External Attribution And Political Ideologies

Obedience to authority is an essential part of a functioning society. At times, though, people are put in adverse situations with unkind or unfair leaders, yet there are many cases where these subordinates do not cease to obey their orders. There could be many contributing factors in someone’s persistent obedience, but the most persuasive reason is because people have an innate goal of self-preservation that needs to be met. This predisposition affects both the physical and the mental aspects of their actions. The physical side includes the simple matters of not getting hurt, and trying to keep a job that will provide money for buying food and paying for shelter. The mental portion includes trying to build and keep a reputation, as well as being well liked by fitting in and earning praise. While the movie The Devil Wears Prada focuses on the overbearing and authoritative nature of Miranda, as well as the growth of Andy in her identity, it is very clear that the primary factor of Andy's consistent obedience is her strong sense of self-preservation.

One point of view holds that the social responsibility perspective believes that individuals are fundamentally responsible for their own behavior and that they choose crime over other, more law-abiding courses of action (Schmalleger, F., 2015, p. 15). This perspective places the cause of crime directly on the individual and presumes that the individual is exercising their free will. The social responsibility perspective on crime also relies on theories about individual faults leading to criminal behavior, and that in terms of the criminal, victim, and justice system individuals play a role within the social aspect of crime. These theories suggest criminals are different from noncriminals for biological or psychological reasons, the difference between this perspective and the social

Everyday people have the tendency to make inferences about the causes of behavior seen in society. Social psychologists have found that everyday people often commit personal attributional biases from inferences without considering the outcomes. The fundamental attribution error is a personal attribution bias everyday people commit in society. As everyday people commit the fundamental attribution error, they fail to acknowledge how harmful it is to those affected. Everyday people can become more aware of and plan to reduce the harmfulness the fundamental attribution error presents through message complexity and attention.

Accordingly, Rotter proposed that people with an internal locus of control, having a confident personality, are more likely to resist to social influence. There are different studies supporting this idea. For instance, in their experiment consisting in interviewing the subjects, Oliner and Oliner (1988) suggested that the 406-non-Jewish participants who lived during the Holocaust in Germany and protected Jewish people were more inclined to have a higher internal locus of control in contrast to the 126 individuals who obeyed to commands. This outcome supports Rotter’s theory that internals are not as likely to follow commands in contrast to externals who may be more easily persuaded, although there may be other aspects that have to be considered in view of the circumstances people lived in WWII.

It is believed to be said that people commit crimes because of various reasons and aspects in their life. The community offers their citizens a secure and safe residence to live in. However, some argue that particular individuals are born with specific traits that determine how they react in a negative condition. Individuals make decisions in life that can lead them down the wrong path. An individual may choose to commit a crime, only looking at how it will benefit them. I also believe that people think before they commit any criminal activity. When an individual commits a crime, they act on their own free will. They’re aware of their consequences of their punishment. Also, people can commit crimes due to their society. Such conflicts arise

The assumption one may hold regarding policy-making in criminal justice is that individuals are well-informed about conviction rates as well as arrests, which influences changes in the criminal justice system. However, such assumption raises doubts on the severity of punishment. Further, perceived probability of arrest is related to subsequent criminal behavior. Such an argument is based on the belief that people with lower perceived probabilities of arrest are more likely to get involved in crime during subsequent periods.

The United States criminal justice system is an adaptable institution that reflects the ideology of the general public. This is evident throughout the history of the justice system as policies are formed, changed and abolished. Popular belief typically shapes policies and the attitude toward crime for the justice system. At this point in time, the view on crime is particular negative, which has led to harsher punishments for crimes like longer sentences. This can be attributed to the labels and stigma placed on those who are within the system. They are viewed as criminals, not a person who committed a crime. It may be viewed as an insignificant word placement, but ideology has an impactful effect on policy. Labels create generalizations and

This study was centered around one thing: power. Power is defined as a person's ability to influence others or control over resources. We all desire power, as it can make us feel confident and is often seen as a measure of success. However, power is a double edged sword. Power has been the cause of countless conflicts throughout history, and has the ability to corrupt those even with the strongest of morals. This notion is one that was held by Abraham Lincoln, who expressed this in the phrase: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” This phenomenon was investigated extensively by psychologist Philip Zimbardo through the Stanford Prison Experiment. The study saw how the guards felt that they were superior to the

