Social Psychology Finale Journal

1. TANG YING JIEN
0322357
Session MONDAY (10am-12pm)
Course SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY [PSYC0103]
Lecturer T. SHANKAR
Submission Date 16 NOVEMBER 2015

2. Journal 1 (14 of September 2015)
Social Facilitation
Social Facilitationisatermusedas a theorythat helpsusunderstandwhywe are motivatedto
do certaintasksdone togetherasa teamcomparingto individual task.Itisa tendencyforpeople who
are beingwatchedorobservedtoperformbetterthantheywouldalone onsimpletask. Thistheory
suggeststhatthe mere or imaginedpresenceof peopleinsocial situationscreatesanatmosphere of
evaluation. The social facilitationtheorywasbroughtupbyNormanTriplettwhenhe begantostudy
competitivenature in1898. Inhis experiment,hisoutcome wastwotypesof social facilitation,whichis
the co-actioneffectandthe audience effect.Co-actioneffectmeansaphenomenonwherebyincreased
task performance comesaboutbythe mere presence of othersdoingthe same task while the audience
effectmeansthe presence of passivespectatorwill increase the efficiencyof aperson’swork.
Social facilitationare mostlyseeninteambasedtask.Take example of afootball match,a
football playerwill performbetterwhenhe isteamupwithhisteammembersratherthanplayingon
hisown.Thisis seenwhenthe playerwasmotivatedtoperformbetterwhenhe knowsthatthe
outcome of the match is affectedbyhisperformance.The football playerdoeshispractice togetherwith
hismembertomake himfeel more comfortable toperformwhenhe isina matchwithhisown
teammates.Also,whenthe footballplayerisplace underastadiumfilledwithcheeringspectators,this
will increase the social facilitationeffectunderco-actioneffect.Thiswillboost the player’smoralityand
hisperformance isheavilyenhance ashe knowsthatpeople are supportinghim.Thiscome under
evaluationof audience ashe donot want to lose hisreputationandthusperformbetterinfrontof a
crowd.
NormanTriplettwasalso experimentingonchildrentoprove the social facilitationtheory.There
were twoconditions, the childalone andchildreninpairsbutworkingalone.Theirtaskwasto windina
givenamountof fishingline andTriplettreportsthatmanychildrenworked fasterinthe presence of a
partnerdoingthe same task. Thisprovesthatsocial facilitationtheoryaffectshow the children’s
efficiencyandgroupworkdoesworksbetterthanindividual.
As howI experience social facilitation,itoccursto me duringone of the ENBE project,whichis
buildingacity.Asfirst,I waspairedup withDarrenTan, Hui Teng and KoonQi.I got hypedupwhenmy
teammateswasveryenthusiasticandmotivatedtodotheirbestonthisproject.Thisiswhensocial

3. facilitationkicks in.IwasmotivatedtoperformbetterwhenIknow myperformance will affectthe
outcome of our projectgrades.I couldalsosee thatmy teammatesshowsstrongsocial facilitation.With
a motivatingandoptimisticmemberswe are able tocome up witha superbideaforour city.Each
memberof the groupwas givena taskto complete it.So,althoughourtask wasdifferent,we stimulate
each otherandpromptsourselvestofocusonour ownspecificjob.Givingourmoralityabigboost and
our adrenaline keepon pumpingevenwhenwe wereworkinglate midnight.Forexample,one of our
overnightmeeting,DarrenTanwasverytired,butbecause the othermembersare full of enthusiasm
and DarrenTan wasaware of peerevaluationanddonotwant tolethis ownteammates down,he
startedto focusand pour inas much energyaspossible togetthe workdone.Afterdaysof hard work,
we were able tocome upwitha beautiful cityandgota solidA- forit whichisa well done job.We could
not have possibilitydoneitwithout the helpof encouragementandsupportwhichshowsstrongsocial
facilitation.
WhenI was doingmyITD orthographicdrawings,whichisanindividualwork,Ishow greatsocial
facilitation.Iwasassignto create an actual scale of a model carto complete myproject.AsI prefertodo
my workwithmypeers,thisindirectlypromptmyselftoworkharder.Observingmyfriendsdoingthis
project,Iwas encourage todo it too,so that I can keepupthe work flow.Iwastryingto compete
againstmy friendssoI can able toget betterresultstoo.Also,Iletmylecturerstoreview myprogressas
whenworkingunderthe supervisionof mylecturers,Iself-encourage myself toworkbettertoable to
do to the expectationof mylecturerswantedandnotlettingthemdown.Thisfallsunderthe category
of co-actioneffectof social psychologyandIwas able tocomplete myprojectwiththe helpof thissocial
facilitation.
In a nutshell,social facilitationisanoptimisticpsychologyeffectthataffectsgreatlyonsupport,
motivation,andefficiencywhenusedonthe rightthing.People shouldimplythiseffectontheirdaily
workso theyfeel more motivatedtocompletetheirjobandit will contributealotto the ever-changing
world.

