Customizing My
Emotional Spin Cycle:
Data Collection and Analysis
30 April 2002
By Barbara Peters
Dr. Leon James, Instructor
Introduction:
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ In report 1 it was important to understand the emotional spin cycle and the many websites I used covered the elements that make up the emotional spin cycle.Ê Ideas about the four elements of the emotional spin cycle are described through Cognitive Scripts, Behavioral Routines, Cognitive Appraisal, and Emotional Intelligence.Ê Looking back at the annotated bibliography may be help in refreshing your memory about these key aspects of the emotional spin cycle.Ê Please take the time now to go to Report 1 and familiarize yourself with these concepts.Ê After much research for report 1 a pattern formed.Ê This pattern showed that the general population is growing less and less aware of the importance of being emotionally mature.Ê The level of emotional intelligence seems to be diminishing.Ê I would say that we are spending a larger amount of our time working and staying busy and in the process we are behaving more negatively.Ê As we go about our business each day we interact with others in the world and we allow this interaction to influence the way we think, feel and act.Ê Often these three things are performed with a negative fuel behind them.Ê The only explanation that seems logical is that people are too busy to think before they act or react to the situation.Ê Based on this hypothesis one might infer that because we are not taking the time to understand ourselves we therefore are not taking the time to understand others.Ê This ultimately leads to a complete breakdown of communications and creates greater frustration.Ê This is called the flip-flop effect.Ê Our being frustrated, angry and negative about others leads to frustration, anger and negativity about ourselves.Ê The question now is how will society be able to break this cycle?Ê As the websites in report 1 showed we must begin to train our children and ourselves how to better communicate with others.Ê The first step is for each of us to better understand ourselves.Ê For things to get better we must cross the bridge of negativity and improve the positive feelings, emotions, and actions in the world.Ê The following diagram visually explains this idea of crossing over from a negative location to a positive one.
Without knowing how to do this we will never see a change.Ê This is the very reason this class is being taught.Ê Dr. James has reiterated many times this semester how important it is for health, happiness and wholeness to understand when we are being negative, to stop the actions from manifesting and to create a positive alternative action to the situation.Ê The process of crossing the red and blue bridge is not an easy one but it can be mastered.Ê Chapter nine of the text goes over the ways to use these skills in the workplace, while chapter six covers how to use these skills in our marriages.Ê Both topics will be part of nearly everyoneâs life at some point or other. If one can learn how to use the bridge technique before these times come then the effort level will be far less than once the habits of negativity have taken root.Ê We also see the cycle of negative anger present in society through the television we watch.Ê The fact that many of us expose ourselves to extensive hours of television watching this may be the cause of a breakdown in negativity management.Ê The television for all intents and purposes is a classroom training us to be negative and angry individuals.Ê ãMedia violence encourages thoughts of rage against others, which later turn into thoughts of anger against self, which turns into depression and pessimism. This is the rage-depression flip-flop that dominates the emotional lifestyle of most people today.ä
As part of this course we were to monitor our own spin cycle for three days at a time.Ê We were to make note of our thoughts, feelings and actions and we were to assess them.Ê Once this task was done we were to apply and intervention technique to stop the negative thoughts, feelings and actions and to cross the red or blue bridge as applicable.Ê It is the intention of this project to apply the knowledge we have gained in this course throughout the semester and to apply it to our daily lives.Ê The end result will hopefully be that we will exhibit more positive thoughts, feelings and actions than before and gain a better ability to communicate with others and ourselves.Ê
Data Collection and Analysis:
General Information:
For my observation I chose to monitor my habits with respect to completing my schoolwork.Ê I have found that I fall behind on my deadlines and projects because of the way that I prioritize my work and school obligations.Ê When I let work become more important my schoolwork suffers.Ê This leads to feelings of failure and guilt.Ê I often will not go to class because of the shame I feel for being ill prepared.Ê These negative feelings manifest into greater depression and lead to blame and anger toward my family members.Ê My husband notes these same changes each semester and substantiated my conclusions.Ê Although he may not understand the emotional spin cycle he can see that negative feelings about myself can lead to angry actions toward him and my son.Ê I tend to have a shorter fuse than normal with others when I am down on myself.Ê This flip-flop continues throughout the semester until finals are done and all papers have been turned in.
This semester the pattern changed very little.Ê After observing myself and trying to intervene, by using the techniques outlined in the general instructions, I found that only on a few occasions was I able to motivate myself not to fall behind.Ê I worked on trying to cross the blue bridge first in hopes that the red bridge would be easier to cross.Ê I was able to convince myself on one occasion to prepare early for class.Ê On that day my attitude was more upbeat or positive and I did not skip class and worry about what had not gotten done.Ê I was proud of myself for having made the right decision and was happier when around my family because I did not have to worry about the things that needed to get done.Ê As the next project came around I told myself that I should repeat this pattern and continue to be prepared rather than procrastinating.Ê The pattern did not hold however and I found myself right back in the negative realm of the four option self.
