1. Introducing Social Psychology
Chapter One
Introducing Social Psychology

2. Social Psychology Defined
The study of how our thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by other people
a science of people, rather than other species
others don’t need to be physically present to influence us
outward social behavior and inner mental life are both of interest to social psychologists
social psychology is a science, and as such relies on the scientific method to answer its questions of interest

3. Concept Review

4. How Other People Affect Us
Other people affect how we interpret events
behavior occurs in a social context
Other people affect how we feel about ourselves
social comparison theory is an example of this
Other people affect how we behave
the presence of others can change how we act in a situation
deindividuation is an example

5. Social Psychology and Common Sense
Social psychology is not just common sense
many social psychological findings confirm people’s intuitions about social behavior
many other findings, however, disconfirm intuition
intuitions can differ across people
intuitions can be vague
intuitions can be wrong
science trumps intuition
Hindsight appears clearer than it is
the hindsight bias describes our tendency to believe that we had predicted an outcome ahead of time, after learning of the result

6. Some Benefits of Studying Social Psychology
Being an informed citizen
using scientific findings to form strategies for dealing with social problems and social issues
Applying social psychological knowledge
applications to health, business, politics, law, and other areas show the breadth of social psychology
Understanding the influences on your own life
learning about social psychology assists in learning about oneself

7. Social Psychology’s Connections to Other Areas
Social psychology relates to several other areas of psychology
Personality psychology
Developmental psychology
Cognitive psychology
Clinical and counseling psychology

8. Concept Review

9. Social and Personality Psychology
Personality psychologists study traits or dispositions in order to understand human behavior
Social psychologists study the situations that impact human behavior
The intersection between dispositions and situations nicely informs both personality and social psychology

10. Social and Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology examines human growth and change over the lifespan
social development represents the overlap between the disciplines

11. Social and Cognitive Psychology
Social psychology overlaps considerably with cognitive psychology
social cognition examines perception, memory, language, reasoning, and other cognitive processes in a social context
both disciplines also use similar research methods
both disciplines embrace similar theoretical approaches

12. Social, Clinical, and Counseling Psychology
Social cognition informs research on self-esteem, depression, social anxiety, loneliness, shyness, and other types of mental disorders
More extreme forms of psychopathology fall outside the realm of social psychology

13. Social Psychology’s Connections to Other Disciplines
Social psychology relates to several other disciplines
Sociology
Anthropology
Political science

14. Concept Review

15. Social Psychology and Sociology
“Two social psychologies”
psychological social psychology is the focus of this book
sociological social psychology emphasizes the role of larger social structures in influencing behavior
significant overlap between the two until WWII
more divergence between the two currently

16. Social Psychology and Anthropology
Both fields focus on cultural and evolutionary influences on behavior
Little overlap between the fields, however
cultural anthropologists prefer cultural immersion and participant observation, rather than experimentation
physical anthropologists have long relied on evolutionary models; social psychologists have embraced such an approach only relatively recently

17. Social Psychology and Political Science
Both fields have grown independently into well-developed disciplines
Political psychology has emerged as a hybrid of the two
voter behavior, political decision making, perceptions of candidates, operation of political systems are some examples

18. The History of Social Psychology
Ancient Greek philosophers suggested some elements of modern social psychology
tripartite experience of thought, feeling, action
social contract: implicit rules of social conduct
the nature of personality and identity
Social psychology evolved into an empirical science
World War II provided a boost to the discipline

19. Classical Problems of Social Psychology
Basic issues
theory and experimentation inform social psychology
Perceiving the social world
cognition, judgment, attribution drive social behavior
The person in the situation
self-concept and attitudes affect behavior
Social influence
personality and persuasion shape social behavior
Harmful and helpful social behavior
people demonstrate the capacity for both

20. Many Contexts of Social Psychology
Cultural context
cultural differences and similarities help us understand social behavior
Health context
social psychological research offers many insights for health maintenance and illness prevention
Law context
social psychology helps shape our understanding of the legal system

21. It’s Alive! It’s Alive!!
Social psychology is all around us
personality scales allow for self-understanding
do-it-yourself research projects are fun and informative
read more about it in scientific journals
watch television…sensibly, with an eye toward understanding social behavior
read newspapers and magazines
gather information from the Internet
observe the behavior of others
observe your own behavior