4. Finishing my ENBE project with Darren, Hui Teng and Koon Qi 

5. Journal 2 (16 of September2015)
Social Comparison
Social Comparisonisaneffectthatoccurs in mostof ourdailylife tostrive forthe bestby
competingagainstotherpeople.The social comparisonprocessinvolvespeople whomevaluates
themselvesof theirownattitudes,abilitiesandbeliefsincomparisonof others.Inmostcases,we try
and compare ourselvestothose amongourpeersandwithwhomwe are similar.Mostof us have this
social skillsandimpulsecontrol tokeepourenvyandsocial comparisonsquietbutourtrue feelingsmay
come out insubtle ways.Inthissocial comparisonskills,itisbreakdownto twokindsof social
comparison,whichisthe upwardsocial comparisonandthe downwardcomparison.Upwardsocial
comparisoniswhenwe compare ourselveswiththose whowe believe are betterthanuswhile the
Downwardsocial comparisoniswhenwe compare themselvestootherswhoare worse off than
ourselves.Thistheorywasfirst presentedbypsychologist,LeonFestingerin1954. He believedthatwe
engage inthiscomparisonprocessasa wayof establishingabenchmarkbywhichwe canmake accurate
evaluationsof ourselves.
In mostcompetition,social comparisoncanbe identified inthiskindof events.Forexample,a
marathonrunnermay knowthat he or she can runa mile inundersix minutes.Tothe runner,itis
considera huge featanda goodachievement.However,the runnercannotknow if thisisa reallygood
time until he or she comparesitwithotherpeople’stime.If the runner’stime isbetterthanother’s
people time,downwardsocial comparisonoccursandthismay influence the runnertonotimprovesas
he or she thinksthattheyare the bestand nomore furtherpractice can be done to surpassanyone.This
type of comparisongenerallymakesone feelbetteraboutthemselves.Thisisrathernotconsidera good
practice as humansare born to compete,surviveandbe at the top.He or she shouldrathercontinue to
aimbetter.Andby doingso,thiswill makesthe runnertobe the bestwhile preventingotherpeople
fromsurpassinghim.Butif hisor hertime islongerthanthe comparedtime,upwardsocial comparison
take place.Thisis where competitionhappensandthe runnerwill tryandcompete himself orherselfto
be better.The runnerwill continue totrainthemselvesuntil theyreachtheirexpectationandbeatthe
otherpeople’stime.
In mycase, social comparisonwasa familiartome insecondaryschool.WhenIstartedto gain
more knowledge andwasaware thatthere are boundto have people thatisbetterthanme,I startsto
workharder.Take example of school’sexamandtest,amongmypeersandmyself,we will compare our

