Blog Ten

The expectations I had for this class were not only met but exceeded. Not only did I learn about relationships and social interactions, but I learned about a host of other things including but not limited to emotional intelligence, self-regulation, prejudice, stereotypes, behaviors, social dilemmas, and subjective happiness. I feel as though I have achieved the objectives of this course. Particularly, I am able to understand perception, attitude formation and changes, prejudice and discrimination as well as ways to test hypotheses. I love learning about every aspect of psychology, and Social Psychology plays such a huge role in my day-to-day interactions. My attitude towards social psychology has always been very positive because of the value I place in this branch of psychology. I believe it is extremely important to understand the whys and hows behind social interactions. It enhances my level of understanding for others.

If I took this course again, I would ask for help earlier in the semester. Asking for help is something that plagues me with anxiety even if it is impossible for me to carry the load by myself. I just try until I cannot handle it anymore and give up or am not physically able to do it any longer. I wish that I would have been able to complete this course with the rest of my classmates, and if I could do it again, I would have been more communicative with the professor to come up with a solution before I got in too over my head. I believe this stems from bad experiences of being rejected when I truly need help, so I am super appreciative when people are willing to go an extra step to help me. I usually am the person that helps others, so it feels good to know that sometimes other people will be willing to help me if I ask. This is one skill that I gained from this course. Sometimes, I am still afraid to be vulnerable and ask for help, but this class has taught me that it is okay to try anyway. I will not know unless I ask. A way that I have grown academically over the last few months is that I feel rejuvenated with my work. I changed my major to Psychology instead of having it as a minor. Since then, I made dean’s list over the Summer and feel way more encouraged. After completing this semester (Fall 2022) and this incomplete class, I will only need 13 credits to graduate. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is so exciting.

I chose to include this image because I feel as if though furthering my education is a journey. There are so many things that I can learn that will enable me to become more well-rounded. This picture relates to my post because when I started this class, I felt like I was at the bottom of the hill with the setbacks I was experiencing. It very well was one of the hardest times of my life. Now, I am looking at the journey with optimism, and I am on a journey going upwards.

Blog Nine

One of the top three things that I have learned in this course is that the more social groups a person is involved in, the happier they will be, and in turn, they will live longer. I also learned about this in Psychology of Sex class. Having meaningful and happy relationships lessens a person’s allostatic load. In my Health Psychology as well as Psychology of Adulthood and Aging class, I learned about the effects that stress has on the body when excessive amounts of cortisol are released. In each of these classes, it was reinforced that healthy and happy relationships can assist in the maintenance of a person’s health.

Another top thing I learned in this class is that people are more prone to only posting positive attributes about themselves on social media. People like to display the most favorable experiences as well as characteristics. This fact kind of surprised me because I often see people posting negative experiences. Personally, I like to post joyful things on social media or not post at all. When I post negative things such as negative feelings, I usually delete them quickly.

The third top subject I learned about in this class is how women are the subject of distortion and dehumanization from people who create ads. One thing I love about psychology is that it always verifies and explains real world problems or situations. Although it seems like women are constantly sexualized by television, it was interesting to learn that this a common acknowledgment.

My Top Artifact 1 related to my blog three. In my Top Artifact 1, I wrote about the statement that “similarity leads to attraction.” the research that I conducted did not coincide with this statement. The majority of my interviewees felt as though they did not desire partners that were similar to them. They rather have someone with different characteristics so together they could have a wide array of favorable characteristics and add to what each other does not have. In blog three, I wrote about how in fact similar music tastes is a topic that can cause attraction between two people. In my personal life, I do believe that music has caused attraction in relationships. That is definitely one similarity that leads to attraction.

In Module 8, the item to archive was in relation to racial stereotypes. Some of these stereotypes were dehumanizing such as being hostile, cruel, ignorant, shrewd, and sly. In Psychology of Criminal Behavior, I just wrote a paper on how people are often dehumanized based on the color of their skin. Dehumanization can be defined in different degrees, but overall, it is when a human is seen as some amount lesser of a human being than others. The aforementioned stereotypes we discussed in Module 8 fell under this category.

