Name: Shum Li Sze

Student ID number: 0322822

Group / Session: Monday (5.30pm-7.30pm)

Course: Foundation in Natural and Built Environment

Subject: Social Psychology (PSYC0103)

Submission date: 30 November 2015

Journal 1 : Social Psychology

Settings : 21 June 2015 – 17 July 2015, 11.00am

Location : Taylor’s Lakeside University, Bandar Sunway

Entry 1 : Social Loafing

Social loafing is the phenomenon of an individual putting less effort when they work

in a group than working alone to achieve a certain goal. Max Ringelmann conducted a study

and proved that an individual’s performance actually gets worse in the presence of others.

The idea of working in a group is usually seen as a way to increase efficiency and to improve

the accomplishment. However, in social loafing, each individual will contribute less, thinking

that other group mates will take the responsibility.

I never understood the concept of social loafing until I enrolled in this course,

Foundation in Natural and Built Environments. I remember when we were required to work

in a group for most of our assignments, social loafing is the most common phenomenon that

we had ever faced. On 21st June 2015, we were required to form a group of 10 for our

Element of Natural and Built Environment final project. We were given one and a half month

to build a city model and prepare presentation boards. So, we formed a group of 10 which

included Adele, Danica, Dana, Von Wan, Mei Xin, Yue, Sarah, Yip, Li jing and me. The

group leader split the group into 2 which were the model building group and presentation

board preparing group. For the model building group, we had to build a miniature city model

with recycled materials such as toothpicks, cardboards and rubber bands while the

presentation board preparing group had to prepare the presentation board by arranging the

layout and information.

At first, all of the members were doing pretty well as they attended the meeting

punctually. We met our weekly target and the lecturer was quite satisfied with our progress.

However, our progress was affected when one of us started to come late for our meetings and

left early without any reason. During our meeting, she tended to lose concentration in her

jobs and she procrastinated by taking naps or watching online videos. She thought that the

others might help her with her work when she was not around. Therefore, she continued to

procrastinate and was not fully engaged in the group work. We realized that she focused more

on her individual tasks compared to our group work. Individually, she was able to complete

her individual tasks in a short time and the work she produced was of a higher quality.

Consequently, other individuals would be affected by this phenomenon, social

loafing. They started to gauge their own efforts based on what she was doing instead of

maintaining their own standards of excellence in achieving a goal. They started to contribute

less in the group as they felt that they were carrying an unfair share of workload.

Consequently, they lower their efforts to match hers.

Some of us who were motivated in the beginning started to feel demotivated as we

felt that others were relying on us to do most of the work. We had a tendency to reduce our

workload and wanted to stop collaborating with the less productive members again as we did

not want to be exploited by them. We decreased the number of meetings per week and

shortened the time of every meeting as most of the members did not appear. We complained

about this issue to our group leader and we tried to look for solutions. Our group efficiency

decreased as each of us started to gauge our own effort as we thought that our work would be

shared by other group members. We exerted less effort in doing this group project than

working individually. Consequently, our performance in a group were not as good as our

performance when we work individually. Few weeks later, we could hardly achieve our

weekly target and the lecturer was disappointed with our poor progress and teamwork.

As a conclusion, social loafing gives negative consequences to both the group and

individuals in the group. As can be seen with the above experience, social loafing causes

severe performance degradation and gives negative effects to society. Although it will still

exist no matter what we do, I suggest a way of thinking that will bring this phenomenon from

happening down to a minimum level. Firstly, we have to recognize our incompetence when

working as a group. We should always compare our current work to previous ones to see

progress. Then, when we notice how inefficient we can be, only will we strive harder to

improve performance. This is where we discuss openly with each other for better teamwork.

With mutual agreement, only can we move forward to be better. So, the answer to social

loafing is first recognition, then open discussion, then teamwork, and finally improvement.

This is how I believe we should handle social loafing. It may not solve the problem

completely, but it will definitely minimize its negative impact.

( 827 words )

Journal 2 : The Self

Settings : 5 August 2007, 8.00am

Location : SMK Seksyen 4, Bandar Kinrara, Puchong, Selangor.

Entry 2 : BIRGing

The theory BIRGing is the acronym for Basking in Reflected Glory. It is a self-

serving cognition where an individual feels good by identifying with others who are

successful. The individual is not really involved in the successful action but he/she will

associate him/herself with another successful individual such that another’s success becomes

their own to stimulate self-glory. An individual who engages in BIRGing can improve self-

esteem and self-evaluation even though they are not personally involved in the successful

action. It has both positive and negative effects for people who are involved in BIRGing.

