...South africa Social Psychology assignment 1 Race relations in South africa Social Psychology assignment 1 Table of contents Contents 1. Introduction: 2 2. The impact of Social cognition and schemas on race relations: 2 3. Role of attribution and attitudes in understanding race relations: 5 4. Impact of prejudice and discrimination on race relations: 7 5. Social influence: how it impacts race relations in South Africa 10 6. Conclusion: 11 Reference list: 12 1. Introduction: When speaking of racial relations, one is referring to types of behaviours which are exhibited by individuals after being in contact or interacting with people of various physical and cultural characteristics. (Balandier, 1956). Race relations debates have very prevalent in countries all over the world, South Africa being no exception. Due to the diverse nature of the county’s population, the topic of race relations still continues to dominate discourse in democratic South Africa. Since 1994, the citizens of South Africa have strived to eradicate racism and hostile racial relations. However, it has not been smooth sailing to move beyond racial lines as a source of division. In fact, the racial nuances still cling on stubbornly as race becomes a daily tormentor, making it very difficult to erode the edifices of racial and cultural hostilities. (Rajab, 2012). There are quite a number of issues which have contributed to the continuation of hostile racial relations. Such issues include social cognition and...
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...Running head: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY DEFINITION PAPER Social Psychology Definition Paper PSY 400 October 24, 2011 Matt Diggs Social Psychology Very often, one wonders why one acts the way he or she does. It just seems to be human nature to ask such questions and to try to discover more about the complexity of human actions and causes. Of course, there are many perspectives in the field of psychology that attempt to address these significant questions. For instance, biopsychology considers important factors including one’s brain, genetic predisposition, and many others when addressing behavior. However, social psychology, even though it agrees with other branches in psychology, does focus on different aspects when seeking these kinds of conclusions. Social psychology centers their attention on understanding human actions such as what led to the cruelty of killing millions of people during War II. Why will one always help him or herself first, before helping others? Why do others matter more when making decisions? Social psychology is essential not only to the field of psychology but also to every individual because it provides answers to questions one seeks about him or herself and others. However, social psychology does more than provide answers to these few questions, as these merely touch the surface of social psychology’s focus (Myers, 2010). Definition of Social Psychology Social psychology is a science just like many other fields including astronomy...
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...A Two Day Adventure Therapy Programme for Disadvantaged Youth For the purpose of this assignment I have chosen to work with disadvantaged or disaffected youth from a programme in Dublin called Bradog Regional Youth Service. There are 10 participants aged between 13-18 years of age of mixed gender and ethnic backgrounds. Participants will take part in an intense two day adventure programme, focusing on developing these individuals with skills that will aid there development. The programme will be facilitated by outdoor adventure instructors and psychologists. The programme will consist of two sessions each day. Each session will involve and activity which will indirectly address development issues for adolescents. Through facilitation methods commonly used in adventure therapy the sessions will be reviewed and the relevant learning shall be drawn from the experience. All food and equipment will be provided by the centre. I have first-hand knowledge and experience with working with disadvantaged youth in an outdoor education centre in Ireland and will be drawing on my own experience when designing this programme. I will first outline the issues that arise that are general to the entire programme. Then I will move on to cover the specific details of the programme. Possible problems with the group There are many problems that can arise when people are put into groups. There may be people that are just focused on themselves and find it hard to relate to others, or even...
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...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...
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...SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PSY/201 SCENARIO ASSIGNMENT PAPER. Social Psychology Paper ANGELA R. CARY PSY/201 October 03, 2013 Jennifer Baker Social Psychology Paper There were several factors that contributed to Sarah’s attitude in regards to her curfew. Some of these were motivation, compliance and conformity, Normative and Informational Social Influence. Other factors that affected Sarah’s behavior, action and thoughts may include persuasion and peer-pressure. Some of the ways that Sarah displayed cognitive dissonance were disobeying curfew, going to a party, and unnecessary worry. When Sarah decided to go to the party she displayed conformity in order to go along (comply) and fit in with a popular group from school. Sarah felt a need to be accepted by a new group because she was in a new social environment and wants to be accepted and popular in the group also. Sarah may have fears of meeting new people and being in a new environment therefore she conform to a large group of people which is a difficult task. Sarah is also experiencing “incongruous” emotions, actions and behaviors at this time which is not “normal” for her. Sarah begins to avoid her curfew time, and disobey the rules and guidelines her parents had set for her previously, by agreeing to go to the party and being late. She also decides that being accepted and popular by the new group has given her some self satisfaction and happy feelings as well as gained acceptance from...
