Social Psychology Essay

1. How does social psychology relate to the business topic of advertising?

Within this course, we discussed how people behaved and how they were influenced by others. For my business major, social psychology relates because I have learned skills that advertisers use on consumers that increase the likelihood of them buying a product of service. A concept that I have learned in social psychology is that some advertisers use fear-arousing tactics if they want to change people’s opinions on specific unhealthy behaviors. This technique includes scaring a person into changing their opinion. Normally, public service ads will use this tactic to spread their message. For an effective change in behavior, the person needs to be scared moderately and then

For example, American culture normally favors the unrealistic and extremely thin female. In many magazines and shopping websites there are be models of this “ideal” body. Women tend to become unsatisfied with their current body for they do not fit the mold that society sets for them. These acceptable rules, behaviors, and beliefs of a group of people are called social norms. People are drawn to conforming to the norms for they want to feel accepted by others and feel that this is the only way, this process is called normative social influence. Most humans desire interaction with others and are afraid of not being accepted therefore losing connection to others. Throughout the history of America, the ideal image of the woman changed due to different influences in the media. The image has changed due to flappers (thin), pinup girls (thicker), Marylin Monroe against British model Twiggy, and recently “thin is beautiful”. These images of the ideal woman produce dangerous consequences for woman in society. Women begin to crave this ideal body and will do anything to achieve it such as adopting extreme dieting or eating disorders. Data showed that when thin was in during 2000, “one-third of 12- to 13-year old girls were actively trying to lose weight by dieting, vomiting, using laxatives, or taking diet pills” (Aronson). The media and its portrayal of the social norm directly

In that time when people were alone, it invoked fears for not many people survived alone. It is also seen in today’s culture that people fear social exclusion, being rejected, and ignored. When a person joins a sports team, all members all enjoy the same activity and already have that in common. Since players all enjoy the same sport, they are there to accomplish a certain goal – winning. The team also helps with social identity for individuals will have feels of self-worth in being with other people who enjoy each other. Being part of a team also allows others to compare themselves to others. When people participate in an upward social comparison, they compare themselves to people who are better in turn allowing them to strive for this same level of skill. This can help motivate a person to becoming better for themselves and for the team. There is also a downward social comparison where people will compare themselves to someone who is not a strong in the same skills, which allows them to increase their self-esteem and feel better about themselves. Throughout a team, there will be stronger and weaker players in comparing themselves to one another, they will help motivate themselves or increase