Psychology 18
Mrs. Peterson-Guada
Final Reflection Paper
Paper length: approximately 4-5 pages. Paper format: typed, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point font. Please write answers in essay format with introduction and conclusion free of spelling, capitalization, grammatical, punctuation and paragraph indentation errors.
Throughout the semester, you will bring your attention to your assumptions, thoughts, judgments, behavior, emotional reactions, and physical sensations you have towards others in your life that are different from you in racial/ethnic background, sexual orientation, and gender. Due at the end of the semester, is a written self-study summarizing what you have discovered about yourself. The following areas to address include:
- Emotional expression and reactions towards others (ie. Anger, love, fear, shame, guilt, defensiveness, etc.)
- Emotional honestly: What do I choose to say and reveal or keep hidden to others and possibly myself?
- Communication patterns with those of other groups compared to with those of my own
- Assumptions I have towards other groups
- Which groups do I feel most comfortable and uncomfortable with and why?
- What are my experiences when I step beyond my comfort zone or the perceived comfort zone of others that are different from me? What are my personal reactions and others’ reactions? What do you do with these reactions and feelings?
- How does your behavior change when you are with people you feel comfortable with to people you do not feel as comfortable with?
- Do you notice differences in physical sensations in your body when in relationship with those you feel more comfortable with compared to those you do not feel as comfortable with? If so, what are they?
- What are my patterns of behavior, thought, or feelings when dealing with those outside my group versus those within my group?
- What is my greatest challenge in regards to diversity?
- How will I address this challenge in the future?
- Feel free to include any other self-discoveries around the topics we covered in class?
Note: These self-reflections can occur anywhere from watching TV, walking on campus, attending a party, driving or walking through town, dealing with co-workers, classmates, family members, friends, strangers, etc.