Question

For this assignment, you will identify the main concepts and terms learned in this week’s online lectures and textbook (conformity, social perception, attributions, altruism, aggression, prejudice, persuasion, group dynamics, self-concept, and self-esteem.) readings, and create a fictional case study (may not be related to actual individuals).

You will use the following guidelines while writing your case study:

Background: You need to describe the demographics of individuals involved in the case study such as their age, gender, occupation, education, relationships, and family history.

The case story: You need to describe a scenario demonstrating a group of individuals engaged in groupthink.

Analysis of the case: You need to utilize the information learned from the online lectures and text readings to analyze the case study. Be specific in your analysis using supporting evidence from outside sources when needed.

Recommendations: You need to end the case study with your recommendations or suggestions you would have implemented in such a situation to assist in changing the individuals’ behavior.

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. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary. Also, the case I have mentioned below was an old study that hasn’t been explored too often; it revolves around aggression, social perception, self-concept and self-esteem.

(Answer) The Reciprocity Norm states that individuals usually reciprocate with other people, based on the way they are treated by those people.

Positive Reciprocity: Favourable behaviour by an individual is reciprocated by favourable behaviour from the person they are interacting with. It is the ‘benefit in exchange for a benefit’ behaviour.

Negative Reciprocity: Hostile behaviour by an individual is reciprocated by a similar hostility from the person they are interacting with. This is easily described by the aphorism “an eye for an eye.”

Published in the ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, in May 1996, was a study by the department of psychology of the University of Illinois. This study about “Culture of Honour” and it was based on an experiment conducted with the test subjects in an open environment.

Specifically, people from the north and the south of the US were the test subjects. These subjects bumped into strangers on the pavement and were called ‘as**ole’ by the stranger who proceeded to move on. It was noticed that statistically, people from the north mostly decided to move along as they were not affected by the stranger’s insult.

On the other hand, people from the south were:

• Likelier to think that their masculinity or reputation was insulted.
• Spike in cortisol levels proved that they were relatively more upset.
• The rise in testosterone levels proved that they were prepping for an aggressive response.
• They were consciously primed for aggression and hence more likely to engage in dominant actions.

All of these traits were evoked because they felt that they had to protect themselves from the insulted inflicted on their honour. This is why it is known as the “Culture of Honour.”

The negative reciprocity norm is clearly evident in the above experiment. Since the people of the north and south reacted differently, it goes further to prove that this is more than just biological. It is an indicator of different cultural aspects that have reared the community over time into harbouring negative reciprocity more and perhaps making these individuals less susceptible to positive reciprocity.

Recommendation - Here we notice that individual who felt that they were not perceived in a way they liked, reacted aggressively. These individuals relied heavily on their social-perception for their self-esteem. On the other hand, individuals who had a strong sense of self, did not much care about another’s perception but rather decided to ignore the insults. These individuals tend to not derive a sense of self or their self-esteem from others views, but their own. Therefore, it is essential to attain self-actualisation. This means that one should be secure about their personalities and should not depend on external sources to feel secure.