Blog #10
Based on my initial expectations for this course, I feel as though my experience could have been improved through an actual classroom environment. I mentioned in my initial blog post that I looked forward to collaborating with classmates and sharing or gathering the opinions of others, which I did not have the opportunity to do as this was an online course. With that being said, I did in fact have the chance to talk to other people outside of this course for certain assignments. The course objectives I feel that I have achieved and then some are the last two regarding the factors which influence our liking and formation of relationships and making connections between this course and other sources or our personal life. My attitude about Social Psychology has not really changed, maybe it has deepened based on developing a better understanding of this course and its application. If I took this class again, I think I would have made an alarm to remind me actually submit my blog through Blackboard. I think over the last few months, I started to hold myself accountable for the assignments I had each week. I truly stuck to the schedule that I made for myself considering the hours I worked and those which I could put aside to complete my school work as well. I also found myself putting a lot of time and effort into topics that piqued my interests. Although this was a challenge, I think one skill I gained from this course was finding a visual representative that coordinates with my blog posts. It was definitely hard at times and some images were better than others but it helped implement another media mode into my blog.
Blog #9
During the development of my e-Portfolio, it is clear that there was an increase in not only interest but relevancy between the topics of this course and many daily life experiences. I noticed that while learning new concepts, it would always circle around to how the topics would relate to my own personal connections and identity. The top three things that left a lasting impact would be the fluidity of one’s self image based on their social environment, influence of socioeconomic status regarding public attitude, and differences in prioritizing components of love. In Assignment Takeaway 2 and Weekly Blog 2, there was an abundance of self reflection. Both allowed me to dig a little deeper into myself and made me realize the importance of introspection. My self-efficacy results were easily influenced by the academic environment I was used to. These assignments allowed me to better understand the significant of situational factors and its influence on my behavior and identity. Another concept that I found to be interesting was the impact of socioeconomic status on public opinion. In Assignment Takeaway 3, I mentioned the significance a platform could hold and what it means to take use or abuse it. Similarly, in Blog 6, I highlight Beyoncé’s inclusion of a speech which promotes feminism as well as brands which choose to promote unrealistic body images for women. I felt like these assignments has similarities stemming from the concept of prejudice as they both highlight racism and sexism. In Assignment Takeaway 4, I referred to the components and types of love which guide the desired characteristics within a relationship. Blog 8 dives deeper into sexual conflicts and elaborate on each gender’s likes and dislikes in a partner. Both touched on the various aspects of love and priorities within relationships. Throughout this course, I was able to integrate and apply many concepts into my lifespan development course. The concept of attraction and its factors was covered in both courses. However, in development, we apply the factors during a specific timeframe. For example, we discussed the roles proximity, similarity, and reciprocity play within friendship. In the lens of development, friendship is also outlined in stages categorized by age group.
Blog #8
Upon reading the attached article regarding human mating, I came to a realization that there was an actual sequence or timeline of when these differences are prevalent. Even though these sexual conflict differences were familiar, it failed to occur to me that the reason for such polarity resulted from predisposed genes for each sex. I thought it was particular interesting when the article mentioned the differences in prioritizing emotional involvement. I feel like especially during adolescence men tend to misinform on how much they are willing to invest or commit into a relationship, mostly overestimating their involvement. I can also immediately picture situations in which women tend to use more sexual signals with the intention of less sexual involvement. I personally believe this is due to the technology barrier, as women get more confidence or courage to change their personas and interests to better fit that of a sexually interested male.
I feel like the biggest thing men do to upset women is either lie or fail to be attentive. Personally, I hate lying with a passion and have a very low tolerance for it. Women also seek to have comfortable and open communication with men. Sometimes, a man may persistently feign a tough and masculine exterior which leads them to hide their true emotions and irritate a woman. It would be more beneficial to share those feelings and thoughts as whether we are a man or woman, we are still human and experience such emotions. Another thing that a man may do to upset a woman is not providing enough affection or as much attention as trivial things like video games is also very upsetting.
