Weekly Blog 10

My initial expectations of this social psychology course were not too far off from what I have learned this semester. All that I hoped to gain from this course was an understanding of the social side of psychology as well as develop an ability to understand people’s behavior based on their personalities and attitudes. I most definitely have gained a great understanding of why people think the way that they do and how we develop our opinions of others. This knowledge was so useful, as I now understand society and how it functions better. I also learned a lot about relationships which I will be utilizing for the rest of my life. 

Throughout the course, I have successfully achieved the course objectives. I now understand the processes through which people attempt to understand others. I say attempt because we are not very good at it naturally. Our attitudes are primarily formed through first impressions and are skewed slightly throughout the rest of our relationships. We tend to prefer people that are similar to us rather than those who are dissimilar. Prejudice originates from outgroup threats to ingroup members’ self-esteem and an apparent competition for resources. Discrimination originates from prejudice against outgroup members and involves active differential treatment based on prejudice. When it comes to close relationships, we tend to like people that cause us positive emotional states, that make us feel affiliated with other groups, that are close in proximity to us, that are equally physically attractive to us, and that are similar to us. 

Throughout the course, I have made several connections between this course and previous psychology courses that I have taken. When learning about heuristics specifically, my previous knowledge allowed me to easily grasp the concept of social heuristics. I realized throughout this course that people are actually extremely easy to talk to as long as you understand the basics of social psychology. 

Something that I would do differently if I took this course again would be to actually complete all of the alternate activities assigned in the modules. Because these assignments were not mandatory, I failed to view some of them. I feel that if I were to have done these activities, I would even better understand the concepts related to them. 

With the help of this course, I have excelled in my Public Speaking and Theories of Personality courses. A lot of the concepts taught in public speaking are extremely similar to those in public speaking and the knowledge that I obtained throughout this semester in Psychology 304 has allowed me to better understand the environmental and cognitive factors that influence one’s personality. 

This course has allowed me to better understand how the average person thinks, which I was clueless about before. Considering I would like to become a clinical therapist, this new knowledge of how people think and function socially will allow me to better understand my patients and their needs. This course has been extremely beneficial and the notes that I have taken throughout the semester will serve as an excellent resource for me to refer to.

Weekly Blog 9

Throughout the course of this semester, I have learned a lot of new concepts and have a much better understanding of social psychology. While there are three main concepts that I have learned from this course that I’ll be focusing on for this post, these are not the only things that I have learned from this Social Psychology course. First, before taking this class, I was completely unaware of the bona fide pipeline. The bona fide pipeline uses priming to measure implicit racial attitudes, as these attitudes will be revealed by how quickly participants respond to words with negative meaning when associated with the other race. This relates to Assignment 3, where we watched a video of Micheal Richards, from Seinfield, verbally attack another individual with heinous and racist remarks. One could use the bona fide pipeline to see how quickly Micheal Richards primes certain negative phrases when brought around people of other races.

Another concept that I was unaware of before I started this course was Emotional Intelligence. I had heard of this concept before, but now I truly understand it. Emotional Intelligence, or EQ, focuses on gaining an accurate understanding of our own emotions and then self-regulating those emotions by choosing how we want to respond rather than letting our emotions make decisions for us. I found out that I am low in Emotional Intelligence, which may relate to my Styles of Love scores that I received in Assignment 4. Because I allow my emotions to get the best of me and therefore control me, that may explain why I am so high in Ludus love. Because of my tendency to let my emotions rule me, I do not always see love as a mutual relationship but as more of a commensalism relationship where I would benefit from the other person without harming or benefiting them in return.

Finally, this course has taught me about social heuristics. Social heuristics are simple rules of thumb that we use in society to make decisions in a quick and effortless way. These heuristics tend to lead people to make incorrect assumptions about the world. Before this course, I was already aware of the representativeness and availability heuristics, however, I further learned about and now understand all four of the heuristics that we discussed in this class. The availability heuristic is based on the idea that the easier it is to bring something to mind, the greater its impact on our decisions will be. This was shown in my first artifact, where I asked 6 people to explain if opposites attract or if birds of a feather flock together. The participants would first be told that researchers had found that either similarities lead to attraction or that opposites really do attract. Depending on what participants were told, they would use their own experiences to give further evidence for the study they had been informed of. For example, when told that opposites attract, participants would recall successful relationships when they differed from their partner.

