The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your knowledge of social psychological principles and concepts and your ability to apply these concepts to a specific experience or situation.
Please respond to one (or two, for extra credit –see syllabus) of the topics below in a 5-page paper (not counting separate title page or references; the paper should be typewritten, double-spaced, one-inch margins,
12-point Times New Roman font with a title page that includes your name and title of your paper).
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your knowledge of social psychological principles and concepts and your ability to apply these concepts to a specific experience or situation.
Please note that you should use both your notes and your textbook and apply as much social psychological analysis as possible to your experience;
your description of the experience itself should be relatively brief in order to allow enough space to dedicate to your analysis.
While it is perfectly acceptable to point out how social psychological theories or concepts
do not fit with your particular experience, please be sure to use material accurately.
1. BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES (Chapter 6): Social psychologists argue that while our attitudes
sometimes drive our behaviors, on occasion our behaviors lead us to change our attitudes.
Discuss a specific occasion in which your behavior seemed to lead to a change in your attitudes.
\How would you explain your experience in social psychological terms?
You may also discuss an instance in which counter-attitudinal behavior did NOT lead to a change in your attitudes.
In either case, consider how well social psychological theory explains (or fails to explain) your experience.
Use the material from Chapter 6 of your text as well as your notes on attitudes and attitude change
(cognitive dissonance, self-perception, self-presentation, etc.) to support your analysis.