Possible Selves

On a business trip, Jewel found a spare afternoon to visit Trisha. Sitting in a coffee shop, the two women reminisced about the past and thought aloud about the future. “It’s been tough living on my own and building the business,” Jewel said. “What I hope for is to become better at my work, to be more community-oriented, and to stay healthy and available to my friends. Of course, I would rather not grow old alone, but if I don’t find that special person, I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that I’ll never have to face divorce or widowhood.” Jewel is discussing possible selves, future-oriented representations of what one hopes to become and what one is afraid of becoming. Possible selves are the temporal dimension of self-concept—what the individual is striving for and attempting to avoid. To lifespan researchers, these hopes and fears are just as vital in explaining behavior as people’s views of their current characteristics. Indeed, possible selves may be an especially strong motivator of action in midlife, as adults attach increased meaning to time (Frazier & Hooker, 2006). As we age, we may rely less on social comparisons in judging our self-worth and more on temporal comparisons—how well we are doing in relation to what we had planned. Throughout adulthood, the personality traits people assign to their current selves show considerable stability. A 30-year-old who says he is cooperative, competent, outgoing, or successful is likely to report a similar picture at a later age. But reports of possible selves change greatly. Adults in their early twenties mention many possible selves, and their visions are lofty and idealistic—being “perfectly happy,” “rich and famous,” “healthy throughout life,” and not being “a person who does nothing important.” With age, possible selves become fewer in number, more modest and concrete, and less far-off in realization. They are largely concerned with performance of roles and responsibilities already begun—“being competent at work,” “being a good husband and father,” “putting my children through college,” “staying healthy,” and not being “a burden to my family” (Bybee & Wells, 2003; Chessell et al., 2014; Cross & Markus, 1991). What explains these shifts in possible selves? Because the future no longer holds limitless opportunities, adults preserve mental health by adjusting their hopes and fears. To stay motivated, they must maintain a sense of unachieved possibility, yet they must still manage to feel good about themselves and their lives despite disappointments (Bolkan & Hooker, 2012). For example, although Jewel feared loneliness in old age, she reminded herself that marriage can lead to equally negative outcomes, which made not having attained an important interpersonal goal easier to bear. In a study of middle-aged and older adults, those with balanced possible selves—related hoped-for and feared outcomes, such as “a better relationship with my grown sons” and “not alienating my daughters-in-law”—made greater self-rated progress toward attaining their self-relevant goals over a 100-day period (Ko, Mejía, & Hooker, 2014). Because balanced possible selves provide both an approach and avoidance focus, they may be more motivating than either hoped-for or feared possible selves alone

• What possible selves do you think you may become in mid-life and old age (say, age 50 and beyond)?
• What possible selves do you fear becoming in mid-life?  Do you think your view will change as you age?

Five reasons for pursuing college, and how you are going to achieve them. Explain each reason fully.

In 750-1000 words Discuss how the Opium Wars affected US relations with China.

Women seem to be sentenced more leniently than men. Outline the principal theories used to explain this sentence disparity. Defend the theory you think best explains this disparity.

Do you believe that lawmakers,including judges,ought to take chronological age into consideration in making and enforcing the law? What relevance does age make for either an individual or a whole group? Justify your answer.

Explain how young adults are portrayed on television and in movies today. Identify aspects of young adulthood that are portrayed accurately in these programs as well as aspects of young adulthood that are portrayed inaccurately.

What are some of the challenges to studying art classification in machine learning?

Socialization and stratification are connected through (select all that apply)

a. the process of learning your culture

b. the process of learning your place

c. learning how to be a male or a female

d. learning how to be poor or rich

e. they are not connected,

Please define each of the three classical sociological theories. How does each one see society (what is each one’s perspective on society).

What do you think about United States' interest in placing sanctions on China? Is this a good idea? 200 words or less.

USA History:

What was the root cause of the Civil War, was it a lack of compromise between the Southerners and the Northerners or was slavery?

All of you have been on teams in recent years. It might have been a sports team or a work group.

It might have been a student panel or a fraternity or sorority team. It might have been a committee of some sorts -- anything where you had to work with other people to accomplish a goal.

Reflect what being on the team was like.Was it a good experience or a bad experience? Did the team work well together? If so, why (specifically)? Did you make conscious decisions to work together or did you simply “gel”? Did the team work poorly together? What do you think was the problem (specifically)? What could you have done to make it better?

Give us enough specific information about the team so that we know what you are talking about. Think about one unique lesson you learned -- as opposed to one generic lesson that could be applied to any team.

Name and describe two individual, sociocultural, and family characteristics that are associated with high-risk behavior in adolescents.

Your response should be 4-5 paragraphs in length. Be mindful of using proper grammar and spelling. Please be specific in your example.