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Controversy In Greek Life

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Controversy occurs all throughout society as people’s attitudes are often reinforced through observational learning and developed even further through implementing stereotypes. The act of persuasion often plays a major role in the development or change in a person’s stance on a particular issue. It can be found that the media often serves as one of the most influential aspects of life, as the mass majority of people are exposed to what is being said in one way or another. In various instances this might be an individual’s only exposure to the topic at hand. This allows for their opinion to be formed largely, if not entirely, on what is being portrayed through the media. One issue in particular that is heavily influenced by the media is the …show more content…

This can be done through the use of stereotyping. The formation of stereotypes allows people to have a general and simplified image of an image or idea of a particular issue (King, 2017). For instance, people often categorize all fraternities and sororities as the same. They see an issue related to hazing, or alcohol abuse and relate it to the entire Greek system. They often never stop to think about how the issue actually occurred due to a small particular group of individuals and not by thousands of others who are a part of Greek Life. To be fair, this may be the only details that the individual may have been exposed to, in order to form an opinion on the …show more content…

By only stating opinions, or images showcasing one side of an issue and leaving out various other facts or events that take place, it is relatively easy to influence the view that someone has on a particular situation (McCombs, 2014). If people had a better understanding of how Greek life played into campus involvement and relationships, as well as an increase in grade point average in various institutions, they would likely form an opinion based on this occurrence of events. By leaving this information out, the media is able to create a negative stigma and persuade the opinion of the public, by elaborating on the negative instances rather than the positive. It is natural for people to start believing is being said to them when they do not have an understanding of the other side. This is a part of the informational social influence as it states people have an influence on others due to their wanting to be right (King, 2017). People often look for ways to relate with one another and want to feel as if they have a common tie or bond to others over a particular

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