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Social Psychology

What is Social Psychology?

Social PsychologySocial psychology is the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others (Allport 1998).
By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors include all of the psychological variables that are measurable in a human
being. The statement that others may be imagined or implied suggests that we are prone to
social influence even when no other people are present, such as when watching television, or
following internalized cultural norms.

Social psychology is an empirical science that attempts to answer a variety of questions about
human behavior by testing hypotheses, both in the laboratory and in the field. Such approach to
the field focuses on the individual, and attempts to explain how the thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors of individuals are influenced by other people.

A relatively recent field, social psychology has nonetheless had a significant impact not only on
the academic worlds of psychology, sociology, and the social sciences in general, but has also
influenced public understanding and expectation of human social behavior. By studying how
people behave under extreme social influences, or lack thereof, great advances have been made
in understanding human nature. Human beings are essentially social beings, and thus, social
interaction is vital to the health of each person. Through investigating the factors that affect
social life and how social interactions affect individual psychological development and mental
health, a greater understanding of how humankind as a whole can live together in harmony is
emerging.

Links Between Social Psychology and Sociology

Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies cognitive, affective, and behavioral
processes of individuals as influenced by their group membership and interactions, and other
factors that affect social life, such as social status, role, and social class. Social psychology
examines the effects of social contacts on the development of attitudes, stereotypes,
discrimination, group dynamics, conformity, social cognition and influence, self-concept,
persuasion, interpersonal perception and attraction, cognitive dissonance, and human
relationships.

A significant number of social psychologists are sociologists. Their work has a greater focus on
the behavior of the group, and thus examines such phenomena as interactions and social
exchanges at the micro-level, and group dynamics and crowd psychology at the macro-level.
Sociologists are interested in the individual, but primarily within the context of social structures
and processes, such as social roles, race and class, and socialization. They tend to use both
qualitative and quantitative research designs. Sociologists in this area are interested in a variety
of demographic, social, and cultural phenomena. Some of their major research areas are social
inequality, group dynamics, social change, socialization, social identity, and symbolic
interactionism.

Social psychology bridges the interest of psychology (with its emphasis on the individual) with
sociology (with its emphasis on social structures). Most social psychologists are trained within
the discipline of psychology. Psychologically oriented researchers place a great deal of emphasis
on the immediate social situation, and the interaction between person and situation variables.
Their research tends to be highly empirical and is often centered round lab experiments.
Psychologists who study social psychology are interested in such topics as attitudes, social
cognition, cognitive dissonance, social influence, and interpersonal behavior. Two influential
journals for the publication of research in this area are The Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology and The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Read more about Sociological
Social Psychology.

History of Social Psychology

Social PsychologyThe discipline of social psychology began in the United States at the dawn of
the twentieth century. The first published study in this area was an experiment by Norman
Triplett (1898) on the phenomenon of social facilitation. During the 1930s, many Gestalt
psychologists, particularly Kurt Lewin, fled to the United States from Nazi Germany. They were
instrumental in developing the field as something separate from the behavioral and
psychoanalytic schools that were dominant during that time, and social psychology has always
maintained the legacy of their interests in perception and cognition. Attitudes and a variety of
small group phenomena were the most commonly studied topics in this era.

During World War II, social psychologists studied persuasion and propaganda for the US military.
After the war, researchers became interested in a variety of social problems, including gender
issues and racial prejudice. In the 1960s, there was growing interest in a variety of new topics,
such as cognitive dissonance, bystander intervention, and aggression. By the 1970s, however,
social psychology in America had reached a crisis. There was heated debate over the ethics of
laboratory experimentation, whether or not attitudes really predicted behavior, and how much
science could be done in a cultural context (Gergen 1973). This was also the time when a radical
situationist approach challenged the relevance of self and personality in psychology.

During the years immediately following World War II, there was frequent collaboration between
psychologists and sociologists (Sewell 1989). However, the two disciplines have become
increasingly specialized and isolated from each other in recent years, with sociologists focusing
on macro variables (such as social structure) to a much greater extent. Nevertheless,
sociological approaches to social psychology remain an important counterpart to psychological
research in this area.

Social psychology reached maturity in both theory and method during the 1980s and 1990s.
Careful ethical standards now regulate research, and greater pluralism and multicultural
perspectives have emerged. Modern researchers are interested in a variety of phenomena, but
attribution, social cognition, and self-concept are perhaps the greatest areas of growth. Social
psychologists have also maintained their applied interests, with contributions in health and
environmental psychology, as well as the psychology of the legal system.

