Psychology Signature assignment

What is Psychology? Psychology is the study of behaviors and the brain by using the
scientific method. This involves making an observation, forming a hypothesis and then
conducting an experiment that will either support or reject hypothesis. This is all to better
understand humankind, to understand why someone acts or thinks as they do. Why is this so
important? It is important because people are a social species, we interact daily with many
different people and not one person is an exact copy of the other, but there are similarities in
behaviors amongst certain people and understanding why they react and act certain ways is key
to resolving conflicts and coming up with solutions that benefit many. Studying and learning
about psychology is beneficial for everyone because it involves looking deeper into situations
and thought processes we are involved in daily. Psychology is in how we choose to study for
classes, it is involved in understanding why we might feel anxious giving speeches and why we
physically react to that anxiety. It is involved with understanding decisions and thought
processes and why at certain stages of life we are more apt to making ‘better’ more thoughtful
decisions than in other stages of life, for example, decisions made during adolescent years were
probably much more impulsive than decisions made in adulthood and there is physical and
psychological reasons for this.
Of the many concepts, ideas, and areas of study within psychology, social psychology
stood out the most. This study focused on interaction between individuals and how influential
specific situations have on our behavior. Specifically, I found social roles and scripts to be the
most interesting topics for myself. Social roles can be defined as certain behaviors expected of a
person in specific settings, situations, or groups. For example, at a grocery store, you expect an
employee to be restocking items, working a cashier, and other tasks expected of someone in that
position. A script is a bit more specific such as how someone is expected to behave in a movie
theater, keeping your phone on silent and being quiet while in the theater is a type of script one
adheres to. One of the assignments given during the semester was one in which we discussed the
power of social roles. An experiment we briefly reviewed was a shocking example to me about
the power of social roles. The experiment was conducted by social psychologist Philip Zimbardo
and it was called the “Stanford Prison Experiment”. The experiment was performed using
volunteers who had, at random, been split into two groups of guards and prisoners. Each of them
encouraged to step into social roles of their assigned position. What started out as something a
bit silly and awkward escalated into something bigger. The guards became more authoritative as
they fulfilled their roles, the prisoners began to have mental health crises as they were subject to
abusive and dehumanizing acts. In a documentary about the experiment Dr. Craig Haney
commented about the guard’s behavior, “They knew that the prisoners being mistreated had done
nothing wrong to deserve the mistreatment and yet the roles themselves were so powerful and
the environment itself was so powerful, that they ended up punishing those prisoners as if though
they had done something wrong.” (HeroicImaginationTV, 2011, 10:08). This example taught me
to be aware of social roles, but I also understand that that was an extreme case, and often social
roles help society run smoothly. I think the most important thing I learned is that you should
strive to be more aware of social roles and how they affect others individually.
Reflection
I found the concept of social roles to be significant because they are virtually everywhere
I went and even at home, at certain times I find myself stepping into roles to accomplish specific
tasks. Since I had learned about this concept, I had started noticing them in almost every place I
went. Even how they applied to me, I surprised myself one day while talking to a friend about
work and how I put on a ‘mask’ when I am clocked in. I kept thinking about how this ‘mask’
was just me performing a social role, it wasn’t that is consumed my entire unique personality, but
I realized while at work I expressed behaviors and habits that I only had while at work and my
coworkers also exuded these same behaviors expected of us while in that situation.
I think understanding social roles is key to fluid and smooth interactions with others,
there are certain situations in which following a role can keep you out of unnecessary conflict
and give you a bit of an idea or expectation of how a situation will evolve. In my work, if
someone is not abiding by their ‘social role’ the rest of the team begins to feel agitated because
duties and expectations are not being performed or met leaving the others to adjust their own
roles. In certain situations, I think it is healthy and helpful to break away from social roles and
focus on interaction as an individual. Again, I think the biggest takeaway from my studies of this
subject is awareness, being aware of when it is time to step into a role and times when you
should not.
Studying social roles will help me with future classes as one of the many social roles in
our society, student is one of them. There are a lot of unspoken expectations that come with
social roles, so understanding the ones that apply to you is important. For example, the role of
student I am expected to without being asked to study if I wish for a good grade, I am expected
to seek help and ask questions and I am expected to get my work done when asked to and show
up, as well as participate in class. This is the social role of a student and just understanding that
much I can now make rough plans for the future and have an estimated idea of what to expect.

References:
“Stanford Prison Experiment” YouTube. HeroicImaginationTV, August 2011,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0&t=607s