social psychology tan jia san .docx

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE , BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

(FNBE)

ASSIGNMENT 1 : INDIVIDUAL JOURNAL

NAME : TAN JIA SAN

STUDENT ID : 0322406

SESSION : MONDAY (8-10am)

SUBJECT : SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

INTAKE : MARCH 2015

LECTURER : MR. SHANKAR THIRUCHELVAM

SUBMISSION DATE : 30th November 2015

FNBE 0315 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY JOURNAL TAN JIA SAN 0322406

ENTRY 01 : SOCIAL FACILITATION

JOURNAL 01 : SOCIAL FACILITATION

DATE : 5th November 2015

Social facilitation is the idea that you will likely to do better on a simple task

when other people are watching you .This is when motivation is formed. The word

“motivation” bring about many meanings. According to psychologist, motivation is

defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors.

Social facilitation occurs when people are performing in the presence of others yet

their individual contributions can be identified.

Throughout my 17 years of life experience in kindergarten , primary school,

high school and my 18th year doing foundation semester 2 now , I have applied

social facilitation in many experiences this 18 years . My hobby is drawing , I started

to draw when I was 5 . When I was 8 years old , I tended to join drawing competition

or even digital drawing competition . I met friends who share the same hobby with

me during competitions . We learned together , compete together and play together.

I got nervous everytime I went for competition. Before the competition day , I can feel

the pressure . My mum will bring me to my art tutor to train me on drawing skills. I


practice everyday so that I can do well in competition. For me , I was afraid of failure,

Malaysian so called “kiasu”.I want others to see the best of me, I want to be the best.

I would work hard to show others that I can do very well . My art tutor encouraged

me to draw as usual just like what I did during practice . He taught me to treat the

audiences as my family and friends. They come to support me , they watch me draw.

So I should perform well. That’s where I got my motivation. In the last year of my

primary school , I got 2nd place in the competition and everybody praise me for doing

well in the competition .

Then during my secondary school , I became more afraid of failure and also

kind of “kiasu”. I tended to work hard to perform well in education and co-curricular

activities. The memory of fierce competition in high school where the intellectual and

the “pro” would look down on those “ not so good “ and slaughtered them will always

vivid in my mind , that’s how I learn about society . Motivation is high when

performing an easy task that others observe . We should take task we are assigned

to as an easy task so that we would do well to complete it. I remembered during form

3 , we are assigned to give a speech in the class . I am a shy person and I am not

good in speaking . I chose to escape from the reality and ignored the task . When the

day came , I walked out and gave the speech by reading it from the paper. I got

scolded by my teacher and my classmates laughed at me . That was the worst day

ever. I felt offended, I think my classmates gave me the motivation to speak well by

laughing at me. Started from that day, I started to read more books and watch

English channel . I learned how to speak well and be confident while giving a

speech. I even started to speak English to my friends and family. I asked questions

during English class. After half year of hard-working , it finally paid off . I joined a

speech competition . At first , I never thought of joining speech competition in the


school . My teacher , she encouraged me to join so that I can gain experience . I still

get nervous . I didn’t sleep well for few nights thinking about how will my speech be

during the competition . I practice my speech everyday , in front of my friends , family

and teachers .

Finally , the day came . I went up to the stage confidently when I heard the

cheers from the audiences . I got motivated and I don’t feel nervous , I treated the

audiences as my family and friends . In the end , I got 2nd place in the competition .

My friends and family supported me and praised me . I feel so proud and happy .

The key to use social facilitation effectively is to assign tasks that you know will be

observed by others but they also match the actual skills of participants. My

motivation for this task should be high because I learned to see this as a relatively

easy task so that I can complete it . Never take any task as complicated task , this

will make your self-efficacy decreased and you wont get motivated .

Social facilitation brings us to success . Without this , we would not get

motivated to complete the task or even get rid of our fears . Society nowadays rely

more on successful people , we , human beings would think that we will get kick out

if we are not successful . By then we will get the motivation to achieve something

that can prove us a successful person . In a conclusion , motivation is high when

performing an easy task that we observe. We are likely to get positive feedback as a

result. In contrast , motivation is lower for more difficult tasks because we fear

making mistakes , and this could result in unfavorable comments from others.

