Week 2 Psychology Paper and Questions

Lecture 2

Social Learning Theory: How Close Is Too Close

Introduction

Social psychology is the bridge between the fields of psychology and sociology; it is the study of how an individual's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others in a social setting (Feldman, 2010). This branch of psychology focuses on different behaviors and what causes different behaviors in social situations. In addition, it examines how situations influence our behavior.

Social Influence

There are three factors associated with social influence including conformity, compliance, and obedience. Conformity refers to subtle or indirectly influenced, which is caused by a desire to follow the beliefs of another person or group of people. Compliance occurs when an individual or group makes a request for assistance. It is direct and obvious. Obedience is the change in behavior in response to the command of another individual.

Social Problems

A central concept in the field of social psychology is persuasion, which refers to changing an individual's attitudes. Attitudes influence our behavior. Our attitudes are strongly influenced by people in our lives such as our parents, peers, coworkers, and the media. Prejudice is a specific type of attitude defined as the negative evaluation of a group and its members (Feldman, 2010). Prejudice is made up of stereotypes or generalized beliefs about a particular group or the members of the group (Feldman). Discrimination, or the behavioral component of prejudice, refers to the behavior directed toward a particular group or the members of the group (Feldman).

Social Behaviors

There are social behaviors that impact our relationships at school, work, and home through "cause and effect." One of these is aggression, which is a social behavior used to describe the intent to physically or mentally harm another individual. This relates to conformity. When individuals refuse to comply with authority, the strength of the authority is diminished (Feldman, 2010). Hitler provides an example in history of strength in authority as it relates to compliance and conformity. Another popular example today is violence in video games and television shows that children play and watch.

Hundreds of studies have been done, which link violence in video games and television violence to children's violent behavior (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2002). According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, exposure to violence on television leads to the child becoming immune to the horror, allows the child to accept violence as a problem solving technique, leads to modeling behaviors they view, and causes them to identify with the violent characters as well as victims of the violence.

Another cause and effect relationship is altruism, which refers to the willingness to help another person in need without the expectation of anything in return. In recent years, communities are encouraging a "pay it forward" mentality. In this concept, individuals are looking at ways to help each other through difficult times and offer time, emotional support, and/or funds to increase hope and commitment to their environment. Examples of this are seen when natural disasters occur and individuals put themselves in harm's way to save innocent victims. For an example of the impact of this phenomenon, visit the Pay It Forward Web site at http://payitforwardday.com/.

Intimate, Personal, and Social Space

Culture, gender, age, personality, and situations will influence personal space. In psychology, personal space is referred to as the zone around the human body that people feel is "their" space (Personal Space, 2004). The study of personal space is called proxemics. From the names of each zone, it is apparent that the distance between people gets wider from the intimate to public zone (Communication Exchange, 2009).

In Communication Exchange (2009), Hall identified four personal space zones:

1.      Intimate (0-2 feet): This zone is generally used by those with whom people are really intimate, usually their loved ones; however, this zone can also be violated by invading a person's physical space (as when an adversary sticks a fist in the person's face).

2.      Personal (2-4 feet): This zone is used in conversations with friends and peers.

3.      Social (4-12 feet): This zone is used in business meetings and when talking to an employer.

4.      Public (12 feet and up): This zone is used in formal speaking presentations (Communication Exchange, 2009).

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) addresses the personal, emotional, social, and survival dimensions of intelligence. It differs from social intelligence, which refers to our ability to understand and manage relationships (Kotz, 2011). Emotional intelligence includes the components of social intelligence and adds self-awareness and self regulation of emotions as components to the model (Kotz). EQ has been connected to academic and professional success. By reflecting on how a person applies knowledge to an immediate situation, EQ helps to predict success (Smith, 2009).

References

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2002). Children and TV violence. American Academy of Child and Adolescent psychiatry, 13, 1-2. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://www.aacap.org/galleries/FactsForFamilies/13_children_and_tv_violence.pdf

Communication Exchange. (2009, July 25). Proxemics: What is your distance? Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://communicationexchange.blogspot.com/2009/07/proxemics-what-is-your-distance.html

Feldman, R. S. (2010). Psychology and your life. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Kotz, D. (2011, August 11). Straight-A students, take note. U.S. News and World Report, 2, 32-33.

Personal Space. (2004). In Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?qurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.credoreference.com/entry/estappliedpsyc/personal_space

Smith, J. (2009). Emotional intelligence and professional education: The use of narrative journaling. International Journal of Learning, 16(7), 81-92. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from EBSCOhost.