...Abstract: Identity is an abstract, complex and dynamic concept. As a result of those characteristics, identity is not easily defined. According to Pinney, a principal objective of one’s adolescent years is the formation of an identity, and “those who fail to achieve a secure identity are faced with identity confusion, a lack of clarity about who they are and what their role is in life” This suggest that identity development plays a critical role in the individual’s psychological well-being. Thus the necessity of understanding your sense of identity is self-evident. In summary, in this assignment, I’m going to discuss the importance of identity, and the relation between the identity and role of a person portray and enact. To begin with, identity plays an important role in our daily life, and the Identity I’m talking about here is not just a set of computerised data that distinguish me from you and you from me; Identity is a complex term, which links self attitudes, or identities, to the role relationships and role-related behaviour of individuals. Identity theorists argue that the self consists of a collection of identities, each of which is based on occupying a particular role (Stryker, 1968; Stryker & Burke, 2000). Identities can be defined as one's answers to the question 'Who am I?" (Stryker & Serpe, 1982). Many of the "answers" (e.g., "I am a student") are linked to the roles we occupy, so they are often referred to as "role identities" or simply, "identities...
Words: 2111 - Pages: 9
...Social Psychology – PRACTICE QUIZ Student: ___________________________________________________________________________ 1. Chartrand and Bargh (1999) found that participants in an experiment who worked alongside another person who occasionally rubbed her face were unwittingly more likely to rub their face. They called this A. the chameleon effect. B. mood linkage. C. compliance. D. automatic processing. 2. Knowing that someone is trying to coerce you may prompt you to do the opposite of that person's wishes. This response is predicted by A. the reactance theory. B. the theory of normative social influence. C. Milgram's theory of obedience. D. the social norms theory. 3. In experiments, people have been found to conform more when they must _______ than when they must _______. A. respond publicly; write down their responses in private B. commit themselves in writing; announce their responses in public C. think before acting; react spontaneously D. explain their responses; keep silent 4. Sherif is to the study of _______ as Asch is to the study of _______. A. conformity; compliance B. compliance; conformity C. norm formation; obedience D. norm formation; conformity 5. Compared to people in individualistic countries, those in collectivist countries are A. more likely to express psychological reactance. B. more responsive to others' influence. C. more susceptible to the fundamental attribution error. D. more likely to be independent. 6. Bearman...
Words: 527 - Pages: 3
...Social Influence Social facilitation – The tendency for people to perform better on tasks in the presence of people than when alone. Triplett 1898 found that cyclists rode faster when racing together than when alone because of the competitive element. He also tests this with children and how long it took them to turn a fishing wheel 150 times. Sometimes they were alone and sometimes together, and found that many children worked in co-action CO-ACTION- people working together on the same task. Allport also found college students work in co action completing more multiplication problems together and when Chen looked at ants he found they dig 3 times as faster Allport said that competition is not always affects us if we do better and that sometimes it could just be the presence of an audience that could result in social facilitation. Though audience effect could also affect people in a negative way and cause them to do worse, this is known as social inhibition. AUIDENCE EFFECT – the impact of the individual task performance of the presence of an audience SOCIAL INHIBTION- The tendency for an individual to perform less well in the presence of others than when alone. AROUSAL THEORY OF SOCIAL FACILIATION Zajonc said that arousal acts as a drive that will bring out the most dominant response. In an easy or well-practised task our dominant responses tend to be correct so social facilitation occurs but in a unfamiliar task the dominant responses tend to be incorrect so social...
Words: 2375 - Pages: 10
...led to Sarah’s anxiety or concern about getting “caught in the act.” From experience, usually a sense of guilt or anxiety rushes over after disobeying rules. On the other hand, she was still enjoying herself at a party and was happy that she had agreed to go to interact with new friends. These opposing views could be considered cognitive dissonance. Agreeing with the idea, that she would be missing out by not attending the party, Sarah conformed to her peers believes. The reason Sarah may have conformed to peer believes could have been because of peer pressure and the desire to be accepted in a social group. Consequently Sarah would go on to feel like she “fits in” or that she “belonged.” In an online article titled “Peer Pressure” that was updated June 2012 and published by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) we find that “Peers play a large role in the social and emotional development of children...
