Customizing My Emotional Spin Cycle:
Data Collection and Analysis
May 7, 2002
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ By
Sunshine
Dr.
Leon James, Instructor
ÊÊÊ We encounter different situations in
different settings everyday of our lives.Ê
The way we manage these events in respect to our emotions is what the
emotional spin cycle focuses on.Ê In my
annotated bibliography I discuss issues of cognitive scripts in relation to
motivation and affect, behavioral routines in relation to socialization and
enculturation, cognitive appraisals in relation to self-enhancing behavior, and
emotional intelligence in relation to success and productivity to help us
better understand the different elements that an individual faces in his or her
life and how they cope with the events to enhance their way of living.Ê I defined each in relation to the emotional
spin cycle:
¬ Cognitive Scripts or Schemas in relation to motivation
or affect is the thinking processes an individual is involved in with
influence from experience and/or incoming information that determines the
individualâs way of acting or feeling.Ê
Itâs what you already know in your mind or what you have done in the
past that can determine how you will deal with certain situations.
¬ Behavioral Routines in relation to socialization or enculturation
is the behaviors in which an individual needs to engage in to fit into a
particular group or society.Ê You
feelings, thoughts, and actions shows how much you know about a particular
culture or society.Ê Being able to adapt
to the dominant culture.
¬ Cognitive Appraisal in relation to self-enhancing
behavior is the degree of thinking that an individual possess which helps
influence his or her actions.Ê The
importance of the way your thought affect your behavior.
¬ Emotional Intelligence in relation to success or productivity
is the ability to control oneâs feelings and thoughts in a way that would help
them to act out in a way that is positive and self-enhancing to the individual
as well as his existing environment.
I concentrated on
websites and articles that help make it easier to explain how and why people
deal with certain situations and events in their lives.Ê These four concepts in relation to the daily
emotional spin cycle is important because it is critical when trying to predict
a personâs reaction to particular measures that occur in their life.Ê To find out more about these four concepts
and its relation to the emotional spin cycle, go to my annotated
bibliography.
Implications
In
the United States, we live in a fast paced society whether you like it or
not.Ê From rural to suburban areas,
everyone in todayâs society faces both positive and negative events in their
lives.Ê Todayâs societal values have
decreased since the early 1900âs and we have a much more ãfasterä way of
thinking and living.Ê This is the way
individuals solve their daily problems, just as fast as it takes to cross the
road we are able to sweep our worries under the rug.Ê Through the media, mostly through television we pick up certain
socialization practices, such as using aggressive acts like violence to deal
with stressful events.Ê These types of
problem solving methods are even being exposed to children through the cartoons
that they watch.Ê Through watching or
listening to certain shows and music we somehow unconsciously learn behaviors
that we were not aware of.
Through
the exposure of negative media, we also learn how to deal with everyday
situations, which involve other people.Ê
The way we interact with others and deal with problems that concern
other people is very important in maintaining oneâs emotional spin cycle.Ê If we possess positive relationships with
love oneâs then it is most likely that we are able to develop the same kind of
relationships with co-workers, educators, and whomever we may come across in
our life.Ê Being emotionally intelligent
and being empathetic towards others will only help us be more productive in our
life and make it much more easier to live.Ê
This is definitely better than living life filled with constant conflict
and stress because we donât know how to talk to people.
