Samuel Smoot Social Psychology Paper PSY 201 3/1/2014

Sarah is going through exploration of her own path. She wants to do things that are not okay with her parents. Should she do these things and lie about what she is really doing, or is it easier to be honest? The problem with honesty is she will most likely not get what she wants out of it. It is the way that parent and child relationships mature. It ultimately helps with the separation process that is inevitable. Sarah is starting to make her own choices even if they are wrong. While mom and dad are trying to protect the little girl that is their daughter, like they always have. Sarah has many adult choices, but she is still only a young teenager. Sarah is just a teenager who is still attending school and getting good grades. To start with Sarah was dealing with social cognition toward her curfew. Sarah was experiencing partying for the first time. Sarah had obviously heard from other how fun it could be, but had never experienced it with her parent’s rules in place. For a fifteen year old these issues are the social norm. That still doesn’t make it any easier on her decision to go to the party. The friends and their persuasion made it even harder to say no too. She wanted to fit in, because they are new friends to her and she wants to fit in. She didn’t want to give them a chance to discriminate against her for not staying out to attend the party with them. Due to the circumstances Sarah would conform to her new friends plan and went with them to the party. Sarah has dissonant cognitions in her thoughts as she is going to the party. On one side she has her parents and their rules on her mind, the rules that say she has a curfew. On the other side she has heard about parties from her friends and wants to be there. These two contradictory cognitions that have