Download TOPIC 1- INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

TOPIC 1- INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Definition of social psychology
Social psychology is about what goes on in the hearts and minds of human
beings. It is the scientific study of the way in which, people’s thoughts, feelings
and behaviours are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people
(Allport 1985).
Social psychology involves understanding individual behaviour in a
social
context Baron et al (1989). It looks at human behaviour as influenced by other
people and the context in which this occurs.
To social psychologists, however, social influence is broader than attempts by one
person to change another’s behaviour. Firsty, not only our behaviour but also our
thoughts and
feelings are influenced by others. 2 nd social influence takes on
many forms other than deliberate attempts by others to modify n our behaviour
- we are often influenced by the implied presence of others
e.g. We make decisions that make our parents happy and proud of us -Girl told to
get home bat six by father even when married nit still continues.
Unlike
anthropology and sociology which are interested in how people are
influenced by their social environment- Sp is distinct.

It is concerned not with social situations in any objective sense but how
people are influenced by their interpretation or construal (they way in
which people perceive, comprehend and interpret the social world) of the
social environment.

According to social psychologists it is more important to understand how
a person perceives, ,comprehends, or interprets the environment than it is
to understand the objective environment (Lewin 1943)

E.g. John admires Mary. How do you predict whether John will ask many
to go out with him. (A) You can observe Mary’s objective behaviour
towards john –does she smile . Such a casual observer may decide that
john will ask
her out. As
a
SP, however
you have
to view
Mary’s
behaviour through john’s eyes- looking at how John interprets Mary’s
behaviour.

Construals go as far courtrooms, Jury may be give a lot of evidence but
it all depends on the judge’s interpretation.

SP bridges the gap between psychology and sociology. The field
of SP
emerged from the many intersections of sociological and vocal interests.

According to Judith Rodin (19850 it is not bad people but----bad situations
that create social, problems. There is need to view a situation through
people’s eyes in order to understand why people behave the way they
do in a particular situation.
Applied social psychology
Many. If not most societal problems have social psychological aspects , that is
they are rooted in behaviour or human cognitions e.g. traffic accidents are to a
larger extend caused by unsafe driving styles and the unrealistic perception
that one is a better driver than most others, environmental problems result in
part from growing consumption levels and a tendency to pay attention to one’s
own immediate interests (Steg et al 2008)
Consequently, solutions and prevention of such problems require changes in
attitudes, values, behaviour and lifestyle.
(Zimbardo, 2002). So SPs
can play
important roles in this respect e.g. Application of behavioural strategies that targets
changeof attitudes e.g. HIV, AIDS and attitude towards condom use , childhood
disease and attitude of apostolic sects.
The above examples demonstrate how SPs may help resolve social problems
and highlights the main thrust of applied social psychologists.
Applied
social
psychology
refers
to the
utilisation of
social
psychological
principles and research methods in real world settings in efforts to understand
and solve a variety of individual and societal problems.
In order to design effective solutions for social problems there is need, to
a) Understand which behaviour causes the given problem. Applied SP should
focus on these aspects of a social problem where interventions would
have the most impact in resolving these problems.
 e.g. the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS - there may be gender based
focus men versus women (that is focusing more on men who usually
believe that to be a real man they should have several wives)
b) there
is
need
behaviour
to
examine
especially
which
antecendents
factors
of the
influence
behaviour
the
or
particular
cause
e.g.
Cultural norms influence man to indulge.
c) It is important to understand which intervention techniques are available
to change
behaviour
interventions
should
taking
therefore
into account
focus
targeted
on attitudes
and
antecedents
social
norms
related to manhood.
Applied
SP
can
interventions by
also play
an important
in evaluating
the
effects of
examining to what extend interventions indeed of behaviour
and the underlying determinants and
resolved. This
role
will
not only
reveal
whether social problems are indeed
whether
intervention
programmes
are
successful but also how they can be improved. Evaluation helps to test SP
theories min real life settings.
Broadly speaking therefore applied social psychology can be defined as the
systematic application of social psychology concepts, theories and research
(SPCTRs) to understand or ameliorate social problems. (Scamp and Schultz,
1986)
Concepts
Social psychology concepts encompass constructs and principles. Constructs are
the building blocks of psychological
principles and theories. A construct refers to a
clearly defined individual (psychological) characteristic that is generally latent and
therefore not directly observable although it can be assessed though interviews or
quesionnaires e.g. attitudes (i.e. whether one evaluates a topic positively or
negatively), values (i.e. General believes about desirable behaviour or goals) or
social norms (i.e.
particular behaviour)
Whether ones social group disapproves or approves of a
Principles
A principle is a statement or how a psychological process works . Principles
describes basics processes by which humans think ,feel and act e.g
a) the foot in the door technique, which involves making a small initial request,
followed by a larger related request within a short period, generally those who
agreed to the small request are much more likely to comply with larger request as
well as compared to those who were asked and those who did not agree to the small
request.
b) cognitive dissonance, which refers to the uncomfortable tension that can result
from having two conflicting thoughts are the same time, or from engaging in hours
that conflicts with one’s beliefs or attitudes. When two cognitions concluding beliefs,
emotions, attitudes , behaviourt) are incompatible individuals try to reduce this
dissonance by inventing new thoughts or beliefs, or modifying existing beliefs.
c) The availability of heuristics, refers to the tendency to judge the likelihood of
frequency of an event by the ease with which relevant instances come to mind.
Theories
A theory is an intergrated set of principles that describes, explains and predicts
obsessed events (NB-will be covered in topic 2)
History of social psychology
Understanding something of the history of SP will be crucial in helping you think a
SP
Early years
Aristitole believed that humans were naturally sociable a necessity which allows us
to live together (an individual centred approach), whilst Plato felt that the state
controlled the individual and encouraged social responsibility though social context
(a socio-centred approach)
Hegel (1970-1831) introduced the concept that society has inevitable links with the
development of social mind. This led to the idea of a group of mind, important in the
study of SP.
Lazarus and stenthal wrote about Anglo-European influences in 1860.
VolkerPsychologie (Germany) emerged which focused on the idea of a collective
mind-personality develops because of cultural and community influences especially
language which is a social product of the community as well as a means of
encouraging social thouthgt in the individual.
Tripplett (1898) did on experiment on social facilitation in USA.
Wundt (1900-1920) encouraged the methodological study of language and its
influence on social being.
Between 1908-1924 SP appeared as an independent entity. William McDougal 1908
published an article entitled social psychology stating that social behavior stems from
instincts (genetics )
Allport (1924) influenced today’s thinking to a greater extent. He acknowledged that
social behavior results from interactions between people. His book dealt with topics
such as conformity (Brown 2006)
Social psychology’s youth.
Murchinson published a handbook in social psychology in 1935.
Murphy and
Murphy 1931/37 produced a book summarizing the findings of 1, 000 studies in SP
1940s -1950s SPs focused attention on the influence that groups and group
membership exert on individual behavior and the link between personalty traits and
individual behavior. Festinger (1957) developed a cognitive dissonance
1960-SP come of age in USA-Canadian SP began to expand at the end of the
1960s
Social psychology’s maturity
Much of the key sp developed following WW2, when people became interested in
the behavior of individuals when grouped together and in social situations.
In the 1970s Canadian psychologists began to study issues relevant to their society/
New topics were studied e.g attitude formation, obedience (Milgram), Zimbardo’s
prison stimulation demonstrated conformity to given roles in the social world. Wider
topic s began to
emerge, such as social perception, aggression, relationships,
decision making, prosocial behaviour and attributes.