WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

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WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY ?
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Introduction

• Human beings do not live in isolation
• We have always found ways of living with each
  other
• We function together in groups
• Tried to persuade others of our views
• Followed or rebelled against authority
• Found ways to resolve conflicts
• Help each other
• Hurt each other

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Introduction

• Provides tools for understanding everyday events.
• Understand why people act the way they do.
• Helps to make sense of daily interactions
• Friendships
• Love relationships
• Interactions at work and performance at school

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• Social psychologists do not just speculate about
  social behaviour
• They use scientific methods that are carefully
  designed and executed to help explain complex
  uncertain issues

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• Social Psychology is the scientific field that
  seeks to understand the nature and causes of
  individual behaviour in social situations.
  Baron, R Byrne, D (1991)
• The scientific study of the way individuals'
  thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced
  by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of
  others. Gordon Allport (1985)
• Social Psychology is the scientific study of how
  peoples thought, feelings, and actions are
  affected by others. Robert Feldman (2001)

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The Sociohistorical Perspective

• Has two main features
• Examines the social, cultural and historical
  context in which social psychological phenomena
  occurs
• Has interest in a broad range of contemporary and
  historical events

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Social psychology and other disciplines

• Sociology, Psychology and Social Psychology
• lt-----S--------------SP-------------------P-----gt

SP
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Social psychology and other disciplines

• Social psychology the field that seeks to
  understand and explain social behaviour
• How people think and act in relation to others
• There are other disciplines that are also
  interested in individuals thoughts and actions.
  Individually as well as group settings

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Social psychology and other disciplines

• Social psychology is similar, and it also differs
  from psychology and sociology
• Other fields such as biology, anthropology and
  history are in some ways similar and different to
  this field of study

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Social psychology and other disciplines

• Let us look at the different approaches in
  answering the question
• Why do groups of people, including nations
  display hostility towards another?
• For the biologists this does not reside in our
  social situations but in our genetic structure
• Developmental psychologists holds the view that
  we have an inborn fear of strangers and this
  become one of our survival mechanisms.

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Social psychology and other disciplines

• Similarly anthropologists have documented that
  some tribal societies are suspicious of strangers
  and may even attempt to kill them.
• Personality psychologists believe that is a
  characteristic of the individual and that this
  individual carries this trait to situations.
• The social psychologists looks at the individual
  in the social situation. They examine the forces
  in both the individual and the situation that
  leads to that outcome.

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Social psychology and other disciplines

• The psychologist would focus on the role of the
  individual
• The sociologists are more concerned more so with
  larger groups and systems in society. The
  sociologists in looking at violence would study
  the development of gangs.
• The historian takes on a much broader view than
  the sociologists. They focus on the interplay of
  a number of factors such as economics, political,
  technological trends.

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• Lindesmith and Strauss (1968)
• Social psychology is concerned with the
  behaviour and psychological processes of
  individuals who occupy positions in social
  structures, organizations, and groups.
• Focused on explaining the behaviour of
  individuals as it is controlled, influenced, or
  limited by the social environment.
• It is also concerned with the manner in which the
  behaviour of individuals reacts upon, shapes and
  alters social structures and enters into the
  functioning of groups.

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A main goal of social psychology is to

• Understand and predict behaviour
• It helps to answer the question WHY?
• The social psychological perspectives
• 1. Focus on the situation and,
• 2. the individual in the context of the group.

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Social psychology

• Social psychology recognizes that an individual
  is both a psychological and a social being and as
  such it refers to
• Situations
• Variability and
• Changeability

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THE SITUATION

• Social encounters do not occur in open,
  featureless settings, but in busy physical
  environments that contribute their own
  remarkable influence on our behaviours.
  (Feldman, 2001)
• Apart from these existences however, the person
  can also be a social psychological being
  contingent on the situation he/she find himself
  in.

