Social Psychology

By the end of the lecture and with some further reading you should be able to:

Define Social Psychology? Outline how social psychology relates to

other similar paradigms Outline the historical development of social

psychology Discuss the social and cognitive processes

associated with social psychology Discuss theories that explain the

development of attitude

Learning Outcomes

PSYCHOLOGY

• The scientific study of the human mind and its

functions, specially those affecting behavior in a given

context.

• The mental characteristics or attitude of a person or

group.

• Sociology is the scientific study of society.

The scientific study of how individuals think, feel,

and behave toward other people and how individuals

thoughts, feelings, & behaviours are affected by other

people (Brehm, Kassin, & Fein 2002 p5).

The scientific investigation of how the thoughts

feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by

the actual, imagined and implied presence of others

(Hogg & Vaughan 2005 p4).

Social Psychology

Definitions• Aronson

– The influences that people have upon the beliefs or behavior of others.

• Gordon Allport– The thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals

as shaped by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

Historical development

Well before social psychology became a particular area of scientific enquiry, philosophers such as Plato had observed & commented on the phenomenon of the “crowd mind” .

Plato asserted that “crowd mind” was potentially irrational and not representative of the intellect of the individual when outside of the crowd.

Norman Triplett is often credited as the founder of social psychology (Brehm et al 2002).

Some key names in Social Psychology

Gust ave Le Bon (1841- 1931)

Fr ench soci al psychol ogi st best known for hi s st udy of t he psychol ogi cal char act eri sti cs of cr owds

Nor man Tri plett Publ i shed a paper i n 1898 on t he i nfl uence of t he pr esence or i magi ned presence of other s i n at hl eti cs (social f acilit ati on eff ect)

Muzafer Sherif (1934, 1936)

St udi ed nor m for mati on i n groups (t he Aut oki netic paradi gm)

Gor don All port (1954)

The cont act hypot hesi s & int er-gr oup confli ct

Sol omon Asch (1951)

Conf or mi t y (maj ority & mi norit y i nfl uences)

St anl ey Mi l gram (1963)

Obedi ence t o aut horit y

Some key names/developments in Social Psychology

American Psychological Society

Set up ethical guidelines in 1972 following the controversy of Milgram’s experiments on obedience.

3 Broad areas Social influence Social Perception Social interaction

Attitude & behaviour

Richard La Piere (1934) carried out a study on the link between attitude & behaviour

Leon Festinger (1957)

Developed the Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Insight into social interaction

Henri Tajfel (1919-1982)

Social Identity Theory & the Minimum Group Paradigm.

Fritz Heider (1896 – 1988)

The social psychology of interpersonal relationships particularly Attribution Theory & Balance Theory

Kurt Lewin (1890 – 1947)

Created the experiential learning cycle Specialised in organisational behaviour & group dynamics (Change Theory)

Social Side Of life• The social side of life is perhaps the most central aspect of our daily

lives.

• How many times each day do you interact with other people- Family, friends, partners, neighbors, professors, sales staff in stores? And how many times do you think about other people? The correct answer is uncountable or a no. which is difficult to recollect.

• The social side of life which is core of social psychology is a key aspect of our lives and our existence.

• (Example Movie Legally Blonde, A girl shopping with her friends, thinking that her friend is going to propose her today but when they meet he throws her a curve as he had got admission in Harvard Law School, girl tries to win him again by taking admission in same school which was very difficult for her as law was not her cup of tea, she likes shopping, parties, not studying etc……..).

Social Psychology• Social psychology is a scientific field that seeks to understand the

nature and causes of individual behavior and thought in social situation.

• Social psychology investigates the way in which our thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the social environments in which we live- by other people or even by our thoughts about them.

• Social psychology is “the scientific studies of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another.”

• How the individual mind works in the actual presence of others, implied presence of others, and the imagined presence of others.

• It Studies attitude formation, self-concept, forming relationships, social influence, social thinking, motivations for helping and harming others.

Cont….• Social psychology is the scientific field that seeks to understand the

nature and causes of individual behavior and thought in social

situation.

What is science?

• Chemistry, physics & biology…….. So how can we link a field that

seeks to study the nature of love, the causes of aggression, etc.

• Answer to this is very simple:- In reality, the term science does not

refer to a special group of highly advanced fields. Rather, it refers to 2

things:

(i) A set of values and (ii) Several methods hat can be used to study a

wide range of topics.

Following Values must be adopted to be considered

scientific in nature:(i) Accuracy: gathering & evaluating information about the world

including social behavior & thought in a careful, precise, and

error-free manner.

(ii)Objectivity: Obtain & evaluate such information in a manner that

is free from bias.

(iii)Skepticism: Accepting findings as accurate only to the extent they

have been verified.(Verifiability)

(iv)Open-mindedness: commitment to change views if the existing

views are inaccurate.

Concisely

• Social psychology, is deeply committed to these values and

applies them in efforts to understand the nature of social

behavior and social thoughts. For this reason , it makes sense

to describe social psychology as scientific in orientation.

“ But why adopt the scientific approach? Isn’t

social psychology just common sense?”

• We as an amateur social psychologists think …Why not rely on our own experience and intuition ??

• For Instance, consider the following statement, suggested by common sense: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Do you agree? Is it true that when people are separated from those they love, they miss them and so, experience increased longing for them?

