Assert Yourself Workshop

Took place: October 21, 2010. 12pm - 1pm. 

In this workshop, the difference between being passive, assertive and aggressive was spoken about. Things I learned include:

-Assertive is not a black and white kind of thing. Assertive is the middle ground of aggressiveness and passiveness, and it contains the strength from each side. 

-Being aggressive means not respecting the needs, opinions or feelings of others. Aggressive people do not apologize, or see problems as their fault, ever. They feel others have no rights to ask for things and usually think in terms of "you do not really matter."

-Passive people do not express their needs, opinions or feelings. They apologize for things (even when it is not their fault) and do not respect their own rights. These kind of people feel as if they do not have a right to ask for things they want. When they think, it is in terms of "I do not really matter."

-Assertive respects the needs, opinions and feelings of others. They apologize only when it is their fault, and allow others to take their own responsibility too. They respect both their own rights and those of others. Assertive people have no trouble asking for needs and wants. Also when they think, it is in terms of "I have to respect matters of my own and others."

-Statistics show that females are more passive than males. 

-Some situations do not benefit being assertive, so being passive is not always a "bad" way to act.

-Culture influences one's communication in different domains such as with family, friends, or school. The way one acts at home may be different than at school, due to the amount of comfort he or she feels in a particular environment. 

-Different cultures have different ways of acting. The western culture is more individualistic; therefore, when people of this culture speak or think, it is in a direct manner and often personalized. "What are YOUR feelings?"

-Eastern cultures are object-focused and more indirect. They think in ways like "how might WE resolve this?" These are collectivistic cultures, and do not often think in "I" terms but more as "what can WE do?"

-Because being assertive in some cultures is not as important as in others, communication might be lost or difficult when two individuals from each of these different cultures try to speak to each others. 

wooo, done. :)