ASSESSMENT-2

OVERVIEW

Write a 3–4-page assessment in which you examine the relationship between behavior and attitude and apply one theory to support your position.

Attitudes help guide behavior, although sometimes people act in ways that contradict their attitudes (Baumeister & Bushman, 2014). Some have said that attitudes are directly related to behavior; others say there is no strong relationship between attitude and behavior. Examining theories of how people develop attitudes and perceptions can lead to heightened self-awareness.

CONTEXT

The self is a complex and marvelous participant in the social world. There are three main components of the self: self-knowledge, interpersonal self, and agent self. The self is a vital means of gaining social acceptance and for participation in culture. But is there such a thing as a “true self”?

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.

•   Does your level of self-esteem change depending on the situation? In what types of situations have you noticed a change?

What self-defeating behaviors have you noticed in others or identified in yourself? How does this behavior relate to theory?

RESOURCES

Suggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Library Resources

The following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course. Note: some of the articles included here are fairly old but are included because they are considered seminal works in the field of social psychology.

•   Burnette, J. L., O’Boyle, E. H., VanEpps, E. M., Pollack, J. M., & Finkel, E. J. (2013). Mind-sets matter: A meta-analytic review of implicit theories and self-regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 139(3), 655–701.

•   Sitzmann, T., & Ely, K. (2010). Sometimes you need a reminder: The effects of prompting self-regulation on regulatory processes, learning, and attrition. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 132–144.

•   Hu, H., & Driscoll, M. P. (2013). Self-regulation in e-learning environments: A remedy for community college? Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(4), 171–184.

•   Crabb, P. B. (2003). Technology and self-regulation: The case of alarm clock use. Social Behavior and Personality, 31(4), 343–348.

•   Schmitz, B., Schmidt, M., Landmann, M., & Spiel, C. (2007). New developments in the field of self-regulated learning. Zeitschrift Für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 215(3), 153–156.

•   Mischel, W., Ayduk, O., Berman, M. G., Casey, B. J., Gotlib, I. H., Jonides, J., . . . Shoda, Y. (2011). ‘Willpower’ over the life span: Decomposing self-regulation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 6(2), 252–256.

•   Casey, B. J., Somerville, L. H., Gotlib, I. H., Ayduk, O., Franklin, N. T., Askren, M. K., & . . . Shoda, Y. (2011). Behavioral and neural correlates of delay of gratification 40 years later. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 108(36), 14998–15003.

•   Radovic, S., & Hasking, P. (2013). The relationship between portrayals of nonsuicidal self-injury, attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. Crisis, 34(5), 324–334.

•   Kaufman, G. F., & Libby, L. K. (2012). Changing beliefs and behavior through experience-taking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(1), 1–19.

•   Boer, D., & Fischer, R. (2013). How and when do personal values guide our attitudes and sociality? Explaining cross-cultural variability in attitude–value linkages. Psychological Bulletin, 139(5), 1113–1147.

•   Kim, J., & Roselyn Lee, J. (2011). The Facebook paths to happiness: Effects of the number of Facebook friends and self-presentation on subjective well-being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(6), 359–364.

•   Rivis, A., & Sheeran, P. (2013). Automatic risk behavior: Direct effects of binge drinker stereotypes on drinking behavior. Health Psychology, 32(5), 571–580.

•   Kross, E., & Grossmann, I. (2012). Boosting wisdom: Distance from the self enhances wise reasoning, attitudes, and behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(1), 43–48.

•   Vogel, D. L., Heimerdinger-Edwards, S. R., Hammer, J. H., & Hubbard, A. (2011). “Boys don’t cry”: Examination of the links between endorsement of masculine norms, self-stigma, and help-seeking attitudes for men from diverse backgrounds. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(3), 368–382.

•   Rodriguez, M. L., Mischel, W., & Shoda, Y. (1989). Cognitive person variables in the delay of gratification of older children at risk. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(2), 358–367.

Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Peake, P. K. (1988). The nature of adolescent competencies predicted by preschool delay of gratification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(4), 687–696.

ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare for this assessment, search the Capella library for scholarly research articles on attitude and behavior. Use the articles you locate to support your work.

In your assessment, address the following:

•   Explain what is meant by “attitude.”

•   How do people develop attitudes? Support your explanation with theory.

•   Is there a relationship between behavior and attitude? Apply one theory to support your position.

•   It is often said that morality cannot be legislated; yet changes in civil rights laws and policies have been accompanied by changes in attitudes. Since the passage of civil rights laws, the number of white Americans who support integrated schools has steadily risen, while the number of white Americans who describe their neighborhoods, friends, and co-workers as “all white” has steadily decreased. How does theory help explain this?

Your submitted assessment should be 3–4 pages in length excluding title page and reference page. Be sure you support your statements and analyses with references to at least three scholarly research articles and follow APA guidelines for format and style.

Additional Requirements

•   Include a title page and reference page.

•   At least three current scholarly or professional resources.

•   Times New Roman font, 12 point.

•   Double spaced.

Answer the following questions. Identify each questions by chapter and number and write your responses after each.

What is meant by the idea that race, class, and gender are interactive systems rather than individual variables? Think about your own family of orientation, and take one particular aspect of your family life as an example. Discuss briefly how race, class, and gender act simultaneously to shape that aspect of your family life.

Most people agree that marriages and families underwent major changes during the last half of the twentieth century; however, few people link these changes to larger societal changes that have taken place. Identify some of the major changes that have taken place during the past 50 years (for example, in transportation, technology, and social welfare policies), and discuss their impact on contemporary marriages and families. Reflect on your own family and consider how one such change has affected your family and/or families like yours.

Why do sociologists need different theoretical perspectives to explain marriage and family behavior? Why isn’t one perspective sufficient?

Identify a family from a culture other than the United States. Interview family members in terms of a range of issues, including family values, norms, customs, and rituals relative to marriage, childbearing, and childrearing. Compare your findings to families born and raised in the United States. How does your research help you to understand these sociological concepts, and what does it tell us about the diversity of marriages and families?

As discussed in this chapter, marriages and families today are faced with a myriad of challenges such as home foreclosures, unemployment, violence, poverty, and racism. If you were a member of a team charged with developing social policy pertaining to American families, what aspect of family life would you focus on, how might you research the topic, and what kind of policy(ies) might you suggest to policy makers?