Maintaining
and customizing our own personal emotional spin cycles could be the answer to
better living and being.Ê If we take the
time to learn the bridge technique and its four options when dealing with our
threefold self, then we would be able to expect positive outcomes in our daily
lives, rather than accumulating more stress upon ourselves and one day become
self destructive.Ê In the general
instructions, given by Dr. James we have a better view of how we can go
about confronting our everyday issues and problems in a more effective and
empathetic way, whether it involves our selves or those around us.Ê If we continue to let our emotions get out
of control when we are put into a particular predicament and act out in a way
that is not compassionate or is not optimistic, then we will only produce more
problems for ourselves.Ê Being able to
think more emotional intelligently will help us to be more productive and
successful in all that we do, no matter if we are confronted with
tribulations.Ê
Implementing
emotional intelligence into education is what can break the cycle of violence
within our society today.Ê By teaching
children how to deal with certain emotions in particular settings, they would
be able to resolve conflicts in a productive and effective way.Ê This is what we want for our future
generations.Ê For our children and their
children to come, to learn how to settle problems that wonât involve violence
or any type of destructive behavior.ÊÊ
It seems that the media will not be changing any time soon.Ê For as long as we know, violence will always
be a part of our pop culture and it is up to the parents to filter what can and
cannot be shown to their children.Ê The
key element is to teach our children to know the difference between what is
right or wrong.Ê Having the ability to
make conscious decisions when confronted with problems will result in action
that will evoke positive resolution, rather than negative outcomes.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
The Threefold Self
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The three major elements an individual
possess that control their internal and external being is explained through the
threefold self introduced to us by Dr. James in the general
instructions.Ê They are the
emotional, cognitive, and sensorimotor aspects of a person.Ê The feeling, thinking, and acting out of an
individual is developed through social routines that was learned from growing
up or from his or her current social environment.Ê For example, if a child was brought up in an aggressive family,
he or she will most likely learn how to deal with problems in an aggressive
way.Ê This is because that is all the
child knows how to do; this is all that he or she has been exposed to.Ê It is although possible to break this social
routine in an adult that has been brought up in an aggressive family by
teaching them to be more emotionally intelligent.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The threefold self relies on each
other when making a decision.Ê It
usually begins with a feeling one gets when confronted with a particular
situation.Ê With that feeling, thoughts
begin to evoke in their minds and these thoughts usually increase the feeling
that the individual is experiencing.Ê
Affect and cognitive domains usually work hand in hand.Ê Itâs hard to determine sometimes what came
first the thought or the feeling.Ê For
instance, for a person who feels lonely, it would be hard to focus on the
source of the emotion.Ê Is the person
lonely because they feel that there is no one around them, or do they think
thoughts that make them feel lonely, like ãI have no friends,ä ãNo one loves
me.äÊ As for the acting out of the
threefold self, it is the result of these feelings and thoughts that the
individual is experiencing.Ê The
experience determines the way heâs going to act of the situation.Ê The main idea of being emotionally
intelligent is to take the threefold self and react in a stressful situation in
a way that is positive rather than negative.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ I never thought of myself as having a
threefold self.Ê I was convinced that
most of my actions were a direct result of my emotions.Ê I had the mentality that everything centered
around my heart and all my actions were a result of what I was feeling in my
heart.Ê It was how and what I was
feeling that could determine the way I would handle and confront stressful
situations.Ê The way I felt was why
certain thoughts would run through my mind and thus having me act in a way
appropriate to the thoughts and feelings I was encountering.Ê I felt like I was the only person that
confronted their problems this way.Ê
Iâve always thought that people are different and that we deal with
events differently, thus depending on the individual whether they rely on the
feeling or thinking part of themselves.Ê
I personally felt that my emotions were the center of all my actions and
decisions.
But
after taking this class Iâve learned that itâs not only the affective domain
that controls my actions, but also the thinking aspect.Ê It makes more sense because now I canât
blame my actions primarily on the way I was feeling at the moment.Ê Knowing now that the affective domain as
well as the cognitive domain of a person plays a role in the sensorimotor
domain makes it easier to predict how and why a person would react in a
particular situation. ÊHaving this
understanding would make it easier for an individual to find the source of
their actions or decisions and later work on improving the way they deal with
situations.
In
psychology we are constantly learning about behavior and how individuals result
in certain behaviors.Ê We debate about
why people act the way they do and what caused them to be that way.Ê The threefold self is a concept that is very
basic and helps me focus on issues of the person rather than environmental
influences that we learn about in psychology.Ê
It seems that in psychology, weâve neglected the individuals themselves
and center more on what the person is made of and whatâs happening outside of
the person.Ê Trying to understand an
individualâs threefold self would help us comprehend their actions.
The Design for my Data Collection
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The design I chose to do for this project
was a basic observation of my feelings, thoughts, and actions during each
activity.Ê I carried with me a little
notepad and if I felt writing about a particular negative thought or feeling then
I would down whatever I was feeling and described exactly what I was
feeling.Ê The baseline-intervention
approach is broken down into two weeks.Ê
I chose two activities to concentrate on for this project.Ê Activity A was negative
red which I observed my interactions with coworkers.Ê I work two part time jobs so every other day
I worked with a different set of co-workers.Ê
I just focused on how I interacted with each of them and took notice of
any feelings that were inadequate.Ê
Activity B was negative blue which I
observed myself an hour before I go to bed which is usually when Iâm reading or
listening to music.Ê Week 1 was
basically baseline observations in which I would just go through the motions as
if it was any other day, Week 2 was the intervention week and this is when I
applied the bridge technique into each activity.Ê Using the baseline-intervention approach made it easy to
recognize any changes that took place between Week 1 and Week 2.