Often times, I feel that women upset men especially when they confide with other women like close friends about situation pertaining to their relationship. Based on the conversations I have had with guy friends, their main concern is the lack of one-on-one communication. Most times they have voiced that in order for an issue to be resolved, there should be a thorough and intimate conversation rather than seeking the advice of friends and oversharing private details within the relationship. Adding on to the topic of lack of communication, a common instance where a woman can upset or irritate a man is when a woman says that she does not know what she wants when in fact she has something in mind. I hear this happening way too often especially when a man asks a woman to choose where to eat and she says she is not sure but in reality she has a place in mind and wants him to read her mind.
Blog #7
The ability to self-regulate works hand in hand with emotional intelligence. In order to achieve a higher emotional intelligence, it requires an active attention, effort, and purposeful control over present feelings. Every human has innate instinct and function to respond or react in a primal manner, how an individual actively chooses to control their emotions can change that instinct. Personally, I dictate my emotional intelligence based on how in tune or aware I am with my emotions and what I decisions I make because of those feelings. I normally keep track of my EQ through video diaries, and as weird as it sounds, it helps. I don’t record a video every single day but throughout the week, I try to take a minute usually either at the beginning or end of the day to say my thoughts and feelings out loud and look back on later.
This is a screenshot of results with a tie in my highest scores for both social-awareness and relationship management meaning that I am proficient in understanding the perspective of other individuals and creating a lasting relationship with others.
Blog #6
Throughout this Ted Talk, I found myself nodding my head along to Jean Kilbourne’s words as this is the only way I have ever been taught to think of my body, as a product to sell. None of the concepts of degrading a women’s body surprised me not one bit. It has been a reality to myself in many other females since we began to notice our bodies changing and evolving during puberty. The expectations and standards of the ideal woman has always been based off her physique rather than what a woman is able to offer regardless of physical characteristics such as weight, height, skin color, and facial features. I find that especially in this day and age with a constant stream of visuals being circulated through social media, that it is rather difficult to pretend that the ideal standard does not have an effect on women. The latest trend in order to be attractive on social media is to have an hourglass figure. It is possible that this characteristic may come upon naturally to some. However, others feel the need to alter their body in ways beyond exercise and dieting, and result in plastic surgery in order to attain the same figure. This type of standard for a women to only look visually appealing takes away from the power that women truthfully possess. It hinders a women’s ability to showcase themselves as a man’s equal when women are taught that without a perfect body, they are nothing but a mere object. Kilbourne mentioned Beyoncé in the video and it reminded me of one of her most famous songs, Flawless. In the middle of her song, Beyoncé included a snippet of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech called “We Should All Be Feminists.”, which states the following:
We teach girls to shrink themselves
To make themselves smaller
We say to girls
“You can have ambition
But not too much
You should aim to be successful
But not too successful
Otherwise you will threaten the man”
Blog #5
This is SkincarebyHyram’s most recent TikTok video about product alternatives if CeraVe did not work for your skin. It represents a credible source because he bases his reasoning on the ingredient lists of each product. Although his title of “skincare specialist” does not equate to that of a licensed dermatologist, he promotes products based on what the ingredients are and whether or not they can improve or damage the quality of his viewers’ skin.
As many people already know this is Kylie Jenner who is the Founder and Owner of Kylie Cosmetics and the world’s youngest “self- made” billionaire. She often promotes her products such as Kylie Lip kits, Kyliner, Kylighters, and skincare brand Kylie Skin. Some of her Instagram posts also include the promotion of products from her company which makes her a non credible source as it is done for her benefit.
The most famous K-pop group, BTS is showcased as the new model of Hyundai. More specifically, this picture shows them advertising a Hyundai Palisade. This source is attractive in more ways than one because they bring in hundreds of thousands of tourists and are worth over $3.6 billion a year to South Korea.
