CHAPTER 1
What Is Social Psychology?
Number range NL1LEARNING OBJECTIVES: GUIDELINES FOR STUDY
You should be able to do each of the following by the conclusion of Chapter 1.Number range NL1
1Number range NL_a. Define social psychology. Identify the kinds of questions that social
psychologists try to answer.
2Number range NL_a. Explain how social psychology differs from sociology and other fields of
psychology. Assess the limitations of the following statement: all social psychological findings
are simply common sense.
3Number range NL_a. Describe the early origins of social psychology and the state of the field up
until 1950. Identify when the field of social psychology became a distinct field of study, the
various founders of the field, and the historical event that inspired interest in and shaped the field
of social psychology. Explain the contributions made by Allport, Sherif, and Lewin.
4Number range NL_a. Describe the state of social psychology from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, from
the mid-’70s to the 1990s, and in the present, new century. Explain the various ways in which
contemporary social psychology can be referred to as “pluralistic.”
5Number range NL_a. Distinguish between different perspectives social psychologists use to
understand human behavior. Define social cognition. Summarize the increasing effort in social
psychology to develop an international and multicultural perspective.
6Number range NL_a. Explain how social psychology incorporates biological, evolutionary, and
sociocultural perspectives of human behavior. Describe the role of new technologies such as PET
and fMRI in the investigation of social behavior.
Number range NL1CHAPTER OUTLINENumber range NLI
INumber range NLA. What Is Social Psychology?Number range NLA
ANumber range NL1. Defining Social PsychologyNumber range NL1
BNumber range NL1. Social Psychological Questions and Applications
CNumber range NL1. The Power of the Social Context: An Example of a Social Psychology
Experiment
DNumber range NL1. Social Psychology and Related Fields: Distinctions and
IntersectionsNumber range NL1
ENumber range NL1. Social Psychology and Common Sense
IINumber range NLA. A Brief History of Social PsychologyNumber range NLA
ANumber range NL1. The Birth and Infancy of Social Psychology: 1880s–1920s
BNumber range NL1. A Call to Action: 1930s–1950sNumber range NL1
CNumber range NL1. Confidence and Crisis: 1960s–Mid-1970sNumber range NL1
, DNumber range NL1. An Era of Pluralism: Mid-1970s–2000sNumber range NL1
IIINumber range NLA. Social Psychology Today: What Is Trending Now?Number range NLA
ANumber range NL1. Integration of Emotion, Motivation, and Cognition
BNumber range NL1. Genetic and Evolutionary Perspectives
CNumber range NL1. Cultural PerspectivesNumber range NL1
D. Behavioral Economics, Political and Moral Issues, and Other Interdisciplinary Approaches
E. The Social Brain and Body
FNumber range NL1. New Technologies and the Online World
Detailed Overview
The social nature of humans is what the field of social psychology is all about.
WHAT Is Social Psychology?
Defining Social Psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social
context.
Like other sciences, social psychology relies on the systematic approach of the scientific
method.
Distinctive characteristics of social psychology include a focus on the individual as well as a
broad perspective on a variety of social contexts and behaviors.
The “socialness” of social psychology varies, as social psychologists sometimes examine how
nonsocial factors affect social thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and sometimes study how
social factors influence nonsocial thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Social Psychological Questions and Applications
Social psychologists study a large variety of fascinating questions about people and their social
worlds. The scope and relevance of these questions to so many important aspects of our lives
make social psychology applicable to many careers and interests.
The Power of the Social Context: An Example of a Social Psychology Experiment
In one experiment that illustrates the power of the social context, African-American students
achieved greater academic success if their concerns about fitting in and belonging at their
predominately European-American university were reduced by information received during
their first semester at college that indicated how typical and temporary these concerns are for
most students.
Social Psychology and Related Fields: Distinctions and Intersections
Social psychology is related to a number of different areas of study, including sociology,
, clinical psychology, personality psychology, and cognitive psychology. Important work is
being done at the intersection of social psychology and each of these fields.
Social psychology tends to focus on individuals, whereas sociology tends to focus on groups. In
addition, social psychology is less likely than sociology to study the relation between broad
societal variables and people’s behaviors and is more likely to use experimentation.
In contrast to clinical psychology, social psychology focuses not on disorders but rather on the
more typical ways that individuals think, feel, behave, and interact.
Personality psychology focuses on differences between individuals that remain relatively stable
across a variety of situations; social psychology focuses on how social factors affect most
individuals, regardless of their different personalities.
Cognitive and social psychologists share an interest in mental processes such as thinking,
learning, remembering, and reasoning, but social psychologists focus on the relevance of these
processes to social behavior.
Social Psychology and Common Sense
Many social psychological theories and findings appear to be like common sense. One problem
with common sense, however, is that it may offer conflicting explanations and provide no way
to test which is correct. Another problem is that common sense is often oversimplified and
therefore misleading.
A Brief History of Social Psychology
The Birth and Infancy of Social Psychology: 1880s–1920s
Early research by Triplett and Ringelmann established an enduring topic in social psychology:
how the presence of others affects an individual’s performance.