The Bridge Technique
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The bridge technique consists of four
options that deal with self and others.Ê
Within these four options there is option 1 which is negative
about others and the world; option 2 which is positive about others and
the world; option 3 is negative about self; and option 4 which is
positive about self.Ê These four options
involve the threefold self and are specifically outlined in the general
instructions given to us by Dr. James.Ê
There are two bridges in which we cross in the blue
and red zones.Ê
Respectively
crossing the red bridge in the red zone is when we take the negativity we feel,
think, and act out with others and the world to feeling, thinking, and acting
out in a positive way.Ê More
specifically when we feel rage or arrogance towards others, crossing the red
bridge would be resolving the problem we have with the other person with
compassion; emotionally impaired thinking would cross over to emotionally
intelligent thinking and aggressive or destructive behavior would be turned
into supportive and constructive behavior.Ê
Crossing
the blue bridge in the blue
zone is taking negative feelings, thoughts, and actions upon ourselves
into a more positive way of feeling, thinking, and acting out.Ê When we feel depressed or inadequate with
ourselves we cross the blue bridge by changing the negativity into feelings of
enthusiasm and self-confidence; thinking pessimistically or cynically into optimism
and realistic thoughts and changing from self-destructive behavior into
self-enhancing behavior.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Growing up, Iâve learned different
ways to managing my emotions when confronted with problems.Ê In elementary school, we learn to a certain
extent how to deal with conflicts, but it wasnât until I took this class that I
was able to use something like the bridge technique.Ê This technique is different from all the others that Iâve learned
because itâs something that focuses on me individually.Ê Rather than changing my environment, itâs my
own thoughts and feelings that Iâm concentrating on.Ê On some occasions Iâve used this technique before, but not in
total detail.Ê In high school especially
when I felt like I wasnât doing well in my classes.Ê I tried so hard to motivate myself and encouraged myself to do my
best in all that I did.Ê It worked to a
certain extent, until I began having encouragement from my family and friends.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
Daily Emotional Spin Cycle
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Our daily emotional spin cycle is
events that occur on a daily basis in our individual lives that we engage
in.Ê For example, waking up in the
morning and brushing our teeth is part of our daily emotional spin cycle.Ê Although it may just seem that we do it for
reasons of just personal hygiene, but a lot of whom and what we are is put into
these specific actions.Ê The way we feel
when we wake up in the morning plays a big part in how our day will turn out,
and the way we feel when we brush our teeth will determine how we feel
throughout the day.Ê If you wake up
feeling lousy and not enthusiastic, then you are most likely to carry that
attitude throughout the day.Ê If you
continually feel this way everyday you wake up, it becomes a pattern and youâll
continue to have awful days.Ê This is
where the word ãspinä fits in.Ê The way
you perceive certain daily tasks in your life determines how you will look at
it the next day.Ê The more you engage in
the negative attitude when waking up, it eventually will turn into a habit and
you will look at other things in your life in the same light.Ê Everything will just seem lousier to you,
because that is how you chose to wake up that particular morning and the
morning before that.Ê To create a more
positive spin cycle, you will need to implement the bridge technique into your
life.
Global Rating Scale
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The global rating scale was used to
measure different elements that were essential to the way I was feeling,
thinking, and acting that particular day.Ê
Itâs a rating scale from 1=very weak to 10=extreme that measured overall
stress, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, effectiveness/productivity, success, and
hope.Ê This scale was useful in
determining what my overall mood was for that day.Ê If I scored high in stress and dissatisfaction then it would be
evident why I wasnât able to cross either the blue or red bridges.Ê If I scored high in satisfaction,
effectiveness, and hope then I successfully applied the bridge technique into
my emotional spin cycle.Ê I couldnât
think of any other scales that would have been useful for this particular
project.
Record Sheets
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ I brought around a little notepad with
me when I went to work.Ê I didnât
necessarily write an entry in my notepad when I felt like I was encountering a
situation.Ê I basically did whatever it
is that I needed to do and later on jotted down how things went.Ê Same went for my activity B (before I went
to bed).Ê I just laid in my bed for
however long I felt like and right before I turned off my lights, I wrote down
as much as I could remember about the thoughts that was running through my
mind.Ê The reason why I did this is
because I didnât want to interrupt what I was thinking or feeling at the
moment.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ One concern that I should mention
about my data collection is that of Activity A (interaction with
coworkers).Ê I need to mention that I
work two jobs, Iâm a group leader for an after school program on Monday, Wednesday,
and Fridays and I work in an office on Tuesday and Thursday.Ê I work in different settings with different
people.
