Reference no: EM133405328

Questions

1. When atrocities happen, we are often tempted to label the perpetrators as "bad people" or even "monsters". For instance, when we learned that American troops were degrading soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison, the public was quick to point to the perpetrators as bad people. But some social psychologists follow a situationist approach, arguing that it is more important to consider the situational variables that drive such behaviour (and focus less on specific perpetrators)

a) Which concept from the course best explains the public's tendency here? What is it called, how does it operate or function?

b) Why does it matter whether we focus on personal or situational factors?

2. Explain discounting and augmentation effects in social perception, and how they differ from each other.

Then provide a social psychology-relevant example (real or fictitious) of these mental processes in action, and explain how they can shape social perception.

3. Discuss whether people want to feel positively about themselves, or whether they want to accurately understand themselves (even if what they learn isn't flattering)? What factors can shape a tendency to go one way or the other? What benefits are there to either desire?