Chapter 1
What is Social Psychology?
Social Psychology = the scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way
individuals perceive, influence and relate to others.
Social Psychology’s central concern is how people understand and interact with others
Social processes = the ways in which our thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the people
around us, the groups to which we belong, our personal relationships, the teachings of our parents
and cultures, and the pressures we experience from others.
Cognitive processes = the ways in which our memories, perceptions, thoughts, emotions and
motives guide our understanding of the world and our actions.
Important points:
1. Social processes affect us even when others are not physically present
2. The social processes that affect us even when others are present depend on how we
interpret those others and their actions, and therefore on the operation of cognitive
processes.
Historical trends and current themes in social Psychology
- Greek philosophy
- The emergence of the science of Psychology
- Norman Triplett, the first research study in social Psychology
- First two textbooks by William McDougall (innate tendencies produce social behavior) and
E.A. Ross (people are heavily influenced by others, whether present or not)
- Nazi-induced flee of European psychologists (Gestalt) to USA
- Kurt Lewin: all behavior depends on the individual’s life space, meaning the subjective map
of the individual’s current goals and his or her social environment.
- Cognitive Psychology emerges around 1960
Eight principles in social Psychology:
Axioms
1. Construction of reality
- Shaped in part by cognitive processes and in part by social processes
2. Pervasiveness of social influence
- Other people influence all of our thoughts, feelings and behavior, whether those others are
present or not.
,Motivational principles
3. People strive for mastery
- Predicting and understanding social events in order to obtain rewards
4. People seek connectedness
- Creation of feelings of mutual support, liking and acceptance from valued others.
5. People value me and mine
- We are motivated to see ourselves and anything connected to us in a positive light
The processing principles
6. Conservatism: established views are slow to change
7. Accessibility: accessible information has the most impact
8. Superficiality vs. depth: people can process superficially or in depth
- Disagreement challenges not only our sense of mastery and understanding but also out
feelings of connectedness, triggering anxiety and uncertainty
Chapter 2
Asking and Answering Research Questions
Scientific theory = A statement about the causal relationships among abstract constructs, that holds
for specified types of people, times and settings.
Social comparison theory: the idea that people evaluate their abilities, opinions and outcomes by
comparing themselves to others.
A scientific theory satisfies three requirements:
1. It is a statement about constructs
- Constructs = abstract concepts that are not directly observable
2. It describes causal relations
3. It is general in scope
Valid research is also guided by these 3 properties:
1. Because theories deal with constructs, researchers have to be sure the specific observations
they make are relevant to those constructs (Construct validity)
- All variables must correspond to the intended construct
- All variables must not correspond to other constructs
Social desirability response bias can be a threat
, Control: using the best measure ensures construct validity
Self-report measures
Performance measures
Control: using multiple measures
2. Because theories describe causal relations, researchers have to be sure they know the causes
of any changes in behavior they find in their studies. (Internal validity)
Factors other than changes in the independent variable may be present and may be causing
the observed changes in the dependent variable
Control: using an experimental research design
Random assignment
Manipulation
3. Because theories are general in scope, researchers have to be sure they have learned
something about how people in general think, feel and act. (External validity)
If the goal is to generalize to some specific target population and setting, the
participants and setting must be representative
If the goal is to generalize across people, places and times, multiple settings and
populations must be used.
Realistic conflict theory: hostility between social groups is caused by direct competition for limited
resources.
Experimental designs offer high internal validity. Reasons to use a non-experimental design:
1. Some independent variables cannot be intentionally varied.
2. Ethical boundaries to personal variables
3. Other research manipulations cannot be as powerful as the variation in constructs found in
everyday life
Downsides of lab studies:
1. Short time span
2. Artificial quality
3. Participants pay more attention than usual
4. Participating in research nay itself elicit special motives
- Demand characteristics = participants’ perceptions of the research purpose
Field research often has good construct validity
Meta-analysis allows researchers to examine the generality of research across replications conducted
by different researchers using diverse methods, settings and populations.
