One of the core values in a variety of helping professions entails recognizing a

One of the core values in a variety of helping professions entails recognizing and being aware of how our demographics influence us and how we relate to others. We all have filters and biases. This assignment is designed to help you reflect, share, and practice some of your ideas when it comes to who you choose to interact and have relationships with: in particular choosing friends, your current partner/spouse, and/or future partner/spouse. The goal is to create awareness of our demographic filter and how such filters influence our relationship choices/interactions and mate selection.
Each of us can be defined or classified in many ways. Our race, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, education, social class, and ethnicity are some ways we identify ourselves and with others. We also use these as part of our filtering process when choosing a potential mate and those close to us as we learned in chapter 5.
Think of your life as a pie chart based on certain demographics. If you were to divide the circle into different components or segments, which pieces are most important to how you identify yourself? For some, their religion or faith plays the greatest part in who they are. For others, their gender identity, age, or race is the most defining characteristic.
Create your pie chart (computer-generated) with the percentages of what is most important to how you see yourself and how this in turn shapes/defines your filtering process for choosing friends and a partner. Also, be sure to include a key that defines what each percentage represents with your pie chart.
***This may prove to be harder than you think, but it is worth at least beginning to think about the filters we have and which one(s) may play the most significant in this filtering process.
To keep this activity simple, we are going to only focus on the Demographic and Social Filter discussed in Chapter 5. Thus for this assignment, you MUST include these demographics (even if the percentage is 0; please assign a numerical value to each component):
Age
Education
Race
Religious background (this can include faith and/or spiritual beliefs)
Socioeconomic class/status
Take some time to think about how demographics influence our perceptions of ourselves and others and how we form and choose friendships and partnerships/mates…here are some questions to prompt your thinking:
Many people have said, “age is just a number,” but is it? Do you have friends of all different ages or tend to relate with those the same age? Do you desire a spouse/partner your age, or older, maybe younger? Do you make assumptions about people based on their age? Do others judge you by your age?
With race, many people profess that they don’t see color or it plays no role in how they interact and connect with others, but do others see your skin color and treat you one way as a result? Or have you ever made assumptions about others based on their race? What role does race play in your relationships with others? Do your friends share your racial background and likeness or do you have a variety of friends and maybe a partner currently or in the past that comes from a different racial background? What role does race play in your filtering process?
With religious beliefs, do you find yourself looking for those who share your faith or prefer those who do not practice any religious beliefs? Would faith play an important role in your mate selection filter?
Do you find that your friends and partners share a similar educational background or that you desire them to have the same level as you?
What about SES, when considering your relationships do they mirror your social class? Do you want a partner/mate that comes from the same social class?
How important are these demographic/social filters to you based on your reflections on your past and present and future desires in friends and when considering an intimate partner?
Thus, in what ways are your connections with others influenced by your demographics: education, age, SES, racial background; or religious/spiritual background? There are a lot of things to consider…
Reflect and explore how you perceive these filters do or will influence your preferences regarding:
connecting with others, particularly when it comes to friendships
choosing a mate/partner
Think about it: what would you look for in a mate or a friend based on your pie chart? If you currently are in an intimate relationship or married (or have been), what factors based on your demographics influenced your attraction to your partner? Think about your current friendships: was it a shared faith or similar background in race or age, etc. that helped form a relationship? Do you find you are homogamous or not?
In conclusion, after addressing all the components of your pie, what do you think has been the greatest influence that has shaped your perception of yourself and others the most–is it your physical demographics, your family upbringing, social environment/culture, your faith, and/or past experiences?
Write a 2-3 page summary of why you ranked the categories the way you did and your responses to the questions posed with relevant inclusion of information from chapter 5.
background :
no religion, international student, Chinese
Here is an example of a former student’s reflection to provide a reference for you: