An Army Of One : Me, By Jean Twenge

Each person is a social being and is aware of the environment that they live in. People learn from their experiences as well as from observing others. When children learn about their environment first hand or by observing another, negative and positive behaviors are reinforcement. If a child does a behavior and receives a reward for that behavior, the rewarded behavior is reinforced. Similarly, when someone witnesses negative consequences based on their behavior, they tend to modify that behavior (Schmied & Tully, 2009, p. 9).

If the change in behavior of one individual is a natural act results from internal transformation and external influences, then cultural change is an inscrutable mystery. Which factor is influential enough to cause a change in a society composed of individuals with different thoughts? There is no definite answer to this question, because there never exists one solid element that changes an entire society. There is always a combination of reasons behind such changes. However, there is always one solid factor which is present that makes culture change. In “The Power of Context”, Malcolm Gladwell describes how the crime rate suddenly “went into a precipitous decline” (151) due to changes of “the smallest details of the immediate environment” (155). On the contrary, in her text “An Army of One: Me”, Jean Twenge discusses how society systematically built Generation Me, a cultural change that happens gradually over decades. Although Gladwell and Twenge’s arguments concerning cultural change seems contradictory, they both consolidate one essential factor that makes culture change- an active assertion of change made by an individual or a group of individuals. Therefore, active attempt of change is an important cause of cultural change. Such assertiveness helps to introduce the change in the first place and makes it noticeable in the perspective of society, While it influences people’s mentality when behaving and making decisions.

Perry Wilson is a Professor of Modern European history and research co-ordinator for history at the University of Dundee. She was Chair of the Association for the Study of Modern Italy from 2006-09 and is currently Vice-Convenor of Women's History Scotland. In her article, The Nation in Uniform, she explains aspects of how uniforms were used in fascist Italy. Wilson argues that uniforms were an important element in establishing Fascist rule in Italy, and thus changing the ways Italians think and behave. Wilson goes on to support her thesis with two main arguments and a counter-argument.

Cultural and societal norms are based on aspects such as differences in opinion, beliefs, and backgrounds. New norms are constantly created as generations come and go, with societal changes taking place daily. Norms are shaped based on the way people are raised, the individuals we surround ourselves with, and the transformations that occur in our lives. Although groups identify and set norms, these can change in our personal lives based on the social groups we interact with as we grow through life, such as groups of friends from childhood that may be different from groups of friends we make as we enter adulthood. As we change from one group to another and transition through life, the result of social norms can be seen through new behavior. For example, an individual who did not grow up regularly attending church or practicing a religion, but later in life decided to start attending religious services and practicing, behavior changes would be evident based on guidelines set by that religion That individual may stop

According to Parham the psyche of each individual interacts with the sociocultural environment, which helps to shape characteristic ways in which people adjust to their surroundings. These findings indicate that each individual should engage in an environment that fosters the development of the personality that yields optimal results.

One typical example in Davidson’s essay “Project Classroom Makeover” is the iPod experiment, and we can see how creative and brilliant the generation me can be under the stimulus of the “immediate context” in this experiment. Similarly, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the “immediate context” in his essay “The Power of Context”. He describes immediate context as people receive small signals from the environment and make response due to the small signals, which helps us to understand the high self-esteem’s behavior. By using the idea of “slow thinking” from Nelson, we can better understand why the generation me have some problems dealing with their high self-esteem, and then with the help of Gladwell’s “immediate context theory”, we can think about the role of small signals in the context that works on the generation me. Finally, Davidson’s iPod experiment inspires us to find a better way to raise self-esteem, and rethink whether high self-esteem is such a severe problem or

The many determinants of one's attitude and personality surround a person from day one of existence and, therefore, slowly mold the person they will become later. The Power of Place informs the reader of places and regions that produce different aspects of personality. The tranquility of nature helps to reach the inner sanctum of personality as opposed to the monotonous routine of the concrete jungles of the city. Anything and everything that surrounds a person molds their personality to perform certain mannerisms and certain stimuli to the smallest routine activity.

