Group Conformingobeyingnormscohesionsocial Loafing

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Group Conformingobeyingnormscohesionsocial Loafing

Assignment #1: Social Issues and Social Psychology

  • You will be choosing one topic for your course project; choose your topic carefully as you will not be able to switch later on in the semester.
  • What you will be handing in for assignment #1:
    • Title page in APA format (see sample paper)
    • 3-4 pages of writing, double spaced
    • Reference page in APA format with FIVE sources (see instructions below)
  • Your grade will be determined by whether you followed instructions (assignment length, number of sources, APA, etc.), and the quality of your work.

Here is your task: Write about a current social issue and how social psychology helps to explain it.

  • Choose a current (within last 10 years) social issue in the USA/Canada. Examples include:
    • Domestic violence
    • Sexual assault on campuses
    • Online/Cyberbullying
    • Polarization of groups/political parties to the point of extremes (BE SPECIFIC – Democrats vs. Republicans, pro-gun control vs. anti-gun control, pro-abortion vs. anti-abortion, etc.)
    • A social movement (could be positive OR negative) and its intentions/impacts (BE SPECIFIC – Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, Slow Food movement, etc.)
    • Helicopter Parenting
    • Obesity
    • Racism
    • Sexism
    • Ableism
    • Homophobia
    • Transphobia
    • Prison reform
    • Pretty much ANYTHING you can think of that impacts Americans – ask if you need clarification
  • Define your issue, identify parties involved (e.g., victims, perpetrators, members of the movements, etc.), identify important statistics and factors (e.g., prevalence rates, demographics, etc.), discuss why this is an important issue AND A CURRENT ISSUE for Americans – using sources.
  • Discuss three psychological theories/principles/constructs that are related to your social issue

To do so, you will have to cite academic sources (including your textbook if you have it), and/or you can use TWO of the following other sources: newspaper article, World Health Organization website, CDC website. Your requirement is to cite five sources related to this issue in the United States.

Examples from your textbook/online (there are many more than this!):

self-conceptself-esteemrace and gender differencesself-regulation

self-presentationappearancehow we explain others’ behaviorpersonal biases

stigmastereotypessocializationprejudice

discriminationtrusthow we form attitudes influence

persuasiongroup roles belonging to a group conforming

obeyingnormscohesionsocial loafing

cooperatingcompetinggroup decision makingattraction

altruismempathygroup performance aggression