Blog 10

In the beginning of the class, my expectations reflected the hope that I could learn more about human thoughts and behavior. I believed this would help me connect better with the people in my life. I would say that I have been able to achieve both of these goals. I have absorbed much of the information I have learned over the past few months, which has helped me form deeper connections with my close friends and family members. As for the course objectives, I would say that I have achieved all of them, especially when it comes to connecting the information I have learned to other classes and my own experiences outside of the class. Before taking this class, my general attitude towards social psychology was that it only focused on individual human behavior. But taking the class has helped me learn more about group dynamics and how people can act differently individually versus when they are being influenced by a group.

If I were to take this class again, I would have tried to work better on my time management. I worked longer hours this semester than I did for the previous semester, so learning how to organize my time spent between my job and schoolwork was a challenge for me. There were weeks when I was able to stay ahead, and others in which I found myself doing work the day it was due. One way that I was able to grow academically was by developing effective test-taking strategies that allowed me to prepare for and do fairly well on my exams. For example, writing my notes in different colors helped me remember the information better and assisted with my personal exam reviews. One skill that I learned that I can use in my professional life is being able to read nonverbal cues. In the future, being able to make my patients feel comfortable and heard is important. By being able to read their nonverbal cues, I can better understand their emotions, which will make them feel more cared for. The image below reflects how I want to be an empathetic doctor to my patients. 

 

Blog 9

One of the top three things I’ve learned so far in this course is the different styles of love, including eros, ludus, storge, pragma, mania, and agape. While writing my fourth assignment takeaway, I gained a better understanding of how my personal relationships have influenced which styles of love I am high or low in. Another important thing I learned in this class is the credibility of advertisements. I have always felt that certain advertisements seem more credible than me to others, but I could never figure out exactly why. But doing my fifth blog post helped me learn about the different factors that influenced the credibility of advertisements, such as endorsement by credible sources and the likability of the brand ambassador. A third important topic that I learned is how to improve my emotional intelligence. While completing my seventh blog post, I learned that I had low emotional intelligence, expressed by the fact that I have trouble managing my emotions. But I got to learn that I can improve my emotional intelligence with techniques such as breathing exercises, which will allow me to calm down, reassess my emotions, and have a better handle on managing my feelings.

For my first Top Artifact, I had watched a video that explained how relying on the representative heuristic and availability heuristic can affect our perception of what criminals look like and how often crime occurs. This is connected with my first Assignment Takeaway, in which I discussed how my use of the status quo heuristic has influenced my view of what generation of music is better. These two areas are connected because they both reveal how the use of heuristics can warp our perception of reality. The representative heuristic can cause people to create inaccurate prototypes of what a criminal looks like. The availability heuristic can make people believe that crime occurs more frequently than it really does, which can instill fear into people. With the status quo heuristic, I falsely believed that music from the past is better than contemporary music. To summarize, both areas demonstrate that false beliefs can easily be perpetuated if people rely too heavily on mental shortcuts.

In Social Psychology, observational learning is studied in order to understand how people develop attitudes by observing others. In Lifespan Development, observational learning is studied under the subject of behavioral and social learning. Behavioral learning emphasizes that development is observable behavioral that can be learned by observing what others do, also known as observational learning. Essentially, under the field of Social Psychology, observational learning is used to understand how people acquire attitudes by observing others, while Lifespan Development uses observational learning to study general development. 

When trying to boil down what I learned this semester, I decided to use a simple process. I would go through my notes and choose the information that stood out to me. This included information that I marked with a star, or highlighting notes that felt important. This helped me mentally organize what I learned throughout the semester, and I was easily able to pick out the information that felt that I truly learned. The image below displays an example of the information I highlighted and starred. 

Blog 8

As a woman, I’ve always known as the differences between men and women can inevitability lead to sexual conflict. But reading the mating article gave me a better understanding of why sexual conflicts occur. The main reason why conflict occurs is because men and women have different priorities in regards to reproduction. Women tend to be more selective about what partner they want, likely because they are considering who can best provide for any offspring they have now or in the future. On the other hand, men are more interested in having several partners that they can mate with. These clashing ideals can certainly result in conflict between men and women. 

