Social psychology

Paper Assignment

Assignment: Pick a real-world current event and analyze it from a social psychological perspective. That is, make social psychology “real” by discussing how an actual social event can be understood by invoking the social psychological theory and research we have talked and/or read about in class.

More specifically, you will need to:

Describe your  “Current Event”: The event can be any current event that was reported in a newspaper, magazine, TV, or on the internet since January 1, 2020. The event does not necessarily have to be a “serious” news story, a “pop culture” event is fine (e.g., a celebrity breakup or scandal). You may not use a personal anecdote from your own life. Make sure to describe the event in sufficient detail that we can follow the rest of your answer. If you have it, you should include a link to the newspaper or magazine article where you found the event (you should still describe the highlights of the event again in the paper, however).

Describe your Theory, Concept, Research: You can choose any one or more of the social psychological theories, concepts, research findings we have talked about or read about in class. The point of the paper is not, however, to give a long, detailed description of all the ins and outs of some social psychological theory. Rather, what I am looking for is a good, straightforward discussion of the theory, concept, or research you are going to focus on in your paper in sufficient detail so that I know you understand it and its relevance to understanding your chosen social event. Your description should include references to the scientific literature you draw upon (course readings, papers cited in the Gilovich et al text). Outside reading is fine if your paper requires it, but is not essential as the paper is intended to be a “thought piece” about the relevance of social psychological research to the real world, not a literature review.

Describe How the Theory, Concept, Research Helps “Explain” the Event: This is the key step. The challenge is to pick an event that illustrates how one or more of the social psychological processes we have talked and/or read really explains how that particular social event unfolded. The best answers will be ones in which the explanation is original (not similar to one used in lecture or the readings) and where details of the event can be used to support your contention that the social psychological phenomenon really played an important role in how the event unfolded. For example, do not simply pick an act of altruism and then describe all the different theories and research findings about altruism. Try to pick an event that can really be understood by invoking (for example) cognitive dissonance theory or informational social influence or the sleeper effect and try to prove it by citing specific aspects of the event (e.g., quotes from eyewitnesses/participants, descriptions in the media).

Grading:  Papers should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins. Papers must be a minimum of 4 pages long and a maximum of 5 (longer papers will definitely not earn you extra credit). References should be cited and listed at the end of the paper in the style (APA style) used in the Gilovich et al text.

The major criteria used for grading will be:

• How clearly you communicate your ideas.
• How well you demonstrate an understanding of theories, concepts, research used.
• The plausibility and insightfulness of your analysis: “plausible” in the sense of being both consistent with the theories/research it is derived from and consistent with the facts of the event you choose, “insightful” in the sense that you pick an event to analyze that has interesting, nonobvious aspects to it and your analysis really adds something to our understanding of the event.

Books to be used as well :

to access the first book I provided username and password

log in into this website

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/

username

pdjalilv@uci.edu

pass

123Homework*

Second book download from here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zijs2XHZ6iE-5wS42I2ocmeLUHolcMNF/view?usp=sharing

ANSWER

Social Psychology

Social psychology is a science of human experience that helps study how institutions or the presence of actual or implied people affect people’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors scientifically (Aronson & Aronson, 2018). In this assignment, a popular culture story of a celebrity Cardi B and her ongoing divorce is described and analyzed extensively using the investment model of commitment. Cardi B filed for divorce from her four years husband, Offset, on 15 September this year. Many of her fans and the media guessed that the divorce was due to the continued cheating and extramarital affairs of her husband Offset, which she denied. According to Cardi B, she got tired of always arguing with her husband, and even after four years of marriage, they grew apart. People had diverse reasons as to why Cardi B and Offset were getting divorced, including creating a stunt or setting up the entire scene for ‘clout,’ which Cardi B denied claiming that divorce can also be conducted amicably and the reasons are not always based on something terrible (Ritschel, 2020). The divorce of this power celebrity couple came as a shock to many due to the public romance, ‘couple goals’ they serve their supporters, the collaborations as they work together, and their lovely daughter Kulture. However, as of her 28th birthday celebrated on 11 October, both Cardi and Offset seemed ‘in love’ and back together, being publically romantic, leaving the picture of a reunited couple despite the scandalous divorce situation.