Words: 684 - Pages: 3
...Alexandra Bennett AP Psychology Coach Burton April 8, 2015 Chapter 18 Social Psychology 21) Just-world-phenomenon- is the tendency for people to believe that the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get. Example: If you have this belief, and something good happens to you, you may conclude that the world is just because you are a good person and so good things happen to you. In the same way, when you see something bad happen to someone else, you may conclude that they did something to bring on this bad event. 22) Mere exposure effect- you begin to like something simply because you are exposed to it over and over again. Example: If you have ever heard a song you did not like and then after a while of hearing it over and over again, you become used to it. Then, you start singing along and you like it. 23) Normative social influence- influence resulting in the desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval Example: if you go to a play, many times you will applaud when others do even if you didn't really like the play that much. You do this to avoid the disapproval of the other people. 24) Obedience- occurs when you change your opinions, judgments, or actions because someone in a position of authority told you to. Example: An example of this is the story of the fake police man that called the McDonald’s manager and told her to strip search an employee. The manager only did this, because someone I authority told her...
Words: 1223 - Pages: 5
...Social Psychology The way that humans interact with themselves and others can have a strong impact on how they behave. This can be a negative interaction or a positive interaction. How can one person by shy and quiet at home but be outgoing and loud with their group of friends? Social psychology takes a more in-depth look out how these situations shape them into who they are and how they act. Social psychology is a science that studies how situations can influences the views of a person and how they affect one another (Myers, 2010). There are three big parts to social psychology: social thinking, social influences, and social relations (Myers 2010). Each person is different in his or her own way. If two people are put in the same type of situation, both will act and behave differently because each of them “think differently” (Myers, 2010, p. 5). Social thinking involves how humans interact with other people and how they think about them. A person’s emotions are affected by how they think about someone and how that someone responds to them (Garcia, 2012). Humans are very intuitive, more often than they realize. Intuition helps shapes persons fears, impressions, and relationships, (Myers, 2010) but it sometimes can be dangerous depending how quickly a person judges something or someone. The next part of social psychology is social influences, which come from a person’s culture, pressures to conform, persuasion, and groups of people (Myers, 2010). “Sometimes the power of a...
Words: 1060 - Pages: 5
...Social Psychology Conshombia McArthur PSY 555 January 14, 2012 Dr. Newcomer According to Fiske, social psychology is the scientific attempt to explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings (2010, p. 4). Meaning that the actions of the individual are dictated to by the group and without the presence of the group one’s action might be different. The variant nuances unique to the individual are inhibited in an attempt to conform to the standards of the group. Social psychologists examine the interpersonal interactions of a person to develop an understanding about the human condition (Fiske, 2010, p. 35). With this being the case, how then an individual one measure thoughts, feelings, and behavior to prove a hypothesis? The ability to take a vague concept and transform it into a solidified and valid idea is the goal of many psychologists. Traditionally, social psychology has focused on the study of individuals. It assumes that complex social processes, behaviors, or attitudes can be explained by an analytical focus on the individual. The foundations for this individualist position were laid by Floyd Allport (1924) who dismissed the group as a meaningful level of analysis for social psychology. For instance, Allport claimed that “If we take care of the individual, psychologically speaking, then the groups will take care of themselves” (Allport, 1924, p.9). The...
