4-2 Project One_ PSY 491 (1) (1)

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Project One Rachel Marsh 4-2 Project One Southern New Hampshire University Psychology and Social Change PSY 491 Dr. Carolyn Pravatta November 19, 2023 1

Project One I. Introduction Social change identity is an individual, diverse concept that is developed through a collection of factors that influence a person’s individual and social identity. The combination of these shared identities acts in the motivation of collective action. Personality is adaptable; therefore, identity is also dynamic. The aspects of who we are interplay with the culture and social norms, attitudes, beliefs, and values we associate with. The influences of these factors further mold and define our identity throughout our lifespan. As the interactions, experiences, and collaborations amongst individuals further construct individual identity, individuals categorize themselves into groups that hold similar interests, beliefs, or values. John Turner’s self-categorization theory is also influential and systemically drawn to the social change agency. Turner substantiated that the progressive development of self-identity and self-actualization is necessary for the adaptation and evolution of social reality and social change, meaning that when individuals simulate connections with a group, they actively progress and adapt themselves or their identity to adhere to and conduct behavior relevant to the adapted identity (Hasam et al., 2012). II. Personality Traits and Social Change Identity In real life, there is a consensus that the underlying influence of individual behavior in adults is the disposition of one’s characteristics or traits (Muslimin et al., 2017). These characteristics and traits contribute to the development of one’s individual and social identities, and, through the facets of social change agency, aid in dictating the development of social change identities. Social change identities adapt from the groups, experiences, and personality traits that we define our individual and social identities with, such as gender, race, socioeconomic status, and more. Advocacy in correlation with our social change identities 2

Project One derives from the social issues and problems we identify within those defining factors. According to the five-factor model of personality, individuals display a hierarchical organization of five fundamental dimensions of personality: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN) (McCrae & John, 1992). The five-factor model has been substantiated in research and classified as the Big Five Personality test in contemporary psychology. Based on my results from the Big Five Personality test, I place high value on agreeableness, openness to experience, and conscientiousness. Agreeableness can be indicative of a sympathetic nature, meaning I show warmth and compassion (McCrae & John, 1992). The personality dimension of openness to experience correlates with my curiosity and insightfulness, meaning I am introspective and value intellectual matters (McCrae & John, 1992). Lastly, the dimension of conscientiousness correlates with my organized and responsible nature, meaning I value productivity and order while behaving within the guidelines of my ethics or moral code of conduct. Based on the understanding of the five-factor model and Susan Fiske’s Five Core social motives, my social change identity is comprised of the motive for understanding and control, which are established by my personality traits of compassion, empathy, order, efficiency, and self-discipline. For prosocial behavior to be inherently successful, my empathy and compassion work to motivate understanding. Understanding, as it applies to identity, is the “meaning motive” in Fiske's model of core motives, and it is the central component in connection with others, as we share experiences, thoughts, and emotions among social groups and interactions based on the desire to understand others and authenticate oneself. The practice of understanding is procuring knowledge and appreciation for oneself and others while acknowledging its impact and importance (SNHU, n.d.). The motive of control or the “continuity motive” is the need to 3

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Project One feel efficient and competent, which manifests in our ability to anticipate the actions and outcomes of ourselves and others (SNHU, n.d.). I contend a distinct need to be knowledgeable and efficient regarding social issues, as there is a plethora of perspectives that must be considered when discerning the effect of social change on the individual and community levels. These aspects of individual identity have substantiated the personality traits that contribute to my social change identity. III. Lived Experiences and Social Change Identity Individual identity is a byproduct of social constructs. Our culture, interactions, experiences, beliefs, values, and attitudes are defining factors in who we are; therefore, our identity is a product of our environment. As our individual and social identities are constantly adapting to our environment, lived experiences contribute to the comprising of our social change identity. Within the depths of my social change identity, my personal experiences, as well as my perception and understanding of society, have contributed the greatest impact to my ability to regulate change. My experiences have directly influenced my perceptions, biases, beliefs, and values, which are the foundation for social change identity. In this understanding, these factors have molded my ability to be resilient to change and learn from the experiences that urged internalized change. Although social factors have influenced the aspects I aspire to change, my ability to regulate this change is found within my own beliefs, values, attitudes, morals, and more. In the application of lived experiences with Susan Fiske’s Core Social Motives, the aspect of understanding and its correlation to my personality traits further promote the importance of these lived experiences in shaping my social change identity. All individuals are capable of understanding; however, our implicit and explicit biases restrict our capacity for understanding. 4