(WORD COUNT: 856)


ENTRY 02 : THE SELF

JOURNAL 02 : SELF-DISCREPANCY THEORY

DATE : 9th NOVEMBER 2015

What is Self-discrepancy theory ? In the second class of social psychology ,

I learned about self-discrepancy theory , which is quite interesting and surprising for

me . I did not really understand the explanation about this theory at first . But then I

went back home and did some research about self-discrepancy theory .

The self-discrepancy theory is the idea of you taking on different selves.

According to this theory, our self-concept is influenced by how close we are to the

person we want to be . There are three types of selves , which are “ ideal self “,

“actual self” and “ ought self “ . The “ ideal self “ is what we want to ideally possess

and what we truly want to be . Our “ ought self “ is what our understanding of what

others want us to be – what we ought to be and do. The “actual self “ is the reality of

who we are . As if all these are line , we are supposed to be happy and content with

ourselves.


I can personally relate this self-discrepancy theory in my life . My ideal self is

someone who is fit , happy , and successful . My ought self is to be a good student ,

socially , fit , a good daughter and a loyal one . Well, back to the reality , which is my

actual self . My actual self is a chubby girl who is lack of determination and

confidence. I have been trying to be who I want , which is fit and successful . When

others want me to be fit and successful too . I was born fat which means I am fat

since I was young . Since primary school , everyone says that I am fat. I have

experienced “lower” times in during these 12 years of school life . People wants me

to be fit but when the actual self cannot fulfill the ought self and ideal self , I tended

to give up on being fit . I hate exercising, I didn’t play sports in primary school . I

wanted to go on diet and keep fit , but I never have the determination to do it . This is

when the self-fulfilling prophecy came up . I tended to think that I am fat, so I didn’t

try to be fit . I gave up on being fit . At that time, I thought I am still young to be fit as I

was only 10 years old , I want to be happy , I love foods.

Until I graduated from primary school , I tended to have low self-esteem as

all the new friends of mine think that I am very fat . Society nowadays judge us by

our looks. There is why I got judged by many people . Some people were not willing

to be friends with me just because I am fat. Its hard for me to lose weight to reach

my ideal self. Therefore, I got disappointed . I still have no determination to change

myself even though my ought self and ideal self were calling me to make a change

to achieve them.

In today’s society , we are all under extreme pressure to be perfect by

everyone’s standard . We want to be the best so we that we can have higher self-

esteem as we are proud of ourselves. I want to be happy , I literally forget that

striving to be my ideal self is more important that striving to be my ought self. Then , I


think of if I am happy for who I am , then it is okay to not meet everyone else’s ideal

standard. I tended to change my ideal self to be happy . But sometimes , I want to be

successful , I want others see my efforts and never look down on me . In 2013, I

decided to go for weight loss program. Everyone thinks that it is impossible to lose

weight. I started to exercise everyday and eat less. My motivation is fit girls who

teaches people how to workout to lose weight. I want to be successful like them . I

started to join sports . I started to be active. I found out that muay thai is quite

interesting but I have to be fit first then I can join muay-thai. That is where my

determination formed. In six months time , I lost 12 kg which impressed those who

had looked down on me . I got slimmer but not as fit as I want .

This is happy because I worked hard to be my ideal self and ought self. I did it

to prove those who looked down on me wrong. However, if we are able to have all

these in line , if it make sense that we would be much happier and satisfied with

ourselves and the people around us would be too . This is my experience on this

self-discrepancy theory. I found that motivation and determination are formed from

these three selves. Therefore , self-discrepancy theory is basically what we choose

to make of it . This also helps us to make an effort to be better and to be the ideal

self .

(WORD COUNT : 824)


ENTRY 03 : Social Cognition

Journal 03 : Counterfactual Thinking Theory


Counterfactual thinking is thinking about a past that did not happen. This often

happens in “if only …” situations, where we wish something had or had not

happened. This can be so powerful we can change our own memories, adjusting the

facts and creating new memories. It also refers to thinking about “ what might have

been” , imagining what have happened .

