Social Psychology Observation Journal

Observation Journal

This observation journal will show different social psychology topics and real-life examples. This is to help understand and show the knowledge gained during this course. “Social psychology is the scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context (Fein S., Kassin S., Markus H. 2016, p. 6).” Social psychology studies people during social situations such as parties, relationships, school, work and more.

Schema

Schema is a belief held by a person about themselves that guides processing of self-relevant information such as: weight, appearance, political views, religious standpoint, knowledge level, etc (Fein et. al. 2016, p.55). This is how you feel about yourself not others. Usually we are harder

al. 2016, p.146) . If our parents think we are smart and kind people than we will begin to think we are too and make sure we act that way. When we began to act a certain way because it is expected is self-fulfilling prophecy. My mom always old me I was smart and always expect A’s and B’s. It began to become a way of life almost. I did not question whether or not I needed to do my studies when I got home or if I could go and play before. I heard of other students getting paid to make good grades, but I knew that was not an option for me. I began to love school and learning at a young age. I still enjoy learning just not as much the social aspect of school. I would do extra math problems and read a lot during the summer. this all began because my mom instilled a love for learning inside of me that I could not reject. I graded third in my high school class with a high GPA and I got a nice amount of scholarship money for Faulkner. Now that I am At Faulkner I still enjoy

al. 2016, p.247). The process begins when your attitude and behavior are on different spectrums. This would sound something like going to the movie when you only have 2 hours before a major test or going to a tanning salon even though skin cancer is part of your family history that you are usually strict about preventing. Usually during this feeling you make say well I studied last night or it was only five minutes in the tanning bed. This is called self-talk this is when you try to disregard how big the dissonance really was. You may reduce the dissonance by minimizing the conflict, changing your perspective, adding cognitions, or other things like these. These help your attitudes and behavior to come more in line together. The choices or reduces in the dissonance can have good or bad consequences.The best example and most common example I have is minimizing the calories when I am dieting. I may be logging my food into myfitnesspal app and I will put I ate a fourth instead of a half. This is something I always find myself doing but minimize this dissonance by saying it’s ok I didn’t really eat the whole apple or I didn’t eat the skin off the apple so that counts right. This causes a debate between my attitude and behavior. My attitude says “I want to eat healthy, but my behavior says “I only ate half a