Social Psychology in the Media
One of the things that people often find so interesting about social psychology is how relevant it is to issues that are part of their everyday lives. Incidents in the world outside the psychology laboratory can help illustrate social psychological principles in a very compelling, memorable way. Your task this week is to use what you've learned from social psychology to help understand some event or behavior that you have observed or that is presented in the media.
You may read about an incident in which someone was attacked in front of witnesses who did not intervene to help the victim.
You may see news clips of a prominent trial or listen to the explanations given by jurors as to why they found the defendant guilty or innocent.
You may read a newspaper article about vandalism or rioting at particular concerts or sports events.
You may see advertisements that make claims about the effectiveness or superiority of various products.
You may watch a debate between political candidates.
You may read a magazine article about racism on campus.
All of this instances can be explained or explored using theories of social psychology.
This week you will find and share a relevant example from the media. These can be summaries or tapes of things you saw on television or heard on the radio, copies of newspaper or magazine articles or of materials from the Internet, etc. You are required to:
Summarize the event
Explain the relationship to social psychology
Provide your own thoughts or insight.