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Variability

• Social psychologists focus on variability in
  behaviour rather than stability in behaviour in a
  situation. They also tend to analyze the
  capacities for different types of group behaviour
  in these situations.
• In short, social psychology studies the
  variability of behaviour and interaction of
  individuals in the situational context given
  their social and psychological consistencies.

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Changeability

• Social psychology reminds sociology that although
  structures, institutions and patterns exist,
  these have been created by individual thought,
  emotion and behaviour, and therefore social life
  can be changed by these very same individual
  characteristics.
• Social psychology reminds the psychologists that
  the individual who thinks himself separate from
  others is very much affected by groups in his
  thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

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SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

• Social psychology is a branch of psychology that
  studies individuals in the social context.
• It attempts to provide a framework within which
  to understand the interactions between people.

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Factors that impact on the social behaviour and
thought of individuals

• The actions and characteristics of others
• Cognitive process to understand individuals
  behaviour in social situations we must understand
  their thoughts about the given situation
• Environmental variables the impact of the
  physical world. Physical environment influence
  us.
• Cultural context
• Biological factors our preferences, behaviours,
  emotional reactions and attitudes are influence
  by our biological inheritance.

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AREAS OF STUDY

• Focus- Influence of Social Factor on the
  individual.
• Topics
• Judging others,
• Stereotypes
• Self- presentation
• Health

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• Focus- Social Interaction between and among
  people
• Topics
• Liking and loving
• Interpersonal relationships
• Aggression and helping
• Attitudes and persuasion

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• Focus- Group Processes
• Topics
• Conformity
• Jury Behaviour
• Politics
• Organizations
• Culture

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• We do not live out our lives in isolation
  rather we are enmeshed in a complex social world
  that continually influences us in many ways.
  (Feldman 2001)

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The TWO social psychologies

• As a discipline, it emerged out of two fields
  Sociology and Psychology and so both areas have
  different influences and emphases on the
  discipline that we are now concerned with.
• So they spoke of the TWO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIES
• Sociological Social psychology and,
• Psychological Social psychology
• proposed by Walter Stephan and Cookie Stephan
  (1990)

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The Three Faces of Social PsychologyJames
House in 1977
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Types of social psychology  

• PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
• SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND PERSONALITY
• SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

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PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (PSP)

• The emphasis is on social cognition (thoughts)
  and social influences i.e. the individuals
  behaviour is a function of perceived social
  stimuli.
• Explores social cognition, affect and behaviour
  at the individual level i.e. the effect current
  social institutions have on perceptions,
  feelings, behaviour. They are also concerned with
  attitude formation as influenced by the social
  environment.

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• Studies behaviour in simplified or controlled
  social settings, usually varying one or more
  factors in the setting.
• Some work in PSP is derived from social learning
  theory, exchange theory, and role theory. PSP
  counts psychoanalytic theory, learning theory,
  and field theory among its many intellectual
  roots.

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Personality and Social Structure

• This approach insists that the individual and
  the society are interdependent. Social structure
  is the underlying framework of society, the
  regularity in patterns of relationships in a
  society.
• Personality and social structure perspectives
  deals with the macro- social processes i.e.
  relationships between the micro- social
  individual characteristics AND macro- social
  characteristics of society.

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• Personality and social structure- look at the
  links between the individual and the society.
  They employ a variety of social psychological
  theories in their research, such as role theory
  or exchange theory. They also use theories from
  other areas of sociology and mini- theories that
  apply to a given topic.

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SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

• Herbert Blumer (1900-1987) describes the
  characteristics of the approach as
• Human interaction
• Interpretation or definition rather than mere
  reaction
• Response based on meaning
• Use of symbols, and
• Interpretation between stimulus and response

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The core principles

• Blummer came up with three core principles
• 1. meaning we act towards people and things
  based on the meaning that we give them.
• 2. language a means by which to negotiate
  meanings through symbols.
• 3. thought modifies each individuals
  interpretation of symbols.