As I mentioned before, I have learned about heuristics before in my Human Cognition course last semester. Before I did not delve into the social side of heuristics, rather simply just what the availability and representativeness heuristics were. I also learned that the availability heuristic leads to stereotypes, which we went more into detail about in this course. While my human cognition course gave me the right background information to understand heuristics, it wasn’t until we discussed social heuristics this semester that I truly understood what they are. Also, because of this course, I now understand the correlation between heuristics and schemas in that primed schemas, accurate or not, are primed when certain stimuli arise and may lead to heuristic thinking. 

Weekly Blog 8

In the article, “Sexual Conflict: Uncovering the Mysteries of the Mating Battleground”, C. Nathan DeWall discusses that sexual conflict may occur due to certain evolutionary differences between men and women. I personally agree with these statements, as they make a lot of sense. For example, men may be more likely to have several sexual partners at once than are women. This may be due to the fact that, historically, men were simply trying to impregnate as many women as possible in order to further their lineage without any intention to further care for those children. Women, on the other hand, would have children and then spend the majority of the rest of their lives taking care of those children. It’s extremely common these days to see or hear of men who can’t seem to settle down and this may just simply be due to evolutionary development.  I believe that when it really comes down to it, a lot of male and female differences truly do stem from differential evolutionary development. 

DeWall’s article, “Sexual Conflict: Uncovering the Mysteries of the Mating Battleground”, presents an activity in which students are shown one of two slides; slide 1 asks the class to ponder the ways that men upset women whereas slide 2 asks the class to ponder the ways that women upset men. In reference to slide 1, men upset women by doing things like touching them inappropriately, messing up their make-up or clothes, making sexual advances when they aren’t warranted, not wanting to talk about their emotions, not being able to settle down, and when they leave the toilet seat up. A lot of the things that men do that upset women can be explained from an evolutionary perspective. For example, women may get angry when men mess up their make-up or clothes, as this is how women attract other people in a positive way. Men may sexually assault and harass women as a means to fulfill their evolutionary desire to procreate as much as possible. When it comes to slide 2, on the other hand, there are a whole host of ways women upset men as well. Women upset men when they don’t let their guard down around them, overpower men in some way, or even when they simply express their feelings or too many feelings. Because women have evolved to understand their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others, and men have not, it may subconsciously anger them that that they do not understand emotions as well. Men, historically, are more powerful and, in short, better than women so any act from a woman that would threaten this power may cause intense anger.

Reference(s)

DeWall, C. (2017). Sexual Conflict: Uncovering the Mysteries of the Mating Battleground. Teaching Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/teaching-current-directions-in-psychological-science-41#mating.

Weekly Blog 7

Self-regulation and emotional intelligence are two concepts that go hand-in-hand. Emotional intelligence, according to Linda Ferguson, is all about trying to get a better understanding of what our emotions are. We are then able to self-regulate by choosing how we would like to respond instead of allowing our emotions to make that decision for us. An emotionally intelligent person knows how to control their emotions through self-regulation which leads to intelligent responses rather than intense, emotional responses. To me, emotional intelligence (EQ) is being able to deescalate one’s own intense emotions in order to make wise and collected responses. For example, if someone with a high EQ were to be offended by someone else, they may take deep breaths and think of a calm and collected response to the other person. Someone with a low EQ, on the other hand, may be overwhelmed by their intense emotions and punch the offender in the face in response. 

I believe that I struggle immensely with Emotional Intelligence. I am very quick to become overwhelmed by my emotions which inevitably leads me to have very obscure responses to some situations. When I become overwhelmed by my school work, for example, I tend to let my emotions take control of me and am sent into a state of panic. I remain in this state of intense emotions for quite a while until I am able to revert back to a state of internal peace. As Linda Ferguson suggested in the video, I believe that if I were to start focusing on my breathing in these situations, rather than give in to my intense emotions, then I may be able to improve my Emotional Intelligence. 