The non-fiction article, “Children of War” by Arthur Brice is about four children who were forced to flee war and relocate to the U.S. First off, children in warzones are not a big part of what caused the wars, but are still heavily, negatively affected. For many, life was great and jolly for children before times of war, but when war came about it changed their lives, they lived in fear and terror. They lost family, money, and most devastating, their homes. So they were forced to flee, to many countries around the world, but ultimately they came to the United States. At first life was tricky in the U.S, they struggled with language, culture, and homesickness. Although these teens are living in the U.S today, they hope to go back to their

The way the mind works is through a set of processes, which are steps that must be taken in order for the function it is producing to be accomplished successfully. These processes are related to those that society must be willing to take in order to achieve a desired goal, otherwise known as the ‘struggle’. Younger generations, called Generation Me, develop narcissist views that did not allow for the ‘struggle’ to be considered in their generation. The basis for this mindset is introduced by author Jean Twenge in her essay, “An Army of One: Me”, as she described the gap that occurred between Baby Boomer parents and their GenMe children. This communication was severed because GenMe was taught that their ideas are the best, and therefore not

In a world that continues to advance technologically machines titled “sociable robots” acquire life-like characteristics once exclusive to humans. They are able to express artificial emotions that seem real to the user. In “Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle we see how sociable robots interact with children. They begin to feel emotions that were once exclusive to human interaction. In the narrative “An Army of One: Me” by Jean Twenge we see how prominent the generation gap is. Those under the age of thirty-five tend to focus more on themselves and making sure they feel worthy. Twenge appropriately titles this generation as “Generation Me,” highlighting the fact that boosts of “self-esteem” leads to a rise in individualistic focus. Parents expose their children to toys that industries manufacture to fill the emotional needs children have at a young age. This consequently decreases the need for human interaction. As technology develops and become more “alive,” researchers are able to find what children desire and are able to give those desires to them in a toy. These new toys shape how children think and grow, directly affecting them for their entire lives. By changing the notions of aliveness, sociable robots “cultivate” behaviors representative of Generation Me by manipulating values important to one’s well-being through their expression of life-like emotions and behaviors.

The unalterable human condition is one of the truths of human existence. Throughout the course of history, humans tend to act in the same ways, repeat the same mistakes, and end up little better than they were a century before. Although technology has changed, increasing the quality of life, behavior patterns have not changed, decreasing

Influence is powerful in determining one’s future. Actions behaviors and opinions are all connected to impact of others and the way they shape our views on the world as well as ourselves. Self-Image is dependent on the acceptance of others, thus always changing since one’s morals and ethics do not stay the same as time goes on. Influence of others play a role on how one tends to view themselves and people around them, by either being forced to conform to a country’s lifestyle, completing constant tasks to keep up with society’s demands, or being able to be content with oneself rather than being blinded of the onslaught of constant expectations.

Individuals go through many experiences in life, and through their experiences they learn about the world, and how to react to the way it treats them within a society. A society has many expectations that mold people 's attitudes and moods. Throughout life, people are constantly changing themselves to fit into the society and once people fulfill its requirement to meet its expectations they can fit into the world, because the world is built on society’s expectations. The society can make people distant from themselves, when they are busy, and are always being pressured to complete a certain task on time. The society can impact people 's decisions by alternating their ways of treating them. They can be strict, and force people to put their ego aside, while in other situations they want the the people to only think about themselves, and what they want, and how they should value themselves more often, Especially children, who at a young age are trying to find their place in society. In “An army of one” by Jean Twenge, many children are surrounded by coloring books, and other activities that support their self-esteem, hoping to build a concrete understanding of the importance of self. In “Project Classroom Makeover” by Cathy Davidson, students are surrounded by rules, and regulation, that always lead to standardization, and a way for students to forget about themselves, but Davidson wants to change that with technology and restore the students’ self-esteems. The ability for an

     The social constructionist perspective holds the view that the self is continuing "shaped and reshaped through interactions with others and involvement in social and cultural activities" (Wetherell & Maybin, 1996, p 220). Social constructionist is concerned with explicating the processes by which people come to describe, explain, or otherwise account for the world (including themselves) in which they live (Gergen, 1971). Thus, the social constructionist approach implies that the self is shaped by social interaction within historical, cultural and social contexts. Social constructionist's apply an analysis of societal level which explain the self through social relations. Conversely, the

First of all, what is humanity? When I recall my lectures correctly human behavior is effected by nature and nurture. The makeup of a human genetics and its environment. From what I have learned from my Sociology classes and so far from the Psychology classed is that the ratio is about 50-50 percent. Although I suspect that the neutering and its environment might tip the scale towards an environmental factor what determines our human behavior and our situational behavior. This therefor could be the base of stressors that trigger how humans behave and interact within a society. It is possible the need in human to, fit in, in any situation that grooms a person’s socialization. This has been the base of my thoughts of reviewing “The Human Behavior Experiments” video for this assignment.