Blog #4
Upon reading the Study Tips document, I definitely practiced most of the strategies mentioned. Every week, I created a list of assignment due that week alongside the due date and have a post-it note on my laptop with things I should complete each day in order to meet all deadlines. When it comes to taking notes for each chapter, I found that it would be better to read and write down things that either take time processing or surround an important concept. In preparation for this exam, I reviewed the materials within the span of three days to avoid cramming and procrastination. Based on my exam result, my efforts paid off and I will continue to implement this strategy in the future.
Blog #3
I like to believe that my friendships and the connections that I make with people have a soundtrack. Especially overtime, I start to realize that there is different genres of music that I associate which each person in my life. Even though the music and people vary the constant variable ends up being me. Based on what artists we listen to, it becomes easier to develop a stronger bond. Personally, I always make sure there is music on in the car playing through my phone and that is an essential part of the time I spend with my friends. Most nights, we just sit in the car with some music on and talk about any and everything that comes to mind. These moments are memories that will strengthen our relationship and last a lifetime. Even the people who I no longer spend time with or associate with anymore still linger in my mind when certain songs play.
Something that reminds me to keep going 
To my best friend Maya 
To my little brother Aidan 
To my Mum 
To myself 
To Jaeda, my best friend
Blog #2
I am the kind of student who will stress everyday about her assignments even though I know I can complete all of them when choose to finally sit down and make time to do so. Everyone procrastinates at some point in their lives right? We all know we could finish everything in a couple hours rather than stressing everyday and putting it off until the very last minute. I hate to admit it but I like the pressure. I feel more motivated when I have a tight deadline. At the same time, I consistently find myself creating daily and weekly to do lists on sticky notes and placing them all around the house, just to stress myself out even more.
This year I am nowhere near as confident as I should be academically. I am beyond anxious for what this semester holds and what I can offer. Currently, I work and attend college full time so managing a tight schedule while meeting deadlines always has me on edge. On the exterior, I may seem calm but my mind is running a hundred different directions. The main thing I want to improve is accomplishing the goals I set for myself everyday. It gets harder for me to not put off things on my checklist after a long shift at work. The thing is I make a daily list of assignments or tasks in order to pace myself and avoid an overload of work to complete at the very last minute. However, the list never gets done due to my lack in motivation. I am well aware that it would better for me mentally to finish my work over the course of the week. On the other hand, I also am aware that I can complete everything as soon as I sit down and decide to do it.
Based on my self-efficacy results, I received a score of 29, which is relatively high. As I mentioned previously, it is definitely not easy for me to stick to my any goals I set for myself. Also, it is clear that I lack drive and courage to stand up for my values or if I feel like I disagree with someone. I also make up for that by keeping up my composure. I know what I am capable of and the workload that I can manage. However, sometimes I fail at holding myself accountable and taking a little bit of time daily to check off one assignment at a time. I hope that after this reflection I can pull myself together and put my words into action this semester.
I am always doing my school work everywhere at any and every time of day. The first two are from my first year at VCU and the last image is me today at work!
Blog #1
Based on the course objectives, I hope to be able to fully process social situations in a more effective manner after this course. In a sense, the very basic principle of “thinking before you speak”. I feel like most times many people including myself are guilty of making snap judgements of others based on a surface level perception of their behaviors and attitudes. This is really relevant right now more than ever as we start to see a re-emergence of a movement. I think looking at this in a new light will help myself and others defend and reinforce the idea that prejudice should not be present in a fight involving basic human rights. I hope to have more opportunities to discuss relevant topics surrounding prejudice with classmates throughout this course. As far as strategies to ensure success, I intend to continue setting aside time for this course and pace the workload so that it can be completed in a timely manner instead of procrastinating to the last minute. Something that helps manage my time wisely is having a list of assignment due dates weekly on my desk.
Not my best work, but this is a meme about Facial Feedback Hypothesis. I chose this image and concept because I tend to smile a lot more at work with customers than I do at home whilst doing schoolwork so most times I feel like my happiness is higher when interacting with people rather than just staring at a computer screen.