Passionate love

Passionate Love

Passionate love is the powerful emotional attachments that are between two lovers. It can be described as deep adoration and fascination that are held by both partners in a relationship.

In the song “Hands Down” by the band Dashboard Confessional, the lyrics demonstrate a really emotionally hot love for one another. The kind of love expressed in this song is most potent in the following chorus:

My hopes are so high,
That your kiss might kill me.
So won’t you kill me? So I die happy

My heart is yours to fill or burst.
To break or bury, or wear as jewelry,
Whichever you prefer.

Norms

Norms

Norms are “normal” behavior rules that are expected to be maintained in each culture. When norms are broken, no matter how trivial a norm may seem there will be noticeable awkwardness and tension. We have norms for eating, waiting in line, sexual relations, talking proximity and many other norms covering many aspects of our lives.

In this article of The New York Times, our norms for what is acceptable content for television broadcast is being put under scrutiny by branches of our government. Kevin J. Martin is going to be responsible for reviewing the indecency rules from HBO to ABC. This article demonstrates how we have norms, and even how we are hypocritical with our norms. The norm “showing nudity on television” wasn’t really noticeable until the Janet Jackson Halftime show backlash.

Groupthink

Groupthink

Groupthink is a flawed method of thinking where problems such as illusion of invulnerability, illusion of unanimity, and mindguards present themselves. Groupthink has been responsible for countless bad decisions of many countries. Groupthink gives unrealistic confidence to goals within the group.

In this article of CNN, the result of groupthink is evidently clear. Just like the Bay of Pigs, and Vietnam, so Iraq will be another blunder due to groupthink. There are great indicators that maybe the president had mindguards where information of the validity of WMDs’ was kept hidden. The president’s Iraq advisors probably suffered from the illusion of invulnerability. Not to long ago the president appeared on an air craft carrier proclaiming victory in Iraq, this was clearly a symptom of groupthink.

Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon

Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon

This phenomenon is the likelihood that someone who first agrees to a small commitment will be more likely to comply later with a larger commitment.


Religious cults like the Jehovah Witnesses utilize this foot-in-the-door phenomenon when walking door to door on their recruitment tours. I had the opportunity to have some Jehovah’s Witness recruiters visit me at my house and I opened my door to them since I have a since of humor. They talked to me in a friendly manor and handed me a watchtower track. The publication they gave me is very deceptive, because it doesn’t truly express the extreme doctrines that JW church holds. The watchtower track they handed me paints a picture of the JW as a normal church. They slowly reveal the true nature of their doctrines but of course not right away because the newly converted might realize that it is a cult. This illustrates the foot-in-the-door phenomenon because JW because if they came out front with what they really believed no one would ever join them.

Discrimination

Discrimination

Discrimination is expressed behaviors that are negative in nature (toward people of an “out-group)”and that are not rationally justified.

In the Beastie Boy’s song “Right Right Now Now” on their latest album “ To the 5 Boroughs” addresses the problem of discrimination. The Beastie Boys contend that banks who ask the race of the loan recipient on the application are discriminating by partially basing the decision on a client’s race. The lyrics that are being represented here are:


“I went to get a loan and they asked my race
I wrote down human inside the space
It's a disgrace how they try to debase
It ain't the bank's damn business how my lineage trace”.

Conformity

Conformity is any alteration in behavior or belief due to the perceived pressure of a group. Conformity does not necessarily entail acceptance of the change, it can be either your belief or behavior that changes, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that both are changed.

In this picture the person is dressed like a “goth”. A gothic person is someone who wears all black and sometimes puts white makeup on and usually have died their hair black as well. Lots of gothic people are high school students who are trying to rebel against their parents and trying to establish their own uniqueness. Many gothic people wear shirts that sport the motto on it “you laugh at me because I am different, but I laugh at you because you’re all the same”. This mindset is self-defeating because most Goths look alike, they all dress the same, and they all hang out together. Gothic people are trying to be “non-conformists”, but ironically conform to being a “non-conformists”.

Attribution Theory

Attribution Theory

In the fundamental attribution theory an observer explains a person’s behavior by either crediting it to their internal dispositions or to the situation and environment.

In this CNN news article the sentencing of the teenage culprit guilty for the spreading of the computer virus the “blaster” worm is described. U.S. district Judge Marsha Pechman in this article attributes the behavior of the teen to his external situation. The judge blames his parents for allowing him to stay isolated in his room, and that it’s his parents fault for not stopping this “unhealthy behavior”. Along with blaming the parents for his crimes, the judge also shifts the blame upon the internet for “being a dungeon for the mentally ill and lonely”. This demonstrates the attribution theory because the judge attributed the teen’s behavior to external situations (his parent’s irresponsibility) instead of attributing it to the teen’s internal disposition (reckless, inconsiderate).