This document contains a student's journal assignment submission containing multiple entries about their self-concept, motivation, experiences in karate training, and instances involving cognitive biases like confirmation bias and self-serving bias. The student discusses developing their self-concept through fitness, learning discipline through karate, being motivated to help their brother improve, and examples of biases they and others have exhibited.

1. STUDENT NAME: KIRALY ANTHONYADRIAN RENAUD
STUDENT I.D.:0320322
TUTORIAL GROUP: MONDAY 2-4PM
SUBJECT: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY
JOURNALASSIGNMENT
LECTURER: MR. SHANKAR
SUBMISSION DATE: 27/4/2015

2. Self-Concept
I believeself-conceptisamental representationof one’sself.Itishow people see themselves,how they
would describe themselves and the thought processes of what beliefs and convictions someone has
about themselves. It can also be thought as a collection of self-schemata.
24/05/2011
These were the dayswhenIstartedto take gymand fitnessseriously.IthinkIwasabout 18 at that time
and the onlythingI usedtolookforwardto afterschool was beatingmycurrentPR whichmeans
personal recordonbenchor deadlifts.Butthere came a pointwhenIrealizedthatIdidn’twantto only
lookgood.I wantedtobe more functional.More athletic. Ihadthe strengthandstamina. I thoughtof
myself asa beast,a kingamongkings. These were the daysI didn’tsmoke somyconfidence was
throughthe roof.I had become friendswithone of the personal trainersthere andatthat time he was a
brownbeltinkyokushinkarate.Soone dayI came upto himand askedhimif he couldtake me to one
of histrainingsessionsandhe agreed.The nextSaturdayaftermeetinghimatthe gymwe drove up to
the “younglionsdojo”where all the beginnersandadvancedstudentstrainedtogether.Astheywere
trainingIwouldthinktomyself “thisiseasy”,“these guyshave nothingonme”so thenandthere I
signedupand I didn’tlookback.Itrainedwiththemconsistentlyandthe sessionsdidnotgeteasier.I
learnedproperform,kicks,punches, katas, the body’senergypathways,disciplineandmostimportantly
respect.Forcouple of monthsI wouldgotrain withthe blackbeltsandtheirsessionsmade Saturday
classeslooklike nothing.Iknewthingswere onlyabouttogetharderbut I keptgoingat it.It had been6
monthssince I wastrainingwiththe younglionsand I thoughtI wasreadyto take on the best.Then
came the time forthe retreat. Thiswas done at one of the schoolsonanotherislandduringsemester
break.Theyhigherbeltsusedtomake uswake up at 5 a.m.everydayto run and me seeingmyself
betteras the studentswiththe same coloredbeltIwouldholdmyownwiththe blackbelts.Thiswent

3. on for3 days where we wouldpractice katasandform.On the lastday of the retreatthere wasa
gradingsessionwhere all lowerbeltshadachance to demonstrate theydeserve tobe promoted.Iaced
the kata portion withflyingcolorsbutthe fightingpartwasthe worst.Althoughinthe beginningIwas
tradingpunchesandkickswithstudentsof a slightlyhigherrankandknockingthemback.To be honestI
got reallycocky.Youare supposedtoshow respectduringfightsmeaningnoemotionsshownandkeep
hitsundercontrol.Atthat pointI’dforgottenall aboutthat and I wassmilingmythrougheachfight.I
thinkthiscausedshi han (the headof club) to intervenebysendingthreeof the bestblackbeltstofight
me.I didn’tknowwhathappenedIwasbeingpunchedandkickedleftandright.AtthatpointI realized
maybe I’mnot the biggestbadass here.Maybe I shouldhave keptcontrol overmyemotionsandnot
have beena major“douche bag”. Theyliterallybeatrespectintome.Butall inall it wasa good
experience.IknowmycapabilitiesandIbelieve Icangrow more emotionally,physicallyandspiritually
as a human.I’m not“THE” biggestbadass on the blockbut I am one of them.

