Social Psychology Objectives What is social psychology Social

Social Psychology

Objectives • What is social psychology? Social psychology's big ideas We construct our social reality Our social intuitions are often powerful but sometimes perilous Social influences shape our behavior Personal attitudes and dispositions also shape behavior Social behavior is biologically rooted Social psychology's principles are applicable in everyday life Social psychology and human values Obvious ways values enter psychology Not-so-obvious ways values enter psychology I knew it all along: Is social psychology simply common sense? Focus On: I knew it all along Research methods: How we do social psychology Forming and testing hypotheses Correlational research: Detecting natural associations Experimental research: Searching for cause and effect Generalizing from laboratory to life

4. Social Influences shape behavior 5. Dispositions shape behavior 1. We construct our social reality 2. Our Social intuitions are powerful, sometimes perilous 3. Attitudes shape behavior 6. Social behavior is also biological behavior Social psychology’s principles are applicable to everyday life

We construct our social reality • We humans have an irresistible urge to explain behavior, to attribute it to some cause, and therefore to make it seem orderly, predictable, and controllable. – Ex. Friends insult- hostility or to a bad day. • Beliefs about ourselves also matter – Optimistic or pessimistic outlook – Superior or inferior Our answers influence our emotions and actions. How we construe the world, and ourselves, matters.

Social intuitions • Attitudes, memory, and thinking all operate on two levels • Thinking occurs not onstage, but offstage • Dual processing – Conscious-deliberate – Unconscious- automatic Intuition shapes our fears, - flying is dangerous Impressions - can I trust him? Relationships - Does she like me? We intuitively judge things by how readily instances come to mind

Social influences shape our behavior • We speak and think in words we learned from others • Sometimes the power of a social situation leads us to act in ways that depart from our espoused attitudes – Powerful evil situations sometimes overwhelm good intentions- agree with falsehoods or comply with cruelty External social forces shaped our attitude and behavior

Personal attitudes and dispositions also shape behavior • Internal forces also matters – Our smoking attitudes influence our susceptibility to peer pressures to smoke – Our political attitudes influence our voting behavior • We are not passive individuals – If we are coerced, we may also react in ways to restore our freedom Our worlds arise from the interactions between situations and persons

Social behavior is also biological behavior • Evolutionary psychology- reminds us of our inherited human nature predisposes us to behave in ways that helped our ancestors survived and reproduce. – Natural selection predispose our actions and reactions - dating, mating, hurting, caring, sharing Social neuroscientists- biological and social influence - stress hormones affect how we feel and act -ostracism elevates blood pressure - social support strengthens the disease fighting immune system

• Social psychology and human values -Obvious ways values enter psychology -Not-so-obvious ways values enter psychology

“It is easy to be wise after the event. ” - Sherlock Holmes “Everything important has been said before. ” - Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead 1861 -1947

I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon • Is social psychology simply common sense? • Does social psychology simply formalize what any amateur already knows intuitively?

Hindsight bias • The tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one’s ability to have foresee how something turned out. • It is pervasive, you may now be feeling that you already knew about it. Indeed almost any conceivable result of a psychological experiment can seem like common sense—after you know the result.

example • Cullen Murphy (1990) - “Day after day social scientists go out into the world. Day after day they discover that people’s behavior is pretty much what you had expect. ”

Some dueling proverbs Which is more true that… Or that… Too many cooks spoil the broth. The pen is mightier than the sword. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Blood is thicker than water. He who hesitates is lost. Forewarned is forearmed. Two heads are better than one. Actions speak louder than words. You’re never too old to learn. Many kinfolk, few friends. Look before you leap. Don’t cross the bridge until you come to it.

So what do we conclude • The point is not that common sense is predictably wrong. Rather, common sense usually is right after the fact. • We therefore easily deceive ourselves into thinking that we know and knew more than we do and did

• This is precisely why we need science– to help us sift reality from illusion and genuine predictions from easy hindsight.

Forming and testing hypotheses • “Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life. ” • Marcus Aurelius

Theory • An integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events.

Hypothesis • A testable proposition that describes a relationship that may exist between events.

Purposes 1. They allow us to test a theory by suggesting how we might try to falsify it. 2. Predictions give direction to research. 3. A predictive feature of good theories can also make them practical- when to expect it and how to control it.

How do we conclude that one theory is better than another? • Effectively summarizes a wide range of observations • Makes clear predictions that we can use – To confirm or modify theory – Generate new exploration – Suggest practical application

Types of research • Field research- done in a natural setting outside of the laboratory • Correlational research- study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables • Experimental research- studies that seek clues to cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors (I. V. ) while controlling others (holding them constant)

• Random assignment- process of assigning participants such that all persons have the same chance of being selected in a given condition

Ethics in research • Deception- Occurs when participants are misinformed or misled about the study’s methods and purposes. • Ex. Stanley Milgram’s research on obedience to authority

• Demand characteristics- in subtle ways, researcher’s words, tone of voice, and gestures may call forth desired responses.

• Informed consent- an ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whatever they wish to participate. – Be truthful – Protect people from harm and significant discomfort – Treat information confidentially

• Debriefing- in social psychology, the postexperimental explanation of a study to its participants