Project One Although individuals often achieve self-actualization to some degree throughout their lifespan, biases frequently influence our ability to be receptive to new ideas, beliefs, values, and more with compassion, empathy, and respect. To understand others, we must be receptive to other's definitions of identity, regardless of our agreeance with their perspectives. To me, understanding is applying reflection to my experiences and interactions to identify and acknowledge personal biases; however, understanding is not only acknowledging bias, it is applying this realization to past, present, and future social identities. By acknowledging my limitations in perception and receptivity, the ability to establish meaningful, collective associations and relationships with others who share different identities or aspects of identity from mine engages social agencies among varying groups. Developmentally, my home life was quite nurturing; however, my parents were very religious with extreme expectations for academics. In my adolescence to mid-20s, my self- awareness and self-image were held in high regard to biblical actualizations and academic excellence. Due to the limitations of my religious background and the expectation for academic achievement, a distinguishable bias towards the LGBTQIA+ community was formed; therefore, as I matured in my adolescence, members of the queer community were often pre-judged based on their sexuality. As I entered adulthood, these preconceptions starkly changed through the interactions and experiences I gained within this specific community. As I interacted with individuals regularly before any knowledge of their sexuality, I noticed my biases toward these individuals. These personal factors and experiences attributed to the changes in my ideology and my social change identity to accept that people are judged by their actions rather than their categorizations. As I recognized these preconceived biases in myself, I was able to self-reflect on how I contributed to the stigma surrounding the queer community and adapted my behavior 5

Project One and identity to promote the idea of love in society regardless of social norms and boundaries. IV. Social Influences and Social Change Identity Social change identity is a compilation of personality traits and lived experiences (individual identity) and defining factors (social identity), such as socioeconomic status, race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. The social identities that have influenced and propagated my social change identity are most associated with socioeconomic status and gender. In a 2017 academic journal (Destin et al., 2017), it is suggested that socioeconomic status is directly linked to life outcomes, psychological tendencies, and the sociocultural conceptualization of self. For instance, an individual’s understanding of their socioeconomic status generates cohesion in individual identity narratives, which supports their understanding of adequacy while influencing their sense of belonging and application of self in the future (Destin et al., 2017). Destin and colleagues (2017) also substantiated that socioeconomic status is malleable; therefore, it often changes throughout life generating different feelings of accomplishment or failure with situational circumstances. In the application of Fiske’s core motives model, the controlling motive or “continuity motive” is a determinant of self-reflection and self-awareness. As individuals identify aspects and outcomes based on the interactions and memberships with various groups, we seek to control the products of these relationships and connections. As a woman, there have been instances where, despite the progress made by both the women’s rights movement and women’s liberation movement, I have felt undervalued based on my gender. Furthermore, my socioeconomic status and residential community have frequently defined my limitations and have further contributed to cognitive dissonance and psychological vulnerability, which will be discussed in more depth later on. In my experience, the controlling motive can be foreseen in my educational pursuits. 6

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Project One Theoretically, college graduates have access to more occupations with higher pay; therefore, by pursuing my bachelor’s degree, I am controlling my family's financial success through the expansion of knowledge and education. Furthermore, as I expand my knowledge and career, these interactions and outcomes generate social agency among other female professionals and similar ideologies, which inspire social change identity through the shared controls in gender identity. V. Capacity for Psychological Vulnerability Sinclair and Wallston (1999, p. 102; Satici, 2016) substantiated that psychological vulnerability is the cognitive structures that make individuals more delicate to stress, defined as “a pattern of cognitive beliefs reflecting a dependence on achievement or external sources of affirmation for one's sense of self-worth”. Psychological vulnerability is a natural component of humanity, and every human is gifted with a degree of vulnerability. In cases of extreme vulnerability, psychological stress may be a product of stressful circumstances, emotions, or experiences. The premise of psychological vulnerability allows individuals to be authentic in their own identities. As Brene Brown suggested, psychological vulnerability allows individuals to self-actualize and affirm themselves (Brown, 2011). When an individual allows themselves to embrace their shame, hope is instilled (Brown, 2011; Satici, 2016). Hope is a psychological strength in cognitive processes that allows individuals to have positive expectations that motivate individuals to reach desired goals and perceive themselves as competent and capable of achieving their goals (Satici, 2016). As individuals, we have flaws and dissatisfaction with ourselves, which generates cognitive dissonance. In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is considered to be a mental conflict that occurs when individual beliefs do not align with individual actions. When 7

Project One individuals believe their behavior to be immorally aligned with their beliefs, a state of cognitive dissonance is born (Rabin, 1994). In retrospect to social change identity, psychological vulnerability allows individuals to perceive a state of cognitive dissonance, which encourages individuals to reevaluate themselves. In doing so, self-reflection can encourage cognitive consonance as we correlate our actions to harmonize with our beliefs, attitudes, values, and overall perception of self. Personally, my psychological vulnerabilities are dependent on the status and pressures of parenting and my socioeconomic status. As a young, mom who survives paycheck to paycheck, it has been difficult to allow my desire for higher education to dictate the financial status of my family. With four young children, the cost of childcare has been an immense strain on my household; therefore, after my third son was born, I stepped away from the corporate offices and became a stay-at-home mom. In the beginning years of my status change, I often felt shame, as I felt I did not contribute to my family’s household by simply cleaning and cooking. I also felt shame in the fact that I wasn’t allowing myself intellectual stimulation and the pursuit of a substantial career. I believed and felt I was worth more than a homemaker. In reflecting on these feelings and my state of cognitive dissonance, I was able to embrace my psychological vulnerability of inadequacy and transpire hope in pursuing higher education at Southern New Hampshire University. Throughout my pursuit, my perception has changed from being inadequate to perceiving myself as an individual who can instigate change through knowledge and application of psychological theories and concepts in the field of criminal justice. VI. Resilience, Growth Mindset, Emotional Intelligence and Personal Growth As previously stated, my experiences have directly impacted my perceptions, biases, beliefs, and values, the foundation for social change identity. Self-affirmation theory sustains 8

