Reflection on Personal Psychology: Social Psychology and Relationships

This assignment is a reflective paper exploring the student's understanding of social psychology, focusing on three key areas: self and identity, prejudice and discrimination, and attraction and close relationships. The student reflects on the learning journals prepared, which focused on levels of analysis framework to understand human behavior. The paper delves into the concept of self-esteem within the context of self and identity, discussing its impact on social interactions. It examines prejudice and discrimination, particularly institutional prejudice, and highlights their effects on individuals and society. Furthermore, the assignment discusses attraction and close relationships, exploring the role of love in human life and social psychology, and how it relates to the student's future career in health and social care. The student concludes by summarizing the impact of the learning journals on their understanding of social psychology and its relevance to their professional aspirations.

Running head: REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Reflection on personal psychology
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
1. Reflection on learning journal 1:
Social psychology is a very complex genre of science and the understanding of the social
psychology depends on a broad and in depth knowledge of human behaviours, emotion and
social interactions (Gelso, Nutt Williams & Fretz, 2014). In this exercise we had to focus on
three very important domains of social psychology, Prejudice, Self and Identity, and
Attraction and Close Relationships. All the three mentioned domains have a fundamental
contact with the psychological development and social interactions of an individuals.
Similarly, the impact of the individual psyche and behavioural characteristics is very
prominent on the social psychological behaviour of the different individuals (McDougall,
2015).
The first exercise for us had been preparing a learning journal focussed levels of analysis
framework, which helped tremendously in understanding human behaviour and response to
certain situations with respect to the reasons or contributing factors that facilitate the said
behaviour and response (Keller & Schoenfeld, 2014). This learning journal preparation
activity has helped me tremendously in understanding the human decision making process in
terms of biological, psychosocial and environmental level. This learning activity also
involved me making a few decision s which correspond to each type of decision making
level. This exercise had been a wonderful opportunity for me to understand exactly how the
human decision making and response could relate with developing self-identity, form close
relationships and overcome prejudice and discrimination.
2. Reflection subtopic:
Reflection on self and identity:
The first topic on which I would attempt to reflect on in this organization is the self and
identity, which has a strong impact on the personal psyche development of a human being.
Self and identity is associated with a variety of aspects associated with the sociological

2
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
theories and ideologies that can be employed to the better understand the relation of self and
identity and development of personal psyche of an individual. It has to be highlighted in this
context that self is the primary unit of society, and without a thorough understanding of the
self and self-identity, it is impossible to develop a clear understanding of the more complex
sociological aspects. Hence, I have chosen self-esteem as the subtopic to discuss the self and
identity due to the fact that self-esteem is crucially associated with the self and identity
formation. In my own opinion, human behaviour is often very crucially linked with self-
esteem or the individual, which is why I have chosen to reflect on it.
As discussed by Tyler, Kramer and John (2014), the sociological understanding of
self and identity is associated with presupposition of the presence of reciprocal relationship
between the self and the society. Researchers of the field of psychology have stated that there
is the presence of a reciprocal interaction between self and society, and this reciprocal
relationship is also the proclamation of the acceptance of not just power of self over the
society, but also the power of the society over the self with respect to identity formation
endeavours. As discussed by Jenkins (2014), self utilizes the social entities and their
interaction to form the interconnection between the self and the identity to develop the
identity formation, whereas the society utilizes the culture to either assist or force the self to
form the identity. As discussed by Neff (2016), self is the biggest or one of the greatest
discoveries in the social sciences, which has not only helped the understanding of the impact
of self on the determination of the place of self in the sociological research but also has aided
in the revelation that self is the primary factor in the identity formation in the society as well.
Similarly, as discussed by Thibaut (2017), the present day industrialized culture is based on
individualism, and the emphasis for such cultures is on personal goals and self-identity based
on the personal attributes and achievements. Similarly, in support Cinoğlu and Arıkan (2012)
have also stated the fact that personal identity is largely defined by the interactions and ties

