Social area Flashcards
Define three concepts/assumptions from the social area
- Social psychologists believe that behaviour is due to the influence of other people around us e.g peers, role models
- Social psychologists are interested in the importance of situational factors (WHERE we are, WHO we are with, and WHAT we are doing) in shaping behaviour - rather than dispositional individual explanations (personality)
What is a strength of the social area? (1)
Research within the social area is useful as it can help improve our understanding of human behaviour, particularly the extent to which this is affected by providing situational explanations
What is a strength of the social area? (2nd)
Research within the social area can be useful, as it has practical applications in a range of different settings.
What is a strength of the social area? (3)
Research within the social area often utilises the experimental method to establish cause and effect relationships and can therefore be seen as supporting psychology as a science.
What is a strength of the social area? (4)
Research within the social area is often high in ecological validity, particularly if it makes use of field experiments.
What is a weakness of the social area? (1)
Findings from research within the social area may be drawn from unrepresentative samples meaning that they have biased samples and results cannot be generalised to the wider population
What is a weakness of the social area? (2)
Research within the social area underestimates the influence of individual differences in behaviour by producing deterministic explanations that are applied to all people
What is a weakness of the social area? (3)
Given the socially sensitive nature of much research within the social area, it can be difficult to stay within the ethical guidelines.
What is a weakness of the social area? (4)
Research findings from the area are often accused of being ethnocentric meaning that the findings may not generalise across cultures.
