Social Psychology - S320

Living Lab - "Sign Me Up" (Belief)

Purpose

To further stimulate personal exploration and understanding related to the issue of Conformity and Persuasion.

What You Will Do:

First and foremost, don't tell anyone what you are doing!  Doing so would create a bias in the experiment, which will undermine the intent of this unique endeavor! This will be very difficult with this lab, since it will be very obvious to the campus body that something is happening.

On the day of the Living Lab you  will wear a sign or shirt (which you may need to make), stating a belief that does not reflect the popular opinion of the cultural we live in.  I would prefer that these beliefs be actual beliefs (ones that you hold to) or beliefs that you can defend with integrity.  Please do not make up a belief just to be controversial.

You will also need to be careful not to be harmful or unethical in your interactions through the day.  This lab lends itself to extreme behavior by those you come in contact with.  Please act with kindness and a Christian attitude.

The intent of the Lab is to experiment with the issues we are studying concerning Conformity and Persuasion.  Your statement of belief is to serve as the spark to gain feedback concerning certain beliefs held by the culture around you.  You will have the chance to evaluate how people respond to you (or more appropriately, how they respond to your belief).  Feel free to engage them in conversation (especially in group settings).  Observe the ebb and flow of the conversation.  Who agrees and who disagrees?  Do people vacillate?  Do people change their mind (why)?  Are people more influenced by persuasive issues or social conformity?  Do people react differently to me, just because of my statement?  

What You Will Turn In:

An 2-page, APA formatted reaction paper.

Specifics: