Understanding Social Psychology

• Social psychology is the scientific study of how we feel, think, and behave towards others, and how our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are influenced by them.

History of Social Psychology

• Social psychology began when scientists started systematically measuring human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
• Kurt Lewin and Leon Festinger refined the experimental approach to studying behavior in the 1940s and 1950s. This established social psychology as a scientific discipline.
• Researchers studied how Adolf Hitler could produce extreme obedience and horrendous behaviors in his followers during World War II.
• Philip Zimbardo's "prison experiment" showed how ordinary male college students became overly involved in their roles as guards and prisoners, leading to violence and early termination.
• In the late 20th century, the field expanded to attitudes with an emphasis on cognitive processes.
• Social psychologists developed formal models of persuasion to understand how advertisers and others make their messages effective.
• In the 1970s and 1980s, social psychology adopted a more cognitive orientation, using advances in cognitive psychology and computer technology.
• In the 21st century, the field has expanded to include how social situations affect health and happiness, the role of evolutionary experiences and cultures, and the study of social neuroscience.
  • Social neuroscience studies how our social behavior influences and is influenced by brain activities

Social Situation

• Social psychology studies the relationship between individuals and people around them.
• Social psychologists believe human behavior is driven by personal characteristics and social situations.
• Social situations create social influence, which changes our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and allows us to change those of others.
• The things people value most are often their relationships with others.
• People count on others when working together on projects, volunteering, or serving on juries.
• We develop social bonds and expect others to help us achieve our goals.
• People not physically present can influence thoughts and feelings.

Evolutionary Adaptation

• In Lewin's equation, "person" refers to individual human characteristics.
• Humans are born with skills that allow them to successfully interact with others
• Human evolution provides us specialized social skills important to survival.
• Evolutionary adaptation: The nature of human nature and social behavior are determined by our evolutionary past.
• Evolutionary theory: Fitness refers to the extent to which a characteristic helps an organism survive and reproduce.
• Fitter organisms pass on their genes more successfully, making fitness-related traits more common.
• A genetic makeup prepares us to be human beings, but doesn't necessarily determine who we are

Self-Concern

• Desire to protect and enhance our own lives and those of close people.
• Human beings exhibit kin selection - strategies that favor reproductive success of relatives.
• Desire to protect and enhance our ingroup - those we view as similar and important to us and with whom we share social connections.

Other-Concern

• Humans desire to connect with and be accepted by other people
• Other-concern means we don't always put ourselves first
• Being human involves caring about, helping, and cooperating with other people.
• Human beings often behave morally - understand not to harm without reason, display compassion and altruism.
• Sometimes self-concern and other-concern can align.

Social Situation

• Most people value their social situation and relationships the most.
• People rely on one another to complete tasks
• People develop social bonds and rely on each other to achieve objectives.

Social Situations and Health

• People who have social networks are generally happier
• People feel that they have adequate social support report being happier and have less psychological issues.
• Adequate social support leads to better physical health. People have fewer diseases, live longer, lower blood pressure, and have fewer deaths.
• Ostracism, or feeling excluded, is the opposite of social support.
• Feeling excluded can be more painful than physical pain.
• Social psychological principles recommend developing a stable support network.

Social Norms

• Social influence occurs passively as we adopt the beliefs/behaviors of those around us.
• Outcome of influence are social norms
• Social norms are ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving shared by group members and viewed as appropriate.
• Social norms that guide everyday behavior also create social influence
• Culture derives social influence.
• Culture represents a group of people in a geographical region that share a common set of social norms.
• Westerners are primarily toward Individualism
• Eastern Asian Cultures are more oriented toward interdependence, or collectivism.
• An awareness of cultural differences is important due to increased global contact through travel, immigration, and the Internet.

ABCs of Social Psychology

• Affect (Feelings)
• Behavior (Interactions)
• Cognition (Thought)

Affect

• Affect refers to feelings we experience as part of our everyday lives.
• Affect signals that things are all right and things that aren't going so well..
• Affect is experienced through mood and emotions
• Mood refers to positive or negative feelings that are in the background of everyday experiences.
• Emotions are brief, but often intense, mental and physiological feeling states.

Social Behavior

• We interact with, and influence, each other every day, effectively and efficiently
• Social exchange is the sharing of goods, services, emotion and other social outcomes.
• People have learned to cooperate giving benefits to those that are in need.
• Reciprocal Altruism is a mutual/equitable exchange of benefits

Reciprocity

• People have to keep track of how benefits are exchanged
• Following rules are important
• If someone doesn't pay back benefits, then violates principle of reciprocity

Explore the basics of social psychology, including its definition and the influences of social neuroscience and evolutionary adaptation on social behavior. Learn about key figures like Kurt Lewin and Leon Festinger. Understand the impact of technology and self-preservation on human interactions in groups, and individuals.