Moral Muteness Blog #4

I feel like most of us have probably been in some sort of situation in which we have participated in moral muteness, myself included. Moral muteness occurs when someone fails to voice a moral concern relating to various situations and issues from day to day life. I have been in some situations in which I have participated in moral muteness. One time when I was a hostess at a restaurant, I was working with another hostess and she was in the process of trying to find another job. She said that she had an interview for a higher position at another restaurant during the time we were working together so she told me that she was going to leave for 45 minutes to an hour. She said if the boss asked where she was to just say she went to the bathroom or something. I did not really go against this because I was new and she had been working there for a while before me. It was really slow during that time any way so it would not matter if she left. She was leaving during her shift and it obviously was not okay that she was not working but still getting paid for her shift. She did come back when she said and I did not say anything to the boss even though I was worked that shift by myself for that hour.

I think the reason I was morally mute was because I value the relationships I make with my coworkers. I did not want to cause conflict with her or anyone else and wanted my time working there to run smoothly. I was also still fairly new working there compared to the others so I was still working on building those co-worker relationships. I have always valued great relationships with others and try to avoid conflict and I think that during this situation I felt that this was the best was to avoid greater conflict and help her out by letting her go to the interview. Even though what she did was wrong because she was not working but still getting paid for her "time" there, I think I had also factored in the conversations I had with her prior to this where she told me she was not getting paid enough. She was a young, single mother and had a daughter to worry about so I think that is why I did not think much of being morally mute because I was factoring in my values of helping those out who may need it.

Implicit Bias Quiz Blog #3

I took three Implicit Bias quizzes which included Gender-Science, Sexuality, and Age. These quizzes consisted of multiple fast paced pictures or words that you would have to quickly relate to certain categories according to your instinct and reflex. I do not think I was shocked by any of my results. The results were what I predicted them to be for the most part which makes sense according to the way I grew up, my lifestyle, and what I typically categorize myself as.

The first quiz I took was the Gender-Science IAT. This quiz looked at whether or not I felt there is a link with women to liberal arts and men to science. My results showed that I think that there is little or no association between female and male with science and liberal arts. I think this is pretty accurate relating to how I think about things normally. Since I am a female and a science major, I am typically surrounded with science-related classes and situations rather that those related to liberal arts. I really have no interest in the liberal arts so I think that is probably why I also did not associate the liberal art words toward one gender over the other because I am not familiar with those words that much and am not surrounded by it. I think this is the reason why I feel that there is no association with gender and science or liberal arts. I am typically surrounded by both men and women in the science field and I think, personally, being a woman in the field allowed for this result of being able to recognize and correlate the science words with both genders equally. I think this result shows that I will be able to work with both genders equally because I do not see any difference in gender when it comes to liberal arts or science and I will be accepting of all genders no matter what the subject matter is.

The second quiz I took was the Sexuality IAT. This quiz  revealed automatic preference either to those who are straight over those who are gay. I was not that surprised by my results of being more preferential toward those who are straight. I do not think these results showcase that I have negative thoughts towards those who are gay because I respect and accept everyone equally, but I think that it shows which I would prefer based on who I relate to more and who I have been surrounded by more in my life. I think that I got this result because throughout my life I have been surrounded by more straight people. For instance, all of my family and close friends are straight and majority of the area I grew up in consisted of those who identified as straight. Additionally, I identify myself as straight so I think that also effected my results. Although my results show that I am more preferential to those who are straight, I do not think this will cause a problem when working with others. I have worked with both straight and gay people in the past and have gotten along with everyone equally. I personally have never had a problem getting along with and working well with those who are of either category and I do not think I will have problems in the future with people based on their sexuality.

The third quiz I took was the Age IAT. This quiz showed whether or not we had preference to those who are young or old. My results showed that I have slight automatic preference for those who are young. I find this slightly shocking because I thought I was going to have equal preference to those who are young and old. Instead my results showed a slight preference toward those who are young which, now that I see my results, kind of makes sense. Since I am categorized as young based on my age and surrounded by younger people around college on a day-to-day basis, I probably was able to recognize and identify better with those who are younger. Although, I identify and have preference towards those who are young, based on this quiz, I do not think these results will change the way I work with others. I have worked at a job before where I was one of two who were considered young and I still got along and worked well with those who were older. This is probably why my results showed only a slight preference to those who are young rather than a strong preference. I think the only reason I received slight preference toward those who are young is because I can relate to them a little better and I am also young myself.

Relational Leadership Model Blog #2

This is a link from Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix when the students have come together to train to fight against a dark wizard, named Voldemort, showcasing relational leadership:

I think this exemplifies relational leadership because even though they are all just students they have come together to train for something bigger. Harry Potter is showcased as the primary leader throughout and his style of leadership in this clip really showcases that he believes they can defeat Voldemort if they work together. He is a role model and has a vision to defeat darkness and believes that they can come together to do so. He includes and acknowledges all of the different aspects each wizard has to offer and is creating a personal relationship with each of them by helping them individually as well. Harry says things of empowerment to all of them and tells them that "every great wizard started of as students just like them." This gives them a sense of encouragement and keeps them fighting to work harder and learn more to become better in the long run. He also stays positive by giving positive feedback when someone succeeds and when his fellow wizards start to get discouraged, he thinks of ways to fix the problem effectively and encouragingly. Everyone really respects Harry as a leader and they have a bond with him. Harry uses this relational leadership with his fellow wizards to help reach a purposeful goal of ultimately defeating Voldemort which he knows will be best achieved if they work together with a common goal.