Hereâs a sample of
my recordings:
Activity A (Interaction with Co-workers)
4/01/02- Today my coworkers seem to be in a good mood.Ê Which makes me happy.Ê We had fun joking around with each other.Ê It didnât even faze us that the kids were naughty, we just laughed it off.Ê We were being pretty lenient on them, but it didnât matter because we were having fun.Ê
Activity B (Before going to bed)
4/02/02- Iâm listening to this really sad song.Ê Itâs called ãBluer than Blueä and itâs
starting to make me feel sad.Ê Iâm
listening the words and trying to relate them to me.Ê Itâs like a break up song so it really doesnât have much
application to my life and me at the moment.Ê
At least thatâs what I think.Ê
Iâm thinking about what it is that was bothering my boyfriend last
night.Ê He still doesnât want to tell
me.Ê I told him that I understood where
he was coming from and he said thank you.Ê
All he needed was for me to just be there.Ê Iâm really not satisfied with just letting this problem go, but
it seems that there isnât anything else I could do.
To see the rest of
my daily records for week 1 & 2, and my global rating sheets click here
Applying the Bridge Technique
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The appropriate time to use the
bridge technique was to first identify if there is a problem arising and from
there apply the bridge.Ê On days that I was
feeling stressed and wasnât having a good ãsocialä day with my co-workers, I
tried at one point to use a breathing exercise.Ê It worked for the time being.Ê
It calmed me down, but it didnât take away the stress entirely because
my work was still there for me to do.Ê I
guess I was expecting for everything to disappear once I took control of my
emotions, but boy was I wrong.Ê In order
for the bridge technique to work, I needed to really identify the feelings and
thoughts that I was experiencing at the moment and reevaluate them.Ê Doing this would have had me react in a way
that is much more emotionally intelligent.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ It helped that I have co-workers that
are fun to be with, which made my Activity A a breeze during Week 2.Ê But I did encounter some problems with one
particular co-worker that I donât like working with.Ê I used the bridge technique by changing my attitude towards
him.Ê Rather than thinking about how
much I didnât like working with him, I focused more on myself to what I needed
to do to get my own job done.Ê It worked
great.Ê I also applied the bridge in
Activity B by using option 4, which was to turn my inadequate thoughts into
positive and enthusiastic thoughts.Ê
This worked well when I decided to listen to something positive on my
radio before I went to sleep.Ê I totally
noticed the difference.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ According to my record sheets, itâs
evident that the effectiveness did vary with the bridge technique.Ê On week 2, which was the intervention phase,
I wasnât able to use the bridge because I was so upset.Ê It would have been a perfect time, but it
seemed that I couldnât bring myself to cross the red bridge.Ê I was too caught up in the moment to really
sit and think about the four options.Ê
The particular incident that happened with my boyfriend on 4/13/02 is a
prime example of this.Ê If I had calmed
down and gave myself time to really look at this situation then I wouldnât have
been feeling so awful.Ê Looking at it
now, I had a tough time crossing both the red and blue bridge because I had
negative feelings about my self and my boyfriend.Ê I donât know which one I would need to cross first in order for
the bridge to be more effective in the situation.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ I think the reason why it was so
difficult for me to cross any bridge in this particular moment was because I
donât usually get so upset with him.Ê
Iâm trying not to let things bother me because I wouldnât want to blow a
small situation out of proportion.Ê Iâve
gotten used to this way of thinking and dealing with my feelings, particularly
with my boyfriend.Ê But this one time I
let my emotions get the best of me and I didnât know how to deal with the hurt
that I was feeling.Ê It was too
overwhelming.Ê I consider this a
weakness as well as a strength; a weakness because I could have approached the
whole situation a different way that wouldnât have resulted me being sad the
rest of the night and a strength because I know what to do the next time I feel
hurt.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Teaching this technique would not be
that simple because of the need for the individual to understand that a lot of
work needs to be put into it.Ê I would
first try and educated them about what emotional intelligence is and reassure
them that it is possible to obtain.Ê
Then I would inform them about the four options and the choices they
have when confronted with a particular situation.Ê The difficult part I think is identifying that something is
wrong.Ê Once you can achieve that they
you are able to do what needs to be done to cross the bridge.Ê I think people who already hold close
relationships with others and are very optimistic will have an easier time
applying the bridge technique into their lives.Ê That is because they have control over their emotions, thus
making decisions that are appropriate for each problem that may arise.Ê People that are not open and chose to
isolate themselves from this world are the oneâs that would have a difficult
time learning the bridge technique.Ê
Personality is not the only thing that plays a role in achieving
emotional intelligence, but rather we must also consider the environment and
upbringing of the individual.Ê What
social scripts does the person already possess and does it fit into the current
environment in which he or she lives?
