Social Psychology

I think that social psychology is very interesting. Why and how the brain adapts to situations, why people think they will act one way, but then act a completely different way when introduced with the situation...

Judgment is one powerful tool in the psyche; it can warp an person's entire view of a situation or another person. The link I found is a site that explores the intricacies of heterosexism / homophobia, as that is one of the major cultural issues the US is dealing with at the moment. It is an interesting look into such areas as "What do people have to gain by being homophobic?"

I suppose that one important thing to remember is to never take things at face value, a person isn't prejudice just for the sake of being so (politicians excluded from that statement...) but often have deeper reasons hard wired into the brain. Although ignorance can often be a major cause of prejudice, there are other reasons that can be found under the "Motivations" link on the site.

Understanding Sexual Prejudice

I understand that case studies (such as the one shown in class) are now illegal / banned from trials. They can damage someone mentally without meaning to, which I think is a rather interesting irony. In order to observe and understand the human psyche, is it possible we must damage the psyche's we observe in order to get to the truth?

I would hope not, but it does make you truly wonder how to explain an entire group / culture's motivations or actions.

See you on Monday!