EXPLAINING BEHAVIOR FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

For this Discussion, you will explore social psychology, personality psychology, and sociology in their approaches to explaining behavior. Consider the following scenario of Jason:

    Jason is a college student accused of making and distributing methamphetamine. If charged and convicted, Jason’s     dreams of medical school would be dashed. How would a social psychologist explain Jason’s behavior and his     decision to take this risk?

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.

WEEKLY RESOURCES

TO PREPARE

• Review the Learning Resources for this week and consider how a social psychologist would approach and explain Jason’s behavior and decision.
• Also, consider how a personality psychologist or a sociologist would explain Jason’s behavior and decision. Consider how each approach is different from a social psychologist’s approach.

BY DAY 3

Post an explanation of Jason’s behavior from the perspective of a social psychologist. Support your explanation with references to social psychology theory and research.

Read your colleagues’ postings.

BY DAY 5

Respond to one of your colleagues’ posts as either a personality psychologist or a sociologist. From this perspective, compare your colleague’s explanation to how you as the personality psychologist or sociologist would explain Jason’s behavior and decision to make and distribute methamphetamine.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the social psychology theory and research. In addition to the Learning Resources, search the Walden Library and/or Internet for peer-reviewed articles to support your post and responses. Use proper APA format and citations, including those in the Learning Resources.

References

 

• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S. R. (Eds.) (2019). Social Psychology (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
  • Chapter 1, “Introducing Social Psychology”

 

• Annenberg Learner. (n.d.). The power of the situationLinks to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://learner.org/series/discovering-psychology/the-power-of-the-situation/