Social Psycologoy Paper

In the following I will be discussing the factors that include social interactions as well as the influence of groups and individuals on behavior.

Sarah who is only 15 years old and a sophomore in high school was faced with a dilemma of trying to fit in or become one of the popular kids in school. Peer pressure from her new friends to go to this party played a major factor in her decision to break curfew. Not to mention this will be the very first party she has attended. So with that type of pressure she made the choice to go to the party and hang out some more with her friends, Sarah’s cognitive dissonance was displayed because she already knew that if she broke curfew and got caught then her parents would be disappointed with her; however even though she knows there’s risk involved she does it anyway. Popularity in high school plays a major factor in most student cognitive dissonance.

Sarah conformed to her friends beliefs because once she was told she would have fun, a light went off in her head that if they are doing it then it must be okay to do it also. Also the fact that she ignored her parents already set curfew shows that she was unable to use her perception of the situation correctly. Sarah’s wants her friends to really like her and she wants to fit in very badly that she broke rules to do so. Not one of her friends even asked her to call her parents and just ask if she could stay out later. Sarah was easily able to conform to her friends because Sarah sees them as the cool kids so to speak and to get the chance to hang amongst the popular at school and outside of school Sarah took the risk and fell for the bait.

When Sarah met Jack right away he told her she was beautiful and he wanted to take her out on a date. Jack found out that he and Sarah share the same taste in music and other hobbies. It didn’t hurt that they lived in the same neighborhood either. These things related to the factors of attraction because Jack was attracted he Sarah...