Blog 10
Reading back on my first blog post felt a little weird at first. I rarely go back and reread my old writing, so it was nice to look at something and to now reflect on it. I do feel that I have accomplished what I wanted out of this course from the beginning. At the beginning of this course I thought Attitudes would be the most interesting section, and while it was a close contender, my favorite unit was on The Self. I do think I have learned significantly more about myself as a person and why I am fundamentally this way than I knew prior to this course, and that was one of my major goals coming into this. My attitudes haven’t change too much really, I still think Social Psychology is incredibly interesting and vital in understanding our environment. If I were to take this class again, I think I would pay more attention to the parallels between this course and where the information is applicable in other courses, as this was my most “universal” class I have taken this semester. What I mean by that is the information can be used to better understand other subjects outside of Social Psychology, and I should have utilized that better during my study times. Over the last few months I would say that I have grown in my ability to retain information. These are things I will remember years from now. While I may not remember every detail, I’ve learned enough “fun facts” to last. That’s new for me. A major skill that I have gained from this course since starting it my ability to adapt. At first, I was honestly intimidated to be in this course at all, let alone using a new program/website. Using wordpress alongside this course makes sense now in hindsight, it fits well with the content and expectations. Being able to adapt to new surroundings and circumstances is a skill that is beneficial forever.
This imagine goes along with the idea that growth is key here. I do believe that I have grown through this course and feel more confident in my abilities as a learner and as a person. I know who I am better now and will forever benefit from that knowledge. Thank you.
Blog 9
The top three things that I have learned this year is organization skills, why I do some of the things that I do, and what to do with that information. First, this is the first course that I have ever utilized a wordpress system for my assignments. It is a new way of organization that has benefited me in my other classes as well. I have also learned things about myself and my person that I did not know before, such as the entire chapter on The Self, or the ways we interact with others. Most people don’t really take the time to think and reflect on their day to day interactions, and this course has allowed me to do that, primarily with the weekly blog assignments and the items to archive assignments. They make me think about the “why” of actions or thoughts, not just take them for what they are. When I do the weekly blog assignments, I can use what I think about and take from them to form better discussions within my items to archive assignments each week. I would even say that depending on the week and the topics covered, it applies to my industrial psychology class discussions sometimes too! With that said, one topic that has been applicable to another course has been the study of the self and being aware of our own actions. This applies to my industrial organization class in that we also did a unit on personal behaviors and reactions, and it was easy to tie information from both classes together to supplement the other.
My organization for all courses, this one included, comes in the form of sticky notes. I used sticky notes to plan out what I would write about for this post, as I do with most posts too!
Blog 8
The article provided seemed a little stereotypical to me, but did raise some good points. When we think of a man angering a woman, we think of her being bossy or yelling or irrational, or we may even think of more escalated situations such as domestic violence. Whereas if we think of a woman angering a man, more often we may think of domestic violence or also things such as yelling or throwing of objects. What men and women get angry about differ stereotypically as well. We might think of women getting angry about something a man may or may not have done, such as forgetting to complete a household chore or cheating on her. Whereas a man would be mad about cheating.
Blog 7
Self awareness is the first step of emotional intelligence, then comes self regulation. People are both emotional and rational thinkers, it isn’t as much of a dichotomy as most people believe. Excessive emotions altering the way we react and outwardly respond makes sense, when we’re sad we cry, when we’re happy we smile, and so on. It can guide the decisions we make. With that said, emotional intelligence is partially our ability to calm ourselves to create more appropriate outward reactions despite initial thoughts and feelings that we may want to act on. When we get cut off on the road, we may want to rage and flip the other person off or even tailgate them for a few miles, but that is unsafe driving behavior and can cause accidents. It may be a regrettable choice. Instead, we can breathe, back off some, and let the other person behave how they will instead of risking anyone’s safety. Breathing exercises in the video are a great way to practice self regulation and improve emotional intelligence. I personally use breathing exercises to help center myself when faced with extreme emotions. Sometimes I also physically remove myself from a situation if possible. Walking away can be powerful and often times the safest option if you believe you may cause further conflict by staying.
Blog 4
My test results weren’t the best, but I can live with a 70. I took the test rather quickly because I had a limited time frame in the real world for me to sit down and take it, and I wish I hadn’t rushed as much as I did. After going over the questions I missed, I get why I missed some of them, as there were a few concepts I should have spent more time on. There were others that I didn’t recall at all, and may have only been briefly discussed in the text. My study preparation included reading over the text and looking through the online resources available with each module. Normally I like to make flashcards, or to write out a study sheet for myself based on the text, but the time wasn’t there this week due to work responsibilities that I could not avoid. I am hopeful that the next testing period, for this class or any other, will be during a time that I can spend more hours dedicating myself to the content.