Men can upset women by not being as invested into the relationship as women. A woman may want a man to commit to a relationship with her, but he may not have the same desire. On the other hand, a man may feel upset or burdened by a woman who wants to be in a committed relationship with him. If a man is only interested in a short-term relationship based on sex, he may briefly pretend to have genuine feelings for a woman, especially if it will increase the chances of her to agree to have sex with him. This may end up hurting the woman in the long-run, since she’ll feel heartbroken and betrayed by the person that she had real feelings for. She may develop trust issues and be more cautious in her future relationships, which can upset men who want their partner to be open to them. When I read the article, I was saddened to learn that 71% of men in a study admitted to lying to their partners about their own emotional involvement because they believed it would increase the chances of women having sex with them. I believe that people should should be clear from the beginning about what they expect in a relationship. Otherwise, it will create more problems in the future, including emotional pain. The quote below encompasses this feeling well. It displays how men can hurt women by lying about their own feelings, which can be very emotionally damaging for women.

Blog 7

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand our emotions and control how we express them. Emotional intelligence can be nurtured by developing the ability of self-regulation. Being able to manage our emotions is a key part of emotional intelligence, because it affects our behavior and how much we let our emotions influence our actions. Instead of immediately obeying the automatic emotional responses our body may have, it’s important to be able to calm down and regulate our emotions so that we can make reasonable decisions. Another way to manage our emotions is to mentally detach from them and recognize what we are feeling. This can prevent our emotions from having too much power over what we say and do. 

To me, having emotional intelligence means that I am able to clearly identify what I am feeling. This will allow me to better express myself and be more accepting of how I feel. However, I feel as if my emotional intelligence is low, since I often have trouble managing my emotions, especially negative emotions such as stress or frustration. I even took an emotional intelligence test online, which confirmed that I am poor emotional intelligence. The screenshot below shows my results and what kind of behavior people with low emotional intelligence exhibit, which aligns with my own actions. However, I am able to empathize with others when I need to, so it’s not as if I completely lack emotional intelligence. I can improve my emotional intelligence by using breathing exercises whenever I feel that I am getting carried away by my emotions. This will allow me to reassess my feelings and express myself in a healthier way. Giving myself time to calm down will make it easier for me to identify my feelings and decide how to manage them.

Blog 6

After watching the Ted Talk, I felt saddened by the information I learned, but I was also unsurprised. Even before watching the video, I have always been aware of how advertisements have dehumanized and objectified women, and how that in turn affects how people view and treat women. I have witnessed many occurrences in which men have had unrealistic and dangerous expectations of how women should act and what they should look like. Watching the video has only solidified my belief that many advertisements will degrade women at the lowest level, just so they can sell a product. An important point from the video is how advertisements sell not only products, but certain images of women as well. The video also discussed how men and women are represented differently in the media. For example, older men like Brad Pitt seen as attractive and their faces are relatively untouched in ads. But older women are more likely to be photoshopped to the point that they appear almost doll-like and much younger than they really are.

Blog 5

These three ads reflect different levels of credibility and attractiveness. Image A is promoting a toothpaste product. Image A is a perceived credible source because it is shown to be endorsed by an official organization. The American Dental Association has a reputation for providing accurate information on oral hygiene, so they are seen as a reliable source of endorsement. If such as organization were to approve of a toothpaste product, the product would be viewed as more credible. The source would be viewed as even more credible by American consumers, since the American Dental Association is an in-group source. On the other hand, Image B is perceived not credible. David Beckham had signed a $6 million contract to promote a hair product known as Brylcreem. However, Beckham made a sudden decision to shave his head a couple of years into the contract. He lost his credibility as an ambassador for the brand, since he obviously wasn’t using the hairstyling cream if he had no hair. Potential consumers figured that he had signed with the brand solely for financial gain, and the sales dropped after Beckham shaved his head. Image C shows a model named Hoyeon Jung promoting a Louis Vuitton bag. This is considered to be an attractive source, due to the brand ambassador’s likability. The model is a celebrity that I like, which makes her seem more attractive. Celebrities that are well-liked are more persuasive when promoting products. Also, the brand picked a beautiful model in order to make the consumer feel that they will be more attractive if they purchase the bag. 

Blog 4

After reviewing the feedback for my Exam 1 results, I realized that the questions I got wrong involved concepts that I had a general understanding of, but I hadn’t studied them in-depth. This helped me realize how I could change my studying strategies in order to better prepare for the next exam. When I was studying the review sheet for the first exam, I decided that instead of writing out the answers to each question, I would simply mark where the answers for each question could be found in my notes. I did this strategy in order to save myself some time while studying, since I was preparing for my exam last minute. But after seeing my exam results, I realized that I should have put more time aside for studying, and I should have written out the answer to each question on the review sheet. Even if the answers were already in my notes, rewriting the information would have cemented the knowledge in my brain and would have helped me do better on the exam. Going over my Exam 1 results made me understand the mistakes I had made while studying, and now I have a more solid test-taking strategy for the next exam. 

