Social Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Social Psychology - Essay Example Although we as humans, are taught to learn and think for ourselves various factors exist, which tend to influence our independent thinking and coerce us to follow the more socially acceptable norms. This paper discusses the various popular experiments conducted during that era, and deduces, based on the observations, whether human beings are naturally built to submit to authority and comply with the rules laid down for them, or is it a case of exception rather than the norm. Finally, it concludes that human beings do have a tendency to be intrinsically motivated to conform to authority and to obey authority. Conformity refers to the transformation in behaviour or attitudes of people triggered by the need / desire to pursue the beliefs or standards set by others. It entails following the group ideologies, by totally ignoring or disregarding personal opinions. Obedience on the other hand, merely implies obeying the instructions / orders. These two concepts can be studied or explained i n a better manner by way of various experiments carried out by researchers such as Asch, Milgram, Zimbardo and the likes (Andersen, Taylor, 2007). According to a study conducted by Asch, (1951): a group of individuals were involved in an experiment to study the issues related to ‘conformity’ and the manner in which individuals behave / react in a given situation. The basic objective of the experiment was to observe the reactions of the participants and substantiate the hypotheses developed by the researchers with regard to ‘conformity’. However, for the purpose of this experiment the participants were mislead into believing that they were being involved in a study on ‘visual perception’ and kept the true purpose of the experiment, a secret. They were seated in a room along with a few stooges (i.e. individuals who were part of the team of the researchers conducting the experiment) who were made to pose as participants. The participants were show n lines on a screen and were asked to point out which one out of the three was of the same length as the target line. However, their responses were manipulated by the three stooges, who deliberately made mistakes by providing wrong answers. The purpose behind such an experiment was to measure the number of times the participants were influenced in their decisions / answers, by the responses of the stooges (Andersen, Taylor, 2007; Weiten, 2008). The method used by Asch seems quite artificial in its approach as it lacks validity. This is because the participants are required to conform when a correct answer actually exists. Disagreements do occur in everyday lives when there are hardly any right or wrong answers hence this approach seems highly illogical and invalid. Furthermore the results derived from the same may not be consistent in the long run, which is evident from the subsequent experiments conducted by British researchers Perrin and Spencer (Cox, 2002). It is also argued that Asch’s experiments were conducted at a time when the nation was exposed to an external environment which generated high levels of

Equality and inequality in the American society in 1830s -1840s Essay

Equality and inequality in the American society in 1830s -1840s - Essay Example During this period, inequality was manifested socially, economically, and politically. Socially, different groups of American had unequal access to wealth, power, resources, and prestige (Atack, and Passell 67). Based on your gender, race, ethnicity, age, religion, and nationality, American society accorded favor to some groups. For instance, blacks and the minority groups were subjected to slavery and workmanship. They served the upper tiers Americans under exploitation and hardship. Besides, in the labor market, American employers practiced nepotism and wage discrimination especially to the minority groups including women, blacks and Hispanics. Inequality was further practiced in political and elective sectors. The minorities especially blacks had limited participation in electoral and democratic process of the United States. They were not allowed to actively take part in the electoral process, thus denying them their rights and freedoms. On the other hand, during this period, there was income inequality in the United States. Income and resources were unevenly distributed in the society with only 1% of the top social class owning more than 78% of the limited resources and wealth (Atack, and Passell 67). Changes in the labor market Until mid-nineteenth century, American economy was agriculturally dominated. The agrarian revolution period was characterized with low wages, wage discrimination, lack of labor unions, and force labor. However, after the moving from agricultural to industrial, the marker of the united states undergone transformation. The labor market moved from ‘force labor’ to ‘free labor’. These reforms in the labor market were pioneered by the social l egislation of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Although labor organizations and the changes in the labor market were harshly received by the employers who had strong exploitative philosophy, the reforms were very beneficial to the working forces. As a result of the reforms, exploitation, low-wage, poor working conditions, lack of workmanship protection and compensation regime ended (Altonji and David 45). Besides, work place discrimination and inequality cases were negligent. The powers of the unions were reinforced, which in turn increased the collective bargaining power of workers and increased their rights, protection, and freedom. These reforms also reduced the wage disparity based on gender, race, color, age, or nationality. However, the transformation of the labor force from manufacturing to services led to a decline in industrial productivity. Massive immigration to the U.S in 1820s-1850s In the first half of the 19th Century, United States reported an influx in the number o f immigrants especially after the Civil War. Being beginning of industrial revolution, these immigrants were of great economic benefit to the United States as the immigrants worked long-hours at a relatively low wage rate. From 1820 to 1850, approximately 23 million people migrated to the United States for a various reasons. Some came as laborers, other came to seek refuge, and others came to serve as indentured servants while a small fraction of them came to attain higher education. As a common phenomenon in human migration, the ‘pull’ and ‘push’ factors are practically behind these increased cases of immigration to the United States. The ‘push’ factors which forced the immigrants to desert their original homes included famine, poverty, wars, military drafts, crippling taxes, and unemployment