TEXT: Principles of Social Psychology, v. 1.0: Introducing Social Psychology

Forum Assignment for the Week: 300 Words minimum

For this week's Forum, respond to the following: This week, we are discussing attitudes, and one important point to remember is that attitudes can be very deeply entrenched and difficult to change. Yet, sometimes people engage in behavior that seems to clash with or is inconsistent with their attitudes. This phenomenon is often related to cognitive dissonance.

Pick one real-life example (it doesn't have to be your own personal example, but it can be) of behavior that seems to reflect cognitive dissonance.

Speculate as to what you believe the person's deeply entrenched belief or attitude was and then describe the inconsistent or incompatible behavior.

If you were inside that person's head, what could have been the dissonant cognitions he/she was likely having: Imagine a thought bubble above that person's head: what would it say? Finally, how could the cognitive dissonance be resolved? If it could not be resolved, why not?

Remember that all posts are graded for substance and thoughtful consideration of the forum topic.

General Instructions Applicable to All Forums:

Forums are scholarly dialogs, so while sharing what you think and not just what published authors wrote is encouraged, only stating opinion isn't acceptable. Instead, thoughtfully integrate relevant theory and research you read about this week and strive to make connections between that academic content and your own observations and experiences.

Source citation are required if used. Copying of published material, which is plagiarism, is prohibited and any instances of it, including forum posts, will result in a zero score without an option for re-submission to recoup lost points and a report sent to the Registrar's Office per University policy.

Discussion forum posts will be graded on verbal expression, critical thinking, making an effort to not just participate in but contribute to the dialog with initial and reply posts of a substantive nature commensurate with graduate level studies. Posts must have correct grammatical construction, spelling, and punctuation with no texting or other casual style language.