MODULE – 1

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGY:

 the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given
context
 the mental characteristics or attitude of a person or group
 Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Psychology is a multifaceted discipline and
includes many sub-fields of study such areas as human development, sports, health, clinical, social
behavior and cognitive processes.
 According to Gordon Allport (1954) social psychology is best defined as the discipline that uses
scientific methods in “an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behavior of
individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings”.
 Myers and Spencer (2006) define social psychology as the “scientific study of how people think about,
influence, and relate to one another”.
 Barron and Byrne (2007) defined social psychology as “the scientific field that seeks to understand the
nature and cause of individual behaviour and thought in social situations”.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY:

Social psychology is the study of how people think about, influence and relate to others. It emerged at the
interface of psychology and sociology in the early 20 th century. While Psychology analyses the nature of
humans, sociology analyses the nature of society. Social psychology on the other hand, analyses the nature
and the relation of man to society. The sphere of social psychology is social and its focus is individual. It is the
study of individual in social situation. This social situation can be person to person interaction, person to group
interaction and a group related to another group. A social psychologist uses scientific methods to study how
we perceive peoples and social events, how do we influence others and get influenced, social relation and
communication and group dynamics.

HOW DID SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY DEVELOP?

Early philosophers recognized that other people can have impact on individual behavior. Likewise,
philosophers continued to theorize about the workings of the human mind, but the development of social
psychology took place after the emergence of the science of psychology.
The experimental investigation of related issues began in North America, Britain, and France, as researchers
began to systematically measure how behavior is influenced by the presence of others. As German domination
spread across Europe in 1930’s, a number of psychologists fled Europe to settle in North America. Trained in
Gestalt theory, these psychologists and researchers from Europe interacted with American behaviorists,
anthropologists and they soon developed techniques to perform realistic studies of complex social influences
in the laboratory. During the
1950s and 1960s, social psychology grew and flourished, moving toward an integrated theoretical
understanding of social and cognitive processes. Further, social-‐psychological theory was applied to
important applied problems. Research contributions during this period laid the foundations of key topics
within social psychology such as self-‐esteem, prejudice and stereotyping, conformity, persuasion and attitude
change, impression formation, interpersonal attraction and intimate relationships and intergroup relations

NATURE OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: It’s Scientific Nature :

 For many students, the word science means physics, chemistry biology, genetics, etc.
 They and many others would wonder whether social psychology is science.
 To understand the scientific nature of social psychology, we need to understand what we mean by
science. In reality science is not a label for certain fields of advanced studies in natural sciences.
 It has set of values and methodology. Accuracy, objectivity, skepticism, and open-mindedness are the
values of science.
 The data collection, analysis and inferences are drawn in most error-free manner.
 The collection of data and interpretation is as free as possible from the human biases. Only those
scientific conclusions are accepted that have been proved time and again. The views are open to
change, no matter how strong they are.
 The principles that are determinants of science are Empiricism; Objectivity; Parsimony; and Converging
evidence.
 Empiricism means human experience, so the scientific enquiry should be human experience and not
beyond and without it. Parsimony means simple explanations are preferred over complex (also known
as Occam’s Rezor).
Considering all these parameters, science differs from the non science.

WHAT ARE THE CORE CONCERNS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?

There are four core concerns, or major themes, within social psychology:
1) The impact that one individual has on other;
2) The impact that a group has on its individual members;
3) The impact that individual members have on the groups to which they belong; and
4) The impact that one group has on another group.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY CONCEPTS:

Understanding social psychology can be useful for many reasons. First, we can better understand how groups
impact our choices and actions. Additionally, it also allows us to gain a greater appreciation for how our social
perceptions affect our interactions with other people.

There are some basic aspects of social behavior that play a large role in our actions and how we see ourselves.

1.Social behavior is goal-oriented.

Our interactions serve goals or fulfill needs. Some common goals or needs include the need for social ties, the
desire to understand ourselves and others, the wish to gain or maintain status or protection, and the need to
attract companions. The way people behave is often driven by the desire to fulfill these needs. People seek
friends and romantic partners, strive to gain social status, and attempt to understand the motivations that
guide other people's behaviors.

2. The interaction between the individual and the situation helps determine the outcome.

To fully understand why people do the things that they do, it is essential to look at individual characteristics,
the situation and context, and the interaction between these two variables. In many instances, people behave
very differently depending upon the situation.