Specific Information:
During each day I assessed my feelings, thoughts and actions and gave them a value based on the following scale.Ê These feelings, thoughts and actions are the elements that make up the three fold self.Ê They can fall into the various areas of the four-option model as listed above in the first figure.Ê I never really thought about these parts of my every decision but it is now obvious to me that these are essential elements in human decisions.Ê They therefore relate closely to the ideas of psychology.Ê Because these things are about action and what leads us to action we are actually talking about behaviors and that is the type of science psychology claims to be.Ê This scale was provided in the general instructions.Ê To see the actual ratings go to the following link at records.html or you can look at the graph below, which contains the numbers for each dayâs assessment.Ê This observation is only as good as the notes that were taken.Ê In my case I did not take the time to carry around a notebook and waited until moments even hours before I sat down to put my thoughts, feelings and emotions on paper.Ê I think my journal was therefore skewed and I would say that was a major flaw in my experimental process.Ê I did follow the baseline-intervention procedure, which tries to monitor oneself without forethought and then uses thought and contemplation for the second observation time period.Ê Upon completion the two are compared for noticeable differences.Ê The following questions were uses for the daily assessment process of this project and are charted for easier analysis.Ê
Global Ratings once at the end of each day:
_____ 1) What was my overall stress point today: (1=very weak; 10=extreme)
_____ 2) What was my overall level of satisfaction with myself today: (1=very weak; 10=extreme)
_____ 3) What was my overall level of dissatisfaction with others today: (1=very weak; 10=extreme)
_____ 3) What was my overall level of effectiveness or productivity today: (1=very weak; 10=extreme)
_____ 4) What was my overall level of coping successfully with my feelings today: (1=very ineffectual; 10=extremely effective)
_____ 5) What is my current level of hope for the future: (1=little hope or brightness; 10=extremely hopeful and bright)
_____ 6) What was the worst level of negativity or selfishness of some other people around you (1=almost no negativity or selfishness observed; 10=extremely strong negative or selfish behavior observed)
Week 1: Baseline observations:
Sample activity A (negative red):
Day 1:Ê
Did I do my homework as necessary?
Had Latin homework to do and fell asleep
in the middle of working on it.Ê Got up
the next morning with little time to work on the assignment before class.Ê Went with little work I had.Ê Felt angry with myself and embarrassed when
called on to translate sentence.Ê
Day 2:Ê
Did I do my homework as necessary?
Missed class to do regular work.Ê Was upset that my grades in the class were
not as good as I wanted them to be and continued to worry over how I was going
to be able to catch up and graduate if my grades did not improve.Ê Continued to carry on internal dialog with
myself about how I was falling behind and that I had so much to get done.Ê I was constantly making the feelings worse
and not solving the issue.
Day 3:Ê
Did I do my homework as necessary?
I finally sat down to work on a project
that was due the next day and was feeling great about getting started.Ê I had feelings and thoughts that were
positive and hopeful that I would finally get something done on time.Ê This did not turn out the way I had planned.
Sample activity B (negative blue):
Day 1:Ê What was my
reaction to others in this state of mind?
My husband called to ask me how my day
was going and I snapped at him and he got angry with me and said goodbye.Ê He did not call me back for the rest of the
day.Ê He also was not very happy for the
rest of the evening.
Day 2:Ê What was my
reaction to others in this state of mind?
Blaming my husband saying he does not
help me enough when really I do not help myself enough.Ê Making others feel it is their fault because
I cannot get my grades up or get my work done.Ê
This just pushes my husband away further and he does not want to be
around me.
Day 3:Ê What was my
reaction to others in this state of mind?
My son kept trying to get my attention
when I was working at the computer and all I did was yell and move him away
telling him I had work to do.Ê I wanted
to be able to stop working on my project but I could not.Ê I acted negatively toward him and this made
be feel guilty about myself for not having gotten this done sooner.Ê
Week 2: Intervention--practicing
the bridge technique:
Sample activity A again:
Day 1:Ê
Did I do my homework as necessary?
I began working on my book review for
this class a week ahead of time.Ê I
started small and did the intro and outline.Ê
I felt good about getting this done so I started the first
paragraph.Ê In order to get myself
motivated I told myself that getting done early would mean my grade would be
better, I would not be scrambling to finish at the last minute, I would be able
to work on the things that needed improvement.Ê
I continued my internal dialogue telling myself that I had done it, I
had made it this far why not go on and get some more done, continuing to
encourage myself and tell myself positive things.Ê
Day 2:Ê
Did I do my homework as necessary?
