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SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY SUMMARY
WEEK !: Social Perceptions and Misperceptions
Social Psychology is the scientific study of how we think
about one another also called social cognition. The interplay
between our sense of self and our social worlds - how do our
social surroundings shape our self-identities? How we form our
beliefs? Also look at the links between our thinking and
actions, between our attitudes and behavior.
It is the social thinking – how do we perceive ourselves and others,
what do we believe? The judgments we make about ourselves and
others. What are our attitudes? What role does social
influences play and what are the social relations with the
other people.
WHAT are Social Psychology’s Big Ideas – to identify and
describe the central concept behind social psychology?
 We construct our social reality
WHAT is your behavior / how do you behave in different
situations and why do you behave in that way? Social
psychologist wants to explain why people are behaving
certain types of ways. Is the behavior orderly,
predictable and controllable?

Our social intuitions are often powerful but sometimes
perilous
Our instant intuitions shape our fears, impressions and
relations. We trust our memories and misread sometimes
our own minds - we deny being affected by things that do
influence us. We mis-predict our own feelings, sometimes
we do not know how we would react to sad news. Our
intuitions can also be dangerous sometimes.

Social influences shape our behavior
We speak and think in words we learned from others. We
long to connect, to belong and to well thought.
Relationships are a big part of human being.

Our attitudes
Inner attitudes affect behavior, example smoker’s
attitude influence to peer pressure to smoke.
Personalities disposition also affect behavior.

Social behavior is biologically rooted
We are sensitive and responsive to our social context.
Example if the man abuses the wife, it is normally right
for the boy to abuse his wife one day as well.

Are Principles applicable in everyday life?
Social Psychology has the potential to illuminate your
life, to make visible the influences that guide your
thinking and acting. How to know ourselves better?
It is about life – your life: your beliefs, your attitudes,
your relationships and the influences on your life.
Human values influences social psychology
 Obvious ways values enter psychology
Values differ not only across time but also across
culture. Values also influences the types of people who
are attracted to various disciplines also

Not-so-obvious ways values enter psychology
- The subjective aspects of science
Science is not purely objective. Your mind blocks from
awareness something that is there if only you were
predisposed to perceive it.
- Psychological concepts contain hidden values
Defining the good life – values influences our idea of
how best to live. Professional advice – mostly reflects
on the advice givers personal values. Forming concepts
– while doing research concepts are being formed about
that specific person. Labeling – we label people to
groups, certain behaviors, certain attitudes.
I knew it all along: Is social psychology simply common sense?
Social psychology are criticized because the document the
obvious. Experiments reveal that outcomes are more obvious
after the facts are known. The hindsight bias (I knew it
along) – makes people over confidant about their judgments and
predictions.
Social Psychology Research Methods:
Psychologist organizes their ideas and findings into theories.
Research is either correlation or experimental. They prefer to
conduct experiments that explore cause and effect. Experiments
enable social psychologist to test ideas from life experience
and then to apply the principles and finding to the real
world.
Social Psychologist test the way human beings are thinking and
why are they thinking that way: What is the perception of how
each individual sees certain picture or even a certain
studies?
In Week 1 there are Concepts that has been identified that
falls under social perceptions and misperceptions and how this
is affected with attitudes and behavior. There is no right or
wrong way in Psychology but rather the explanation of how
every individual analyses a certain study.
Human beings need to be self-fulfilling prophecies:
Believes can literary create reality. Behavioral Confirmation
– when a person’s social expectations lead then to act in a
way that causes others to confirm these expectations – it is a
social type of self-fulfilling prophecy. So my conclusion to
this study material and lectures that you first need to
understand yourself and your thinking before you can do this
to other human beings. That is why Week 2 starts with concepts
about YOU in the social world.