Blog Eight

There were quite of few things that stood out to me in the mating article. The most surprising thing is the percentage of men who admitted to lying to a woman in order to have sex with them. Seventy-one percent is such a large amount, and that is only the percentage of men who admitted to doing it. I would like to know how this data was collected in order to judge the chances of men telling the truth about doing this. I am twenty-three years old, and I was hoping that men would eventually grow out of this trait. It would be extremely interesting to know the age range of men that were interviewed and if they still employ this technique. I was also surprised that 39% of women lie to men with an end goal of having sex. I tried so hard to think of some examples of how this could be done. It seems like they are more characteristics men could lie about to have sex with a woman than characteristics women could lie about to have sex with men. I say this because it seems as though generally women are initially attracted to what assets a man can offer. He might lie about his job, amount of income, or his living arrangements. Men seem to initially be attracted to a woman or her physical attributes. There is no way a woman can really lie about her appearance unless the conversation is not conducted in person. Now that I am thinking about it in this way, maybe women lie about the things they believe a specific man might appeal to including their physical traits and sexual desires/characteristics before meeting a man.

I also found it interesting that emotional infidelity versus sexual infidelity is discussed in the mating article. I have often heard people say that when women cheat it is to satisfy emotional needs while a man cheats to satisfy sexual needs. I do not agree with this. I believe this, just like many other topics, is dependent upon the person. Some women cheat to satisfy sexual needs just as a man could cheat to satisfy emotional needs.

Some ways that a man can upset woman is by being inconsiderate in everyday as well as sexual actions, not complimenting her, not changing his behaviors when she expresses how she feels about something, and not taking initiative. Some things a woman can do to make a man upset are as follows: not have sex as often as he likes, wearing skimpy clothing in public, communicating with men he is not familiar with, and not clearly expressing things that bother her but just expecting him to read her mind.

Blog Seven

Emotional Intelligence means that it is substantial to be aware of all of our emotions. When people are aware of their emotions, they are able to decide how they react and how to express feelings. Self-Regulation means that one is able to control their emotions and responses to situations and others. Having healthy self-regulation inhibits how one chooses to respond when dealt with strong emotion. It benefits in expressing emotions, but it matters on how one expresses them. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is important because it helps one build stronger relationships, achieve career and personal goals, and succeed at work and school. It can also help one connect with their feelings, change intention to actions, and to construct informed decisions about what matters most to one. One of the ways I display EQ is when writing my resume. I provide examples of social skills and relationship management. However, in order for me to impress potential employers or be considered for the position/improve EQ – I add keywords and skill sets to showcase my emotional intelligence. 

Blog Six

I feel as if this TED Talk should be shown in High Schools for all teenagers. I really liked how this video touched on the subject of women of color and the backlash of their bodies being seen as objects and not actually seen as people. This group is indeed being oppressed within gender groups. This video also talks about sexualization. Sexualization has become very open in today’s society – Ads, media, and tv are oversexualizing women and even men. This TED talk really got its point across and highlighted the issues with ads and media culture and how it needs to be altered. It brings extreme awareness of the objectifications of women and the negative effects it has on girls and women throughout the world. 

Gender representation nowadays include women being seen as objects, men being seen as aggressors, and children being oversexualized. Women are being shown in ads in provocative clothing hoping to promote “sex appeal”. This increases viewpoints to treat women as the objects they are seen as vs. actual people. Men are being shown as aggressors in ads and are shown as overly dominant which increases viewpoints that men are greater than women. Children are being shown in ads that are inappropriate and often mimic what grown-ups are doing and not what children are supposed to be doing. This TED talk expresses the fact that this gender representation has been happening for years being that this talk was created over 8 years ago and that awareness needs to be brought about more. 

1. This ad emphasizes how women are being portrayed as objects and fantasies. It’s relevance to the TED talk is consistent with the fact that women are being seen in ads in revealing clothing and are being advertised for sex appeal.

2. This ad emphasizes how men are always made out to be the aggressor in ads, when men can also be gentle and nurturing. Its relevance to the TED talk is that men are not always aggressors and can be caring. 

