Shared and Non-Shared Events

Events, using a psychological approach, could either be shared or non-shared. Based on the denotation of shared and the non, one might have a pretty good idea of what the terms actually mean. One thing is for sure, though; apparently, not all events can be shared, which somehow contradicts one connotation of the word event. At any rate, this paper would define and differentiate shared and non-shared events as much as the author knows it. Shared Events

In order to understand what the term means without the use of complex psychology books, we should make do with just the bare words themselves defined separately: Shared is the past tense of share, which means to allow joint access to a particular thing or concept. Anything can practically be shared—even personal things, if it is within one’s hygienic tolerance. An event, meanwhile, is anything happening. So, combining the two definitions, we would get anything happening that is experienced by not just a single person—therefore, our bare definition of a shared event is formed.

Adding the subject of psychology, a shared event is something that is experienced by all parties involved, but its significance impacts those of not just by one person but all those involved in the event. Non-Shared Events Since the definition of shared events is already established, we only need to define the word non in order to get our full definition of a non-shared event. The word non is an adverb that signifies that the word following it should be regarded as the contrary.

Therefore a non-shared event is exactly the opposite of a shared event, which brings us to a definition of anything happening that is experienced by just a single person. Again, from a psychological perspective, we get “something happening, whose impact only affects one individual. Examples of Shared Events There are many examples of a shared event. A good and timely example is none other than the current economic crisis. Is it an event? Check. Does it affect those involved? Check.

The current economic crisis, call it recession if you must, is definitely a shared event, not only because it is an event (a big one at that), but also because virtually everybody is affected. Employees are either losing jobs or losing benefits, investors are losing their business, and families are giving up their homes. Another example of a shared event is a regional disaster—they could either be natural disasters or man-made. Hurricanes, earthquakes, forest fires, and floods are just some of examples of regional disasters that are shared by everyone who happened to be in the area where it took place.

Election is another shared event that impacts the population, as the outcome of an election could determine the future of a nation. Examples of Non-Shared Events There are also a number of examples for non-shared events. A person who gets himself or herself into an accident alone is one example. However, if that person is the provider for a family, his or her accident can be considered as a shared event, as that person’s accident would cause his or her family to be affected financially by the accident.

The same it true with a person who gets sick. If he lives alone or if his inactivity does not affect the welfare of the family, his sickness would be considered a non-shared event. Otherwise, it is a shared event. Relationship events outside of the family is also an example of a non-shared event—other family members do not necessarily have to get involved in relationship matters outside of their circle (Eley & Stevenson, 2000).