A central theme in social psychology is the reciprocal influence of the situation and the individual. How is this evident in your life?
Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapter 1 and Chapter 9 of the textbook, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema (Links to an external site.), and watch The Power of the Situation (Links to an external site.) and Constructing Social Reality (Links to an external site.). Then, complete the following:
- Define social psychology.
- Select 10 images that are meaningful to you. Though these can be images of people, aim to capture a variety of images that illustrate ideas or emotions (e.g., truth, love, happiness, hope, honor, etc.), as well as places, events, and objects. Ideally, these will be your own photographs, but if you instead choose images online you must provide appropriate citations. (For free images visit Pexels (Links to an external site.).) Display your chosen images. You may choose to present the images in a collage, PowerPoint slide show, or other format (see How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Links to an external site.) for assistance).
- Interpret your selected images based on your definition of social psychology as a science, specifically the power of the situation (including cultural patterns across space and time) and the construction of social reality. How do these photos—or your interpretation of them—illustrate social thinking, social influence, or social relations?
- Write a paragraph describing your selection from an outsider’s perspective, considering why it is important to practice seeing the world through an objective lens from a personal and professional perspective.
