How Does Social Psychology Influence Racial Identity

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Social Psychology on the Influence of Racial Identity
Compelling research from studies and scholars have pronounced the understanding of social psychology in effects to absorbing a racial identity observed by individuals. Social psychology is the study of social interactions between individuals. These interactions play a role in defining what it means to have a racial identity, or in other words, a sense of group based on one’s perception that he or she shares a common ancestry with a certain group. Understanding where the basis of an individual’s identity creates an intelligent acceptance and interpretation to who someone is. A factor that intertwines itself into the topic of discussion is the interactions that cause a person to get an idea of their sense of
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Behavior Genetics, a journal article written by John Loehlin, reviews the theories of John Locke, an important philosopher dedicated to the nurture psychology and declares, “People are a blank slate, therefore, environmental factors and experiences will change who that individual will be” (34). Locke thought each individual was born without innate ideas, and knowledge was determined by experience from sense perception. Morris Rosenberg and Ralph Turner, two major individuals regarding study in the sociology field, wrote Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives, regarded that “… a young child uses observation to manifest their mannerisms in accompany to their personality” (123). This refutes the other side of the argument, which is the nature theory. Nature theory argues that environment has little to no effect on a child, but instead an individual is predisposition to be as he or she is. While environment plays a big role in a child’s development, biological occupancies also affect how a child grows up. Nature and nurture both affect how an adolescent conforms to the person they will become as an

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