Artifact 5

This was a good first archive assignment because it presents two commonly believed sayings and illustrates that common beliefs regarding social psychology may not be true. Just looking at the two sayings “opposites attract” and “similarity leads to attraction” someone can easily see that both sayings cannot be true at the same time. So, which one is right? Of course, not being able to answer this question with certainty is the entire point of this exercise.

“Devil’s Bride” by Matt Anderson

              “You throw me water when I’m drowning,

              You take my kindling when I’m cold,

              You give me matches when I’m burning”

I chose a lyric representation of this idea because 1) it is a great song and 2) it gives a good example of the volatility and irrationality of attraction. The opposition between the singer and his bride can also represent the opposing common sayings “opposites attract” and “similarity leads to attraction.”

Artifact 4

The chapter on prosocial behavior was on of my favorites. I learned that people tend to be happier if they help others. Basically, it feels good to be nice! It shows that there is a grain of truth to the saying, “it’s better to give than receive.” I enjoyed reading about scientific studies showing support for this. The pessimistic viewpoint would be that people only help others because it makes them feel good, but, hey, as long as people are being nice and helping each other, what does it matter? Of course, there is also the possibility that people help others simply because they want to. That’s a nice thought too 😊

This image shows that the biggest group of my friends—at least based on how I see them—are both happy and unselfish. From the small sample size of me, it shows that prosocial behavior is going to be received better than antisocial behavior. Perhaps I am friends with them because they’re unselfish or perhaps they’re unselfish because we’re friends. Either way, it is interesting to consider!

Artifact 3

Self-presentation has always been an interesting topic to me. As someone with a bunch of tattoos, I am keenly aware of how people can judge others in certain situations. Therefore, it is important for me to take additional steps to present myself well when the situation demands. This assignment was interesting because it made me mentally think about some of the steps I have to take. While it is important to present oneself well, I did learn that when self-presentation becomes too obvious then the effort can become counter-productive.

I decided to include the mock interview checklist I made for this assignment. Although the actual list would be much longer, it does give a good impression of the cognitive effort one should make about how they present themselves to others.

Artifact 2

This item to archive interested me because I got to see, first hand, how the perception of various groups has changed over time. Often, it can be frustrating living in a world which seems to move so slowly when it comes to social issues. This table offers a little hope. It shows that prejudice is going away over time. It seems that each generation is a bit less prejudiced than the last. One reason, I believe, is because of the Internet and how easy it is now to communicate with diverse groups from all around the world.

I chose a picture I made of the attributes I chose (based on my perspective of public opinion and not my actual opinion) for each group. It is interesting to see how the perception of different cultural groups is changing over time, fortunately, in an inclusive direction!

Artifact 1

My favorite archive assignment was the one about the expression of personality traits across different situations. What I found most interesting is that the personality traits that I perceive as integral to my identity do not show up in all situations. For example, I like to be funny but there are absolutely occasions when this trait is not expressed. While the traits I examined are not always expressed, they are fairly stable and show up in many situations.

This one was my favorite because it was a challenge and I’ve always been interested in what is going on in my mind—which is one reason I decided to minor in Psychology.

I chose a picture from an activity in which I frequently express 5 of my biggest personality traits: humor, cleverness, anxiety, competitiveness, and talkative.