Social psychology is the study of how social conditions affect human beings. Scholars in this field
are generally either psychologists or sociologists, though all social psychologists employ both
the individual and the group as their units of analysis. Despite their similarity, the disciplines
tend to differ in their respective goals, approaches, methods, and terminology. They also favor
separate academic journals and professional societies.

Social Psychology Experiments

In its simplest form, experimentation is a method of determining the presence or absence of a

causal relationship between two variables by systematically manipulating one variable (called
the independent variable) and assessing its effect on another variable (called the dependent
variable).

Some scholars have questioned the utility of experimentation, noting that the experiments
which researchers design sometimes do not resemble the circumstances that people encounter
in their everyday lives. However, experimentation is the only research method that allows one
to definitively establish the existence of a causal relationship between two or more variables.

Social Psychology Research Methods

Social PsychologySocial psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the

interaction of mental states and immediate, social situations. In Kurt Lewin’s (1951) Heuristic
behavior can be viewed as a function of the person and the environment, B = f(P,E).
Experimental methods involve the researcher altering a variable in the environment and
measuring the effect on another variable. An example would be allowing two groups of children
to play violent or nonviolent videogames, and then observing their subsequent level of
aggression during free-play period. A valid experiment is controlled and uses random
assignment.

Co-relational methods examine the statistical association between two naturally occurring
variables. For example, one could correlate the amount of violent television children watch at
home with the number of violent incidents the children participate in at school. Note that this
study would not prove that violent TV causes aggression in children. It is quite possible that
aggressive children choose to watch more violent TV programs.

Observational methods are purely descriptive and include naturalistic observation, contrived
observation, participant observation, and archival analysis. These are less common in social
psychology but are sometimes used when first investigating a phenomenon. An example would
be to unobtrusively observe children on a playground (with a video camera, perhaps) and
record the number and types of aggressive actions displayed.

Whenever possible, social psychologists rely on controlled experimentation. Controlled

experiments require the manipulation of one or more independent variables in order to
examine the effect on a dependent variable. Experiments are useful in social psychology
because they are high in internal validity, meaning that they are free from the influence of
confounding or extraneous variables, and so are more likely to accurately indicate a causal
relationship. However, the small samples used in controlled experiments are typically low in
external validity, or the degree to which the results can be generalized to the larger population.
There is usually a trade-off between experimental control (internal validity) and being able to
generalize to the population (external validity).

Because it is usually impossible to test everyone, research tends to be conducted on a sample of

persons from the wider population. Social psychologists frequently use survey research when
they are interested in results that are high in external validity. Surveys use various forms of
random sampling to obtain a sample of respondents that are representative of a population.
This type of research is usually descriptive or co-relational because there is no experimental
control over variables. However, new statistical methods, like structural equation modeling, are
being used to test for potential causal relationships in this type of data.

Regardless of which method is used, it is important to evaluate the research hypothesis in the
light of the results, either confirming or rejecting the original prediction. Social psychologists
use statistics and probability testing to judge their results, which define a significant finding as
less than 5% likely to be due to chance. Replications are important to ensure that the result is
valid and not due to chance or some feature of a particular sample.

Social Psychology Ethics

Social PsychologyThe goal of social psychology is to understand cognition and behavior as they
naturally occur in a social context, but the very act of observing people can influence and alter
their behavior. For this reason, many social psychology experiments utilize deception to conceal
or distort certain aspects of the study. Deception may include false cover stories, false
participants (known as confederates or stooges), false feedback given to the participants, and so
on.

The practice of deception has been challenged by some psychologists who maintain that
deception under any circumstances is unethical, and that other research strategies (such as
role-playing) should be used instead. Unfortunately, research has shown that role-playing
studies do not produce the same results as deception studies and this has cast doubt on their
validity. In addition to deception, experimenters have at times put people into potentially
uncomfortable or embarrassing situations (for example, Milgram’s Obedience to Authorities
experiments, Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment), and this has also been criticized for
ethical reasons.

To protect the rights and well-being of research participants, and at the same time discover
meaningful results and insights into human behavior, virtually all social psychology research
must pass an ethical review process. At most colleges and universities, this is conducted by an
ethics committee or institutional review board. This group examines the proposed research to
make sure that no harm is done to the participants, and that the benefits of the study outweigh
any possible risks or discomforts to people taking part in the study.

Furthermore, a process of informed consent is often used to make sure that volunteers know
what will happen in the experiment and understand that they are allowed to quit the
experiment at any time. A debriefing is typically done at the conclusion of the experiment in
order to reveal any deceptions used and generally make sure that the participants are
unharmed by the procedures. Today, most research in social psychology involves no more risk of
harm than can be expected from routine psychological testing or normal daily activities.

