Reference no: EM131672009

Please answer all parts of the questions as best as you can.

1. TCO 5. There has been a bumper crop of politicians who have been revealed to be less than upstanding citizens. John Edwards, a former senator who was in the running for the 2008 presidential nomination, and who said family values were at his core, was revealed to have had an affair with a campaign worker, at the same time his wife was battling cancer. Similarly, New York governor Eliot Spitzer, a married, moralizing crusader for laws against sexual tourism, was caught in an escort service "sting", and forced to resign. These are only two of several recent examples of politicians who have celebrity status, and flaunted the social norms of decency.

Apply the course concepts of the dark side of self-esteem and moral hypocrisy to this type of behavior. What do you conclude about people who behave in such a way? Hint: Explicitly use each concept by name and also give a one sentence definition of it before explaining how the concepts apply to these people.

2. TCO 6.  The Beltway sniper attacks in the Washington D.C. area, in 2002, completely transfixed American consciousness for the three weeks in October, when a pair of armed killers roamed through the Capital region, ambushing and killing 10 people, and wounding three others. As time progressed and law enforcement officials were having little luck in solving the case, tensions and apprehensiveness spread far beyond the area where the killings were concentrated. Even though there was never any hard evidence that the killers were headed in their direction, the citizens of towns and cities a hundred miles away were terrorized by the notion that the killers were about to show up in their communities.

Discuss this with respect to the effects of suggestibility that Myers writes about in Chapter 6. Be specific as to what aspects of suggestibility apply to the case.

3. TCO's 4 and 12. At the 1994 Winter Olympics, American figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan became embroiled in bitter conflict. Harding, envious of the attention the media paid to Kerrigan, arranged for an attack on her at the Olympic trials. Harding's husband and a confederate, accosted Kerrigan with a pipe, and struck her hard on the knee, causing significant injury. When the facts of the matter became public, Harding was banned for life from participating in competition figure skating.

This is a two part question:

a.  What is it about the fundamental nature and structure of the Olympics that helps explain why the conflict arose and escalated?

b.  Was the form of aggression displayed by the attackers hostile aggression or instrumental aggression? Explain your reasoning. (Note: you must make a decision between these alternatives and defend your decision.) 

4. TCO 9. One rarely sees a homely person in a romantic leading role on television, or in the movies, or as an anchor person on a major television news or talk program. Everyone is at least pleasant looking, and many are especially beautiful or handsome. Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper, Kelly Ripa, Julia Roberts, and Matt Damon are examples.

Name two (2) factors of interpersonal attraction mentioned in the textbook that would explain why audiences prefer celebrities with pleasing looks.

5. TCO 6. What is the difference between the Prisoner's Dilemma, and the Tragedy of the Commons?