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Social psychology and consumer behavior
Summary Book and Slide s
Social Psychology and Human Nature
Koen F ra nken
,Chapter 1: Introduction: the mission and the method
Different kinds of psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of ways in which people’s behavior and mental processes are
shaped by the real or imagined presence of others
Social psychologists Aim for a broad understanding of social factors that influence how people think,
act, and feel
- Also referred to as the ABC triad: Affect, Behavior, Cognition
Brief History of Social Psychology
Late 1800s: two experiments with opposite findings
- Norman Triplett’s competition machine: the mere presence of others enhances performance
- Max Ringelmann’s rope pulling experiment: as group size increases, individual effort
decreases
Some theories had long lasting influences
- Gordon Allport: the importance of attitudes
- Kurt Lewin: behavior is a function of person and situation
1950s and 1960s: psychology divided into two camps
- Behaviorism: explain human behavior in terms of learning principles (e.g., rewards and
punishments)
- Freudian psychoanalysis: preferred elaborate interpretations of individual experiences
instead of experimental studies
1970s and 1980s: the study of simple cognitive processes and the rise of social cognition, Bandura
1990s onwards: a growing openness to biology
- Apply basic evolutionary ideas (Darwin)
- Recent work involves physiology as element of psychological processes (Wundt)
The Scientific Method
1. State the problem
2. Formulate testable hypothesis
3. Design study & collect data
4. Test the hypothesis with data
5. Communicate study results
,Some important concepts
- Hypothesis: an idea about the possible nature of reality
- Independent variable: variable that is manipulated
- Dependent variable: variable that represents results of events and processes
- Within-subjects design: people are exposed to all conditions
- Between-subjects design: people are exposed to only one level of the independent variable
Experimental studies
Experiment is a study in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable and randomly
assigns people to groups (levels of the independent variable)
- Most conducted by psychologist
Quasi-experiment, Manipulation but no random assignment
Field experiment, Conducted in a real-world setting
Nonexperimental studies
Correlation study, relationship between two or more variables
Meta-analysis, average statistics from all studies on the same topic
Survey research, people fill in a questionnaire
- Depends a lot on random sampling
Qualitative vs quantitative method
Observation:
Qualitative method: All chameleons have specialized cells which allow them to change color.
Quantitative method: Yes, they do. However, many species only change from dark to light color.
, Validity means that a measure actually measures what it aims to measure
Reliability means that you get the same result when measuring multiple times
Reliable No Yes No Yes
Valid No No A little (on average) Yes
How to make sure findings are valid and reliable?
- Reproducibility
- Generalizability
- Cultural relativity
Chapter 2: Culture and Nature
Social psychology is aimed at exploring how people think, feel, and act. The ultimate explanations for
human behaviour lie in nature and culture, and researchers have engaged in many long, bitter
debates over which of those is more important.
The one clearly correct answer is that both are very important
To understand how people think, feel and act. Try and understand the human psyche (a broad term
for mind, encompassing emotions, desires, perceptions and psychological processes. Nature and
culture are what made the psyche the way it is.
If we can understand the purpose of the psyche we can understand people much better.
Why are people the way they are? Why is the human mind set up as it is? Why do people think,
want, feel, and act in certain ways?
Nature
- People are born a certain way
o Genes, hormones, brain structure and processes dictate how people choose and act.
Culture
- What people learned from their parents, society and experiences.
Endless debate about nature-nurture
The book: nature and culture have shaped each other. In particular, nature has prepared human
beings specifically for culture.
- the characteristics that set humans apart from other animals are mainly there to enable
people to create and sustain culture.
Nature is the physical world around us, including its laws and processes. It includes the
entire world that would be there even if no human beings existed.
- E.g. trees, gravity, weather, animals, hunger, death etc.
- Nature made humans
Behavior geneticists seek to understand behavior as the result of genes and show that people are
born with tendencies to feel and act in certain ways.