The first social psychology textbooks in 1908 and 1924 began to give the emerging field of social
psychology its shape.
A Call to Action: 1930s–1950s
Social psychology began to flourish because the world needed an explanation for the violence
of war and solutions to it.
Sherif ’s work laid the foundation for later studies of social influence, and the legacy of Kurt
Lewin is still evident throughout much of social psychology.
The 1940s and 1950s saw a burst of activity in social psychology that firmly established it as a
major social science.
Confidence and Crisis: 1960s–Mid-1970s
Stanley Milgram’s experiments demonstrated individuals’ vulnerability to the destructive
commands of authority.
While social psychology was expanding in many new directions, there was also intense debate
, about the ethics of research procedures, the validity of research results, and the generalizability
of conclusions drawn from research.
An Era of Pluralism: Mid-1970s–2000s
During the 1970s, social psychology began to take a pluralistic approach to its research
methods, the integration of perspectives such as social psychology and cognitive psychology
into a subfield called social cognition, and the development of international and multicultural
perspectives.
Social Psychology TODAY: What Is Trending NOW?
Several exciting themes and perspectives are helping to shape the beginning of social
psychology’s second century.
Integration of Emotion, Motivation, and Cognition
Researchers are becoming more interested in how emotion, motivation, and cognition can
operate together in influencing individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Individuals sometimes are faced with a conflict between two motivations that can affect
cognitive processes: wanting to be right and wanting to feel good about oneself.
A great deal of recent social psychological research has explored the automatic versus
controllable nature of a number of processes, such as stereotyping.
Genetic and Evolutionary Perspectives
Biological perspectives, including perspectives based on neuroscience, genetics, and
evolutionary principles, are being applied to the study of social psychological issues
such as gender differences, relationships, and aggression.Cultural Perspectives
Increasing numbers of social psychologists are evaluating the universal generality or cultural
specificity of their theories and findings by examining similarities and differences across
cultures as well as between racial and ethnic groups within cultures.
For example, in one experiment, Canadian participants chose more desirable than undesirable
traits as characteristic of themselves, whereas Japanese participants chose a balance of desirable
and desirable traits.
Behavioral Economics, Political and Moral Issues, and Other Interdisciplinary
Approaches
The emerging subfield of behavioral economics studies how psychology—particularly social
and cognitive psychology— relates to economic decision making.
Research on embodied cognition focuses on the connections between the mind and the body,
such as in how body gestures or movements can influence and be influenced by our thoughts
and feelings.
Social psychological research that intersects with political science can offer valuable insights
What Is Social Psychology?
Number range NL1LEARNING OBJECTIVES: GUIDELINES FOR STUDY
You should be able to do each of the following by the conclusion of Chapter 1.Number range NL1
1Number range NL_a. Define social psychology. Identify the kinds of questions that social
psychologists try to answer.
2Number range NL_a. Explain how social psychology differs from sociology and other fields of
psychology. Assess the limitations of the following statement: all social psychological findings
are simply common sense.
3Number range NL_a. Describe the early origins of social psychology and the state of the field up
until 1950. Identify when the field of social psychology became a distinct field of study, the
various founders of the field, and the historical event that inspired interest in and shaped the field
of social psychology. Explain the contributions made by Allport, Sherif, and Lewin.
4Number range NL_a. Describe the state of social psychology from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, from
the mid-’70s to the 1990s, and in the present, new century. Explain the various ways in which
contemporary social psychology can be referred to as “pluralistic.”
5Number range NL_a. Distinguish between different perspectives social psychologists use to
understand human behavior. Define social cognition. Summarize the increasing effort in social
psychology to develop an international and multicultural perspective.
6Number range NL_a. Explain how social psychology incorporates biological, evolutionary, and
sociocultural perspectives of human behavior. Describe the role of new technologies such as PET
and fMRI in the investigation of social behavior.
Number range NL1CHAPTER OUTLINENumber range NLI
INumber range NLA. What Is Social Psychology?Number range NLA
ANumber range NL1. Defining Social PsychologyNumber range NL1
BNumber range NL1. Social Psychological Questions and Applications
CNumber range NL1. The Power of the Social Context: An Example of a Social Psychology
Experiment
DNumber range NL1. Social Psychology and Related Fields: Distinctions and
IntersectionsNumber range NL1
ENumber range NL1. Social Psychology and Common Sense
IINumber range NLA. A Brief History of Social PsychologyNumber range NLA
ANumber range NL1. The Birth and Infancy of Social Psychology: 1880s–1920s
BNumber range NL1. A Call to Action: 1930s–1950sNumber range NL1
CNumber range NL1. Confidence and Crisis: 1960s–Mid-1970sNumber range NL1
, DNumber range NL1. An Era of Pluralism: Mid-1970s–2000sNumber range NL1
IIINumber range NLA. Social Psychology Today: What Is Trending Now?Number range NLA
ANumber range NL1. Integration of Emotion, Motivation, and Cognition
BNumber range NL1. Genetic and Evolutionary Perspectives
CNumber range NL1. Cultural PerspectivesNumber range NL1
D. Behavioral Economics, Political and Moral Issues, and Other Interdisciplinary Approaches
E. The Social Brain and Body
FNumber range NL1. New Technologies and the Online World
Detailed Overview
The social nature of humans is what the field of social psychology is all about.
