The Importance of Psychology in Decision-Making, Guiding People, and Maintaining Relationships - Essay Example

?Running Head: Psychology Applying Psychology to Enhance Leadership, Ethical Decision Making, and Relationships A Reflection Paper Name of Professor Date of Submission Introduction The quality of our lives rests on how we live every day. Different daily tasks normally influence the quality of our experience quite unsurprisingly. If all through our lives we merely perform discouraging or boring tasks, it is not likely that we will experience a fulfilled and blissful life. Normally every activity has two sides, the negative and the positive. For example, we feel a certain extent of happiness when we eat, which is an emotional high for individuals according to psychologists. Concurrently, our attention span or focus has a tendency to be quite weak when we eat (Strongman, 2003). Nevertheless, the psychological impacts of tasks are not one-sided, but rely on their organized connection to everything else we perform. For instance, the intense impacts of friendship on the quality of our experience indicate that devoting our intuitive ability in building and maintaining relationships is an effective means to enhance our life’s quality and meaning. Even the flaccid, shallow exchanges at a nearby restaurant can thwart depression. However, for genuine value and meaning, it is vital to build and sustain relationships with individuals whose ideas are rational and motivating and whose dialogues are thought-provoking. I will discuss in this paper the importance of psychology in three of my most common activities, namely, leading people, making ethical decisions, and making friends or sustaining relationships Leading People In theory, in order to make sense of why and how we perform tasks in a distinct manner it is important to gain a psychologically sound knowledge of a leadership approach through understanding ‘irrational meanings and causes’ or, psychological patterns and events that do not conform to rational principles (Ilies, Judge, & Wagner, 2006). These aspects reveal motives or needs at the mind’s motivational center. Usually referred to as the ‘dynamic unconscious’, this sector of cognitive functioning is assumed to include protective and wishful drives in opposing but dynamic patterns (Ilies et al., 2006, 2). The protective and spontaneous motives of such a pattern affect motoric functioning and conscious practice. However, vital components in this pattern are still outside the conscious understanding of the person (Ilies et al., 2006). According to Messick and Kramer (2005), these profoundly unconscious dynamics entail greater unconscious information and concept processing. Unconscious active variables result in inconsistency and, at times, dissonance. For instance, from a structural paradigm, low self-esteem is only an indication of strongly embedded conflict rooted in a person’s suppressed desires, anxieties, and immature whims (Messick & Kramer, 2005). Leaders who are incapable of coping with career frustrations may consequently become unsuccessful because they fail on unsettled inconsistencies at the core of their experience with frustration. Unconscious active variables normally bring about the challenges numerous leaders have in coping with the anger of other people and of their own selves (Messick & Kramer, 2005). Attempts to pacify emotions of guilt and failure to cope with anger may result in irrational actions or behavior. These irrational patterns can have damaging impacts on a team or organization, such as unreasonable reliance of leaders and followers on each other (Ilies et al., 2006). Nevertheless, majority of empirical explanations of leadership do not address unconscious and irrational motivational variables. Cognizant thinking is frequently viewed as uncomplicated and evident task, stemming from a position of absolute self-consciousness and complete self-will (Ilies et al., 2006). Less conscious and rational, according to Messick and Kramer (2005), often unsociable and problematic aspects of behavior, like sexuality, mistreatment of other people, self-centeredness, and phobia, are lessened or disregarded. With the help of these psychological assumptions, I am able to formulate six major steps to improve my leadership skills, namely, (1) recognize achievement or success, (2) evaluate performance and provide appropriate feedback, (3) empower and motivate groups/teams, (4) mobilize people, (5) establish the mission and vision, and (6) concentrate on the possibilities. Nevertheless, easy does not constantly imply the absence of difficulties, particularly when it concerns enhancing leadership skills. Being a leader I have to be constantly driven towards success under any circumstances, and have a sincere aspiration to make my team and organization successful. Investing effort and time in developing and executing these six measures, and other favorable strategies for leaders, is what makes a leader exceptional and successful. Making Ethical Decisions Social psychology explores individual cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning in the perspective of social interactions (Burr, 2002). Of specific relevance to this discussion are the manners in which social environments or contexts affect behaviors and awareness. Since ethical decisions are normally reached on the basis of how they will influence other people, the use of different social psychological theories to ethical decision making can function as a suitable and valuable instrument (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2001). Social psychological factors can negatively affect the results of major decisions. By applying social psychological theories, I tried to develop a number of recommendations on how to improve ethical decision making, mostly in relation to leadership, in everyday life. First, develop a ‘dual role’ as a group member and as an outside observer. In doing so, leaders can dynamically take part as members of a group but have the extra privilege of exiting the group to monitor and evaluate its practices. Even though sustaining a dual role may be difficult, it is definitely not uncommon for leaders to function in diverse roles that go beyond systems. It is also vital to cultivate self-reliant reflection or contemplation among members of the group. When leaders motivate other group members to articulate their ideas separate from the group, they reduce compliance and detrimental changes (Burr, 2002). This attempt could be reinforced by asking for individual contribution before group sessions. Second, when social psychological factors are intervening with coherent ethical decision making, inform the group about these realities (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2001). Groups can pinpoint the issue and implement measures to resolve it. This procedure may be strengthened by the input of a person who is outside to the