Social psychology and consumer behavior
Summary Book and Slide s
Social Psychology and Human Nature
Koen F ra nken
,Chapter 1: Introduction: the mission and the method
Different kinds of psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of ways in which people’s behavior and mental processes are
shaped by the real or imagined presence of others
Social psychologists Aim for a broad understanding of social factors that influence how people think,
act, and feel
- Also referred to as the ABC triad: Affect, Behavior, Cognition
Brief History of Social Psychology
Late 1800s: two experiments with opposite findings
- Norman Triplett’s competition machine: the mere presence of others enhances performance
- Max Ringelmann’s rope pulling experiment: as group size increases, individual effort
decreases
Some theories had long lasting influences
- Gordon Allport: the importance of attitudes
- Kurt Lewin: behavior is a function of person and situation
1950s and 1960s: psychology divided into two camps
- Behaviorism: explain human behavior in terms of learning principles (e.g., rewards and
punishments)
- Freudian psychoanalysis: preferred elaborate interpretations of individual experiences
instead of experimental studies
1970s and 1980s: the study of simple cognitive processes and the rise of social cognition, Bandura
1990s onwards: a growing openness to biology
- Apply basic evolutionary ideas (Darwin)
- Recent work involves physiology as element of psychological processes (Wundt)
The Scientific Method
1. State the problem
2. Formulate testable hypothesis
3. Design study & collect data
4. Test the hypothesis with data
5. Communicate study results
,Some important concepts
- Hypothesis: an idea about the possible nature of reality
- Independent variable: variable that is manipulated
- Dependent variable: variable that represents results of events and processes
- Within-subjects design: people are exposed to all conditions
- Between-subjects design: people are exposed to only one level of the independent variable
Experimental studies
Experiment is a study in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable and randomly
assigns people to groups (levels of the independent variable)
- Most conducted by psychologist
Quasi-experiment, Manipulation but no random assignment
Field experiment, Conducted in a real-world setting
Nonexperimental studies
Correlation study, relationship between two or more variables
Meta-analysis, average statistics from all studies on the same topic
Survey research, people fill in a questionnaire
- Depends a lot on random sampling
Qualitative vs quantitative method
Observation:
Qualitative method: All chameleons have specialized cells which allow them to change color.
Quantitative method: Yes, they do. However, many species only change from dark to light color.
, Validity means that a measure actually measures what it aims to measure
Reliability means that you get the same result when measuring multiple times
Reliable No Yes No Yes
Valid No No A little (on average) Yes
How to make sure findings are valid and reliable?
- Reproducibility
- Generalizability
- Cultural relativity
Chapter 2: Culture and Nature
Social psychology is aimed at exploring how people think, feel, and act. The ultimate explanations for
human behaviour lie in nature and culture, and researchers have engaged in many long, bitter
debates over which of those is more important.
The one clearly correct answer is that both are very important
To understand how people think, feel and act. Try and understand the human psyche (a broad term
for mind, encompassing emotions, desires, perceptions and psychological processes. Nature and
culture are what made the psyche the way it is.
If we can understand the purpose of the psyche we can understand people much better.
Why are people the way they are? Why is the human mind set up as it is? Why do people think,
want, feel, and act in certain ways?
Nature
- People are born a certain way
o Genes, hormones, brain structure and processes dictate how people choose and act.
Culture
- What people learned from their parents, society and experiences.
Endless debate about nature-nurture
The book: nature and culture have shaped each other. In particular, nature has prepared human
beings specifically for culture.
- the characteristics that set humans apart from other animals are mainly there to enable
people to create and sustain culture.
Nature is the physical world around us, including its laws and processes. It includes the
entire world that would be there even if no human beings existed.
- E.g. trees, gravity, weather, animals, hunger, death etc.
- Nature made humans
Behavior geneticists seek to understand behavior as the result of genes and show that people are
born with tendencies to feel and act in certain ways.
