Challenges in Forming Healthy Habits and Social Influences

Module One Short Responses Question 1: Do you have any healthy habits? What role have culture and environment played in the healthy or unhealthy habits that you have formed? I’m currently in the process of forming healthy habits such as limiting the amount of sugar I consume and getting daily exercise. With external influences such as social media, the culture and environment have made is exceptionally difficult to form these healthy habits. Question 2: Choose a society from the map. Within that society, characterize one of the social science principles we identified in this module. As a reminder, the social science principles we focus on in this course are social roles, social institutions, social norms, and beliefs and values. A social role that exists in Loma Linda, California is the banning of smoking. Because smoking has been banned in many different areas and many different ways, it has become nearly impossible to smoke within the city. Question 3: Provide an example of the environment influencing the population in an area of increased longevity. Then, provide an example of the population in that area influencing its environment. In Costa Rica, the environment influences the population by providing them with lots of Vitamin D due to the amount of sunshine there. The population influences the environment by not eating excessively which has caused an abundance of food. Question 4: Think about factors affecting your lifestyle in comparison to the areas of increased longevity. Characterize two social science principles in your day-to-day life. Use the two principles that you did not describe in response to the earlier question. For example, you could describe some social norms in your day-to-day life. A social norm in my day-to day life is participating in preparing and cleaning up Sunday Dinner. Another social norm is setting food aside to put outside for the raccoons that my family and I raised. Question 5: From a social science perspective, what are three factors that shape your dayto-day life? For example, you could describe some factors that influence your social interactions, your access to certain foods, your day-to-day activities, the pace of life in your area, etc. Three factors that shape my daily life are my daily activities, access to transportation, and what foods I consume. Question 6: Identify two social science issues related to war. A social science issue related to war is forced migration because many people flee during wars. Another social science issue related to war is an increased mortality rate due to the number of people that die during war. Question 7: Identify two social science issues related to education A social science issue related to education is bullying because many students experience bullying within a school environment at some point. Another social science issue related to education is stress. Many students, and even teachers, are often stressed and overwhelmed trying to keep up with their workload and meet deadlines. Question 8: Recall: What are the five social institutions that we are examining in this course? Economy, Government, Family, Education, and Religion. Question 9: Identify the social institutions discussed in this reading about India. Economy, Government, Family and Education. Question 10: Choose one of the five social institutions. Describe some of the factors that have influenced this social institution in India. Government has passed legislation that guarantees some rights, protects them from discrimination and violence, and widens their access to resources. Question 11: Use the reading about social institutions in India to identify two social science issues that could be researched further. Two social science issues that could be researched further are marriage and girls attending school. Question 12: Describe two social norms in Dubai noted in the reading and explain how these social norms may differ from those of the culture that you grew up in. A social norm in Dubai is that businessmen ride with pet cheetahs or lions in their expensive sports cars. This differs from the culture that I grew up in because we don't have exotic pets. I always grew up with cats and dogs. Another social norm in Dubai is that public displays of affection are illegal. This is not a law in my culture. Question 13: What factors shape the social norms in Dubai? Name at least two and describe how they shape the social norms. A factor that shapes social norms in Dubai is that Religion is intertwined with the law. Because of this, normative behavior is more modest in Dubai. Another factor is that Dubai is one of the leading producers of oil which has resulted in extreme wealth making exotic pets and sports cars "normal" to them. Question 14: What factors influence your society’s social norms? Name at least two social norms that exist in your culture and describe the factors that influence them. A factor that influences my society’s social norms is wealth. Education also influences the social norms in my society. Typically, you are more likely to earn more if you have higher education. Question 15: Based on the reading about Dubai, identify two social science issues that could be researched further. Two social science issues that could be researched further are social customs and gestures. Question 16: Now choose a social science issue listed above or pick one of your own. Adopt the social science perspective to ask a question about this issue from the point of view of a psychologist. What is a question that a psychologist might have about this social science issue? How does the religion and the law impact personal relationships? Question 17: Now choose a social science issue listed above or pick one of your own. Adopt the social science perspective to ask a question about this issue from the point of view of a sociologist. What is a question that a sociologist might have about this issue? How do tourists affect the government's policies? Question 18: Now choose a social science issue listed above or pick one of your own. Adopt the social science perspective to ask a question about this issue from the point of view of an anthropologist. What is a question that an anthropologist might have about this issue? How is the culture affected by how connected the world is due to social media and technology? Question 19: Who occupies the social role of spiritual leader in most Papua New Guinean kinship groups? The leaders were referred to as “Big Men”. These were people who were able to establish relationships, trade ties, and support their own tribes as well as others. Question 20: What are the societal expectations for a woman’s social role in Papua New Guinea? What influences these expectations? Women’s societal expectations are to cook, garden, tend to livestock and teach young girls. These expectations depend on their role in the family whether they are a mother, daughter or elder. Question 21: Within your own society, what social roles do you occupy? What other social roles could you occupy, if you chose to? How much choice does your society give you to occupy different social roles? How much flexibility do you have to fill that social role differently than society expects? Currently, I occupy the social roles of sister, daughter, girlfriend, cousin, granddaughter, niece, student, homemaker and employee. Essentially, I could occupy any social role that I would like. In my society, there isn’t a limit on what roles I can occupy.