Defining Applied Social Psychology PDF

Reading Thursday, January 23, 2025 2:31 PM Defining the Field of Applied Social Psychology: - Social psychology: the science that seeks to understand how people think about, feel abo relate to, and influence one another. Scientific Understanding: - To s...

Reading Thursday, January 23, 2025 2:31 PM Defining the Field of Applied Social Psychology: - Social psychology: the science that seeks to understand how people think about, feel abo relate to, and influence one another. Scientific Understanding: - To seek an understanding of social psychological phenomena, social psychologists, as scientists, are guided by certain core values and rely on research strategies that fall unde scientific method. - "Understanding" involves the accomplishment of 4 goals: ○ Description: § Entails identifying and reporting details and nature of a phenomenon, often distinguishing between classes or types of the phenomenon and recording its frequency of occurrence. ○ Prediction: § Requires knowing what factors are systematically related (correlated) to the phenomenon of interest ○ Determining causality: § Determining causality between two factors means determining that changes one factor produce (i.e., cause) changes in the other factor. Just because two factors are related does not necessarily mean that they are causally related. ○ Explanation: § Pertains to establishing why a phenomenon or relationship occurs. We may understand that one factor causes another factor without knowing exactly w the effect occurs. Historical Context of Applied Social Psychology: - The scientific foundation of applied social psychology can be traced at least as far back as 1930s to the thinking and work of social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1936). ○ He conducted research on a variety of practical issues and social problems, such as to get people to eat healthier diets and how interpersonal relations and productivit are affected by different supervisory styles. - Lewin's goal was to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical application real-world contexts. - During World War II, Lewin’s work became particularly relevant as he applied psychologic principles to address pressing societal needs. out, er the s in o why s the s how ty ns in cal  to get people to eat healthier diets and how interpersonal relations and productivit are affected by different supervisory styles. - Lewin's goal was to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical application real-world contexts. - During World War II, Lewin’s work became particularly relevant as he applied psychologic principles to address pressing societal needs. ○ Combatting Prejudice: As a German Jewish immigrant, Lewin studied ways to reduc prejudice and promote democratic values in response to authoritarianism and propaganda. ○ Behavioral Change: He worked on initiatives to influence public behavior, such as encouraging Americans to eat less desirable cuts of meat to conserve resources, showing group discussions were more effective than lectures. ○ Leadership Studies: Lewin’s research on leadership styles (authoritarian, democrati laissez-faire) reflected wartime political regimes, highlighting the benefits of democratic leadership. Approaches to Applied Social Psychology: - Social cognition approach: a traditional approach that treats researchers like neutral observers, whose job is to study social behavior, find patterns, and report findings in a fai and objective way, so others can trust the results. ○ Focus on Mental Processes: § It examines how individuals perceive, store, and retrieve information about s situations and people. § Mental processes like attention, memory, and decision-making are key to understanding behavior in social settings. ○ Schemas and Heuristics: § Schemas: Mental frameworks or knowledge structures that help organize information about people, events, or situations (e.g., stereotypes about grou § Heuristics: Mental shortcuts used to make quick decisions (e.g., judging some based on first impressions). ○ Attribution: § It explores how people explain the causes of behavior—both their own and others' (e.g., attributing someone’s actions to personality traits versus situati factors). ○ Social Perception and Biases: § It investigates how biases like the fundamental attribution error (overemphasizing personal traits over situational factors) or confirmation bia (favoring information that aligns with existing beliefs) affect social judgments ○ Motivation and Emotion: § Emotions and motivations are central to how people interpret social informa influencing their decisions and interactions. - Engaged research approach: involves the researcher actively participating in the research process to address social issues. Unlike a neutral observer, the researcher collaborates w community groups and stakeholders to identify problems, collect data, and develop solut that can drive social change.  ty ns in cal ce ic, ir social ups). eone ional as s. ation, h with tions  § Emotions and motivations are central to how people interpret social informa influencing their decisions and interactions. - Engaged research approach: involves the researcher actively participating in the research process to address social issues. Unlike a neutral observer, the researcher collaborates w community groups and stakeholders to identify problems, collect data, and develop solut that can drive social change. ○ Active Involvement: § The researcher is directly involved with communities or stakeholders rather t being a detached observer. ○ Collaboration: § Works closely with community groups, organizations, or policymakers to add real-world problems. ○ Focus on Social Change: § Research is aimed at creating practical, actionable outcomes that benefit soc or a specific community. ○ Shared Goals: § The research process is guided by mutual goals between the researcher and t community, ensuring relevance and impact. ○ Ethical Engagement: § Builds trust and respects the voices, needs, and perspectives of those involve ○ It’s focused on practical impact and emphasizes working with others to create meaningful outcomes. ○ This approach is driven by the idea that research should have a tangible, positive impact on society. - Critical approach: emphasizes power and liberation from oppression. ○ The paradigm underlying this approach is critical theory which focuses on how the distribution of power shapes the way people construct their experiences. ation, h with tions than dress ciety the ed.