Social Thinking in Context Assignment S. Wilcher (4)

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1 Social Thinking in Context Shanetra Wilcher University of Arizona Global Campus PSY 610 Applied Social Psychology Dr. Tyler
2 Social Thinking in Context Boaz Yakin's 2000 sports drama film "Remember the Titans," which explores numerous social thought tenets, is an extraordinary work of cultural heritage. This true story-based movie follows the journey of a high school football team as they deal with racial integration and conflict. The movie shows how a diverse group of people can come together to work toward a similar objective through a compelling tale. Coach Herman Boone, the main character, assembles players from various social and racial backgrounds to form a team that is first split by race. "Remember the Titans" exemplifies social thinking principles through its narrative of racial integration and teamwork, underscoring the transformative power of challenging prejudices and promoting unity among diverse individuals. "Remember the Titans" offers a rich setting for delving into a variety of social thinking tenets, making it a potent prism through which to analyze interpersonal relationships and behavior. A number of important concepts, such as attribution, belief endurance, confirmation bias, heuristics, cognitive dissonance, and impression management, may be seen in the movie's narrative. A key idea in social psychology is attribution, which is demonstrated in the movie when characters attribute intentions and motives to one another depending on their ethnicity and history. Attributions of superiority and inferiority based on race are what initially divide the team; as they come to know one another better, this perception eventually changes. Characters' steadfast adherence to preconceived assumptions about people from various racial origins is another classic example of belief endurance. The team feels resistance, bias, and discrimination as a result of this belief persistence at first. However, when they challenge these ideas and form new ones based on their actual experiences, these effects progressively fade. Characters are found to exhibit confirmation bias, another important social reasoning concept
3 when they selectively interpret and retain information that supports their preexisting opinions(Caryl, 2019). Confirmation bias is ultimately questioned as the individuals start to recognize each other's talents. Early in the movie, certain characters are unwilling to accept any beneficial attributes in people of a different race. The characters' early assessments of one another are influenced by heuristics, which are mental shortcuts or general rules of thumb. These heuristics frequently rely on prejudices, including the notion that a person's color influences their skills or character. Characters in the movie get the ability to query these heuristics and comprehend the nuanced nature of every person. The internal conflicts that the characters experience as they try to make sense of their preexisting assumptions and the new facts they learn are cognitive dissonance in action. Coach Bill Yoast, who wrestles with his racial prejudices and ultimately decides to back Coach Boone, is a prime example of this internal conflict. Characters' attempts to show themselves in a way that corresponds with their perceived social positions are examples of impression management, a notion related to self-esteem and social identity. The characters change how they present themselves to emphasize cooperation and teamwork as the football team unites and racial tensions decrease. It is crucial to explore pertinent social psychological theory and research in order to comprehend these social thinking ideas in "Remember the Titans" in greater detail. Numerous social psychological theories researched in the area are consistent with this movie. The social identity theory connects to the story of the movie. This theory, which Tajfel and Turner created, describes how people classify themselves and other people into different social groups, such as racial groups, and get their sense of self-worth from the social identity connected to their group ( Zakiryanova & Redkina, 2020) . Intergroup conflict results from characters in the movie initially
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4 identifying with their race. Their social identities, which transcend racial boundaries, become more associated with being Titans as they start to identify with the shared objective of winning football games. The film makes use of Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, which contends that when people's beliefs and actions conflict, it causes discomfort and prompts them to change one of their beliefs or behaviors in an effort to reduce this discomfort ( Mortensen et al., 2022) . The prism of cognitive dissonance can be used to explain Coach Yoast's choice to back Coach Boone. His racial prejudices are in tension with his dedication to winning, which causes him to undergo an internal conflict that changes both his beliefs and behavior. Also, as the story progresses, Bandura's social cognitive theory is clearly shown in how the characters are evolving. This theory emphasizes how modeling and observational learning are crucial in influencing people's behavior and ideas ( Nickerson, 2022) . As they watch how their teammates behave and think, the movie's characters change their attitudes and convictions. A dramatic example of how social modeling affects human behavior is the change in Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell's relationship from initial antagonism to friendship. As they confront and overcome their early prejudices and biases, the protagonists in "Remember the Titans" experience profound changes in their social and personal identities. The concepts of attribution, belief endurance, confirmation bias, heuristics, cognitive dissonance, and impression management have an impact on these transitions. In the movie, social and personal identities are inextricably connected. Characters' self-worth and social identity are initially derived from their racial group. Being white or black determines their social identities, and these identities cause the squad to split up at first (Caryl, 2019). These social identities change as they start to identify more strongly with their identity as Titans, and they begin to form a shared
5 identity that crosses racial boundaries. The characters' actions are initially strongly influenced by confirmation bias and belief persistence. They continue to hold prejudicial opinions about one another and interpret information in a way that supports those opinions. However, as they spend more time together, engage in training, and share victories and setbacks as a team, they start to question these notions. The characters deal with the cognitive dissonance brought on by the conflict between their prejudicial opinions and their brand-new, fulfilling encounters with their colleagues. Heuristics likewise influences the characters' early evaluations of one another. Racial stereotypes cause hasty, frequently incorrect judgments. These heuristics are challenged and dismantled as they learn to know one another as people, not as representatives of a racial group. The cognitive dissonance in Coach Yoast's journey is evident. His racial preconceptions and biases must be addressed since they stand in the way of his desire to prevail. This cognitive conflict is resolved by his choice to back Coach Boone, resulting in his personal growth and change. As the characters modify their self-presentations to fit their roles as Titans, impression management is clearly at work. They hope to reshape their social identities by portraying togetherness and teamwork to their teammates, coaches, and society. In the context of racial integration and teamwork, "Remember the Titans" serves as a captivating cultural artifact that clearly shows numerous social thinking principles. The movie follows the development of solid relationships both on and off the field as a racially diverse high school football team battles initial prejudice and prejudices. This essay has emphasized the transforming effect of confronting and moving past initial prejudices through the evaluation of the movie for social thinking principles, a review of pertinent social psychological theory and research, and the examination of personal and societal identities. "Remember the Titans" is a
6 helpful tool for comprehending the complexities of social thought and connections since it finally expresses a meaningful message about the possibilities for unification, understanding, and collaboration among individuals from different origins.
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7 References Caryl, C. (2019). Remember the Titans. The National Interest, 161, 83–87. Mortensen, A. H., Stojiljkovic, M., & Lillekroken, D. (2022). Strategies to manage cognitive dissonance when experiencing resistiveness to care in people living with dementia: A qualitative study. Journal of advanced nursing, 78(2), 486-497. Nickerson, C. (2022). Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory: Definition & examples. Zakiryanova, I., & Redkina, L. (2020). Research on ethnocultural identity in H. Tajfel’s social identity theory and JC Turner’s self-categorization theory. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 87, p. 00103). EDP Sciences.