Punishment and Self-Persuasion in Adam and Eve Essay

Using Punishment and Self-Persuasion to Explain Adam and Eve The Book of Genesis tells the story of how God created man and woman. He permitted Adam and Eve to eat from any tree in his garden except the Tree of Knowledge, and they faced death if they did. They were handed out a severe threat; that of death. As we all know, Adam and Eve did eat from the tree of knowledge and were banished from the Garden of Eden. Looking at the situation from a social psychology perspective, I will examine why that was the case, and what God could have theoretically done to be obeyed. In other words, I will discuss why a mild threat might have worked better in this case. What is forbidden is desired. This age-old adage is the source of Adam and Eve’s†¦show more content†¦They have some sort of justification but not complete enough to explain why they haven’t tasted the forbidden fruit yet. Their answer does not serve to reduce dissonance like in the other case, so they look for other means to give grounds for their lack of action. One way to reduce their dissonance is to convince themselves that they don’t really want to eat the fruit. To complete their internal justification, Adam and Eve might expand on that and decide that the fruit is not that tasty. They might make up excuses such as â€Å"it doesn’t look great, so it must taste bad† or something along those lines. The kind of punishment God chooses to hand out starts a chain of events: The harsher the threat, the more external justification there is, the less the need for internal justification. On the other hand, the milder the punishment, the less external justification there is, the more the need for external justification. Does this theory hold up in controlled experiments? Elliot Aronson and J. Merrill Carlsmith (1963) concluded that â€Å"parents who use punishment to encourage their children to adopt desirable values should keep the punishment mild† (Aronson, Wilson, Akert 2009, p.165) when they tested a situation similar to this one (their forbidden toy experiment). Up to this point, we have discussed how a milder threat could have worked instead of a more severe one. We hope that Adam and Eve’s realization that the fruit is totally undesirable would hold forShow MoreRelatedA Literary Piece Of The Bible Essay2396 Words   |  10 Pagescomplex nature. The York play offers a more empathetic, interior, characterisation of Adam and Eve as not entirely perfected religious figures, but instead as relatable characters full of emotions and weaknesses, presented in a more intimate account. Arguably, due to this performative element, the dynamics of the York play are unconventional in comparison to its contemporaries. This unique approach produces an Adam, Eve, and Satan, who are ‘here’ and ‘now’. Therefore, the play effectively combines theRead MoreAnalysis Of John Milton s Paradise Lost Essay2201 Words   |  9 PagesEve’s story arc in Paradise Lost, by John Milton, is a bildungsroman, the German word for a â €Å"novel of education.† Eve develops through the five stages of a typical bildungsroman character, as demonstrated by several different works from the genre. It will be useful to discuss several different bildungsromans from different eras and regions to fully determine the necessary characteristics of a bildungsroman, like The Odyssey, To Kill a Mockingbird, David Copperfield, Adventures of Huckleberry FinnRead MoreDantes Inferno Essay1447 Words   |  6 Pagestalks about the birth of a wonderful child and that was thought to be a prophet of the birth of Jesus. Circle 7-9 In Canto 11 of the Inferno Virgil explains to Dante that violent sins, sins of violence, takes three forms other people, ones self, and God (28-33). The people who commit crimes against other are punishes in the first ring of the seventh circle, a river of blood (Inferno 12) Those people who commit suicide, those who commit crimes unto themselves are punished in a horrid forestRead MoreHobbes, Locke, And Rousseau s Theory Of Government3619 Words   |  15 Pagesaccording to reason without a common superior on earth with authority to judge between them, is properly the state of nature† (Strauss Cropsey, 1987, p. 478). c. In Second Treatise of Government, Locke states that the Almighty was accountable for Adam and Eve (Cahn, 2012, p. 464). IV. Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau disagreed in views on other subjects as well. a. Hobbes’s definition of natural law basically states that man is forbidden to do anything to destroy his own life or to take away the means toRead MoreGender And Gender Roles : The Black Boys2966 Words   |  12 Pagesthe contrary, Kesey alters traditional gender roles portraying women as emasculators of men and males as feeble ‘victims of matriarchal oppression’ . Each texts portrayal of gender roles can be questionable. Women were becoming more independent and self-ruling, rejecting patriarchal subordination during the time in which they were written. ‘By the end of the Sixties, more than 80 percent of wives of childbearing age were using contraception after the federal government in 1960 approved a birth controlRead MoreA Brief Analysis on Sexism in English5522 Words   |  23 Pageswomen are also not supposed to use strong expletives such as â€Å"damn† or â€Å"shit†. Instead, they are expected to use some weaker substitutes like â⠂¬Å"oh dear† or â€Å"fudge†. So unlike men who’re free to express their feelings with impunity, women have to learn self-control and tolerance. Since the perceivable ghettoized registers have been established, men would avoid involving these â€Å"taboo words† in their language in case that they may be taken as pansies. B. Sexism in Sentence Structure and Sentence Pattern Read MoreDiscussion of William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay3412 Words   |  14 Pagestrial of persuasion to continue. I can imagine this line being said as though it were a question, as if Macbeth was pondering the damnation of his act, If we should fail?. I could also replace the question mark in Lady Macbeths reply with an exclamation mark We fail!, giving the impressionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If we fail thats it were over. Lady Macbeths persuasive skill links in with the idea of women dragging men into sin, originally from the story of Adam and Eve, and Read MorePoetry by William King, Martyn Lowery, Andrew Marvell, Liz Lochhead, John Cooper Clarke and Elizabeth Jennings10576 Words   |  43 PagesClarke poems also suggests a possible ulterior motive. i dont wanna be hers may mean that Clarke has had his eye on someone else and is trying to win his way back into his girlfriends favour. Both these poems are attempts at persuasion and it is interesting to compare their different techniques. The Beggar Woman and Rapunzstiltskin are both poems that make fun of some aspects of love, but both have a serious point to make. The Beggar Woman shows a fineRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesWork–Life Conflicts 21 †¢ Creating a Positive Work Environment 22 †¢ Improving Ethical Behavior 22 Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model 23 An Overview 23 †¢ Inputs 24 †¢ Processes 25 †¢ Outcomes 25 Summary and Implications for Managers 30 S A L Self-Assessment Library How Much Do I Know About Organizational Behavior? 4 Myth or Science? â€Å"Most Acts of Workplace Bullying Are Men Attacking Women† 12 An Ethical Choice Can You Learn from Failure? 24 glOBalization! Does National Culture Affect OrganizationalRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pages40071 173—dc22 I. Cameron, 2009040522 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 ISBN 10: 0-13-612100-4 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-612100-8 B R I E F TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Preface xvii Introduction 1 PART I 1 2 3 PERSONAL SKILLS 44 Developing Self-Awareness 45 Managing Personal Stress 105 Solving Problems Analytically and Creatively 167 PART II 4 5 6 7 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS 232 233 Building Relationships by Communicating Supportively Gaining Power and Influence 279 Motivating Others