S1 Wk 8 - Critical Social Psychology Flashcards
what do Armistead (1974) and Harre & Secord (1972) say
Social psychology has lost touch with the real world, needs ‘reconstruction’
what does Serge Moscovivi (1925 - 2014) say we need to study
‘collective (social) representations’
not quite critical, but a step into ‘the real world’
2 ethogenic studies
Rob Harre: need to study social life in ‘micro’ environments
Marsh et al (78): ethogenic study of football hooliganism
who research contributed to the emergence of community psychology
Kelly (1966): need to understand behaviour in social environment
how to tackle the crisis: some key influences
- Marxism
- Feminism
- Psychoanalysis
- Social constructionism
what is Marxism 3 points
Psychology an ideological strategy’ to promote individualism (Parker, 2007)
Need to study the influence of social class and power inequalities on psych
Psych should be about social change (to empower certain groups)
what is feminism 2 points
Psychology as androcentric - theory based on research with males: women as other
Focus on individualism is culturally biased as well as gender biased
Question of ‘gender essentialism’: much research explores M-F differences
Often ignores other, potentially more important social factors (social class, culture)
Danger of assuming that ‘women’ is a homogeneous category
what is psychoanalysis
Focus on relationships and social environment challenges dominant model of the individual
Methods and insights of psychoanalysis have inspired the rise of ‘psychosocial studies’
what is social constructionism
“Meaning is not fixed and inevitable…[it is] the product of historical events, social forces and ideology” (Hacking, 1999, p.2)
The social construction of a phenomenon can be uncovered by deconstructing it (Derrida)
Burr (2015): Difficult concept for psych, bcos ideas ‘run counter’ to:
Everyday understanding of the world and traditional psychological explanations
4 key arguments in critical social psychology
The distinction between the individual and society is largely trivial
There are few (if any) aspects of psychology that are truly timeless and universal
Knowledge, and claims to truth, are fundamentally rhetorical statements
Psychologists are encouraged to use the discipline for challenging taken-for-granted ideas
mainstream social psychology 6 points
Social cognition (e.g. measuring ‘the self’)
Social identity theory
Focus on artificial groups and imaginary situations
Experiments
Psychometric scales
Statistics
critical social psychology
Deconstructing ‘taken for granted’ phenomena (e.g. gender)
Discursive psych
Focus on ‘real world’ social interaction
Discourse and conversation analysis
Qualitative methods
what did Nigbur et al (2010) do to make ppl greener
questionnaire to local residents in Guildford
analysed TPB components to identify intention to recycle
then measured behaviour
Biliig 2002 study 3 points
prejudice too bland a term for racial hatred
bigotry is better
bigotry and its extreme manifestations not reducible to inter-group prejudice
what did Tajfel (1969) study
cognitive theory of prejudice