***

Attitudes and Behavior in Psychology

By Kendra Cherry | Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, M

In psychology, an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular
object, person, thing, or event. Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing, and
they can have a powerful influence over behavior. While attitudes are enduring, they can also
change.

Overview

What's your opinion on the death penalty? Which political party does a better job of running
the country? Should prayer be allowed in schools? Should violence on television be regulated?

Chances are that you probably have fairly strong opinions on these and similar questions. You've
developed attitudes about such issues, and these attitudes influence your beliefs as well as your
behavior. Attitudes are an important topic of study within the field of social psychology. But
what exactly is an attitude? How does it develop?

How Psychologists Define Attitudes

Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can
include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or
negative, but they can also be uncertain at times. For example, you might have mixed feelings
about a particular person or issue.

Researchers also suggest that there are several different components that make up attitudes.

The components of attitudes are sometimes referred to as CAB or the ABC's of attitude.

Cognitive Component: your thoughts and beliefs about the subject.

Affective Component: how the object, person, issue, or event makes you feel.
Behavioral Component: how the attitude influences your behavior.

Attitudes can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitudes are those that we are consciously
aware of and that clearly influence our behaviors and beliefs. Implicit attitudes are unconscious
but still have an effect on our beliefs and behaviors.

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Attitude Formation

There are a number of factors that can influence how and why attitudes form.

Experience

Attitudes form directly as a result of experience. They may emerge due to direct personal
experience, or they may result from observation.

Social Factors

Social roles and social norms can have a strong influence on attitudes. Social roles relate to how
people are expected to behave in a particular role or context. Social norms involve society's
rules for what behaviors are considered appropriate.

Learning

Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways. Consider how advertisers use classical
conditioning to influence your attitude toward a particular product. In a television commercial,
you see young, beautiful people having fun on a tropical beach while enjoying a sports drink.
This attractive and appealing imagery causes you to develop a positive association with this
particular beverage.
Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes develop. Imagine a young
man who has just started smoking. Whenever he lights up a cigarette, people complain, chastise
him, and ask him to leave their vicinity. This negative feedback from those around him
eventually causes him to develop an unfavorable opinion of smoking and he decides to give up
the habit.

Finally, people also learn attitudes by observing the people around them. When someone you
admire greatly espouses a particular attitude, you are more likely to develop the same beliefs.
For example, children spend a great deal of time observing the attitudes of their parents and
usually begin to demonstrate similar outlooks.

Attitudes and Behavior

We tend to assume that people behave according to their attitudes. However, social
psychologists have found that attitudes and actual behavior are not always perfectly aligned.
After all, plenty of people support a particular candidate or political party and yet fail to go out
and vote.

Factors that Influence Attitude Strength

Researchers have discovered that people are more likely to behave according to their attitudes
under certain conditions:

When your attitudes are the result of personal experience.

When you are an expert on the subject.

When you expect a favorable outcome.

When the attitudes are repeatedly expressed.

When you stand to win or lose something due to the issue.

Attitudes Can Change to Match Behavior

In some cases, people may actually alter their attitudes in order to better align them with their
behavior. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which a person experiences psychological
distress due to conflicting thoughts or beliefs. In order to reduce this tension, people may
change their attitudes to reflect their other beliefs or actual behaviors.

What Is Cognitive Dissonance?

An Example of Changing an Attitude Due to Cognitive Dissonance

Imagine the following situation: You've always placed a high value on financial security, but you
start dating someone who is very financially unstable. In order to reduce the tension caused by
the conflicting beliefs and behavior, you have two options.

You can end the relationship and seek out a partner who is more financially secure, or you can
de-emphasize fiscal stability importance. In order to minimize the dissonance between your
conflicting attitude and behavior, you either have to change the attitude or change your actions.

Attitude Change

While attitudes can have a powerful effect on behavior, they are not set in stone. The same
influences that lead to attitude formation can also create attitude change.

Learning Theory of Attitude Change: Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and

observational learning can be used to bring about attitude change. Classical conditioning can be
used to create positive emotional reactions to an object, person, or event by associating
positive feelings with the target object. Operant conditioning can be used to strengthen
desirable attitudes and weaken undesirable ones. People can also change their attitudes after
observing the behavior of others.

Elaboration Likelihood Theory of Attitude Change: This theory of persuasion suggests that
people can alter their attitudes in two ways. First, they can be motivated to listen and think
about the message, thus leading to an attitude shift. Or, they might be influenced by
characteristics of the speaker, leading to a temporary or surface shift in attitude. Messages that
are thought-provoking and that appeal to logic are more likely to lead to permanent changes in
attitudes.

