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Topic: Students learn to apply concepts to social situations and how behavioral change can occur in group situations.
Instructions: You will write a 3-page paper in which you will discuss the topic of Social Psychology in Everyday Life. In this paper, you will select two or more current events and describe the social psychology principles learned so far in this course to explain them. You may wish to use the Encyclopedia of Social Psychology to help you with the definitions of terms. http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/socialpsychology
The Social Psychology refers to the study as to how dynamically people are related to each other around them. As we are different from each other, so are our individual characters, personality traits, desires, motivations and emotions that leave us with our own social behavior. However, the behavior that we exhibit sometimes is influenced deeply by the social situation, that is, a dynamic interaction of ours. Psychologists are of the view that human behavior is largely determined by both a person’s characteristics and the social situation. Our interactions with each other are so profound that they create social influence that are quite capable of changing our thought feelings and behavior(Berscheid, 1976).In the following report, we have tried to delve a little bit deeper in order to understand what was in the minds of some of the newsmakers that drove them to exhibit a certain mindset.
For a past few months, American politics has been catching the eyes of people across the world. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are generating more heat than all the other exciting newsbreaks put together – so to speak. Recently, during a television debate, Hillary Clinton (Democratic nominee for President) apparently seemed to be perturbed while making clear her opinions to the audience. Some of the psychology experts were so engrossed in their analysis regarding Ms. Clinton’s seemingly angry or upset demean. When I pursued my own thinking, I found that, as far as women are concerned, their emotions are caused by internal turbulences coupled with the kind of interaction that they involve themselves in. It is widely believed that women are more emotional and empathetic, while men tend to be more stoic and analytical. However, studies have found no differences whatsoever. People in our society are highly inquisitive of observing stereotypes. So, when a woman deviates from her so called emotional stereotype, people tend to view her as less likable as well as less trustworthy.This is a clear case of social prejudices that are so subtly and surreptitiously intertwined in our social conscious. Studies have found that whenever women express their anger in a court of law as opposed to being fearful, passive and helpless, the judges’ sentences tend to be lighter(Sahar, 2014). So, I think this discrepancy is deeply rooted in our perceptions towards the so called violations of female stereotypes. Which is why, when Hillary acts as a Presidential nominee, as people perceive it in a certain way, she should be seen as harsh and cold to be able to woo her constituencies that she means business. However, the social theories that we studied and applied in this case suggest otherwise.
An Islamic State jihadist, Mohammad Daleel was apparently a Syrian traumatized by war and went to Germany for refuge. However, deep down in his conscience, he was driven by a vengeance for the Western Powers (NATO) that he decide to carry out suicide bombing in Ansbach, Germany. It is a matter of deep extensive study on the part of psychologists and anthropologists as to what is it that drives a person towards such a situation when he tend to take such a drastic step of killing innocent people. Is it indoctrination, deep-rooted religious beliefs, community fear or personal insecurity that renders him an enemy of mankind?(Stout, 2002). These some of pertinent questions that the psychologists and intellectual thinkers world over are trying to find answers of. It is one aspect when psychologists say that atrocities can heavily influence the way people think and make decisions that can erode their mental health, but the moot point is what exactly goes on in the principled realm of terrorism that drives a certain class of people to resort themselves to this ‘no holds barred’ rule.
As a student of social psychology, I find this subject matter as intriguing as it is a prevalent concernfor the society. I believe that when certain people are introduced to a particular school of thought (in this case terrorism) and then start interacting with the whose who of that mind-set, they start developing their own theory and belief. This particular enlightenment, I think, acts as a force multiplier in their resolveto punish those who are the weakest. So, this incident of mass killings in Germany also highlights a conspicuous fact that terrorism targets the weakest sections of society that make most profound impacts in the minds of people. Whether or not this ideology will vanish or embolden even further is something yet to unfold in times ahead("Beyond Fear: The Psychology of Terrorism", 2016). I believe this gap can only be bridged by a certain interaction that fulfills the objective of addressing the core issue of terrorism, otherwise such incidents will keep happening intermittently.
Berscheid, E. (1976). Social psychology: People in groups. Psyccritiques, 21(8). http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/015400
Beyond Fear: The Psychology of Terrorism. (2016). Scientific American Mind, 27(3), 32-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/scientificamericanmind0516-32
Sahar, G. (2014). On the Importance of Attribution Theory in Political Psychology. Social And Personality Psychology Compass, 8(5), 229-249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12102
Stout, C. (2002). The psychology of terrorism. Westport, CT: Praeger.