Social Approach Flashcards
Common research methods
Attempts to use real life situations when studying behaviour, because of this its best studied in real life settings which re-create real life studies
Applications of this area - 4
To encourage pro-social behaviour
To guard against blind obedience
To teach us to report unjust authority
To make us aware of social influence
Concepts - 7
Conformity
Consensus
Obedience
Attitudes, prejudice and discrimination
Social facilitation (home ground)
Attribution theory (how we perceive the world)
Self concept
Strengths of the approach
Study evidence
Comment/analysis
Gives us a unique explanation of the power of social groups, particularly in explaining negative behaviour
Milgram shows us that people will obey a legitimate authority figure even when their instructions go against our moral conscience
Obvious strength because no other approach allows a subjective view of social context to be measured.
Strengths of the approach
Study evidence
Comment/analysis
Research within the social area often helps us bring research to a wider audience
Bocchario helped us to explain whistle blowing behaviour that we see on the news. Milgram shows us the danger in blind obedience
This is useful because psychology seeks to explain real world events so we are able to understand our own pro and anti-social behaviours better
Weakness of the approach
Study evidence
Comment/analysis
Human social behaviour and societies change over time and across different countries
Milgrams study was conducted in the 1960’s during the Cold War era in the USA when social obedience was more valued
Research then has a shelf life of can be difficult/impossible to generalise to other cultures
Weakness of the approach
Study evidence
Comment/analysis
Ethics - it’s hard to study behaviour in a social context without negativity affecting participants
Milgram’s participants were unaware of the true nature of the study, so no informed consent and the study caused mental and psychical harm
Difficult to get natural behaviour without deceiving them, especially if researchers don’t want them to be influenced by demand characteristics
Main assumptions - 3
An individual’s behaviour is affected by situational factors
All behaviour occurs in a social context even when no one is physically present
Other people and the society they have created are a major influence on people’s behaviour, thought processes and behaviour
