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.
