When I was younger, people asked me about what superpower I wanted to have. Often times, my answer would be mind-reading — I was always curious about what was going on inside others’ minds.
So when the opportunity came freshman spring to choose an elective, I joined psychology, the subject I was told would teach me to read the minds of others.
After taking Intro to Psych my freshman spring, I came to realize that psychology wasn’t all that magical — it didn’t teach me to peer through the eyes of another and automatically obtain their thoughts. However, it did teach me about possible options for what people were thinking, based on the logical basis of their body language, speech, and actions.
Intro to Psych inspired me to pursue my love of psychology. And this fall, when my free block aligned with a Social Psychology section, I hopped on board.
If there’s one class I’ll never forget at Choate, it’s Social Psychology.
Here are three reasons why I think everyone should take this class:
First, self-knowledge — social psychology is, contrary to popular belief, based upon one’s knowledge of himself or herself, rather than knowledge of others. Everything in social psychology starts with the self: who am I? How do I identify myself? How do I think and behave in certain situations? What am I motivated by?
While taking the course, I learned to constantly reflect on my behaviors. I noticed interesting patterns in the ways I interacted with others in group settings, made use of various persuasion techniques, and acted on prejudiced-based assumptions.
Learning about myself has also helped me to better understand the behavior of others. During a heated discussion, for example, it can be difficult to listen to and try to understand the viewpoints of others. I’ve learned, however, to stop attacking opposing arguments and start evaluating the reasoning behind that thinking. Social Psychology taught me empathy, which has served as a useful tool to promote healthier discussions.
Second, persuasion: the most useful unit in Social Psychology. It’s a skill that we all use frequently. Even something as simple as getting a friend to go to the Dining Hall with you requires you to utilize persuasion techniques. Whether it be through using a logical argument or bribing your friend with a reward, you have to persuade your friend to come with you.
Persuasion skills don’t just end at personal applications — they also have applications in the professional world. In schools and in the workplace, many are often required to give presentations. Social psychology provided me with a basis of standards — compelling body language, tone and manner of speech, stance, position — I could use in my future presentations.
Third, social psychology is crucial to fully comprehending the complexities behind social interaction, in both the past and present. This fall, I took Social Psychology in conjunction to taking American Studies. I still clearly remember the overlap between the two courses, especially when we discussed the peculiar institution of slavery in history. Our class was questioning why slavery and racism developed in America and how these practices are maintained even to this day. Around that time, I was learning about role play, persuasion, and various group influences in Social Psychology. The two courses just fit perfectly together like adjacent puzzle pieces.
For example, when learning about slavery, I was constantly wondering how slave owners, who are people just like we are, could treat their slaves in such inhumane and cruel ways. Having just learned about the results from Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment, I could attempt to understand the slave owners’ horrendous treatment of slaves — born into and put into the role of a slave owner and having grown up seeing that slaves were mistreated, many slave owners would conform to this immoral standard of treatment. Social Psychology has helped me to understand some of the reasons for, to me, the inexplicable actions of people in history.
Take Social Psychology! Take it with another humanities class. Take it to learn more about yourself and to get a glimpse into the minds of others. Take it to become the master of persuasion wherever you go.