Words: 1198 - Pages: 5
...Social Psychology Defined According to Fiske (2010), the classic definition of social psychology is, “the scientific attempt to explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings” (p. 4). Social psychology is all about people influencing other people. It is all of the ways that people impact other people from trivial behavior to important behavior such as torturing innocent people, as soldiers sometimes have done (Fiske, 2010, pg. 2). In other words, social psychology is doing what others around them are doing (Fiske, 2010, pg. 2). Social Psychology is at the far end of the social sciences, which lean towards macro levels of analysis. According to Fiske (2010), Sociology looks at small groups, families, and neighborhoods, institutions, cities, to nations and psychology looks at the individual. Thus, social psychology is the study of human behavior in a social context. The Four Key Characteristics of Social Psychology The study of human behavior from a social perspective is characterized by four key elements. The four elements are broad scope, cultural, scientific methods, and the search for wisdom. Furthermore, social psychology encompasses a very broad point of view such as conformity and deviance, altruism and aggression, loving and hating, self and groups, attitudes and actions (Fiske, 2010, pg. 15). In sum, it addresses the whole human being. Therefore, social psychology...
Words: 1232 - Pages: 5
...Social Psychology Social Psychology Social Psychology is explained specifically in this reading through many examples. It describes the way an individual’s behavior is influenced by others and how their own personalities can influence other people. Sarah’s behavior is influenced by her parents and her friends. Both roles play a factor in the decisions that she makes while with her friends and her family. Sarah has many different schemas involving her behavior. Her parents have a schema for her in the way they want her to follow their rules and curfew regulations. The social role they want her to follow is strict and meant to be followed without fault. The schema that Sarah’s friends have for her is different and involves her social life. They ultimately convince her to forego the rules and regulations set up by her parents. Sarah is torn between wanting to follow her parent’s rules and her desire to conform to her friends and attend the party. After a subconscious battle with herself, she decides to attend the party and intentionally disregard her parents wishes. Sarah specifically displayed cognitive dissonance during the beginning of the reading. She was at war with herself on whether or not to attend the party with her friends. She set precedence by never disobeying her parents in the past and always arrived at home on time. Her friends attempted to persuade her by telling her that the party would...
Words: 1271 - Pages: 6
...The field of social psychology is greatly interested in the study of feelings, thought and actions of people in social setups. Conversely, it also looks at the effects of other people on those feelings, actions and thoughts. It also deals with the behavior of individuals in groups and group behaviors themselves. Social psychology employs a scientific perspective in terms of how people think about others, how they relate with others and how they influence each other. The perception of our own self in relation to the world surrounding us plays a very vital role in the way we make our choices, how we behave in various contexts and the beliefs we hold dearly to ourselves. On the other hand, the opinions we get from others also have an impact on our behavior and the way we view ourselves. Our study of social psychology will better our understanding of the way groups affect how we behave and how our interactions are based on our own social perceptions . Our social behaviors are directed towards achieving certain goals, may it be short term or long term. Some of these goals include the need to maintain social connections, the feeling of gaining a better understanding of ourselves and others, the need to have protection and the wish of establishing companionship with other people. The acting self is divided into two, though both parts work together to achieve a unified totality. There is the legislative branch which is self-identity and the executive branch that constitutes self-entity...
Words: 3017 - Pages: 13
...Katelyn Smith Social Psychology 9/25/14 Chapter 4 Reaction Assignment #4 Use your own experience to define and explain social identity theory. In which situations do you find yourself more likely to identify with a group? When are you most likely to see yourself as an individual? In what ways might this be culturally influenced? In my experience social identity theory is how you develop your own identity from certain social groups. I feel that I am the most bubbly and caring of my friend group while at home I feel like I am “the maid” because I’m always cleaning up after everyone. Situations I feel like I would be more likely to identify with a group is whenever my teachers give a group project, or being in a sorority. Situations in which I feel like I would see myself as an individual is when I am hanging out with my friends because each one of us has a different personality making us different and individual. In western cultures like the United States, people tend to emphasize individualism while many non-western cultures tend to emphasize collectivism. This makes cultural influences a huge deal because these values or traits are the social norms for your culture and if you don’t follow or believe them then you are not welcomed. Based on what you’ve learned about motivation, make a case for a hypothetical community service program you could implement at your university. What would you do to ensure that students were highly motivated to engage in the work, both...