I remember when I was in form 3, Korean pop was trending. In 2010, there was a K-

POP girl group named Girls Generation. Girls Generation debuted on August 5, 2007 and

gained worldwide attention with its single “Gee” in the 2009. In 2010, my friends and I were

more into Western pop and we were obsessed with artists like Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift,

Katy Perry and Justin Bieber who were always at the top of the billboard. We were not even

interested in Girls Generation until their song “Gee” claimed the top spot in the music show

industry. They started to gain popularity and they got nominated in numerous awards. My

friend, Preston Chua Lyon started to listen to their songs and he was really obsessed with

them. He started to get involved in BIRGing and was really proud to be their fan.

We started to listen to their songs and learnt their dance moves. The students in my

high school started to buy their merchandise such as keychains, t-shirts or even stickers that

have their logo , names or faces printed on it. When Girls Generation had millions of

subscribers on their Youtube channel, people in my school were more likely to bring their

merchandise around or wear their official t-shirt when they went out. My friend pasted their

stickers all over her pencil case and bags to just to tell people that she was obsessed with

them. They showed the public those merchandise and claimed that they were also part of their

fanbase. They sought to have the success of their idols linked to themselves by owning the

merchandise.

Apart from that, one of my friends was proud when her surname was the same as

Choi Su-Yeong, who was also one of the members of Girls Generation. She was proud and

was involved in BIRGing as she was sharing the same surname with this good-looking and

successful idol. When her cousin met one of the Girls Generation members in a Korean

restaurant, she told us that incident proudly as if she was the one who met her in person.

During that time, the ability to bask in reflected glory had increased due to increases in

technology. My friends could even advertise their associations on Twitter, Facebook or even

Youtube. They would post photos or posts that were related to their idols. As for BIRGing,

she simply associated herself with the success even though she was not personally involved

in the successful action. I remember when I was obsessed with them too and started to bask in

reflected glory. When they were named as the best Korean girl group in the KBS Music

Award, I shared this glory to my Facebook friends and Twitter followers. I retweeted or

shared the posts that were related to them just to let my friends know that they had won

numerous awards. I was so proud of them as if I was the one who got the awards although I

had nothing to do with their victory.

People who are involved in BIRGing increased their self-esteem and evaluation by the

identification with their idols’ success. Although the victory of their idols do not relate to

them, they try to receive the glory to increase their image in society. By getting involved in

BIRGing, they think that society would accept them more when they relate themselves with

the successful individuals. When a person’s public image is threatened, the tendency to be

involved in BIRGing is heightened, and BIRGing becomes an important impression

management technique to counter any threats to self-esteem. By basking in reflected glory,

my self-esteem increased as I felt like I was successful and proud too when my favourite girl

group had great achievements.

As a conclusion, BIRGing has both positive and negative impacts on the individuals.

By engaging in BIRGing, my self-esteem had improved gradually as compared to the past.

However, we need to have proper impression management techniques. We must be clear that

we cannot be obsessed with BIRGing as we might forget our true self and own achievements.

Therefore, we must not bask in reflected glory and associate ourselves in another individual’s

achievements too often. We must understand and know what our goals are so that we can

know what we need to achieve in our life.

(831

words)

Journal 3 : Social Cognition: Thinking About the Social World

Settings : 27 July 2014, 8.30am-11.30am

Location : SMK Seksyen 4, Bandar Kinrara Puchong, Selangor.

Entry 3 : Counterfactual Thinking

Humans with counterfactual thinking tend to create possible alternatives to life events

that have already occurred. Counterfactual thinking is a psychological concept that allows us

to assume different outcomes for an event and this thought consists of “If only I had …” or

“what if…”. We start to think of how things could have turned out differently if we do it

another way. Counterfactual thinking is usually associated with negative thinking and in fact,

things will hardly happen as what we imagine it to in counterfactual thinking.

I remember when I got both my Chinese and Mathematics trial exam papers on the

same day and I thought and imagined how the outcome could have turned out differently if I

put more effort into both that subject. When I knew I got 89% for my Mathematics subject, I

regretted not double-checking my answers before submitting my exam papers. I lost marks

for careless mistakes as I had forgotten to round off my answer to 4 significant figures.

Before sitting for my Mathematics examination, I did exercises and questions of all the

chapters as revision. However, I skipped form 4 chapter 4, which was the Mathematical

Reasoning as I thought that it was not an important chapter. However, I regretted it when I

did not know how to do the question from that particular chapter. My mind turned blank and I

was frustrated for not being able to solve that question. As a result, I got an A for my

Mathematics examination and it was so close to the A+. I just had to get 1 more mark for a

better grade. The closeness to get a better grade caused much regrets and I started to accuse

myself for my ‘failure’.