3. This ad emphasizes how women are portrayed to be gentle and lady-like, but once they show some form of dominance– they are viewed as mean, cocky, or cruel. In contrast, when men show dominance they are viewed as “the man” or as “important.”

4. This ad emphasizes how children are being oversexualized in the media. Its relevance to the TED talk is that sexualization begins as children. Even with children’s toys– we see dolls with revealing clothing and dolls aimed at the child being “the parent” of the doll (eg. baby alives). This decreases the chances of children being children and causes the child to act in a more adult-like manner.

5. This ad advertises that men are seen as more dominant and has better benefits than women in some aspects. Its relevance to the TED talk is that for many years men are being seen as the “breadwinners” as women are seen as the ones assisting the men or being in a relationship with men for money.

Blog Five

This ad is an example of a credible source because it was issued by the CDC. This is important because the CDC does extensive amounts of research on diseases as well as medicine. They are experts in the field of medicine and are commonly trusted when it comes to advice on illnesses.

This ad is an example of a noncredible source because the people who own Crest toothpaste depend on the sales of their products to be successful. They have something at stake. If a dentist posted an ad like this, it would credible because they are experts in the oral field, but Crest will advertise their products in the most appealing way to ensure that they sell. One of my family members used to work at Proctor & Gamble, which is a factory that makes Crest toothpaste, and when they advertise things such as Crest with Charcoal, there is only enough charcoal to turn the toothpaste black. The amount of charcoal is not enough to actually brighten anyone’s smile.

This is an example of an attractive ad because even though they are only advertising eye makeup, the model has on a full face of makeup. This enhances the product that is being sold. The picture is taken at an attractive angle. Also, something interesting about this ad in particular is the name of the product: “bedroom eyes.” This will appeal to women who believe this eyeliner will increase their sex appeal. I do find this source effective because the way they are advertising the makeup is esthetically pleasing.

Blog Four

After completing Exam One, I was able to immediately see the feedback from my test. I appreciate when tests are setup in this format because it is helpful to review the missed questions while they are still fresh on my mind. That way, I can remember if I chose the wrong answer on an accident or if I truly couldn’t recall the information. In the case of the miss questions on Exam One, I simply could not recall the information to the questions I missed. To prepare for Exam One, I copied the notes from the PowerPoints into my notebook. From there, I read the correlating chapters in the textbook and expanded on the topics from the PowerPoint. After reviewing my test results, I realized that if I studied the review sheet more the week before the test, I could have retained more information.

Blog Three

In the article, “Soul Meets Body,” I learned that social attraction caused by music is affected by values. More specifically, people generally believe that when someone has the same music taste as themselves, they have shared values. This in turn leads to that social attraction. It could seem as though when people have similar tastes in music, they have shared personality traits. This is not usually the case. I do believe this is very true. I have friends who enjoy the same genres of music as me but have drastically different personalities than myself. This is the same with my romantic partner, we enjoy the same types of music, but our personalities are mostly different. With my friends as well as my partner, we do indeed share common values. Some of these values include tradition, honesty, and kindness.

There are songs that I associate with the key people and events in my life for different reasons. First, The song “Everything” by Mary J. Blige reminds me of my son. Ever since I found out I was pregnant with him, my life has completely changed. Every choice that I make is centered around him. He gives me motivation to fight when I do not have anything left. He is quite literally my everything. Even when I am able to spend twenty-four hours with him, it is not enough. Secondly, the song “Where is the Love” by The Black Eyed Peas reminds me of my mom. When I was young, we would ride around blasting this song and singing it to the tops of our lungs. We are both very empathetic, and this song is a representation of this for us. The song discusses issues in the world and why people are not sensitive and courteous to the people that endure these tragedies. Next, the song “Do 4 Love” by Snoh Aalegra is a song I associate with my little sister. This song talks about searching deep inside to find true love but being willing to do almost anything for the people the artist loves. This is an exact depiction of my sister and me. We try our best to satisfy the people we love even if it is at the sake of ourselves. Old Town Road is a song that I associate with both of my nephews. I grew up in a rural setting, and they are also growing up in a rural setting. This song is a fun representation of that environmental factor with a hip-hop spin.