6. resultwitheachotherto knowwhoisbetter.Mostly,if I know myfriendsdidbetterthanme for this
test,I tendsto pourmore time and domore exercise onthatparticularsubject.Of course there will be
people whodidworse thanme inthat test.I will feelbetteraboutmyresultsand“feed”myself-
esteem.Iknowthisisnota goodpractice but thishumannature are mostlyunavoidableandIwill
constantlyremindmyself thatIshoulddobetterthanthenpeople whoare betterthanme.There isalso
anotherside effectof thisprocess.If Igetbetter gradesthan others,Ihave a relativelypositive self-
evaluationswhileworse gradeswill makesme feel tobe lesscompetentinthatparticulartest,which
leadstonegative self-evaluation.
For instance,one time Iwasin a speechcompetitionduringmy primaryschool period,Ionlygot
the consolationprize amongmypeersasthere itwas a strong competitionhappenedbetweeneach
participants.Thismakesme feltthatI wasnot goodin thatparticularfieldof talent.Thishappensto
increase mylowacademicself-conceptinthattalentof speech.Butinthe otherhand,thisgreatly
contributedtomyperceptiontowardsupwardcomparisons.Itencouragesme totrainharderas it
boostsmy self-conceptswhenIbelieve thatIcan improve myownperformance and become asgoodas
my comparisontarget.Thissocial comparisonprocessnotonlyinfluence myself-conceptsbutalso
improve myownperformance too.Since the speechcompetition,Ilearnthatwe needtobe constantly
compete tobe better,notjustcompete againstotherpeople,butalsoourselvestoo.Thishave agreat
influencefromthe self-concepttheoryandithelpsme topromote mysocial comparison’sskills.
To see inin differentperception,social comparisoncanbringnegativeandalsopositiveeffects
to our dailylives.We shouldbe optimisticincompetingagainstotherpeoplewill goodsportsmanship,
while avoidingenvyandjealousy.Thiswill make usmore proudof whowe are and thusdo betterin
society.

7. The trophy I got when I entered the speech competition :D

8. Journal 3 (5 of October 2015)
Stereotyping
Stereotyping,one of the world’squestionablepsychologyeffectthatpreventsthe worldfrom
unitingeachother.Stereotypesare beliefsaboutpeoplebasedontheirmembershipinaparticular
group.Theyare classifiedintodifferentgroupsof the same characteristics.These classificationcanbe
eitherpositive,negativeorneutral,suchaswhenvariousnationalitiesare stereotypedasfriendlyor
unfriendly.Stereotypingeffecthave bothadvantagesanddisadvantages.The advantagesof
stereotypingisthatit allowsustoquicklyrespondtoeventsaswe have the similarexperience before.
While inthe downside,itmakesusignore the differencesbetweenindividuals,therefore we think
thingsaboutpeople thatmightnotbe true.Althoughstereotypingprobablytendstoconveyina
negative impression,thispsychologyprocessisvital tosocial skillsasitallow peopletorapidlyprocess
newinformationabout anincidentorperson,organize people’spastexperiences,helppeople to
meaningfullyassessdifferencesbetweenindividual andgroupsandalsohelppeopletomake predictions
aboutother people’sbehavior.AsstatedbyStephanieMadon,aprofessorof psychology,she saidthat
“It’sa part of human nature to categorize”.Infact,it’san essential componenttolearnfromexperience.
Stereotypingisbasicallytryingtocategorize sothatyouare able torecognize somethingquickly.
Thisis whypeople in the latteryearstereotypespeoplewithdarkerskinsare ina lowersocial hierarchy.
Back to the old age,white peoplecapturedblackpeople are treatthemasslavesandthus makesthe
blackpeople violenttostandontheirownground.So inpresentdays, we subconsciouslylabelthe black
people willnameslikeAfricans,Nigger,people whoisviolentanddoesbadthings,andsoon. Thisis
done because inmostof our minds,we stereotype blackpeopleisdangerousandshouldbe avoidedto
preventourselves frombeingrobor otherbad things.Stereotype doesn’tincludesracial only,italso
goeswaybeyondgender.Take example,peopleinthe societystereotypedthatmanare more smarter
and are more capabilitytodoworkwhile womanare more fragile andshouldstayhome aswork as a
housewife.Thiswill make eachgenderhavingdifferentperceptiontowardseachotherwhichresultsin
negative social term,feminismandsexism.
Back in mysecondaryschool,Ihad a friendwhohave darkerskincolor.I know that myfriendis
a Chinese bornfamilybutbecause of genetic,he inheritthisskincolor.The problemstartshere when
people startstomake funof himas a blackman or “nigga”althoughhe isa Chinese.Some of them
calledhimasa drug addictbecause people stereotype thatdrugaddicttendstobe black peoples.Itwas

