Showing results for "Jennifer!" in Social Psychology & Interactions

In cultures that champion the individual, guilt is advertised as the cornerstone of conscience. Yet while guilt holds individuals to personal standards, it proves impotent in the face of corrupt corporate policies. In recent yearswe have been asked to assuage our guilt about these problems as consumers by buying organic foods or fair-trade products, for example. Yet unless nearly everyone participates, the impact of individual consumer consciousness is microscopic.

Why do superheroes choose to be superheroes? Where does Spider-Man's altruism come from, and what does it mean? Why is there so much prejudice against the X-Men, and how could they have responded to it, other than the way they did? Why are super-villains so aggressive? The Psychology of Superheroes answers these questions in a wide range of essays on topics from Aquaman to Arkham Asylum - exploring the inner workings our heroes usually only share with their therapists.

In 1954, a group of boys attended a remote summer camp in Oklahoma. There they were split into two groups and encouraged to bully, harass and demonise each other. The results would make history as one of social psychology’s classic studies: the Robbers Cave experiment. Conducted at the height of the Cold War, the experiment officially had a happy ending: the boys reconciled, and psychologist Muzafer Sherif demonstrated that while hatred and violence are powerful forces, so, too, are cooperation and harmony.