Growing up as a child, and still today, I rub my face when I am happy, when I am sad when I am angry, basically I rub my face for any emotional moment that may occur in my life. When I do rub my face it is always in a series of three. For the first twelve years of my life I did not realize that I even did it, well I knew but it was a normal thing for me and I just figured everyone did it until one day my friend asked why do I rub my face. I was actually puzzled. I rub my face? It was then that I recognized that it was not a normal thing to do. Over the next few days I noticed that my mother did the same thing. When she was mad at something she would rub her face three times. If she was glad about something she would rub her face. I then called the face rubbing to my mother’s attention and to my surprise she too did not realize she did it. It was just something she done.
Today I still tend to rub my face but not as much because I am conscience of it and aware that it is an oddity, so sometimes when I feel it coming on I can stop myself from doing it. I have notice also that this habit has now been incorporated by my son. When his emotions get the best of him he goes to rubbing his face three times. I continue this habit because it is a form of comfort for me. I do not know why but it helps me feel better in certain situations. I do not think I ever have or want to stop this habit. I am, however, more conscience of my surroundings when I do feel the need to do it so that I would not make anyone feel uncomfortable. According to (Cherry 2012) Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our behaviors. This theory would