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Summary Social Psychology (book and lecture notes), ISBN: 9781848728943 Introduction to Social Psychology
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Social PsychologyChapter 1: What is social psychology?
A definition of social psychology
Social psychology = scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way
individuals perceive, influence and relate to others.
Social processes = the ways in which input from the people and groups around us affect our
thoughts, feelings and actions.
Also affect us when we are physically alone (studying alone to impress other people).
Social processes depend on ;
Cognitive processes = ways in which our memories, perceptions, thoughts and emotions influence
our understanding of the world and guide our actions.
Understanding these processes can help us comprehend why people act the way they do and solve
important social problems.
Historical trends and current themes in social psychology
Social psychology becomes an empirical science
Soon after the emergence of psychology in the late 19 th century, researches began with
questions about social influences on humans.
Norman Triplett published one of the first social psychology research in 1898 about
performance with and without other people present.
Max Ringelmann found in 1880 that when people worked together pulling a rope, they put
less effort into the task than when they worked alone.
First textbook named Social Psychology appeared 1908.
Social psychology splits from general psychology over what causes
behavior
Throughout 20th century, North American psychology was dominated by behaviorism, but
social psychologists maintained emphasis on the effects of thoughts/feelings on behavior.
The rise of Nazism shapes the development of social psychology
Before & during WWII many European social psychologists fled to North America, where they
had a big influence on the field. Questions raised by WWII shaped research during this
period.
Social psychologists helped government with practical problems; how to get people to eat
less steak and more kidney/liver, how to improve troop morale and resist propaganda.
Kurt Lewin characterized social psychology with his ideas that people’s subjective
interpretation of reality is key to their believes and behaviors. Also linked research focused
on understanding with offering practical solutions to social problems.
Growth and integration
Since 50’s-60-‘s social psychology has grown and 1. Integrated theoretical understanding of
social and cognitive processes as well as 2. Offering applications of social-psychological
theory to important applied problems.
Also integration with other sciences such as cultural psychology, evolutionary psychology,
embodiment and neuroscience.
, Social psychologists are both researching and applying their findings. Real world problems
are both a source of theoretical ideas and a target for solutions.
How the approach of this book reflects an integrative perspective
Eight principles of the field will be discussed.
Two fundamental axioms of social psychology
1. People construct their own reality
2. Social influences are pervasive (doordringend).
Construction of reality = the axiom that each person’s view of reality is a construction, shaped both
by cognitive processes (the ways our minds work) and by social processes (input from others either
real or imagined).
Pervasiveness of social influence = the axiom that other people influence virtually all of our
thoughts, feelings and behavior whether those others are physically present or not.
Three motivational principles
Striving for mastery = people seek to understand and predict events in the social world in order to
obtain rewards.
Understanding ourselves and the world and applying that understanding to control outcomes and
gain rewards.
Seeking connectedness = people seek support, liking and acceptance from the people and groups
they care about and value.
Valuing “me and mine”= people desire to see themselves and other people and groups connected to
themselves, in a positive light.
Three processing principles
Conservatism principle = individuals’ and groups’ views of the world are slow to change and prone to
perpetuate themselves. Established views are slow to change.
Accessibility principle = information that is most readily available generally has the most impact on
thoughts, feelings and behavior. Accessible information has the most impact.
Superficiality versus depth = people ordinarily put little effort into dealing with information, but at
times are motivated to consider information in more depth. People can process superficially or in
depth.
Common processes, diverse behaviors
In combination, these eight principles account for all types of social behavior.
Book is about:
1. Fundamental social and cognitive processes that operate as human beings perceive, influence and
interact with others
2. The way social psychologists learn about these processes.
,Chapter 2: Asking and answering research questions
Research questions and the role of theory
Research questions are provoked by curiosity and often reflect important social problems.
Scientific theory = statement that satisfies three requirements:
1. Statement about constructs. Constructs = abstract and general concepts that are used in
theories and that are not directly observable. Example = self-esteem. You cannot directly
observe self-esteem.
2. Describe causal relations = causal relations among constructs. Interventions = practical steps
taken to change behavior/solve problems.
3. General in scope = applying to many people in different settings and times. Can be limited by
cultural differences, males/females etc.
How research tests theories
Valid research is guided by the same three properties as above:
1. Must have accurate measures for valid construct
2. Control variables for causation
3. Think about the studied group / scope .
Construct validity and measurement
Construct validity = extent to which the independent and dependent variables used in research
correspond to the theoretical constructs under investigation.
Dependent variable = concrete measurement of a construct that is thought to be an effect of other
constructs.
Independent variable = concrete manipulation of a (measurement of) construct that is thought to
cause other constructs.
Social desirability response bias = people’s tendency to act in ways that they believe others find
acceptable and approve of.
Different type of measures
Self-report measures = asking the individual about his/her experience.
Observational measures = directly watching/recording people’s behavior.
Archival measures = examining traces of past behavior.
Performance measures = participants perform task as well as they can.
Physiological measures = measuring physiological process.
EEG (Electro-encephalographic) = electric signals on the scalp to detect neural events.
FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) = activity of specific brain regions.
Construct validity can be ensured by using multiple measures.
, Internal validity and types of research design
Internal validity = extent to which it can be concluded that changes in the independent variable
caused changes in the dependent variable.
Research design = plan that specifies how research participants will be selected and treated.
Nonexperimental research design (correlational design) = both the independent and dependent
variable measured. Low internal validity, high construct validity.
Experimental research design = randomly assign participants to different groups and manipulate one
or more independent variables. High internal validity, low or high construct validity depending on
controllable variables.
Random assignment = assigning participants to different experimental groups so that every
participant has the same chance of being in any given group.
Manipulate = intentionally varying some factor as the independent variable in an experimental
research design.
Confederate = research assistant playing a specific role in the study, such as pretending to be a
participant.
External validity and research populations and settings
External validity = extent to which results can be generalized to other appropriate people, times and
settings.
Some research aims at generalizing to specific people, other research seeks to generalize across
people.
Results do not apply directly. Research supports theory > theory makes predictions.
Individualistic cultures = people think of themselves as separate from other people and define
themselves in terms of uniqueness.
Collectivistic cultures = people think of themselves as linked to others and define themselves in
terms of relationships with others.
Demand characteristics = cues in a research setting that lead participants to make inferences about
what researches expect and therefore bias how the participants act.
Field research = research outside the laboratory.
1. If the goal is to generalize TO specific population, the participants and setting must be
representative of the target.
2. If the goal is to generalize across population, the best way is to repeat research in multiple
settings with different populations/cultures.
Evaluating theories: the bottom line
Replication = conducting new studies to provide evidence for the same theoretically predicted
relations found in prior research.
Meta-analysis = systematic technique for locating studies on a particular topic and summarizing their
results.
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