9. alsoa problemforhimtofindhisownfriendsaspeople despite him.He himselfalsoknow the factthat
he have darker skintone,anditwas a good thingthat he ismature enoughto understandandplayalong
withhispeers.Butfor I wasnot taughtthat darker skinpeople are badwhenIwas small,soI getalong
withhimeasily.WhatIwas sayinghere isthat stereotypingare usuallycreatedbyyourownthoughts,
youcan choose toignore the stereotypedfact.
To be honest,sometimesIalsostereotypingothergroupof people.Iusedtostereotypeone of
my friendasstupidanddoesn’tknowhow tosocialize.He isa special case ashe israther Down
syndrome guy.He doesn’tspeakmuchandwhenhe does,he usually stutterandopenshismouthwith
all hissalivadrippingout.He slouchandalwayscreepsandstalkson people.Idon’tlike tohangoutwith
himbecause Iperceive himasretardedanddon’tfeel like hangingoutwithhimasI don’twant other
people tocategorize me ashim.But everythingchange whenIknow thathe is actuallyveryintellectual
and verygoodin science andmath.I didn’trealize thathe isonlyweakinsocializingandhe isa very
normal personjustlike youandme.I kindof hatedmyself forstereotypingpeople sincethen.
There isalso one time,Iwaswalkinghome atnightand there issome foreignerworkerswalking
pass byme,I was scaredof beingrobbedbythemasI stereotypedforeignerpeople asbadpeople and
doesdisgraceful act.SoI walka fewdistance awayfromthemand walkquicker.WhenIgot home,Itold
my motheraboutthe incident.Butmymothercorrectedme that not all foreignerworkersare badand
to be real,theyare actuallyfriendlyandkindjustlike otherhumanbeing.Sadly,the badpeoplethat
trulyexistare people withreal intentionof doingevil deeds.She toldme thatI needtodifferentiate
differentrace of people andbadpeople.She saidthatevenChinese orIndianpeople canbe badtoo.
Afterthat,my stereotypingonforeignerworkershave decreaseandsometimes,Ishow themmy
respecttoo.
To sum itup, stereotype isahumannature of helpingthe brainfromprocessingstuffstoo
much.But humansfall intothe trap to label stereotypingasanegative psychologyterm.Itisnotthe
psychologytermwhichisdespisingotherparticulargrouporclassof people,butratheritiswhat
society’smindconcepttowardsthe thingstheydespise.

10. My rather dark skin friend, Cuin Yang (photo taken after
a prefect ceremony)
True Beauty and Friendship is found in the inside,
not the Outside, my friend, Chan Dickson