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• Symbolic interactionism is a sociologically
  oriented theory that assumes individuals
  conception of self develops as they interpret and
  selectively internalize others symbolic
  gestures. (Forsyth, 1995)
• Symbolic interactionism focuses on the social
  construction of reality or in other words how
  meanings are subjectively defined rather than
  objectively defined.
• Meanings for the symbolic interactionist are
  relative and negotiable. Hence social
  interactionists study the varying perceptions of
  the same situation held by varying groups and
  individuals.

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• Focuses on a micro- social processes i.e. events
  concerning individuals and small groups (self,
  socialization, language, roles, etc.).
• Symbolic interactionists think individuals should
  be studied in their natural settings. Uses more
  qualitative methods.
• The symbolic interactionist focuses on the social
  construction of reality meaning is determined
  through social interaction.

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Kurt Lewin

• Kurt Lewin

• Soldier in German Army during World War 1
• Notice that as he came closer to the battlefield,
  his view of the world changed
• The once beautiful flowers and beckoning forest
  now become boulders to hide behind and gullies
  from which he could ambush enemies

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• Therefore held the notion that a persons
  perception of the world is influenced by what he
  or she has to do with the situation
• Individuals with different needs and tasks would
  come to see the same situation differently
• Lewin believed that often times we fail to
  acknowledge the situational factors when we try
  to explain why people behave the way they do

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Kurt Lewin interactionism

• Interactionism is a general conceptual
  orientation that assumes each persons behaviour
  is a function of his or her personal qualities,
  the nature of the situation, and the interaction
  of these personal qualities with factors present
  in the particular situation.
• This is represented by Lewins formula B
  f(P,E)
• Behaviour is a function of person and the
  environment.
• We must also think about the interaction between
  the person and the environment as a factor that
  can influence the eventual behaviour.

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Closer look at Situation

• Situation comprises all influences on behaviour
  that is external to the individual
• It maybe any aspect of the physical and or social
  environment- the presence of people real or
  imagined
• Situations can work on us indirectly and can
  modify our behaviour without us being aware of it

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Closer look at Individual Characteristics

• Consist of anything internal
• This include sex, age, race or ethnicity,
  personality characteristics, attitudes, self
  concept, ways of thinking

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Expanding Lewins Model

• Both the individual and situation characteristic
  influences how we process information
• Our evaluation of the social situation does not
  lead to immediate overt behaviour, it is our
  evaluation of the situation that forms the
  behavioural intention
• Because we form a behavioural intention does not
  mean that we will act on the intention
• Our analysis of the situation does not end with
  one intentions, we are constantly modifying our
  intentions and reassessing the situation
• Our behaviour can influence the social
  environment and probably cause changes in the
  behaviour of others

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• THEORIES IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

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SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES FOR DISCUSSION

• Role theory
• The social self
• Attraction and love
• Social cognition
• Attribution
• Attitude
• Social influence
• Groups

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• ROLE THEORY
• Role theory states that the behaviour of
  individuals is affected by the roles they occupy.
• A theory based on the belief that roles define us
  and our self-concept and shape our behaviour.

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TYPES OF ROLES

• ASCRIBED ROLES- These are the expectations
  associated with statuses that people are born
  into or that are thrust on them without any
  effort or desire on their parts, for example, sex
  roles, age roles, caste roles etc.
• ACHIEVED ROLES- These are the expectations that
  are associated with statuses the individual
  assumes after some effort or achievement, for
  example, occupational roles, achieved social
  roles, for instance a friend.
• COMPLIMENTARY ROLES- Some roles require
  complementary roles. For example, the role of
  father requires someone else to fill the
  complementary role of son. The role of wife
  requires the role of husband.

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• MULTIPLE ROLES
• Multiple selves
• Saturated self

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ROLE CONFLICT

• Because people occupy many different roles, role
  conflict may occur.
• Role conflict is a situation in which a person is
  expected to perform in two or more roles that
  conflict each other.
• One type of role conflict is role overload,
  another occurs because separate roles are not
  compatible.