Project One that individuals retain malleable self-systems, which permit recognizing threats and adversity in one classification of life while validating self-worth from another (Sherman, 2013). In retrospect of my self-concept, self-affirmation theory is more appropriate to my idealogy of personal change through resilience. Although my adversities contribute to my identity, they are not the agent of my outcomes. Self-affirmation theory affirms that self-affirmation increases self- resources and broadens individual perspectives, which allows the acceptance and understanding of self and the stressor or threat (Sherman, 2013). For my identity, the adversities I have faced in my life have only been attributed to my strength and understanding of personal growth. Although adversity has been one of the many challenges in my adulthood, I understand that my mistakes are lessons rather than punishments. While facing adversity, it is without contemplation that I turn to the positive aspects of my life rather than solely focusing on the challenge. Resiliency allows for the affirmation of my self-worth in one aspect of my life while addressing adversity with appropriate coping skills. Using a growth mindset encourages the understanding I can change the product and outcome of my life through the achievement of desired goals. The process of self-affirmation requires me to be accountable for my role in the issue while understanding that I am not of a weak mind, which has further promoted a growth mindset. In many circumstances, my adversity has been financial in standing; therefore, it is frequent that I feel like I have failed as a parent or spouse. Despite this, adversity does not define me; therefore, I focus on the aspects I can control, such as my education, to propel myself and my family to financial and economic success while addressing the threat or adversity in the latter part of my life. These reflections of self have promoted the management of my thoughts, behavior, and emotions while understanding those of others through emotional intelligence. VII. Conclusion 9

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Project One Our social change identity is defined by both personal and societal factors that have developed our moral code of conduct or ethics and encourage social change agency. As humans, we understand that perfection is not achievable. Our ideologies and identities change throughout our lifespans. These changes are attributed to many facets within our personal and social motives; however, we often aspire for change to better ourselves and our community. Through social identity framing, we can compile personal and social influences and identities to build upon social psychological insights. The insights gained from intergroup relations, leadership, self-reflection, and persuasion comprise strategies of social influence that implicate social identity in propelling social change (Seyranian, 2014). Identity on both the personal and social levels is malleable; therefore, social change implicated by social identity is also malleable. As we build on experiences, interactions, and connections, we generate cognitive dissonance; however, by allowing ourselves to be psychologically vulnerable, we can instill hope for change that generates harmony with our beliefs and actions or cognitive consonance. References Destin, M., Rheinschmidt-Same, M., & Richeson, J. A. (2017). Status-Based Identity: A Conceptual Approach Integrating the Social Psychological Study of Socioeconomic 10

Project One Status and Identity. Perspectives on Psychological Science , 12 (2), 270–289. https://doi- org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1177/1745691616664424 Haslam, A. S., Reicher, S. D., & Reynolds, K. J. (2012). Identity, Influence, and Change: Rediscovering John Turner’s Vision for Social Psychology. British Journal of Social Psychology , 51 (2), 201–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02091.x McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992). An Introduction to the Five-Factor Model and its Applications. Journal of Personality , 60 (2), 175–215. https://doi- org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x Muslimin, Z., Ajar, I., Nurwati, & Adam, L. O. B. (2017). The Effect of Personality Traits on Social Identification, Transformational Leadership, and Employees Performance (Studies in Provincial Government Southeast Sulawesi). The International Journal of Engineering and Science , 06 (03), 137–142. https://doi.org/10.9790/1813-060301137142 Rabin, M. (1994). Cognitive Dissonance and Social Change. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization , 23 (2), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(94)90066-3 Satici, S. A. (2016). Psychological Vulnerability, Resilience, and Subjective Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Hope. Personality and Individual Differences , 102 , 68–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.057 Seyranian, V. (2014). Social identity framing: A Strategy of Social Influence for Social Change. In R. E. Riggio & S. J. Tan (Eds.), Leader Interpersonal and Influence Skills: The Soft Skills of Leadership (pp. 207–242). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. 11

Project One SNHU. (n.d.). PSY 491 A Review of Susan Fiske 5 Core Social Motives . Manchester; Southern New Hampshire University. https://learn.snhu.edu/content/enforced/1424182- PSY-491-J2896-OL-TRAD-UG.23EW2/course_documents/PSY%20491%20A %20Review%20of%20Susan%20Fiske%205%20Core%20Social%20Motives.pdf? _&d2lSessionVal=vMPQZlFipsGEVbeskRQXDIrW4&ou=1424182 12

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