You should find a news article describing a recent event (i.e., something written in 2021) and prepare a brief report that uses a social psychological theory or approach to develop a deeper and more critical understanding of the event discussed in the article. The article cannot itself be a social psychological interpretation of a current event. In other words, you cannot use an article where the writer already did all of the work for you!
The written report should be no more than three pages, double-spaced, 12 point font. Please include a photo or scan of the article that you used.
1. Briefly summarize the article. What happened?
2. What social psychological theory, finding, or phenomena did you apply toward interpreting what took place in the article? Describe that theory, finding, or phenomena in detail, using your own words.
3. In what way can you apply this theory, finding, or approach to better understand what happened?
Your report MAY also address the following questions:
4. What did you find to be interesting, striking, mysterious, erroneous, complex, insightful, important, or meaningful about it?
5. How did the writer interpret the events, if at all?
6. What additional insights or understanding did applying this social psychological approach provide?
7. Is there a more critical perspective that can be taken on the events in the article?
8. Did you come up with an alternative explanation for the events described in the article?
9. Are there any larger conclusions you reached by applying social psychology to the phenomenon addressed in the article?
