Self and Self Control

SELF AND SELF-CONTROL

Overview

Social psychology can help you understand the world around you and answer questions about why people behave the way they do. Why is it so hard to take a chance and go back to school? Why do people start smoking when they know it’s bad for them? Why do protests turn violent at times? Being able to apply social psychological theory to personal and professional situations as well as to current events is a skill you need in order to take steps toward that understanding. For this assignment, we will focus on theories dealing with culture and nature and the self.

Preparation

1. Complete the Riverbend City: Self and Self-Control Case Studies media piece if you haven’t already or if you would like to make changes to the choices you made. Review the case study you want to focus on and the social psychology theory, behavioral ethics concept, and critical thinking concept you want to use in the assignment.
2. If you didn’t finish your research last week, use the Capella library to find a scholarly journal article related to the social psychology theory you chose. You are required to use two articles. The second article should be one of the following:
   • Duplex Mind: Haggar, M. S. (2013). The multiple pathways by which self-control predicts behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00849/full
   • Self-Serving Bias: Sanjuan, P., & Magallares, A. (2014). Coping strategies as mediating variables between self-serving attributional bias and subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(2), 442–453.
   • Self-Regulation: Critcher, C. R., & Ferguson, M. J. (2016). “Whether I like it or not, it’s important”: Implicit importance of means predicts self-regulatory persistence and success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110(6), 818–839.
3. Review the Self and Self-Control Assignment Template [DOCX] you will use to write your paper.
4. Review the Self and Self-Control Assignment Exemplar Paper [PDF] and the Exemplar Case Study [PDF] to better understand the expectations for this assignment.

Instructions

Complete the Case Summary Worksheet media. Use the information from the completed media to help guide you in completing the assignment. You can transfer your output to the assignment template.

Once you’ve completed the interactive media piece, use the template to write your paper and submit it in the Week 3 Assignment 1 area. In your paper, include the following:

• Summarize the case study.
• Describe credible and scholarly sources relevant to a particular theory.
• Apply a social psychological theory to a chosen case study.
• Explain how social psychological research studies relate to a particular social psychological theory.
• Apply an ethical reasoning concept to a chosen case study.
• Apply a critical thinking concept to a chosen case study.
• Address the appropriate audience and use discipline-specific language.
• Use APA-style citations and book and journal references.

Self-Evaluation

Complete the self-evaluation in the Self-Evaluation Tool to ensure that you have completed all assignment requirements (ideally at the distinguished level).

Once you have completed your self-evaluation, you can download it as a document. Although it is not required, your self-evaluation can also be useful later, after you have received your grade. You can compare it to your instructor’s feedback and see where your self-evaluation was correct and where it was off target.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to current Evidence and APA guidelines.
• Length: 4–5 double-spaced pages of content, in addition to the title page and reference page.
• Resources: Minimum of 2 scholarly or professional resources.
• Template: Use the Self and Self-Control Assignment Template [DOCX] provided to complete the assignment.

Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save this learning activity to your ePortfolio.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assignment , you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Select credible and scholarly sources in the field of social psychology using information literacy and research skills.
  • Describe credible and scholarly sources relevant to a particular theory.
• Competency 2: Apply social psychological theory to topics in the field.
  • Apply a social psychological theory to a chosen case study.
• Competency 3: Apply social psychological research to topics in the field.
  • Explain how social psychological research studies relate to a particular social psychological theory.
• Competency 4: Apply ethical reasoning to social psychology topics.
  • Apply an ethical reasoning concept to a chosen case study.
• Competency 5: Apply critical thinking to social psychology topics.
  • Apply a critical thinking concept to a chosen case study.
• Competency 6: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.
  • Address the appropriate audience in the text and adhere to discipline-specific language.
  • Use APA-style citations and book and journal references; other references may be missing elements.