Week 1 Notes

a. Watch the following videos in Social Psychology and its various aspects. As you watch
the first video, take note of how the speaker defines Social Psychology.

The speaker said that social psychology is the scientific study about how individuals’
thoughts, feelings and behavior are shaped by the actual, implied or imagined presence of
others. How we are shaped by other people. How we are affected by the social situation.

What are social psychology’s big ideas?

1. Power of the situation- social psychology shows us how powerful the social context
is in affecting how we act, think and feel.

2. Our behavior is shaped by our subjective construal of situations. Basically,

people have different perspectives, what we might react to might be different from
each other. What we bring into a situation might filter what we see (its filtered by our
personality, experiences. It means that social psychologist follows the scientific
method (question, hypothesis, procedure, experiment, analysis and conclusion. In
social psychology people usually use correlational (natural association) or
experimental methods. It’s relevant in so many domains of life.

b. As you watch the next 3 videos, take note of the topics involved in each major area

1. Social Thinking- its harder to convince other people in your opinion because they
become entrenched in their own environment. Let people take a step back in a new
way. One way to do that is to instill doubt in someone’s opinion, make the message
much more relevant to them (personal relevance and personal connection).

2. Social Influence- In the past we used to focus on persuasion but nobody like getting
persuaded so currently we are looking at how we can influence someone
unconsciously, by behaving and not behaving you can channel and shape your
behavior it’s called unconscious processing, it’s a powerful tool because you don’t
resist. Leaders embody what the status quo want, you can influence them vividly but
 it also has to be subtle this is called an implicit nudge. Repetition of the constant
message

3. Social Relations- chance to share on things but also divisiveness. Intergroup conflict
includes prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. They all combine when its
intergroup conflict. We can control over stereotype thinking, less prejudice and more
accepting. Social learning, modeling prosocial and nondiscriminatory behavior.
Leaders, not model bias.

 In your own words, what is Social Psychology? Why is there need for us to study it?

Shanty: Social psychology is the study of how people's thoughts, emotions, and actions are
shaped by the presence of others. It's essential to study this field because it helps us understand
human behavior in social contexts, which can lead to insights that can improve our
communication, reduce conflicts, and promote positive interactions within society.

Angel: Social psychology by definition is the scientific study of how individuals' thoughts,
feelings and behavior are influenced by the presences and actions of others within a social
context, so social psychology has a huge influence in people's behavior. It looks at how we
behave in social situations and why we act the way we do when we're around people.

Studying social psychology is important because it helps us understand how our behavior is
shaped by the situations, we're in and the people around us. It teaches us about persuasion, how
we form attitudes and beliefs, and why we sometimes have conflicts with others. By learning
about social psychology, we can figure out how to get along better with people, change attitudes,
reduce prejudices, and improve relationships. It's all about understanding how people think and
act in social situations and how we can make our interactions better.

 Based on your answer in the previous question., how is Social Psychology similar and
different from other Psychology courses you have taken?

Shanty: Social psychology is akin to other psychology branches in its study of human behavior,
but it uniquely focuses on how social interactions influence thoughts and actions. Unlike other
psychology fields, which might emphasize individual cognition or clinical aspects, social
psychology highlights the impact of the social environment on behavior. It investigates topics
like conformity, persuasion, and intergroup relations, providing insights tailored to navigating
complex social dynamics.

Angel: Social psychology can be applicable in to so many fields of psychology. From my

previous courses, social psychology is similar to other branches of psychology, like cognitive
and developmental psychology, in that it examines human behavior and how individuals change
over time, including their social situation. However, social psychology differs from the
biopsychological aspect and personality psychology, by focusing on social influence rather the
biological and genetic trait of one’s personality.

If there is one social psychological topic that you would be interested to explore, what would it
be? Why?
Shanty: I find the topic of conformity in social psychology particularly intriguing. Conformity
delves into the fascinating realm of how individuals adjust their behavior and beliefs to match
those of a group, often despite their personal opinions. This phenomenon showcases the balance
between the desire to belong and the need for autonomy. Understanding the psychological
mechanisms driving conformity can shed light on the power of social influence, group dynamics,
and the factors that push individuals to align with the majority. Exploring conformity offers
insights into decision-making, peer pressure, and the delicate balance between maintaining
individuality and fitting into social norms.

