PSYC 2360: Introduction to Social Psychology
Jan 6/8
What is Social Psychology
- We are looking at the influence
- We don't act one way just because it is our temperament
- What determines whether you are outgoing or not
- Personality traits
- Situation or person (how do you react when someone cuts in their car in front of you)
- It's not just about what they are like as people, it depends on situations too
- Default: problem with the person
- But there are far more reasons for how someone acting the way they are
- Why do they blame the person rather than blazing the situation
- Easier to blame the person. Other things are kind of abstract
- Usually people don't take the time or effort to think about others (why they did what they
did)
- We like to believe we have control over our lives (because it is comforting)
- We do not have immediate knowledge of situational factors (simply easier to blame the
person because of their temperament or disposition)
- Giving people the benefit of the doubt required deliberate, complex thought
- If you gave people the benefit of the doubt, you’d be a happier person
- How much is your behavior dictated by conforming to how everyone else is acting?
- We are very influenced but we dont acknowledge it
- When this happened to someone, they act some way: didn't we already know that?
- Better safe that sorry: if you are safe, less likely to get in trouble
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained: if you don't take risks, you won't get the most out of
life
- Birds of a feather, flock together: people who are the same, spend more time together
- Opposites attract:
- Strike while the iron is hot: because f you do not, you will miss the opportunity
- Look before you leap: before you take action, think about it a little more
- Psychology studies/research: We are not just trying to understand things, we are trying
to predict behavior
- Do we understand something to the extent that we can
- It is hard to predict people’s behavior
- Overjustification effect: when children are rewarded for something, they start asking why
- Many said psychological findings are counterintuitive
- It is necessary to test our assumptions
- Psychology is very focused on research methods
- What is research in social psychology?
- Scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by
factors in the social world
- The physical sciences often involve more direct observations and measurements
- Why is direct observation more difficult for psychologists?
, - Psychologist research things like intelligence, aggression, personality
- But how do you measure these things? How do we know these things exist?
- We measure intelligence using a test
- Personality: self-report scale
- We are inferring intelligence based on answers to multiple questions
- In psychology, we are never measuring anything, we basically infer their existence
based on
- Observations are not direct
- How would social psychologists look at romantic dating?
- Measure:
- influenced by other people/social environment: observe actions of the partner and the
reactions; onlookers; context
- thoughts, feelings, actions: physical reactions; behaviors (phone calls, dates, gifts); self-
report
- individuals' perceptions of others: focus on what a person believes about another; self-
reports
- scientific study: conduct psychological experiment to discover psychological processes
underlying attraction and love; manipulate and control different variables; test
assumptions
Jan 13
Contd.
- Research methods review
Jan 15
The Self
- Global traits: apply to everyone
- Physical characteristics
- self-concept/social identity: individual you, distinguishes you from everyone else
- Social relations: relationship to others (part of family, political party); any kinf od group
affiliation. Something that is similar to other groups
Self-schema
- Self-concept: the sum total about individuals’ beliefs about their own personal attributes
- Self schemas: a belief/knowledge structure people hold about themselves that guides
the processing of self-relevant information
- Schema is a mental framework that helps us understand the world
What is the purpose of the “self”
- To see ourselves as a distinct entity in the world
- What is your role in society or in a different context?
- A role could be a job that you hold, however you classify yourself.
- Society creates and defines roles
- Knowing your roles decide how you behave
, - Also allows us to understand other people in different roles or “selves” and interact with
them successfully
How does the “self” develop?
- How you think of yourself is composed of many different things
- Upbringing, experiences play a role
- What we think we believe will do and what we actually do is very different
- Introspection can often be wrong
- Focus on that which is easily identifiable
- Reasons for feelings and behaviors can be hidden from conscious awareness
- Most people overestimate positives when self-assessing
- We are rarely in a situation in which we can judge other people
- There are a lot of situational/social factors play role, so if you were in that situation, you
might behave differently than what you believe
- Imagining what others think of us, and incorporating those perceptions
- Most of us care what others think of us
- Feedback from others tell us who and what we are
- The looking-glass self: we know ourselves through how we imagine we appear tp others
and how they will judge us
- Self-concept is influenced by cultural factors
- American parents ted to raise their children to be independent, self-reliant, whereas
japanese children are raised to fit into their groups and community
Construals
- Independent and self-construal
- What makes the self different
- Western society tends to prize independence
- Parenting styles: important to feel good about oneself
- Collectivism: what connects the self to the group
How do you feel about your “self”?
