WHAT IS SOCIAL

PSYCHOLOGY?
WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?

• Is a science that studies the influences of our situations, with

special attention to how we view and affect one another.
• It is the scientific study of how people think about (social
thinking), influence (social), and relate to one another
(social relations).
WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?

• An attempt to understand and explain how the

thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence
of other human beings (Allport, 1968)
 CENTRAL CONCEPTS

1. We construct our social reality.

2. Our social intuitions are often powerful but sometimes perilous
3. Our social behavior is shaped by other people, by our attitudes
and personalities, and by our biology
4. How social psychology’s principles apply to our everyday lives
HOW HUMAN VALUES INFLUENCE SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY?
• Social Psychologists’ values penetrate their work in obvious ways, such as
their choice of research topics and the types of people who are attracted to
various fields of study.
• They also do this in subtler ways, such as their hidden assumptions when
forming concepts, choosing labels, and giving advice.
• This penetration into science is not a reason to fault social psychology or
any other science. That human thinking is seldom dispassionate is
precisely why we need systematic observation and experimentation if we
are to check our cherished ideas against reality.
• Do you believe in opposites attract?
• Doing someone a favor will increase the possibility that they will like you?
• If someone rewards you for performing an interesting activity, you will
probably like it even more.
• If you’re feeling angry the best thing to do is vent or “blow off some
steam”
IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY SIMPLY
COMMON SENSE?
• Social Psychology is criticized for being trivial because it documents
things that seem obvious.
• Experiments reveal that outcomes are more obvious after the facts are
known.
• Hindsight Bias (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)
• Often makes people overconfident about validity of their judgments and
predictions.
RESEARCH METHODS: HOW DO WE DO
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?
• Laboratory Research (controlled situations) or Field Research (everyday situations)
• Correlational Research
• Study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables.

• Experimental Research
• Studies that seek clues to cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors
(independent variables) while controlling others (holding them constant).
• Randomly assign participants

• Ethics
• Informed Consent, Debriefing