I started to think about what I could have done to change the situation so it could have

been better. For example. ‘ If I checked my answers before submitting my papers, I could

have done less careless mistakes. ’ , ‘ If I did not neglect that particular chapter, I could have

solved that question! ’ or ‘ If I had started my revision earlier, I would have more time to

focus on that particular chapter. ’ These thoughts are categorized as Upward Counterfactual

Thinking as I was assuming different outcomes for the events that had already happened to

happen in a better way. My mood became worst and I was associated with negative thinking

as I started to blame myself for my actions.

On the same day, my Chinese teacher, Puan Len distributed our Chinese examination

papers after she finished marking. I was relieved and glad to know that I got 75 marks for my

Chinese paper. It was an A- and I would have got a B+ if I did another mistake. Chinese was

always the toughest subject for me as I did not focus much on it. I tend to concentrate more

on my Science and Mathematical subjects than language subjects as I thought that they were

more important. Therefore, I tend not to hand in my Chinese homework or even skipped

Chinese classes. However, I started to revise my Chinese language 2 days before the Chinese

examination by doing last minute studies. I tried to memorize all the important phrases and

idioms that would be coming out for the exam and read as much essays as I could to help

improve my essay writing skills. During the examination, I tried not to leave the answer

spaces blank even though I did not know how to answer those questions.

I was satisfied to get an A- for my Chinese language subject as I knew that my result

could have been worse if I did not try to revise for this examination. At that moment,

different thoughts came into my mind such as ‘I got an A- for Chinese subject, but at least it’s

not a B. ’ and ‘ Most of my friend got A or A+ for this subject, but at least my grade is not

the worst one in my class. ’ These thinking are actually Downward Counterfactual Thinking

as I focused how my Chinese language results could have been worse. In this type of

counterfactual thinking, I made myself feel better about the outcomes as I realized the

situation is not the worst it could be.

As a conclusion, we tend to have counterfactual thinking when we wish something

had or had not happened based on our experience. Counterfactual thinking has both negative

and positive effects that can worsen or improve our mood. Therefore, we should control our

thinking and try not to associate ourselves with negative thinking avoid the uncomfortable

truth and reality. We should face what we have done and not keep thinking that the situation

we faced were an accident or just luck.

(829 words)

Journal 4 : Social Perception : How Do we perceive Others?

Settings : 21 June 2014, 6.00am-12.00pm

Location : SMK Seksyen 4, Bandar Kinrara Puchong Selangor

Entry 4 : Self-fulfilling prophecy

Self-fulfilling prophecy is a belief of certain events that may actually come true

because we are acting as if it is already true. Our behaviour and attitude will change and

shape the way of how others see us to meet our expectations. In turn, others will provide the

feedback that we’ve set ourselves up to get, which serves to reinforce the original belief.

Therefore, our behavior towards others impact others’ behaviours towards us.

My school, SMK Seksyen 4 Bandar Kinrara had our Annual Sports Day last year in

June. Surprisingly, The Yellow House won the championship for the first time as they had

never won any championships before. The Red House who had won the championship for

four consequence years lost at the Sports Day for accumulating the lowest points among all

the houses.

Weeks before the Sport Day, students from each house gave their names for different

events and they started their practices after school hours. The other students who did not

participate in any events got other duties such as making lists of games and activities.

Everyone was allowed to see how students from each house practised during practice time.

The students in our school believed strongly in the Chinese prefect girl, Lee Mun Jing, who

was the one who helped the Red House to win for the past few years. She helped to

accumulate points by winning a lot of events such as long jump, high jump, 100m sprint,

200m sprint and etc. However, she graduated from her secondary education and left the

school in 2013. The students in the school believed that Red House will not get the

championship again as they believed there would not be any athlete that was as good as her.

They predicted that the other team will win the championship for that year.

The students who participated in the Sports Day that day were likely experiencing a

self-fulfilling prophecy. The Red House people’s behaviours were affected by the students’

prediction and expectation. They did not give their 100% effort in practicing and some of

them skipped the practice without any reason. When the Annual Sports Day was just around

the corner, the enthusiasm soon faded away and they was not keen to fight for the

championship anymore. They soon believed that they would have no chance to win this. They

thought that it was a waste of time and energy to put so much effort for something that does

not belong to them.

On the flip of coin, the other team started to practice every day after the school hour.