These counterfactual thoughts of what could have happened can affect one’s

emotions, such as causing them pain, regret , relief or satisfaction . Throughout my

life, this happens always during my school life . For example. when I turned out

getting a bad result for my exam . I always have thoughts like “ If only I had studied

for the exam …” or “ If only I had join the extra class during weekends . This always

brings to the “lower” time which affect my mood . I will keep thinking about the test

and blaming myself for not trying to be the best. According to social psychology , this


is upward counterfactual . For my understanding , upward counterfactual thinking is

thinking about positive outcome of any bad event that had happened.

I had experienced upward counterfactual thinking during competition of my

primary school life. I used to join digital drawing competition during my primary

school life. I started to learn when I was 8 years old, I went for practice everyday to

achieve success and make my parents feel proud of me. In the second year, I aimed

to get first prize as I promised my mother . Unfortunately, things always don’t go

smoothly, I didn’t get first prize but second prize. The thoughts of “ If only I worked

hard , I would win …” or “ If I think more creative , I would have won the competition”

stuck in my mind for few weeks . I experienced stress and sad time. I thought I have

not put my effort fully to achieve success.

Besides that, I have been using this thinking in my daily life . I used to be very

fat in my past 16 years. I liked to eat and I was very lazy to exercise. For me ,

exercise was the hardest activity . Until form 4, people getting more on stereotyping

me as fat people and look down me . I had gone through low self-esteem , sad

days . That’s when my upward counterfactual thinking came up . I will have thoughts

of “ If I had been exercising when I was young . I would be fit now …” or “ If I eat

less, I would not become so fat and people would not laugh at my weight”

I started with jogging and eat less , I lost 12kg in six months . I achieved

something that could impress those who had looked down on me. I feel proud of it ,

even though im still not slim enough , at least I have lost weight . This literally

increase my self-esteem and then until form 5 I thought it was enough so I stopped

working out and focus on study . Unfortunately, I got fatter and fatter . I have no

control in my diet. People around me started to judge me again. Again , I have

thoughts of “ if I keep my diet going on , I would not get fatter but slimmer …” , “ if I


keep my determination in working out , I can be fit now …” Things do not go well

always in life . We will always have hard time in our life. I could not blame anyone

but myself.

However, there are those people who would not care so much. They are

easygoing and happy-go-lucky, they are less likely to worry about their lives. In

contrast, we often use downward counterfactual thinking to make us feel better. We

will imagine negative outcomes of an event. For example, we as a student, will

always have downward counterfactual thinking when we pass the test or exam. We

will always have a thought about “If I got a D on the test I will fail the semester, but

luckily I got C on the test..” For example , an athlete who won bronze medal would

undergo upward counterfactual thinking as he would think that he is lucky to win

bronze medal. They tend to be happier than the silver medalists because athlete

who won a silver medal would blame themselves for not giving the effort fully to win

a gold medal. I have had an experience about this during my primary school year , in

the first year of joining the digital drawing competition . I got third place , I was

overwhelmed with happiness and excitement. I felt so lucky that I won third place

because at least I did not come forth and miss out the third prize. This is kind of a

motivation for myself because I did not disappoint myself even though it’s the first

competition I have joined.

Few months ago, my friend got into an accident while fetching me to

somewhere. Fortunately , it was just a small accident which we were not injured . My

friend said that she was lucky enough because the car just slightly hit her car, no

serious damage had happened. This was a downward counterfactual thinking

possessed on my friend. Me too , I have a thought of “ Luckily we didn’t get injured in


the accident….” . Therefore , downward counterfactual thinking can be a powerful

tool which it can helps us to calm down and feel better when a bad event happened.

In conclusion , counterfactual thinking ,in which individuals reflect upon how

events might have unfolded differently , tends to instill a sense of meaning in life or

at work.

