. This solution can be help finding a job or simply lending an ear for the individual to express the difficulties they are facing after their release. Venting to someone who is willing to help and has been in that position before can be a solution in itself.

Cafe Exit is a remarkable organization focused on helping those that have struggled to find a purpose and solution to their problems in hope of keeping them from further crime. This approach helps create resilient individuals as they work to become more than expected. The men that embrace Cafe Exit and it's assistance and message find themselves becoming regular members of society, more than the criminals they were expected to remain. This Cafe is truly focused on resilient individuals and their ability to create a life for themselves after they struggled.