Blog 3
Reading the Soul Meets Body article was not surprising for me, it makes sense that music tastes are connected with social attraction to others. One of the most common ice breaker type questions usually has something to do with favorite music, whether it be favorite artist, song, or just genre to be more broad. In my experiences, I have also been more drawn to people that share similar music tastes. There are also preconceived notions (stereotypes) about people that like certain genres of music, including everything from country to rock to everything in between. In a broad sense, I would say that those that share similar tastes in music to mine also share similar values for the most part, though of course not identical. I see these trends in both romantic and platonic relationships for myself and in others.
The following is a list of songs that I enjoy and their significance in regards to my relationships with others, or ties to important events in my life.
Bad Day – Daniel Powter
This song reminds me of when I lost my childhood pet to cancer. I swear this song is all I had playing for two weeks straight, I even bought a CD so that I could play it as much as I wanted at home. It was a time of grief for myself and my mother.
Seventeen – Marina and the Diamonds
When I was younger, I met one of my closest friends in a group therapy session, and we were discussion personal traumas and ways they affect us presently. This song is about something bad happening to Marina when she is seventeen and the way she acts now because of it, including paranoia and fear of relationships and intimacy for herself. I was able to bond with my friend from group as we coincidentally both enjoyed this artist and many of her songs, as most are about her personal struggles.
Attention – Joji
This song is one I associate with one of my ex boyfriends I had when I was younger. This song speaks of a girl that purely wants attention from a man that isn’t hers yet, and it portrays her as needy. On the other hand, it portrays the guy as cryptic, weird, and indifferent to others, overall an off-putting guy.
Transgender Dysphoria Blues – Against Me!
Against Me! has been one of my favorite groups, and this entire album speaks to my growth as a person. I am a transgender man, and this song explicitly describes common worries and struggles of the transgender population. While the song is told from the perspective of a trans woman, there is enough to relate to in my own experiences as well. I have come a long way becoming my true self, learning to love myself, and being a little less scared of the world.
Dead Friend – Against Me!
Another from Against Me!, this song is about losing a friend suddenly, though does not explicitly mention the cause of death. Me and several high school friends lost a dear friend to cancer very suddenly, and in a sense we almost bonded over this song. It’s angsty, angry, intense, and powerful. I’ll never forget all the times the group would play this when we would get together as a group. Even within that group, we had some differences in taste in music, but this one song gave us a little more cohesion in a time of grief.
Message – Will Joseph Cook
This song is associated with my current best friend. We have known each other for years, but recently we have grown apart as we navigate the busy-ness that is adulthood. We still love each other dearly and catch up here and there, but our bond doesn’t feel the same as when we were children. Nonetheless, we are still here for each other in dire need, and support each other, even if at a distance.
Blog 2
After completing the General Self-Efficacy scale inventory, I have a score of 23. It is a little below the average of 29, but I still think of myself as a fairly decent student. I am good with time management, I study hard and make time to do all of the readings, and I ask questions as needed throughout my courses. On paper, I would say I am a confident student, which can be indicated by things such as individual grades, course grades, and my GPA. However, I would not say I am the most effective student, as when I attend courses in person, I tend to shy away and participate much less vocally, and may even hold back important questions that I have. Because of this, I have moved to primarily online courses, where I am better able to accomplish my goals and communicate effectively with my peers and instructors. The self efficacy results indicate that I do have plenty room for improvement in my own self confidence, and I am certain I will get there with time.
This images is how I feel often when it comes to my confidence as a student in college now. Realistically and on paper I am succeed and doing well academically, but sometimes it just truly feels like I am in a constant panic and have no idea what I am doing. Sometimes I need to reflect on what I have truly accomplished, and then perhaps it will make the future of academics seem a lot less scary.
Blog 1
As with most psychology classes, my goal is to learn why people do what people do. In the context of social psychology though, there is a refined sense of truly why we behave in the ways we do, especially around others. The course objective that stands out the most is explaining how attitudes are formed and changed, and how they relate to behavior. Being able to understand why we form close relationships is also interesting, as that has not been covered in any previous course I have taken. Achieving these objectives will help me in the future as I intend to work within private practice in a therapy setting of some nature, most likely as an LPC or a LCSW. With either of these in mind, being able to understand how and why we connect to others will allow me to connect in a productive fashion with my future clients, and anyone else I may meet along the way throughout my education. I am expecting this course to be fun merely due to the subject matter, but I am also sure that it will be incredibly informative. The use of a blog platform for reflection and deeper understanding is also beneficial, even as I work out a few kinks using it. By the end of this course, I am hoping to gain better understanding of my own reason for interacting with others the way that I do, and perhaps be able to reflect on these actions and my motivations. To be successful in the course, I will study dutifully and diligently, I will work ahead as appropriate, and I will never hesitate to reach out to my instructors or my peers for assistance to ensure understanding of the expectations of me as the student. I chose the above image because I loved reading chapter 2, especially the section about nonverbal communication. The five realms of nonverbal communication are facial expressions, eye contact, body movement, posture, and touching.