(WORD COUNT : 916)


ENTRY 04 : SOCIAL PERCEPTION

JOURNAL 04: THE HALO EFFECT


Beautiful faces have a powerful effect on behavior. The halo effect is a type

of cognitive bias in which our overall impression of a person influences how we feel

and think about his or her character. The halo effect is an important concept to

understand because it can create errors in analysis and decision-making. People

with handsome or pretty faces will say to be very polite , kind and nice person . It is

also known as the physical attractiveness stereotype and the "what is beautiful is

good" principle, the halo effect, at the most specific level, refers to the habitual

tendency of people to rate attractive individuals more favorably for their personality

traits or characteristics than those who are less attractive.

In this concept, we can say that people judge the books by its cover . For

example , if a girl is pretty , we would think that she is a good and kind person . We

would not expect a pretty girl doing a crime or anything bad. All the positive


behaviors will automatically possessed on a pretty girl which may or may not be true.

In contrary , people nowadays being so racist that they think “black man” are all

possessed with negative qualities like rapist , pervert and thieves.

After learning about the “ halo effect “ in social psychology class , I can

literally relate how I perceive others by using this concept in my daily life . For

example , my teachers are subject to the concept on how they evaluate their

students. My teacher sees a well-behaved student might tend to assume that they

are also intelligent and responsible. While in contrary , students who are noisy in the

class will being called the bad students and possess negative qualities like lazy ,

irresponsible and bad. Therefore , when these effect occurs , they can affect

students’ approval rating in certain areas or even students’ grades.

According to experience above , the halo effect can influence how teachers

treat students, but it can also impact how students perceive teachers. While in one

study , students tend to rate an instructor with warm and good attitudes as more

attractive and likeable instructor . Therefore , whenever the teacher teaches us

nicely , we will tend to pay more attention during class and we will follow the

teacher’s instruction . The first impression one gives is also a relevant point for the

halo effect. This effect is also related to stereotyping , people stereotype others

everyday . They tend to assume someone in any stereotype by judging their looks.

For more specifically , I experienced this on my own. I am a very active , talkative

and crazy person for my friends. But during class, I will become quiet and not active.

My teachers thought that I was a hardworking and clever person because I was quiet

during class .

Next , the halo effect also affected on how I choose my friend . For example ,

when I first met my best friend , Mun , her pretty face attributed me all of the positive


qualities such as clever , hardworking and sporty person . As time goes by , I found

out that she is not really hardworking person which is why we became best friends

now because I am also a lazy person . This effect also affected me to choose the

right one to be with. Some people are not worth for me to be friend with , which is

those who has bad habits and always skip class . These type of friends are who I

avoid to be with.

The halo effect definitely can affect the way we think whether or not we are

aware of it. I remembered I got labelled as fat people in high schools. That was a

terrible experience , my friends stereotyped me as overweight because I am fat .

They assumed that I was a lazy person and I like to eat that’s why I am fat . In the

end , I proved many people wrong by going on diet and exercising . My first

impression might made my friends think that im a lazy person , but I proved them I

am not . Besides that , this concept also literally affected my grades and behavior. I

have the potential to draw and colour. So, in my foundation semester 1 , my lecturer

graded me with an A over my assignments or even group work. My lecturer is

applying the halo effect she had upon people who knows how to draw and colour will

produce a nicer work than those who do not have the potential to draw.

It's well-known in the business world that certain brand names can use the

"halo" of their reputation in order to charge a premium for a basic product. Human

beings naturally make these perceptual adjustments—up with a halo, down with

horns—without even realizing it. And it shouldn't be surprising that our brains use

this cognitive shortcut. It makes living in a complicated world easier if we can just

paint people and things with the broad brush of "good" or "bad," which is why the

halo effect persists in humanity today.

(WORD COUNT : 831)

http://beinghuman.org/article/confirmation-bias


ENTRY 05 : ATTITUDE

JOURNAL 05 : OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING


Remember the first time you tried to cook scrambled eggs for

breakfast ? When there is no cookbook for you to follow step-by-step

instructions. But there is a good chance that you thought back to a time

you watched your mum make them and just followed what you

remember her doing . So , how did you successfully cook scrambled

eggs the first time without a cookbook? The answer to this question is

the focus of the theory, a process called observational learning .