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊ
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ If thereâs one thing that Iâve
benefited from this course, it is definitely the way I look at my threefold
self.Ê I was not aware of the idea that
my threefold self included my affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor in one
before taking this class, I always carried around me the idea that my feelings
and emotions are what drives and motivates me.Ê
My mind was just an assistant to my feelings and never the primary
reason why I behave the way I do or react to problems the way that I do.Ê I see now that my cognitive state plays a
huge role in my actions.Ê This is
because a lot of what I think and how I think can influence what I feel.Ê Thus resulting me in behaving in a way
complimentary to the thoughts and feelings.Ê
This helps me understand why Iâve been acting out so negatively in my
past to those I love the most, especially with my family.Ê I was always so distant with them feeling
like I didnât belong sometimes with them.Ê
That kind of mentality lead me to become distant.Ê I have a better relationship with them now
because they have opened up to me and in return I opened up to them.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The four options made me realize how I
interact with my close friends.Ê Iâm a
very open person when it comes to meeting people, and Iâve always been very
open with my closest friends.Ê I
encounter situations with my friends that lead me to treating them like a
mother and not really understanding what theyâre going through.Ê This led them to be upset with me at times
when they seek advice from me.Ê I become
very straight forward with my suggestions and not really taking the time to be
empathetic to their problems.Ê The four
options helped me see that I need to be more supportive rather than aggressive
with what I think.Ê I see now that
resolving conflicts with compassion is much more effective than being upset and
angry that they arenât doing what I expect them to do.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ My weaknesses are definitely trying to
cross the red bridge when Iâm dealing with problems with my boyfriend.Ê I promised myself to be more open and find
an effective way of communicating with him so that problems donât build up
between us.Ê This is the first step into
turning my weakness into strength.Ê I
also need to learn how to deal with my emotions in a more positive way.Ê Instead of bottling how I feel inside, I
should confront them when they arise and thus helping me to react in a more emotionally
intelligent way.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ By focusing on my weaknesses, it will
make it easier for me to apply the bridge technique in future conflicts.Ê The bridge technique is a great way to deal
with my problems because it gives me a chance to step back and really focus on
how I can better the situation rather than make it worst.Ê It would make a huge difference in how I
will react in future relationship with others, whether it be in school, work,
or at home.Ê The more I apply it to my
everyday cycle, then it would eventually rub off on those around me.Ê Iâll set an example for them.Ê My family will see a difference on how I
deal with problems that arise with them, same goes for my friends, coworkers,
and my children to come.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Others can only benefit from the
bridge technique because it will show what your strengths and weaknesses are as
far as dealing with conflicts are concerned.Ê
It will make like way more easier if you learn how to avoid negatively
solve your problems.Ê The theory of
emotional intelligence is still growing and as long as the individual is
willing to learn more about it then they will definitely benefit from it.Ê The motivation depends on the individual, if
he or she feels that they donât have control over the way they act on occasion
then it would help them find the true source of their problems within
themselves.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Teaching emotional intelligence and
the bridge technique in schools will absolutely make a difference in this
world.Ê Teaching children, according to
their age groups will learn how to face up to conflicts when they do
abrupt.Ê Emotional intelligence helps
you become more empathetic rather than ruthless to other people.Ê Professionals would be more easier to work with
which makes the workplace a much more pleasant environment for fellow co-workers.
G15 Forum Discussion
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ The G15 students seemed to be very
open with their discussions.Ê Itâs like
they used the forum as a place to vent out their current worries and
tribulations.Ê This is very helpful with
their emotional spin cycle because they confront their situations as they
come.Ê They seem to have learned how to
release whatever negative emotions they may feel at the moment and turning the
situation around into something positive.Ê
This is what the bridge technique is teaching us to do in G16.Ê Having the ability to realize that something
is wrong and evaluating what it is thatâs bothering you can only help you make
the right decisions.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
References
1.
Joseph
Ciarrochi, Joseph P. Forgas, and John D. Mayer.Ê Emotional Intelligence in Everday Life.Ê Psychology Press, 2001.
2.
The
Four Options:Ê Customizing My Daily
Emotional Spin Cycle , Dr. Leon James- University of Hawaii.
G16 Class HomepageÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Sunshineâs Homepage