Social Approach ★ Flashcards
Main Assumptions
- Behaviors, cognitions, and emotions are influenced by social contexts, environments and groups.
2.Behavior, cognitions, and emotions are influenced by the actual, implied, or imagined presence of others.
Humans as social animals
Elliot Aronson famously described humans as ‘social animals’ (Aronson, 1984), emphasising the importance of relationships and interactions with other people as key causes of behaviour, thoughts and feelings.
Social psychologists like Aronson believe that we are constantly being influenced by our social experiences, both past, present and even imagined future social events.
Even when we believe we are acting independently (making our own decisions), social pressure may be affecting our actions (Tavris and Wade, 2001).
Social norms
Gradually, as we experience the many different types of social situations that make up everyday life, we begin to learn about the social norms or expectations that people have about how we should behave within that society.
We learn which behaviours are socially acceptable and which are not, which attitudes are acceptable to express and which are not. For example, the study by Perry et al. (personal space) explores the concept of personal space.
In some cultures, it is socially acceptable to stand very close to other people, whereas in other cultures this would make people feel very uncomfortable. The rules about personal space are just one example of differences in social norms in different social contexts.
Rules for social behaviour are generally unwritten and we must learn them through observational learning (see page 620) as well as social conditioning – we learn from experience that certain behaviours lead to approval and inclusion within social groups, whereas other behaviours lead to disapproval and exclusion. e.g it might be okay to stand very close to someone on a packed subway train but this would not be socially acceptable in a relatively empty elevator!
Social psychologists use the key term conformity to explain the changes in an individual’s behaviour following exposure to other people and their opinions.
Why do individuals conform?
Much of research in social psychology has shown that human beings typically have a powerful desire to belong. Many thousands of years ago, humans had to co-operate as members of social groups in order to survive.
Natural selection favoured humans who possessed behaviours that helped them to live harmoniously within a group: became more alike. When humans that behaved in ways which damaged their social group became less common, as they were less likely to survive.
In study by Perry et al. (personal space), you will learn about oxytocin. Previous research has shown that this chemical helps to increase social connection by producing feelings of trust and conformity.
Groups
We have used the term groups a lot on this page and it is important to think about what we mean when we use this many (both the same) goals. A set of individuals would be a group when they are aware and care about the group’s opinion. Groups typically become more structured over time, with people indicating how members should behave and what their responsibilities are within the group.
Actual,imagined,and implied presence of others
As co-operative behaviour was so critical to the survival of humans living thousands of years ago, psychologists believe that our minds are primed to be alert to the presence of others. When we suspect that others are present, our awareness increases. Social behaviour requires high levels of attention and planning.
E.g, some social behaviour (like deciding what to say, or how to sit or where to go) can increase our arousal levels and distract us. Zajonc (1965) demonstrated this principle when he took a bike racing dataset and compared the time it took people to race alone or with others in a time trial.
The racers were faster when in pairs and slower in time trials. In this case, the control group did not see any cues. This study demonstrates that causing people just to think about the presence of others can change social behaviour.
Situational explanations
Social psychologists focus on the power of social situations to change people’s behaviour. Social explanations of behaviour, therefore, focus on situational factors – for example, whether there is an authority figure present when deciding on behaviour. T
his is in contrast with psychologists who take a dispositional approach, believing that differences in behaviour are determined by characteristics that differ between individuals, such as personality, age, gender, cultural and educational background.
Dispositional explanations
In the study by Milgram (obedience) you will learn that the majority of people were willing to harm a stranger when ordered to do so, in situations like this, where the same situation produces the same actions across different cultures and periods, it is hard to ignore the influence of situational factors. In the study by Perry et al. (personal space), it was found that the dispositional factor of empathy affected preferred interpersonal distances, suggesting personality still has a role to play in predicting social behaviour.
Methodology
Social psysc use a wide variety of different research methods and often collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Lab exps may be used in social psych, asw as field exps, to explore social processes in more realistic settings that are uncontrolled in real-world settings.
-Sometimes, researchers manipulate aspects of the setting in a room (such as the gender or num of ppl in the grp), measure the effect of social presence, and watch the reactions of participants.
This was done in the study by Milgram (obedience) and a police line of four passengers on the NYC subway, in USA.
B4 Piliavin et al. conducted their subway study, much of the previous work in this area had been based on field experiments at universities. Although lab settings made it easier to be more realistic than field experiments, it is difficult to fully replicate real-life events. E.g, some people might not believe that the situation is real. This is why Piliavin’s research is so important: it created a realistic situation where people were observed without their knowledge. This helped to reduce the possibility that they would change their behaviour if they knew they were being observed. This is known as demand characteristics.
Some research in the social approach is also observational, where researchers watch and record the behaviour of participants. The researcher must remain objective and avoid drawing conclusions about what the person is thinking. They may use structured observation, with a checklist of behaviours, or unstructured observation, where they write notes freely.
Researchers also use interviews to collect further self-report data.
Piliavin (observers) just timed it (and say ‘yes’/’no’) because it was double blind.
Human behaviour is hard to study because participants must not know something: removing vital validity, to create realistic situations that can also be highly controlled.
Issues and debates-Applications to everyday life
An understanding of the influence of authority figures (e.g. in the Milgram, page 233) is important for the health and social care sector, where staff must recognise authority, understand the reasons people might resist authority, and manage behaviour, such as with those with mental illness.
Issues and debates-Individual and situational explanations
Situational explanations focus on factors such as the environment and other people, whereas dispositional explanations focus on factors within the individual, such as intelligence and personality. Research in this area has often blamed situational influences when people’s actions are considered unacceptable. Sometimes, we can explain a person’s behaviour in terms of both situations and internal characteristics, such as personality traits. This is known as an interactionist approach. In the Perry et al. (personal space) study, people who had high levels of empathy preferred interpersonal distance, whereas those with low empathy sat closer. This shows that nurturance can also affect social behaviour.
Nature VS Nurture
Social psychologists need to believe that we are hardwired to behave in a social way, so this supports the nature side of the debate. Social norms are also learnt through observational learning and experience (nurture). The fact that social norms are different in different cultures also shows that nurture can also affect social behaviour.
Social context versus social environment
The term ‘social environment’ refers to the immediate social situations where social interaction take place. For example, on page 153, you will learn about a study by Piliavin
et al. (subway Samaritans) that was conducted in a subway (underground) train carriage involving an emergency situation. Our public behaviour in situations such as this may differ depending on whether there are other passengers on the carriage and who those people are. For example, you might behave differently if you were travelling with your parents or a teacher from your school compared with travelling alone or with a group of friends.
These differences arise from our subjective interpretation of the social situation and our role within the group. This is often referred to as the social context. This means the same social environment may impact the people within it in different ways.