Dissonance Theory of Attitude Change: As mentioned earlier, people can also change their
attitudes when they have conflicting beliefs about a topic. In order to reduce the tension
created by these incompatible beliefs, people often shift their attitudes.

***

Attitudes and Behavior

By Saul McLeod updated 2018

An attitude is "a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies
towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols"

(Hogg & Vaughan 2005, p. 150)

"..a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree
of favor or disfavor"

(Eagly & Chaiken, 1993, p. 1)

Structure of Attitudes

Attitudes structure can be described in terms of three components.

Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude object. For
example: “I am scared of spiders”.

Behavioral (or conative) component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or
behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”.

Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude object. For
example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.

This model is known as the ABC model of attitudes.

One of the underlying assumptions about the link between attitudes and behavior is that of
consistency. This means that we often or usually expect the behavior of a person to be
consistent with the attitudes that they hold. This is called the principle of consistency.

The principle of consistency reflects the idea that people are rational and attempt to behave
rationally at all times and that a person’s behavior should be consistent with their attitude(s).

Whilst this principle may be a sound one, it is clear that people do not always follow it,
sometimes behaving in seemingly quite illogical ways; for example, smoking cigarettes and
knowing that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease.

There is evidence that the cognitive and affective components of behavior do not always match
with behavior. This is shown in a study by LaPiere (1934).

Attitude Strength

The strength with which an attitude is held is often a good predictor of behavior. The stronger
the attitude the more likely it should affect behavior. Attitude strength involves:

Importance / personal relevance refers to how significant the attitude is for the person and
relates to self-interest, social identification and value.

If an attitude has a high self-interest for a person (i.e. it is held by a group the person is a
member of or would like to be a member of, and is related to a person's values), it is going to be
extremely important.
As a consequence, the attitude will have a very strong influence upon a person's behavior. By
contrast, an attitude will not be important to a person if it does not relate in any way to their
life.

The knowledge aspect of attitude strength covers how much a person knows about the attitude
object. People are generally more knowledgeable about topics that interest them and are likely
to hold strong attitudes (positive or negative) as a consequence.

Attitudes based on direct experience are more strongly held and influence behavior more than
attitudes formed indirectly (for example, through hear-say, reading or watching television).

The Function of Attitudes

Attitudes can serve functions for the individual. Daniel Katz (1960) outlines four functional
areas:

Knowledge

Attitudes provide meaning (knowledge) for life. The knowledge function refers to our need for a
world which is consistent and relatively stable.

This allows us to predict what is likely to happen, and so gives us a sense of control. Attitudes
can help us organize and structure our experience.

Knowing a person’s attitude helps us predict their behavior. For example, knowing that a person
is religious we can predict they will go to Church.

Self / Ego-expressive

The attitudes we express (1) help communicate who we are and (2) may make us feel good
because we have asserted our identity. Self-expression of attitudes can be non-verbal too: think
bumper sticker, cap, or T-shirt slogan.

Therefore, our attitudes are part of our identify, and help us to be aware through the expression
of our feelings, beliefs and values.

Adaptive

If a person holds and/or expresses socially acceptable attitudes, other people will reward them
with approval and social acceptance.

For example, when people flatter their bosses or instructors (and believe it) or keep silent if they
think an attitude is unpopular. Again, expression can be nonverbal [think politician kissing
baby].
Attitudes then, are to do with being apart of a social group and the adaptive functions helps us
fit in with a social group. People seek out others who share their attitudes, and develop similar
attitudes to those they like.

Ego-defensive

The ego-defensive function refers to holding attitudes that protect our self-esteem or that
justify actions that make us feel guilty. For example, one way children might defend themselves
against the feelings of humiliation they have experienced in P.E. lessons is to adopt a strongly
negative attitude to all sports.

People whose pride have suffered following a defeat in sport might similarly adopt a defensive
attitude: “I’m not bothered, I’m sick of rugby anyway…”. This function has psychiatric
overtones. Positive attitudes towards ourselves, for example, have a protective function (i.e. an
ego-defensive role) in helping us reserve our self-image.

The basic idea behind the functional approach is that attitudes help a person to mediate
between their own inner needs (expression, defense) and the outside world (adaptive and
knowledge).

The basic idea behind the functional approach is that attitudes help a person to mediate
between their own inner needs (expression, defense) and the outside world (adaptive and
knowledge).