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...children vaccination as our topic assignment for week 3. Learning Team Cognitive Dissonance Paper: Identify a situation in which an individual has consciously made a decision to engage in a behavior that violated their cognitions--values, beliefs, attitudes, and morals (e.g., calling in sick to work when you are not actually sick, speeding, cheating on taxes). o Prepare at minimum a 1,500 word paper (no maximum) in which analyze your identified situation. In your analysis, be sure to address the following items: Describe your identified situation. Analyze the social, cultural, and spiritual influences on the individual’s behavior and on his or her personal ethics. Describe the reciprocal relationship between behavior and attitudes. Explain how the individual could have used cognitive dissonance theory to rationalize his or her behavior. o Any assignment that has more than 15% of the paper quoted (properly or improperly) will be subject to a point deduction or discipline action in the case of intentional plagiarism. You may run your paper through the UoPX Plagiarism Detector to ensure compliance. o Be sure that you view the rubric for a more thorough discussion of paper requirements. As this is an upper division psychology class, the proper use of APA formatting will be required and will be a graded focus on all papers within this course. Please be sure to submit the certificate of originality in a SEPARATE file with every assignment. See course for more details...
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...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...
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...Psychology in Action Part V Instructor Dr….. Abstract The following research personal derives from Solomon Asch's conformity study. The study reflects how human subjects conform to the majority social influence of their peers. The study design was in a controlled laboratory experiment. The following proposal is to determine if subjects will decrease or increase the level of conformity outside a controlled environment. Psychology in Action Part V There are benefits of a controlled laboratory experiment which researches control the variables such as Asch's Opinions and Social Pressures study. The study does have further questions and follow-up studies to determine the magnitude of conformity as a social phenomenon. The social phenomenon of group conformity in a controlled environment has provided further issues to examine. Even though conformity may not increase outside a controlled environment, subjects may conform more outside a controlled environment because subjects conform easily inside a controlled environment. Research Proposal To: From: Date: Subject: Research proposal Research Question: Will subjects be more willing to conformity outside a controlled environment? Thesis: Even though conformity may not increase outside of a controlled environment, subjects may conform more outside a controlled environment because subjects conform easily inside a controlled environment. Proposed Research...
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...Assignment 1- Open Book Exam PHC100 – Professional Communications PHC100 Take Home Open Book Examination 1. You are a member of a decision making group at work where five people have a strong united vision, but three people including yourself, believe they are being dangerously optimistic, impulsive and misinformed. What social psychology theory of yourself and others would help you to maintain your own beliefs, and promote your minority position When working within a group in a professional context it is essential that we understand how the individuals interact with each other and the group as a whole. It is important to maintain a strong sense of integrity and professionalism especially as part of a minority where there is a desire to maintain one’s own beliefs and promote that minority position. Through the understanding and application of social psychology concepts such as a self serving bias and belief perseverance we gain an insight into an individual’s self perception and motivations. An appreciation for how these individuals interact within the group and how the group as a whole behaves can be gained via concepts of groupthink, group polarization and the power of minority influence. An understanding and the applications of these concepts will aid individuals and those within a minority to be both assertive and resilient in their own beliefs as well as promoting that minority position. A self serving bias has the effect of creating an inflated sense of...
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...Fauzan Plasticwala Social Psychology 230 Assignment 1: Film Analysis March 15, 2015 A Beautiful Mind John Nash was a graduate student at Princeton University and was well talented mathematician. Starting his graduate school year, the prodromal phase of schizophrenia began to emerge. Prodromal phase is a time period where symptoms for schizophrenia begin to appear but not yet recognized until the active psychosis takes place (Cameron, 1938). He was socially awkward and suffers social rejection. His social behavior was often mocked upon by classmates but did receive support by his close friend, Charles. There are many occurrences of social psychological theories that were depicted in this film. Some of the many social psychological phenomenons that were used in this film were person perception or attribution theory, the self, cognitive dissonance, attitude, and conformity. The self theory is "the individual's belief about himself or herself, including the person's attributes and who and what the self is" (Baumeister, 1999). Nash had distinct sensory ability and high self esteem in regards to his intellect. Self esteem is the degree to which we comment ourselves (Morse and Gergen, 1970). Nash had a positive view of himself. He was able to see the light pattern through a glass and was able synchronize it with patterns on the tie of his classmate. This shows that he considered himself intellectually superior than his classmates. The grandiosity of his intelligence was well...