Weekly Blog 6

Upon viewing the TedTalk by Jean Kilbourne, I agreed with basically everything she said. I have noticed, probably since high school, that advertisements always sexualize women and paint them in this strange, submissive, and inferior way. While I had always noticed it, it never seemed like anyone else did, as we were just to focus on simply analyzing the advertisements at face value. When you look deeper into a majority of these advertisements, however, you begin to see a pattern of extreme sexualization of women in a purely objective way.

Jean Kilbourne contributed to a new understanding of gender representation by highlighting the way in which advertisements portray men versus the way that they portray women. As Jean stated in her video, men have recently become sexualized as well, but they are painted in a more dominant and superior way. Men will be shown as sex objects, but they will also be shown as normal human beings placed in normal positions that normal people would be in. Women, on the other hand, tend to be shown on all fours, crawling, or posing so that a man can lift her skirt up with ease. It is quite apparent that, in these advertisements, women are seen as objects for the human man to use. These advertisements make women seem like they are just begging for male attention in any way they can get it, and this simply is not the case. This is a dangerous image to portray to young men as well because if they grow up seeing advertisements that paint women in such a way, they will eventually begin to only think of women as sex objects as well as begin to treat them as so.

Weekly Blog 5

The first ad, as seen below, is a Trident advertisement. This advertisement uses a credible statistic that shows that four out of five doctors recommend sugarless gum for their patients. This is a credible source, as dentists have no vested interest in recommending sugarless gum. One could argue that this would go against the dentists’ self-interests, because if these dentists were to recommend chewing sugar-filled gum then they could make more money off of their unhealthy patients. Dentists also have a lot of teeth expertise, so they would know how sugarless gum affects one’s teeth. 

The second advertisement is one for a perfume made by Tana Mongeau. The communicator in this advertisement is none other than Tana Mongeau, the same person who created the product. It is clear that this social media influencer just created perfume as a cash-grab. The communicator has an obvious personal stake here because if the product that she is advertising does not sell, then she will inevitably lose money rather than making any. 

The third advertisement is for AXE body spray. In this advertisement, a man is using body spray in the gym locker room. As the man uses the AXE, he morphs from a man with a big, hairy, ugly stomach to a handsome, fit, muscular, young man. Typically, an advertisement like this attracts people because it is visually appealing and allows people to see “what could be” if they were to buy the product. Research has shown that using a more attractive face or person in an advertisement will make the advertisement more persuasive. In my opinion, it worked for this advertisement. I do not even use AXE, but the communicator, as well as the artwork for the advertisement, was very physically attractive and caught my attention and kept it.

Weekly Blog 4

I found this process of reviewing Exam 1 very useful. On the first exam, I missed 7 out of 50 questions. Because I reviewed my exam, I was able to look at the questions I got wrong and then look up the correct answers. This process truly did allow me to better understand the topics that I had missed. While going through the missed exam questions, I made notes of the correct answers to the exam questions in my notebook. I kept notes as I read through the chapters and modules on Blackboard as well. I tend to highlight the chapter titles, headings, and key terms in order to aid my studying in the future. I was unaware that there was a review sheet, however, I did view all of the Jeopardy Review videos the day before I took my exam. I believe this feedback will help my test-taking strategy on future exams because I will now go over all review sheets and videos before my exams in order to get the best grade that I possibly can. I also now will, for future courses and exams, continue to review exams after I complete them and record the correct answers in my notes.

Weekly Blog 3

I have always personally believed that there was a major connection between music and relationships. Throughout my life, I have always gotten into relationships with boys that had the same music taste as I do. I also tend to only be friends with people who like the same music that I do. A great explanation for this came from the article, “Soul Meets Body”, in which the author described that many people consider their music preference as a more central personality expression than any other personal interest. Because that is so, it makes sense that people who like the same music would also seem to have similar personalities and therefore be compatible in a relationship. While these people may not actually have similar personalities, music preferences are able to provide others with information about one’s core values. Through musical bonding, it is easy for people to grow closer together because they believe that they have similar ideals and beliefs.

