NAMES OF CHAPTERS ARE TOO BROAD OF TOPICS TO USE AS YOUR FOUR PRINCIPLES (e.g., Aggression, Prosocial Behavior, Attraction, etc.). You’d need to do something within a chapter – a social phenomena of some kind, theory, concept discussed within that chapter and how you’ve seen it manifested in everyday life – not just within your own experiences, but the world around you. For instance, instead of doing “group processes”, you’d choose a concept/topic within that chapter like deindividuation, social facilitation, etc. Same with the other chapters. Four separate chapters of your choice and four principles/theories/concepts from those chapters.
General Description:
For this paper, you will write about at least four — any four — of the principles (this can be a concept or theory, for example) we cover in class, and how you have seen them manifest in everyday life. This can be that you have experienced them in your life, or how you have seen or are seeing them manifest in the social world. Dig deep here. Don’t limit yourselves to the examples we discussed in class or the examples in the textbook – go beyond and observe your surroundings and what is occurring in your life and others’ lives. Personal examples are okay, but you also want to observe the world around you to come up with examples (e.g., the media, past or current events, social media, trends, etc). You’ll want to discuss four concepts, theories, perspectives, etc., in the field of Social Psychology.
For each of the four principles, you will briefly describe/define and recap the principle (2-3 sentences or so), and then describe a time in your life where that principle was used, applied, impacted you, etc. You should also include how this principle also manifests in the social world as you see it (e.g., in everyday life, school, sports, the news, social media, etc.). Again, these principles can include psychological concepts, theories, perspectives, etc. Check with me if you are unsure before you begin writing your paper and at least a week before it is due.
Push yourself here – I will be evaluating the observational quality of your examples and how strong the connections you make are. It’s always better to make more connections with the concepts/theories/principles than less.
Length/Formatting:
Minimum length: Approx. 600-700 words. No maximum.
Use Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins (either 1.5 spacing or double spacing).
Use professional language and be sure to check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Pro tip: Read your writing aloud before submitting to detect grammatical issues.
Writing Style and More Tips:
When I say professional language, I mean do not write how you speak (i.e., colloquialism).
Colloquial writing is an informal, slang style of English that should be reserved primarily for speech, as it can seem unprofessional and sloppy in written text.
While a casual tone can be interpreted positively in person with face-to-face contact, it can be perceived negatively in writing. Avoid words like “things” and “stuff”. Read your writing aloud! If you can use words from the text to communicate your point, do it.
In terms of point of view – you can use first person where relevant, but do not use it excessively.
This is not meant to be a “personal” paper. That is, avoid spending the paper disclosing your own emotional struggles that relate to a concept/principle/theory.
I want to see that you can “see” social psychology in everyday life (this should not be limited to what is in your immediate life)
Avoid using examples from the lecture and textbook (e.g., Kitty Genovese when talking about bystander effect). Rather, use your own examples based on observations of the world and events around you.
Again, this does not have to be very personal/relate to your personal life necessarily, but could be something you noticed in your social environment that illustrates the concept/theory/principle (e.g., trends on social media, observations you have made of yourself or others, etc.)
You can use the first person when you are discussing how the principle was used, applied, impacted you, etc. Like I said this is not meant to be a diary where you disclose very your emotions and personal information and write about your struggles.
Please avoid quoting the authors of the textbook or other scholars. Write in your own words. If you really want to use a quote from a media source (e.g., a tweet) to illustrate your point, limit your use of them. Only use to illustrate your point.
