1 PHI 1101 Individual and Society Instructors:Carole Chen

2 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.

3 Learning Outcomes  have better understanding of self identity, strengths and weaknesses;  identify the relation between individuals and society;  become more responsible and self- directing individuals;  demonstrate critical awareness of social and ethical issues.

4 Textbook Human Relations: The Art and Science of Building Effective Relationships

5 Course Structure 1. Lectures + tutorials (14) 2. Quizzes (10%: 14: 25 th minute – 30 th 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) 7. final test (30%: last week)

6 Learning resources  Lecturers ( Reggie and Carole )  Textbook  Supplementary readings (library)  Internet and Web  Wiki (1 st tutorial)

7 Web resources  Be aware of false information  Be selective  Watch out for accidental plagiarism  Dictionary Dictionary  Answers on the Web Answers on the Web Answers on the Web  粵語審音配詞字庫 粵語審音配詞字庫  Search engines (google + yahoo) google yahoogoogle yahoo

8 Who are we?

9 What is human relations? HUMAN RELATIONS (p. 5): The ability to interact effectively with diverse others in a variety of situations.

10 Why Study Human Relations?  Effective interpersonal skills are key to successful personal relationships  Success in relationships is nested in effective patterns of communication  Interpersonal skills are highly valued in workforce today  Skills must be paired with an understanding of the context of interactions

11 What is Context? CONTEXT (p. 2): Personalities, cultural background, situational factors in each interaction.

12 How does context apply to human relations activities?  Listening  Situation  Recognition of diversity

13 Listening  Listening is an important aspect of human relations.  Why this is true?  How do you know?  Why does listening effectiveness differ from situation to situation?

14 Situation or Context  What is the context for success in this class?  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

15 Recognition of diversity  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.

16 What is the “art” of human relations?  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).

17 What is psychology? PSYCHOLOGY (p. 4) is the scientific study of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

18 Why use psychology to study human relations?  The study of PSYCHOLOGY is best suited to understand context using empirical evidence.  Psychology considers internal (personality) and external (social and cultural) factors.

19 What is empirical evidence? EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE (p. 4): Based on data that has been collected through precise measurement under carefully controlled conditions.  Empirical evidence is science-based.

20 Why does this matter when studying human relations?  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?

21 And so…what is human relations?  HUMAN RELATIONS (p. 5)  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.

22 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 of your text.  What are your greatest strengths?  What are your most significant areas for improvement?  Personal Statement (Assignment 1)

23 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.

24 Culture and Diversity  Culture is steeped in diversity.  Diversity involves a long, enduring history.  A wide degree of diversity in acceptable behavior among different people comes from different value systems.

25 And so…  Culture influences basic values related to a wide range of things:  Group norms  Beliefs  Situational expectations  Perceptions  Attitudes

26 How are values defined? VALUES (p. 9) are guiding principles. Terminal valuesTerminal values ─Refer to overall life goals Instrumental valuesInstrumental values ─Refer to types of behavior that we strive for or prefer

27 Dimensions of Culture  Four main dimensions are used to compare cultures:  Individualism-Collectivism (IC)  Power Distance (PD)  Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)  Masculinity-Femininity (MAS)

28 Culture Masculinity- Femininity (MAS) Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) Power Distance (PD) Individualism- Collectivism (IC) Dimensions of Culture

29 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

30 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.

31 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.  The best explanation for variance in uncertainty avoidance is probably rooted in historical and religious traditions.

32 Masculinity-Femininity MASCULINITY-FEMININITY (MAS) (p. 21) refers to the degree of differentiation between the roles of men and women in a culture.

33 Conclusion (lecture 1)  Course Info  Learning resources  Basic thinking skills  Context  Culture –What, how?  Individualism-Collectivism (IC)  Power Distance (PD)  Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)  Masculinity-Femininity (MAS)