- Self Esteem: the overall positive or negative evaluation people have of themselves
- You can have many self-schemas, some of which may be viewed more or less favorably
than others
- Self-esteem is relatively stable over-time but does fluctuate depending on the context
How does self-esteem affect you?
- Sense of self-worth
- Good: initiative, resilient, pleasant feelings
- Bad: more likely to be obnoxious, interrupt, and to talk at people, act out against
negative criticism
- High self-esteem (bad) might work for them but not from a societal perspective
- At the end of the day, it is sometimes fine to feel bad about yourself
- We often describe ourselves by comparing ourselves to others
, - Social comparison theory
- We compare ourselves to others when we are uncertain about our abilities or opinions
- We choose those who are similar to us in ways that are relevant to the comparisons
- Downward social comparison
- Compare ourselves to people who are worse in a trait or ability
- Sicker, less intelligent, less talented
- Self-protective, self-enhancing strategy
Jan 20
Contd.
- But is it always self-protective?
- Depends on whether you think you are vulnerable to their plight
- The more vulnerable, the less self-protective (eg., losing your job, parents divorcing)
- Social media and social comparisons
- Upward social comparison
- Compare yourselves to people who are better we are
- There is a correlation between social media exposure and the users’ age
- There tends to be a skewness on how you think; why is my life not like that?
- Your life and your self-concept is not as good in comparison
- Why do we do it? (upward social comparison)
- Restoring our self-esteem
1. Distancing from friend
2. Changing relevance of self-definition
3. Improving performance to outshine the other
4. Mentally sabotaging other’s performance
- These feelings are natural and human
- If you just rationalize people’ success, there is no need to feel threatened about it
Self-serving attributes
- Our tendency is to prevent self-esteem
- When your self-concept is threatened by another’s behaviour the level of threat
determined by:
1. Closeness of the other individual
2. Personal relevance of the behaviour
- When people’s self esteem is threatened: we take credit for one’s own success and
blame others for one’s own failures
- “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go so I ran over him”
Strategic self-preservation
- Self-handicapping
- Procrastination, drinking or partying before a test, inappropriate comments during an
interview
- Why the self-defeating behaviour?
- Self-verification theory
Jan 6/8
What is Social Psychology
- We are looking at the influence
- We don't act one way just because it is our temperament
- What determines whether you are outgoing or not
- Personality traits
- Situation or person (how do you react when someone cuts in their car in front of you)
- It's not just about what they are like as people, it depends on situations too
- Default: problem with the person
- But there are far more reasons for how someone acting the way they are
- Why do they blame the person rather than blazing the situation
- Easier to blame the person. Other things are kind of abstract
- Usually people don't take the time or effort to think about others (why they did what they
did)
- We like to believe we have control over our lives (because it is comforting)
- We do not have immediate knowledge of situational factors (simply easier to blame the
person because of their temperament or disposition)
- Giving people the benefit of the doubt required deliberate, complex thought
- If you gave people the benefit of the doubt, you’d be a happier person
- How much is your behavior dictated by conforming to how everyone else is acting?
- We are very influenced but we dont acknowledge it
- When this happened to someone, they act some way: didn't we already know that?
- Better safe that sorry: if you are safe, less likely to get in trouble
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained: if you don't take risks, you won't get the most out of
life
- Birds of a feather, flock together: people who are the same, spend more time together
- Opposites attract:
- Strike while the iron is hot: because f you do not, you will miss the opportunity
- Look before you leap: before you take action, think about it a little more
- Psychology studies/research: We are not just trying to understand things, we are trying
to predict behavior
- Do we understand something to the extent that we can
- It is hard to predict people’s behavior
- Overjustification effect: when children are rewarded for something, they start asking why
- Many said psychological findings are counterintuitive
- It is necessary to test our assumptions
- Psychology is very focused on research methods
- What is research in social psychology?
- Scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by
factors in the social world
- The physical sciences often involve more direct observations and measurements
- Why is direct observation more difficult for psychologists?
, - Psychologist research things like intelligence, aggression, personality
- But how do you measure these things? How do we know these things exist?
- We measure intelligence using a test
- Personality: self-report scale
- We are inferring intelligence based on answers to multiple questions
- In psychology, we are never measuring anything, we basically infer their existence
based on
- Observations are not direct
- How would social psychologists look at romantic dating?
