Prelude to a Portfolio

When I was first told of this assignment, I knew I wanted to do something unique and original that engaged my interests. When I thought about what that may be, I automatically knew that I should do something that involves politics. Because of this historical election year, with a woman and a black man running for president, I knew it would not be hard to find some topics, like prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. But I was pretty amazed to find how easily social psychology and politics fit together.

I probably had too much fun looking at dozens of Daily Show clips, old political ads from the 1960s through the most recent election, and satirical political cartoons. But it only made this assignment all the more fulfilling (not to mention entertaining), and all the more eye-opening to the realization that social psychology can be used very effectively to explain the inner workings of the political world in America.

My sources were:
http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://pcl.stanford.edu/campaigns/2008/
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/politicalcartoons/u/cartoons-and-videos.htm
Kenrick, D.T., Neuberg, S.L., Cialdini, R.B. (2005) Social Psychology: Goals in Interaction. (4th edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

P.S. Below is my favorite political cartoon. I was planning on using it for the multiple audience dilemma or ingratiation strategies, but I ended up finding better clips/cartoons. But I wanted to include it anyway because I think it's pretty ingenious.