I had gotten done with school for the day
and came home I did not have homework to do for the next day and was ahead on
the book review for this class.Ê I came
home and made dinner and spent the evening with my husband and son watching
some discovery channel show on animals.Ê
My son went to bed on time and without struggle or fuss.
Day 3:Ê
Did I do my homework as necessary?
I was working on a paper for Religion
class and my son asked me for juice.Ê It
was getting close to his bedtime and juice gives him a rash so I told him
no.Ê He got upset but I did not let his
actions influence me.Ê I told him he
could have milk or water rather than simply telling him he could not have juice
and he asked for milk.Ê This was a
better alternative to digressing to the negative side of the bridge which would
have had me yelling at him and putting him in time out.Ê
Sample activity B again:
Day 1:Ê What was my
reaction to others in this state of mind?
I was able to stop at the paragraph end
and lay down on the bed with my son and watch Snow White.Ê He told me he loved me and hugged me.Ê This was really special since he is just two
and I know how important it is at this age to teach him how to be caring.
Day 2:Ê What was my
reaction to others in this state of mind?
I spent time reading to my son, which
made me feel great and needed.Ê I had a
pleasant evening and we all got along without frustration.
Day 3:Ê What was my
reaction to others in this state of mind?
Where
I would normally get upset at him for throwing a fit and whining I kept my
positive attitude and allowed him to regain a positive attitude also.Ê He ended up being happy and I did not end up
hating myself for being such a strict parent.
On each of these days I went through a process of reminding myself how good it felt the day before not to have words with my son or husband and how much I had gotten done.Ê I told myself that I was going to stay ahead of the game and keep up the good work.Ê I did not let my husbands frustrations influence my attitude nor did I let my sonâs whining about juice send me into an act of negative anger.Ê On a day-to-day basis it was important to reiterate the ideas that make up the bridge technique.Ê To implement the bridge technique one must recognize when they are thinking, feeling and acting in a negative way.Ê To bridge from the negative toward others (red zone) or the negative toward self (blue zone) areas of the four option self to the positive red and blue zones then emotional intelligence has improved the bridge technique has been achieved.Ê This is often easier said than done.Ê Often we spend our days being bombarded with negative feedback from those around us and we maintain internal dialogue with ourselves that echoes with negative tones.Ê To be able to change these patterns takes motivation and effort.Ê This is the part of the bridge technique that had to be the most difficult to master.Ê In fact I cannot say that I ever did master this technique.Ê I do however now have a better understanding of how to attempt to work on mastering the technique.Ê In life there are rehearsed patterns.Ê The flip-flop effect of being negative toward others and then being negative toward one's self is also a rehearsed pattern in our daily lives.Ê This can also be called a spin cycle.Ê As seen in diagram above mastering the bridge technique allows us to remove ourselves from the rehearsed pattern of the spin cycle.Ê The break down of the phrase ãspin cycleä paints a picture of a circular pattern that is constantly repeating.Ê We as humans repeat behavior in a spin cycle pattern.Ê This is the very reason for its relationship to psychology.Ê The link to behavior is the basis of psychology as a science.Ê As we have seen these behavior patterns vary between the sexes.Ê Men tend to be less likely to recognize that they are spending their time in the negative realms of the four option self, while women are more likely to be aware of their thoughts, feelings and actions and more likely to alter the same to remain in the positive realm of the four option self.Ê As this is true for me I feel that as a woman I was able to thoroughly examine my thoughts, feelings and actions throughout the days of observation for this project.Ê The negativity rating scale made us look closely at the same patterns each day and to evaluate them on a scale from 1 to 10.Ê The purpose was to show how our attitudes and actions changed over the six-day span and to help us understand the feelings we were having.Ê This scale could also have been configured in the following manner.
1) No negativity
2) Some negativity
3) Moderate negativity
4) High negativity
This scale is also one that lends itself to statistical analysis because it has been assigned numerical levels for each entry.Ê Although this six-day documentation is not scientifically sound it has elements that with the right support could be tailored into a sound experiment.Ê In my daily quest to work on my bridge technique I stumbled and was ineffective at carrying it out.Ê On other days I was able to be positive and to work through many tasks with better precision.Ê On the days that I had trouble I was often bombarded with many different stimuli and my inner voice could not be heard.Ê The reassuring statements supplied in the general instructions were not accessible at these times of turmoil.Ê As noted below in the day to day breakdown the days that gave me the most fit were those when I did not prepare for tasks in a timely manner and when I was also having to deal with things I could not control.Ê This has to be the very reason that so many of us tend not to work to change our patterns.Ê We have grown to understand our patterns no matter how negative they are and have to exert a great deal of effort to change these habits.Ê I think that even though I have a better understanding of how to bridge it would be quite difficult to teach someone else how to do it especially since I donât feel I have completely mastered the technique.Ê This makes me wonder if we ever do master the bridge technique.Ê As humans we are not flawless in fact we have a tendency to make mistakes.
