‘attitude’ has been referred to as social psychology’s most indispensable concept‚ and the study of attitudes has dominated social psychology since the 1920s (Allport‚ 1935‚ p. 798; McGuire‚ 1986). In the early 19th century‚ attitude research was considered to be of such fundamental importance to social psychology that both were thought to be one and the same‚ and each to be the definition of the other (Watson‚ 1930; Hogg & Vaughan‚ 2011‚ p. 148). While social psychologists’ interest in attitude
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Social Comparisons or comparisons between the self and others are a constant in this world. Relating information to ourselves in regards to achievements and or failures as well as abilities of others are a fundamental psychological mechanism that cannot be stopped. (Dunning Hayes‚ 1996) Festingers’ Social Theory of Comparison was guided by three central questions: Why do people engage in social comparisons? To whom do they compare themselves? How do social comparisons influence the self? (Festinger
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Social identity and national identity. The social identity approach assumes that social identity depends upon social groups and category membership. Tajfel (1972)‚ for example‚ described social identity as individual’s awareness of belonging to a group‚ together with the emotional and evaluative significance of that group membership. The strength of social identity is measured by asking individuals to assess cognitive and affective aspects of their group (for example‚ Brown‚ Condor‚ Mathews‚ Wade
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Social and biological factors have a large impact on individuals by triggering specific behaviors. These factors have a social effect‚ where changes occur depending on the people that surround them‚ and biological effects‚ which depend on their genetics‚ hormones‚ etc. Body weight‚ is the weight of a persons body. Biologically‚ the weight of a person may be based on their genetics‚ depending on their parent’s traits that were passed down to them. Such as a kid‚ that is a newborn to two
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“The social norm” refers to “an established standard of behavior shared by members of a social group to which each member is expected to conform” (thefreedictionary.com). Expected to behave‚ individuals must act a certain way to gain acceptance into society. “Sociologists believe an individual’s behavior and self-definitions are structured by relationships. (The relationships themselves are often structured by institutions – schools‚ workplaces‚ courts‚ etc.)” (O’Connell 32). Failure to adhere to
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Lauren Thom‚ 3215788. Psyc 315: Social Psychology 2‚046 words. Critically evaluate Social Identity Theory. Who are you? Who am I? These are questions that we all ponder at some point or another in our lives. As human beings we are seemingly inundated with the desire to classify and categorise. We are constantly defining and analysing the differences that we observe in the world‚ it seems only natural that we would apply this method of classification to our position within our
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Social Influences on Behavior Paper People behave differently according to the situations and surroundings in their environment. Associated Content (2007) states that‚ “Persuasion‚ obedience‚ and conformity are the different kind of social influences. Persuasion works to persuade people to change their attitudes and behaviors. Obedience is the form of change in behavior when commanded by a higher authority. Conformity is when the behavior changes due to indirect social behavior”. Most situations
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“Opinions and Social Pressure” In “Opinions and Social Pressure‚” social psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a study to discover the influences a majority may have on individuals. Solomon Asch discovered a vast amount of people conformed under group pressure‚ as well as discovered others may also go against the unanimous majority. Like many of his colleagues‚ Solomon Asch wanted to find how group pressure effected individuals (176). Asch wanted to discover the reach on which social forces played
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Social control theories focus on the influences that assist the regulation of human behavior and which lead to conformity with the “rules” of society. The influencers include family‚ community‚ school‚ faith‚ values‚ and beliefs. The essence of control theory is that people will be less likely to deviate if they are integrated into mainstream institutions. The less people connecting to the conventional values of society‚ the more likely it is that deviance will occur. Does the existence of societal
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Bandura’s Social-Cognitive Theory The social-cognitive theory proposed by Albert Bandura (1925- ) has become the most influential theory of learning and development. It considers that people learn from one another‚ including such concepts as observational learning‚ imitation‚ and modeling. This theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive‚ behavioral‚ and environmental influences. The four-step pattern of observational learning consists of: (1)
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