Social Psychology Application
Because social psychology is interested in the behavior of individuals in social situations, its theories and concepts are of great interest outside the field of psychology. The five application modules presented in your textbook illustrate how research findings from social psychology are used in other professional areas.
For this assignment, you will apply theories and concepts from social psychology to address a concern in a professional field other than psychology. Your first step is to choose a topic area from among one of the following:
- Module A - Applying Social Psychology to Consumer Behavior.
- Module B - Applying Social Psychology to Health.
- Module C - Applying Social Psychology to the Workplace.
- Module D - Applying Social Psychology to Law.
- Module E - Applying Social Psychology to the Environment.
Your next step is to identify a concern or issue you would like to try and solve. Some examples might include:
- The relationship of social media to overuse of credit in consumer spending.
- The relationship of jury size to accuracies and inaccuracies in jury perceptions.
- Inaccuracies in eye-witness testimony.
- The relationship of time poverty to perceptions of stress.
- Obstacles to change in a specific social concern: ?Promoting healthy behaviors.
?Promoting self-protection from abuse.
?Intervening in drug abuse.
?Other.
- The relationship of work attitudes to job performance.
- The effect of performance reviews on employee socialization.
- The relationship between violent content in music lyrics and adolescent social behavior.
- Barriers to overcoming a specific environmental problem such as:
?Noise.
?Pollution.
?Excessive use of resources.
?Other.
Keep in mind that these are just some examples. You may use one of these issues or concerns, or you may find another one of interest. If you have a topic in mind but are not sure if it is appropriate, please contact your instructor for approval.
The next step is to identify the theory (or theories) and concepts that you will use to define the problem in social psychology terms. Be sure you use theories and terms from social psychology for this assignment, rather than theories and terms from other areas of psychology, such as developmental psychology. Use any of the theories and concepts you have learned during this course, either from your textbook or from other professional sources, that you feel are relevant to the problem and to developing solutions. For example, the false consensus effect may apply when examining errors in jury decision making and ways to improve decision making.
The final steps are to locate appropriate resources and write your assignment. Locate and use a minimum of three resources to support your work. At least two of your resources must be original scholarly research studies on the topic.
Now, write your assignment. Be sure you include the following:
- Provide background information from your resources to help you establish a foundation for the topic.
- Present the research findings from your articles, and describe the research methods used in the studies.
- Explain potential interventions or solutions that can contribute to a resolution of the issue or concern.
- Analyze any ethical considerations relevant to the topic and to implementation of your recommended intervention or solution.
Assignment requirements:
- Your completed assignment should be 4-5 pages in length (no more than 6 pages, please), not including a title page, abstract, and reference page. You may wish to use the Argument Analysis Worksheet located in the Resources to help you summarize the research findings and understand the position(s) of the author(s).
- Use references from at least three resources.
- Be sure to follow APA (6th edition) guidelines for format and style.
- Use Times New Roman font, 12 point.
- Double-space your paper.
- You are required to submit your assignment to Turnitin. You do not need to submit the report with your assignment.