Social psychology WEEK 1

Question 1

What are the influences of social psychology regarding A,B,C?

Answer 1

A: Affects

B: Behaviour

C: Cognition

Question 2

What does B = f(P,E) mean?

Answer 2

Behaviour is a function of both the person and the
environment.

Many studies examine person x situation
interactions

Kurt Lewin’s (1951) Field Theory

Question 3

2 Fundamental Axioms of Social Psychology

Answer 3

Constructions of reality

• 2 people may experience/quote different realities
• Research paper: They saw a game – reflected that many people perceived a different game although the same result. This related to shaping our interpretation based on our social identity, motives, cultural differences, expectations etc.

Pervasiveness of Social Influence

Even our innermost private thoughts are shaped by:
- Thoughts about others’ reactions
- Social group memberships and personal relationships
- Culturally learned beliefs
These effects are usually not conscious but are pervasive

Question 4

What are the levels of analysis in Social Psychology?

Answer 4

• Culture/Environment
• Relationships/Groups
• Behaviour
• Thoughts/Feelings/Perceptions
• Physiology (Hormones, blood, brain)
• Chemistry/DNA

Complementary views for analyzing and understanding phenomena
None of these is the objective truth, but offer clues into what is happening

Question 5

What are the aspects of social psychology

Answer 5

Attractiveness

Attitudes

Peace and conflict

Social Influence

Social cognition

Question 6

5 Core Social Motives (Fiske, 2004) BUCET

Answer 6

Belonging
People need strong stable relationships with others.

Understanding
People need to make sense of reality and predict what will
happen next.

Controlling
People need to feel competent and effective in dealing with the
social environment.

Enhancing Self
People need to feel good about themselves or that they can
improve themselves.

Trusting
People need to see the social world as a benevolent place.

Question 7

3 Processing Principles

Answer 7

Conservatism
Individuals’ and groups’ views of the world are slow to change.
Biases in our understanding of events make our beliefs perpetuate themselves.

Accessibility
From the incredibly rich array of available information, the most readily
available generally has the most impact – what we were already thinking about
or what is most noticeable and obvious in the situation.

Superficiality Versus Depth
Sometimes we just “operate on automatic,” relying on the most accessible
information without thinking further; other times we process information
much more extensively.
̶ When we care about the issue (motivation to process) and when we have time
and resources to think (ability to process)

Question 8

A Brief History of the Social Thinker

Answer 8

The Naïve Scientist (pre 1970s)
Uses all available information in a logical manner.

The Cognitive Miser (1970s & 1980s)
Has limited cognitive resources, therefore must use shortcuts,
snap judgments and educated guesses. Often influenced by
automatic and unconscious processes.

The Motivated Tactician (1990s & Today)
Biased by own goals, desires, attitudes, and self-perceptions. Able
to direct attention and effort to overcome some cognitive biases.

Question 9

Social Psychology meaning:

Answer 9

Social Psychology meaning:
is the branch of psychological science mainly concerned with understandinghow the presence of others affects our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Just as clinical psychology focuses on mental disorders and their treatment, and developmental psychology investigates the way people change across their lifespan, social psychology has its own focus.
As the name suggests, this science is all about investigating the ways groups function, the costs and benefits of social status, the influences of culture, and all the other psychological processes involving two or more people.

Question 10

NOTES:

Answer 10

Reading notes:
Social Psychology meaning:
- is the branch of psychological science mainly concerned with understanding how the presence of others affects our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

Just as clinical psychology focuses on mental disorders and their treatment, and developmental psychology investigates the way people change across their lifespan, social psychology has its own focus.

As the name suggests, this science is all about investigating the ways groups function, the costs and benefits of social status, the influences of culture, and all the other psychological processes involving two or more people.
Worthy notes:
- In fact, a classic study of life stress found that the most stressful events in a person’s life—the death of a spouse, divorce, and going to jail—are so painful because they entail the loss of relationships (Holmes & Rahe, 1967).

• Social psychology connects well with a clinical setting as it is very relevant whereas say neuroscience feels far removed from the concerns of daily life
• In a study of the most and least happy people, the differentiating factor was not gender, income, or religion; it was having high-quality relationships (Diener & Seligman, 2002).
• People who feel lonely or isolated are more vulnerable to depression and problems with physical health (Cacioppo, & Patrick, 2008).
• The need to belong is rooted in developmental psychology. Developmental psychologists have long paid attention to the importance of attaching to a caregiver, feeling safe and supported during childhood, and the tendency to conform to peer pressure during adolescence
• Similarly, clinical psychologists—those who research mental disorders– have pointed to people feeling a lack of belonging to help explain loneliness, depression, and other psychological pains.
• In practice, psychologist’s separate concepts into categories such as “clinical,” “developmental,” and “social” only out of scientific necessity
• In the different disciplines in psychology the distinctions do not actually exist, and there is heavy overlap between the various areas of psychology
• All of these chemical, emotional, behavioural, and social processes occur simultaneously. None of them is the objective truth. Instead, each offers clues into better understanding what, psychologically speaking, is happening.
• Social psychologists are drawn to questions related to relationships, groups, and culture.
• Naturalistic observation to see how people behave when they don’t know they are being watched.

My notes:

• The use of language is important. When you are explaining a statistic it is to keep in mind not to frame it as ‘proof’ rather use suggests, entails, associated with etc.. This is also good to use within a clinical setting as it doesn’t suggest that what you are saying is the truth but rather an indication/clue to what may be happening with someone’s issues, relationships, behaviour etc.
• There are many disciplines of psychology. It is a broad field of work where all can play apart with one another I think. Although I now relies why we are learning about all other aspects of psychology and not just the ‘clinical’ aspect. Overall its like Doctors. There are many disciples that all relate but one doesn’t cover all of them.