3
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
that binds the individual to the social groups and also helps different individuals associate
with society better.
Self-esteem can be defined as the most important component of the social image of an
individual. It has to be mentioned in this context hat self-esteem is a deeply felt appreciation
of an individual with oneself and one’s natural being. Positive self-esteem enables an
individual to live generously and peacefully, without any apparent delinquency or
destructiveness which is associated with narcissistic self-esteem or self-centeredness. The
relevance of self-esteem in the social world is pertinent to two types of self-esteem, positive
self-esteem and negative self-esteem. Whereas the presence of high self-esteem helps an
individual to have faith on the capabilities and strengths and facilitates easy achievement of
the personal goals and social relationships as well; the negative self-esteem leads to
narcissism reducing the social sensitivity of the individuals. Hence, self-esteem, and self and
identity are very crucial to social world, especially mine.
Prejudice and discrimination:
The second topic of the reflective paper is prejudice and discrimination, which by far
has the most influential impact on the society and the social presence of most of the
individuals. Discrimination and bullying is a very important aspect associated with the
present day society, the prejudice is the fundamental contributor leading the discrimination.
In my opinion, prejudice is a multidimensional and multifactorial aspect associated with the
society, and in the present day situation, prejudice is present in many aspects of life, race,
gender, ethnicity, language and even sexual orientation (Whitley Jr & Kite, 2016). Prejudice
is present in every social setting, although the most influential is the institutional prejudice,
leading to the most tragic outcomes. As a student myself, I have personal encountered
institutional prejudice and discrimination either directly or indirectly. Hence, I believe the
institutional discrimination is a massive social priority and ether is need for efforts to reduce

4
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
prejudice and discrimination, with every single individual contributing or working at it
equivocally.
Prejudice, and the resultant discrimination and bullying is a well-researched topic in
the field of social psychology. Many researchers have pointed out prejudice to be the result of
centuries of social conditioning over societal power distance and affinity towards domination
(Tuttas, 2015). Although, prejudice or discrimination is also intricately linked with the
perception and state of mind of the majority of the society. It has to be mentioned in this
context that the impact of the discrimination is not limited to only physical or psychological
harm, the deleterious impact of the discrimination is holistic and entertains multiple domains
of wellbeing of the victims. Being a huge social issue, undoubtedly prejudice and ways to
overcome it has been the central point of social research for years. As discussed by authors,
social cognition is a process which is associated with overcoming the stereotypes and
prejudice. Although, similarly a variety of individuals possess a prejudiced thinking for a
certain or a group of individuals but might not act on it. Hence, acting on prejudice leads to
discrimination, prejudiced mindset does not necessarily lead to discrimination or bullying.
Either ways, a person with long term prejudiced mindset can be provoked or triggered into
discriminatory behaviour by any exposure or interaction. Hence, the discriminating actions
are also behavioural malpractice which can be addressed through positive social conditioning
and behavioural social psychology (Bethlehem, 2015).
Prejudice has become an ever-present phenomenon in the society, and it has a huge
impact on the development of individual psyche (Fishbein, 2014). Taking assistance from the
Australian society, the first people of Australia have been subjected to prejudice and
discrimination since the colonial period. Even with the recent chances in the laws and land
restoration movements, the social position of the indigenous communities in the Australian
society is sought with prejudice, discrimination and injustice. In my opinion, there are

5
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
various tools for addressing this social issue, especially for the students, adolescents and
young adults with impressionable minds and most notable acceptance to change. I believe
reducing prejudice is crucially associated with my social world and is a fundamental
responsibility of all citizens.
Attraction & Close Relationships:
The last sector of the reflection is another crucially important aspect of human
emotions and relations, attraction and relationship. Humans are extremely social beings and
we cannot survive without the support and assistance from those around them. The social or
self-oriented recognition of different individuals is associated with the recognition that an
individual gets from their close friends or acquaintances. The most dynamic and influential
human emotion is love that helps in development of all the close relationships, whether it is
platonic or romantic. For this topic, my chosen sub topic is what is love and how it relates to
human live and social psychology. In my opinion, the importance of feeling loved and
appreciated is very high on the human psychological development and wellbeing. It helps the
different individuals to avoid the impact of the pain of ostracism or social isolation and
provides a sense of validation and companionship. Hence, I have chosen this particular
subtopic for discussion in the reflective essay.
Attraction might not be the primary basis of love or development of the emotion of
love, but attraction undoubtedly has a huge impact on the development of the feeling. There
are various factors that play a fundamental role in the development of attraction for someone,
some of the factors include similarity, mere exposure, interaction, and proximity. Although,
attraction is not a definite process for developing love, this complex human emotion is
associated with many additional interrelated aspect of life. There are various theories or
models that define the phenomenon of love. The Sternberg’s theory of love triangle or the
triarchic theory of love is one of the most abundantly used theory to analyse or explore this

