The Impact of Diversity Essay Paper

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The Impact of Diversity Essay Paper

Discussion 2: The Impact of Diversity

Understanding the impact of diversity on an individual’s cognitive, physical, and social-emotional developmental processes requires an examination of a multitude of characteristics, including gender, race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. In addition, behavior within a group is important to examine, along with the similarities and differences of behaviors and attitudes across groups. The goal of understanding the impact of diversity is not to determine whether one group is inferior to another, but to gain an appreciation of the breadth and depth of variability in human behavior. Cross-cultural investigation allows for the testing of theoretical concepts and predictions to evaluate their generalizability (Jensen, 2012). Another outcome of studying the results of cross-cultural research is that, as a psychology professional, you will be better equipped to empathize with and advocate for those you will be serving.

For this Discussion, you will explore how diversity shapes and influences cognitive and social-emotional developmental processes The Impact of Diversity Essay.

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To prepare for this Discussion:

  • Review and consider the same fictional human character from your Discussion 1 for this week.
  • Also, consider only the cognitive and social-emotional developmental processes and how diversity* shapes and influences these processes.*Diversity includes but is not limited to gender, race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. It is not the same as adversity, which refers to a difficulty or tragedy in one’s life.
  • Think about the kinds of attitudes and behaviors that might be generated from someone who grew up in a collectivist society, which is common in Asian cultures, compared to the attitudes of someone who grew up in an individualistic society, such as that found in the United States The Impact of Diversity Essay.

By Day 4

Post a 1- to 2-sentence description of the fictional human character (i.e., cartoon character, film/TV character, virtual character) you selected. Then, explain how diversity might shape and influence his/her cognitive and social-emotional developmental processes. Be specific in your post and provide examples. Use your Learning Resources and/or other scholarly sources to support your post. Use proper APA format and citations to support your post.

By Day 6

Respond to at least one of your colleagues’ posts and search the Internet or the Walden library to locate an article related to how diversity might shape and influence their fictional human character’s cognitive or social-emotional developmental processes. Referring to the article you found, explain how an aspect of diversity could impact the fictional character’s development. The Impact of Diversity Essay Paper

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting and respond to any questions. Note what you have learned and/or any insights that you have gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.

 

Rachel Green is a white privileged girl living in New York City who is trying to earn a living by working as a waitress at a coffee shop. She has several close friends who support and encourage her to follow her dreams.

Diversity is a huge factor in determining a child’s development, both physically and psychologically. Society views people with different skin colors, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. differently which can have a large impact on a child’s development. Developmental researchers have determined that the ethnic minority children are made more aware of societal opportunities and differences (Jensen, 2012). It is clear that children and individuals from a minority or different culture than what society deems ‘normal’ have different societal and life experiences (Jensen, 2012) The Impact of Diversity Essay.

Rachel comes from a white family with a lot of money and power in the community. She was handed a lot of things before realizing that she didn’t want to be dependent on her family or on someone else for the rest of her life, which is why she left her fiancé at the altar. Rachel never had to worry about finances, which shaped her into someone who was incredibly materialistic. She does, however, decline any financial help from her family in order to make her own way in life and she soon realizes the struggles that come with not having money. For example, there is an episode where Rachel injures her ankle and when she goes to hospital, they realize she has no insurance to cover the bill. It almost stops her from receiving the treatment she needs. The Impact of Diversity Essay Paper

At this point in the series, Rachel is well past Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development (Harris, 2005) but if she hadn’t grown up in the life of privilege, her cognitive development would have turned out differently. Perhaps Rachel would have gotten a job a lot earlier on to help pay the bills in the family. Maybe Rachel wouldn’t have left a stable life at the alter if she was struggling with money. She would have wanted to be with someone who could provide for her instead of struggling by herself.

Socially, her development would have also been affected. Rachel was involved in her high school cheerleading squad and had a lot of friends, she was very popular. If Rachel’s family wasn’t financially stable, and Rachel was working to help provide for her family, she wouldn’t have time to be on the cheerleading squad or be able to go to the mall with her friends. Her social development would have slowed. Perhaps she wouldn’t have the same relationship with her parents and family either, seeing as she could have resented them for putting her in that situation in the first place. Socioeconomic status plays a large part in the development of a child, and Rachel wouldn’t be the same if she experienced a different up bringing.

References

Harris, Y. R. (2005). Cognitive development. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human development (Vol. 1, pp. 276-280). SAGE Publications, Inc.  https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952484.n138

Jensen, L. A. (2012). Bridging universal and cultural perspectives: A vision for developmental psychology in a global world. Child Development Perspectives, 6(1), 98-104. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00213.x  The Impact of Diversity Essay.