Module 10
The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly changed social norms when it comes to preventing the spread of disease. We are expected to protect ourselves and others by covering our mouths and noses, and remaining several feet apart from one another. These new mandates have received a large pushback, but most people wear their masks out of respect for other individuals. Since businesses no longer allow customers without face masks into their buildings, the social norm of wearing a mask in public has changed. Before, people would stay away from an individual wearing a medical mask, as they might have a medical condition that others do not want to impact. Nowadays, masks are required to be worn in order to enter any public building.
I recall a time earlier in the year where I walked into the campus bookstore and forgot to pull my mask over my face. It was an honest mistake as it was resting on my chin as I walked to the store, and as they say “out of sight, out of mind”. When I walked through the bookstore I was confused as to why I was being stared at, and I humorously thought, why people were literally pushing their daughters out of my way. After I noticed my mistake, I felt a slight sense of embarrassment as I was outside the social norm at that point. I quickly pulled the mask over my face and proceeded to make my purchase. I find it interesting how quickly the Social norm of wearing a mask in public has changed. At the beginning of the year, anyone could walk into a store without a mask and not receive any looks. Now it seems like it’s the opposite, as entering a building without a mask caused several people to lock eyes with me.
Module 6
Trait 1: humorous
Nearly every situation I’m in, a joke or something sarcastic will come out of my mouth. I think having a sense of humor is especially important because it can alleviate tension or other negative emotions. When my family gets into some sort of disagreement and tensions are high, i try to joke with my family members one on one to alleviate tension between us.
Trait 2: introvert
At heart I am an introvert. Introverts choose to be alone rather than go out with a group of other individuals because an introvert’s energy can drain quickly when interacting with other people. On one of my particularly introverted days, my friend invited me over to hang out and play some music. I denied them, but there were no hard feelings as they knew I needed my alone time.
Trait 3: friendly
Whenever a random individual approaches me, I become a little surprised, however I always try to be a kind person. When i’m waiting in a line i will try to talk to those around me, even if it is a little challenging to find the right words. I feel like this trait could also be described as outgoing, which I think occasionally conflicts with my introversion.
Trait 4: hard working
Every day I get up and get ready for the day. In the morning i will figure out what work needs to get done that day and spend the morning and afternoon getting that work done. Working everyday allows me to start assignments early, and get them finished early without the stress of procrastinating.
Trait 5: adventurous
On the occasion where I am out with my friends, I will want to go do random things if we have nothing to do. Scaling parking lot buildings and hotels at the OceanFront is a fun pastime and its good to get out and do something out of the norm. Additionally, going on hikes gives me a sense of adventure as well as some solitude in nature.
Module 5
Self- and Other-Enhancement in Everyday Life
- Meeting your future in laws for the first time.
Self enhancement: wearing nice/ dress clothes
Other enhancement: bringing them a gift or food/ talk about them
- Going on an interview for an internship
Self enhancement: wear a suit/dress clothing/ be well kempt
Other enhancement: being over prepared/bring your own pen
- Going on an interview for graduate school
Self enhancement: wear professional clothes
Other enhancement: maintain eye contact and respectful
- Meeting your new boss for the first time
Self enhancement: wear professional clothes
Other enhancement: eye contact, make yourself seem reliable
- Meeting the classmates who will be working with you on a group project
Self enhancement: dress neatly
Other enhancement: do most of the work
- Meeting a professor for the first time
Self enhancement: dress nicely and well kempt
Other enhancement: prepare yourself and ask questions
Must haves for interviews:
Dress shirt/pants or a suit
A pen
Neat hair/fresh shave/ be well groomed
Required Information like social security number and insurance
Questions interviewer may ask:
Tell me about yourself- reliable, hard working, kind to others
Why do you want to work here? – think of a reason that sounds unique/ ive always found this company to be special etc.
How are your leadership skills? – think of a time where you took charge
Module 4
Individuals have the tendency to believe the information they have been given will have an impact on their life. This is why we as children have thought things like shark attacks and quicksand would be bigger problems to us than they actually are. This way of thinking and decision making is called the availability heuristic. This heuristic is the creation of scenarios that leads us to make a judgement, and can promote emotions like fear. A fresh example would be news stations giving information about shootings and terrorist attacks, which have been some of the most feared scenarios in recent times. I believe that while there isn’t a rise in crime rates, there is a rise of globally reported crimes that were previously unbroadcasted.
The short film we watched shows us how news sources create bias within individuals, and how that bias has affected them. When information,both true and false, is spread around, small facts can turn into rumors that individuals will believe as truth. A part of the film that struck me as odd was the fact that older americans were more afraid of rising crime rates, which was actually debunked by the Department of Justice. These older individuals moved to private or gated communities to escape the “rising crime rates” even though those crime rates were not as high as they had in mind. I believe that while these individuals may be more fearful of crime, living in a gated community brings them peace of mind.
Module 3
For this experiment, I asked 4 different people for their permission to interview them and give them a prompt to answer. I interviewed a married couple and two peers with interests in psychology. I gave my peers the opposite prompts as well as giving the couple the opposite questions as well.
When I asked both the couple, who grew up in the same state in separate areas, to answer the opposite questions separately from one another. I was pleasantly surprised when both of their answers included quoting something else. Their answers started with “the old adage” and “As the old saying goes”. I found it interesting that while they were answering different questions, their answers were similar to one another.
I believe that this experiment shows how the wording of a question can create bias within a participant’s response. Mentioning that social psychologists have researched and found wisdom in a saying creates the bias that their prior statement is, in fact, true. However, I found it interesting that the couple answered their questions similarly. Even though my sample size was small, I believe I would have come to a similar conclusion in my observation.
