Transcript lecture1-handout

PHI 1101
Individual and Society
Instructors:
Carole Chen
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Course Objectives
This course aims to enable students to
have a better understanding of
themselves, to develop appropriate
ways of dealing with problems, to
become responsible and self-directing
individuals with independent thinking, to
have reflective examination of issues
of social concern and to realize more
on the relationship between individuals
and society.
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Learning Outcomes
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have better understanding of self
identity, strengths and weaknesses;
identify the relation between individuals
and society;
become more responsible and selfdirecting individuals;
demonstrate critical awareness of social
and ethical issues.
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Textbook
Human Relations: The Art and
Science of Building Effective
Relationships
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Course Structure
1. Lectures + tutorials (14)
2. Quizzes (10%: 14: 25th minute – 30th minute,
best 10 out of 14)
3. Wiki participation
4. Presentation (10% last three weeks) and
report (15% during revision week)
5. Debates (15% through out the semester)
6. Assignments (20%: once a week, best 10 of
13)
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7. final test (30%: last week)
Learning resources
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Lecturers (Reggie and Carole)
Textbook
Supplementary readings (library)
Internet and Web
Wiki (1st tutorial)
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Web resources
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Be aware of false information
Be selective
Watch out for accidental plagiarism
Dictionary
Answers on the Web
粵語審音配詞字庫
Search engines (google + yahoo)
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Who are we?
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What is human relations?
HUMAN RELATIONS (p. 5): The ability
to interact effectively with diverse
others in a variety of situations.
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Why Study Human
Relations?
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Effective interpersonal skills are key to
successful personal relationships
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Success in relationships is nested in
effective patterns of communication
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Interpersonal skills are highly valued in
workforce today
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Skills must be paired with an
understanding of the context of
interactions
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What is Context?
CONTEXT (p. 2): Personalities, cultural
background, situational factors in each
interaction.
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How does context apply to
human relations activities?
 Listening
 Situation
 Recognition of diversity
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Listening
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Listening is an important aspect of
human relations.
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Why this is true?
How do you know?
Why does listening effectiveness differ
from situation to situation?
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Situation or Context
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What is the context for success in this
class?
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As a successful college student in this
class
As a successful college teacher in this
class
How are these contexts different and
alike?
Context (Business)
e.g. World’s local bank
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Recognition of diversity
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Increasing diversity in Chinese culture
and society influences relations with
others.
Cultural backgrounds play significant
role in beliefs, expectations, and
interpretations that influence
interactions with others.
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What is the “art” of human
relations?
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There is more to effective human
relations than listening (or any other
skill).
The “art” of human relations emerges
as one becomes more proficient in
knowing what, when, and how to use
skills (p. 3).
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What is psychology?
PSYCHOLOGY (p. 4) is the scientific study
of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
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Why use psychology to
study human relations?
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The study of PSYCHOLOGY is best
suited to understand context using
empirical evidence.
Psychology considers internal
(personality) and external (social and
cultural) factors.
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What is empirical
evidence?
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE (p. 4): Based on
data that has been collected through
precise measurement under carefully
controlled conditions.
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Empirical evidence is science-based.
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Why does this matter
when studying human
relations?
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What problems might occur if you use
only your own personal experience or
that of another to understand and/or
interpret why people think or act in
certain ways?
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And so…what is human
relations?
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HUMAN RELATIONS (p. 5)
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ability to interact effectively with diverse
others in a variety of situations.
process that begins early in life and
continues to develop in formal and informal
ways.
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Assessing Your Current
Human Relations Abilities
 Activity 1.1: Assessing your current
strengths and areas of improvement in
relations with others.
 Take a few minutes to complete the exercise
on pages 26-27 of your text.
 What are your greatest strengths?
 What are your most significant areas for
improvement?
 Personal Statement (Assignment 1)
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What is culture?
CULTURE (p. 7) is a set of values, shared
by a group of people, which shape and
influence norms, attitudes, beliefs,
expectations, perceptions, and
behaviors of group members.
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Culture and Diversity
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Culture is steeped in diversity.
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Diversity involves a long, enduring history.
A wide degree of diversity in acceptable
behavior among different people comes
from different value systems.
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And so…
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Culture influences basic values related
to a wide range of things:
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Group norms
Beliefs
Situational expectations
Perceptions
Attitudes
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How are values defined?
VALUES (p. 9) are guiding principles.
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Terminal values
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Refer to overall life goals
Instrumental values
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Refer to types of behavior that we strive for or
prefer
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Dimensions of Culture
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Four main dimensions are used to
compare cultures:
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Individualism-Collectivism (IC)
Power Distance (PD)
Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)
Masculinity-Femininity (MAS)
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Dimensions of Culture
Culture
MasculinityFemininity
(MAS)
IndividualismCollectivism
(IC)
Power
Distance
(PD)
Uncertainty
Avoidance
(UA)
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Individualism-Collectivism
Dimension is characterized on continuum
Individualism
(higher value
on the
individual)
Collectivism
(higher value
on the group
or family)
Examples in Hong Kong
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What is Power Distance
(PD)?
POWER DISTANCE (PD) (p. 17) examines
how a culture deals with the basic issue
of human inequality.
 Societies differentially create
mechanisms to reinforce dominance.
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What is Uncertainty
Avoidance?
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE (p. 20) is
the extent to which the members of a
culture feel threatened by uncertain or
unknown situations.
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The best explanation for variance in
uncertainty avoidance is probably
rooted in historical and religious
traditions.
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Masculinity-Femininity
MASCULINITY-FEMININITY (MAS) (p. 21)
refers to the degree of differentiation
between the roles of men and women in
a culture.
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Conclusion (lecture 1)
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Course Info
Learning resources
Basic thinking skills
Context
Culture –What, how?
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Individualism-Collectivism (IC)
Power Distance (PD)
Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)
Masculinity-Femininity (MAS)
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