Although they had never won any championships in any events, they believed that they had a

chance to beat the Red House. Students and teachers in the school believed that they might

actually have a chance to get the championship cup for that year if they put more effort in

their practice. As a result, they broke their own records during their practice as they could run

faster in the 100m sprint and jump higher in the high jump. Although they were not very

great enthusiasts of games and sports, I could see that they started to love sports and they

were really eager to fight for the championship. The teachers in the Yellow House kept

encouraging and supporting their students and they had high hopes of them.

During the Annual Sports Day, the Red House students seemed unconfident

compared to the other houses’ students. Their teachers were worried about them as they

looked anxious and unprepared. In contrast, the Yellow House students looked confident as if

they were going to be the champion for that year. During the sports events, the athletes from

the Red House did not maintain their usual standard of performance as they seemed like they

had already given up in the sports event. Their behaviour changed to meet other people’s

expectation and prediction, which was contradicting to their usual behavior. They were not as

good as last time as the athletes who were always confident, lost their confidence on that day.

The points they had accumulated were worse than the points they had accumulated for the

past few years. In contrast, the Yellow house’s athletes’ confidence boosted up. They did

better than anyone else and they were ready to win the championship for that particular year.

Their teachers were in joy and they kept motivating their students and made them believe in

themselves.

As a conclusion, self-fulfilling prophecies shapes people's behaviours and actions to

other individuals' expectations. It is a belief that comes true when we act as if it is already

true. The Red House people acted like they would lose the sports events, as people believed

that they would definitely lose the championship. In contrast, the Yellow House people acted

as if they would win the Annual Sport Day, as people had high hopes of them.

(840 words)

Journal 5 : Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination

Settings : 5 August 2014, 1.00pm

Location : Taylor’s Lakeside University

Entry 5 : Just-world hypothesis

Just-world hypothesis is the belief that victims of misfortune deserve what they get as

people want to believe that the world is predictable and fair. They have a “blame the victim”

mentality and they think that victims should take the responsibility of their misfortunes. Just-

world hypothesis explains that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to

good people as you reap what you sow.

On 5th August 2014, a student from Taylor’s Lakeside University jumped off a

building and the incident was confirmed by the management of the university. Everyone who

knew about the incident was deeply saddened by this and people started to offer their support

to his family and friends during this difficult time. My friends and I were frightened and

shocked when we found out about this suicidal case. When the incident was investigated by

the authorities, people were curious of the cause of his suicidal. They started to find out and

guessed about the reasons that caused him to jump off the building without thinking of the

consequences. About one hour later, I could see different posts about this serious case and

people started to discuss about it.

I have heard different reasons from different people and media. For example, “He

ended his life because he was too stressful with his academics. I heard that he was in his last

semester in Diploma in Culinary Arts. ” , “ I heard they said that he just broke up with his

girlfriend. I guess he is just too weak and it is stupid to end your life because of someone who

doesn’t love you anymore” , “ I guess his family had high expectations of him and they

pushed him too hard. ” , “I heard that he just argued with his friends and they ditched him.

That is so hurtful! “ , “ Many people said that he was a victim of a bully case. He always got

bullied by his cousins and friends and he decided to commit suicide as he can’t take this

anymore. ”… People started to come out with different possible reasons but no one would

know the reason behind this case except for himself.

However, it was saddening when people started to blame him for jumping off the

building. Some people felt that this was a selfish act as he did not think of the consequences

when he chose to end his life. He might bring problems to the students in the university,

friends and most importantly, his family. They blamed him for leaving his family alone as his

parents would be very heartbroken for losing a son. When they found out he was a victim of

bully cases, they blamed him instead of blaming the people who bullied him. They thought

that he should have the courage to fight back instead of avoiding the problems. They even felt

that an individual like him deserved all of these as they believed in the just-world hypothesis.

They blamed his behaviours as they thought that he was being bullied for a reason. They

started to blame the victim for being an anti-social individual, an introvert or even a 'sissy

guy'. There were even rumours saying that he had bullied his friends before this. Therefore,

he deserved to be bullied now. Although the public did not know about his attitude and

characters well, they judged him and thought that he was a bad person and had done bad

things in his life. Therefore, he should face this misfortune as he deserved all of these.

It was far too frightening for many to accept that bad things could happen to good

people and they themselves had no control over whether bad things might happen to them

someday. Therefore, they searched for ways to differentiate themselves from the victim of ill

fortune. People at the university started to blame the victim for his attitudes and characters so

that they could avoid being the next victim. In this point, people still believe that the victim

should take all the responsibility. This hypothesis brought negative impacts as the victim

might be innocent and wrongfully portrayed as a passive individual.

As a conclusion, just-world hypothesis is based on an individual’s belief that the

world is a safe, just place where people get what they deserve. They believe that the social

system that affects them is fair, legitimate and justifiable.

( 757 words )