- attribution theory
- fundamental attribution theory
- foot-in-the door phenomenon
- Cognitive dissonance
- chameleon effect
- normative social influence
- informational social influence
- Obedience
- social facilitation
- social loafing
- deindividuation
- group polarization
- groupthink
- ingroup bias
- scapegoat theory
- frustration-aggression principle
- social scripts
- social traps
- altruism
- the bystander effect
- social exchange theory
- reciprocity norm
- social responsibility norm
At the beginning of the movie Remember the Titans it is easy to write it off as just another movie however this movie is based on reality and full of social psychology. Social Psychology is the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. In this blog I am going to talk about 5 points involved is social psychology that were present in this movie. The points I am going to talk about are foot-in-the door phenomenon, social facilitation,deindividuation, ingroup bias, and the scapegoat theory.
The first point I am going to talk about is foot-in-the door phenomenon. The foot-in-the door phenomenon is the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request. The foot-in-the door phenomenon builds off of a small request in order to reach the desired request. If someone starts off with requesting the desired result then usually the person's request will get turned down but if you start small and build then you will get your desired result. At the beginning of Remember the Titans, Coach Boone's initial request was for the white and black students to play football together but as the movie progresses you start to see that he builds on to his initial request. While at football camp, Coach Boone makes each team member room with and get to know everyone of the opposite race. Camp starts off with the whole team fighting and not wanting to integrate but at the end of the week the majority of the team has come together as a whole to achieve both racial harmony and triumph. Once back home from football camp the Titans are harassed by everyone with racial prejudice but as the season goes on and the Titans are undefeated they slowly start to gain support from their community. By the end of the movie the Titans became an example for the rest of the community and slowly they started changing their ways as well. Coach Boone started off with a small request, asking them to play football, with bigger intentions and without the team knowing it they eventually complied with Coach Boone's desired request.
The second point I am going to talk about is social facilitation. Social facilitation is the tendency for people to be aroused into better performance on simple tasks ( or tasks at which they are experts or that have become autonomous) when under the eye of others, rather than while they are alone, or when they are working alongside others. In the previous paragraph i stated that at the beginning of the movie the Titans did not have support from the community but as the season progressed the community eventually began supporting the Titans. Although the Titans were undefeated throughout their entire season they began to improve once they started to receive support from the community. After the team got back from football camp they were thrown back into society where nobody was willing to except the change like the Titans did. With the community's attitude and mindset he Titans had a lot to prove the community. Slowly the community's attitude started to take its toll on the Titans and their attitudes began to change as well. However, unlike the community, the Titans saw what they were doing and the came together as a team again. The community eventually started to support the Titans and with e new support they started to play even better. This new found support lead them to the state championships which they won. Although, the Titans were already undefeated their social facilitation changed when they started getting the support from the community they needed to make it all the way.
The third point I am going to talk about is deindividuation. Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situation that foster arousal and anonymity. No matter where you are at, to lose self-consciousness (to become deindividuated) is to become more responsive to the group experience. This happened a lot throughout the movie but i am going to use the example from the very beginning of the movie when the opposite race threw a brick into another man 's of the opposite race storefront. The crowd outside started off as spectators but when someone said a racial comment it proceeded into a riot. When that one comment was said the people immediately jumped on it and they started to become deindividauted and they became responsive to the other rioters instead of their own thoughts and feelings.
The fourth point I am going to talk about is in-group bias. In-group bias is the preferential treatment people give to those whom they perceive to be members of their own groups. While at football camp during lunch time Louie, a white football player, decided to sit at a table full of black football players instead of at his own white lunch table. When asked why he sat down there he said hes on the defensive line and he don't see black in white. So, in Louie's eyes there was no difference and everybody was considered the "in-group." The rest of the team soon took on Louie's attitude after Coach Boone took the team to the land on which the battle of Gettysburg took place on. The boys realize that they aren't much different from their team mates of the opposite race because they listen to the same music, share similar beliefs, and have common interests. Before football came there were two out-groups and two in-groups but once they came together as a whole they all became the in-group.
The fifth and final point I am going to talk about is the scapegoat theory. The scapegoat theory is the theory that offers prejudice an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame. In the movie, Remember the Titans, the entire plot takes shape around the scapegoat theory. This is because the typical white person in the 70's hated the black population. The white population blamed everything on the black population and because of this riots broke out. The white people's outlet for their anger was to treat the black population like "crap" just because they had a different skin color.