Songs that I Associate With People In My Life

• My Mom- The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert
  • I associate this song with my mother because it brings me childhood nostalgia and reminds me of the way that my mom has built the person that I am today.
• My Dad- Mine Would Be You by Blake Shelton
  • I associate this song with my dad because this is the song that we would always sing together on car trips throughout my childhood. Even if I was in a bad mood, as long as I was singing this song with my dad I was happy.
• My friend, Kyle- I think you’re really cool by guardin
  • I associate this song with Kyle because he showed me this song. I also associate this song with Kyle because he is simply the only person that comes to mind when I hear this song. I guess I just think he’s really cool.
• My friends, Lauren and Sam- Prom Queen
  • This song makes me think of my friends Lauren and Sam. The lyric, “I’m no little Barbie, I was never cut out for Prom Queen” reminds me that even though I am not perfect, I have people in my life who will accept me for who I am. Those people are, of course, Lauren and Sam.
• My dog, Levi- The 7 Things I hate About You by Miley Cyrus
  • I use this song to describe my puppy because the beginning of the song lists Cyrus’s troubles with the boy she loves. I have several troubles with Levi, who is a boy that I love. Toward the end of the song, however, Cyrus transitions into the several things that she also loves about that same boy. While Levi may give me a lot of trouble, at the end of the day I always love him more than I did the day before.
• Myself- This is Home by Cavetown
  • This is a song that I associate with my personal life. One of the lyrics is, “…get a load of this trainwreck who doesn’t know how to communicate…his mind is in a different place…can everybody please give him a little bit of space,” which I really resonate with. I constantly see myself as a trainwreck who is overconsumed by her anxiety so much so that it’s hard to express my feelings. At times I wish I could just ask everyone to leave me some space to myself. This song makes me reflect on my past as well as my future.

Weekly Blog 2

What kind of student am I? I personally believe that I am a very hard-working and determined student. I stay motivated throughout the toughest situations to get my work done no matter what is at stake. I never look at an assignment and decide that I am incapable of completing it, as I believe that if I have learned the proper material then I can complete any task given to me. I, occasionally, am unable to remain calm when facing difficult tasks because I get overwhelmed by my thoughts. Finding better stress coping mechanisms would be beneficial to my confidence as a student.  Before taking this test, I honestly thought my current level of confidence as a student was a little higher than average, yet on the General Self-Efficacy Scale, I received a 28. The average score in different population is 29, so I that means I have a slightly less than average sense of confidence when it comes to academic tasks. I honestly believe that a great deal of my self-confidence comes from the confidence that I have in myself to be a successful student because in most situations I am fully aware that I am capable to complete anything thrown my way. While I may always be fully aware of my capabilities, I still tend to hardly ever feel like I can handle what comes my way when the situation actually arises. My score makes sense because I am generally pretty confident in my abilities to finish tasks, however, every now and then my anxiety consumes me and simple tasks become much more difficult for me to complete.

Weekly Blog 1

The course objectives of Social Psychology will, in my opinion, benefit my future in many ways. One of the many course objectives is to understand the way that people perceive and attempt to understand others. Considering I would like to be a therapist someday, this would be an extremely beneficial skill. Another objective that I believe will be beneficial is the ability to explain how attitudes are formed as well as how they relate to behavior. If I am able to explain how attitudes lead to behavior, that may help me in my line of work when trying to understand a client’s behavior. An objective that may not help me in my work life but will definitely benefit my social life is the ability to define the factors that influence the formation of close relationships. I have lost my entire friend group as well as lost three boyfriends in my past, so maybe an understanding of the formation of close relationships will benefit me. Completing these course objectives will not only benefit me in my journey throughout this course but also will benefit me by allowing me to be a better therapist who understands their clients.

What do I hope to gain in this course? All that I hope is to gain an understanding of the social side of psychology as well as develop an ability to understand people’s behavior based on their personalities and attitudes. I believe that a better understanding of social psychology will benefit me greatly in my future endeavors. In order to ensure my success in this course, I plan to begin the assignments early in order to complete them on time, stay on top of taking good notes, complete the e-portfolio assignments on time, and stay on top of the artifacts as to not fall behind. It is obvious to me that this course is full of work, however, it seems worth it as there is a lot to learn in this course.

Picture Credit: https://sites.google.com/site/aliteraryjourney/social-bases-for-behavior/judge-not-that-ye-be-not-judged