Social Psychology overview Flashcards
social cognition
how thought processes are influenced by social variables
attribution
how individuals explain their own and other people’s behaviour
social influence
any way an individual acts, thinks or behaves as a result of interacting with another person or group of people
conformity
influence of a group/ majority influence
obedience
the influence of an individual with perceived authority to ask you to do something
it is assumed the individual would have not performed these actions independently
dissent
non-agreement with the majority or the leader of a group
does not mean you will disobey, but is the first step towards disobedience
Friske 2010
societal norms play a significant role in social influence, as do conformity and obedience
what may social behaviour involve
activity within a group or between groups
self perception and identity
how we make sense of ourselves and how we judge ourselves
3 main assumptions of social psychology
behaviour is contextual -the circumstances or a social environment often plays a decisive role in determining behaviour
individuals are generally motivated to maintain and enhance a positive self view
the situation we are in has an effect on our behaviour, we don’t always act accordingly to our free will
strengths of social psychology
makes useful applications as it can explain and offer solutions to problems in the real world (e.g. prejudice and obedience)
can be used to understand historical events (e.g. understanding why propaganda used by the nazis was effective)
weaknesses of social psychology
difficult to study social behaviour without negatively affecting the participants in the study - unethical
(e.g. Zimbardo and Milgram’s studies)
studies which measure social behaviour may be specific to the time they were done.
