Discuss the below:
1. What do the white hoods of Ku Klux Clan members, flaming somebody in a chat room on the Internet, and looting by mobs have in common with respect to lessening inhibitions?
physical anonymity
safety in numbers
moral panic
social contagion
2. Studies of the persuasiveness of mass media messages reveal that complexity has an effect on comprehension. Which one of the following formats is best to convey a complex message?
face-to-face
podcast
written
videotaped
3. According to the text, we may spontaneously resort to using stereotypes, under which one of the following conditions?
when we feel smug and self-important
when we are feeling very self-confident
when we are in a hurry
when somebody is blocking our goals
4. A state police force has set a height requirement of 5 foot 10 inches, for all officers. The requirement is not relevant to job effectiveness, and generally excludes social groups with shorter statures, including Hispanics, Asians, and women from the force. Such a requirement most clearly reflects which one of the following combinations?
racism and sexism
scapegoating and prejudice
stereotyping and discrimination
racism and prejudice
Essay:
1. The 2008 presidential election was marked by record-breaking expenditures on various forms of persuasion by the nominee contenders, and the eventual candidates. Candidate websites with blogs, entries on FaceBook and other social media, print ads, television ads, live rallies, staged sound bytes, trips abroad, endorsement announcements, and e-mail campaigns by organizations supporting or against a particular candidate were all part of the dynamic.
With respect to the elements of persuasion, write one or two paragraphs on EACH of the following two factors: message content AND audiences. Explicitly explain why and how these factors apply to the presidential case above.
2. In 2005, a group of white students organized a ghetto-themed party at one of the dorms at the University of Chicago. They called it the "Straight Thuggin Ghetto Party". Students were encouraged to wear baseball caps sideways, sagging jeans, and gold chains. The music of 50 Cent and Nelly was played while party-goers sipped beer from bottles in paper sacks. All attendees were white.
A huge campus-wide flap over the party followed. University administration, alarmed about race relations in a student population that is overwhelmingly white, condemned the party as an offensive parody of racial stereotypes of a certain segment of the area population. The 20 or so students who planned the party said it innocently had a 1990s theme.
University officials held open meetings with minority students and staff in an effort to figure out ways to create programs that would avoid similar incidents in the future.
Analyze the facts of this scenario critically using the following approach:
a. explicitly use three (3) concepts from the textbook in your analysis;
b. identify and very briefly describe each concept you use and link it to specific evidence from the scenario;
c. within your group of three course concepts include at least one (1) concept from Chapter 8 (Group Influences) and at least one (1) concept from Chapter 9 (Prejudice: Disliking Others) in your analysis.