Observational learning is the process of acquiring information by

observing others. For example, think of how a child watches his parents

wave at one another and then imitates these actions himself. A

tremendous amount of learning happens through this process of

watching and imitating others. Observational learning is sometimes also

referred to as shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement. While it

can take place at any point in life , it tends to be the most common


during childhood as children learn from the authority figures and peers in

their lives. Therefore , observational learning plays an important role in

the socialization process , as children learn how to behave and respond

to others by observing how their parents and other caregivers interact

with each other and with other people .

For my experience, I have been using this concept since I was

born . In the first few years, I learned how to walk like how my parents

did . First of all, I only know how to crawl. As time goes by, I learn how to

stand up by my feet. My parents are the role model. I observed how they

walk and learn the action. I learned how to wave at one another. As I

always saw my parents wave at others whom they know when they see

them. Therefore, now I wave at my friends when I see them . That is a

polite behavior in saying hello to someone you know.

It is an amazing process where I have paid close attention to how

my parents behave, but then it is my turn and I have got to remember

how to do it. We learn everyday, we learn from school , outside ,home .

We learn from watching how others do . When I was in kindergarten , I

learned how to draw. I attended art class and I learned how to draw , by

watching the way my tutor draw. I managed to draw a thing out , it might

not be 100 percent same as my tutor’s masterpiece because I have got

to practice more to draw better because practice makes perfect.


Next, while growing up spending most of time in house . I learned

how to do housework like washing the laundry , cleaning the floor and

more . For example , me when I was young , watched my mother folding

the laundry . I later picked up some clothing and imitates folding the

clothes. I saw my mum mopping the floor with the mop, I later pick up

the mop and mop the floor when I want to help my mum to do some

housework. I learned how to wash my shoes, clothes , clean up the room

by watching my mum doing the housework. I observed how my mum did

them and imitate the behavior. It is very funny behavior because we as a

child tend to copy what our parents do.

This observational learning has advantages and disadvantages.

Observational learning is somehow similar to incidental learning , a

process where children improve their knowledge through interaction with

others in the environment. Through this learning ,students learn life skills

at a tender age. Observational learning not only helps promote

enjoyment in learning, but also creates a flexible environment , which

enable children to explore. As a result , we as a student, learn

observation skills , solving problems and completing tasks create an

amazing learning experience.

Besides that, observational learning also encourages social

interactions. I learned numerical, language and social skills through


observational learning. In school, teachers and friends are my

companion in learning . I learned through observation and imitation. I

learned to have fun through interaction, therefore I met friends in school

and have fun with them . I also learned how to respect each other, just

like I will wave at my friend when I see them because it’s a way to greed

them . I also learned to bow when I meet teachers in the school as a

sign of respect.

However , observational learning could brings up negative

behaviors if it is not applied correctly. Parents nowadays have to pay

more attention on their children to prevent them from learning the bad

behaviors . For example , parents who smoke will automatically possess

children who smoke. As we know that , children like to copy the elder’s

behaviors. Therefore , parents should not attribute bad behaviors to

children which would ruin their life or mess up their mind. They would

think that those behaviors are right to copy and learn from. This could

make a child develops into bad student and not being successful. For my

experience , I also learned bad habit from my friends. Luckily I managed

to realize the bad habit very soon and changed my bad habit.

In conclusion, observational learning can be a powerful learning

tool . When we think about the concept of learning, we often talk about

direct instruction or methods that rely on reinforcement and punishment.


But a great deal of learning takes place much more relies on watching

the people around us and modeling their actions. However , undesirable

models may reinforce behavior and poor role models demonstrate poor

behavior. Role models like parents and teachers have to pay more

attention to children and students by giving them correct examples. In

many cases, television is also a source of behavior modeling. A study

found that children who watched a higher amount of television of

television were almost 49 percent more likely to become violent

criminals. Therefore, parents should be alert and make sure their

children are learning the positive behaviors.

(WORD COUNT : 989)

social psychology tan jia san .docx

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