Social Psychology

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY MIDTERM

Q: Discuss why the scientific method provides a better guide to human behavior than common sense does. When discussing the scientific method and common sense as it regards to social psychology, one must understand what the scientific method and common sense are.

A: The scientific method is a systematic method used to observe variables in an attempt to answer some inquiry, in this case reasons for certain human behaviors. Common sense, on the other hand, is not a systematic method in its own right. It stems from the knowledge one gains from social groups within their life that heavily influence their cognitive processes and thought patterns. To more accurately answer the question, the scientific method provides a better guide to human behavior than common sense does because it is more foundational. What I mean is that common sense is not based on systematic observation. Human behavior is something that must be observed and studied. There are too many variables and affects associated with human behavior to rely upon common sense as the means to understand it. The scientific method takes into account and answers specific questions concerning social hypotheses, multi-cultural perspectives, and social attitudes. In short, common sense is shallow and provides no depth into understanding the "why" behind human behavior. It is void of any experimental methods or any means to accurately ascertain human behavior. The scientific method is clearly the proven guide because it is based upon data, observation, and variables, all of which are necessary to understand the dynamics of human behavior and social psychology.

Q: Perceptions and attitudes assist in structuring people's social consciousness. Describe how perseverance effect, self-fulfilling schemas, heuristics, automatic processing, and priming influence our social perceptions. Then examine how they influence social cognition.

A: Let us first obtain an understanding of the major terms used in our examination. Social perception, simply defined, is the process we use to know and understand others. In light of influencing our social perceptions, perseverance effect is the behavior that has unwavering beliefs even in situations where that very belief is contradicted, and can thereby create some positive or negative stereotypes and prejudices for or against other groups/individuals. Self-fulfilling schemas are those mental frameworks of the mind whose theme is oneself and through that theme social information is gathered and used. The social perception can easily be skewed through the eyes of self-fulfilling schemas. A person is almost "self-centered," as we say, when using this thought process. Positive social perception can be based solely on how groups or individuals add to this person's schema, and vice versa. Heuristics are those "rules of thumb" or mental shortcuts that we use to process persuasive messages, and they too can streamline our social perception in a way that can make us extremely open-minded towards others or extremely skeptic and objective. The task is trying to find that happy medium. Priming is when something happens that increases one's ability to remember specific types of information and is very key to our social perceptions. If someone knows us well enough they can utilize perseverance effect to persuade or dissuade us from thinking or feeling a certain way toward a certain group by "reminding" us of some previous occurrence or situation that may have been similar but is really not. Automatic processing is the ability to do or think about something with almost no effort because of having experienced it many times over. This processing is closely related to heuristics in that rules of thumb that we use are generally considered that because they are tried and true. So, regarding social perceptions, our experience can cause use to immediately go into a certain frame of mind based upon some sound first indications or observations that we see or hear in a social setting. Social cognition deals with how we process information about the social world. When using perseverance effect, self-fulfilling schemas, heuristics, automatic processing, and priming as a process to know others we tend to develop and shape these variables into more than just tools; they become almost standards by which all other social encounters will be measured. In short, the influence of these variables is very heavy. They themselves can become the process or at least the filters through which our processing of the social world goes through.

Q: Discuss the concept of the self and issues of gender, identity, and self-esteem. Identify the situational and other influences on identity as well as changes in the self over time. Discuss self-esteem in relation to gender. Finally, discuss theories of social comparison in regard to perception of the self.

A: Our identity is something that is constantly being shaped and formed throughout our life. Situations such as major events, an emotional crisis, bullying, stereotypes, stereotype threats, and prejudice are just several influences and situations that have significant effects on our identity. For example, one of the easiest influences to discuss concerning this topic is stereotypes. Growing up there are many stereotypes that people face and they have to make a choice as to which ones they are going to allow to affect their lives and help shape and mold their identity. Some may not want to be considered part of stereotypes, and therefore the stereotype threat grabs a hold of who they are trying to be and become. Over time and as a person goes through many experiences in life, they can change and these influences will have more or less power over the formation of who they really are. While young a person may be ambitious and extremely kind and friendly to all. In due time these influences and situations can cause this same person to increase in their ambition and kindness or become distant and lazy, thinking themselves worthless and useless. A lot of this has to do with self-esteem, which is basically our own view of ourselves and how much we feel we are worth, and whether or not we are male or female. I remember in one of our homework discussions we talked about whether or not males and females can have more than just their "traditional traits" associated with males and females. This ties in with self-esteem because men, who tend to need less self-affirmation than women, may feel the need to boost their self-esteem through "machoism" or "impressive" acts to others. Women tend to need that affection and confirmation of words or touch to solidify their self-worth. Social comparison is our tendency to compare what we know and feel to what we socially learn to see if it is true or not. In regard to our self perception, this is crucial. Those with lower self-esteems gravitate around social comparison. They find the "alpha" male and try to emulate him/her to bring some sort of closure to their identity and self-perception. On the other hand, these social comparisons may yield the self-affirmation needed for one to continue on being themselves.

Q: Depression, prejudice, and racism are common human maladies. They share commonalities in terms of how people develop, maintain, or overcome them. Explain how attribution patterns, impression formation, and fundamental attribution errors all maintain or change people's perceptions in the areas of depression, prejudice, and racism.

A: Prejudice is defined as a negative response gathered from group involvement. Racism is different treatment, usually negative, towards a group of people because of their race. Depression is that state where one feels down and unaccepted based upon factors of how they have been treated. Attribution is when we try to understand why a person does what they do, and gain insight into their perceptions thereby. Impression formation is simply how we form impressions of others. Fundamental attribution errors are tendencies to explain another's actions as a result of a disposition even when a situation proves otherwise. When it comes to the areas of prejudice, depression, and racism one of the first concepts affected is impression formation. We tend to build a negative connotation towards those who exhibit prejudice and racism unless they believe the same things we do about people. Attribution patterns help us to understand why people feel the way they do, but do not necessarily take away any depression that may be caused due to unfair treatment. Fundamental attribution errors tend to maintain a lot of these prejudicial and racial tendencies because people do not want to change when they feel so adamantly about something. Altogether a lot of people gain depression from this.