11. Journal 4 (19 of October 2015)
ConfirmationBias
Ever thoughtthatwhat youknow are alwaysright?Tryingto standon your ground?That iswhat
a confirmationbiasmeans.Inshort,confirmationbiasreferstothe tendencytoselectthe factyou
learntand considerthe informationastrue that confirmsto yourbeliefs.Breakingitdown,confirmation
biasmeansthat youlearnand observe throughall the resultof yearsof experience andobjective
analysisof the informationyouhave gotinhand.Then,youstickto that particularinfoyouknow about
and try to findothersourcestosupportyour ownbelief.Moreover,youwillonlytake insupportingfacts
that aidsthe existingknowninformationyougot,while ignoringotherfactsthatoppose yourbeliefs
towardsthe informationyouknowandalsointerpretsitasfake or not true enough.Asa normal people
withcommonhumannature,we will pushthe datathat doesnot supportour informationandaccept
data that supportsit.
For instance,acommonexample thatexplainsconfirmationbiasisthatpeople learningstuffs
and newsonthe internet.Nowadays,societyare dependable onthe internetandsocial mediatoknow
whatis goingon outside the worldratherthanreadinganewspaperorwatchingtelevisionwhichhave
informationthatare verifiedandconfirmed. So,peoplewhosaw anynewsonthe internetwill be
amazedand try to findoutmore on otherwebsite tosupportthe informationtheygetonthe internet.
Andwhentheyreadon otherwebsite sayingthatthe newsisactuallyfake,theywill feel confusedand
ignore the fact that itwas fake andtry to search onother placesuntil theyfoundothermatchingdata,
so that theycan brag withotherpeople withtheirfindings.Forexample,AndylikestodrinksCoca-Cola
everytime andhisfriendsadvise himnotto drinkthatmuch. Thenone day,he foundonthe internet
sayingthat Coca-Colaisindeedbadforhealth.He thenfeltpuzzle bythe infoandtriedtosearch
informationthatsupportshisbeliefs.He thenproudlytellshisfriendsthatCoca-Colawasnotthat badat
all whenhe grab on ontoa sole informationthatsaysCoca-Colacontainsgoodnutrientsforthe body
whichisonlyone website thathadwrote it.
Sometimesinlife,youjusthave tostandonyour owngroundjust to prove yournot-100%-
correct informationare true andlegit.WhenIwas young,Iuse to thinkDoraemonwassomethingreal
and itis justa veryexpensive robotthatIdon’t see everydaybecause noone Iknow can affordit.I
learnthat Doraemonwastrue whenmy parentssaidthatone daytheywill buyme a DoraemonwhenI
am a good boy.I evenbraggedinfrontof my kindergartenfriendsthatone dayI will ownaDoraemon.

12. Andthe resultswasterrible asmy friendslaughatmystupidnessandtoldme thatDoraemonisjust a
character ina comicbookand it isnot evenreal.Iwas verymadand puzzle atthe same time thatI hid
my friend’seraser(Iwasveryyoungthattime,soyeah,I didstupidandchildishthings).Iquicklywent
home that dayand ask my parentsif Doraemonwasreal,they saiditwas justa comic character too,I
was reallyconfusedatthatpoint.My parentsthenshowedme the comicauthorand all otherevidence
that Doraemonwasjusta fictional character.Theysaythat Doraemonwasreal because Iwas very
youngat that time and wantedme tobe good,so theylie tome that Doraemonwasreal.I was really
sad butlearnthe truththe hard way.
Once,I had a veryclose friendwhodoesn’tbelieveingodor otherheavenlystuffs.Butduringa
period,she washavinga greatdepressionandstressandcouldnotcopedwithit.Then,she startedto
believeinChristianityasshe wasexposedtoheranotherfriendthatsaidGodcan helpher.She beganto
feel thatGod wasall by herside and assistingherlife sinceshe startedjoinChristianity.She meansalot
to me and consideredaratherintimate goodfriendtome andI don’twant herto start to wanderoff.As
an atheistIknowit isa veryjealousthingtodo,butI didn’tforce herto leave ChristianityandIjust
advisedherthatGod is justa way of makingpeople tohave somethingtohangon. Because tome,god
isactuallymyself,andeveryone isGodtothemselves.People believe inGod,because sometimesthey
don’tbelieveinthemselves,sotheytake Godas a substitute.Iknow itisveryoffensive toreligious
people,butIsee religionasaconfirmationbiasprocesswhere peoplejustbelieve intheirownreligious
beliefs.Itisjustup to ourown selvestoeitherbelieveitornot.
Well tobe honest,confirmationbiasalwaysexistaslongashumanbeingsdebate overa
statement.There isalwaysnorightandwrong andeverythingisperceivedby yourown.Justlearnand
accept whatyou thinkitisgood andnot evil stuffs,thenitwill be alright.

