Personal Reflection on Social Psychology - Essay Example

Personal Reflection on Social Psychology Social psychology is such an interesting because we begin to understandhow people perceive things that happen according to their own pre-conceived expectations. This subject helps people unravel the complexities of how people behave so they can be understood. I particularly liked the discussion about controlling because there are many people who blame circumstances (external locust) rather than do something about a situation. The topic about different types of attribution theory such as Classic attribution theory and Dr.Ginn’s attribution theory explains how intimate relationships can be very complicated since of the partners usually experience the active-observer effect. One of my married friends often finds faults in the actions of his wife such as being a nagger when he himself drinks a lot. Most likely, marriage counselors hear the social exchange theory most of the time when a spouse says that “I am tired of doing all the work in this marriage”. It is but typical for couples to present themselves socially desirable especially when they are faced with counselors. They never want to be blamed for a failed relationship in the first place. On larger groups such as sports teams, a coach is needed who can objectively assess the game since the players would have a tendency to blame each other. Anchors would often be used to categorize team members who made the team win last season as against who made it lose this time. Although social psychology is basically ordinary psychology, it can contribute a lot in analyzing organizational behavior. It is not just interesting but very educational as well. “The self” is what we refer to as our own selves; our own separate identities. People see themselves in different cognitive dimensions called self-concepts. A self-concept is one’s definition of his or herself whether it is positive or otherwise. Many people see themselves in different forms of self concept. These concepts are manifested by the choice of clothes a person wears and the way they speak to others. This can give access to knowing a person’s self-esteem. Self-esteem is an emotional dimension of self-awareness that is given by one’s self-value. There are people with high self-esteem who generally get along with other people and enjoy being in the spot-light. In contrast, those with low self-esteem tend to be more self-centered and timid. Self-conscious people tend to fall victim to the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect is when a person feels like they are being given more attention than they are being given in reality. In my experiences, I often feel the effects of the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect tends to intimidate me from my surroundings but other times it makes me feel like a star. The social self feels a yearning to belong. People will always try to find a niche for themselves in society. This is where they can find like-minded people with similar interests. The social self is the sense of self that takes over when in a social environment. Group standings also influence the actions of the social self whether it is conscious or sub-conscious. Some social selves are expressed through supplication. These people want to be seen as pathetic. Relatively, there are people who express themselves through ingratiation. These people try to gain others’ attention in order to satisfy their own petty. People who express themselves through self-promotion try to make themselves look good to others. These people tend to be show-offs and there are those who present themselves with exemplification. These people try to put on a mask to satisfy themselves or others. I find this information to be interesting because I meet people who fit these characteristics every day. Social cognition is our perception of others. Social cognition can be shaped by external as well as internal influences. My expectations of others require that people must be fair to others treat everything and everyone with respect, but I know that is not how the real world is. This is one form of social cognition. Other forms of social cognition include first impressions and maintaining these impressions. Cognitive misers are people who try to use as little effort as they can to understand a person. This usually tends to pre-judgment and can produce negative impressions towards groups of people. This type of thinking is known as heuristics. Heuristics can be classified into four types; representative, simulative, availability, and anchoring. Representative heuristics is a judgment based on perception. If the media portrays a person of a certain stature negatively then the representative heuristic will judge all persons with such features as negative. Simulative heuristics take place when a certain outcome happens to a situation. The simulative heuristic will think that the outcome could have been different if a slight change of action was made. Availability Heuristics is much like representative heuristics. The difference is based from experience rather than from the word of others. Anchoring Heuristics is an adaptation to outcomes. For example, a man is left by his wife. Anchoring heuristics will make at least two judgments. He will think “I am lonely again.” While also thinking, “At least I can find another person now.” Schemas are somewhat related to heuristics. However they are less judgmental. Schemas associate things to a cause. If a car horn is heard during traffic, it means “move!” to the people who hear it. Schemas can take place as a social norm as well. An example of a social schema is a parent. Their thought process is, “since I’m a parent, I must act like a parent.” In other words, schemas follow stereotypes. I was amused by this part of social psychology because it explains why people can be so ignorant. Pro-social behavior is one that many experience. Some people act too nice or talkative when they want to be socially acceptable. These people like to be helpful and caring to others around them. They tend to take an extra-step to making others feel comfortable. I tend to become altruistic when I socialize with people who are new to certain hobbies. I do what I can to help them develop their hobby and am patient with their mistakes. I nudge them to the right path to help them realize opportunities that are available to them. The reason why I do this is to feel a sense of self-accomplishment and the enjoyment the gift of giving. This is known as intrinsic motivation. In light of other social behaviors, there are those who have a perspective-taking approach and others who are empathetic. The two behaviors may seem one and the same but one must look deeper to see that they are completely different. An empathetic person tries to mimic the feelings of others to understand them. Usually, this is done by mentally experiencing what the other person has experienced. An empathetic person will take a similar situation and spin it to suit the other’s feeling. For instance, I have a friend who grew up in a broken family. He hates his mother but cares about his step-mother who recently died. His father has gone and my friend is then stuck living with his mother who gives him minimal support. As he reminisces about the life he had before his step-mother died I try to feel out his situation so that I could console him. Even without the experiences he has faced, I can relate to him by understanding his losses. In contrast, the perspective-taking approach is similar in that it tries to understand the other. However, it does not necessarily do so in order to mimic the person in mind. Instead, the perspective-taking approach attempts to personify the person of interest by predicting their reactions to certain outcomes or imagining their point of view. When one is self-conscious they often worry about how their presence affects others. This is one situation where the perspective-taking approach can be implemented. The self-conscious person will try to see within their mind’s eye his or herself in the perspective of another. In the other hand, a sympathetic person will understand what the self-conscious person is feeling due to past experiences. This can lead to collective interest which concerns group standards and norms. Groups contain people who have similar interests and features. This includes groups of hobbyists as well as segregations based on race, religion, etc. Groups can be good or bad, like the Nazi regime of the 1930s-1940s in contrast to the Peace Corp, but whether they do good or bad relies on morality. Of all the topics that have been discussed so far, I personally liked Chapter 8 which was all about close relationships. Surely, other members of the class felt the same because most of us nurture close relationships because people need to belong. In fact, Maslow hit it right when he included love (belonging) as one of man’s needs. The Attachment Theory enlightened me on how people express their love in different forms. For example, people who are insecure do not easily trust others. They refrain from developing close relationships because they are afraid to get hurt. On the other hand, people who are ambivalent/anxious have a tendency to be clingy which scares their partner. Instead of developing an emotionally healthy relationship, they suffocate their partners in the hope that they would receive the outcomes that they expect such as time and attention. In fact, sustaining relationships is not an easy task because a person would be allowing another person to share his time and resources with him/her. Even decision-making becomes a shared process because both partners become interdependent. Later, when conflict sets in, negative tracking manifests as partners focus on the weaknesses of the other person. These weaknesses could be either personality or not giving time or effort to sustain the relationship. For this reason too, relationships that end are often attached with regret and bitterness. Both partners feel that they have been cheated because they made varying accommodations in the relationship and yet it has ended. Indeed, rejection or abandonment is one of the most traumatic experience that majority of individuals want to avoid. In conclusion, the topics discussed so far in the class have deepened my understanding of social psychology. Moreover, I became more aware of the complexities of social relationships and hope that I would be able to avoid the problems in the future. Read More