The Importance Of Social Psychology

Social psychology is the study of how interpersonal relations affect people, and thus, the environment in which they live. The external world can significantly impact a person’s internal homeostasis. Every individual has experienced situations which has made him feel various emotions; however, not all people react the same way to these situations. One of the best ways to observe social psychology first-hand is to watch presidential debates. In the first of three 2016 Presidential Debates, voters could watch presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump respond to both each other, and to the moderator, Lester Holt, regarding a series of questions discussing the future of America. The debate was located at Hofstra University in front

The peripheral route to persuasion involves the use of flattery, or embellishments, to achieve supporters. Discussing trade in America, Clinton stated, “And so what I believe is the more we can do for the middle class, the more we can invest in you, your education, your skills, your future, the better we will be off and the better we 'll grow. That 's the kind of economy I want us to see again.” Here, Clinton appeals to the value of the middle-class, rather than the heads of big business. Through this utilization of the peripheral route to persuasion, she chooses to complement the majority of voters by indicating that they have many attributes, and that they should be augmented by government action. Voters would find favor with this quote as Clinton demonstrates human concern and support for them. Some, however, may just take this statement as pure flattery, and reject Clinton’s statement. Instead of agreeing with Lester Holt that he, Trump, would decrease taxes for the wealthy in America, he responded, “Well, I 'm really calling for major jobs, because the wealthy are going create tremendous jobs. They 're going to expand their companies. They 're going to do a tremendous job.” Here, Trump demonstrates firm belief in the ability of major business owners of creating jobs for the middle-class. Trump is complementing the believed abilities of a

Both Clinton and Trump employed impression formation, impression management, and central and peripheral routes to persuasion. Impression formation is either created by dress or mannerism projection. Impression management consequently shows how a person, or candidate, is maintaining the original impression formed throughout the duration of a social encounter. Both Clinton and Trump were initially confident when walking on stage; this state of being was increasingly shown by both throughout the debate. The central and peripheral routes to persuasion are inversely related; the central route to persuasion employs facts to convince another, whereas the peripheral route to persuasion employs flattery, and superficial statements to convince another of your way of thinking. Both candidates used these methods of persuasion. Trump gave a numerical value in regards to job loss of employees fired by a company; Clinton used percentages in her analysis of foreign trade (both are examples of the central route to persuasion). Trump placed faith in big business to create more jobs in the future; Clinton commended the middle-class on their skills (both are examples of the peripheral route to persuasion). In order to better understand how interpersonal relationships and interactions affect people, one must study social