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Social Psychology: Understanding Individual Behavior in Social Situations - Prof. Samuel S, Study notes of Psychology

An introduction to social psychology, a scientific field that explores how individuals are influenced by others. Topics include the scientific method, types of social psychology, research methods, social influence factors, self, social cognition, and person perception. Learn about key concepts, theories, and research methods in social psychology.

Typology: Study notes

2010/2011

Uploaded on 02/11/2011

morgan2670
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Chapter 1: Social Psychology
What is Social Psychology?
Key concept: not mere action but interaction
Social psychology – studies how we are influenced by others; scientific field that seeks to
comprehend the nature & causes of individual behavior in social situations
Scientific Method
Observation
Questions
Hypothesis
Testing
Theory
Types?
Psychological social psychology
Sociological social psychology
History of Social Psychology
Norman Triplett – conducted 1st social psychological experiment (1895); “bicycle
rider”: with/without competitor
William McDougall & Ross – first to use term “social psychology” (1908) “social
behavior” – innate tendency or instinct
Floyd Allport – social behavior was affected by different factors such as presence of
others
Cross Cultural Psychology: Individualism & Collectivism
Individualism
oPrivacy
oSelf identity
oInner attribute of self
oIndependent
oIndividual decision
Collectivism
oSocial system
oSocial identity
oSocialization
oInterdependent
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Chapter 1: Social Psychology

What is Social Psychology?  Key concept: not mere action but interaction  Social psychology – studies how we are influenced by others; scientific field that seeks to comprehend the nature & causes of individual behavior in social situations Scientific Method  Observation  Questions  Hypothesis  Testing  Theory Types?  Psychological social psychology  Sociological social psychology History of Social Psychology  Norman Triplett – conducted 1st^ social psychological experiment (1895); “bicycle rider”: with/without competitor  William McDougall & Ross – first to use term “social psychology” (1908) “social behavior” – innate tendency or instinct  Floyd Allport – social behavior was affected by different factors such as presence of others Cross Cultural Psychology: Individualism & Collectivism  Individualism o Privacy o Self identity o Inner attribute of self o Independent o Individual decision  Collectivism o Social system o Social identity o Socialization o Interdependent

o Loyalty & harmony *Social Influence Factors

Self ∆ Other

Environment/Social Context

Chapter 2: Research Method in Social Psychology

 Where & what  Where: location  What: design Research: Basic or Applied in nature  Basic research: increase knowledge about social behavior  Applied research: increase understanding of solutions to real world problems Scientific Research  Conduct systematical research  Not just common sense o Investigate common sense assumptions about human behavior o Avoid errors in perception/ thinking process Hypothesis  Specific propositions/expectations about the nature of things derived from a theory Types of Research Methods I. Observational research method II. Cross-cultural research method III. Quasi-experiment research method IV. Experimental research method V. Correlation research method

o Peer review process  Informed consent form, voluntary participation, debriefing, etc. Correlation research method  Relationship between two or more variables  Provides info on the direction & strength of the linear relationship between variables  Correlation: direction  Positive correlation – when one variable increases, the other variable also increases  Negative correlation – when one variable increases, the other variable decreases Correlation Coefficient: Strength  r = ± 1.  ± : direction (positive or negative)  1.00: strength, maximum value, range from 0 to 1. Statistics: significant level  Statistical significance p < 0.  Random likelihood is under 5% Meta-Analysis  A statistical procedure used to understand the outcomes of many studies

Chapter 3: Self

Knowing thyself  Self concept  Self esteem  Self monitoring: self presentation  Self scheme  Self perception  Self awareness Who am I?  _____________________________________________ Self Concept  The sum total of a person’s thoughts & feelings defining the self as an object  Perceptions of our own quality  Characteristics of self

 The knowledge of the kind of person you are Contents of self-concepts  Physical attributes  Traits & disposition  Gender identity  Role identity  Racial identity Self-esteem  A person’s evaluation of his/her self-concept  Evaluative component of the self-concept in either positive or negative way  Positive evaluation: high self-esteem  Negative evaluation: low self-esteem Self-esteem & risks taking behavior  People w/low self-esteem, are more concerned about protecting themselves from threat & are less inclined to take risks than people with high self-esteem Dark side of high self-esteem  High self-esteem: more aggressive & defensive than other when someone challenges their favorable self-assessments Self-enhancement  The process of seeking out & interpreting situations so as to attain a positive view of yourself Self-monitoring  Tendency to use cues from other people’s self-presentation in controlling one’s own self- presentation Self-schema  Schemas: organized, repeatedly exercised patterns of thought about some stimulus, which are built up from experience & which selectively guide the processing of new info  Cognitive generalization about the self  Derives from the past experience  Organize & guide the processing of self-related info contained in the individual’s social experience

o Yawning o Groaning o Sneezing o Snoring Impression formation  Our impressions of others are shaped by their nonverbal behavior o Facial expression Facial expressions  Happy  Surprise  Sadness  Anger  Disgust  Fear Problems in understanding/detecting facial expressions  Particular vocation o Actor/actress  Cultural norms Eye contact  Eyes don’t lie, do they?  Eye contact & social interacting o Friendliness, liking, etc  Staring Body language  Emblems: nonverbal acts w/direct verbal translation o Sign language  Illustrators: nonverbal acts company speech  Regulator: helping flow of conversation  Adaptor: sitting or leaning to show how you are reacting Attribution  Infer the causes of behavior

 Internal attribution: personal dispositions/responsibility, stable traits  External attribution: situational/environmental factor Jones & Davis: Correspondent inference  Focus on internal attribution  Fritz Heider: father of Modern Attribution Theory  Internal attribution o Voluntary behavior o Non common effects o Low in social desirability Schacter & Singer’s Theory  External attribution  Over-justification effect: when we are rewarded for performing intrinsically interesting activities we become less interested in those activities Kelley’s Theory  Either internal or external attribution o Consistency: high/low → high – talk every day o Consensus: high/low → high – people talk back o Distinctiveness: high/low → low – if talk everywhere Consistency Consensus Distinctiveness High Low Low internal High High High external Biases in Attribution  Fundamental attribution error: quick to blame others internal move  Actor-observer effect: mistake b/c of actor/observer  Self-serving bias: good happen = internal; bad = environmental (external)  Self-handicapping: you tried to disable self & use it as an excuse Social Cognition