1. Name: Tan Jia Yi
ID no: 0319476
Course code: PSY30203
Title: Assignment 1: First Individual Journal
2.
3. The picture was taken in Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall on the first day when Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 available for sale. As shown in the picture, the place was crowded with people
who wants to buy the latest phablet, which combine the functions of a smartphone and tablet. In
this context, does anyone questions about the reasons for the crowd to put up with the long wait
to get their hands on Samsung Galaxy Note 4 ?
This situation can be explained by using self-fulfilling prophecy theory which states a
prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the terms of the prophecy
itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior. The reason why the self-fulfilling
prophecy works is because your expectations have a direct effect on your behavior. In this case,
when Samsung Galaxy Note4 is announced being released soon and you are expecting the
phablet is highly desirable. On second thought, you are likely decide to purchase it. This shows
how expectation leads to action. When many people purchase Samsung Galaxy Note4, it
becomes popular and as a result, your prediction comes true because people are acting as if it is
already true. Our beliefs influence our actions; our actions impact others belief; others’ belief
cause others’ actions. This is how self-fulfilling prophecy works.
Moreover, this situation can also be described by availability heuristic which judges the
probability of events by how quickly and easily examples can come to mind. We make decisions
based on the knowledge that is readily available in our minds rather than examining all the
alternatives. In this case, when Samsung Galaxy Note4 is released, people recall about events
which exposed more frequent on media recently. People thus been primed by the news and
decide to buy the latest phablet.