4. Motivation
In classwe learned thatmotivationare the internal andexternalfactorsthatstimulate people tobe
continuallyinterestedandcommittedinsomethingwhetheritbe ajob or activity. There are twotypes:
Intrinsicwhichstatesthatwe performanactivityforthe sake of enjoymentwhichmeanswe are not
forcedto do itand extrinsicwhichiscontrarytothe formerwhichisdone due toan obligationoran
activitydone toavoidpunishmentandgainareward.I believemyfirstentryformotivationisextrinsic
whichthenbecomesintrinsic.
15/03/2013
I was notalwaysthe most physicallyadeptteenagerbackinthe day. I wasmore intomy studies.
Readinga bookto brushup my vocabularyratherthanwatchingmoviesandrevisingquestionsfor
future topicswere whatI’dratherdo than goingoutand chillingwithmyfriends.Ialsohadsome
unhealthyhabitslikeeatingjunkfoodandsleepinglate atnight whichIsorelyregretnow thatI am in
university.Life inschool wasnotperfectbutsatisfyingIwouldsay.Sometimesthe older studentswould
tease me but deepdownIknewtheywere onlydoingitbecause of theirowninsecurities soitdidn’t
reallybotherme.Goinga bitfurtherdownthe line unbeknownsttome my little brotherhadpickedup
on mybad habitsand startedto sufferthe consequences.He gainedquite abitof weightandwas being
bulliedatschool.Thishadto stopimmediately.ImeanmyfriendsandIdealtwiththe bulliesbutwhatif
inthe future Iwasn’taround.My brotherhadto handle hisbusiness. He wouldhave totake care of
himself if Iwasn’tpresent. Sofromthatday forwardwe seta fitnessgoal andstartedto workon it.It
was difficultatfirstforhim.I had beeninthe fitnessgame fora while now buthe wasstill new.He had
trouble stickingtoa routine of eatingproperlyandexercising.It’shardtodietwhenyoulive witha
grandmotherthatcooks deliciousfoodeverydaythatdon’tstickto yourmacros(how muchprotein,
carbohydratesandfats one shouldeatduringa meal) butwe keptat it and alsothe dayswhere youfeel

5. too lazyto do anything.Butthatdidn’tstopus fromachievingourgoal. Alwaysrememberingwhywe
startedthe journeyinthe firstplace.To stayinspiredwe wouldwatchvideosonYouTube,doresearch
on differenttypesof exercisestoenhance ourbasicknowledge,findpicturesandquotesonsocial media
whetheritwasfor fitnessorsuccessandevenreadbooksaboutit. All thatwe didwas tooimprove
ourselvesand make progress.Inourmindswe alwaysknew thatperfectionwouldbe impossiblebutwe
were goingtocome damnclose to it. Not only didwe improve physicallybutalsomentally.Hisattitude
showedgreatimprovementfrombeingthe lazyandspoilttobecominghardworking anddevoted.Inthe
wordsof CT fletcher“if youwantsomethingbe obsessedaboutit,take itandneverlookback”.I knowit
soundslike we were beingvainatthe time.Withthe thoughtthat to stopsomethingbadas bullying
fromhappeningyouhave tolookgood but what startedas somethingtoendthisviciouscycle turned
intosomethingthatbroughtusclosertogether.He ismy competitionandIam hisand notonlythat we
motivate eachotherto beingthe bestthatwe can be.

6. The Confirmation Bias
To my understandingthe confirmationbiasiswhenwe consciouslyfindfactsthatsupportourbeliefs
whetherthere isadiscrepancyinour reasoningsowe denythisinformation.
23/04/2015
It was a bright,hotday. I performedmymorningroutine asusual before goingtooncampus fora long
day of lectures.A couple daysbefore thisIhadmade dinnerandof course there were dishesleftinthe
sink.Inmy apartmentwe had a rule whenone personcooksforthe whole apartmentthispersonisfree
fromcleaningup.The days passednobodywashedthe dishesanditkeptpilingup.Idon’tknow if
everyone waslazyorjustdidn’tgive adamn. Comingbackto presentday,I hada dayfull of lecturesso
at the endof the day it wasonlynatural that I wouldwantto relax fora bit.In my countrywe have a
traditionof havingteatime betweenthe timesof 4pm-6pm.So movingtothe kitchenInoticedthat
there were nocleandishes,cupsandcutlery.Itwas reallydisappointingandfilthyandthe wayIwas
raisedthiswas unacceptable behaviorsoevenif itwasn’tmyturn to cleanI washedeverything,made
my cup of tea andtook a nap. A couple hourslatermy roommatescame back laughingandsoI woke up
to confrontthem.I askedbothof them“who’sturn itwas to wash?”.Theybothfell silentandstartedto
pointat each other.We stoodthere for quite awhile arguingaboutwho’sturnitwas. Theyhadthe
audacityto say itwas myturn and afterquite a bitof arguingtheyretractedtheiraccusationandstarted
givinglame excuseswhytheycouldn’t.One evensaidthathe justwashedandthat’swhyall the dishes
are clean.Honestlyitwastoofunny.Theybeganfightingoverwhowashedlast.Thislastedforanhour
withoutthembothadmittingitwastheirturn.In the endI had to stepinand setthe new schedule
whichtheybothagreedto.This wasnot the firsttime thishad happenedandIsuspectitwon’tbe the
last.

