Social Psychology

Introducing Social Psychology
Theories and Methods in Social Psychology

27 Feb 2012, Banu Cingöz Ulu

What is social psychology?
• A field within psychology that strives to understand the social dynamics of everyday living. • Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to others.

What is social psychology?
• How do the actual, imagined, and implied presence of others influence us?
– Cognitively (thoughts) – Affectively (emotions) – Behaviorally (actions)
This is the level of analysis for Social Psychology

• Three levels of analysis:

– societal (economics, sociology)  BROAD – individual (clinical, personality)  NARROW – interpersonal  INTERMEDIATE: situations

Social Psychology is…more than common sense
• It is a collaborative, integrative science.
– Drawing on insights from sociology, anthropology, biology, neurology, political science, and economics to describe and explain social behavior
Psychological Social Psychology: focus is on individuals and how they respond to social stimuli. Sociological Social Psychology: focus is on larger group or societal variables, such as socioeconomic status, social and cultural norms.

Historical Roots of Social Psychology
Three major theoretical perspectives have influenced today’s social psychology:
• Psychoanalytic theory • Behaviorism • Gestalt psychology

Historical Roots of Social Psychology
• Psychoanalytic Theory: Freud’s theory emphasizing unconscious motivation. • Behaviorism: analysis of learning that focuses on observed behavior. • Gestalt Psychology: Theory that people form coherent and meaningful perceptions based on the whole, not individual parts.

THEORIES IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Theories in Social Psychology 1
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Motivational Learning Cognitive Decision-Making Interdependence Sociocultural Evolutionary

Theories in Social Psychology 2
1. Motivational Theories: focuses on a person’s motivations, needs, emotions 2. Learning Theories: emphasize prior experience, observations, and reinforcements
– Social learning theory: argues that learning is based on reinforcement and modeling – Reinforcement: learning based on attaining rewards (or avoiding punishments) – Modeling: imitating or copying others

Theories in Social Psychology 3
3. Cognitive Theories: a person’s behavior depends on perception & interpretation of situations 4. Decision-Making Theories: people rationally calculate the costs and benefits of various action
– Expectancy value theory: decisions are based on (1) the value of outcomes and (2) the probability each will occur.

Theories in Social Psychology 4
5. Interdependence Theories: focus on interacting people, 2 or more individuals
– Two people are interdependent when their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have mutual influence – Social exchange theory: analyzes interactions in terms of costs and benefits that they exchange

Theories in Social Psychology 5
6. Sociocultural Theories
• A sociocultural perspective emphasizes how behavior is influenced by cultural values, social norms, and social roles • Culture: shared beliefs, values, traditions, and behavior patterns of a group. • Socialization: process of acquiring the rules, standards, and values of a group. • Social Norms: rules and expectations about how group members should behave. • Social Role: set of social norms about how a person in a particular social position should behave.

Theories in Social Psychology 6
Culture shapes social behavior • Culture: All ideas, symbols, preferences, and material objects a people share
– Shapes people’s view of reality and of themselves – Significantly influences individual’s social behavior

• Cultural belief systems of individualism and collectivism

Theories in Social Psychology 7
• Individualism: belief in the value of personal identity, uniqueness, and freedom
– Westernized White cultures

• Collectivism: emphasis on loyalty to the family, adherence to group norms, and harmonious social relations
– African, Asian, Latin and Eastern cultures

Individualism:
• A philosophy of life focusing on individual needs over group needs.
– Preference for loosely knit social relationships – Desire to be relatively autonomous of other’s influence – First seen in sixteenth century when people became more geographically mobile – Expanded greatly in late 19th and early 20th centuries due to increased industry and urbanization

Collectivism:
• A philosophy of life stressing the priority of group needs over individual needs.
– Preference for tightly knit social relationships – Willingness to submit to the influence of group – Identity is given to you by the group – Approximately 70% of world’s population lives in a collectivist orientation – Older of the two philosophies: most protection for people who live in threatening environments

Theories in Social Psychology 8
7. Evolutionary Social Psychology • applies the principles of evolution and natural selection to the understanding of human behavior and social life • many tendencies /preferences of humans are the result of natural selection >> “evolved psychological mechanisms” • behavior based on internal dispositions and external situational demands • many evolved mechanisms are social in nature

Social Psychological Theories Today
• Combines and integrates different theoretical traditions • “middle-range theories”: They are models to explain specific aspects of human behavior
– They do not try to cover all social life

METHODS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Methods in SP
• Scientific method: A set of procedures used to gather, analyze, and interpret information.
– Reduces error – Leads to dependable generalizations

• Four broad goals of research:
– Description – Causal analysis – Theory building – Application

Research Participants
• Select a sample that ideally represents the population of interest • Random sampling is the best way to do that • Biases:
– College students are over-represented – Males are over-represented – Ethnic minority groups are under-represented

Correlational vs. Experimental Research 1
• Correlational research: involves testing the association between two or more factors, i.e., variables
• Advantages:
– Study real-life complex problems (earthquake, death of spouse) – Efficient and economic

• Disadvantages:
– Reverse causality – Third variable

Correlational vs. Experimental Research 2
• Experimental research: randomly assigns people to conditions, varies treatment in each condition, and measures effect on responses
– examine and conclude about cause-effect relationships

• Operational definition: the specific procedure used to measure or manipulate a variable. • Random assignment: the subjects are placed in experimental conditions on the basis of chance.

Correlational vs. Experimental Research 3
• Independent and dependent variables
Independent variable: the variable that is systematically manipulated Dependent variable: the variable whose changes are considered to be the result of the changes in the independent variable, the “measured variable”

Experimental Research 1
• Field experiments are run in naturalistic settings and usually participants are not aware they are being studied
– generally more spontaneous, natural responses; more external validity – minimize suspicion of participants – less control over extraneous variables: threat to internal validity – sometimes random assignment not possible

Experimental Research 2
• Laboratory experiments are run in artificial, controlled settings
– better control of experimental manipulations – random assignment is possible
• removes preexisting differences between groups

– some degree of artificiality, external validity problems

Experimental Research 3
• External validity: extent to which results of a study generalize to other populations and settings • Internal validity: extent to which cause-andeffect conclusions can be drawn

Methods of Data Collection
• Self-Report – people are asked about their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, preferences • Observational Research – direct observation or recording of information • Archival Research – analyze existing data collected for other purposes • Internet Research – could be self report, observational, or archival; but over the net

Sources of Bias
• Experimenter bias: caused by unintentional acts by the researcher to influence the participants to behave in a certain way • Subject bias: caused by participant’s motives and goals, wanting to fulfill the role of a “goods subject”
– Demand characteristics: aspects of research that make people aware that they are being studied and this can bias their behavior

Replication and Meta-analysis
• Replication: No study is ever perfect, results should be replicated; meaning the study must be repeated • Meta-Analysis: quantitative approach to summarizing results of many studies.