Blog 10 

After looking back at my initial post I had to pause for a moment to digest how fast the semester went. Also, after reading the initial post I would say that I have accomplished everything that I set out for, my accomplishments of the course have surpassed my expectations. I successfully learned and retained knowledge about attitude formation and origins of discrimination. I have met and achieved the course objectives, specifically the last objective about making connections between the course and outside experiences. I believe I am most grateful that this course was applicable to multiple areas and issues that I faced in everyday life. My attitude about social psychology has not changed, I knew the course would be impactful and it was nothing short of that. If I were to take this course over and do something differently it would have to be more utilization of the additional resources provided in each module. I’ve grown academically in multiple ways, but the most important academic area that I have grown would have to be reading. Before I was a lazy reader, I didn’t take the time to really dissect the text, but this course helped me be more comfortable with that. One course skill that I was able to use frequently was the detection of credible and non-credible sources. This semester has been eventful and filled with news, thanks to this course I was able to differentiate between what was credible and what was fake. Finally, I choose the image above because it is a symbol of my growth in this course and the knowledge that has been given to me.

Blog 9

This course has been filled with valuable information that has stuck with me throughout the entire semester. However, there are 3 things that I have learned during this course that I consider most important. One of the top three things I learned was covered in blog 6; the impact of advertisements, specifically on women. This concept was delivered through a youtube video called, Killing Us Softly, the video imparted wisdom about the effects of advertisement on women and men and how they degrade and shame society. The second important concept that stuck with me was covered in assignment takeaway number 4, which introduced love styles. I hold this information because I was reminded of my faith and how my love is tied to that, it was an on-time reminder that I desperately needed. Lastly, the third most important concept that I learned was covered in blog 3, which discussed the power of music. I found it very interesting to choose songs as symbols to the people I hold closest to my heart, made me appreciate them even more. One concept that was evident in each section of this course is the evaluation of social norms and how they impact almost everything that humans do. Another concept that was discussed in a separate class of mine, Psychology of African Americans, we covered biases and how the effect the decisions made concerning African Americans. Overall, the benefits from this course are great, which is why I choose the image above because it testifies to the amount of knowledge I’ve come away with.

Blog 8

After reading the mating article, my initial reaction consisted of curiosity. I was primarily curious due to the perspective that David Buss had on marriage. Society commonly depicts marriage as a time of unconditional love, joy, and bliss. But, the obstacles and trials of marriage are not often discussed until after the marriage has already gone downhill. So, I found it very interesting that Buss had the initial opinion that marriage is a time of conflict and me after extensive thought on the concept I would have to agree. Now, men have numerous ways in which they can upset women, but the most common ways to upset a woman is by asking about their weight, being insensitive, and being careless. Women can also upset men and their most common ways to do so is by constant complaining, insults to manhood, and insecurity. The images above represent one of the ways a woman can piss off a man (left) and one way a man can piss off a woman (right). I think that marriage is a platform where all of these aspects will come out, but I believe that marriage is all about overcoming them in a healthy manner.

Blog 7

There is a direct relationship between self-regulation and emotional intelligence, one cannot exist without the other. Self-regulation can be described as the measures and strides that we take to properly handle our emotions and responses to events. Basically, taking control of one’s own emotions and reactions. In my opinion, emotional intelligence is a measure of how one identifies emotions that come up in situations and knowing when it is and is not acceptable to show those emotions. I use emotional intelligence every day because as humans emotion is always affecting us, so when I know that I am frustrated or angry I remove my self from the situation and take deep breaths. I have enough emotional intelligence to release when I am about to lose my cool and enough self-regulation to remove myself in efforts to cool down. My EQ could be improved in many ways, but I would say that I struggle most in the area of taking in others emotions and helping them regulate their emotions in times of need. The image above is a screenshot of my score from an EQ test that I took online, it says that I rank high in regards to emotional intelligence.

Blog 6

Prior to watching the video I was already aware of advertisements and their attempts to shape today’s society. However, the video did give a more in-depth insight into advertisements and the techniques they use to degrade humans, specifically women. Majority of the ads targeted at women aim to degrade women and make them feel less than acceptable in the standards of society. This strategy makes women desire to be perfect so they buy the products that are advertised in hopes of being accepted. Women are also often sexualized in advertisements they are often pictured as being dominated by the strong, powerful man. Most ads show men as strong, fit, and athletic which is a problem because it shows only men being capable of athletic ability.  Overall the video provided a new understanding of differential gender representation, which is expectations and markers that society uses to judge genders. The 5 images above represent key points from the video, Killing Us Softly.  The first image on the top left represents the sexualization of women in advertisements and the common depiction of women in society as house cleaners. The second image in the middle is another example of the sexualization of women, the third image shows the sexualization of little girls. The fourth image, bottom left, shows the man displayed a sporty and the women as sexy and the final image shows the strong man and the submissive woman.