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THE SOCIAL SELF
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The nature of self

• Who am I?
• A structure that contains the organized and
  stable contents of ones personal experiences
  (Schlenker, 1987)
• The self is me- the sum of what I am
• The self is an actor, guiding and regulating our
  thoughts, feelings and actions
• It therefore has a number of components
  cognitive structure, evaluative and emotional and
  a congruence component

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DEFINITIONS OF THE SELF

• There are a number of ways that we think about
  the self.
• SELF- CONCEPT
• SELF- ESTEEM
• SELF- EFFICACY
• Two of the most widely used are self- concept and
  self- esteem.

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Components of self- concept

• All ideas, thoughts and information we have of
  ourselves.
• Body image
• Self- esteem
• Personal identity
• Role performance

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Components of self- concept

• There are certain ideas and beliefs about
  ourselves that will be more dominant than others
• Private self the thought we have about
  ourselves- I am an honest person
• Public self what we present to others people
  think I am an honest person.
• Collective self how we think specific others
  such as family, friends, co-workersthink of us.-
  in my family I am considered responsible,

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Question for discussion

• How does culture impact on your sense of self?
• Do you think that in our setting we place more
  emphasis on the public self than the private self
• How does this differ from the American society
• Do you think that individuals in cultures that
  emphasize the collective self are more likely to
  be the focus of attention in social interaction?

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Culture and self

• Private self societies place more emphasis on
  self-fulfillment at the expense of communal
  relationships, for example the American society.
• Collective self societies are more concerned with
  meeting shared obligations and helping others,
  for example the Japanese or Haitian society.

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SELF THEORIES

• Historical notions of the self- William James
• Looking Glass Self- Charles Horton Cooley
• Role Taking Theory- George Herbert Mead
• Dramaturgical Model- Erving Goffman

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How do we know self?

• The self is a complex process of gaining self-
  awareness.
• We develop a concept of who we are through our
  interaction with others, and shape the image we
  choose to convey to others.
• There are three factors that help us to form our
  self-concept
• 1. how other people react to us.
• 2. the comparisons we make with other people
• 3. observation of our own behaviour
• It is through socialization that we become a
  consistent and recognizable person acquiring the
  physical, mental and social skills needed for
  survival in society.
• The self is not present at birth it arises in
  social experience.

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WILLIAM JAMES

• James does not have a developmental view of the
  self.
• For James the social self develops through the
  interaction of the I and the ME.
• I- refers to the subjective self spontaneous,
  energizing and creative
• ME- refers to the objective self an organized
  set of attitudes and expectations common to the
  social group
• James viewed the self as an object of awareness
  consisting of three regions (spiritual me, social
  me, material me)
• He asserted that our sense of self is based on 2
  components- I ME

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SELF I ME

OBJECT KNOWN SELF- CONCEPT
ME
SUBJECT KNOWER SELF- AWARENESS/ consciousness
I
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Self- Concept- ME
SELF
Self- Awareness- I
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SELF
Social and Personal Identity and image
Personal and social evaluation and esteem
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• There are as many social mes as there are
  distinct groups of individuals about whose
  opinion we care.
•  DEFINITONS OF ME
• -  Spiritual me personality, values and motives
• -  Social me recognition we get from others
• -  Material me body, valued possessions and
  loved ones

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GEORGE HERBERT MEAD ROLE TAKING THEORY

• Mead believes we assume the role of significant
  others and respond to the expectations of the
  generalized other (society as a whole).
• For Mead the social self develops through the
  interaction of the I and the ME.
• I- refers to the subjective self spontaneous
• ME- refers to the objective self as a social
  object

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• His theory goes a step further to discuss three
  stages of development
• Preparatory stage- imitation takes place
• Play Stage- use of language (symbols) and taking
  on one role at a time
• Game Stage- Child is more cognitively complex.
  There is an understanding of rules and the
  child takes on roles of generalized others.