6
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
complex human emotion (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2018).
According to this theory, there are three interconnected domains of love, intimacy,
passion and decision or commitment, culminating to the development of the relationship or
consummate love. According to this theory, romantic love, the most iconic form of love, is
the blend of intimacy and passion, whereas compassionate love is the blend of intimacy with
commitment, and lastly, fatuous love is the blend of passion with commitment. Each kind of
love, romantic, compassionate, has individual impact on the human life. However, in either
case, the impact of the development of the close relationships based on any of the three love
leads to a fulfilling and stable development in terms of social interaction (Fletcher & Fitness,
2014).
Hence, love and its understanding is a very important aspect in human society, and in
extension, it also is associated with my social world as well. Alike any other human being, I
am also a social animal and I also require human emotional support as well. The social
psychology, the theories and models help in understanding love as a human emotion and how
it impacts the human life in general as well. Hence, I have reflected on my understanding and
the theories surrounding what is love and how it is developed.
3. Impact of both learning journals:
In the last part of the assignment, it is crucial to summarize the impact that both of the
journal making activities had on my better understanding of social psychology and how it
applies to the career I am pursuing. I would like to mention that I am pursuing a bachelor’s
degree in the health and social care, being a public service with maximum demand, a health
care professional has to deal with a variety of people, and develop therapeutic relationships
with them. A health care professional needs to understand the variety of needs, both physical
and psychosocial, and help the patients make informed decisions regarding their health
(Smith, Mackie & Claypool, 2014). As my specialty is on health service management, my

7
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
scope of practice will be more focused on staff handling along with customer relationship
improvement. Hence, the understanding of social psychology would be crucial for me to
address my job responsibilities effectively.
The first learning journal has helped me understand human decision making process,
but also helped me explore the biological, psychosocial, and environmental basis of decision
making. This exercise in particular helped me recognize the different factors associated with
decision making and how it impacts decision making in different people. Similarly, the
second learning journal helped me discover how social psychology or the psyche of
individuals in general is associated with developing self-identity and develop close
relationships. Although, in my opinion, the most effective and useful reflection for me had
been the reflective piece on how to overcome prejudice. As a student pursuing degree on
human service management, a culturally diverse staff management is a very challenging
scenario. Hence, reflection on reducing prejudice would be the most effective clinically
impactful reflection for me going forward in my chosen career field.

8
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
References:
Bethlehem, D. W. (2015). A social psychology of prejudice. Psychology Press.
Cinoğlu, H., & Arıkan, Y. (2012). Self, identity and identity formation: From the perspectives
of three major theories. Journal of Human Sciences, 9(2), 1114-1131.
Fishbein, H. D. (2014). Peer prejudice and discrimination: The origins of prejudice.
Psychology Press.
Fletcher, G. J., & Fitness, J. (2014). Knowledge structures in close relationships: A social
psychological approach. Psychology Press.
Gelso, C. J., Nutt Williams, E., & Fretz, B. R. (2014). Counseling psychology. American
Psychological Association.
Jenkins, R. (2014). Social identity. Routledge.
Keller, F. S., & Schoenfeld, W. N. (2014). Principles of psychology: A systematic text in the
science of behavior (Vol. 2). BF Skinner Foundation.
McDougall, W. (2015). An introduction to social psychology. Psychology Press.
Neff, K. D. (2016). Self-compassion. Mindfulness in Positive Psychology: The Science of
Meditation and Wellbeing, 37.
Smith, E. R., Mackie, D. M., & Claypool, H. M. (2014). Social psychology. Psychology
Press.
Sternberg, R. J., & Sternberg, K. (Eds.). (2018). The new psychology of love. Cambridge
University Press.
Thibaut, J. W. (2017). The social psychology of groups. Routledge.
Tuttas, C. A. (2015). Perceived racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination experiences of
minority migrant nurses: A literature review. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 26(5),
514-520.
Tyler, T. R., Kramer, R. M., & John, O. P. (Eds.). (2014). The psychology of the social self.

9
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology Press.
Whitley Jr, B. E., & Kite, M. E. (2016). Psychology of prejudice and discrimination.
Routledge.