Question

A college student who is expecting to graduate at the end of the semester considers shoplifting some textbooks from the bookstore to save the cost of buying them. She decides against it because the possibility of being expelled from the university a few months before graduation outweighs the possible gains of saving some extra money. This is an example of the ________ component of the social bond.

Answer 1

Commitment.

Step-by-step explanation:

The theory of Social Bond was developed by Travis Hirschi in 1969. The theory of social bond suggests that delinquency tend to take place when social bonds are weak or absent. Hirschi believed that humans possess a natural tendency for delinquency but only strong and denser social bonds stop them and make them behave according to the standards. He defined four elements of social bond theory: attachment, commitment, involvement, and beliefs.

In the given scenario, the element that is being displayed in the college student is commitment. According to social bond theory, commitment can be defined as a level of devotion that one has put in the achievement of a goal. If one has invested time, energy, and resource in the achievement of a goal, then that person is less likely to engage in deviant behavior as he/she has more to lose. In the same manner, the college student is committed to achieving and expecting to be graduated and thus less likely to engage in delinquency.

So, the correct answer is Commitment.