Two studies were completed to compare the relative effectiveness of attribution strategy with persuasion strategy in changing behavior. The first study was an attempt to teach fifth graders to not litter and clean up after other classmates. The attribution group was told they are neat and tidy, while the persuasion group was told they should be neat and tidy. The results found that attribution was more effective in modifying behavior compared to persuasion. The second study determined if attribution or persuasion is more effective for achievement in math and self-esteem. It also studied whether attribution of ability is as effective as attribution of motivation. This study attributed to second graders to do well in math proved more effective than persuasion or control groups.

Theories of crime causation get to the fundamental characteristics of human nature. Theories of crime causation can be separated into trait theories and choice theories. Both types of theories make valid points about the causes of crime, yet they are have different implications for preventing the causes of crime. Thesis: Trait theories and choice theories both assume that humans are self-interested, but their conceptions of self-interest limit the applicability of each to certain types of crime. Trait theories appear more suited for explaining the causes of violent crime, whereas choice theories are more appropriate to property crimes or economic crimes.

This result is consistent with past findings on criminal record and mock jury convictions (Grant, 1996). Notably, the odds of convictions are increased significantly when a defendant is portrayed as someone who has a criminal history. These prior records are supposed to be irrelevant to the case in hand and an accused person must only be judged based on the evidence of present crime (Farrell and Swigert, 1978). Similarly, it is possible that in the present study, the participants attributed a criminal propensity to the perpetrator and judged him more severely when he was a delinquent than when he was valedictorian. The perpetrator was perhaps perceived as someone with criminal dispositions. This result leads us to another notable conclusion drawn from our forth main effect. The results supported our hypothesis that the victim will be assigned greater responsibility when the perpetrator was portrayed as a valedictorian than when he was portrayed as a delinquent. The participant's placement of responsibility on the victim in this case is similar to studies conducted on the just-world beliefs (Lerner, 1980). Participants might have blamed the victim in this case because none of the perpetrator's characteristics fitted the explanation for this heinous

One of the biggest problems we have in society today is the division between blacks and whites. Though the United States has come a long way in this separation, we still see major disparities in every social institution; blacks being on the negative end in each. Between the prison system, school, and the work place, there hasn’t been enough, if any, programs or laws to change that. The reason is, there are a lot of people who think the problem is not with the systems, but just a problem with the individuals. This is referred to as the Fundamental Attribution Error. This theory explains that when a person is evaluating another person’s behavior, they typically overestimate the personal disposition impact and underestimate the impact of the situation.

You mentioned how actor-observer bias is another form of social cognition where individuals tend to justify their own actions by blaming them on external factors. Maruna and Mann (2006) also discuss this phenomenon by illustrating that psychologists describe everyday excuse-making as a common social practice, as we see through the expression of actor-observer bias and the fundamental attribution error. However, I found it interesting that psychology has treated offenders’ excuse-making for their crimes as being fundamentally different than the common social practice of excuse-making (Maruna & Mann, 2006). Additionally, Maruna and Mann (2006) describe how often times, offenders’ excuse making is seen as a depiction of their deficient internal

According to Harvey and Martinko (1995) research indicates the formation of casual attributions is vital for adapting to changing environments and overcoming daily challenges. When desirable outcomes are experienced attributions facilitate an understanding the cause of those events so one can experience them again. When unpleasant outcomes are realized attributions help to identify and avoid the behaviors and other factors that caused them to occur. In order for Great Northern America to be a flourishing business, and by extension its employees to be successful, it is imperative that Joe Salatino's sales force create a positive perception of themselves as well as the company.

What makes a criminal a criminal? Can anyone become a criminal? Answering and understanding these questions is the core work of criminologists as most criminologists attempt to make sense of why people do certain things (Garland, Sparks 2000). This essay will consider the notion that any person could become a criminal and in so doing consider the initial question. This essay will outline a range of theories that attempt to describe human behavior in relation to criminal behavior given the complexities of behaviour. Several theories will be considered as no single theory of behavior can account fully for the complexities and range in criminal behaviour. The theories range from social-control, to classical, to biological, to personality