Archive for year: 2014

In this episode of Survivor a lot happened. To start the blue tribe had their first tribal meeting where they kicked John from the group. This was very ironic in this case because John was the one in the first place to force his tribe into having a tribal meeting by throwing off the previous challenge from the previous episode so he could attempt to convince the group members into siding with him to kick members from the tribe that he felt threatened his chances of continuing farther into the show. In this current episode the yellow tribe was speculating who was kicked from the blue tribe before they got together with the other tribe to meet that day. When they found out that John was the one kicked from the blue tribe they seemed to be all surprised. This was because they felt that John was the biggest asset in their tribe and it appeared to them that John would have been the last person to have been kicked. This to me is an example of listening in groups because since the yellow tribe had no idea what was going on in the blue tribe that it would be hard for them to speculate and or know why John was the one who was kicked. They thought John was their biggest asset but they would not truly know unless if they were on the blue tribe and understood from their perspective what John was really like.

Then next that was interesting was that the show leader decided to have the two tribes throw in their colors and call for a tribe rebuild. When I say this i mean that the two tribes were not tribes and the members from both groups were reassigned. I kind of expected that this may happen because since the yellow tribe was as down as they were on tribe members vs. the blue tribe. Also with the advantage the blue tribe had with wining the challenges and the yellow tribe only winning one. What I found interesting as well was how the two tribes seemed to be reluctant with the idea of being reassigned even if it meant being pared with their loved ones. I believe they felt this way because they were already getting to know their tribes as well as they were and the two tribes had their own way of doing things that by having the tribe members reassigned that it meant restructuring the tribes.

Listening is the Key!!

In episode 5 the game changes and  members of each team got moved around and new teams are made up. They are sent away to get to know each other because this is just like starting at the beginning of the show. I think this is an import listening stage because they need to get to know who they are now working with  and what they are going to do in order to win the next immunity challenge.

In Coyopa listening  starts of with Jacklyn and her boyfriend they are reunited with the swap and are now on the same tribe, I believe that its easier to listen when you are interested in the person who is talking. Jacklyn and her boyfriend catch up on lost time and they have a strong relationship that everyone is noticing.

Later  mother and daughter are making rice but the elderly man gets mad because he says that they are making too much of it and so his daughter steps in to talk to him because he sees him getting frustrated about the situation.  She tells him that he should not come off rude if he says something because that could cause him later on to be voted off the team for something so simple as “fighting over the rice”. He seems to just be hearing her and not listening to her because he come off so negative and just saying how he views the situation and how he sees it wrong of her to just come in and try to do whatever she wants. Lets just home he listens to his daughters advice and learns how to communicate well enough to where not so much conflict is brought up to the team.

In episode 5 of Survivor, the Coyopa and Hunahpuh tribes were split, separating everyone into new tribes with new members. This split forced the participants to go through the group formation process all over again. Although members on the Coyopa and Hunahpuh tribes appeared to be polite and cautious with one another in the “forming stage” toward the beginning of the episode, it soon became apparent that the storming stage was taking over. In the new Coyopa tribe, as Missy began distributing rice to the group, Dale began to make comments that she needed to ration the food rather than give out large portions as she was doing. Dale, already being a member of the Coyopa group, feared that Missy as a new member did not understand the previous rules and norms established for eating within the tribe. It appears that in response to Dale’s comments about giving out less food, that Missy was exhibiting defensive listening. Missy interpreted Dale’s comments as a personal attack on her, when in reality he was trying to make sure the group had enough food to last throughout the rest of their stay on the island. Because she focused too much on his criticisms of her actions, she was unable to listen objectively and realize the truth in Dale’s suggestions.

After the Coyopa tribe lost their first challenge as a new group, members were forced to engage and communicate with one another about how to vote at tribal council. Because Dale and Missy began having problems when the tribe first formed, John and Jacklyn were put into a difficult situation. Dale and Kelley as well as Missy and Baylor confided in John and Jacklyn to vote in their favor at tribal council as they attempted to persuade them into voting out a member from the opposite couple. When they communicated with each of the couples to identify their perspectives, it appeared they were exhibiting listening intended to interpret. John and Jacklyn specifically exhibited empathic listening in order to learn about the emotions and perspectives of the other members in the group. They met with Dale and Kelley as well as Missy and Baylor to gain a better understanding of their individual situations, feelings, and most importantly their motives in why they believed the other couple should be voted out. John and Jacklyn were also listening to evaluate when conversing with the other group members as they critically analyzed the valid points each of the couples brought up in order to persuade them. However, in the end, it was John and Jacklyn’s decision to side with Missy and Baylor as they made a smart tactical move to vote out Kelley, who they felt may be threat to them later in the competition.

In this episode, you see more lying and back stabbing. But what else is new?

Dale lies to his tribe about why they can’t vote him off but that doesn’t stop them. I think this is another great episode that relates to conflict and cohesion. No group really portrays cohesion anymore but that’s what they need with the merge happening next week. Both teams argue and secretly attack each other behind their back, causing major conflict with trust when it comes down to voting. Jeremy has it out for everyone but I guess there really is only one winner in the end.

Blue team still seems to dominate even with the new members. I’m excited to see who dominates solely with the merge.

Stay tuned!

Initially, I struggled to see how Chapter 7 would relate to the episode entitled “Blood is Blood” but, after reviewing the text again, I realized that there  are concepts that can be applied to the episode from the very beginning. As the Hunahpu tribe returned from Tribal Counsel, Jon immediately began his “apology tour”. He had been Drew’s closest and only ally and, with him gone, Jon realized that he had some major damage control to do. As Jon was apologizing, I started paying attention to the way that the different tribe members reacted to what he was saying. Interestingly, I noted that there were some definite gender differences in the listening behavior of the men and the women. The chapter states that men listen analytically whereas women tend to listen empathically. This is evident in the differing responses of Kelley and Jeremy. Kelley responded by telling Jon that he’ll ” be much better off in this tribe without [Drew]”. Kelley’s response is focused on Jon’s ability to have better relationships with other tribe members now that he is free from Drew’s bad influence. Jeremy, on the other hand, responded to Jon’s apologies with gloating. He analyzed the content of what Jon said and decided that Jon will be useful to him now as an ally.

It follows that the above example is also indicative of the different types of listening that Kelley and Jeremy used. It seems that Kelley was listening to interpret while Jeremy was listening to evaluate. In my opinion, this shows that Kelley is exhibiting a tendency toward collectivism. She cares more about what is best for the group. In contrast, Jeremy is revealing his individualistic culture and looking to forward  only himself and his personal agenda.

That being said, differences in listening can also be seen in the dealings of the Coyopa tribe. When Missy started doling out double portions of the tribe’s carefully rationed rice, Dale was very upset. Dale tried to tell Missy to use small portions but, Baylor kept encouraging her mom to make more and more. I think this example shows the way that personality differences can play into the way someone listens. Dale seems to be more of a thinker and, as such, he would have listened analytically and found the advise to be logical and sound. Missy, however, comes across as a feeler and, she cared more about the fact that her daughter was hungry then about saving food for later.

Although Dale was noticeably upset by this conflict, Kelley was able to help diffuse the situation by asking Dale to go for a walk with her. In a way, what Kelley did was essentially to encourage her dad to “listen before he leaped”. Dale had listened to what Missy said and, I would assume that he perfectly comprehended her and was upset by what he heard. He needed to take some time to adjust his reaction in order to keep the tribe from erupting into a full-blown affective conflict.