In Social psychology, when explaining romantic relationships, marriages, and reasons for romantic partners and couples to remain committed to their relationships in Relationship and Attraction, the Investment Model of Commitment by Caryl Rusbult becomes crucial  (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2018). According to the model, three essential factors act as the determinants for romantic partners to remain committed to their relationships, including satisfaction in the relationship, relationship investment, and the number of alternative partners. According to this interpersonal relationship model, commitment depends on these three factors. Satisfaction is a primary indicator of long-term relationship and commitment endurance determinant in many romantic relationships. The satisfaction is based on one’s evaluation of the rewards or benefits and costs they incur when committed in a relationship, emphasizing future satisfaction in the relationship than the current relationship satisfaction status. Every individual possesses beliefs about the level of satisfaction and things that make them satisfied in a relationship, which vary and impact their commitment choices (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2018). Secondly, the presence of many alternative partners outside the relationship minimizes relationship commitment and endurance levels. Romantic couples with fewer alternative partners have fewer chances of future breakups, divorce, and vice versa. Finally, the investment size determinant explains the magnitude in which people invest in a relationship, including time, effort, money, love, shared possessions, and mutual friends made. While explaining Cardi B’s divorce story, these three determinants of the investment model of commitment profoundly resonate with her reason for filing for divorce and helps explain her situation.

The investment model of commitment explains Cardi B’s divorce decision by explaining how the three crucial commitment determinants were not met in her four-year marriage with Offset. Marriage is an example of a commitment that romantic couples must uphold; however, as seen, the divorce rates nationally and globally keep rising over the years, which leaves many people wondering about the contributing factors. In Cardi’s case, the three most crucial commitment determinants apply in explaining the divorce reasons and possible reuniting seen a month after filing for the divorce. Cardi states, “I got tired of not seeing things eye-to-eye. Sometimes people really do just grow apart.” (Ritschel, 2020). Cardi’s commitment level to her marriage and romantic relationship with her husband Offset was cut short or preferably minimized by the constant arguing and lack of consensus. This is an example of her satisfaction in the marriage not being adequately met. She further states, “When you feel like it’s not the same anymore, before you actually get cheated on, I rather just leave.” (Ritschel, 2020). Cardi’s satisfaction in the relationship is based on evaluating the rewards, benefits, and costs she and her husband incurred. The costs of the lack of consensus and constant arguing resulted in increased dissatisfaction, minimizing her commitment levels. When she says she would rather leave instead of being cheated on due to persistent marital problems, she shows that she cares and watches out for her future satisfaction in the romantic relationship and marriage. Hence, since it lacks now, leaving and filing for a divorce helps eliminate the possibilities of being unhappy and dissatisfied in the future. Satisfaction factors vary among people, as every individual possesses beliefs of the level of satisfaction and things that make them satisfied in a relationship, which affects their commitment choices. For Cardi, she believes in coming into an agreement and solving issues instead of constantly arguing and ‘not seeing things eye-to-eye, which results in her being tired and unsatisfied in the relationship.

Secondly, the presence of many alternative partners outside the relationship minimizes relationship commitment and endurance levels. Romantic couples with less alternative partners have fewer chances of future break ups, divorce, and vice versa. Before the current divorce filing by Cardi, she once separated with her husband Offset due to his extramarital affairs, which can be seen when she says, “The reason my divorce is not because of none of that s*** that ever happened before. It’s not because the cheating.” (Ritschel, 2020). This could have contributed to the minimal consensus between the couple when engaging in intense conversations, among other spillover factors such as being overly defensive, being a critic, and creating a stonewall that either uses to resist dealing and solving the problems (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2018). Finding other partners appealing than his wife could have created an open wound in Cardi, making her susceptible to insecurities and anger whenever she felt her husband was cheating once again. The open wound impedes conclusive and open conflict resolution between the two romantic partners.

Finally, Cardi and Offset have invested a lot of time, effort, money, love, shared possessions, and mutual friends made. In addition to having a daughter Kulture and mutual friends, they are business partners as they create music albums together, manage businesses, and develop their careers together. The abrupt event on her birthday shows a possible ‘hard walking away’ and potential reuniting. According to Gilovich et al. (2018), it is not easy to walk away from shared possessions, business ventures, and a relationship with high time, efforts, and monetary investments. This is because; it is no longer ‘me’ but ‘us,’ which in a marriage, committed couples begin viewing themselves as a single unit and not ‘self’ hence the ‘we.’ (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2018). Therefore, the ‘we’ in Cardi and Offset’s label could be winning as the possible reuniting shows that the rewards of amending the problems are more than the costs in reference to the investment levels of their commitment in the marriage today and in the future.

References

Aronson, J., & Aronson, E. (2018). The Social Animal 12th Edition. New York: Worth Publishers. Macmillan Learning.

Gilovich, T., Keltner, D., Chen, S., & Nisbett, R. E. (2018). Chapter 10: Relationships and Attraction. In Social Psychology. 5th Edition (pp. 311-357). New York: W. W. Norton.

Ritschel, C. (2020, September 20). CARDI B OPENS UP ABOUT REASONS FOR DIVORCING OFFSET: ‘I HAVE NOT SHED NOT ONE TEAR. Retrieved from Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/cardi-b-offset-files-divorce-instagram-marriage-cheating-b507852.html