Kara Colwell
March 30, 2014
Instructor: Todd Dube
Sarah reminds me of myself when I was younger, and in high school. All I wanted was to be accepted, and I so happened to find popular friends. Parties, late curfew, and lying about where I was. I didn't want to get into trouble, but I wanted to have fun. I ended up being a Freshman, with a popular Senior boyfriend, and was invited to all the parties. These decisions could be good ones, but sometimes not worth it. There were times that cops were called, I drank too much, or the party ended up being a bust. Getting in trouble for those times weren't worth the punishment at all. Going into Sophomore year, Sarah has always done good. She has followed the rules, received good grades, and was never late for curfew. With it being just the beginning of the school year, Sarah didn't expect to meet new friends so quickly, but she did. Sarah was very excited to spend her first night out with her new friends, but when it was time for her to go home, they wanted her to go to a party. Sarah knew she would be in trouble if she were late for curfew, but she wanted to be accepted, and fit in with her new friends- so she went. This situation can be caused by multiple factors, persuasion by the group of friends. Another would be normative social influence because Sarah knows she should go home, but wants to conform into the pressures of her friends to attend the party. When Sarah and her friends go to the party, Sarah started to get worried about being late for curfew and disobeying her parents. She tried to ignore the feelings by ignoring it by having fun, and enjoying herself so it wouldn't bring her down. This feeling she has known as a cognitive dissonance theory. Sarah is beginning to feel the discomfort of her actions, and has two competing ideas or wants on her shoulders. This feeling changed her behavior because instead of her doing the right thing and going home, she stayed at the party, and tried to have fun. While at the party, Sarah started talking to a Junior named Jack. They found out they have some common interests such as music and hobbies. This attraction is similarities that they have in common with each other. This is a good trait to have when in a relationship. Both continued talking and also found out they have been living in the same neighborhood. Jack told her she was beautiful and then perused to ask her out on a date. This trait shows attraction towards one another, and Jack expressed it by telling Sarah she was beautiful. The situation between Jack and Sarah is building a relationship, and getting to know each other. Belonging is another relationship builder, it helps motivate people into joining together and create a relationship as if they belong together. Both Sarah and Jack understand each other, the relationship is self-enhancing, and it gives both somebody to trust. After Jack asks Sarah out, he had to leave, so Sarah went back to socializing with her friends. Not even a couple minutes later, a fight broke out in the front yard, which ended in an interaction fight. This fight was a sign of aggression and probably testosterone. It also may or may not have had alcohol involved which could have had an effect on the situation. Nobody tried to break up the fight, but instead started to leave. By doing this is usually known as a social norm because of everyone's decision to leave was based on the situation at hand. Nobody