What I Have Learned In Social Psychology

 The top three things I have learned in this class so far are the different types of heuristics (my favorite is representative heuristics), distinguishing credibility and basically, realizing differences between other people and respecting these differences. Some of the concepts in my blog posts definitely spilled over to other areas such as my assignments and assignment takeaways. For instance, one assignment required us to watch a video of a man on a stage who humiliated a man based on his color and stereotypes. This concept is connected to my post on representative heuristics, where it talks about “judging a book by its cover.” Other concepts that I have learned in this class are also connected to my perception psychology class. For example, the picture above of two people debating whether the number showed is a 6 or a 9 shows that people may have different perspectives, but does not mean either one of them is wrong. As professor Bliss said: “Your perception is your reality.”

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to acknowledge one’s own feelings and others. Self-regulation is being able to stop and think before you act based on your emotions. Emotional intelligence and self-regulation are related in a way that if we know how we feel (EQ), we can take a step back take a few deep breaths in, and then maybe we can make a better decision on how to act next. Emotional intelligence, to me, means not only realizing that I have feelings and emotions, but it also means having the ability to feel empathy for others. One example I think I display emotional intelligence is when I see an old, homeless person. I feel sad for them not just “because,” but because I put myself in their shoes and realize how they might be feeling at that moment.

Jean Kilbourne’s video, Killing Us Softly III, is an eye opener. I knew before that women have always been seen as “objects” or that we play a certain role — a wife, a mother, the nurturer, soft, etc. However, one of Kilbourne’s points stood out to me and that is when we see ads that dehumanize or stereotype women, that conveys a message not only to us women but to men as well. It is as if we are sending a message that it is okay to look at women that way. I also realized that these ads actually have worked on me on so many occasions, especially when buying cosmetics or skincare products. When I see a beautiful, flawless face on a magazine or an advertisement it catches my attention without fully realizing the effects and the messages these ads have on both men and women.