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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Applying Psychological Theories Of Personality, Identity, And Intergroup Conflict To Radical Violence: A Case Study Of Extremist Behavior, Sydney Flynn
CMC Senior Theses
This paper aims to address possible psychoanalytical explanations for the heinous acts in which terrorists, particularly ISIS, engage. It focuses on Harold D. Lasswell’s principles of the id, ego, and superego as well as Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory. Within the framework of these two theories, relevant psychological and social psychological theories are discussed in order to explore a possible connection between the psyche of violent perpetrators and their actions. By exploring these connections, I find that there may be more nuanced psychological explanations for these violent acts, which could lead to new methods of weakening perceived biases, intergroup …
Nudging Towards Social Change: The Application Of Psychology And Behavioral Economics In Promoting Responsible Consumption, Larissa Chern
Nudging Towards Social Change: The Application Of Psychology And Behavioral Economics In Promoting Responsible Consumption, Larissa Chern
CMC Senior Theses
With workplace disasters in developing countries increasingly in the news, a major question is how to encourage consumers to use corporate social responsibility as a criterion in purchasing. Distinct from environmental concerns, social responsibility is defined here with respect to the humanitarian aspects of corporate practice, including fair wages and working conditions, equitable treatment of the disadvantaged, and restriction of child labor. Although the idea of socially responsible consumption (SRC) was first identified over forty years ago, most recent research on changing consumption habits focuses specifically on environmentally responsible consumption (ERC). Combining the psychological concept of social norms with economic …
Virtual Into Verisimilitude: Videogames' Ability To Induce Empathy, Blake T. Bennett
Virtual Into Verisimilitude: Videogames' Ability To Induce Empathy, Blake T. Bennett
CMC Senior Theses
The current study seeks to link traditional forms of empathy induction with new research that suggests videogames can be used as an experiential method of induction. One hundred-nine college students, sixty-four females and forty-six males, were used in a 2x2x2 design, the independent variables being prosocial/neutral videogame, empathic/neutral instructions, and gender. Dependent variables were both questionnaire responses to a fictional story and an opportunity to be realistically altruistic. Participants played either a prosocial or neutral videogame, received either empathic or neutral reading instructions, and then read a vignette depicting a difficult situation faced by the writer. They then rated their …