Chapter 1 Introducing Social Psychology

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09.02.2012Effects• Actions and characteristicsof others• Cognitive processes• Environmental variables• Cultural context• Biological factorsLevel of explanationExample: Studying prejudice• A sociologist - may study how American prejudice towardsJapanese has changed since WWII• A clinical ψist – may test various therapies for people withantisocial personalities who exhibit great degrees of prejudice• A personality ψist – may develop a questionnaire to identifymen who are very high or low in degree of prejudice towardswomen• A social ψist – manipulate exposure to a member of somecategory of people (e.g. Elderly) and measure the thoughts andconcepts that are cognitively oriented (social –cognitive ψ) ormanipulate various kinds of contact between individuals ofdifferent groups and examine the effects of these manipulationson the degree of prejudice exhibited.Important Themes in Social Psychology1. The power of the situation (social influence)2. The subjective “construction” of realitythe impact of a situation depends upon personal and subjectivemeaningRather than the objective characteristics of the situation- socialpsychologists are interested in people’s construal of their socialenvironment.3. Interplay of motivational and cognitive factorsmotivational – wishes, desires, hopescognitive – the way our minds work4. Applicable to important social issues4
09.02.2012Social behavior is the result of the complex interactionbetween the person and the situation• Person :• typically refers to all of the characteristics that theperson carries into a social situation. Includes physicalattributes, attitudes, beliefs, preferences, andpsychological traits.• Situation:• focus on events outside the person. These include bothtemporary features such as environmental demands andlong-laA Brief History of Social Psychology[Social] ψ has a long past, but only a shorthistory• Essentially a 20 th century field• ‘Social psychology’ as a term came into common usage aroundthe turn of the 20th century.• 90% of social psychologists who had ever lived were still alive in1979 (Cartright in Brehm, et al, 2005)• In contrast: Personality ψ - Freud, Jung, Adler, Rogers are alllong dead.• Why “long past”?5
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Chapter 1 Introducing Social Psychology

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