meaningful informed consent to participate in the study.

This implies
that participants should be informed about the aim of the study and the
impact the study may have on them.
" Invasion of privacy: the privacy of the participants should be respected.
Personal details should be kept confidential.
Debriefing: research participants should be debriefed as soon as
possible after the research is completed in order to update them on the
research, and deal with any misconceptions.

Goals of science
Another similarity between basic and applied social psychologists is that both
are motivated by four main goals of science: description, prediction, causality
by
and explanation. We define these goals below and illustrate them
considering the possible influence of social relationships on health.
Description refers to identifying and specifyingg the details and nature of a
phenomenon. Often, different types of the phenomenon are distinguished, and
case of
the frequency of occurrence of the phenomenon is recorded. In the
record
examining effects of social relationships on health, a researcher may health.
psychical
people's health status, and collect data on both physical and people have with
The researcher may also record how many relationships
others. Accurate descriptions of phenomena provide an important first step
towards understanding them, but not sufficient. because it
Prediction enhances undderstanding of phenomena, for example
knowing what factors
does reveal why people are healthy. Predictionof requires
interest. Thus, to what extent
are systematically related to the phenomenon
various factors is examined.
the phenomenon being studied is correlated with relationships appear to be
In our example, if people who have many social are positively related
healthier (which suggests that social relationshipspredicted by the number of
be
health), we would understand that health can sure whether
socialrelationships people have. However, we would still not be
relationships cause a better health status. A third factor could be
social between health and the number of
responsible for existence of the relationship
self-confidence could influence both health
friends a person has. For example,
of social relationships. It could be that self-confident people
and the number making friends. Alternatively, the
in
are healthier, and are more successful
 LINDA STEG AND TALIB ROTHENGATTER

Introduction: social problems and human cognition and

behaviour
Social psychology is a basic science aimed at understanding human social
behaviour and the motivations, cognitions and emotions related to such
behaviour. For example, social psychologists try to understand why people so
easily give in to social pressure, why people often seem insensitive to the
needs of others, why people become aggressive, why people like each other or
why people are unhappy even though they seem to have everything going for
them. Social psychology tries to build knowledge primarily through laboratory
experiments, and therefore theories and findings from social psychology may
sometimes seem remote from the actual problems in society. However, many,
if not most, societal problems have social-psychological aspects, that is, they
are rooted in behaviour or human cognitions. For example, integration
problems may result from conflicts between groups and the inherent human
tendency to favour one's own group, and traffic accidents to a large extent
caused by unsafe driving styles and the unrealistic perception that one is a
better driver than most others. Moreover, health problems are related to
unhealthy eating habits and a sense of not being able to control one's appetite,
and environmental problems result in part from growing consumption levels
and a tendency to pay attention only to one's immediate interests.
Consequently, solutions and prevention of such problems require changes in
attitudes, values, behaviour and lifestyles (Zimbardo, 2002). Social
psychologists can play an important role in this respect. Box 1.1 illustrates how
social problems may - at least partly - be managed via behavioural changes.
This example demonstrates how social psychologists may help resolve social
problems and highlights several issues that enhance the social utility of applied
social psychological studies. First, in order to design effective solutions for
social problems, we have to understand which behaviour causes the given
problem. Applied scientists should focus on those aspects ofa social problem
where interventions would have the most impact in resolving these problems.
In our example, speeding by moped riders was studied because moped riders
are relatively often involved in traffic accidents, while, in tun, these traffic
accidents appeared to be strongly related to speeding. Second, it is important
to examine which factors influence the particular behaviour. Behaviour-change
programmes will be more effective to the extent to which they target important
antecedents of behaviour. Thus, we need to understand which factors cause
behaviour. Third, it is important to understand which intervention fechniques
are available to change behaviour, taking into account which behavioural
antecedents are typically targeted by various intervention techniques. In our
number of social relationships an individual maintains may depend on health
status, that is, healthier people may be more outgoing and make more friends.
Thus, identifying causes of a phenomenon is another important component
of understanding: we need to determine causality. This means that we have to
find out whether changes in one factor indeed cause changes in the other
factor. By demonstrating that social relationships increase health, we could
provide clear-cut suggestions to increase people's health.
A final component of understanding is explanation. Explanation implies the
need to establish why a phenomenon or relationship occurs. Why would social
relationships improve one's health status? Is it because people need social
support in difficult times, because people need to relate to others or because of
some other factor?

Causes of behaviour and cognitions

As mentioned above, both basic and applied social psychologists are primarily
interested in understanding the many factors and conditions that affect the
behaviour and thoughts of individuals concerning other people. Obviously,.
behaviour and thoughts are shaped by many diferent factors. In general,
social psychologists take into account individual, social., situational, cultural and
biological factors, as well as interactions between these factors.
Individual factors refer to interpersonal characteristics and processes.
Individual differences may exist in cognitive processes and in the extent to
which people engage in behaviour. For example, people who strongly value
the environment may be more likely to recycle products than those who
strongly value individual interests. Likewise, people with positive attitudes
towards speeding are more likely to speed. And extroverts are more likely to
have an active social life than introverts.
Social factors pertain to the effect of opinions and actions of other people
on our behaviour and thoughts. We are often strongly affected by the actions
and thoughts of other people, and by social situations. lmagine, for example,
that you arrive at a pedestrian-crossing light. No traffic around at all. Will you
cross the street if the light is red? Your reaction might be quite different when
many people neglect the red light and cross the street to when many people
are waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Fashion is another apt example of
the influence of actions of other people on our behaviour and thoughts. For
example, people wear specific clothing because many others or important role
results is of particular importance. Finally, we described three main roles that
applied social psychologists fulfil in practice: (1) researcher, (2) consultant and
(3) policy advisor.

Glossary
Accuracy: gathering and evaluating information that is as precise and error-free as
possible.
Applied social psychology: the systematic application of social psychological
constructs, principles, theories, intervention techniques, research methods and
research findings to understand or solve social problems.
Causality: identifying causes of a phenomenon.
Construct: a clearly defined individual (psychological) characteristic that is generally
latent and not direcly observable.
Deductive approach: starting with a particular theory, and examining to what extent
the theory is hclpful in understanding various types of social behaviour.
Description: identifying and specifying the details and nature of a phenomenon.
Explanation: establishing why a phenomenon or relationship occurs.
Inductive approach: starting from a specific social problem, and examining to what
extent various theories help to understand specific problems, and which theory
provides the best explanation of the particular behaviour cauising the problems.
Objectivity: minimizíng bias in obtaining and evaluating data.
Open-mindedness: accepting evidence as valid, even if the evidence is not consistent
with one's initial, and perhaps strongly held, beliefs and theories.
Prediction: knowing what factors are systematically related to the phenomenon of
interests.
Principle: a statement of how a psychological process works.
Scepticism: accepting findings as accurate only to the extent that they have been
verified over and over again by the data.
Scientific methods: methods that depend on empirical tests, that is, the use of
systematic observations to evaluate propositions and ideas.
Social psychology: the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of
individual behaviour and thought in social situations.
Theory: an integrated set of principles that describes, explains and predicts observed
events.

Review questions

1. Give a definition of applied social psychology.

2. Discuss three correspondences between basic and applied social
psychology.
3. In which respects do basic and applied social psychology differ?
4. Which are the most important features of applied social psychology?
p
5. Discuss three possible roles of applied social psychologists.

Further reading
Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D. & Akert, R. M. (2005). Social psychology. 5th edn. Upper
Saddle River. NJ: Pearson Education.