- Social Cognition.
- Attitudes.
- Violence and Aggression.
- Prosocial Behavior.
- Prejudice and Discrimination.
- Social Identity.
- Group Behavior.
- Social Influence.
Social psychologists use
correlational research to look for relationships between variables
. For example, social psychologists might carry out a correlational study looking at the relationship between media violence and aggression.
Topics examined in social psychology include:
the self concept, social cognition, attribution theory, social influence, group processes, prejudice and discrimination, interpersonal processes, aggression, attitudes and stereotypes
.
What would a social psychologist be most likely to study?
the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people
.
- ethics.
- Experiments.
- Hypothesis.
- Laboratory environments.
- Naturalistic observation.
- research.
- Research designs.
- Scientific Method.
- We Construct Our Social Reality.
- Social Influences Shape Behavior.
- Personal Attitudes and Dispositions Shape Behavior.
Social Thinking, Social Influence, and Social Behavior
. Social psychology focuses on three main areas: social thinking, social influence, and social behavior. Each of these overlapping areas of study is displayed in Figure 1.1.
Social psychology is
the study of how individual or group behavior is influenced by the presence and behavior of others
. The major question social psychologists ponder is this: How and why are people’s perceptions and actions influenced by environmental factors, such as social interaction?
- Social Cognition.
- Attitudes.
- Violence and Aggression.
- Prosocial Behavior.
- Prejudice and Discrimination.
- Social Identity.
- Group Behavior.
- Social Influence.
Social loafing describes
the tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group
. Because all members of the group are pooling their effort to achieve a common goal, each member of the group contributes less than they would if they were individually responsible.
Social psychology is a broad field that asks questions such as:
How do we perceive others? How do we think about others? How do others think about us
?
Social psychologists study how
individuals think about, influence and relate to one another
and how those interactions affect issues as wide-ranging as prejudice, romantic attraction, persuasion, friendship and aggression.
Social influence is the process by which an individual’s attitudes, beliefs or behavior are modified by the presence or action of others. Four areas of social influence are
conformity, compliance and obedience, and minority influence
.
As you can see in Table 1.4, “Three Major Research Designs Used by Social Psychologists,” there are three major approaches to conducting research that are used by social psychologists—
the observational approach, the correlational approach, and the experimental approach
.
- Behavior Is a Joint Product of the Person and the Situation.
- Behavior Depends on a Socially Constructed View of Reality.
- Behavior Is Strongly Influenced by Our Social Cognition.
- The Best Way to Understand Social Behavior Is to Use the Scientific Method.
Social psychology can be used in different areas of our lives such as, our way of thinking, relationships (personal and professional), physical and
mental health
etc. At the center of all these, it’s human social cognitive system interacting with everyday situations.
