1) Working Title
"The Vampire Effect: A Life-draining Phenomenon
2) Topic
The vampire effect is caused by a number of different factors. I will be going into social comparison and how it leads to social isolation. I am writing about this because I think that it is very present in our society, especially college. Also, I believe that many times, the social groups are mostly blamed for other people's isolation, however I will be talking about how the socially isolated individuals allow it to happen to themselves.
3) Research Question
What causes the vampire effect?
4) Theoretical Frame
or Approach?
I will be talking about how social comparison leads to individuals feeling insecure about themselves. The main comparison I will be focusing on will be income. Not having as much money as the other people in someone's life would lead them to feel that it is their fault. We are raised to believe that we should take responsibility for our actions, and so this would make a person feel that it is their own fault that they are not as financially stable. This would lead to repressed feelings and ultimately isolation.
5) Research Plan,
Case or Additional Questions
Additional things I would like to address is whether or not the vampire effect exists at all. Perhaps it is just a theory. Also, I will be using 'The Red' to focus on Clara and Kate and discuss the difference between their lives.
6) Sources:
Williams, Jeffrey. "The Pedagogy of Debt." College Literature 33.4 (2006): 155-69. Web.
Liu, Jiangmeng, Cong Li, Nick Carcioppolo, and Michael North. "Do Our Facebook Friends Make Us Feel Worse? A Study of Social Comparison and Emotion." Human Communication Research 42.4 (2016): 619-40. Web.
"The Mental and Physical Toll of Student Loans." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
Taibbi, Matt. "Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal." Rolling Stone. N.p., 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
Novotney, Amy. "Facing up to Debt." American Psychological Association (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
Festinger, L. "A Theory of Social Comparison Processes." Human Relations 7.2 (1954): 117-40. Web.
OK, glad you posted this. You should find more readings on "social comparison theory," which seems to explain the phenomenon. As I pointed out during your presentation, you are basically arguing against Armstrong and Hamilton -- who coined the term -- and saying that the Vampire effect is not caused directly by the antagonism of more affluent peers but by the internal, agonizing, self-critical feelings of the, supposedly vampirized, less affluent students.
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