1. How would you describe Jim’s self-concept?
Jim’s self-concept is that he is an average student who is capable of achieving a college education, but believes that he is incapable of maintaining above average grades. Regardless of how much effort Jim puts forth he believes that consistently achieving his parents expectations are impossible because he is not as smart as his father and school work is more difficult in this age compared to when his parents were in school (Wood, 2013).
2. How is self-concept affecting the interaction? Is it helping it? Hindering it? Explain using concepts from the text.
Jim uses the self-serving bias (Wood, 2013) to attribute his mediocre grades to things such as his intelligence and school work being too difficult. The concept Jim has of himself hinders him from reaching his full potential. This may be a self-fulfilling prophecy in which his negative attributes of himself show up in his grades. It keeps him from putting forth extra effort because of his belief that it will not make a difference (Wood, 2013).
3. Using the process of human perception starting on page 64, explain the situation from your perspective as a student.
The first process of perception is what you select to focus on (Wood, 2013). Even though school is difficult and maintaining a balance of personal time is healthy to do, Jim needs to reconstruct his self-concept by choosing to view his strengths instead of only seeing the negative. He feels weighed down mentally by parents who only focus on his weaknesses and creates an environment that makes him feel that he cannot please them unless he exceeds their expectations academically.
4. Using the guidelines for improving perception and communication starting on page 79 of the text, provide at least two tips for both Jim and his father on how to handle the situation in an effective way. Make sure to incorporate the text guidelines with proper in-text citations to support your points.
Two tips that I would...