Chapter 1: What is Social Psychology? Flashcards
Social Psychology
The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context
Social Psychology and Sociology
They share the same interest in issues such as violence, prejudice, cultural differences, and marriage. But sociologists focus on the group level, while social psychologists focus on the individual level. Social psychologists are also more likely to conduct experiments involving the manipulation of a variable
Social Psychology and Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychologists focus on psychological difficulties and disorders, while social psychologists focus on typical behaviors.
Social Psychology and Cognitive Psychology
They both focus on mental processes, but social psychologists study them in a social context.
The Birth and Infancy of Social Psychology: 1880s-1920s
William McDougall (1908), Edward Ross (1908), and Floyd Allport (1924) are credited for the creation of the field. Allport’s book in particular, helped to establish social psychology as the discipline that it is today.
A Call to Action: 1930s-1950s
After Hitler’s reign, people wanted to understand why such atrocities could occur. Gordon Allport and other social psychologists formed the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Kurt Lewin studied behavior as a function of the interaction between the person and the environment.
Interactionist Perspective
An emphasis on how both an individual’s personality and environmental characteristics influence behavior
Confidence and Crisis: 1960s-Mid 1970s
Stanley Milgram’s research connected the post WWII era to the era of social revolution. Consideration for how people thought and felt about themselves and others. Examined aggression, physical attractiveness, and stress. A larger divide over whether laboratory experimentation was ethical and the best course of action for the field.
An Era of Pluralism: Mid 1970s-2000s
More ethical standards were set in place and more attention was paid to cross cultural differences in behavior. Pluralism began to be seen in experimentation. A new subfield called social cognition was formed and the development of international and multicultural perspectives..
Social Cognition
The study of how people perceive, remember, and interpret information about themselves and others.
Cold Perspective
Emphasized the role of cognition and deemphasized the role of emotion and motivation in explaining social psychological issues
Hot Perspective
Focused on emotion and motivation as determinants of our thoughts and actions.
Behavioral Genetics
A subfield of psychology that examines the role of genetic factors in behavior
Evolutionary Psychology
A subfield of psychology that uses the principles of evolution to understand human social behavior
Culture
A system of enduring meanings, beliefs, values, assumptions, institutions, and practices shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