For example, someone who is normally quiet and reserved might become much more outgoing when placed in
some type of leadership role. Another example is how people sometimes behavior differently in groups than
they would if they were by themselves. Environmental and situational variables play an important role and
have a strong influence on our behavior.

3. People spend a great deal of time considering social situations.

Our social interactions help form our self-concept and perception. One method of forming self-concept is
through the reflected appraisal process in which we imagine how other people see us. Another method is
through the social comparison process whereby we consider how we compare to other people in our peer
group.

Sometimes we engage in upward social comparison where we rate ourselves against people who are better
off than us in some way. In other instances, we might engage in downward social comparison where we
contrast our own abilities to those of others who are less capable.

4. We also analyze and explain the behavior of those around us.

One common phenomenon is the expectation confirmation, where we tend to ignore unexpected attributes
and look for evidence that confirms our preexisting beliefs about others. This helps simplify our worldview,
but it also skews our perception and can contribute to stereotyping. For example, if you expect people to
behave in a certain way, you might look for examples that confirm your belief while at the same time ignoring
evidence that conflicts with your existing opinions.

5. We often believe that a person's behavior is a good indicator of their personality.

Another influence on our perceptions of other people can be explained by the theory of correspondent
inferences. This occurs when we infer that the actions and behaviors of others correspond to their intentions
and personalities. For example, if we see a woman helping an elderly person cross the street, we might
assume that she is a kind-hearted person.

While behavior can be informative in some instances, especially when the person's actions are intentional, it
can also be misleading. If we have limited interaction with someone, the behavior we see may be atypical or
caused by the specific situation rather than by the person's overriding dispositional characteristics. In the
previous example, the woman might only be helping the elderly person because she has been employed to do
so instead of out of the kindness of her heart.

SCOPE OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Social psychology attempts to understand the relationship between minds, groups, and behaviors in three
general ways:

1) It tries to see how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual,
imagined, or implied presence of other(s). This includes social perception, social interaction, and the many
kinds of social influence (like trust, power, and persuasion). It deals with questions like: How do small group
dynamics impact cognition and emotional states?
How do social groups control or contribute to behaviour, emotion, or attitudes of the individual members?
How does the group impact the individual?
How does the individual operate within the social group?
It tries to understand the influence that individual perceptions and behaviours have upon the behaviour of
groups. How does persuasion work to change group behaviour, emotion or attitudes?

2) Second, it tries to understand the influence that individual perceptions and behaviours have upon the
behaviour of groups. This includes looking at things like group productivity in the workplace and group
decision making. It looks at questions like:
What are the reasons behind conformity, diversity, and deviance?

3) Third, and finally, social psychology tries to understand groups themselves as behavioural entities, and the
relationships and influences that one group has upon another group. It asks questions like:
What makes some groups hostile to one another and others neutral or civil?
Do groups behave in a different way than an individual outside the group?
In European textbooks there is also fourth level called the “ideological” level. It studies the societal forces that
influence the human psyche.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND OTHER DISCIPLINES

Three levels of analysis

Three different levels of analysis have been recognised which tell us about the differences in the approach of
various social sciences.

1) Societal Level Analysis

The goal of societal analysis is to identify links between broad social forces and general patterns of social
behaviours. Social behaviour from this viewpoint is explained by factors like economic hard times, class
conflicts etc. This analytical approach is adopted by sociologists, economists and political scientists. These
scholars attempt to understand general patterns of social behaviours, such as homicide rates, voting
behaviours and consumer spending. To study violence in urban areas, social scientists might identify
relationships between rates of crime and factors such as poverty, immigration or industrialisation.
 2) Individual Level Analysis
This level of analysis is used by clinical and personality psychologists who explain behaviour in terms of a
person’s unique personality characteristics and life history. According to this viewpoint, with the help of
personality traits and motives the reasons of people’s behaviour can be explained. Individual differences in
childhood experiences, ability, motivation and personality are emphasised. At this level of analysis, violent
crimes will be explained in terms of unique histories and characteristics of the criminal.

3) Interpersonal Level Analysis

The focus of a social psychologist lies on a person’s current social situation. The constituents of social situation
are— the other people, their attitudes and behaviours and their relationship to the individual. This emphasis is
based on the idea, ‘change the social context, individual will change’. To understand the violent crime, social
psychologist might consider the inter-personal relations. One social explanation suggests that frustrating
situations make people angry and increase their tendency to act aggressively.