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CHARLES HORTON COOLEYTHE LOOKING GLASS SELF

• This is referring to a reflected self. Here sense
  of self is derived from others.
• We imagine how we appear to others and how those
  others judge our appearance that we think we
  present to them.
• From this assessment we develop a self- concept
  which may be favorable or unfavorable.
• EACH TO EACH A LOOKING GLASS
• REFLECT THE OTHER THAT DOTH PASS.

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SELF PRESENTATION

• Most of us have vested interest in how others
  perceive and evaluate us.
• We have the need to protect our self-esteem and
  maintain self-consistency.
• We carefully consider how we are going to present
  ourselves to others

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ERVING GOFFMAN(Presentation of self in everyday
life)

• Impression management behaviour designed to
  control what others think of us. The goal is to
  control our interactions with others so that we
  get them to form the impression we desire.
• Strategic self presentation -conscious and
  deliberate efforts to shape other peoples
  impressions in order to gain power, influence
  sympathy or approval.
• Self monitoring the tendency to use cues from
  other peoples self presentations in controlling
  ones own self presentations. Looks at self
  presentation according to the demands of the
  situation.

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• Erving Goffman developed this theory based on a
  dramaturgical model, which uses the theater as a
  metaphor for social life
• We very often practice audience pleasing
  (behavior that is designed to make an audience
  feel good) and self-construction (self
  presentation meant to corroborate our own view of
  ourselves).

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• On stage, the actors present certain aspects of
  self to each other,
• Front-stage refers to when you are on, that
  is when you are actively presenting a particular
  self to others so as to create or maintain a
  certain impression.
• Backstage on the other hand, is when you are
  not actively managing or creating a particular
  impression.
• Goffman says that we become uncomfortable when
  people invade our backstage area because we are
  unprepared.

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• Edward Jones suggest that we also are busy
  seeking to control the social interaction process
  by one of several strategies
• Ingratiation this a deliberate effort to make a
  favorable impression. They agree with you, say
  nice things about you and offer help or favours.
• Self-promotion an action designed to make a
  person seem more competent than he really is. Try
  to project an image of themselves as winners
  goal is to gain your respect
• Intimidation A strategy in which people
  communicate an ability and inclination to induce
  negative outcomes to others. They want to be seen
  as tough and ruthlessnot to be messed with.
  They use fear.
•        
• Exemplification A technique in which people
  attempt to create the impression of moral
  superiority and integrity
•       
• Supplication a means of self presentation that
  consists of creating the impression that one is
  needy, weak and dependent

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Other theories

• SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY Leon Festinger (1954)
• Explores the notion that we also come to know
  ourselves by
• comparison to other people.
• Humans are motivated to evaluate themselves and
  their beliefs/opinions.
• "Am I good?
• "Am I correct?"
• When objective means of self-evaluation are not
  available, we
• evaluate ourselves and our opinions by comparison
  with
• others.
• We compare ourselves with similar others.
• We are attracted to situations where others are
  similar to us.

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Social comparison theory cont.

• We also tend to compare with past and future
  selves.
• -future selves. ("actual" vs. "ought" "ideal"
  selves)
• Research has shown that people engage in upward
  social comparison- in order to determine the
  standard of excellence and downward social
  comparison- to determine self- knowledge. This is
  often done with someone similar to us

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• SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY- Tajfel Turner (1979)
• According to this theory the social groups we
  belong to are an integral part of our self-
  concept.
• Social Identity Theory recognizes the importance
  of categorization
• People have an innate and strong tendency to
  mentally organize things and people (including
  themselves) into categories
• To the extent that we associate ourselves with
  groups (i.e. categorize ourselves), we have
  social identities
• Social identities (via our group memberships) are
  important aspects of how we define ourselves