Week 10

Question 1

What is the definition of social psychology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, implied, or imagined presence of others

Question 2

What is Lewin’s formula for behavior?

Answer 2

B = ƒ(P, E), where behavior is a function of personal and environmental factors.

Question 3

What is the significance of Lewin’s work in social psychology?

Answer 3

Emphasized the power of the situation and the importance of individuals’ current construals of their environment.

Question 4

Name three key studies from the 1950s-1970s in social psychology.

Answer 4

Asch’s Conformity Experiments (1951).
Milgram’s Obedience Studies (1963).
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (1971).

Question 5

What is Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory?

Answer 5

The theory that people experience discomfort when their attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent, leading them to change one to reduce the dissonance.

Question 6

What is Tajfel & Turner’s Social Identity Theory?

Answer 6

A theory that explains how personal and social identities influence self-esteem and intergroup behavior.

Question 7

What is the construal principle?

Answer 7

To understand behavior, focus on how individuals interpret (construe) their social environment.

Question 8

What is Social Identity Theory?

Answer 8

A framework explaining how group memberships and social categories shape self-esteem and intergroup relations.

Question 9

What is Self-Categorization Theory?

Answer 9

A theory that suggests people categorize themselves and others to reduce uncertainty and maintain positive self-concepts.

Question 10

How does social psychology differ from sociology?

Answer 10

Sociology: Focuses on societal-level factors like culture and economy.
Social Psychology: Focuses on individuals’ behavior within their social context.

Question 11

How does social psychology differ from personality psychology?

Answer 11

Personality Psychology: Studies individual differences.
Social Psychology: Studies how social environments shape behavior.

Question 12

How does US social psychology differ from European social psychology?

Answer 12

US: Emphasizes experimental methods and individual-level analysis.
European: Focuses on structural and sociocultural contexts.

Question 13

What does political psychology study

Answer 13

How socio-political environments influence decision-making, group psychology, and political behaviors.

Question 14

What is critical social psychology?

Answer 14

A branch of social psychology that challenges traditional models, focusing on inequality, power dynamics, and social justice.

Question 15

What is liberation psychology?

Answer 15

A perspective focused on addressing the psychological impacts of oppression and injustice, emphasizing historical and social contexts.

Question 16

What is the Authoritarian Personality by Adorno (1950)?

Answer 16

A study exploring personality traits associated with prejudice and authoritarian attitudes.

Question 17

What is the Contact Hypothesis by Allport (1954)?

Answer 17

The idea that under appropriate conditions, intergroup contact can reduce prejudice.

Question 18

What is the Implicit Association Test (Greenwald et al., 1998)?

Answer 18

A tool to measure implicit biases by assessing automatic associations between concepts.

Question 19

What are the main focuses of social psychology

Answer 19

The influence of social contexts on individual behavior.
The role of construals in shaping behavior.

Question 20

What are the key traditions in social psychology?

Answer 20

Mainstream, political, critical, and liberation psychology.

Question 21

What are the key traditions in social psychology?

Answer 21

Mainstream, political, critical, and liberation psychology.

Question 22

How does critical social psychology differ from mainstream approaches?

Answer 22

It focuses on social justice, critiques inequality, and emphasizes structural factors over individual behavior.