13. At least I got Him, which is good :')
The girl I cherish, Lim Shu Li, please be fine for me,
remember who you are ♥

14. Journal 5 (2 of November2015)
Observational Learning
DiscoveredbyfamousCanadianpsychologistAlbertBandura,Observational Learningisa
psychological processthattake place atany pointina person’slife,ittendstobe the mostcommon
processdone duringchildhoodaschildrenasyoungasan infantstartsto learnfrom olderfiguresand
peersintheirlive.There isfourstagesof observational learningwhichisthe attention,retention,
productionandmotivation.Inthisfoursteppattern; the Attention,whichisthe individualnotices
somethinginthe environment;andRetention,the individual rememberswhatwasnoticed.Followedby
Reproduction,the individual producesanactionthatis copyof whatwas noticed;andlastlymotivation
whichisthe environmentdeliversaconsequence thatchangesthe probabilityof the behaviorwill be
emittedagain.Bandura’sfoundingsaysthatpeople learnthroughtheirlife.Theyobserveandimitates
the thingstheysee.The processisalsoinfluential bythe outcome of the actionbeingmade.There is
three possible whichispositive,negative andneutral outcomesthatchangesthe observationallearning
of oneself.
Observational learningalsoplaysanimportantrole inthe socializationprocessaschildren learnhowto
behave andrespondtoeach otherbyobservinghow theirparentsandotheroutsidersinteractwith
each other.Forinstance,if a childsawa boy wasbeingscoldedbya teacherwhenthe boybullyingother
children.The childthentake note on the negative outcome of whatwill happenedif he alsobullyother
children.The childlearnsthathe shouldnothitothersas the childknowsthathe or she will getscoldif
he or she dothat. Besidesthat,observational learningisvital forchildrento learnhow tosuit
themselvesinthe society.Notall humanisable tocope withthe differentenvironmentthattheyare
place in.Theyneedtolearnand imitate tobe able to joininthe new environment.So,childrenlearn
fromtheirparents,peersorotherstrangersto strengthentheirknowledge onhow toassimilate
themselvesinthe society.
Observational learningalsobroughtupan importantquestionwhichisif achildrenisable toimitate
whattheyobserve,will theyimitate violence theyobservein popularfilmsandtelevisions?Inmy
perception,observational learningisbasedonthe child’smaturityandhow the people beside themthat
influencethem.Itispossiblethattheymayimitate the violence,butif taughtina goodmanner,they
will learn thatitis verybadto imitate itand will bringgreatconsequences.So,thatiswhyparental
teachingisveryimportanttocreate a positive observational learning.

15. WhenI was young,mysisterisa verytidyperson.She usedtocleanup her table andarrange her beds.
She usuallycannotstandthat the fact that there isduston the area she is at. Thisbringme attention
whenI notice asa child,thatif my sisterisable tokeepthe house clean,she will be rewardedwith
sweetsandothergoodpresents.I observe andlearntostart cleaningupmymesstoo inhope for a well
done reward.
There were alsoonce happenedinmylife duringmysecondaryschool.Myclassdidn’thave anyteacher
incharge as the teachersare awayfor an importantmeeting,leaving studentstoself-study.Me andmy
friendswasboredandwantedtodo somethingandone of my friendbringinsome matchesthathe
tookfrom the science labwhenwe were havingbiologyclasses.Myfriendsstartedburningstuffsand
was havinga goodtime. Inmy head,Iwas thinking,whynotjointhemandhave fun?Nothingwill
possiblygowrongright?Inorder to “obtain”that joy,I stupidlyjoinedthemandburneddifferentkinds
of stuff.Disasterstruckwhenourmathteacherwalkintoour classto replace the currentteacher,we
quicklycoverupall the burnt stuffsandmatches.But karmahit ushard and our teachersmelled
somethingwasburningandsome smoke odorcame fromour area. Ourteacherthenyelledatusand
askedus to surrenderasshe will punisheveryone if we didnotadmitit.We were thenheavilypunished
by the disciplinaryteacherandpointsdeductedfromourattitude scores.Thisnegative outcomeof the
observational learningondoingbadstuffsreallyimpactonmylife.Istartedto be attentive onthings
that shouldbe followedwhile thingthatIshouldavoidit.
In short,observational learningtakesplace inanystagesof our lives,itmayevenhappenwhenyouare
oldand frail.The importantthingtotake note is that behaviorandactiontakencan change through
observationonotherindividualsorpeers.Choose wiselyandwalkapeaceful life.

16. Old times with my "Bruhs"! YOLO XD