In the 21st Century, many problems face the people of today with academic and applied psychology facing those problems. One of the main problems that people face today is the idea of Globalisation.
Globalisation is an ever growing process around the world, which has been an ever-lasting process throughout time and into the 21st century. Globalisation is described as “a process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture” (Al-Rodhan 2006). Throughout time, Golbalisation has impacted everyone, from the changing face of work (Occupational Psychology) through the Industrial Revolution to the more current Globalisation of hand held devices, such as mobile phones. Even though Globalisation can be seen as a positive movement which advances the human race, it can also be seen negatively in the sense that cultural boundaries are disappearing, and can be seen through global chain of McDonalds.
McDonalds is a globally known fast food restaurant, which caters up to 69 million people a day in 119 different countries, one prime example of Globalisation, more so cultural Globalisation. However, this type of Globalisation can be seen negatively as the fast food chain has be perceived to have forced Westernized culture upon other cultures, mainly those Eastern to America. Ritzer (2009) described the phenomenon of a McDonald restaurant in majority of countries over the world as McDonaldisation. Through Ritzer’s term, McDonaldisation can be seen as one of the many ways in which cultural barriers are fading and becoming more uniform or homogenized (everything becoming one). This is one of the problems faced in life in the 21st century.
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Ritzer, G. (2009). The McDonaldization of Society. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press
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The McDonaldization Thesis presupposes some familiarity with Ritzer's earlier work, The McDonaldization of Society (1993), in which he defines McDonaldization as "the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world" (1). These principles include efficiency, predictability, calculability (or an emphasis on quantification), and control (especially via non-human technologies). Taken together, they constitute the formal (functional or instrumental) rationality that undergirds McDonaldization. In the present work, Ritzer continues to sound the alarm by depicting McDonaldization as "a largely one-way process in which a series of American innovations are being aggressively exported to much of the rest of the world" (8).
At the end of chapter six, George Ritzer lists suggestions for those of us who wish to combat McDonaldization, a term he coined himelf, and the topic of this essay. Ritzer warns the reader to not fall victim to the, “mindless trap,”(Ritzer 158) of Mcdonalized systems. He writes that, “a major motivation behind writing this book is to alert reader to the dangers of McDonaldization and to motivate them to act to stem its tide”(Ritzer 161). Despite McDonaldizations great momentum, natural limits and personal interests provide barriers to it. Ritzer feels that the struggle itself, to combat Mcdonaldization, is ennobling. In this essay I will attempt to accomplish three objectives. First, I will relate Ritzers study to max weber’s theory of rationalization. Second, I will describe the
McDonaldization is the process in which the principles of popular fast food companies such as McDonald’s are appearing throughout the world in many aspects of our modern society. As McDonaldization sweeps across the globe, The authors of McDonaldization Revisited argue that “‘Americanisation’ is so often a synonym for cultural decline” (Alfino, Caputo, & Wynyard , 1998, p. 8). George Ritzer claims that this is due to the rationalization of society as McDonaldization is meant to signify the optimal fusion of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control (Ritzer, 2011). The intricacies of the human touch are utterly eliminated from this process, and what is left is an uninviting, cold, and unforgiving concept. When the novelty of something so foreign and American wears off, adaptation is needed to sustain one’s position in other countries. One research design type that researchers might utilize to view McDonaldization would be observation of the adaptation and cultural assimilation across different parts the world. This can be measured with ethnographies, the systematic study of the customs of people and cultures.
Author Michael Schuman said it best, “Globalization is very much alive and well.” He would be correct in this assumption, as many countries are accepting the western cultural influence as their own. As the authors, Foer and Appaih, strive to identify globalization with single references, as they lacks the overall annotation; globalism, and its unstoppable force. Appiah’s meaning for globalization is more specific than Schumans and on a personal, family, and religious level with acceptance and how others perceive them. Appiah’s approach to globalism is perception based, outside of what his family beliefs are and what is dissimilar by other cultures with no appeal to influence. Foer on the other hand, perceives globalization culture as it is observed through sports, specifically soccer, family influence, and other means to preserve globalization change as Americans and non Americans in the United states, with no mention of outside countries original or future influence. As each author sees the world of globalization in their own way, they actually compliment each other on there reasonings to sustain from globalization, more so by Foer. Each author relates on a personal and culture opinion, as they have clearly defined there theories on globalization and the approach. Seeing the world as these authors do, much is lost in regards to originality and freedom, more-so, with ones desires to change without external influence. In as much as the majority of the jobs are leaving America, and our economy is in shambles, it does not mean that the western influence of globalization has stalled or in decline; this just goes to she that it is stronger than ever, by means of expansion outside of America to more sparsely populated areas of undevelop...