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...Course code: PSY-379-GS001 Course name: Social Psychology Assignment 4 1. Discuss the phenomena of persuasion and the cognitive processes that underlie it. Persuasion is a phenomenon that is a form of social influence in which an audience is deliberately encouraged to accept an idea, attitude, or course of action by symbolic means. We are persuaded to go along with someone's suggestion if we think that person is a credible expert (authority), if we think he or she as a trusted friend or attractive (likeability), if we feel we owe them one (reciprocity), or if doing so will be consistent with our beliefs or prior commitments (consistency). We are also inclined to make choices that we think are popular (consensus), and that will net us a scarce commodity (scarcity). We follow these general rules because they usually work to lead us to make the right choice. However, because we often use them unthinkingly, they are usually defeated by con artists, many of them wearing nice business suits or reassuringly friendly smiles. The cognitive processes that underlie the phenomena of persuasion are the central processing or systematic route to persuasion, people attend carefully to the message, and they consider relevant evidence and underlying logic in detail. People are especially likely to go through this route when the message is relevant to them, when they have knowledge in the domain, and when the message evokes a sense of personal responsibility. When going through...
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...were allocated into groups randomly within tutorial groups and assigned roles within the simulation. I was assigned the role of environmentalist, but assumed the informal role as one of the team’s leaders. Our group as a whole managed to achieve a satisfactory 67% of team goals, and I managed to achieve 57% of my individual goals. The objective of this report is to critically analyse and reflect upon the intergroup interactions that lead to the successes and failings of our team. These successes and failings will be viewed through the lens of the theories and concepts developed in the course in order to gain insight into group processes and human behaviour. The report starts with analysing and breaking down human cognitive processes and social interactions through the tripartite attitudes model, cognitive dissonance theory and human perception biases. This gives a better understanding as to how intergroup dynamics can be improved in the future. The exertion and possession of power within the group is then analysed and the report examines the relative importance formal and informal power played within the simulation. Viewing the level of conflict through the human...
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...1 Activity Assignment: Unskilled and Unaware of It John Smith, Michael Anderson, Joshua Jones, Tamika Brumfeld, Ronnie Evans Barksdale College Abstract Self-esteem is an individual's estimate of one's own self worth, the extent of individual views of good, competence, and decent. Within this activity paper we will discuss why self esteem is important, and why there are discrepancies between the actual self and the ideal self. This paper will discuss the theory of cognitive dissonance in regards to the self-evaluation theory, self-affirmation theory and the realization trap while defining the self-discrepancy theory. The need for high individual self-esteem may lead to irrational logic and individual actions against their own best interest as will be theoretically supported throughout this paper. Concluding that our teams position, will support the theory that individual competence may be inaccurate at times to maintain individual self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as an individual’s estimate of his or hers own self-worth and the extent of individual views of what is good competent and decent. This activity paper will discuss the importance of self-esteem and explore any discrepancies between the actual self and the ideal self. The theory of cognitive dissonance as it relates to the self-evaluation theory, self-affirmation theory and the realization trap will be covered while also defining the self-discrepancy theory. This paper will theoretically...
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...Final Project Optimistic / Pessimistic Attribution Theory Introduction There are many theories in the field of social psychology that can be used to explain, predict, or forecast behavior. As events occur throughout history, patterns can be analyzed and attributed to known theories that were birthed by educated scholars in this field. However, no theory s absolute in its outcome. As society changes, the applicability of each theory also changes. “Social Darwinism” was coined by Richard Hofstadter to label theories created around 1870 and primarily addresses survival and creation, as it was known in that era (Leonard, 2009). It is well known that Charles Darwin theorized that only the fittest members of society would ultimately survive. Modern science and technology has expanded to depths far beyond that of the 1800s. Research and real-time information has provided an outlet which allows scholars access to information that was not available during this period. The result of this influx of data allows current day researchers – and students – the ability to expound and expand older theories to fit modern culture. Whereas Darwin’s theory may have specifically defines mortality and the ability to thrive as it pertains to life and death, survival of the fittest can now be applied to a plethora of modern day situations, such as the stock market (only those who are savvy in the art of trading will be successful), technology (on the applications...
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...‘How may conflict resolution and conflict management approaches be applied in educational settings?’ Abstract This assignment will review the nature of conflict, from psychologist theories to what form it takes in an educational setting. In order to apply conflict resolution and conflict management effectively in an educational setting, it is important to understand the background disciplines of conflict and theories behind how humans behave in social settings. Comprehending how human behaviour initiates is the key stepping stone to resolving and managing conflict behaviour between humans. We will examine what the concept of conflict is and what shape of from it occurs in everyday life. A brief history of what psychologists have founded in their study of conflict, and human behaviour will lead this examination into conflict in educational settings and how they can arise. It is crucial to look at approaches that can be taken towards conflict in an educational setting in order to resolve and manage them effectively to reduce and minimise all forms of conflict. Introduction There are many different theories used when defining conflict. Morton Deutsch is renowned social psychologists (recognisable through research of this review) who has studied and researched conflict within human relations. According to Deutsch, conflict exists whenever incompatible activities occur (Deutsch, 1969, I25:p7) which is a simple...
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