WHAT Is Social Psychology?
Defining Social Psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social
context.
Like other sciences, social psychology relies on the systematic approach of the scientific
method.
Distinctive characteristics of social psychology include a focus on the individual as well as a
broad perspective on a variety of social contexts and behaviors.
The “socialness” of social psychology varies, as social psychologists sometimes examine how
nonsocial factors affect social thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and sometimes study how
social factors influence nonsocial thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Social Psychological Questions and Applications
Social psychologists study a large variety of fascinating questions about people and their social
worlds. The scope and relevance of these questions to so many important aspects of our lives
make social psychology applicable to many careers and interests.
The Power of the Social Context: An Example of a Social Psychology Experiment
In one experiment that illustrates the power of the social context, African-American students
achieved greater academic success if their concerns about fitting in and belonging at their
predominately European-American university were reduced by information received during
their first semester at college that indicated how typical and temporary these concerns are for
most students.
Social Psychology and Related Fields: Distinctions and Intersections
Social psychology is related to a number of different areas of study, including sociology,
, clinical psychology, personality psychology, and cognitive psychology. Important work is
being done at the intersection of social psychology and each of these fields.
Social psychology tends to focus on individuals, whereas sociology tends to focus on groups. In
addition, social psychology is less likely than sociology to study the relation between broad
societal variables and people’s behaviors and is more likely to use experimentation.
In contrast to clinical psychology, social psychology focuses not on disorders but rather on the
more typical ways that individuals think, feel, behave, and interact.
Personality psychology focuses on differences between individuals that remain relatively stable
across a variety of situations; social psychology focuses on how social factors affect most
individuals, regardless of their different personalities.
Cognitive and social psychologists share an interest in mental processes such as thinking,
learning, remembering, and reasoning, but social psychologists focus on the relevance of these
processes to social behavior.
Social Psychology and Common Sense
Many social psychological theories and findings appear to be like common sense. One problem
with common sense, however, is that it may offer conflicting explanations and provide no way
to test which is correct. Another problem is that common sense is often oversimplified and
therefore misleading.
A Brief History of Social Psychology
The Birth and Infancy of Social Psychology: 1880s–1920s
Early research by Triplett and Ringelmann established an enduring topic in social psychology:
how the presence of others affects an individual’s performance.
The first social psychology textbooks in 1908 and 1924 began to give the emerging field of social
psychology its shape.
A Call to Action: 1930s–1950s
Social psychology began to flourish because the world needed an explanation for the violence
of war and solutions to it.
Sherif ’s work laid the foundation for later studies of social influence, and the legacy of Kurt
Lewin is still evident throughout much of social psychology.
The 1940s and 1950s saw a burst of activity in social psychology that firmly established it as a
major social science.
Confidence and Crisis: 1960s–Mid-1970s
Stanley Milgram’s experiments demonstrated individuals’ vulnerability to the destructive
commands of authority.
While social psychology was expanding in many new directions, there was also intense debate
, about the ethics of research procedures, the validity of research results, and the generalizability
of conclusions drawn from research.
An Era of Pluralism: Mid-1970s–2000s
During the 1970s, social psychology began to take a pluralistic approach to its research
methods, the integration of perspectives such as social psychology and cognitive psychology
into a subfield called social cognition, and the development of international and multicultural
perspectives.
Social Psychology TODAY: What Is Trending NOW?
Several exciting themes and perspectives are helping to shape the beginning of social
psychology’s second century.
Integration of Emotion, Motivation, and Cognition
Researchers are becoming more interested in how emotion, motivation, and cognition can
operate together in influencing individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Individuals sometimes are faced with a conflict between two motivations that can affect
cognitive processes: wanting to be right and wanting to feel good about oneself.
A great deal of recent social psychological research has explored the automatic versus
controllable nature of a number of processes, such as stereotyping.
Genetic and Evolutionary Perspectives
Biological perspectives, including perspectives based on neuroscience, genetics, and
evolutionary principles, are being applied to the study of social psychological issues
such as gender differences, relationships, and aggression.Cultural Perspectives
Increasing numbers of social psychologists are evaluating the universal generality or cultural
specificity of their theories and findings by examining similarities and differences across
cultures as well as between racial and ethnic groups within cultures.
For example, in one experiment, Canadian participants chose more desirable than undesirable
traits as characteristic of themselves, whereas Japanese participants chose a balance of desirable
and desirable traits.
Behavioral Economics, Political and Moral Issues, and Other Interdisciplinary
Approaches
The emerging subfield of behavioral economics studies how psychology—particularly social
and cognitive psychology— relates to economic decision making.
Research on embodied cognition focuses on the connections between the mind and the body,
such as in how body gestures or movements can influence and be influenced by our thoughts
and feelings.
Social psychological research that intersects with political science can offer valuable insights