- Measure:
- influenced by other people/social environment: observe actions of the partner and the
reactions; onlookers; context
- thoughts, feelings, actions: physical reactions; behaviors (phone calls, dates, gifts); self-
report
- individuals' perceptions of others: focus on what a person believes about another; self-
reports
- scientific study: conduct psychological experiment to discover psychological processes
underlying attraction and love; manipulate and control different variables; test
assumptions
Jan 13
Contd.
- Research methods review
Jan 15
The Self
- Global traits: apply to everyone
- Physical characteristics
- self-concept/social identity: individual you, distinguishes you from everyone else
- Social relations: relationship to others (part of family, political party); any kinf od group
affiliation. Something that is similar to other groups
Self-schema
- Self-concept: the sum total about individuals’ beliefs about their own personal attributes
- Self schemas: a belief/knowledge structure people hold about themselves that guides
the processing of self-relevant information
- Schema is a mental framework that helps us understand the world
What is the purpose of the “self”
- To see ourselves as a distinct entity in the world
- What is your role in society or in a different context?
- A role could be a job that you hold, however you classify yourself.
- Society creates and defines roles
- Knowing your roles decide how you behave
, - Also allows us to understand other people in different roles or “selves” and interact with
them successfully
How does the “self” develop?
- How you think of yourself is composed of many different things
- Upbringing, experiences play a role
- What we think we believe will do and what we actually do is very different
- Introspection can often be wrong
- Focus on that which is easily identifiable
- Reasons for feelings and behaviors can be hidden from conscious awareness
- Most people overestimate positives when self-assessing
- We are rarely in a situation in which we can judge other people
- There are a lot of situational/social factors play role, so if you were in that situation, you
might behave differently than what you believe
- Imagining what others think of us, and incorporating those perceptions
- Most of us care what others think of us
- Feedback from others tell us who and what we are
- The looking-glass self: we know ourselves through how we imagine we appear tp others
and how they will judge us
- Self-concept is influenced by cultural factors
- American parents ted to raise their children to be independent, self-reliant, whereas
japanese children are raised to fit into their groups and community
Construals
- Independent and self-construal
- What makes the self different
- Western society tends to prize independence
- Parenting styles: important to feel good about oneself
- Collectivism: what connects the self to the group
How do you feel about your “self”?
- Self Esteem: the overall positive or negative evaluation people have of themselves
- You can have many self-schemas, some of which may be viewed more or less favorably
than others
- Self-esteem is relatively stable over-time but does fluctuate depending on the context
How does self-esteem affect you?
- Sense of self-worth
- Good: initiative, resilient, pleasant feelings
- Bad: more likely to be obnoxious, interrupt, and to talk at people, act out against
negative criticism
- High self-esteem (bad) might work for them but not from a societal perspective
- At the end of the day, it is sometimes fine to feel bad about yourself
- We often describe ourselves by comparing ourselves to others
, - Social comparison theory
- We compare ourselves to others when we are uncertain about our abilities or opinions
- We choose those who are similar to us in ways that are relevant to the comparisons
- Downward social comparison
- Compare ourselves to people who are worse in a trait or ability
- Sicker, less intelligent, less talented
- Self-protective, self-enhancing strategy
Jan 20
Contd.
- But is it always self-protective?
- Depends on whether you think you are vulnerable to their plight
- The more vulnerable, the less self-protective (eg., losing your job, parents divorcing)
- Social media and social comparisons
- Upward social comparison
- Compare yourselves to people who are better we are
- There is a correlation between social media exposure and the users’ age
- There tends to be a skewness on how you think; why is my life not like that?
- Your life and your self-concept is not as good in comparison
- Why do we do it? (upward social comparison)
- Restoring our self-esteem
1. Distancing from friend
2. Changing relevance of self-definition
3. Improving performance to outshine the other
4. Mentally sabotaging other’s performance
- These feelings are natural and human
- If you just rationalize people’ success, there is no need to feel threatened about it
Self-serving attributes
- Our tendency is to prevent self-esteem
- When your self-concept is threatened by another’s behaviour the level of threat
determined by:
1. Closeness of the other individual
2. Personal relevance of the behaviour
- When people’s self esteem is threatened: we take credit for one’s own success and
blame others for one’s own failures
- “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go so I ran over him”
Strategic self-preservation
- Self-handicapping
- Procrastination, drinking or partying before a test, inappropriate comments during an
interview
- Why the self-defeating behaviour?
- Self-verification theory