Words: 1027 - Pages: 5
...Why people are motivated to do the things they do can be the result of multiple experiences throughout their lives, as well as a combination of countless factors that influence one's behavior and decisions. The circumstances involved in the choices and behavior Sarah exuded throughout the night while she was out with her friends shed quite a bit of light on how an individual's normal behavior can be greatly altered by a number of internal and external attributions. Sarah's traditional compliant attitude in regards to the strict rules her parents have in place concerning her curfew had been altered by the suggestions of her friends. Several factors contributed to Sarah's decision to go to the party with her friends despite having to break the curfew rules her parents have in place. For instance, Sarah's desire for these friends to continue inviting her out in the future, in addition to the fact she had never been to a party and her friends telling her she would be missing out if she did not go were all contributing factors to Sarah's attitude towards her curfew. After Sarah and her friends arrived at the party, knowing she should be at home obeying her curfew and the fear of her parents finding out worried her. However, those worries were conflicting for her because in spite of the worry and fear she was still enjoying herself at the party and actually happy she was there. The discomfort she was experiencing form holding the two competing ideas (the worry she...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...The teenage years tend to be the most prevalent when it comes to decision-making and choices that may affect them psychologically. Sarah is in her prime teenage years and is exposed to all types of environments that may have an effect on her behavior as well as her thought process. As she continues to be exposed to these factors, Sarah will encounter many scenarios in which her ability to adapt and conform will confront her. This more recent situation has multiple psychological factors that affected her decisions throughout the night. Starting with Sarah and her curfew, she is very aware of the time in which she is supposed to be home. Referencing obedience, which is behavior that is in response to the orders of some form of power or authority (Carter, K. & Seifert, C. 2013), she knows her parents have strict rules enforcing this upon her. For her to make the decision to break that rule, Sarah showed signs of conformity based on the group of people she was hanging out with. This action proved to be very influential on this night as the decisions she made throughout the night shows. Conformity alters what we do or believe in order to align or fit in with a group (Carter, K. & Seifert, C. 2013). Sarah conformed by steeping out of her compliance by staying out later because of her new friends’ requests. This situation is the time in which conformity proved to be the most influential. Another situation in which she conformed was going to the party. Her friends kept...
Words: 869 - Pages: 4
...Grading Guide Social Psychology Paper This assignment is due in Week Nine. |Content |Points Earned | |60 Percent |X/5 | |Lists the factors that contributed towards Sarah’s attitude regarding her curfew and how did |Comments: | |these factors contribute. |The factors that have contributed towards | |Explains the ways Sarah displays cognitive dissonance. |Sarah’s attitude were her new friends that | |Describes the situations that Sarah conforms to her peers’ beliefs and how. Explains some |she had made in school. Her new friends kept | |possible reasons that Sarah did this. |telling Sarah that the party was going to be | |Explains some possible reasons that Jack was interested in Sarah and how these relate to the |very fun, which by Sarah never being to a | |factors of attraction. |party before; she was excited that her new | |Describes the type of social interaction that was displayed through the fight at the party and|friends wanted to hang out...
Words: 611 - Pages: 3
...Social Psychology Definition Paper Douglas Cooper PSY/400 April 4, 2016 Ami Taharka Social Psychology Definition Paper How do people think about, influence, and relate to each other? These are just some of the questions that social psychologists are looking to answer. This paper will further define social psychology’s goals to elicit a richer understanding of the field. It will discuss how social psychology differs from other disciplines, such as clinical psychology, general psychology, and sociology and why those differences are important. Finally, it will examine research methods and strategies that social psychologist utilize to answer questions. Social Psychology Defined According to our text, social psychology “is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another” (Myers, 2010, pg. 4). It is a relatively young science, that some may confuse with sociology. Whereas sociology focuses on group dynamics, social psychology focuses more on how individuals interact with each other. At the heart of social psychology are three different constructs. These are: social thinking (what we perceive about ourselves and other, what we believe, the judgements we make, and our attitudes), social influence (culture, conformity pressures, persuasion), and social relations (prejudice, aggression, attraction and intimacy, and helping). There are several concepts that contribute to these constructs. Some of these include the following. First is that...
Words: 846 - Pages: 4
