1. Social Psychology Objectives:
After studying this unit you will be able to:
Define social psychology
Know ABC of social psychology
Define and understand major terms that are important in social psychology

2. Social Psychology
“The scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way individuals perceive, influence and relate to others” (Smith & Mackie, 2000)
Social Psychologists seek;
to develop theories to explain social behaviour
emphasis on scientific theories
theories provide general explanations for social behaviour

3. Social Psychology Social psychologists study;
How people are affected by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.
How people can engage in social behavior even when they’re alone.
For instance, if you were driving by yourself on a deserted highway and tossed your trash out your car window, your littering would be a social action. It would defy social norms, reflect your socialization and attitudes, and have repercussions (albeit, small) for other people in your society.

4. Social Reality We construct our social reality.
There is an objective reality but we see it with our social and cultural lens. The way we see our social reality describe and interpret our behavior in social context.
Facts and values: Facts are more objective and measurable and values are grounded in social context. Such as;
Fact: There were 0.5 millions abortion in India in
Value: Abortion is a right of the woman who is bearing a child.
Social context
Social Reality

5. ABC of Social Psychology
Social psychology is based on the ABCs of affect, behavior, and cognition. In order to effectively maintain and enhance our own lives through successful interaction with others, we rely on these three basic and interrelated human capacities:
Affect (feelings) - the feelings we experience as part of our everyday lives.
Behavior (interactions) – the we act and present ourselves in interactions
Cognition (thought) – what we think and the we way connect our thinking in social world (our cognitive patterns)

6. What is Social Psychology?
Source: “icy*kiss” ( by Sarah used under CC BY-NC 2.0 ( “Work man sitting” ( by Pilatesball used under CC BY-SA 3.0 ( “weight lifting” ( by imagesbywestfall used under CC BY 2.0 (

7. A schema is a knowledge representation that includes information about a person or group (e.g., our knowledge that Joe is a friendly guy or that Italians are romantic).
An attitude is a knowledge representation that includes primarily our liking or disliking of a person, thing, or group (“I really like Julie”; I dislike my new apartment”).
schemas and attitudes allow us to judge quickly and without much thought whether someone or something we encounter is good or bad, helpful or hurtful, to be sought out or avoided.

8. Attribution Why people behave like this?
Causal attribution:
An inference about what caused a person’s
behavior.
Situational attributions:
Attributions that explain someone’s behavior in terms of the circumstances rather than aspects of the person.
Dispositional attributions:
Attributions that explain someone’s behavior in terms of factors internal to the person, such as traits or preferences.

9. Stereotype and Prejudice What stereotypes you follow
Stereotype and Prejudice What stereotypes you follow? What prejudice you believe?
Stereotypes: Schemas that are often negative and are used to categorize complex groups of people.
Prejudice: A negative attitude toward another person based on that person’s group membership.
Attitude: A fairly stable evaluation of something as good or bad that makes a person think, feel, or behave positively or negatively about some person, group, or social issue.

10. Social influence shape our behavior
Conformity: A change in behavior due to explicit or implicit social pressure.
Informational influence: A reason for conformity based on people’s desire to be correct. (seeking information from some source we think can satisfy us)
Normative influence: A reason for conformity based on people’s desire to be liked (or not appear foolish).
Obedience: A change in behavior in response to an instruction or command from another person (authority).
Motivated social cognition: Thinking about the social world in ways that serve an emotional need, such as when people hold beliefs that help them feel less anxious.