HPS121 Psychology: Individual & Social Development- Social Interactions Affect Human Behaviour- Psychology Assignment
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This assignment is designed to help students’ knowledge of how social interactions affect human behaviour. Students will construct a laboratory report in accordance with APA guidelines.
“You’re so vain”
Research information
The data for this laboratory report were gathered in the first week of Trimester 1, 2018 and the experimenters were the students (that’s you!). Participants in the study were the friends and family members of HPS121 Trimester 1, 2018 students. The participants were provided a link to an online questionnaire where they completed demographic questions (gender, age, student status) and a brief measure on narcissistic traits.
So what could be the rationale behind this seemingly simple study you recruited participants for?
Background information
Personality is one of the topics we study in HPS121, and one area of focus in this area is the differences that exist between people on a number of personality traits. A key perspective in this area is that of the Five Factor Model (McCrae & Costa, 2008) which proposes there are five major types of personality traits that we all have but in which we vary. These personality traits include: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Even though the Five Factor Model is very popular within Psychology, another personality trait that has received much attention in the last few decades is that of narcissism. For example, in 2011, Insight (on SBS) ran a program exploring narcissism, which is a personality characteristic that we all have, though some display higher levels of narcissism than others. People high in narcissism (though subclinical, meaning that they do not have narcissistic personality disorder) typically have a grandiose view of themselves and crave admiration from others.\
To investigate whether people vary in their rates of narcissism, Foster, Campbell, and Twenge (2010) administered a narcissism questionnaire to participants, and examined whether there were any demographic differences in narcissism. In a separate study, Wilson and Sibley (2011) assessed the
rates of narcissism within the New Zealand population.
In this assignment, we are investigating whether there are any gender (female vs male) and age (18- 25 vs 26 and above) differences in narcissism rates within Australia. Your key resources below provide an introduction to the narcissism as a trait, and, outline whether there may be any gender
and age differences in narcissism.
Your key resources
- Chapter 13 (Passer & Smith, 2015, 2nd Australian ed.). Chapter 13 of your text overviews the topic of Personality and therefore provides an excellent starting point for this assignment. Take a look at pages 481-485 in particular.
- Insight Episode on Narcissism (2011). In 2011, Insight (on SBS) ran a program exploring narcissism.
- Foster, Campbell, and Twenge (2003). This article examined whether there were gender, age, ethnicity, and world region differences on the 40 item version of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). World regions included the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It’s up to you to have a good read of this paper and determine what they found in terms of age and gender differences in narcissism.
- Wilson and Sibley (2011). This article examined whether there were gender and age differences in New Zealand on the 40 item version of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). Of interest to our study was the gender and age differences found, and whether they were the same or different to what Foster, Campbell, and Twenge found almost a decade earlier.
Your research question and hypothesis
In the current study (your study!) we’ll ask two questions. The first question is ‘are there differences between males and females in their rates of narcissism?’, and the second question is, ‘are there differences between young and old people in their rates narcissism?’. Since little research has looked at these differences in Australia, it is important for us to test if Australian males and females, and young and old Australians, differ in their rates of narcissism, and if they do differ, whether this is the same as what has been found 10-20 years ago.
Based on past research and the current study’s design, you will need to generate two testable hypotheses pertaining to the gender and age differences in narcissism:
- Hypothesis 1: This should focus on gender, and should predict which gender (female vs male) will show higher or lower scores in narcissism.
- Hypothesis 2: This should focus age, and should predict which age group (18-25 vs 26 and above) will show higher or lower scores in narcissism.
Writing up the report
Now that you have a brief background, it is your job to watch/read and understand the central references and develop your introduction, aims, and hypotheses.
Three references have been made available to you on Moodle in the Lab Report Resources folder: Insight Video (2011); Foster, Campbell, and Twenge (2003); and Wilson and Sibley (2011). It is necessary that you thoroughly read and understand these core resources because they will form the basis of your rationale for the study.
ALL REFERENCES MUST BE USED IN YOUR PAPER and you will be penalised if you do not use all three. It is not necessary to include any additional sources of information, but if you really want to you can – just make sure that the additional evidence is closely aligned to the topic and is relevant to your argument. Make sure that if you choose to include more sources of information that you do not do so at the expense of the three core resources that must be included in sufficient detail.
The tutorial slides from Week 2 to Week 5 go over the Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, and References sections of the lab report. Additional resources pertaining to each section of the report will be released (Resources and Assessment – Lab Report Resources) progressively from Week 2 to Week 5 as we work through each section of the report in the first 5 tutorials. Please be aware the first 5 tutorials of the trimester are also designed specifically to assist you in writing the report. You must use the Taines (3rd edition) text as the primary information source on formatting the lab
report in general. An online version of this text is available (http://ezproxy.deakin.edu.au/login?url=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/deakin/detail.action?docID=4770230), however access is limited to 15 people at one time, so we highly recommend purchasing your own copy.
The data from the questionnaire will be analysed for you, and the results will be available for interpretation on Moodle by the end of Week 4. We will also discuss the results section in the Week4 tutorial. The Assignment is due at 5pm on 18/04 (middle of Week6). While we will explain the
meaning of each statistical analysis, you will be required to present and interpret the findings according to what you have learnt about statistical analysis in Week 4.
We hope you find the task enlightening and enjoyable!
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