Question

Psychology of Learning: Learning about risk from others.

Do you think the ‘contagion effect’ would still exist if participants knew they were actually observing computers? Why or why not? (I am just curious what you think here, but if you want to know the real answer, look at the paper!: http://www.pnas.org/content/113/14/3755.abstract (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.– page 2, last paragraph in Behavioral Evidence for Contagion of Risk-Preference section)

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. Also, you may have to add a few lines based on your opinion as your teacher has specifically asked for a personal response.

(Answer) In psychology, the ‘contagion effect’, is the possibility that a person may act a certain way depending on how they have just observed someone around them behave. Contemporarily, the contagion effect can also be influenced by the media or whatever influences we are most exposed to.

For the sake of an argument, it would be best to analyse a case. There is a girl named Tina. She attends a class in social science, gets decent marks and is good with her family and friends. Tina is the kind of person who does not prefer reality TV. She dislikes telly shows like ‘Jersey Shore’ or anything that the Kardashian’s release.

However, Tina will adopt the “contour” makeup style, darken her eyebrows and wear whatever element of make-up that is currently trending on Instagram. The question is, would Tina wear all of that make-up as religiously if she knew that it was made popular by some Kardashian?

The ‘contagion effect’ may take its course easily, however, when the source of the disease, in this case, the “Kardashians” is recognised, would the patient continue to support the symptoms?

If Tina were to find out about the disease, her reaction would be an entirely subjective matter. How she would live henceforth would depend on her confidence level without heavy make-up, self-belief and putting her convictions about current trends.

Although it is not an absolute answer that is viable for an entire populace, it is safe to say that if an individual’s convictions are formidable, they may purge trends that arise from sources they do not approve of. If they are computer trends or not would be the basis of the criteria. This is because trends come and go. Sooner or later, one would have to face their convictions that they would have to live with all their lives.