Scenario
Susan is an undergraduate student at an online university, balancing a full-time dead-end job and raising her son as a single mother. She initially approached her psychology degree with strong motivation, aiming to become an addiction therapist and, eventually, to pursue graduate studies. At the start, she carefully followed course instructions, completed readings, and used feedback to improve her work.
Over time, however, she began to miss spending time with her family, socializing, and relaxing. To save time, she now completes assignments quickly from memory, accepting lower grades due to missing citations. Susan believes that earning the degree—not achieving top grades—is enough to secure a better career, higher income, and improved quality of life.
Case Summary
The given case study describes the story of a person engaged in family activities and studying, trying to combine both. Susan initially tries to treat her education seriously, researching the best ways to write her coursework on a high level. After some time, Susan begins to ignore her studies and spends time with her closest ones. Such an attitude is unacceptable regarding university degrees; although Susan tries to justify her behavior, it ultimately lowers the standards set earlier.
This case study focuses on self and self-control, presented from opposing perspectives. The case highlights self-control as something the person cannot achieve because she lacks motivation and struggles to manage her behavior, ultimately failing to achieve her career objectives. Such drivers as temptation in the face of spending time with family and friends cause weakness in self-control.
The concept of incrementalism, a principle in social psychology, is applied to this case study. PreiĂźinger and Schoen (2018) developed a source that described this notion and revealed a broad spectrum of incremental theory. This concept illustrates how unintentional behavioral mutations can erode people’s ethical standards and norms.
Research Support
Research Summary
Incremental Theory
The case research is supported by four scholarly sources that provide evidence and relevant materials. The first article describes the incremental concepts in the scope of the incremental theory (PreiĂźinger & Harald, 2018). People’s mental states are changeable; consequently, their needs, goals, and emotions adapt to current situations, leading to incremental in-person responses (PreiĂźinger & Harald, 2018). The authors apply a method involving procedure, lay theory measures, and other measures (PreiĂźinger & Harald, 2018). It helps to collect specific data through surveys and reveal the incremental views of personalities (PreiĂźinger & Harald, 2018).
Clarity in Decision-Making
The second source emphasizes the importance of clarity as a self-perception in the decision-making process, which is particularly relevant to the given case study. The article describes the importance of clarity in making resolutions and achieving goals (UÄźurlar & Wulff, 2022). People with high-clarity concepts can find more variants to satisfy their objectives (UÄźurlar & Wulff, 2022). The authors employ a measurement method that assesses self-other overlap between participants, revealing that decision-making demands independence from others (UÄźurlar & Wulff, 2022). The results of the research are recorded and show pro-incrementalism opinions.
Self-Serving Bias
The following articles focus on self-serving bias and aspects of self-control. The third source states that individuals with greater self-serving bias tend to exert greater influence over their decisions and actions (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018). The moral aspects of a person become more flexible and prone to freedom in their behavior (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018). The authors employ three methods: an experiment measuring power, an experiment manipulating power, and an experiment comparing power and control (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018). The participants are asked to recall their experiences and complete special scales (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018).
Self-Control
The fourth article highlights self-control as a predictor of behavior (Hagger, 2013). Correlational and experimental methods are employed, revealing that self-control is a personal characteristic that involves the ability to develop goal-directed behavior and to avoid negative habits (Hagger, 2013). As a result, the findings help evaluate the person’s self-serving bias and self-control in the case study.
Research Interpretation
The social psychology concept of incrementalism involves a wide range of characteristics that are nourished by the features of other notions and biases. The first article’s findings recognize incrementalism as a social psychology concept, supported by evidence that measures psychological dispositions (PreiĂźinger & Harald, 2018). The second source investigates the relationship between clarity and decision-making (UÄźurlar & Wulff, 2022). The research assesses the concept of clarity and concludes that its relationship with decision-making is substantial (UÄźurlar & Wulff, 2022).
The third article concludes that self-serving bias has measurable effects in experiments, revealing that a lack of control leads to frequent failures (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018). After testing and research, the fourth source states that self-control tends to fail after exhaustion, negatively impacting behavior (Hagger, 2013). Eventually, the concept of incrementalism is nourished by the mentioned psychological concept because a person changes their behavior by applying different levels of power and control.
Application of Incrementalism
The case study illustrates an individual’s predisposition to modify their actions and behavior. Here, incrementalism can be applied as life situations change goals, emotions, and needs (PreiĂźinger & Harald, 2018). The case presents evidence of Susan’s actions that deviate from previously settled plans. Her aim to invest all her time in her studies and her subsequent decision to complete coursework without proper research exemplify the concept of incrementalism.
Ethical Reasoning Application
The given case study presents an ethical issue arising from a change in the person’s priorities. Susan initially believes that education should be prioritized, but then she decides to prioritize her personal life over it. Such an attitude can lead to negative consequences for her future career and her ability to function as a psychologist. Consequently, Susan represents the ethical issue of poor responsibility in her study process and professional perspectives. The concept of clarity is applied to this case study.
Ethical Concept
The ethical notion of clarity encompasses a smooth behavioral process of adhering to specific standards and actions. Clarity helps achieve a goal, fostering success, and vice versa; an unstable concept harms goal pursuit (UÄźurlar & Wulff, 2022). Susan from the case study violates clarity by ignoring clear steps to achieve her objective. As a result of her neglectful attitude, others may suffer the consequences of her unprofessionalism.
Supportive Evidence
Susan shows a poor understanding of responsibility and of clarity of concepts. These ethical issues in the case study are supported by the time spent on relaxation rather than the thorough elaboration of coursework. The second piece of evidence is Susan’s decision to write her paper more efficiently by utilizing multiple credible sources and conducting thorough research. Another support for applying ethical issues to the case study is her view of the insignificance of GPA.
Critical Thinking Application
The given case study involves critical thinking of self-serving bias. Susan is eager to pursue a degree, earn a living, and advance in her profession. However, she overlooks the fact that events can develop in the opposite direction. Here, the critical thinking issue of self-serving bias is applied, as the potential blame for failures is attributed to external circumstances rather than poor personal performance.
Critical Thinking Issue
The case study illustrates Susan’s significant influence in the current situation. This scenario demonstrates that she has the freedom to act, which, in turn, leads to a greater effect of self-serving bias (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018). The concept used by the person creates the effect of indignity and arrogance toward surrounding people (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018). Susan’s weak self-control contributes to goal failure, negatively impacting her behavioral habits (Hagger, 2013). The issue in the case study could lead to future educational outcomes and career failures.
Supportive Evidence
The evidence of the self-serving bias in the case study is presented through Susan’s justification of her wrongdoing. She defends her poor attitude towards coursework elaboration, stating that she never aspired to become a famous therapist and that it was enough to establish her career. Such a decision demonstrates her power over the situation and freedom of choice, which may eventually lead to failures and undesirable consequences.
References
Hagger, M.S. (2013). The multiple pathways by which self-control predicts behavior. Frontiers Psychology, 4.
Lammers, J. & Burgmer, P. (2018). Power increases the self-serving bias in the attribution of collective successes and failures. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49 (5), 1087-1095.
PreiĂźinger, M. & Harald, S. (2018). Entity and incremental theory of personality: Revisiting the validity of indicators. Personality and Individual Differences 130, 21-25.
UÄźurlar, P. & Wulff, D.U. (2022). Self-concept clarity is associated with social decision making performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 197.