group, as members of the group usually fall short in identifying the issues as they are taking place. Much information concerning the existence and effect of social psychological factors in the everyday task of making ethical decisions is still unidentified (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2001). Studies aimed at identifying the tempo at which these events take place in organizations, the effectiveness of actions taken to minimize the impacts of these events, and the members’ understanding of social psychological constructs affecting their tasks or performance would provide additional success in this arena. Even though social psychological factors will constantly be a component of the activities of a leader, the difficulties linked to these phenomena do not have to be persistent. With better understanding and practical strategies, leaders may be better capable of enhancing ethical decision making and making sense of the bigger social world. Making Friends or Maintaining Relationships The final issue I would like to embark on in relation to the position of relationships or friendship in psychology is to argue that there is a relevant or vital interpersonal factor in majority of psychological domains. Social psychologists have traditionally been fascinated in issues of interpersonal relationships, how individuals affect and are affected by other people, how the existence of other people influences individual outcomes, and so on. In the psychology of personality arena, sociability and extroversion, have apparent interpersonal implications (Ickes & Duck, 2000). The intricate concept of personality situates interpersonal bonds at the core of personality, according to Magnusson and Endler (1977), indicating that personality can be viewed as a spherical cluster of traits structured around leader-follower and unfriendly-friendly matrixes. Personality psychologies have recognized interpersonal requirements of a quality life such as the essence of intimacy and attachment. There is a traditional practice of linking personality attributes to relationship strength and contentment (Ickes & Duck, 2000). In the recent decades, practitioners of the self-monitoring concept have been determined in unearthing reliable dissimilarities between low self-monitors and high self-monitors in relation to their social relationship structure, their rationale for making friends or building romantic relationships (Ickes & Duck, 2000). High self-monitors, as stated by Magnusson and Endler (1977), have less strong attachment and more activity-based, segmented relationships. Practically all personality psychologists argue that development requires raising regularity of interaction and enhancing interdependence levels. The issue of how, and why, several relationships develop into intimacy or close bonds while others either fail or are sustained at low interdependence levels has been an area of interest for many personality psychologists (Magnusson & Endler, 1977). Furthermore, close relationships or affiliations have a tendency to progress or be disbanded; seldom are they sustained at a low interdependence level for a protracted duration. The underlying factors operating at the moment of a first meeting between two individuals affect whether the interactions of the couple will develop and whether their interaction is probable to develop (Magnusson & Endler, 1977). If the underlying factors that initially drove interaction in vanish, the relationship may crumble or fail. If, nevertheless, sound attachment developed between the pair in their exchanges, their relationship may endure these challenges even if the underlying factors that originally triggered interaction vanish or collapse. Based on these theories of personality psychology, I was able to understand that comparison is indispensable in choosing your friends or in assessing the possible outcomes of choosing them. Individuals gain knowledge of the outcomes characteristic of an interaction or a relationship through their personal understanding and experiences, by learning from the relationships of their acquaintances and friends, and by reading or listening to the relationship stories of individuals they are not personally acquainted with. The comparison analysis of a person for a certain relationship hence embodies his/her expectations of gains from the relationship. If existing realities of the relationship satisfy the ideals of the comparison analysis the person should be happy with the relationship; in contrast, if existing realities do not meet the requirements of the comparison analysis, the person should be discontented with it. If people view their friends or acquaintances acting in harmonious ways with expectations or ideals, they will be happier with the relationship. Hence, the theory of interdependence claims that the total integrity and strength of outcomes an individual gains from the relationship or attachment does not establish whether the person will be contented with it; instead, it is the unfavorable or favorable inconsistency of existing outcomes that establishes happiness and contentment. As a result, which interactions, relationships, or attachments the person employs as an ideal will shape his/her contentment. Conclusion To make a significant difference in the quality of life, it may be necessary to explore one’s immediate environment as well as tasks and friends. Leisure, like vacations, contribute a lot to the effective freeing of the mind, modifying points of view, looking at the pressing realities with a fresh perspective. Assuming control over one’s life, disposing of the unnecessary things, making the environment suitable to one’s own preference, making it psychologically and individually secure and comfy, may be the initial measure to enhance one’s life. References Burr, V. (2002). The Person in Social Psychology. New York: Psychology Press. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books. Ickes, W. & Duck, S. (2000). The Social Psychology of Personal Relationships. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons. Ilies, R., Judge, T. & Wagner, D. (2006). “Making Sense of Motivational Leadership: The Trail from Transformational Leaders to Motivated Followers.” Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 13(1), 1+ Magnusson, D. & Endler, N. (1977). Personality at the Crossroads: Current Issues in Interactional Psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Messick, D. & Kramer, R. (2005). The Psychology of Leadership: New Perspectives and Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Shapiro, J. & Stefkovich, J. (2001). Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education: Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Complex Dilemmas. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Strongman, K. (2003). The Psychology of Emotion: From Everyday Life to Theory. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Read More