Applied social psych

Question 1

How can social psychology be applied to the workplace?

Answer 1

It can provide insight into what motivates people to work and how this is related to performance, how we can identify and tackle stress in the workplace, what makes someone a good leader at work and what effect this has on employee performance and well-being

Question 2

What is organisational psychology?

Answer 2

The disciplines of organisational behaviour and social psychology combined

Question 3

How does Maslow’s need theory (hierachy of needs) relate to the workplace?

Answer 3

Physiological- working to put food on the table
Safety/security- working enviro should protect us from risk or harm and feelings of safety are needed for well-being, performance and relationships
Love and belongingness- workplace should foster social cohesiveness which encourages a sense of belonging
Self esteem- work performance should be recognized and rewarded by others
Self actualisation- employees should feel fulfilled, achieving and empowered

Question 4

What are modern critiques of Maslow’s need theory when applied to the workplace?

Answer 4

Inapplicable to modern workplaces, needs are complex and interrelated and the boundaries between levels are vague, employees do not work through the hierarchy of needs in the same order, there are more needs than these five levels e.g. finding the work stimulating, ignores social influence on people’s own perception and construction of what they need

Question 5

What is Vroom’s VIE theory of motivation?

Answer 5

Describes motivation as a combination of valence, instrumentality and expectancy

Question 6

What is valence in Vroom’s VIE theory?

Answer 6

Attractive aspects of workplace and working life e.g. being paid well

Question 7

What is instrumentality in Vroom’s VIE theory?

Answer 7

The relationship between performance, reward and cost

Question 8

What is expectancy in Vroom’s VIE theory?

Answer 8

The belief that increasing effort will result in successful performance to obtain the reward

Question 9

What is Adam’s equity theory?

Answer 9

States we are concerned with what investments we have made e.g. time effort and money, and what we get out as a result e.g. friendship, pay, affection; people are motivated to work when they feel as though they are being treated fairly in terms of inputs and outputs and in comparison with others

Question 10

What is the difference between distributive and procedural justice in Adam’s equity theory?

Answer 10

Procedural- where processes by which decisions are made are perceived to be fair, whereas distributive- where distribution of rewads are fair and perceived to be based on merit

Question 11

What is the difference between transactional and transformational leadership?

Answer 11

Transactional- the quality of the interaction between leader and follower in achieving a common desired goal and successful relationship, whereas transformational- leadership that, enabled by a leader’s vision and inspiration can exert signif influence

Question 12

What is the glass cliff in leadership?

Answer 12

Women who do not make it to leadership levels but are appointed when the organisation is in trouble, often setting them up for failure

Question 13

How can social psychology be applied to health?

Answer 13

Loneliness- awareness that our social relationships are less numerous or meaningful than we desire, social isolation is closely related to poor physical and MH, poor quality and quantity of social networks can lead to feelings of social isolation, can turn into depression

Question 14

In what ways can social psychological approaches be applied to treatment and therapy?

Answer 14

Our actions can affect our attitudes- so psychotherapy techniques can provide action e.g. behaviour therapists can shape behaviour by shaping inner disposition, consequently changing behaviour. Also, self help groups can induce ppts to behave in new ways in front of the group e.g. expressing anger or pos feelings

Question 15

What is the 6 step framework of intervention mapping?

Answer 15

1. Needs assessment
2. State change objectives
3. Design the program
4. Produce the program
5. Plan the implementation of the program
6. Evaluation

Question 16

What is the nudge theory?

Answer 16

A desired behaviour can be achieved by making a small but significant change to someone’s environment

Question 17

How can motivational factors influence environmental behaviour?

Answer 17

Costs and benefits- theory of planned behaviour, moral and normative concerns of values, moral obligation, environmental concerns and social norms

Question 18

How can contextual factors influence environmental behaviour?

Answer 18

Context may directly affect behaviour, relationship between context and behaviour may be mediated by motivational factors such as attitudes or norms, context may also moderate the relationship between motivational factors

Question 19

What four themes have social pscyhological studies on plant passed diets focused on? (Mete Uysal!) et al

Answer 19

1. Vegans as disadvantaged and stigmatised group
2. The role of ideology in negative attitudes towards vegans
3. The role od moral and ethical beliefs in changing or sustaining dietary preferences
4. Veganism as a social movement and vegan activism

Question 20

How can social psychology explain crowds in disasters, known as ‘crowd psychology’?

Answer 20

Disaster myths- mass panic, helplessness and civil disorder; recent research can challenge these myths as panic is a rare response in disaster emergencies, overwhelming competitiveness is also found to be a myth and most survivors show cooperation and help- the emergence of mutual aid is as a result of common shared identity?

Question 21

What is the social identity model of collective psychosocial resilience in emergent groups? (Drury et al 2019)

Answer 21

Common fate -> shared social identity -> consequences of expected support, helping, routine civility, collective efficacy and coordinated action