(University of Michigan)
https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/faculty/oscar-ybarra
I and Me through We: Personal Benefits of Being Interpersonal
Some recent trends indicate that people may be placing greater focus on themselves, their needs, and what makes them feel important and distinct from others. Although a healthy sense of self can be related to endorsement of values such as freedom and equality, many times an increased focus on the self distances individuals from supportive social connections. In this talk, I examine how people benefit personally by being interpersonal. This is demonstrated with outcomes such as cognitive function, personal growth aspirations, wellbeing, goal pursuit, and in one’s ability to regulate emotions in response to negative life events. These outcomes, with their implications for how well one thinks, pursues goals, and manages distress are critical for a person’s ability to chart their path in life. Thus, the irony may be that by placing greater focus on the self, people may be impeding processes and precluding psychological outcomes that actually put them in a better position to be effective and agentic individuals.
The colloquium will be held in Psychology Building 035.