What is Social Psychology?
Social Psychology = the scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way
individuals perceive, influence and relate to others.
Social Psychology’s central concern is how people understand and interact with others
Social processes = the ways in which our thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the people
around us, the groups to which we belong, our personal relationships, the teachings of our parents
and cultures, and the pressures we experience from others.
Cognitive processes = the ways in which our memories, perceptions, thoughts, emotions and
motives guide our understanding of the world and our actions.
Important points:
1. Social processes affect us even when others are not physically present
2. The social processes that affect us even when others are present depend on how we
interpret those others and their actions, and therefore on the operation of cognitive
processes.
Historical trends and current themes in social Psychology
- Greek philosophy
- The emergence of the science of Psychology
- Norman Triplett, the first research study in social Psychology
- First two textbooks by William McDougall (innate tendencies produce social behavior) and
E.A. Ross (people are heavily influenced by others, whether present or not)
- Nazi-induced flee of European psychologists (Gestalt) to USA
- Kurt Lewin: all behavior depends on the individual’s life space, meaning the subjective map
of the individual’s current goals and his or her social environment.
- Cognitive Psychology emerges around 1960
Eight principles in social Psychology:
Axioms
1. Construction of reality
- Shaped in part by cognitive processes and in part by social processes
2. Pervasiveness of social influence
- Other people influence all of our thoughts, feelings and behavior, whether those others are
present or not.
,Motivational principles
3. People strive for mastery
- Predicting and understanding social events in order to obtain rewards
4. People seek connectedness
- Creation of feelings of mutual support, liking and acceptance from valued others.
5. People value me and mine
- We are motivated to see ourselves and anything connected to us in a positive light
The processing principles
6. Conservatism: established views are slow to change
7. Accessibility: accessible information has the most impact
8. Superficiality vs. depth: people can process superficially or in depth
- Disagreement challenges not only our sense of mastery and understanding but also out
feelings of connectedness, triggering anxiety and uncertainty
Chapter 2
Asking and Answering Research Questions
Scientific theory = A statement about the causal relationships among abstract constructs, that holds
for specified types of people, times and settings.
Social comparison theory: the idea that people evaluate their abilities, opinions and outcomes by
comparing themselves to others.
A scientific theory satisfies three requirements:
1. It is a statement about constructs
- Constructs = abstract concepts that are not directly observable
2. It describes causal relations
3. It is general in scope
Valid research is also guided by these 3 properties:
1. Because theories deal with constructs, researchers have to be sure the specific observations
they make are relevant to those constructs (Construct validity)
- All variables must correspond to the intended construct
- All variables must not correspond to other constructs
Social desirability response bias can be a threat
, Control: using the best measure ensures construct validity
Self-report measures
Performance measures
Control: using multiple measures
2. Because theories describe causal relations, researchers have to be sure they know the causes
of any changes in behavior they find in their studies. (Internal validity)
Factors other than changes in the independent variable may be present and may be causing
the observed changes in the dependent variable
Control: using an experimental research design
Random assignment
Manipulation
3. Because theories are general in scope, researchers have to be sure they have learned
something about how people in general think, feel and act. (External validity)
If the goal is to generalize to some specific target population and setting, the
participants and setting must be representative
If the goal is to generalize across people, places and times, multiple settings and
populations must be used.
Realistic conflict theory: hostility between social groups is caused by direct competition for limited
resources.
Experimental designs offer high internal validity. Reasons to use a non-experimental design:
1. Some independent variables cannot be intentionally varied.
2. Ethical boundaries to personal variables
3. Other research manipulations cannot be as powerful as the variation in constructs found in
everyday life
Downsides of lab studies:
1. Short time span
2. Artificial quality
3. Participants pay more attention than usual
4. Participating in research nay itself elicit special motives
- Demand characteristics = participants’ perceptions of the research purpose
Field research often has good construct validity
Meta-analysis allows researchers to examine the generality of research across replications conducted
by different researchers using diverse methods, settings and populations.