8. Self-Serving bias/attribution
From myunderstandingof thisconceptduringlecturesit iswhenwe make positive attributionsthat
allowusto see ourselvesinthe bestpossiblelight. Sotosaywe take creditfor the good thingsthat
happensanddenythe responsibilityof failure.Ifindthatitisonlyin ourhuman nature to react thisway
not everyone iscutoutto be a saintandmost of us cannot accept ourfaults.
17/08/2011
I had justbeganmy studiesatA-levelsandsince itwasthe firstcouple of weeksthe lessonswere quite
easy.My friendswouldalwaysbunkclasstogoout and play pool or go hang outon the beach.But I
wouldalwaysstayinclassevenif the lectureswere boringashell.The monthswentbyandwe started
gettingtestandexams.Ipersonallythoughtmyperformance duringthose testswere more than
satisfactory.Myparentswouldalwayspraise me formygood results. Andthismade me feel goodabout
myself.Mydad wasproudof my workand itgave me a boostin myconfidence.Butalsoit got me
thinking,maybe if Iskippedone dayof classwouldn’thurt. Imeanwithmy current performance being
positive. SoIdidjustthat.My friendsandI wenttoplaypool thenheadedtothe beach,playedfootball
and bythe time we gotback all classeshad ended.Little tomyknowledge we hadatestthe nextday
whichhad beendiscussedinthe priorclass. Hence due to myincapabilityof foreseeingfutureeventsI
was absolutelyunpreparedforthe test.Onthe day inquestionourlecturerpresenteduswiththe test
papers.I sat there dumbfounded.Myfriendsknew thatthere wasa test due to a thirdparty but they
failedtomentionittome.I had neverbeensodisappointedinthemandthey’vepulledsomedumb
stuff off before this.Istartedtoquestiontheirloyalty.Ibegantopanic.The testwas abouta topic we
had coveredrecently anditwastwentypercentof ourfinal grade.I knew Iwasn’tpreparedforthe test
but I attempteditanyway.A fewhourslaterourlecturergave us the results.Ihad barelypassedbya

9. mere one percent.Iwas madbut not at myself.Iwasfuriousatmy friendsforneglectingtoinformthat
there wasgoingto be a testas importantas this.The worstpart was whenmyfatherfoundout.I’ve
alwaystriednotto disappointhimbutinthisinstance he wasprettycalmabout the entire situation.
That was when Itoldhimthe truthabout whyI almostfailed.He gave me the longestlecture of mylife.
He saidit wasmy decisiontoskipclasssoit ismy faultthat myresultswere notonpar withmyother
work.I still believethatit wastheirfaultfor leavingme outof the loop.

10. Persuasion
This is not really something new to me but in psychological terms it is an attempt to influence others
attitudes or behaviors.
7/03/2015
Persuasionhappensonadayto day basisfor me.My group of friendsparticularlyare all strongwilled
people andtake a bitof convincingbeforeanyactivitygetsdone.Mystory starts on the day the DVBBS
concert wasannouncedinKL.Coincidentallythe concertwasplayingonthe Fridaytwodaysaftermy
birthday.My friendscame upto me witha propositiontogoto the concertsince itwas my birthday.I
beingsomeone who doesn’tlikegoingtoclubsandbars refusedinthe beginningandthatstartedthe
pleadingandguilttrips.Forthe next24 hourstheytriedeverythingtomake me go.They triedtofool
me intobelievinginobscure betsImade inthe past, theymade me listentomusicfromthe two DJ’s.
My bestfriendevengotmymothertoask me to go because she knew I had beenstudyingnon-stopand
neededabreak.I wouldn’tgive inimmediately.Thenasthe daydraggedon the guilttripssloweddown
insteadtheystartedhintingastowhat I’ll be missingout,thatthiswouldbe aonetime chance.My
closestfriendsaid“brothinkof the girls”inan attemptto make me go.
In the endall the requestsandpersuasionswere toomuchsoI cavedinand agreedto accompanythem.
It was mybirthdaysoI guessonnightof fun wouldn’thurt. Before thisIdidnot reallyappreciate

11. Electronicdance musicor EDM for shortbut I had awesome companywhichchangedmyperceptionof
whatI thoughtwouldbe an uneventfulnightintoafunone.