• “ Out of sight, out of mind.” How about this one? When people are separated from those they love, do they quickly find another romantic interest?

• Many songs even suggest that “ if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with”.

What you observed?• Both the suggested statements by common sense and popular

culture are contradictory. The same is true for many other informal observations about human behavior.

• How about these two:……….

(i) “ Two heads are better than one,” and

(ii) “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”

One suggest that when they work together, they perform better, make better decisions. The other suggest that when they work together, they may get in each other’s way resulting in reduced performance.

** As we come to know others better, we tend to like them more- we feel more comfortable with them.

OR

** As we come to know others better, we tend to like them less.

Common Sense

• Common sense suggest that more is more when liking is

concerned. On the other hand, recent findings indicate

that the more we know about others, the less we like

them. Because as we learn more about others, we

recognize more ways in which we are dissimilar to them.

Conclusion

• Common sense often suggest a confusing and inconsistent

picture of human behavior. This is one important reason

why social psychologists put their faith in the scientific

method, it yields more conclusive evidence.

• In fact, it is designed to help us determine not only which of

the opposite sets of predictions discussed is correct, but also

when and why one of the other might apply.

Social Psychology & other disciplines

• Hogg & Vaughan 2005

Social Psychology

Clinical Psychology

Sociology

Personality Psychology

Cognitive Psychology

Social Psychology & other disciplines

Sociology Unlike social psychology sociology focuses on communities and social systems. Social class, social control & political influence are examples of sociology.

Personality Psychology

Unlike social psychology, personality psychology tries to understand individual differences that are relatively stable over time. Social does not address personality directly.

Clinical Psychology

Focuses on diagnosis & treatment of psychological disorders or abnormal behaviour. Social does not diagnose & treat people.

Cognitive Psychology

Focuses on mental processes such as thinking & reasoning, memory & perception etc. Social psychology does focus on thinking processes but mainly as it affects social behaviour

Social Psychology focuses on the behavior of individuals

• Societies differ greatly in terms of their views concerning courtship and

marriage; yet it is still individuals who fall in love.

• Similarly, societies vary greatly in terms of their overall levels of

violence; yet it is still individuals who perform aggressive actions.

• The actions are performed by, and the thoughts occur in, the minds of

individuals. Because of this basic fact, the focus in social psychology is

strongly on individuals.

• Social psychologist realize, of course, that we do not exist in isolation

from social & cultural influences.

• The field’s major interest lies in understanding the factors that shape the

actions and thoughts of individuals in social settings.

Social Psychology seeks to understand the causes of social

behavior and thoughts• Social psychologists are primarily interested in understanding the

many factors and conditions that shape the social behavior and thought of individual----their actions, feelings, memories, and inferences concerning other people.

A huge no. of variables play a role in this regard:-

(i) Social Interaction (Action & interaction of other people):

(ii) Cognitive Processes:

(iii)Environmental variables (Impact of the physical world):

(iv)Cultural Context:

(v) Biological Factors:

Actions and Characteristics of Other

Persons :• We are affected by various actions of others.

• For example, you are standing in the queue for a local train ticket and somebody tries to break the queue. In no time, you would get upset with the person and shout at him. This and many other instances would help you to understand that your behavior is affected by the actions of other individuals. Similarly, certain characteristics of people also change your behavior.

• For example, you are waiting at bus-stop, and you realize that a blind man wants to cross a road. You would quickly move ahead and help him. These and many other physical psychological and social characteristics of people are responsible for our actions.

Cognitive Process

• Our thinking determines what we do in social circumstances.

• This is studied in the area of social cognitions.

• Cognition is our thinking process.

• Our behaviour is determined by what we think. That is one

reason why two people do not respond to the same situation

identically.

• Since two different people think differently about the situations

and social realities, they respond differently.

Social & cognitive processes

Ways in which our emotions influence our thinking

Ways in which our motives justify our means

Ways in which significant others, e.g. family, society, influence our attitudes, values and beliefs.

Ways in which our perceptions influence our reality

Cognitive processes

Cognitive processes

Environment

• The physical world around us to a great extend

determines our behavior.

• Researchers have shown that the temperature is

negatively related with individual aggression and

irritability.

• Similar types of questions are also asked in social

psychology.

Cultural Context• The culture in which we stay or are born and brought up

determines our behavior.

• Culture is sum of values, beliefs, practices, art, language, etc.

• Every culture has a different belief and value system.

• For example, our decisions would depend on whether we belong

to individualistic culture or collectivistic culture.

• For instance, marriage would be decided by individual in

individualistic cultures and they are decided by a process of

mutual agreement among the family members in collectivistic

cultures.

Biological Factors• The biological factors influence our social behavior.

• They can be understood as physiological factors and neurological factors, genetic factors, and evolutionary factors.

• The physiological factors contain hormones, functions of various glands, immune system, motor system, etc.

• The neurological factors include the brain structures, the neural cells (neurons), the neurotransmitters, etc.

• The genetic factor would contain the study of influence of genes on human behaviour.

• The evolutionary psychology focuses on explaining the social behaviour as a function of process of evolution.

8 Principles of Social Behaviour

Two fundamental principles:

People construct their own reality

People are influenced & influence others

Three motivational principles:

Strive for mastery Strive for connectedness Value “me & mine”

Three processing principles:

Conservatism Accessibility Superficiality Vs

Depth

END