Angel: As for a social psychology topic I’d be interested in exploring the topics of how people
tend to categorize themselves and others into groups and how this can lead to biases, prejudices
and even conflicts. It's fascinating to understand how simple group distinctions can influence our
thoughts and behavior towards others, and exploring ways to reduce negative outcome of these
categories could have significant societal implications. An example of this is social identity and
self-concept. Its fascinating how our sense of self us influenced by our group belongingness and
how this can lead to behaviors like ingroup favoritism and outgroup prejudice
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Jhangiani & Tarry, 2022 (Ch. 1) Definition of Social Psychology
ABC of Social Psychology Research methods in Social Psychology Ethics in Social Psychology research

1.1 Defining Social Psychology:

History and Principles

Kurt Lewin is sometimes known as “the father of social psychology”

because he initially developed many of the important ideas of the discipline,
including a focus on the dynamic interactions among people.

social cognition—an understanding of how our knowledge about our social

worlds develops through experience and the influence of these knowledge
structures on memory, information processing, attitudes, and judgment.

social neuroscience—the study of how our social behavior both influences

and is influenced by the activities of our brain.

The Person and the Social Situation

Social psychology is the study of the dynamic relationship between
individuals and the people around them. But our behavior is also profoundly
influenced by the social situation—the people with whom we interact every
day.

Our social situations create social influence—the process through which

other people change our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and through which we
change theirs. Kurt Lewin formalized the joint influence of person variables and
situational variables, which is known as the person-situation interaction, in an
important equation:

Behavior = f (person, social situation).

Lewin’s equation indicates that the behavior of a given person at any given
time is a function of (depends on) both the characteristics of the person and the
influence of the social situation.

Evolutionary Adaptation and Human Characteristics

In Lewin’s equation, person refers to the characteristics of the individual
human being. People are born with skills that allow them to successfully interact
with others in their social world. The assumption that human nature, including
much of our social behavior, is determined largely by our evolutionary past is
known as evolutionary adaptation.

In evolutionary theory, fitness refers to the extent to which having a given

characteristic helps the individual organism to survive and to reproduce at a higher
rate than do other members of the species who do not have the characteristic.

Two fundamental motivations that guide us and help us lead productive and
effective lives- self-concern and other-concern.

SELF-CONCERN
The most basic tendency of all living organisms, and the focus of the first
human motivation, is the desire to protect and enhance our own life and the lives of
the people who are close to us. Kin selection—strategies that favor the
reproductive success of one’s relatives, sometimes even at a cost to the individual’s
own survival.

Other Concern
We also desire to connect with and be accepted by other people more
generally—the goal of other-concern.

Social Influence Creates Social Norms

Social influence is anything but subtle; it involves one or more individuals
actively attempting to change the beliefs or behaviors of others. One outcome of
social influence is the development of social norms—the ways of thinking,
feeling, or behaving that are shared by group members and perceived by them as
appropriate.

Different Cultures Have Different Norms

culture represents a group of people, normally living within a given
geographical region, who share a common set of social norms, including religious
and family values and moral beliefs. Norms in Western cultures are primarily
oriented toward individualism (self-enhancement and independence).

These norms indicate that people should be more fundamentally connected

with others and thus are more oriented toward interdependence, or collectivism.
1.2 Affect, Behavior, and Cognition
Social psychology is based on the ABCs of affect, behavior, and cognition.

1. Affect (feelings)

2. Behavior (interactions)

3. Cognition (thought)

Social Cognition: Thinking and Learning about Others

Social cognition is cognition that relates to social activities and that helps us
understand and predict the behavior of ourselves and others. Two types of
knowledge are particularly important in social psychology: schemas and attitudes.

Schema is a knowledge representation that includes information about a

person or group. An attitude is a knowledge representation that includes primarily
our liking or disliking of a person, thing, or group. Social cognition involves the
active interpretation of events.

Social Affect: Feelings about Ourselves and Others

Affect refers to the feelings we experience as part of our everyday lives. We
experience affect in the form of mood and emotions. Mood refers to the positive or
negative feelings that are in the background of our everyday experiences.
Emotions are brief, but often intense, mental and physiological feeling states. In
comparison with moods, emotions are shorter lived, stronger, and more specific
forms of affect.

Social Behavior: Interacting with Others

The sharing of goods, services, emotions, and other social outcomes is
known as social exchange. Social rewards (the positive outcomes that we give
and receive when we interact with others) include such benefits as attention, praise,
affection, love, and financial support. Social costs (the negative outcomes that we
give and receive when we interact with others).

People have learned to cooperate by giving benefits to those who are in

need, with the expectation of a return of benefits at a future time. This mutual, and
generally equitable, exchange of benefits is known as reciprocal altruism.