Discussion:
By attempting to do this project I have found out what I already knew and that is that not being prepared for school ushers me into a negative spin cycle.Ê This cycle includes my family in it whether negative or positive and can harm or enhance our relationship based on my choices.Ê I have learned that where I thought I was a positive person I need improvement.Ê I would say in most aspects of my life I try to make positive choices and to be a positive influence on my loved ones but I have also learned that my choices have to be thought through and not made impulsively.Ê I need to be proactive not reactive.Ê
Throughout this three-day process I flip-flopped back and forth between negative feelings about myself to negative thoughts feelings and actions towards my husband and son.Ê The solution seemed reasonable enough and that was to get started earlier on things and do a little at a time.Ê This did not ever happen during the three days.Ê Because I am a visual learner the four-option self, the emotional spin cycle and the bridge technique diagrams helped me to see how I was thinking, feeling and acting negatively and how to move from a negative to a positive realm.Ê I was able to create a more positive spin cycle on occasion by realizing that I was producing negative feelings and thoughts and catching myself before reacting to these feelings.Ê I was able to realize when I was overloading myself and what my limitations are when it comes to balancing work, school and home life.Ê I know that I have to spread out my work and school projects rather than trying to accomplish them all just before the deadline.Ê In doing this I will be more positive about what has gotten done, has to get done and this in turn will allow for more quality positive time with my family.Ê In the long run this pattern could stick it is just a matter of breaking old habits and forming new positive habits.Ê This has the potential to produce greater health, happiness and wholeness for myself and for my family.Ê I know that I have the strength to change from a negative thinker to a positive thinker because it gives me an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment to move from the negative to the positive realm of the four-option self.Ê The other asset of being positive is that others will not be able to influence my feelings.Ê If one remains positive they are less likely to create negative situations for themselves.Ê Others negative attitudes will not be misinterpreted for something that I did.Ê I will be able to read or understand others actions and react to them appropriately without negative reaction.Ê I will be in control of my situation and remember that this is the only thing that I can control.Ê I must remember that others may not be able to understand how to control their situations and I must not let myself succumb to their negative way of thinking, feeling and acting as a reaction to their level of emotional intelligence.Ê This is what being emotionally intelligent means.Ê It means that we are able to understand others and ourselves when it comes to feelings, thoughts and actions.Ê Because being emotionally intelligent means being more positive there seems no reason not to live on the right side of the two bridges.Ê If I was to not use this technique in the future not only would I be worse off so would my family.Ê Leading by example is the best way to teach our children and now is the time for me to teach my son how to be an emotionally intelligent person.Ê If he learns it now he will be far better in the long run.Ê I also see how my actions are influencing my husbandâs reactions.Ê He has been more helpful around the house to allow time for me to stay ahead in my schoolwork and regular work.Ê This means that we get to spend more time together as a family and that helps him also.Ê All in all it is a win-win situation for everyone.Ê I also feel better about myself for having given back a gift of learning to my family.Ê Being positive is creating a balance in our household and in our lives.Ê Being positive is breaking down the walls of bitterness and resentment.Ê By managing my time I am able to give more time to my family and they do not feel neglected and resentful like they did when school took time away from us.Ê This is a very important concept to everyone.Ê Often this idea is not presented to people until things have gotten so bad that they are hooked on drugs, suicidal, ill, divorced, out of work or something else.Ê Programs that teach how to be emotionally intelligent are rare.Ê You can find them in some businesses, clinics and some classrooms but often they have been put in place as a form of treatment or for the companyâs betterment.Ê Society must begin to see that the implementation of emotional intelligence early on will benefit all of society on a greater scale.Ê If we begin to teach our children how to better understand themselves and how to better understand others then communication will be clearer and I think society will see a drop in the incidence of anger.Ê Production will be increased, hospitals will be less needed, and the crime rate should drop.Ê I think that these things can all happen because once we begin to understand ourselves we will be able to read our bodies cues of illness, we will be less inclined to reach for the bottle or for drugs to solve what we do not understand and we will take pride in what we do.
References:
- Emotional Intelligence In Everyday Life A Scientific Inquiry.Ê Joseph Ciarrochi, Joseph P. Forgas, And John D. Mayer.Ê Psychology Press 2001
- Seeing Red, Feeling Blue.Ê Dr. Diane Nahl and Dr. Leon James.Ê http://www.aloha.net/~dyc/articles/red-blue.htm
- General Instructions for Your Research Project. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy16/g16reports-instructions.html