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THINK
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Chapter
1
What Is Social
Psychology?
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Social Psychology
• The exploration of the interaction of an
individual person and a given situation
• Three main areas of interest:
 social perception
 social influence
 social interaction
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Social Psychology
• Social perception
 forming an impression of others based on
available information
• Social influence
 the process by which one’s thoughts and
actions are affected by others
• Social interaction
 the relationship between two or more
individuals
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Social Psychology
• Social psychology overlaps with other
disciplines
 sociology
 personality psychology
 cognitive psychology
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Social Psychology
Macro
Micro
Sociology
Psychology
Social Psychology
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
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What are the roots of social
psychology?
• Social Facilitation versus Social Loafing
 Norman Triplett: Bicycling (1898)
 Max Rigelmann: Tug-a-War (1913)
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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The roots of social psychology:
Social Facilitation
• In 1898 Norman Triplett noted that
competitive cyclists performed better
during races than during solo rides.
 Subsequent research confirmed that a welllearned performance is enhanced in the
presence of others.
 Note the element of well-learned performance
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
The roots of social psychology:
Social Loafing
• In 1883 Max Ringelmann conducted a
study from which he concluded that an
individual’s performance actually gets
worse in the presence of others.
 Individuals make less of an effort when in a
group than they would if they were attempting
to achieve the goal on their own
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Social Loafing vs.
Social Facilitation
• Although these tow concepts seem to
contradict each other, they do not.
 Social facilitation occurs when people are
performing in the presence of others yet their
individual contributions can be identified
 social loafing occurs when persons are
performing a task as part of a group and
individual effort cannot be identified.
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Social Psychology in the
20th Century
• Charles Horton Cooley
 Human Nature and Social Order (1902)
• Edward Ross
 Social Psychology (1908)
• William McDougall
 Introduction to Social Psychology (1908)
• George Herbert Mead
 Mind, Self, and Society (1934)
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Social Psychology in the
th
20 Century
• The publication of two textbooks in 1908 was a
major milestone
• Social Psychology, published by Floyd Allport in
1924, was based on experimental research
• In 1936, the SPSSI was formed
 The SPSSI’s publication, The Journal of
Social Issues, shifted the thinking on human
behavior
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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The Impact of World War II
• The actions of Adolf Hitler brought many social
psychologists to the United States
 Kurt Lewin
 Fritz Heider
 Solomon Asch
• The premises of social psychology were key to
US wartime efforts
• The study of conformity (and its role in the war)
peaked in interest
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
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Adolf Hitler and Propaganda
•Muzafer Sherif
•Stanely Milgram
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
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Social Psychology Research
Comes in Two Types
• Basic research
 The fundamental ideas behind behavior and
cognitive processes
• Applied research
 Using social psychological ideas to address
issues in other fields
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Action Learning
• "Research that produces nothing but
books will not suffice." (Lewin 1948)
 Kurt Lewin argued that the objective of social
psychology must be a better understanding of
human behavior for a purpose
 The objective is to apply research and create
a more considerate and peaceful world
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Practicing What We Preach
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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What Are The Different Perspectives
of Social Psychology?
• Sociocultural Perspective
• Evolutionary Perspective
• Social Cognitive Perspective
• Social Learning Perspective
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Sociolcultural Perspective
• This perspective focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture
 Social behavior is not only influenced by the
presence of others but also cultural norms will
have a significant influence
 Note the differences between individualistic
versus collective cultures
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Evolutionary Perspective
• This perspective focuses on the physical
and biological predispositions that result in
human survival
 Natural selection would indicate that those
behaviors that enhanced survival would be
passed on to subsequent generations
 Evidence of this approach would be seen in
other animals as well as human beings
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Social Cognitive Perspective
• This perspective is derived from the
behavioralism perspective
 It assumes that an individual’s cognitive
process influences and is influenced by
behavioral associations
 Classical and operant conditioning are
aspects of this perspective
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Social Learning Perspective
• This perspective argues that individuals
learn from observing the behaviors of
others
 Individuls observe modeled behaviors and, in
turn behave in a similar manner
 Sanctions either reinforce or discourage a
give behavior
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Modern Social Perspectives on
Why People Steal
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
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Modern Social Perspectives on Why
People Steal
• Sociocultural Perspective:
 Because of the influence of a materialistic
culture
 People steal because the culture places a
greater emphasis on objects considered
valuable than it does people
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Modern Social Perspectives on Why
People Steal
• Evolutionary Perspective:
 The emphasis is on survival of the gene pool
 People steal because acquiring certain
objects can improve the changes for survival
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Modern Social Perspectives on Why
People Steal
• Social Cognitive Perspective:
 Cognitive processes have not been
established that identify stealing as wrong
 No cognitive conditioning has occurred to link
stealing with a negative experience
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Modern Social Perspectives on Why
People Steal
• Social Learning Perspective:
 The pattern of stealing has been established
through observation
 As such, stealing is perceived as an
acceptable behavior
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Social Psychology and
Other Disciplines
• The premises of social psychology are
valuable to many other fields




Economics and business
Neuroscience
Government
Other areas of psychology
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Social Psychology and
Other Fields
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Is Social Psychology Just
Common Sense?
• “Common sense” knowledge is often
belied by social psychology research
• The hindsight bias
 We often think we knew what would happen
after it happens
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Doesn’t Everyone Agree with Us?
• Common sense is subjective, and not
uniform across all people
• The false consensus effect
 The assumption that everyone shares one’s
opinion
 Caused by differential construal
- Different people judge circumstances differently
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
How Do We Minimize Bias?
• Confirmation bias
 Paying attention only to information that
supports our beliefs
 Disregarding information that conflicts with
our beliefs
• The scientific method
 A process for conducting research that
minimizes different types of bias
THINK Social Psychology
Kimberley Duff
Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.