Smarter Decision Making through Psychology

January 15, 2022

Since you started PSY101, Smarter Decisions through Psychology, you have had the opportunity to learn about fascinating topics, including the brain and nervous system, emotions, motivation, and stress management. As you learned the psychological concepts and principles covered in this course, you've gained insight into what influences decision making and how you can apply what you've learned to make better decisions in your own life and career. Through your study of psychology, you've also started honing two essential employability skills:

• Problem solving to identify and frame problems, explore ideas, and create effective, ethical, and evidence-based solutions based on psychological concepts and principles.
• Self and social awareness to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to receive feedback, reflect, and guide one's thinking.

In this journal, you will share your reflections on your time in PSY101 by answering the questions below. For each of the questions, write a paragraph-length response (5–7 sentences).

Question 1: As a result of this class, how will you immediately apply your problem-solving skill at home or work?

When presented with an issue at work, for instance, there is a disagreement between colleagues about which protocol to engage when accomplishing a task, I can apply my problem-solving skills. Given that the problem is identified as a lack of consensus on what protocol to engage, I will get insights into all the parties involved to devise a solution that will address all their interests. This action will be followed by outlining and evaluating the pros and cons of all the available alternatives protocols and identify the most suitable protocol. According to the knowledge gained in class, my problem-solving will be complete when I document the agreements for reference purposes. Lastly, contingencies will be set, and the solution application will be monitored (Hämäläinen et al., 2017).

Question 2: As a result of this class, how have you grown in terms of your own self and social awareness skill?

The class has helped me develop my emotional intelligence by improving self and social awareness skills. My social awareness has evolved, and I can now actively listen and observe people around me. Social awareness has helped me tailor my responses and actions to my surroundings not to inconvenience any individual emotionally or physically. Through active listening and observation, I can analyze the emotions concerning an issue and act accordingly (Feize & Gonzalez, 2018). Additionally, self-awareness skills have also developed. The class has helped me learn how to monitor and manage my own emotions to avoid affecting my social relationships. Being self- and socially aware will be beneficial since it will help me fit in a workplace or a professional environment.

Question 3: Of all of the Strayer videos, which one was most relevant for you? Why?

The most relevant video among the Strayer videos is when the woman established a beauty care line for individuals with hair that curls naturally. Looking at the social awareness skills of the lady, she keenly observed the people around her and identified what they lacked. Then, she capitalized on her social awareness by providing solutions to naturally curly-haired individuals. The video is most relevant since it helps one learn that social awareness is an all-around skill applicable in all situations. Furthermore, studies indicate that entrepreneurs are most likely to succeed in their startups if they have social awareness competencies. Therefore, given that the lady leveraged his business on social awareness, she has a higher chance of succeeding in the beauty line.

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