Blog 5

The picture in the top left corner represents a credible source because the advertisement is backed by professionals related to the particular field. The picture is recommending a toothbrush for people to use and it is known as the #1 recommended toothbrush by a dentist. The picture in the top right corner represents a non-credible source because the advertisement has a personal financial stake. The picture is trying to get people to take personal loans and offering no collateral or fees which is unlikely; there is a benefit for the communicator. Lastly, the picture on the bottom represents an attractive source. The attractive source always includes a celebrity to increase interaction with the ad. I imagine that the ad is very effective among women being that there is a slim female celebrity drinking a diet beverage. Overall persuasion impacts society on a great scale, it causes peoples attitudes to change. The hardest part about persuasion is that non-credible sources are hard to identify without proper recognition.

Blog 4

I used the image above because it was my best friend while preparing for the test. After reviewing the test I realized that the majority of the questions that I answered incorrectly were due to human error. A lot of information was covered on the first test and some of the questions I simply could not recall the information to my head. Another reason I missed a few questions was due to lack of knowledge on a particular topic. Overall, I am completely satisfied with my grade on this first test. However, there is one thing that I could improve upon, which is my time slots for studying. I did not space out my studying over the whole week because I had a bunch of other tests. But, for future reference, I will give myself time over the week to study the material. With this change, I believe that I can greatly improve my test grades.

Blog 3

My Soundtrack:

My Faith- The Rock (Walls Group) 

Life in General- Alot (J Cole)

My Passion- Gonna Be Alright (Mali Music)

My Mom- I Made it (August Alsina)

My brothers- Grindin' (August Alsina)

Daily Motivation- Get it together (Inida Arie)

I always knew that music was a strong force that had to power to change moods, create relationships, and sustain memories. So it is not surprising to me that there is a scientific direct correlation between music and relationships. In the past, I have noticed that music is the driving force in relationships. Music can either advance a relationship or stop it in its tracks. Majority of the relationships in my life have a unique and distinct taste in music like myself, which we often discuss. Those who have different music preferences than myself are usually not as close to me. It is not true for all, but I have noticed that most people who have similar music taste to myself, share similar values as well.  For instance, I have this one friend and we are two peas in a pod when it comes to music. She shares the same interest, personality traits, and dislikes as myself and it is no coincidence that all the music I like she likes. The image above is just a visual representation of how I feel about music. Like the image shows, I feel free and I obtain energy from the earth.

Blog 2

Self Efficacy Results- I choose this image to give a visual representation of the student that I am based on the test.

I believe that I am an ambitious and creative student. When most people hear the word ambitious they tend to associate it with negative connotations. When I say that I am an ambitious student I mean it in the sense that I don’t put limits on what I can or cannot do. I like to think of myself as an adaptive student that can adjust and thrive in any setting as long as I have the right mindset, energy, and effort. As a student right now my confidence is probably at the peak of my educational career. I say that because of the amount of time I have to work on assignments and the interaction with experts of their field that instruct me. I do believe that my confidence levels could rise even higher if the curriculum was more well rounded in terms of fully preparing students for a realistic future. My self-efficacy test results show that I am 100% confident in my ability and I also believe that I can further excel as long as the effort matches. I think my accolades show that I have the ability to thrive education wise, but my drive and effort propel me past competition.

Blog 1

Ability to Understand Others- I want this to be the biggest takeaway from this course.

In each course I’ve taken so far I have made it of extreme importance to achieve all of the course objectives. Mostly because I want to ensure that I have gained the knowledge necessary to advance to the next level. I find the objectives of this course to be attainable through hard work and dedication. But, I believe that certain objectives such as attitude formation and origins of discrimination will allow me to successfully understand and adjust to the everchanging world. Throughout this course, I hope to broaden my knowledge on how individuals perceive or judge others and the effects thereof. In order for me to be successful in this course, I need to put forth my best effort and manage my time effectively.