Social Psychology: Sociological Approaches
Final(ly) Exam—spring, 2022
Answer three of the following five questions. Your answers will be graded on the basis of creativity, substance, detail, persuasiveness, clarity of writing, and, course/reading content. Be sure to utilize appropriate ideas and concepts from lectures and the book to answer the questions in full?
- To quote one journalist, the murder of Kitty Genovese “shook the world.” Why would this journalist come to such a conclusion? How did Kitty Genovese’s murder contribute to a scientific understanding and a mythology of bystander apathy? What sort of questions did Kitty Genovese murder inspire in regard to notions such as the diffusion of responsibility, civil inattention, and studied avoidance? How are such concepts scientifically verifiable, but at the same time, contradicted, when examining real life situations regarding decisions to help or avoid helping?
- What are some common social psychological processes (and corresponding concepts) that apply to the formation of romantic relationships? How is the construction of “normal” romantic relationships and their dismantling (“uncoupling”) complex and time consuming? Provide a narrative and analysis of a significant romantic relationship that forms and disintegrates, making use of the concepts of your choice. You can draw upon a real-life romantic relationship, a fictional romantic relationship (from a novel or film), or a composite romantic relationship that you imagine.
- What dynamics does Graziani’s (in “The Girl Hunt: Urban Nightlife and the Performance of Masculinity as Collective Activity”) explore in regard to the urban nightlife associated with “girl hunting?” How are these dynamics related to notions associated with gender performance, rituals, temporal factors (specifically, night life), and competition? In what ways are girl hunting systemic, or condoned by institutions such as colleges/universities? How does “girl hunting” contrast with the notion of constructing romantic relationships?
- How, despite the clarity of a social psychological definition of aggression, does such a definition beg important questions (such as the difference between inflicting harm by using ethical or untoward force)? What particular conditions are relevant when considering untoward force? Select a scenario from everyday life or from fiction/film in which untoward force exists. What makes this particular force untoward? Why is the use of such untoward force sometimes ambiguous, or not always easy to assess as “completely wrong?”
- In specific regard to temporal factors associated with decisions to help, how are notions such as settlement time, second place time, and frontier time relevant to such decisions? How, in particular is altruism relevant in regard to frontier time? What sort of conclusions could one draw from the help provided in frontier (night) time as opposed to help provided in settlement (day) time? Why do you think time of day (especially night time) has an impact on decisions to help and type of help offered?
The Exam is due no later than Tuesday, May4th, at 11:30 p.m. You can turn the exam in any time before that. Please email me the exam at [email protected].
