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Argumentative Essay On Survivor

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Survivor is a reality show that tests a group of people’s abilities to survive on an island. In the beginning, the participants will spilt into tribes and compete in challenges for reward and/or immunity. The losing tribe(s) will vote a member out at Tribal Council. After the merge, challenges are on an individual basis. The final three participants will face the jury, comprising of the previous participants voted out, who will interrogate them, and subsequently, vote for the winner. The participant with the most votes wins the title of Sole Survivor and a million dollars.
I believe that problems such as ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation arise from self-esteem issues on the part of individual participants in Survivor.
In Blood V.S. Water, each of the returning participants brought a loved one into the game. The returning participants tribe is ‘Galang’, while the other tribe is ‘Tadhana’. The aim is to win challenges to avoid Tribal Council, where the losing tribe …show more content…

When Galang won their first challenge, Gervase cheers loudly and shouts at Tadhana. As Tadhana saw Gervase as a threat in being overzealous, they vote out Marissa in an attempt to suppress him and to protect their own self-esteem. This shows that Tadhana is displaying outgroup derogation. Outgroup derogation occurs when an outgroup is perceived as being threatening to the members of an ingroup. (Brewer, 1999) This phenomenon often accompanies ingroup favoritism, as one needs to have a liking towards their ingroup. When an ingroup is threatened by an outgroup, identity and self worth are also threatened. According to Fein & Spencer (1997), when people derogate an outgroup, they tend to feel superior as a result, and this feeling helps affirm their self worth. In this case, Tadhana voted out Marissa to further strengthen their valued ingroup identity and their own self-esteem to make themselves feel

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