Blog 3

According to the article “Soul Meets Body”, music preferences can reflect someone’s personal values. Sharing your music preferences can reveal if you have similar values with another person or not, which can lead to the formation of relationships. As for myself, music has always been a big part of my life. When I was given an MP3 player as a child, the very first song I listened to on it was “Heartless” by Kanye West. Even though I was little and had never been in a relationship before, I remember being so moved by the heartbreaking lyrics. It made me realize how powerful music is and that it was a way for me to find comfort. Therefore, I can definitely understand how music can be a way for people to bond and create relationships. I personally would love to be with someone who shares the same music tastes as me, since it would likely mean they also have the same values as me. My other family members and close friends are also really into music as well.

My mom likes to listen to singers who are passionate about music, and I remember her telling me that she liked Miley Cyrus because of the fact that she came from a family of musicians. I also like singers who are devoted to their craft, which is why I appreciate artists that have talents such as songwriting or playing instruments. That’s why I picked “Can’t be Tamed”, one of the many songs that Miley Cyrus has written. My dad and I have a shared belief that 90s rap is better than contemporary rap, so I picked the rap song “Victory”; it features the last verse recorded by the Notorious B.I.G. before he passed away. My sister often asks me to play songs for her on my phone, and one of her favorite songs to listen to is “Next Level” by Aespa. In this way, my own music taste has influenced my sister’s preferences, so we may end up having similar values. My friend Charity and I like to stay informed on social issues, and a song we both enjoy is “They Don’t Care About Us” by Michael Jackson. The song is about how the voices of the oppressed are often ignored and should therefore be given more attention. This song reflects a belief that Charity and I share with each other. As for my outlook on life, the song that I believe best reflects this is “Coming Up” by Lupe Fiasco. The song’s message is that no matter what obstacles life may present you, you can can persevere and overcome them. I try to have a hopeful vision of my future, so I listen to uplifting songs such as this one in order to motivate myself to keep going.  

“Heartless” by Kanye West (Me)
“Can’t Be Tamed” by Miley Cyrus (Mom)
“Victory” by Diddy feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes (Dad)
“Next Level” by Aespa (Sister)
“They Don’t Care About Us” by Michael Jackson (Charity)
“Coming Up” by Lupe Fiasco feat. MDMA (Life Outlook)

Blog 2

Ever since I first started school, my mother always taught me that education should be one of the most important things in my life. So I have always been focused on doing well in school and being the best student I can be. But even so, I often found myself to be pretty disorganized as a student, and I would often procrastinate on assignments. This caused me a lot of stress and anxiety growing up, so I tried to get rid of those bad habits. Currently, I feel that I am much more confident as a student. When I am faced with a difficult assignment or problem, I am able to come up with multiple solutions in order to deal with it. However, I feel that I am lacking when it comes to my coping skills. Whenever I feel overwhelmed with too much work, sometimes I shut down due to stress and avoid doing my assignments. This results in me putting the work off to the side until the last minute, which only makes me feel more distressed. If I implemented strategies to help me deal with stress, such as doing meditation or yoga, this would help me learn how to calm down whenever I feel overwhelmed. 

When I took the General Self-Efficacy Scale, I ended up with a total score of 30, and a mean scale score of 3. My score was generally high due to the fact that I am able to deal with most difficult problems that come my way. However, I do occasionally experience burnout and anxiety when too many difficulties arise, which is why my score is not any higher than it is. In other words, I am usually able to accomplish the tasks that I need to do, but the process in doing so may cause me distress.

Blog 1

Even after I complete Social Psychology, the course objectives can be utilized outside of class if I learn them well. Being able to understand why human beings form certain attitudes and behaviors will help me be able to connect with people. Knowing how close relationships are formed would be especially helpful for me, since I feel that I often have trouble maintaining my relationships with others. From this class, I am hoping to learn information that will improve my understanding of human behavior, so that I can become a reliable and understanding psychiatrist for my future patients. 

To ensure that I succeed in this course, I plan make full use of my planner so that I can keep track of the due dates for the blogs, items to archive, and any other assigned work. I am also going to make sure that I have plenty of time set aside to review the notes for each chapter. When I take notes, I use blue pen to help me remember the information better. I also use bright colors to draw important flow charts or diagrams, which helps me stay engaged while I take notes. After I finish taking notes, I review them by pretending that I am teaching the information to other people. This helps me understand what I have learned better.