I would also like to discuss a song that I associate with the life changing event of having my son: “Mama’s Hand” by Queen Naija. The song opens up by saying, “When I first laid eyes on you, and I heard your heartbeat too: Oh I never knew I could witness an angel so beautiful. From the very moment you arrived, I felt something new inside. I developed a love that was so unconditional.” This song is the epitome of the feelings I have for my son. It never resonated with me so deeply until I became a mother. I sang this song to him every morning and night for the first two weeks of his life and just cried because I was so amazed with how perfectly I see him to be. I know that I will always be on his side no matter what, and I cannot express how much I love him. Lastly, a song that describes my outlook on life is “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack. I interpret this song to mean that no matter what, always choose to tackle life with great ambition. This song means so much to me. I really love the lyric that says “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.” To me, this song is advising to be fearless, bold, committed, positive, and ambitious but remember that you are still a small part of a big world.

Blog Two

“What kind of student am I?” Now this, this is an interesting question to reflect on. I would say, I am the kind of student that is going to work hard. I can be honest, being in college while working full time has never been easy and rarely has been fun. Rewarding? Absolutely.
Throughout my college experience, I have found it crucial to have a planner. There are pros and cons to this, but having a planner helps me to ensure that I complete items by the due date and alleviate anxiety I have concerning task completion. As a student, my level of confidence is not so high. Retaining such large amounts of information in short periods of time are difficult for me. Failing one exam, quiz, or even an assignment instills a sense of failure especially after studying to succeed on that task. I believe one factor that would definitely help me improve my confidence concerning school tasks would be having better time management skills. I often feel burnt out after work and procrastinate about completing my studies. Although it is not ideal, it is my current situation, and I must work to provide for myself. Irregardless, better time management skills would assist in my confidence because I would have more time to learn the information.
My self-efficacy results fell exactly at the mean score of different populations: 2.9. While completing this questionnaire, I often thought about experiences relating to tasks outside of school. I believe this is why my score was semi-high. When I compare this to my task accomplishments for school, I believe this score is high. I am not exactly confident when it comes to successfully completing school tasks.

General Self-Efficacy Results

Blog One

Our first objective is to outline the procedures social psychologists use to test hypotheses about the behavior of individuals and of groups. In my opinion, a significant component of psychology is research. Being able to understand how social psychologists test hypotheses is setting the basis to be able to conduct one’s own research. Secondly, we should be able to discuss the processes through which people perceive and attempt to understand others. This is important to me because the first component of any social interaction is perception. This may be incidental or not, but the impressions people leave on each other are important. Understanding the people you have social interactions with can assist in business relationships as well as personal. Our next object is to understand how attitudes are formed and changed, and how they are related to behavior. This is important to me because it aids in my career path. When working with adults and children with developmental and intellectual disabilities, it is important to be empathetic and understand how feelings and attitudes relate to displayed behaviors. We should be able to discuss the origins and effects of prejudice and discrimination, as well as the factors that influence our liking for other individuals and that lead to the formation of close relationships. I believe this is a valuable skill to possess socially to engage in informed conversation and professionally to engage with coworkers, managers, etc with empathy and awareness. Our last objective is to be able to make connections, or integrate learning, between courses and to outside experiences. I believe this sums up the overall importance of our other objectives. This class will enable us to make real world connections to something we experience all the time: social interactions! 

In this class, I expect to learn how different groups, experiences, and processes affect a person’s perception, empathy, attitudes, and relationships. I hope to learn the technical aspects of social interactions. I want to learn why and how people are affected by other people and how this is reflected in their behaviors. I am also interested in learning about the origins and effects of prejudice. To ensure my success in this class, I plan to organize and track my due dates in an agenda. In this agenda, I will also plan weekly studying and reading goals. I will utilize the PowerPoints, supplementary materials, as well as my textbook to study the topics presented to us. I will stay in engaged using my ePortfolio and discussion boards as well.

Social Relationships are important! We learned in Chapter One, the more groups a person belongs to then the longer they will live!