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The book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley focuses on a society based on the ideals of Henry Ford, but also, the conditioning brought on by psychology. Psychology is the study of the brain and its functions, especially when it is associated with behavior. This society uses psychological conditioning and their studies of the mind to control their people. With this control they gain a hold upon the society’s mindset of what their psychological behavior should be. One can then assume the Brave New World society to be dependent upon psychology for it to retain the control and stability it wants to achieve.
The American life has been transformed by the fast food industry not just changing the American diet but also the culture, workplace, economy, and the landscape. “Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-mainly fast food restaurants.” (Schlosser) This could be due to the fact that about two-thirds of working women are mothers. The impact of fast food on the American culture is transparent when just looking at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become the world’s most famous brand; the golden arches are more known than the Christian cross. “A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald.” (Schlosser) McDonald’s is responsible for 90 percent of new jobs in The United States. The landscape has changed due to the fast food ...
A world without the Big Mac, Happy Meals, Chicken McNuggets, and the phrase “I’m lovin’ it,” is almost inconceivable. People around the globe have become accustomed to the high gleaming golden arches that make up the famous emblem for McDonald’s. McDonald’s has grasped the concept that culture flows from power. In this case, the American culture flows through the veins of this fast-food giant and the more that is supplied, the greater the demand. It is no secret that McDonald’s has become one of the world’s largest fast-food retailers. It has become a well known icon that has played a huge part in globalization, with chains located in many different countries… transforming the meaning of fast-food all around the world.
James Watson’s McDonald’s in Hong Kong is a textbook example of globalization. According to Webster’s dictionary, globalization is defined as “worldwide integration and development”. In McDonald’s in Hong Kong, Watson discusses a well-known and successful American fast food chain migrating over seas and embedding itself in the Hong Kong culture. Although Hong Kong was already recognized as an extremely transnational civilization, there were worries that the country would lose cultural identity. The fears were that Hong Kong would become more Americanized and lessen their ties to the Cantonese ways.
Science Initiative Group Institute for Advanced Study, 2007, Globalization: Trends and Prospects, Available from: http://sig.ias.edu/files/Egwang-_Welcome.pdf
In this essay I will give a detailed explanation of what sociologists mean by the term ‘globalisation’ and how they have tried to explain it.
Globalisation can take on many different shapes and forms in its free flow of goods and services across national borders. Cultural globalisation is one of those forms. Capcioglu (2008) refers to cultural globalisation as a “Global circulation of information, signs and symbols on a global scale and the reactions shown to the various socio-cultural transformations as a result of these conflicts.” Ritzer and Barber (1996) first coined cultural globalisation as ‘Americanisation’ and ‘McDonaldisation’, referring to the spread of western culture from the United States across the globe. The American image was beamed around the globe in the 1950’s and 1960’s through Disney cartoons, music videos, television programs, Hollywood movies and products such as McDonalds and Coca Cola. The global appeal of these goods and services was centred on the fact that America is seen as the place of modernity around the world. It is a culture that is rich, powerful and exciting and thus captures global appeal.
The future of psychology is getting more and more precise. For instance advance science, understanding how the brain functions and the nerve system, scientific advance in genetics and gene therapy, will let psychologists to prevent any disorders rather than other treatment.
Globalisation is a phenomenon that has led to abundant connections between cultures and people, which has in turn stimulated the reception and the export of all types of artistic and cultural features. It was commonly believed that these cultural flows were simply a form of imperialism and domination by the Western world over the non-West. Nevertheless, as Chris Barker states in Cultural Studies, “Globalization is not constituted by a monolithic one-way flow from 'the west to the rest'” (163). In many cases, the West becomes the target of this flux of exchange, and it is influenced by the ideas and perceptions that are imported from other parts of the world. Some