I agree with Kinnaman’s unbiased assessment of Christianity and I find his research extremely helpful, because it provides us with a clear idea and an approximation of the precise degree of disdain and distrust others have towards the Christian faith. Furthermore, his research permits us to stand apart and examine ourselves as Christians. Kinnaman’s research results uncovered the most common points of skepticism and objections raised by outsiders towards the church and Christianity (Kinnaman, 2007). According to Kinnaman, the six issues or themes outsiders have against believers are the following: 1) Hypocritical 2)
The author states that the one of the many flaws in a democracy is the fact that people have the right to vote without having knowledge on the subject. He understands that people make decisions based off their morals, not on the knowledge they have on a subject. Keohane adds that as a self-defense mechanism people, when they are faced with a mental conflict that occurs where their beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information; this is called cognitive dissonance. He goes on to explain the theory of motivated reasoning, which is where people have two facts presented to them where one fact contradicts their principals, and they end up choosing the fact that is closest to their ideals. According to Keohane people with higher self-esteem are more likely to acknowledge new information than people with insecurities.
This academic journal defines and goes in depth about stereotype threat. In the beginning of the journal, the authors give real life example of stereotype threats and how they negative affect people. They then go on to define what stereotype threat is. The rest of the journal explores the psychology behind stereotype threat and why people continue to fall victim to it. I picked this article people it spoke about and explained stereotype threat in an educational and scientifically way, while still making it easy to understand.
These include the views that Christians are hypocritical and are more focused on rules and regulations than people, as well as several controversial standings such as homosexuality and political involvement. In fact, in Kinnaman’s findings, only an estimated 34% of young outsiders believed that Christians really cared about them (68). Additionally, UnChristian challenges the Christian community to step up to the plate and redefine what the world thinks of them. For each negative perception that is assumed by young outsiders according to Kinnaman’s research, he offered what he referred to as “new perceptions”, or how Christians should strive to be perceived by outsiders.
Though not entirely rational, confirmation bias is how beliefs are made
The members of this church do not realize how necessary their actions are, it encourages Twain’s perception that Christians follow by
Ethan’s agreement that death is better than parting is an example of cognitive dissonance that directly affects the plot of the novel. Cognitive dissonance is best described as an inconsistency in the beliefs that one holds, which is prominent in the thoughts as opposed the actions taken by Ethan. He is essentially given an ultimatum when Zeena threatens to fire Mattie; Ethan must make the decision to act upon his desires without the benefit of time as he had once thought he had. Before this is thrust upon him, he has the general cognition that he should not pursue Mattie. This is evident in his lack of action during their dinner without Zeena.
Lee provides personal examples of emotions or experiences such as, “I stopped commenting on social media with questions or pushback on leftist opinions for fear of being called out.” This example shows how Lee used this personal example to then
In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, he recalls a time from his childhood when he was at church. All the children of the church were being “saved” until he was eventually the last one who wasn’t. Feeling tired and pressured, Langston stood, declaring he had been saved. He felt horrible for lying, but the pressure placed upon him by the entire church outweighed the feeling of guilt. Similarly, people of all types experience a feeling similar to Langston’s; something called peer pressure.
Derek also provides an example of Hypothesis 2: Post decision dissonance creates a need for reassurance. Festinger defines post decision dissonance as “ strong doubts experienced after making an important decision” (Griffin, et al). Derek experiences strong post decision dissonance after leaving the Aryan Brotherhood. When he leaves one of the members tells him that he will be punished. This causes dissonance within Derek, he wonders if he made the right decision, and he feels regret almost.
This eventually leads her to challenge her self concepts to extreme levels, causing her to either liberate herself from the façade she created or sink into the role. Easy A describes many genuine psychological phenomena and I am going to focus on three of them; Cognitive dissonance theory, how societal and cultural norms dictate our attitudes and thoughts, and different ways of persuasion. The cognitive dissonance theory is the feeling of unease that is felt when we act in opposition to our attitudes, which causes a shift of attitude in order to be consistent with our behavior. Easy A depicts strongly the theory of cognitive dissonance on numerous occasions.
Many people feel they are being persuaded into doing acts that they don’t want to, or having judgments that they don’t believe in, all because people are used to doing what they see others do. In Chris Abani’s short story The Lottery, he was only a 10 year old boy when he got pressured into seeing a man burn and had to also spit on him. Langston Hughes was also a young boy in Salvation, when he had to lie in church, about being saved by Jesus. In the short piece Why Are Beggars Despised? George Orwell does not see a difference in beggars who live on the streets and working people.
Adolf Hitler’s main move kicked off with the need to do away with the Versailles treaty (n.p, ‘New American Nation’, n.d.). He sued this in his campaign speeches to woe the German nationals. He talked of the toil this had had on its economies as well as frustrating it armament efforts. Upon getting into power in 1933 after being elected as Germany’s chancellor, he did away with any conformity to the treaty (n.p, ‘Hitler Comes to Power,’ n.d.). Germany was up again on its feet economically as well as subsequent armament efforts in a bid to restore Germany to its prior position of being the World’s respected and most powerful super power.
Cognitive dissonance is the sense of mental disorganization or imbalance that may prompt a person to change when new information conflicts with previously organized thought patterns. The text states, “The incompatibly between your behavior and your new knowledge will make you feel uncomfortable” (381). I have experienced cognitive dissonance when preparing for an exam. For instance, I will not study or not study as well as I should for a test. Then when I receive my test back or my score is posted, I realize that I really should have studied a lot harder.
Therefore, finding an explanation through psychology, for the different specific reactions that human beings exhibit is important. Social psychology is an important sector of psychology that takes interpersonal relationships into consideration. Over the years, many theories have been developed to aid in explaining human behavior, especially ones that administer social experiences. The main focus of this assignment is the analysis of the cognitive dissonance theory in social psychology. Cognitive dissonance theory attempts to explain the human behavior through cognition, in which individuals always look for stability in their attitudes and behaviors (Festinger, 1985).
